middleware

Microsoft Encourages Migration to Mediaroom

Bernie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:38:40 -0400

Microsoft introduced a new program to “help” video service providers who currently use another middleware platform to migrate to their Mediaroom middleware platform. In a company statement, Microsoft explains that “…the program provides guidelines and solutions for service providers considering upgrading their IPTV platform. The Microsoft Mediaroom Migration Program delivers a structured assessment process and analytical tools for migration, including business and technical workshops to review set-top-box portability, network compatibility and audio-visual head-end interoperability.” How nice of them. Middleware providers have become quite the aggressive bunch. The competitive landscape seems to grow by the month, with Ericsson as the latest entrant into the somewhat crowded middleware space.

It's Getting Crowded in Here With Middleware Options

Bernie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:03:37 -0400

According to several reports, Ericsson, through its TandbergTV subsidiary, will enter the IPTV middleware business at the upcoming IBC Conference. Ericsson will join Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent, Thomson, and Nokia Siemens, among others, all of whom are chasing the global tier one and two carrier market for IPTV middleware. Seems a little crowded to me. Is there really enough business to go around for all these heavyweights? Alan Delaney, business development director for Ericsson subsidiary Tandberg TV, tells Light Reading, “We've been working on this in a number of different geographies and using expertise from a number of different parts of the company. It's part of the drive to enable an end-to-end service across multiple platforms. It's IMS enabled, and is aimed at operators that need scalability and an open standards-based platform -- it's based on specifications from the Open IPTV Forum."

Microsoft Unveils Mediaroom

Bernie — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:45:20 -0400

Microsoft introduced its new branded IPTV middleware as Microsoft Mediaroom. The change also introduces a variety of new features, with an overriding theme of converging web based content with broadcast video content. The new features attempt to bridge the gap between traditional television content and the exploding availability of Internet distributed and user generated content. For example, Mediaroom allows personal media sharing of PC stored content including music and photos on the television. Other interesting features include the ability for service providers to launch customizable video on demand portals, and Multiview, which provides multiple picture-in-picture (PIP) opportunities.

The announcement also reveals the invitation by Microsoft for third party application development, or as they describe it Multimedia Application Environment. The hope is that third party developers will begin to bring differentiating IPTV applications to market, creating competitive advantage for service providers utilizing Mediaroom.

While it is certainly too early to tell whether this announcement will amount to anything of material value, it is encouraging. Depending on your perspective, you may look at this and say, “about time!” IPTV operators are actively searching for applications that will provide separation from the MSO and DBS crowd. IPTV technology has promised that since its inception, but hasn’t quite delivered on it yet. Announcements like this hopefully are an indication that the tide is turning. Now if Microsoft would only pay attention to IPTV operators with less than a potential subscriber base in the hundreds of thousands or millions …

Find out more at this Microsoft press release.

Also, read more analysis at this ScreenPlays online post.