Verizon Steps in to Fix Microsoft's IPTV

NYGiant writes "Microsoft IPTV isn't cutting it for Verizon, Ars Technica reports, so they've taken over parts of the project. Verizon is in a rush to perfect its IPTV service, which is based on Microsoft's IPTV software. The problem is that to run well, Microsoft's software needs more memory than Verizon's set top boxes ship with. From the article: 'Under the terms of that deal, Verizon would use Microsoft's Foundation Edition middleware stack. Microsoft would also supply a set of customer-facing applications. While Foundation Edition remains in use by Verizon, the development of the other applications was taken over by Verizon engineers.'"

Re:Another blow for outsourcing

[WhiteWolf666]

Did you read the article????

This is most CERTAINLY not about the ills of out-sourcing.

How did Verizon get the job done?

Hint: They did it in India/Texas.
Hint2: They didn't use Verizon employees.

This is most certainly a lesson in how Microsoft sucks.

A Good Day For Microsoft

[mpapet]

They have Verizon backed so far into a corner that it appears verizon can't walk away. MS is laughing all the way to the bank on this one.

The license costs that one monopoly is paying the other will, no doubt, lead to a -really- expensive set top box.

a business plan?

[geoff lane]

"The real goal is to figure out a way to get an 'operating system'
royalty per TV. 10's of millions of TV's per year at $10-$20 per TV
is a nice little 'operating system' business." -- Jeff Raikes of Microsoft

Not IPTV!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just for the record, FIOS TV is not IPTV. IPTV is delivery of television over the internet. Verizon's FIOS delivers TV over fiber, than to coax--exactly as cable systems do. The difference is that the termination of the fiber in FIOS is at the side of the house, while in a traditional cable environment, the fiber is terminated further upstream (at a central office of sorts).

Re:Shocked, I say!

[Wesley Felter]

But in cable boxes, Microsoft's market share is near zero. The hardware is all made by Cisco/Scienfic Atlanta and Motorola/General Instrument, and I'd guess that they also have their own software stacks.