IP&TV World Forum to become TV Connect

With connected entertainment, social media and TV apps having clearly emerged as the industry’s hot topics for 2012, the IP&TV World Forum is to change its name next year to TV Connect.

This year’s event is however embracing all the key trends and is expanding to accommodate its growth. The 2012 event will for the first time use adjacent additional event space in Olympia 2. This will also be the location for the conference stream, which will be located in a special new Conference Quiet Zone.

This year’s event also features the TV App Hub, with Google running the opening workshop. With social TV one of the most important emerging technologies, the App Hub, which takes place on days one and two of the conference, will assess the monetisation opportunities presented by the convergence of television and apps.

Global manager, developer relations and developer advocate at Google, Ossama Alami, will open the free developer-orientated gathering on the first day of the event, and run a two-hour workshop.  The App Hub will feature an interactive agenda of developer workshops, break-out sessions and panel discussions. Key subjects to be debated include the route to market for independent app developers, how developers can overcome increased fragmentation, the tools needed to provide the best SDK (Software Development Kit) and the impact of HTML5.

The show organisers have also created the IP&TV World Forum App, which is available for iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry, and features the exhibition guide, floorplan, speakers and agenda, as well as a variety of news.