The latest IPTV update includes enhanced multiview capabilities, allowing consumers to view multiple channels, programs and camera angles on a single screen and media sharing features that allow users to listen to music and view digital pictures on their TV.
Jim Brady, communications manager for Microsoft TV, told XBIZ the aim of Mediaroom is to provide “the best of TV plus all your other media in one place.”
“The main challenge for us is going to be getting this experience in front of users,” Brady said. “From there, the technology really speaks for itself. Once you have it, you will say ‘I don’t want to go back [to standard TV service].’”
Mediaroom also provides what Microsoft terms an “enhanced multimedia application” environment, which the company said will enable service providers to offer advanced features like “dynamic video-on-demand portals, casual games and interactive TV services.”
Brady told XBIZ that while the multimedia capabilities are exciting, Microsoft doesn’t intend to lose sight of the things that have traditionally made TV such a popular medium.
“In the end, the real killer app here is still TV,” Brady said. “Bells and whistles are nice, but they have to add value.”
With features like multiple picture-in-picture, the ability to record multiple channels of digital content at once, and potentially to customize the camera angles displayed on their home screen, Mediaroom is stacking up as a dream come true for sports fans, Brady said.
“You can imagine someone watching NASCAR and being able to select which car they want to follow,” Brady said. “Or for the Olympics, NBC could provide multiple events simultaneously, and users could decide which event to watch, or watch more than one event using the picture-in-picture.”
According to information provided to XBIZ by Weber Shandwick, the public relations firm that handles media relations for Microsoft TV, commercial deployment of Microsoft TV is currently underway with 10 commercial clients and another eight commercial clients are working with Microsoft TV on a trial basis.
In the U.S., AT&T uses Microsoft TV as the back end for its U-Verse TV IPTV product, which is currently available in 21 markets across seven states, including California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin. According to AT&T, as of mid-June the company had approximately 40,000 subscribers across those markets.
Internationally, Microsoft is working with BT Vision in the U.K., Deutsche Telekom in Germany and TDC in Denmark, among others.
