NAB: Microsoft Demos TV Applications for Skype TX

Microsoft’s Skype announced a new Skype TX offering that would streamline the use of Skype video content for news organizations and broadcasters.

News organizations have been using Skype for years, but the new Skype TX product that is being demoed at the Microsoft booth during NAB promises to simplify the process of handling multiple Skype feeds by broadcasters.

Viewed purely as a way of managing and controling feeds from multiple reporters or sources providing Skype video feeds, Skype TX would allow newsroom staff to view multiple Skype connections on a single screen, see technical details about those calls and make Skype calls to various reporters or contacts.

The cloud-based encoding system means that all the video can then be output in various formats, including the standard broadcast SDI signals.

“Newsgathering is a prime target for Skype TX,” explained Simon Lucas, principle PM manager at Microsoft. “It greatly simplifies the use of Skype in the newsroom.”

The system could also be used in a studio showing multiple Skype users. During a demo of a live interview at the Microsoft booth, the product showed no discernable latency with a call to London.

Requirements for deploying the product are also relatively simple as it requires only the Skype TX software and a Windows device, explains Lucas. The technology builds on Skype’s recent acquisition of its long-time broadcast partner Cat and Mouse.

“We’ve built on the existing Cat and Mouse technology to deliver a high quality hardware and software Skype integration direct into a studio environment,” the company noted in a blog post. Some examples of how Skype has been used can be found here: Skypeinmedia.com.