Seattle, June 09: Microsoft Corp. today plans to unveil new software to help cable television companies develop digital TV programming and services. The software, called Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, is a new technological platform designed to run on the digital cable boxes that sit atop many television sets.
The software, installed on both customers' set-top boxes and on computer servers at cable companies, includes applications for cable operators to create and deliver on-screen TV guides, movies-on-demand, and interactive advertisements for their customers. "This is a big milestone for Microsoft TV," said Ed Graczyk, marketing director for the Microsoft TV division. "We're hoping this is an announcement that gets the industry excited."
It's also Microsoft's most promising foray yet into interactive TV and advanced digital TV services in a 10-year-long history of "ineffectual" efforts, said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst with Forrester Research. In the past, Bernoff said, Microsoft TV was working on "the wrong product at the wrong time. Now it's a lot closer to being the right product at the right time," he said. "It doesn't mean they win, but at least they get to compete."
Microsoft is rolling out the new software at the National Show, the annual convention of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association that starts today in Chicago. Bureau Report