14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is enjoying a surge in audience with its connected TV services, the company informed at 2008 International CES. The uptake of Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia platform is right on track to passing an important milestone. Mediaroom set-top boxes are estimated to go over the 1 million mark worldwide in the first quarter of this year. Furthermore, the Redmond company's service provider customers are benefiting from a strong adoption rate, with two new households subscribing to IPTV services every minute.
"The idea of the TV meeting the Internet - well, we've really kicked that off in a big way with Media Room now connecting up to over a million users, and people for the first time realizing they can build content that's unique, a news show where you see only the things you're interested in, or taking rich complex events, like elections, and allowing people to navigate those in new ways", revealed Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates.
As far as Microsoft is concerned, IPTV and connected TV services are the future and will grow to replace traditional pay-TV offerings. Mediaroom is not only a new way for users to experience TV content on top of movies, music, photos and games, but also the infrastructure of a social network build around the television set. Mediaroom permits users to record multiple TV channel programs simultaneously, be them high-definition or standard-definition, and comes complete with features such as media sharing, DVR Anywhere and intimate integration with the Xbox 360 console.
"Media Room is our IPTV service that delivers high definition TV, DVR, and interactivity through top service providers like British Telecom, Deutsche Telecom, AT&T, and 17 others around the world. To date we now have 1 million TV screens on our Media Room service, and that number is advancing very, very rapidly. We also have some key announcements in the Media Room space tonight. First is a technology which we call DVR Anywhere. This is the ability to record on your Media Room system content in one place, and distribute it to other TVs around the house that are on the network. We also are announcing some interactive applications we're developing with Showtime, TNT, and CNN", explained Robbie Bach, Microsoft President, Entertainment and Devices Division.