I'm Matt Coulson, Executive Product Manager for Red Button in 主播大秀 TV and Mobile Platforms.
Today we are launching the new 主播大秀 Connected Red Button on the Virgin TiVo service with plans to roll out the service to a range of and operators in 2013.
Connected Red Button video
Connected Red Button brings TV, radio and 主播大秀 online together in the simplest way possible. (.)
The service is presented in a feature rich yet powerfully simple experience that is suitable for just about anyone.
It enhances the traditional Red Button service by bringing TV, news, sport, radio and weather together on the big screen enabling you to:
- Discover more shows from your favourite channel or station.
- Enjoy programmes from channels even when they're off air: watch programmes from 主播大秀 Three, 主播大秀 Four, C主播大秀 or CBeebies day or night.
- Catch programmes you missed with 主播大秀 iPlayer at the press of a button.
- Read or watch the latest news clips and stories that matter to you.
- Never miss the action from the sports you're passionate about including live events, highlights and headlines.
- Find out about the weather in your area.
Yet while this is a significant milestone in the evolution of Red Button, it is only the beginning.
The journey to Connected Red Button began in 2011 with a vision for the next generation of Red Button services underscored by a number of core product principles.
The vision set out by Daniel Danker in his was to reimagine Red Button for a new generation of connected TV audiences, retaining the simplicity, usability and range of content available in the original.
We aimed to harness the latest in TV and internet technology to create a personalised user experience with rich curated content and to set a new standard of interaction on the big-screen - but most of all to make the result so effortless and natural that the technology becomes invisible and the content takes centre stage.
Viewing content by channel on 主播大秀 Connected Red Button
While Connected Red Button is a long term strategic product, .
Twenty million people a month press red on the 主播大秀 and our ambition is to develop the service and increase the size of our audience.
Connected Red Button makes its debut on , an open platform that enables innovation through third party services.
Virgin set-top boxes are connected to the internet, a requirement for the new Connected Red Button. Virgin TiVo subscribers were also, until now, unable to receive traditional 主播大秀 Red Button services so we're delighted to bring Connected Red Button to this audience.
Throughout 2012 the 主播大秀 has also been engaging with a number of TV manufacturers and platform operators regarding our connected TV application plans and the related technical specifications and certification requirements.
We'll be rolling out Connected Red Button to a range of connected TV devices during 2013 and in many cases 2012 TVs will also be upgraded to Connected Red Button.
Over time, as audiences use televisions and set-top boxes which are increasingly connected we expect to migrate them from the traditional Red Button to the new Connected Red Button.
With forecasts of up to 22 million connected TVs installed in UK homes by the end of 2016 Connected Red Button is well positioned as an enhanced Red Button service for users who already have or intend to buy supported connected televisions for their homes.
There is lots of new content and features planned for the coming year including improved event support, more content from your favourite programmes and better personalisation.
Discover more 主播大秀 content
We also see a world where mobile and tablet editions team up with Connected Red Button on the big screen to deliver some truly immersive and versatile experiences.
The Connected Red Button programme was managed as a series of agile delivery projects blending concept work, user centred interaction design, testing and audience trials with iterative software development.
The product was engineered using BDD (behaviour-driven development) and TDD (test-driven development) encouraging close collaboration between product owners, testers, software engineers and designers.
Crucially engineering teams worked shoulder-to-shoulder with editorial teams to jointly create an experience that blends technology and content in a brand new way for audiences, capitalising on the 主播大秀's unique expertise in high quality curation.
The service is a new and important addition to the 主播大秀's Red Button portfolio. We hope you enjoy using the service and we look forward to receiving feedback over the coming days, weeks and months.
Senior UX designer Robin Gibson has blogged about for TiVo while technical lead Duncan Fortescue has written a .
is the Executive Product Manager for Red Button in 主播大秀 TV and Mobile Platforms.