Microsoft Mediaroom Brings Connected TV to Life

Microsoft Mediaroom Brings Connected TV to Life

Microsoft's award-winning Mediaroom IPTV platform introduces exciting new features that connect consumers with their favorite shows and people from any TV in the home.

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at 2008 International CES, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of DVR Anywhere on the Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia platform, giving digital video recording (DVR) consumers the flexibility to watch their recorded TV programs on any TV in their home, further enhancing the platform's powerful connected TV capabilities. In addition, Microsoft also announced it is working with leading programmers, including Showtime Networks Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.'s TNT and CNN networks, to showcase new connected TV applications and scenarios that are enabled by the extensible Microsoft Mediaroom platform.

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With DVR Anywhere, viewers could begin watching a movie in the living room, resume viewing it on the kitchen TV during dinner, and finish watching the same movie from the comfort of their bedroom. In addition, members of a household will never have to fight over the remote control again, due to the capability to watch the same or different recorded programs from multiple TVs in the home simultaneously while recording other shows to be viewed at their convenience.

Microsoft Mediaroom's DVR Anywhere is software-based, so no TV tuners are needed. It also requires that only one set-top box in the home have a hard drive, thus lowering the expense for service providers and consumers. The DVR Anywhere feature, which will support standard and high-definition TV, is the first whole-home DVR offering currently available to IPTV service providers.

Microsoft is also partnering with Showtime Networks and Turner Broadcasting to demonstrate applications Microsoft jointly built with ES3 that showcase the potential of Microsoft Mediaroom to bring consumers new, personalized connected TV experiences. These next-generation scenarios, not yet available to consumers, will be on display in the Microsoft booth at the 2008 International CES show, and include the following:

-- NASCAR on TNT. The real-time excitement and features of NASCAR.com
will be brought to the TV viewer. While watching NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series races broadcast by TNT, fans can enhance their viewing
experience by choosing between several different live in-car driver
cameras and driver audio, while simultaneously watching the main race.
-- Showtime Interactive Boxing. This application brings the ringside
experience to the viewer's living room. Using some of the many
features available, viewers can choose from between several live audio
feeds while watching the boxing match.
-- CNN election coverage. This demonstration highlights the potential
advantages of Microsoft Mediaroom in delivering real-time information
such as news and commentary on current events. For instance, viewers
may be able to access the richness of CNN.com's 2008 election coverage
while watching CNN's television broadcast, and possibly even
participate in interactive straw votes for candidates.

In addition, Microsoft will show an application called My Pad, designed and built by emuse technologies, that connects viewers to their social networks through the TV via Windows Live services and also enables them to share personal pages that exist online and on the TV. Finally, Microsoft and ChoiceStream Inc. will demonstrate a personalized TV and video-on-demand recommendations application tailored to each viewer's unique tastes and preferences.

"With DVR Anywhere and the promise of new applications that can further extend Microsoft Mediaroom's potential in the future, Microsoft is delivering on its promise to make the television experience truly social, personal and connected," said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of the Connected Television Division at Microsoft. "Consumer demand for connected TV is here, and Microsoft Mediaroom continues to offer new ways for viewers to experience TV as part of their connected, digital lifestyle while also enabling the very best digital TV service available anywhere."

"Consumers are coming to expect connected TV services from their TV provider," said Pete Dailey, senior research analyst with Stratecast Research. "With Microsoft Mediaroom, consumers are promised new ways to extend their TV experience beyond the living room, making the TV a major hub of the connected entertainment lifestyle. This innovation enables carriers to differentiate video offerings based on very compelling connected functionality rather than simply competing on price."

More than 20 of the world's leading service providers across four continents have selected the Microsoft Mediaroom platform for their digital TV offerings. The Microsoft Mediaroom platform will be on display at the International CES 2008 show at booth No. 7144 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

About Microsoft Mediaroom

The award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform is driving the future of television by enabling broadband service providers to deliver new connected TV and entertainment experiences to consumers worldwide. Microsoft Mediaroom provides new ways for consumers to experience TV as part of their connected, digital lifestyle while also creating new business opportunities for broadband service providers, hardware manufacturers, content creators, advertisers and application developers. Over 20 of the world's leading service providers across four continents have selected the Microsoft Mediaroom platform to drive their digital TV services. More information on Microsoft Mediaroom and the opportunity to deliver the best in TV plus all your media in one place is available at http://www.microsoft.com/TV and http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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Source: Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Microsoft TV Team, Weber Shandwick, +1-425-452-5400,
mstv@webershandwick.com

Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/
http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com/

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