Press Release
November 1, 2007 Interactive Program Guide, Inc. So-net Entertainment Corporation **************************************************************** ****************** IPG-So-net Business Partnership Launch of Internet EPG Service “G-GUIDE TV Ohkoku” Supporting Digital Broadcasting. http://www.so-net.ne.jp/tv/ **************************************************************** ******************
Interactive Program Guide, Inc. (“IPG,” based in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, President: Keisuke Toji), and So-net Entertainment Corporation (“So-net”, based in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, President: Kenichiro Yoshida) have agreed to a business partnership, and will launch today, November 1, a new service “GGUIDE TV Ohkoku”, supporting terrestrial digital broadcasting.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Purpose of Partnership %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% IPG provides the EPG service “G-GUIDE,” while So-net offers technologies such as a recommendation engine and recording setting functions, and also has achieved for its “TV Ohkoku” site a user base of about one million users who actively watch TV. Based on the concept of providing user-oriented services for more enjoyable TV-viewing, IPG and So-net will provide a high-quality internet EPG service supporting terrestrial digital broadcasting, to provide a new viewing style that allows active enjoyment of TV programs. This new service will aim for the co-existence and collaboration of broadcasting and the internet. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Overview of New Services %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% This is the first high-quality terrestrial digital broadcasting EPG service with recording setting functions for computers to launch in Japan, supporting terrestrial digital broadcasting scheduled to be fully operational in 2011. 1: Service Name: “G-GUIDE.TV Ohkoku”
2: Service Overview: (1) Services available from today 0û EPG supporting recording settings for terrestrial digital broadcasting Internet EPG using “SI Program Data” (official program data) created by each broadcaster The latest TV program data will be offered to users virtually in real-time, and will handle previously unsupported contingencies, such as sudden program changes or program extensions 0û iEPG The internet program recording system provided by So-net, allowing easy setting of program recordings. (2) Services expected to be provided in Spring 2008
0û Recommendation Feature The use of So-net’s “Voyager Engine” recommendation engine will enable programs, CDs, DVDs etc. to be recommended to users based on their preferences. 0û Automatic Recording Feature Programs can be automatically searched for and recorded based on registered keywords. 0û Remote Scheduling FunctionÿiCommandÿ Allows recordings to be set on home computers supporting TV broadcasting, from mobile phones or computers outside the home.