Japanese Smart TV Offering IPTV

Limelight Networks (News - Alert), Inc. has been working in conjunction with IMJ Corporation (IMJ) and Panasonic (News - Alert) Network Services Inc., (PNS) to build a system though which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, or cable television format. This service called, IPTV (News - Alert), was used to stream live events for Tsutaya TV, a video delivery service for Japanese television.

The first experiment was done back in December 2011, for a television show based on fashion and music for the younger generation called, “HARAJUKU KAWAii!!!.” which allowed audience members to stream the show live in full high definition video.

“IMJ is proud to lead the development of this innovative service for Tsutaya TV users,” said Nariaki Hatta, senior producer of New Business Development for the Broadband Division of IMJ.

Hatta said being able to offer this service is really a huge step forward for IMJ. “Live event delivery to connected devices is a unique experience that IMJ and our partners bring to Tsutaya and their users. The build-out demonstrates how integration at all levels can bring innovative new services to customers. Partners like Limelight enable us to offer our customers state-of-the-art services that leverage content delivery expertise and one of the world’s only truly global CDNs.”

IPTV is different from Internet television by its on-going standardization process and deployment scenarios in subscriber-based telecommunications networks with high-speed access channels.

Users can watch live television, catch-up on shows that were broadcasted earlier or replay shows from the beginning, and even take advantage of a video on demand feature similar to that of most cable features. Again, all of these services are offered over the Internet, but can sometimes offer better quality than that of regular television companies.

“This project is an important one not only for Tsutaya and their Japanese customers, but to the industry,” said Andrew Clark, vice president of Asia Pacific Sales and Operations for Limelight Networks.

“In partnership with IMJ and PNS, Tsutaya is now able to deliver highly scalable, high quality, HD IPTV live events on demand. This type of service opens up revenue streams based on new Live-to-the-TV events for Tsutaya and other content providers in the future,” said Clark.

Owners of Smart Televisions in Japan can now begin to use the new IPTV Live IP Broadcasting service to take advantage of any live streaming event being offered through TsutayaTV.com’s web portal.