May 17, 2008

Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV: Code Your Own Applications For Your Favorite TV Shows

The lucky guys from Gizmodo had the honor of visiting Microsoft last week and getting a first hand look at some of the new Mediaroom IPTV features. Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV is like brings TV into your home much like cable/satellite does, except the Mediaroom solution does so over the internet. In the US, it's found commercially by way of AT&T U-Verse, and uses a simple set-top box to bring a high-def picture to your HDTV that's actually better than cable because it's not compressed.

Currently it offers some pretty cool features such as quick channel changing, multi-room viewing, simultaneous multiple channel recording without any memory limits, and even multiple picture-in-picture. AT&T isn't offering multi-room viewing until the latter half of 2008, but that's of no interest compared to the new Mediaroom feature: applications. Giz gave a couple of examples of different ways apps can be used that really show off how interactive Microsoft's IPTV service really is.

By pulling info straight off the internet, you could actually pull out fighter stats, or switch to a different camera angle when watching boxing. Nascar fans could actually change their viewing perspective to that of their favorite drivers cockpit cam. Most of the apps will be created by each shows' producer and then sold to the service provider for you to use, but you also can create your own apps and we're sure we'll see from pretty cool creations from Mediaroom users the world over. The problem at the moment is that no service providers actually offer the applications on their set top boxes, but we're sure that'll change in the very near future.

Via Gizmodo