Saying they wanted to appeal beyond the current small base of older users edgy about computers, Microsoft rolled out a new version of its Internet television service October 5. But that may be easier said than done, with a number of analysts saying the younger, tech-savvier audience isn’t that likely to use a service mostly useful for the older and less tech-savvy.
The MSN TV Internet & Media Player lets you surf the Web, show digital photographs, watch downloaded video clips, use email, all with your television set as your monitor. MSN TV 2 has added a port for high-speed Net connections and home networks.
The last MSN TV upgrade was two years ago, when the service had just over a million subscribers, according to Microsoft, which has renamed MSN TV from the WebTV service the company bought seven years ago.
The set-top hardware is made by Thomson under an RCA brand and costs $199.95 plus your subscription fee, Microsoft said, and features 128MB of memory and 64MB of flash memory. While it has more processing power than the first MSN TV version it contains no hard drive. The subscription fee depends upon whether you use a broadband or a dialup connection.
The further bad news: You won’t be able to watch movies downloaded from the Internet or listen to music bought from legitimate Internet music services, including Microsoft’s own, until next year, the software kings said, when copy-protection software will be added to the package. But you can play songs you burned off your own CD collection.
