June 9th, 2006
Microsoft TV enters IPTV market in France with 'next-generation digital television' software platform
On the heels of obtaining a patent for “System and method of inserting advertisements into an information retrieval system display,” (see my “Google vs. Microsoft in Interactive TV Advertising Race”) and following a Google Research win for “Best Paper” on “Social and Interactive Television Applications Based on Real-Time Ambient Audio Identification,” at a recent ITV conference (see my “Google developing social and interactive television applications for ‘mass personalization’”, Microsoft has landed a “coup” in France.
The Microsoft TV software platform has been chosen by Club Internet in France, Part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, to power its new Internet Protocol television (IPTV) “triple play service.”
According to Club Internet:
Club Internet’s triple-play service will provide a complete digital television service together with voice and data services that soon will be supported by a set-top box with integrated hard disk from Linksys. The offering is high-definition (HD)-ready and digital terrestrial television (DTT)-ready and will include a vast range of on-demand programming, broadcast channels and advanced digital video recording (DVR) functionality, enabling consumers to control when and how they watch live and recorded TV. The unique Microsoft TV-based solution can be tailored to suit the viewers’ preferences, turning television into a more personalized entertainment experience for each individual.
Changing channels is instantaneous compared with one to two seconds for other digital TV and IPTV solutions. The picture-in-picture feature enables viewers to follow two programs simultaneously. The digital recorder will provide 50 hours of recording time and will be integrated into HD- and DTT-ready set-top boxes. The TV and video-on-demand (VOD) proprietary content: 1,000 VOD and subscription VOD programs and 150 TV programs.
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