Microsoft is taking the veil off of its Mediaroom platform this week, an all-in-one IPTV and digital media platform. The new product integrates digital television, music and photo-sharing, picture-in-picture and developer tools.
The platform is to be demonstrated tomorrow at NXTcomm in Chicago.
Developers may be interested in the Microsoft Media Application Development toolkit, which lets them create third-party applications to create revenue-sharing TV-based applications that run on the platform.
The platform was built upon existing Microsoft IPTV features, such as digital video recording, video on demand, high-definition television, and instant channel “zapping.”
Mediaroom, renamed from the more generic Microsoft IPTV, adds:
Personal media sharing, which allows consumers to listen to digital music and view digital photographs stored on PCs elsewhere in the home on the television.
Multimedia Application Environment, which offers support for Web services and applications, enabling service providers to deploy features such as video-on-demand portals, casual games and interactive TV services.
Enhanced MultiView capabilities, which allow consumers to see multiple channels, programs and camera angles on one screen.
“As the digital TV services market continues to grow, service providers will search for competitive differentiators that set them apart in terms of features and overall consumer experience,” said Michelle Abraham, principal analyst at In-Stat, in a statement.
“A compelling and competitive feature set, powered by one of the strongest consumer brands in the world and the ability to create unique applications and services, is the recipe to convert consumers’ demand into service revenues.”
Microsoft has deals worked out with 18 service providers, with 10 of them already offering Mediaroom. The catch is, that’s about one service provider per country.
In the US, that means you have to go through AT&T’s U-verse, so just like with the iPhone, you have only one choice of provider, which probably means it won’t be affordable to the general population for some time.
