Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0 Stretches to Windows 7

The next iteration of the world’s most deployed Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform will stretch beyond the limits of digital TVs and Xbox consoles to embrace Windows 7 PCs, and additional devices, such as smartphones. At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced that it was tailoring Mediaroom 2.0 to its three-screen strategy for entertainment delivery, covering TV, PCs and mobile phones. At the same time, the Redmond company’s next version of Mediaroom TV platform fits into a broader vision of software plus services (S+S), and it is by tapping both the platform itself and associated Cloud based services that Microsoft is making it possible for television service operators to provide their TV services to Windows 7 machines and select mobile phones.

“Our strategy with Mediaroom is to combine the power of client software and cloud-based services to greatly enhance the way consumers experience digital entertainment. We want to make it easier for consumers to find and discover great content, to watch, listen and engage in new ways, and to do so anywhere and on any screen,” explained Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president for the TV, Video and Music Business at Microsoft. “Mediaroom 2.0 is a key milestone in our strategy, providing the software platform to power operators’ service clouds to reach more screens, and more people, with more content than ever before.”

According to the software giant, Mediaroom 2.0 will be made available for testing come next month. In February 2010, operators will be able to start test-driving the next generation Microsoft IPTV platform which brings to the table capabilities and features including cloud digital video recording (DVR), on-demand features, and interactive applications. In addition, Microsoft indicated that via Mediaroom 2.0 customers would be able to access not only operator-hosted content, but also materials hosted externally, such as Internet TV.

The promise from Microsoft is that as long as operators will leverage Mediaroom 2.0, their services will be delivered to subscribers on their TV sets (with Mediaroom set-top box), Windows Media Center in Windows 7, web browsers (for Windows-based PCs and Macs), Xbox 360 as well as compatible smartphones. Support for mobile phones will be added in the future, the Redmond company underlined. As far as serving content from the Cloud goes, Mediaroom 2.0 plays nice not only with Windows 7’s browsers and Windows Media Center, but also with Microsoft technologies such as Silverlight and Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming.