The growing popularity of interactive Web sites has set off a race among software companies, each pitching their own development toolkit.
Some of the largest makers of chips and interactive TV software have teamed to design Linux-based set-top boxes, aiming to create a lower-cost product than that from software giant Microsoft. Motorola and Pace Micro Technology represent the set-top box makers in the 24-member venture, dubbed TV Linux Alliance. By creating a standardised framework for Linux-based software for interactive TV, the alliance hopes to bring the technology to market more quickly and with lower development costs and fewer integration issues than by working alone. "The current operating systems were not particularly built to foresee such developments'' as increased processing power and memory capacity, particularly when manufacturers begin adding more networking interfaces and peripheral devices to set-top boxes, Mitchell Kertzman, CEO of Liberate Technologies, said at a news conference. The alliance includes Microsoft's rivals in the interactive television market, such as Liberate Technologies, OpenTV and ACTV, in addition to chipmakers STMicroelectronics, Conexant Systems and Broadcom. Other participants include Sun Microsystems; digital video recorder makers TiVo and ReplayTV; high-speed Internet company Excite@Home, whose investors include cable operators AT&T, Comcast and Cox Communications; and Lineo, a developer of Linux operating systems. Jerry Krasner, executive director of Electronic Market Forecasters noted that the alliance "should keep competition at the operating system layer thriving.'' Broadcom recently announced that it has developed a blueprint for set-top boxes that will use Microsoft's most advanced interactive TV software.
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