MICROSOFT AND PACE ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT

MICROSOFT and Pace Micro Technology, one of the leading pioneers in digital set-top boxes, have announced the first implementation of Microsoft TV technology following last year's memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The MOU enabled Pace to integrate Microsoft TV Advanced software into Pace's set-top box platform. The alliance is supported by a development agreement and a licensing agreement.
The alliance will enable UK-based developers Pace to integrate Microsoft TV Advanced software into their set-top boxes and deliver a broad range of interactive TV features and capabilities, from enhanced broadcasting to digital video recording.
The Pace set-top boxes with Microsoft TV will be deployed for the first time in the second half of 2001, as part of Microsoft's existing deployment with TV Cabo to cable subscribers across Portugal.
The alliance enables Pace to implement Microsoft's open architecture platform, delivering on the MOU between the two companies to develop a wide range of applications for digital television. It marks one of the first adaptations of Microsoft TV Advanced software to include full support for the Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) standard.
Tim Fern, Chief Technology Officer at Pace, said: "The new alliance with Microsoft is a significant win for us. We are fully committed to developing and integrating Microsoft TV Advanced technology into our set-top box platform, and this new alliance will allow us, as a licensed supplier, to deliver the highest-specification open platform possible for third-party innovation across Europe." (CD)