Microsoft Silverlight Goes System on Chip (SoC)

Microsoft has announced that Silverlight is to be embedded as a System on Chip (SoC) solution for manufacturers and developers of set-top boxes, Blu-ray disc players, internet connected TVs and other connected home devices. Microsoft said they are working with Intel and Broadcom on the new architecture and visitor to this week’s NAB Show in Las Vega will see a demo version of the technology.

This is a move I have been seeing over the last year. Where many web and media software are appearing in the home as embedded technology.  Earlier this year Adobe announced their partnership with ST-Ericsson and STMicroelectronics develop an Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR platform for home devices and mobile phones. Yahoo has also gone a similar route by partnering with MIPS to integrate the Yahoo Widget Engine in some of MIPS connected home devices.

In the brief Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie said "The platform includes all the benefits of Silverlight and IIS Smooth Streaming, such as adaptive bitrate streaming over standard Internet connections, DVR-like capabilities, and support for Microsoft PlayReady digital rights management, on Broadcom BCM7420- and Intel CE4100-based devices for the connected home.”
 
The solution is part of Microsoft’s release of Internet Information Services (IIS) Media Services 4, and the upcoming release of Silverlight Media Framework 2.0. The release of the Silverlight SoC solution is expected to be available for hardware and device manufacturers to evaluate by the end o this year.

See Also: MIPS Android Partnership Delivers Andriod Set-top Box