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Microsoft rises to the occasion – twice – as the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honors its streaming-media and 3D platforms.
By Julie Evans
Originally published by MSW, May 2007
Microsoft walked off with two shiny statuettes from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences this week,Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, underscoring its achievement in digital media and Hollywood’s growing appreciation. The awards – one for streaming-media contributions and one for Microsoft Direct 3D versions 9 and 10 – were handed out Jan. 8 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
“It is a testament towards the breadth of technology of Microsoft that in one evening, they receive a classic technical Emmy for their contributions to streaming architecture and an award for their contribution to game technology for the DirectX environment,” said Seth Haberman, who chairs the academy’s video games and technology panel. “It would be hard to imagine two technologies more impactful to today's consumers.”
Anantha Kancherla, left, and Amir Majidimehr represented Microsoft at the Emmy ceremony to honor technical award winners.
The awards,Microsoft Office 2007 Product Key, commonly referred to as the “technical Emmys,” are held separately from the much-publicized televised event that honors actors and draws millions of viewers each year. But the technical awards are prestigious and the winners take home statuettes identical to those awarded to actors and filmmakers.
“Tiger” has its Day
Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of Consumer Media Technology, accepted the award for Microsoft’s contributions to streaming technologies – largely represented by Windows Media audio and video platforms – that broadcasters use to deliver content online. Adobe Systems, RealNetworks,Microsoft Office 2007 Key, and Apple also received Emmys for contributions to this field.
“Having new media technology recognized is … quite an honor,” Majidimehr said a few days before the ceremony. “It really recognizes and that Internet and PC technology have come of age and are just as important as traditional broadcast methods.”
Windows Media’s precursor dates to 1992, when Microsoft developed a Windows NT-based video server code-named “Tiger” to provide video-on-demand via cable providers. It failed at that time because equipment was too expensive and PCs were too slow, Majidimehr said. “All the big companies were trying it then, but because of the cost of delivery, they closed up their shops.”
The original group disbanded, but a small team continued to rework that technology. The biggest obstacle was bandwidth availability. In its early years,Office Professional Plus 2010, Internet-based video was halting and – even if it didn’t stop midstream – was a far cry from television quality. When broadband became widely available, the experience got better. “Bill (Gates’) persistence to hang tough when no one believed in it paid off,” Majidimehr said.
Until this tipping point was reached,Office 2010, Microsoft didn’t make a penny from audio- and video-based products such as DVDs, he said. Now some people buy PCs strictly for those audio and video capabilities, and that drives sales.
“We’re still at the beginning of what people can do with this technology. We’re writing the playbook as we go,” Majidimehr said.
It Makes Gaming Breathtaking
The other Emmy went to Microsoft Direct 3D 9 and 10 for Pioneering Work in Near and Real-Time Fully Programmable Shading via Modern Graphics Processors. Direct 3D technology is a piece of the Windows Direct X suite that allows PC game developers to easily create vivid, three-dimensional graphics.
Anantha Kancherla, principal group program manger, and three of his teammates were on hand to accept the award. He said he never imagined his career would lead him onstage to hoist an Emmy.
“This is incredible to be recognized for this technology that we’ve been working on for 10 years,” said Kancherla, who has been on the team since 1997. “The fact that they consider gaming technology as mainstream entertainment – that’s awesome for Microsoft and everyone involved in the industry. It shows us that bets we made years ago are paying off.”
Developing a format that works uniformly across the various graphic processor makers and persuading OEMs to work for the same goal proved very challenging. “Because they’re all competing against each other, they want to have a differentiator. We had to work with them to embrace uniformity,” Kancherla said.
Rubbing Elbows in Hollywood
Microsoft is the only major IT company active in the television academy, said Skip Pizzi, manager for technical policy in the Media and Entertainment group. That role furthers the company’s relationships with the entertainment and media industries, he suggested.
“There’s still a lot of concern over Microsoft from some players in the television industry, with worry that we might have designs on taking over their world,” said Pizzi, who also represents Microsoft within the academy and serves as a judge for the technical Emmys.
“We think it’s important for us to reach out and engage with them wherever possible to show our true interests in participation in the field … and to help forge our identity in that space, both in symbolic and real ways. I think these Emmys show … that we play in the same sandbox with the traditional media and content companies.”
“I think these Emmys show … that “we play in the same sandbox with the traditional media and content companies,” said Skip Pizzi of Microsoft’s Media and Entertainment Group.