[PaidContent]
With the growth of over-the-top services that let users access the video they want over the internet (and often, for free), those companies offering pay-TV have to look for more bells and whistles to keep fickle consumers interested in their services. The latest offerings in this area come from France Telecom’s Orange, which has signed deals with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) to offer Orange TV via the Xbox platform, and France’s answer to Google’s YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG), Dailymotion, for an online 3D channel.
Orange says the Xbox service will include 30 channels via the Xbox live platform, including its on-demand and premium channels that it offers through its Orange TV service. It will be available initially only in France. Meanwhile, the Dailymotion service will see Orange launching a new, free 3D channel on the Dailymotion platform. That will be available everywhere, although the content is all in French. …
While there have been a lot of 3D services and devices launched in the last year or so, it remains to be seen whether this is a gimmicky add-on that comes and goes, or whether consumers really have the appetite for such products. The Kinect enablement, however, is a keeper: the technology has provided a huge boost for Microsoft in the past year and it’s likely we will see more competing TV services entering the market in the year ahead. …
Meanwhile, the Dailymotion channel shows how Orange is also using the OTT route to market its own services, and possibly grow its traffic there as well.
The service includes what looks like a selection of content from the carrier’s existing paid 3D channel—which incidentally is also available via the Xbox service. It includes Mag3D, a 30-minute 3D gadget program, as well as some TV and film content. It will also be featuring user-generated content: Dailymotion users have the option of designating their videos as 3D for them to appear in the channel. …
See the original post here: http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-france-telecoms-orange-looks-to-3d-and-xbox-for-new-tv-bells-and-whistl/