LOS ANGELES, Dec. 15, 1999 — Today at the Western Show, Microsoft Corp. announced that The Kiss Principle Inc. is one of the first to develop compelling new applications running on the Microsoft® TV platform. The Kiss Principle has teamed with Microsoft to develop an application that will enable viewers to chat with other viewers in either a television channel-based or television program-based chat room while watching their favorite programming. TV chat provides an innovative solution for TV viewers to engage with programming utilizing either a keyboard or a remote control device. This pioneering technology will be offered to network operators who license Microsoft client/server software for enhanced television as a way to create new revenue streams and to bring new features to the television that can be delivered to consumers. The first demonstration of TV chat will be shown in Microsoft’s booth 2311 in the south hall during the show.
The new TV chat application unifies chat and television programming and allows television viewers to participate in chat sessions with other viewers watching the same television show. In an environment where popular television shows like
“Friends,” “Ally McBeal”
and
“The X-Files”
develop strong viewer followings, TV chat will deliver an increased sense of community with the program by providing a dynamic and friendly interface to programming content and information.
“As a developer of strategic convergence technology, The Kiss Principle is pleased to work with Microsoft during this early stage of enhanced television development,”
said Steven Ericsson-Zenith, CEO and chief technology officer, The Kiss Principle.
“Our collaboration makes enhanced television viewing even more compelling to television audiences, and we hope the interactive experience it provides will become one viewers won’t want to live without.”
“TV chat is one of many innovative applications Microsoft plans to offer to network operators through our strong ties with the independent software development community,”
said Phil Goldman, general manager for the Microsoft TV Platforms group.
“Making chat available on television in a universal way is fun for consumers and great for programming.”
About the Microsoft TV Platform
The Microsoft TV platform is a comprehensive software solution for the television industry that makes television more useful, fun and engaging for consumers and creates significant new economic opportunities for network operators and their suppliers of programming, hardware and software. The client software, Microsoft TV, operates a range of TV-centric appliances, from advanced set-top boxes to integrated televisions. Microsoft TV Server is a suite of software components that offers network operators the tools to provision, manage and operate a large-scale, commercial-grade enhanced TV service.
The Microsoft TV platform supports worldwide digital TV broadcast standards, including DVB, ATSC and ARIB. It also supports commonly used Internet standards such as HTML, JavaScript and Dynamic HTML, as well as all interactive content authored according to the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF) standard.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
The information contained in this document relates to a prerelease product that may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the product when first commercially released. This document is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to this document or the information contained in it.
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Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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