Verismo Networks announced ACT Television’s launch of IPTV and triple play services based on Verismo’s VuNow Internet TV platform. ACT Television’s deployment initially targets 100,000 homes in Bangalore, India and marks the first ever interactive IPTV service in Bangalore.

ACT’s new service brings a wealth of digital entertainment to consumers and transforms the television set into a true convergence device. Users can pause and play over 200+ live TV channels, record one program while watching another, and access more than 4,500 DVD quality Kannada, Hindi and Tamil movies at the click of a button. Additionally, VuNow’s innovative technology enables ACT customers to enjoy their personnel contents plus millions of videos available on the Internet – from YouTube videos to live internet channels – right on their televisions.

ACT also announced plans for value-added programming and services, including multi-user gaming, email and voicemail, online shopping, remote education, banking, cooking programs, city and weather information – all on the television set.

Verismo’s Internet TV platform is an end-to-end solution consisting of a compact size set-top box, middleware and video-on-demand server. Verismo has provided ACT with a unified solution that combines IPTV with over the top Internet video all in a single platform thereby enabling the viewing of linear TV channels as well as Internet video directly on the TV. In addition, this solution also provides the local and network PVR capability to pause, rewind and record live TV shows, a browser with SSL support to enable secure browsing on the Internet, fast channel switching capability, multiple codecs support to maximize content playback from various content formats and DRM support.

After the initial roll out in Bangalore, the multi-system operator plans to expand its IPTV service to other cities in India.

The VuNow platform offers access to the broadest selection of Internet video for the TV. In addition to licensing its open VuNow platform to broadband service providers and equipment manufacturers, Verismo Networks sells HD and SD versions of the VuNow Pod to consumers. The VuNow Pod enables any broadband users to access and enjoy Internet video directly on their television, without having to connect a computer in between.