Seattle Times: Microsoft likely to announce an HDTV set-top box at CES

In what apparently will be a marked attempt to reap the benefit of Apple's decision to refrain from participating in the Consumers Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft will reportedly announce a Windows-based HDTV set-top box at the trade show.

According to a Seattle Times report by Brier Dudley, the primary interface of $200-priced set-top boxes which Microsoft will likely announce at the CES will be Windows Media Center - which is the company's platform for its desktop TV capacity, and runs on Windows Embedded Compact 7. The software was showcased by Microsoft earlier in 2010.

Noting that "Microsoft's going to make a splash in this market with a stripped-down version of Windows tailored for set-top boxes and connected TVs," Dudley further said in the report: "The software is a version of its embedded device software, overlaid with the Windows Media Center interface, with media streaming and remote-control capabilities."

The Microsoft set-top box - which is scheduled for release later this year - will directly take on Google's Google TV, and Apple's second-generation Apple TV; both of which were launched in 2010.

Highlighting the potential challenge that the Microsoft set-top box will pose to the new Apple and Google TV devices, the Seattle Times report noted that since the Windows boxes will have a sophisticated and familiar TV-program guide, it will be easier for the users to blend as well as navigate both online and broadcast content.

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