the fudure of TV??

[rang1995]

Verizon Picks Microsoft TV Box

By Scott Moritz
Senior Writer
1/28/2005 5:03 PM EST
Click here for more stories by Scott Moritz

Verizon (VZ:NYSE - news - research) has jumped into Microsoft's (MSFT:Nasdaq - news - research) Internet TV camp.

The nation's largest phone company joins Bell peer SBC (SBC:NYSE - news - research) in choosing Microsoft as its TV set-top software provider.

Though a consumer offering of Verizon's video-over-fiber-optic-cable service isn't expected until at least late this year, Verizon clearly wants to show it is making progress on the advanced services front.

The software is designed to allow next generation set-top boxes to manage a variety of TV features like video-on-demand, high-definition programming and digital recording. Both Verizon and SBC are expanding their fiber optic networks to offer video and compete with cable companies.

BellSouth (BLS:NYSE - news - research) has been testing the Microsoft boxes, and in November SBC said it was committed to using Microsoft IP TV platform.

Verizon had planned to make the announcement Monday, but rushed out the release Friday after reports first appeared in BusinessWeek and LightReading.com.

Microsoft closed up 7 cents at $26.18 and Verizon dropped 24 cents to $35.63 Friday.

 

[branchbouncer]

Verizons wireless service stinks thier land line phone service stinks what do you think the quality of thier tv will be

 

[rang1995]

it' not verizon here it's MICROSOFT thats the killer.. Customize








Associated Press
Verizon to Opt for Microsoft TV Tech
Friday January 28, 9:59 pm ET
By Bruce Meyerson, AP Business Writer
Verizon Becoming Third Big Telecom to Use Microsoft Technology to Roll Out Television Service


NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon Communications Inc. plans to use Microsoft Corp. technology for its rollout of television service over a new fiber-optic network, becoming the third major telephone company to help fulfill Microsoft's long-stymied bid to barge into the TV business.
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The software maker's platform initially will be used to provide an interactive program guide, high-definition television, digital video recording and video-on-demand for Verizon's FiOS TV service, which is due to launch in undisclosed markets around mid-year.

Verizon, which is spending billions to replace its copper phone lines with speedy fiberglass cables, also expects to exploit the technology's Internet-based capabilities to roll out more advanced interactive services down the road, the companies planned to announce Monday.

The deal with Verizon comes on the heels of a contract from SBC Communications Inc. to use Microsoft's platform to launch that telephone company's planned TV service and an agreement with BellSouth Corp. to conduct trials with the technology.

By signing up the nation's three biggest local phone companies, Microsoft has taken a sharp detour to achieve in just three months what it failed to accomplish in a decade, bypassing the traditional cable establishment to establish a serious beachhead in the video entertainment industry.

Prior to the deals with the three Bells, Microsoft's only notable TV success in the United States is a new set-top box and video recorder with its software being offered in Washington state by Comcast Corp., the nation's biggest cable company.

And in other countries, Microsoft's technology is being used by some cable providers in Mexico and in trials and tests with the telephone companies Bell Canada, SwissCom AG of Switzerland and Telecom Italia of Italy. An earlier foray into Portugal was withdrawn.

While the latest deals aren't obviously lucrative -- SBC agreed to pay just $400 million over 10 years and no terms were disclosed for the Verizon or BellSouth agreements -- the contracts may position Microsoft at the focal point of the expected convergence of TV and the Internet, helping replicate and reinforce its dominant position in the computer industry.

That convergence calls for a television signal to be transmitted in the language of the Internet, known as Internet Protocol, or IP.

"IPTV" works much the same as the Internet-based phone service known as VoIP, or voice over Internet, which breaks calls into data packets, sends them over the Internet and reassembles them on the other end.

The advantage can be twofold, but there are questions about whether IPTV can replicate the immediacy and quality of a traditional cable feed.

One benefit is that IPTV can require less bandwidth than existing cable systems, which shoot every channel available to a customer in a continuous stream all the way to that viewer's set-top box. The viewer then selects a channel to watch, typically using a remote control and a set-top box.

With IPTV, only the desired channels are transmitted to the home. In theory, that allows the company selling programming through an IPTV system to offer a limitless choice of channels.

That a major appeal for SBC.

Unlike Verizon, SBC is only replacing major copper arteries with fiber across its local phone network, which dominates the Midwest, Southwest and California. Because copper provides less bandwidth than fiber, SBC is looking to IPTV to enable it to serve homes which may have several TVs turned on at a single time.

By SBC's calculation, Microsoft's platform will allow a home to receive three standard definition TV signals, one high-definition channel, and high-speed Internet access at the same time.

With Verizon's pricier all-fiber strategy, capacity is not an issue.

That company, which provides local phone service across most of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, plans to deliver television using the traditional cable transmission of every channel at once, thereby minimizing the chance of quality issues such a potential lag when changing channels.

In that case, IPTV's main benefit is its ability to deliver interactive services such as viewing an event from multiple angles, doing a Web search related to the program, having caller ID pop up on the TV, and programming a video recorder from a cell phone.

 

[rang1995]

It would be great (since they were talking about WM-9)If dolan could partner up with MSFT

 

[Mr. Biggles]

Verizons wireless service stinks thier land line phone service stinks what do you think the quality of thier tv will be

Really?? Well, the opposite feeling here...after years of land line and DSL service from Verizon we couldn't be happier. Never ever an issue.
DSL service @ $30/month vs $50/month for cable internet access....easy choice for us.

 

[Lobstah]

I agree. Landline, and wireless. Wish I COULD get DSL at my location...I'd jump in a skinnit (minute less than a second).


Lob

 

[calikarim]

Why didn't verizon buy voom

Why is verizon so stupid to pay Microsoft. For a mere $200 million they could have their own satellite infrastructure, to provide HD and also internet services. They could bundle HD and internet, voip, video on demand, for a small sum. Why are they so stupid. all of they Microsoft, verizon, all these companies could have bought voom. If i had $200 million i would have bought voom. This is the saddest failure in history. Everyone that loves HD is a loser with voom gone. the impetus for Hd has suffered a severe blow

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

Oh great.

Now we can get the Blus Screen 'O Death on our TV's!!!

 

[ROLLZROYCE]

Thats all Microsoft needs is more money. I hate microsoft and everything they market. Windows is an inferior operating system, and now he has to bring his crap to video. Screw Bill Gates!

 

[CDH]

Why is verizon so stupid to pay Microsoft. For a mere $200 million they could have their own satellite infrastructure, to provide HD and also internet services. They could bundle HD and internet, voip, video on demand, for a small sum. Why are they so stupid. all of they Microsoft, verizon, all these companies could have bought voom. If i had $200 million i would have bought voom. This is the saddest failure in history. Everyone that loves HD is a loser with voom gone. the impetus for Hd has suffered a severe blow

Well... one reason that Verizon might want to go over fiber rather than satellite could be that they cover major metropolitan areas where line-of-sight can be tricky for dbs systems. They're already spending lots of money on installing fiber for broadband data systems, so isn't it logical to use that bandwidth for other services (TV) as well? The on-demand capabilities of fiber vs. satellite are the most attractive to me.

Regarding Verizon as a company... I only had them once as a local phone provider and they seemed to suffer from the same issues as other local phone networks: unresponsive customer service and high fees. But I haven't had any experience with them recently.

CDH.