Microsoft announced plans to release Internet Information Services (IIS) Media Services 3.0, which enables delivery of interactive, high-definition-quality Live Smooth Streaming, along with new tools to simplify the process of delivering online experiences with Microsoft Silverlight.

At the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC), Sept.11–15 in Amsterdam, Microsoft also will preview the latest media feature developments in Microsoft Silverlight 4, including native multicast support and support for offline digital rights management (DRM) powered by Microsoft PlayReady technology. In addition, the company announced the release of its IIS Smooth Streaming Transport Protocol and Protected Interoperable File Format (PIFF) specification under the Microsoft Community Promise, helping to ensure openness and industry interoperability.

At the company’s booth at IBC, Microsoft and key partners, Envivio, iStreamPlanet, Level 3 Communications, and TwoFour Digital, will showcase these developments, as well as highlight how customers, including Canal+, France 24, NBC Sports, Sat. 1, ProSieben and TV 2, are adopting IIS Smooth Streaming to enable rich and compelling video experiences globally.

Since May 2009, key broadcasters around the world have used beta versions of Live Smooth Streaming, a new feature of IIS Media Services 3.0, to successfully broadcast some of the world’s premier live events. These include the Tour de France and the Roland Garros 2009 International French Open Tennis Tournament on France Télévisions; the IAAF Athletics World Championships, FINA Swimming World Championships on both France Télévisions and RAI; the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 on RAI; and Champions League Soccer on BSkyB. In a combined effort with Microsoft, NBC Sports and others, Wimbledon Live delivered more than 6,500 minutes of live and on-demand Smooth Streaming video via a high-definition (HD), interactive online video experience.

“With technologies such as Live Smooth Streaming, we are furthering our commitment to provide cost-effective, scalable solutions to deliver the latest in high-quality, true HD and enhance the way audiences experience online video via Silverlight-based media players,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Platform at Microsoft.

IIS Media Services 3.0 and Silverlight 3 together provide the platform that enables customers to deliver high-quality online media experiences. IIS Media Services 3.0 is an integrated HTTP-based media delivery platform that delivers full HD streaming up to 1080p and provides real-time logging for data analysis. The platform also enables delivery of PlayReady-protected content for both on-demand and Live Smooth Streaming scenarios. Delivery of H.264 and Advanced Audio Coding formats over IIS Smooth Streaming is also enabled in IIS Media Services 3.0.

Microsoft also announced that has published its IIS Smooth Streaming Transport Protocol under the Microsoft Community Promise. This will help third parties who wish to build their own client implementations that interoperate with IIS Media Services.

In an early preview of Silverlight 4 media-specific features, at IBC Microsoft will showcase the next generation of movie experiences enabled by advanced offline PlayReady DRM and out of browser capabilities. These features will enable movie studios and retailers to provide the same rich interactive experiences via digital copy and Internet distribution as consumers get with DVD or Blu-ray. Silverlight 4 will enable movie studios to go beyond these experiences and also offer network-delivered updates, special offers and live events, and extend their relationship with consumers past the single movie purchase.

Microsoft also announced a beta version of a Smooth Streaming player development kit, which makes it easier for developers to build custom players using templates, will be available with the release of IIS Media Services 3.0. Developers can simplify the production of Silverlight video by taking advantage of the encoding and publishing capabilities in Microsoft Expression Encoder 3, now available as a standalone product from the Microsoft Expression Studio suite.

IIS Media Services with Live Smooth Streaming and the Smooth Streaming player development kit will be released within the next 30 days.