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International HD news roundup

by Richard Lawler posted May 17th 2009 at 4:43AM


Here at Engadget HD, we'd prefer not to just focus on high-def happenings in the US of A. Thus, we round up the best of the best from the international front each week and present it here, bundled together in a single, easy to digest list. If something went down in your corner of the globe over the past seven days, let the rest of the world know it in comments. 'Til next week, Sanga'ay hanto!

Read - AETN signs carriage agreement with Taiwan Broadband Communications
Read - AAAN enters Taiwan
Read - Multichoice HD PVR update positively received (South Africa)
Read - Central European Expansion for HISTORY & HISTORY HD
Read - History HD confirmed for Skylink
Read - Microsoft Mediaroom Comes to Russia
Read - High Definition a key driver for UK Projector market
Read - ITV, C4 worry over Freeview HD funding
Read - El Salvador adopts ATSC digital TV standard

Microsoft, AT&T plug PlayReady / Silverlight DRM into U-verse without saying why

by Richard Lawler posted Mar 31st 2009 at 5:07PM

Microsoft's PlayReady DRM hasn't exactly set the world on fire since first popping up over two years ago on a bevy of wireless carriers, so we were surprised by today's news that it's being integrated into the MediaRoom IPTV platform, specifically AT&T's U-verse service. A Microsoft exec quoted saying "Through the power of software such as PlayReady and Mediaroom, AT&T will bring its customers an exciting new range of services and content" doesn't help, since that power has lead to very little over the last two years with one exception. This is the same Windows Media Player 10 compatible DRM used by Silverlight plugins, like the ones for Netflix and Sky Player TV, so while we'll make the leap of dreaming about Instant Watch coming to AT&T set-top boxes, reality is probably not only something entirely different, but also considerably more like the Xbox 360 IPTV fantasy & other Mediaroom features that have yet to see any release.

Xbox 360 IPTV dream not dead yet

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 10th 2009 at 5:02PM


Remember Xbox 360 IPTV rollout? Though the wonderful fantasy of replacing our stodgy cable DVRs with an all-in-one Left 4 Dead playing / channel surfing beast has dried up like a raisin in the sun, Dave Zatz confirmed with Microsoft booth reps that BT is (still) planning on deploying the service, and despite the NXE the UI will retain the look of the current Motorola boxes pictured above. Now that U-Verse has delivered Total Home DVR and upgraded beyond 1 HD stream at a time, maybe they can get to work on this deployment next?

How long does it take to change the channel? About 1.9 seconds

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 17th 2008 at 2:35PM

Thanks to TV watching robots and other Quality of Service technology, French analysts at Witbe have determined the average channel change takes 1.9 seconds, using the up/down button on a remote, 3.4 if it's chosen directly by number. Whether this will come into effect the next time you choose a service provider is hard to say, but after measuring 30 different services in 16 countries it apparently found Microsoft Mediaroom-based systems the fastest at .6 seconds, on average, with satellite systems taking twice as long as IPTV providers. Just a bit to think about the next time RUWT? alerts you to an upset in progress and you're frantically punching the remote to click over in time to see the top-ranked team go down.

Microsoft Mediaroom: IPTV gets a makeover

by Ryan Block posted Jun 18th 2007 at 3:14AM Breaking News


We know Microsoft loves TV, between its UltimateTV and Foundation set-top box businesses, continued commitment to the Media Center platform, impending Xbox 360 IPTV rollout (and current downloadable video content over Live), and its nascent Microsoft TV IPTV biz. In fact, it's pretty clear that connected television is the direction the company thinks the medium is headed, and it seems ready to make another push on its core IPTV platform (Microsoft TV IPTV Edition) to the masses by rebranding it as Microsoft Mediaroom and expanding its functionality. The new version of the platform, announced today, features picture in picture (with "enhanced MultiView"), networked media sharing, interactive services, and finally supplementary digital terrestrial television support. Will it affect you, the end user? Only if you're lucky enough to live in one of the select few markets that has IPTV integration -- none of us are, and we're none too bitter about it, too.

[Thanks, Arneh]




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