Cable giant Tele-Communications Inc has agreed to adopt Sony Corp’s Aperios real-time operating system for use with its digital set-top devices, under an agreement between the two announced yesterday. Aperios will be used as an alternative to Microsoft Corp’s Windows CE, when real-time support is a requirement. Microsoft is still developing a real-time version of CE. In addition, TCI has licensed Sony’s Home Networking Module middleware for use with the boxes. TCI says it hasn’t given Sony any specific number commitments for Aperios installations, as it has with Microsoft for CE (5 million) and Sun Microsystems Inc for PersonalJava (12 million). It says it’s keeping its options open on what will eventually ship. TCI’s next generation of digital set top boxes, built by General Instrument Corp, are due to be rolled out in the second quarter of 1999, and will conform to the Cable Television Labs OpenCable interoperability specifications, so that boxes using different processors and operating systems will work with any cable network. The Sony Home Networking Module – which will be used on all of the boxes, regardless of OS – will be used to link the boxes to other consumer devices in a home network through the i.LINK interface – so that they can send content such as web pages and video screens to other devices in a home network. iLINK is based on the IEEE 1394 firewire interconnect. The module also supports a newly developed digital copy protection system. Microsoft also has an agreement with Sony for the Home Networking Module, and in turn, Sony licenses Windows CE from Microsoft (CI No 3,386). Meanwhile TCI’s PersonalJava agreement with Sun also includes the option of licensing JavaOS for Consumers once it becomes available. Neither Sony nor TCI would disclose on the financial side of the deal.
