Microsoft Corp.’s decade-long push into television is notable for false starts, bold promises and failed investments, but the company hopes to finally move into the living room this year with a service delivered over high-speed Internet networks.
The success or failure of Microsoft’s Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) initiative could determine the fortunes of a number of telephone companies betting billions that the company can help them encroach on cable television operators’ home turf.
Fourteen telephone carriers around the world have signed up for Microsoft’s IPTV platform including BT Group, Deutsche Telekom AG and AT&T, but none of those companies are selling the service yet beyond tests.
For now, [Microsoft] is more interested in making sure it can match the features available in cable and satellite TV with some new bells and whistles, such as faster and easier channel and program surfing with picture-in-picture capability. “
Wow, P-I-P! Golly gee, folks, Microsoft is really getting innovative.
Microsoft has spent the last decade trying to crack the TV market with billion-dollar investments in cable and telecom companies, numerous attempts at moving into the set-top box with limited success and an acquisition of WebTV, a service to allow people to browse the Internet through a TV set.
None of these investments delivered the results Microsoft had hoped: a prominent place near the couch.
“IPTV is a huge growth initiative. It’s huge for us, it’s huge for our partners,” Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told analysts in July. “Count the number of TVs (and) you don’t have to get a lot of money per TV per year to start feeling kind of excited about the size of the opportunity.”
One additional benefit to Microsoft is that the Redmond, Washington-based company’s IPTV platform will require a slew of Windows-powered servers to gather and stream content.
Looking out at the world and seeing valuable real estate — doesn’t mean it’s available for the taking. Sometimes you have competitors with a longer history in place — and they won’t give it up without a fight.
Sometimes your allies are just as incompetent and out of touch as you may be.
I predict this will fail as M$ has no clue when it comes to these kinds of things.
They’ll be so worried about DRM that everything else will be crap.
They’ll be so worried about DRM that everything else will be crap.
Considering M$ DRM, why is it “everything ELSE”?
J/P=?
You’re right.
they update it,
they modify it,
they charge MORE…
And its OLD tech…ALL of it…
MS didnt make, USB, Firewire, SCSI(Look at SATA)…
I work for a telco that is in the process of rolling out MS IPTV (and i just joined the IPTV team) and despite my issues with MS so it seems to be a very well concieved solution and it does have some very cool features that alot of people will like and i think the competition in this market will force MS to be innovative
based on the above misleading extract here are some corrections:
IPTV is already deployed in France and other European countries…the platform on which these services are built is the Microsoft IPTV Platform!!!!
In the U.S., Verizon FIOS TV service is also built on top of Microsoft’s platform.
So while Apple has been busy painting the ipods Microsoft has quietly deployed its IPTV technology…
And no I do not work for MS but have been investigating this for a few years.
Or, Sam, you could do what most of us do and just click on the link in the Post.
Right, Microsofts failed venture into tv land… I guess that is why I know more people with MCE than I know people with Tivo’s (or macs for that matter). Same thing with the X-Box, lol total flop that was (sarcasm for the humor impaired). Or for that matter, the video editor that comes with xp that every amaturish video I have seen in the last year has been done in.
You know M$ the company with like 25 billion dollars in cash reserves, launches flop after flop, yet somehow they manage to keep 25 billion dollars in cash for over a decade now. Lol, welcome to planet Bush where reality is just an alternative opinion. M$ bashers are kookier than Bush supporters.
9 …yet somehow they manage to keep 25 billion dollars in cash for over a decade now…
Yes, and I know it has nothing to do with how many Xboxes they’ve sold… 🙂
7 So while Apple has been busy painting the ipods Microsoft has quietly deployed its IPTV technology…
Yeah, the Zune only comes in white, black, and brown… stupid Apple offering more choices than that. 🙂
All the super cool technology in the world won’t be enough to profitably deliver the increasingly crappier content being excreted by the lords of primetime. I’m moving (five minute walk to work vs thirty minute drive) and no, DirecTV is not making the move with me. Until somebody figures out how to deliver to my TV premium, non-commercial content, without having to buy a crappy “basics” package before I can get the non-commercial channels, I’ll stick with the DVD and VHS players.
Mike,
You are correct, by the time of relase of the xbox 360, Microsoft had only made a half a billion dollars profit over the life of the original xbox platform. Not bad for a failure IMO.
@Mike Voice
You’re missing my point, I find it hilarious when Jobs invites his exclusive world to his keynotes to unveal new colorful ipods with no real improvements. bashes MS for spending $5B/year on R&D…let’s see what the zune is gonna do during the holiday season…
13 You are correct, by the time of relase of the xbox 360, Microsoft had only made a half a billion dollars profit over the life of the original xbox platform.
That’s one way to look at it. Here is another.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox
Microsoft predicted that it would not make a profit on the Xbox for at least three years. …Investor relations documents says that in the end of 2005 Microsoft lost more than 1 billion dollars [15]. The Xbox project never gave an annual profit to Microsoft according to these documents. In return for the money lost, though, the Xbox gained name recognition and a dedicated fan base
Dosn’t have to be profitable to be a “success” – if building a fan-base is your goal.
Back to my original comment: if you say they made “half a billion dollars” over the lifetime of the original Xbox – how much profit did they make from sales of WinXP during the same period?
Which of those two numbers let M$ keep $25-billion in the bank?
14 new colorful ipods with no real improvements.
Why mess with success? Why kill the goose which is laying the golden eggs?
They double the memory capacity – which any competitor can do – but since Apple is getting 40% of Samsung’s output at a discount… sucks to be said competitor.
http://tinyurl.com/bbdnw
And Apple also agreed to pre-pay $1.25-Billion to Intel/Micron for memory chips from a Fab that’s not even running yet…
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/47480.html
M$ is supplying the backbone for IPTV? And what format is the video being delivered in? H.264 or VC-1? 😉