Microsoft updates, renames IPTV platform

The updated software, formerly called Microsoft TV IPTV Edition, adds functions including picture-in-picture capability, along with music and photo sharing within a home, and digital video recording. IPTV delivers television programming to users via the Internet, allowing for more interactive services such as video on demand .

The update is aimed at expanding Microsoft's reach into the so-called digital home, allowing a user's various devices to interact, and to connect hardware, such as the XBox 360, with online services like Windows Live. Bill Gates outlined the company's digital home strategy at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Microsoft announced in May that it had formed a joint venture with Taiwan's Chungwa Telecom Co. Ltd. to bring VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) to SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) and IPTV to customers in Taiwan and China.