AMSTERDAM -- Motorola (NYSE:MOT) announced today that it has joined the Microsoft(R) Mediaroom(TM) Interoperability and Qualification Lab (IQ Lab) for digital video encoders, a program which will enable the ongoing interoperability and compliance of encoders used in deployments of the award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom multimedia and IPTV software platform. Entry to the program involved rigorous tests of Motorola's MPEG-4 encoding platform to deliver full compatibility with the Microsoft Mediaroom platform.

As a result, Motorola's telco customers planning to implement the highly efficient MPEG-4 compression technology now benefit from greatly reduced evaluation time through interoperability with the Microsoft Mediaroom environment.

"Microsoft Mediaroom's interoperability with Motorola's MPEG-4 encoder means that our global service provider customers will find it easier and faster to deliver advanced connected TV services," said Christine Heckart, general manager of marketing for the Microsoft TV business at Microsoft. "As a result, more consumers will benefit from a rich and secure TV experience, with excellent video quality and smoothly running applications on their set top boxes."

"We are building on our global IPTV leadership by ensuring that our customers have access to solutions that work flawlessly on their networks," added Doug Means, Motorola corporate vice president and general manager. "As demand for IPTV continues to grow and markets transition from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 compression technologies, telcos can now have total confidence in the combined Motorola/Microsoft IPTV solution without the need for lengthy evaluation."

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT)

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)