Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HBBTV) - a European hybrid DVB/IP platform backed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) - is due to be implemented in Germany in time for Christmas this year, using retail set-top boxes manufactured by Humax and Kaon. Launches will then follow in Q1 2010 in Austria and Switzerland.

Richard Baker, executive vice president of sales and marketing at ANT, a TV software solutions provider, laid out the schedule for the implementation of the new specification during a demonstration of the system to Connected TV this morning on the EBU stand. This used broadcast HD content from the German free-to-air satellite platform and a 2MBit/s ADSL link, running on a Kaon receiver.

The system was first demonstrated by public broadcaster ARD in association with the Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT) at the IFA show in Berlin a week ago. ANT’s role in the demonstration is the contribution of its Galio Suite, which now contains extensions which make it the first platform to implement the full HBBTV specification.

The three HBBTV use-cases shown at IBC were:

1) A combination of Teletext (written in HTML, CSS and Javascript) and HD broadcast content

2) Broadcast applications which can invoke additional material associated with a channel (i.e. calling up a new streamed OTT video)

3) Access to web services and third party content

In order to access such applications, the remote control used includes an extra Web TV button in addition to the standard coloured ones. Interestingly, the same content can be arrived at through use-cases 2) and 3). In the example Connected TV was shown, the red button could be used within a live broadcast to call up a menu from which a live video stream could be ordered (in this case a trailer for some ARD content), using HTTPS over the broadband connection.

Using the red button to access a Web-based entertainment portal, however, gave access to a separate list of streamable OTT content which included the same ARD trailer as mentioned above.

Asked if British players were interested in merging their rival proposals (namely the BBC/ITV/BT hybrid platform Canvas and the DTG’s D-Book 6/7) with HBBTV, Baker was diplomatic, saying only that ANT and its partners had entertained “an open dialogue with the BBC [about Canvas]. If we have the opportunity to support the desires of the BBC, we’d be very happy about that,” he said.