Microsoft Offers New TV Remote

Techtree News Staff

May 8, 2006

Microsoft India has unveiled an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) for Windows XP Media Center PCs that will allow Indian users to control their television entertainment experience.

With EPG, viewers of TV through Media Center PCs can search live and scheduled TV programs on various channels up to 15 days.

EPG also lets users search for their favourite program, movie, or actor by entering keywords as also program their PCs to record or playback these shows at their convenience, thus making the very concept of prime time viewing redundant.

EPG, which could be accessed through a dial-up or cable Internet connection, is an on screen interactive guide to television programs that for the first time in India will allow viewers to navigate, select, discover, and record shows across more than 80 TV channels in the country, including 35 regional channels.

Not only this, the guide also provides viewers with a short description on the program start time, duration, censorship classification, and genre. And to make the guide easier to scan, viewers can hide channels that are not included in their TV service package, or the ones that they do not watch regularly.

The service will be integrated into the Windows XP Media Center PCs, and will be available to users for free.

Moreover, combined with the DVR (digital video recording) capabilities of Media Center, viewers will be able to search for and record a single program or an entire series, with just the press of a button. Users can even burn these recordings to create their own collection of favorites such as movies, television series, sports events etc.

According to sources, the Media Center PC combines the functionality of a PC, TV, radio, DVD player, and media player, and serves as a home entertainment hub. Microsoft was the first company to bring an integrated PC platform to the market, which also provided the ability to Pause Live TV. EPG adds to this functionality, by serving as an electronic search engine, which promises to make life simpler for everyone from an avid TV watcher to an occasional TV viewer.

Microsoft plans to begin an awareness campaign comprising advertising and other activities to build on this category.