Microsoft's IPTV middleware has been the longtime whipping boy of the IPTV industry in the U.S., but it looks like Redmond is winning a whole lot of praise in France. T-Online France has been installing IPTV at its Club Internet subsidiary using Microsoft's middleware, to great effect: ip-label, Witbe and Journal du Net have each bestowed awards on the service. ip-label ranked Club Internet's service above major rivals Orange, Tele2, Neuf, Alice and Free. Microsoft's platform came out on top because of service availability, quality of image, percentage of video flux, channel "zapping" time, broadcast video delay and overall quality. Witbe echoed those qualities in the middleware by granting it best-in-class awards for TV service availability, channel zapping time, quality of image and image stability.
The Register also reports that it has heard rumors that the AT&T lab is working on an alternative series of technologies so it can drop Microsoft's middleware at the drop of a hat. AT&T's service is said to be far more challenging to work with than other Microsoft partners, however.
For more on Microsoft's middleware praise:
- see this article from The Register