Microsoft Corp. scored an interactive-guide win last week when it said Verizon Communications Inc. would use a version of its Microsoft TV software, including a guide, for the video package on its FiOS fiber-to-the-home buildout.
The arrangement is nonexclusive, but Microsoft expects wide deployment once Verizon launches digital video services later this year.
Microsoft said the software includes traditional elements of Microsoft TV and Foundation Edition, but with specialized Internet-protocol components based on Verizon’s needs.
It will run on a quadrature amplitude modulation-based, MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group) architecture. Microsoft said it has already begun integration work with Verizon and set-top supplier Motorola Inc. Microsoft, of course, has already done much of the base integration work with Motorola for its cable-related products.
Microsoft already has a trial deal with BellSouth Corp. for its IPTV product and a $400-million deal, including deployments, for SBC Communications Inc.’s IPTV offering.
The companies said the software will allow Verizon to offer personalized IPGs and advanced search and record functions, to incorporate IP content and to integrate content from other consumer devices.
