Report: Microsoft To Launch Windows TV

Perhaps taking advantage of Apple's absence from CES, Microsoft is reportedly announcing a Windows-based set-top box, according to the Seattle Times

The set-top boxes will cost $200 and use Windows Media Center, the platform for its desktop TV capacity, as its primary interface.
CES 2011

"Microsoft's going to make a splash in this market with a stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs," writes ST's Brier Dudley. "The software is a version of its embedded device software, overlaid with the Windows Media Center interface, with media streaming and remote-control capabilities."

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It's no secret that Microsoft wants to integrate Windows software into the lucrative TV market for years. Microsoft recently flirted with the idea by adding live-streaming ESPN content to an Xbox Live 2010 update.

In November, Reuters, citing unnamed Microsoft employees, said Microsoft was launching an IPTV service "in a year".

If Windows TV does happen, it will face stiff competition from earlier movers Google and Apple.

Last month Apple said it expected Apple TV sales to top 1 million in 2010.

Meanwhile Google TV has been available on Sony TV and Blu-ray players, but the company reportedly asked manufacturers like Toshiba and LG Electronics to delay launching their new Google TV sets at CES this week. That didn't stopped Vizio, a nascent Google TV partner, from showing off its ultra-widescreen HDTVs and even a 71-inch 3D model.