BellSouth moving ahead on Microsoft IPTV

BellSouth today announced a technical trial of Microsoft’s TV IP Television Edition software platform, taking the next step toward developing an IPTV product.

The company said it is completing its lab testing of the IPTV hardware and software and will begin installing the Microsoft set-tops in the homes of trial customers for further evaluation.

SBC Communications has already struck a $400 million deal with Microsoft to use its IPTV software. Forrester Research Vice President Ted Schadler believes Microsoft will court the telephone companies to gain its entrée into U.S. living rooms. "Microsoft has been trying to get into the living room for a decade now," he said. "They invested millions in the cable industry but don’t have anything to show for it."

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, in his ninth keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, made it clear his company is still hoping to move beyond the PC, devoting his speech to touting the "digital lifestyle" and all the different products Microsoft makes to enable it.

Gates focused heavily on the ability to integrate different systems, eliminating complexity (and multiple remotes) by enabling consumers to easily listen to music, watch TV or surf the Web from the couch.

Unfortunately for Gates, the speech may be forever known for the system glitches that popped up, including a notorious "blue screen of death" that failed to yield to a slideshow of Gates and talk show host Conan O’Brien that had been planned.