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MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA -- Convergence goes only so far, even in Microsoft's UltimateTV division. There, Internet browsing, chat, e-mail, and watching and taping several TV shows at once is already reality.

UltimateTV includes the MicrosoftTV platform, and became available from DirecTV this year. UltimateTV is a successor of WebTV, which provides Internet access through your TV.

But UltimateTV, which requires digital TV service, invites you to participate, not simply watch, says Tim Bucher, vice president of consumer products for Microsoft WebTV Networks. He described the division's work at a program here this week.

It helps you find shows among those hundreds of available channels--you can search by subject, actor, title, and more. You can control the action, by freezing or replaying a segment. With a click, you can order the pizza you just saw advertised.

And you can do PC-like things, such as checking team stats on a Web site while you watch a game on the same screen. You can chat with friends through an instant messaging service, perhaps kibbitzing as you watch the same game show.

Interaction Limited

Still, once you've saved 35 hours of TV, pay-per-view, and personal videos on your DirecTV box, you need to start deleting. Don't look soon for a hard drive to handle the overflow, Bucher says.

"It's a closed box," Bucher says. Blame Hollywood for its concerns about copyright protection, he says. As a software company, Microsoft understands piracy worries, he adds.

Other partners have their own reasons to discourage some types of convergence. "Cable services won't want you to be able to access satellite via the same pipe," Bucher acknowledges.

But the UltimateTV box supported by DirecTV does include two Universal Serial Bus ports for future broadband connections--"we're very interested in that," he says.

Combining Web and TV is often a first step in convergence. You can surf via UltimateTV, without needing a PC.

"We do believe in convergence, but we need to decide what makes sense to converge," Bucher says. For example, merging a great PC video game and a TV set could result in a mediocre video game you play on your TV.

"Consumers are not going to substitute integration for a quality experience," he says.

More Toys to Come

The box is available in models made by Sony, RCA, and Philips. It runs a 64-bit RISC chip and has 32MB of memory. Units have two sets of both output and input for video and audio, and a radio frequency output to support older TV sets. Its operating software can be upgraded by transmission.

The existing box doesn't yet support high-definition TV, although that technology is in the works, Bucher adds. "HD is for real, and the costs are coming down, but it's not mass market yet," he says.

UltimateTV's current interactive functions are just a start. Microsoft is working with a disparate batch of content partners, some of which (like AOL Time Warner) are competitors in other venues.

A few TV shows are further exploring interactivity. For example, the CBS "Crime Scene Investigations" show provides supplemental information and interchange for UltimateTV viewers, Bucher says.

"The network got behind that," Bucher says. "Our approach was to make it possible, even easy, and let their creative juices flow."

More Time at the Tube?

Microsoft says that in the 60 years since the first commercial TV broadcast, Americans have reached the point of watching an average of 30 hours of TV weekly (even with PCs and the Web competing for our free time). In 2000, we racked up some $140 billion in TV expenses, from equipment to cable costs, video rentals, and premium services.

Naturally, Microsoft wants a share.

Microsoft envisions "a DTV home," with an advanced set-top device in the living room, connected to broadband feeds and sporting lots of storage (if not a hard drive). Services would be distributed to other TVs throughout the house via some sort of home network--phone line, wireless, power line, or Ethernet.

Specific service currently varies with location. Some satellite customers can't get their local broadcast channels, Bucher acknowledges. "We expect DirecTV will offer more and more local content," he adds.

On top of DirecTV service fees, UltimateTV customers pay $9.95 for basics (recording functions, interactive features, and three hours of Net access). Additional Net access is available for a fee.

Customers might soon pay in other ways. The service does not currently watch customers' viewing habits, but it could target ads to your interests if it tracks your actions in the future. Microsoft's software would support it, Bucher says, adding, "I don't mind ads if they're meant for me."

And he maintains that UltimateTV fits neatly with Microsoft's .Net strategy, even though they were developed separately. The .Net vision of hosted network services calls for data and video support.

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