Microsoft To Unveil Digital TV Software For On-Demand Services

Called Microsoft TV Foundation, the software is an end-to-end solution that helps operators package and promote digital services such as video on demand (VOD) and helps viewers browse and use the services via a built-in, interactive program guide, according to Microsoft.

The Redmond, Wash., software giant is slated to unveil and demonstrate the new platform in Chicago at The National Show, the annual convention of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

With Microsoft TV Foundation, digital cable operators can build On-Demand Storefronts for video and provide cable subscribers with games and information services, such as news, weather and sports, Microsoft said.

The platform is designed to scale from current TV set-top boxes--which function as thin clients--to future devices so cable operators have a foundation for providing a consistent customer experience and for promoting their services as digital TV evolves.

Microsoft TV Foundation supports a range of digital set-top boxes--including Motorola DCT1700, DCT2000, DCT2500, DCT5100 and DCT6000 products--and lets operators customize the look and feel, branding and user experience of their digital services, Microsoft said. The platform features the Microsoft TV Tools Suite for application development and testing. Based on Microsoft Visual Studio .Net tools and distributed through the Microsoft TV Developer Program, the suite allows third-party developers to create rich content and tools using open standards such as XHTML and C#.

In addition to Motorola, companies unveiling support for the Microsoft TV Foundation software include Advanced Digital Broadcast, Concurrent Computer, MetaTV, SeaChange and Two Way TV, Microsoft reported.

"Microsoft TV Foundation has been built from the ground up as a product that enables the entire industry--from operators to programmers and OEMs to developers--to get the most value from today's hardware and infrastructure," Moshe Lichtman, corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV Division, said in a statement. "It is a software platform for operators to build their on-demand world," he added.

Digital TV programming and services are expected to become a staple of home entertainment as more consumers look to connect and network consumer electronics devices and PCs, industry analysts said. In a poll of nearly 1,100 Internet-connected households, research firm Parks Associates and the Consumer Electronics Association found that roughly 20 percent want to link their television, digital camera and home audio system to their data network.

Microsoft is already working on initiatives to spur creation of home networks. They include the Media Center TV client, a prototype set-top box for integrating computer and consumer electronics devices; content directory services, for providing uniform access to multimedia content across a home network; Universal Audio Architecture (UAA), a format designed to improve PC audio quality; Media Transport Protocol (MTP), a standard for synchronizing, matching and managing content to device-side capabilities; and High-Performance Media Access Technology (HighMAT), a Microsoft- and Panasonic-developed format aimed at sharpening the interoperability of digital media content between PCs and consumer electronics devices.

Vendors working with Microsoft on those initiatives include Intel (for UAA), ATI Technologies (for Media Center TV), Creative Technology (for MTP), Onkyo (for content delivery services) and MatsushitaPanasonic (for HighMAT).

"In the future, consumer electronics will be available over home networks. The question is, how interoperable will that be?" Dennis Flanagan, product unit manager in Microsoft's Windows eHome Division, said in an interview last month with CRN. "What Microsoft is doing is trying to provide leadership and value-add to allow PCs to provide media content over home networks and to allow consumer electronics devices to work well together and with the PC."