Even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats found one thing to agree on. Both have announced deals to use Microsoft as a key technology supplier for their upcoming national conventions.
The Republicans announced on Thursday that Microsoft will provide a range of technologies from setting up a volunteer management system to showing off its Surface computers, from which convention goers will be able to share photos.
"Microsoft stands as one of America's success stories, always at the leading edge of technology," convention President and CEO Maria Cino said in a statement. "Our goal has always been to make our convention the most exciting, energetic, and tech-savvy in GOP history."
In April, Microsoft announced a deal with the Democratic convention organizers. For the Democrat gathering, Microsoft is also the official HD content providers, serving up convention coverage over the Web using its Silverlight technology.
If this year's Democratic convention does come down to a floor battle, Microsoft could end up being the real winner.
The Democratic National Convention Committee announced Monday that Microsoft will be the "official software and HD Web content provider" for the convention, which runs August 25-28 in Denver. The move is a vote of confidence for Silverlight, which is in a battle against incumbent Adobe Flash.
The software maker will power real-time online voting systems for delegates as well as live, gavel-to-gavel streaming coverage of the event at DemConvention.com.
"Silverlight multimedia applications will provide an all-access pass for the Convention's online audience, offering an unprecedented opportunity for viewers to individually tailor their Convention experiences," the party and Microsoft said in a statement.
The Democratic convention is just one of the events that Microsoft is banking on to help drive adoption of Silverlight. The company also has an exclusive deal to power NBC's Olympics site.
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