In addition to various IPTV services and DVR (digital video recorder) capabilities, an IPTV-enabled Xbox game console opens up a number of interesting possibilities, the company points out. For example, integration with Xbox Live, Microsoft's online social network, offers voice chat and text messaging functionality simultaneously with watching TV.
Microsoft positions its IPTV Edition software platform as a technology that enables cable providers and telecommunications companies to better monetize their digital video and network infrastructure investments, by enabling them to create and deliver new digital TV services. "Advanced" capabilities offered by the platform include instant channel zapping, a "rich and responsive" user interface, video-on-demand (VOD) with branded VOD storefronts, digital video recording, and high-definition television, according to the company.
Large-scale deployments of IPTV Edition are currently underway with AT&T in the U.S., BT Group PLC in the U.K., Deutsche Telekom in Germany, T-Online in France, and
Swisscom in Switzerland, according to Microsoft.
The Xbox IPTV combo is expected to be available in time for the 2007 end-of-year holidays, Microsoft said. The technology was unveiled during Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates's CES keynote address in Las Vegas on Jan. 7.
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