Microsoft News Tracker

Jonathan Liss at Seeking Alpha reveals some executive comments made yesterday on AT&T’s earnings call that reveal a rough patch in their joint IPTV efforts:

AT&T is blaming delays in the successful rollout of its IPTV service on glitches in the Microsoft software on which it operates. AT&T’s in-home TV service was supposed to be available in 15 markets by the end of 2006; it has instead only been rolled out in 11, and in limited form. As a result, the Wall Street Journal reports that AT&T CFO Rick Lindner has decided against heavily marketing the service so as not to increase demand until the problems are solved. But AT&T stopped short of losing hope in its partnership with Microsoft or in the effectiveness of its software.

That’s not good news, but delays and glitches always seem to be the norm in video on demand efforts, not just those involving Microsoft.

Update 1/29: More details on the status of Microsoft’s IPTV partnerships from John Blau at InfoWorld including:

AT&T is one of more than 15 network operators in the U.S. and Europe deploying Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software. Several of them, including Swisscom and Deutsche Telekom, have experienced technical hiccups with the platform, forcing them to delay commercial service.

But the two European operators have been able to overcome their technical issues to offer service.

David Lawsky and Sabina Zawadzki at Reuters:

A coalition of rivals charged on Friday that Microsoft Corp.’s new Vista operating system coming out next week will perpetuate practices found illegal in the European Union nearly three years ago.

The group, which includes IBM, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Adobe, Oracle and Red Hat, said its complaints made last year are yet to be addressed just days before Vista is due for release.
…
“Microsoft has clearly chosen to ignore the fundamental principles of the Commission’s March 2004 decision,” said Simon Awde, chairman of the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS).

Microsoft said it had no comment. The Commission was not ready to act.

“We are in the process of examining this complaint,” a Commission spokesman said. ECIS disclosed on Friday that the latest additions to its complaint were made only last month, after it studied Vista.
…
Other complainants in the group include Corel, RealNetworks , Linspire and Opera.

The ECIS press release is here and technologies specifically called out are XAML and Open XML. The European Commission always seems to move at a snail’s place, but they do move eventually so their reaction to Vista continues to be something to watch.