• by Wayne Friedman , September 7, 2010

MobiTV, the mobile TV program packager, is pushing a new media platform that will allow users to move from screen to screen to follow a TV show or other content -- as well as giving control to "TV Everywhere" content providers. 

The multiscreen application is being touted as a white-label platform that will enable users to gain DVR and video-on-demand capability across many devices: PCs, mobile devices, tablets, set-top boxes and Internet-connected TVs.

Users can pause content and move from device to device. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company says the technology will also be geared to specific user preferences -- favorite channels, rentals, purchases, content packages or recorded content.

MobiTV says the new platform will give content owners the ability to do "authentication" and digital rights management.

TV content owners want users to pay the appropriate TV and video distributors -- all to combat Internet sites that allow free access to TV shows. In allowing users access to programming, content owners/distributors need "authentication" that shows users have already paid for content to cable operators or other distributors.

"One of the primary challenges for a multiscreen solution is authentication and authorization," stated Kay Johansson, chief technology officer of MobiTV. "Traditionally, the focus has been on authorizing the device. However, to be able to offer a multiscreen solution you must move from a device-centric authorization model to a user-centric model."