7digital named European music partner for Toshiba connected TVs
7digital named European music partner for Toshiba connected TVs
Media provider 7digital has mostly been making news on the Windows front recently, making its music offerings available for Windows Phone earlier this year and serving up 20 million tracks through its preview version for Windows 8. Now the digital media company is branching out to Toshiba televisions as well, inking a deal to be the European music partner for the Toshiba Places platform. The agreement, which represents 7digital's first foray into the connected TV market, will allow consumers with a Toshiba Places account to browse through the content provider's music catalogue, create playlists and stream music directly th rough the television. The company says the feature should be compatible with televisions equipped with Toshiba Places since May 2011. Five countries -- the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain -- are slated to get first crack when the service goes live in Europe in September. For more details about the service, feel free to peruse the company PR after the break.
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7digital selected as European music partner for Toshiba's Connected TVs
7digital, the leading digital media company, today announces the company has been selected as a key digital music partner on all Toshiba TVs equipped with the Toshiba Places platform.
The 7digital Toshiba Edition web store allows users to browse 7digital's catalogue of over 20 million high quality tracks, create playlists and stream music directly though their television. The store has been integrated within the Toshiba Places platform, and existing customers with connected Tosh iba TVs can access the service through their Toshiba Places account.
The store represents 7digital's first entry into the Connected TV market. The service will initially be available in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, and will go live in September 2012.
Using a hotkey on their Toshiba TV remote, customers can access the Music Place and 7digital Toshiba Edition store and purchase tracks for streaming.
All stores will be optimised for the local territories with local language, catalogue, pricing and currency.
The service will be available on all TVs equipped with Toshiba Places since May 2011.
The addition of 7digital's service on Toshiba TVs further expands the possibilities for Toshiba customers. 7digital music is already available through Toshiba Places on a range of other Toshiba and third-party devices, such as laptops, AndroidTM powered tablets and smartphones, where in each case purchased music can also be downloaded for offline listening. No matter which device the music was purchased on, it can be accessed on all other devices through a single Toshiba sign-on. Music is also available through 7digital's native applications on a variety of device types and operating systems including RIM devices.
"This partnership is our first move into the Connected TVs space and supports our platform agnostic strategy, allowing consumers to access their music on the platform of their choice" comments Ben Drury, CEO at 7digital. "The co-branded store offers a familiar browsing and purchasing experience so users can integrate their music collections across all devices, choosing to listen to the music they own in the way that suits them.
"Connected TVs offer exciting opportunities for us, and we will be looking at how we can further support these, and other connected devices, in future."
Thomas Teckentrup, General Manager of Cloud Services Division at Toshiba E urope, said: "We're delighted with the deep integration of 7digital's service on our Smart TV devices – it not only enriches the experience for our TV customers, but adds further value to the existing integration on our other devices."
The integration uses 7digital's API (application programming interface), which allows consumer electronics companies and developers to build bespoke digital music download applications. The 7digital API is already used by numerous consumer electronics brands to create integrated digital music services for mobile devices, including Samsung, HTC, Acer and RIM.
Engadget