GigaOM

The much ballyhooed IPTV trial by Microsoft in Switzerland along with partner, Swisscom AG’s Bluewin business unit has encountered a few early integration problems, reports Light Reading. Microsoft is providing the software and other systems to enable and manage the service. The trial involving 600 homes was due to start last month, but Microsoft TV’s marketing chief, Ed Graczyk, tells Light Reading that “there have been some last-minute glitches,” and that only a small number of homes are currently testing the service. The PC users know the problems with the Microsoft platforms, what with patches and all, and the blue screen of death. Now the TV viewers are going to come to terms with that as well. Of course in the video triple play business, other middleware options from the likes of Alcatel and Myrio exist. Microsoft had lured about ten carriers, though most are conducting trials. Canada’s BCE, India’s Reliance Infocomm, and Telecom Italia SpA are three of them. If anyone remembers, Microsoft made a lot of noise in the set-top box business, signed early deals with cable guys and invested billions only to walk away with a bloody nose.