AOL Time Warner to Test Microsoft's Cable Guide
Microsoft Corp., which has been struggling for years to become a major software developer for the cable industry's digital set-top boxes, plans to announce Monday that AOL Time Warner Inc.'s cable unit will try out its interactive program guide.
The announcement marks the second time in two months that a major U.S. cable operator has agreed to test Microsoft's latest generation of products. In June, Comcast Corp., the country's largest cable company, said it would test Microsoft's Foundation Edition software, which enables operators to add interactive advertisements, snazzier program-guide graphics and other features.
Software for digital set-top boxes determines the look of the program guide and how new features being added to digital cable are packaged and presented. It is a growing business as tens of millions of cable subscribers switch from analog to digital cable.
Microsoft executives say their software will give operators new tools for doing such things as promoting the latest movies on demand on program guides and even tailoring the promotions during the day to the age group most likely to be watching TV at the time.
Microsoft has been trying to break into this market since 1997, when company founder Bill Gates made a $1 billion investment in Comcast. But the software company initially developed software on the incorrect expectation that the cable industry would aggressively roll out a range of sophisticated new interactive services for digital subscribers. Microsoft's earlier generation of software offered a wide range of features, such as e-mail and Web browsing, that anticipated operators would soon introduce more powerful set-top boxes.
But most cable operators never introduced a number of anticipated interactive services or migrated to the new boxes because of capital constraints. Microsoft initially "had visions a little bit ahead of [its] time," says Moshe Lichtman , a Microsoft TV vice president.
Microsoft is describing its new generation of products as "thinner," meaning they can operate on millions of low-tech set-top boxes that already are deployed.
Digital cable subscribers, using the Microsoft program guide and Foundation software, will be able to navigate more easily through hundreds of channels, movie offerings and other features, executives said. That should increase the number of on-demand movies purchased and help operators retain digital subscribers, who have been disconnecting the service at higher rates than many cable companies anticipated, they said. The Microsoft software "is easier to use," says Mr. Lichtman. "It's faster and it's more entertaining."
But Microsoft still faces stiff competition. A number of other companies are also developing new set-top box software including market leader Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. "We still have along way ahead of us," Mr. Lichtman says.
AOL试用微软互动式节目向导软件
多年以来，微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)一直在努力成为有线电视行业数字机顶盒软件的主要开发商。而该公司准备在今天宣布：美国在线时代华纳(AOL Time Warner Inc.)旗下的有线电视子公司将试用微软开发的互动式节目向导软件。
这一消息标志著两个月来已有第二家主要的美国有线电视运营商同意试用微软的新一代产品。在今年6月，全美最大的有线电视公司康卡斯特(Comcast Corp.)已表示愿意试用微软的Foundation Edition软件，该软件可让有线电视运营商增添互动广告等功能。
数字机顶盒软件决定了节目向导的图形界面，也决定了数字有线电视新功能的显示方式。随著数千万有线电视用户从收看模拟信号有线电视过渡到收看数字信号，数字机顶盒软件业务的规模也在日益增长。 微软的一些经理称，Foundation Edition软件将为有线电视运营商提供新的工具，让运营商可以在节目向导上为最新的视频点播作宣传。
尽管两家大公司愿意试用微软产品，但微软在数字机顶盒软件领域依然面临激烈的竞争。其他一些软件公司也在开发新式机顶盒软件，并正努力争取有线电视运营商试用自己的软件。微软电视软件部门的副总裁Moshe Lichtman说，该公司在这一领域依然任重道远。
