Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates kicked off the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last night, delivering the opening keynote presentation, just as he has for the past several years. As expected, Gates promoted the concept of home networking and interconnected devices, with a big plug for the video and integrated content capabilities of the software giant’s upcoming Vista operating system.
“As the magic of software makes it easier for people to be creators, publishers and consumers of digital content, it is expanding the way we think about community and entertainment,” Gates said. “From your living room to your car, we’re delivering a wave of new software products and services that make it easier for you to manage your day-to-day lives, express your ideas and share your interests.”
The revolution in technology has necessitated this broad view of connected communications. “Truly the digital decade is happening,” Gates said. “We see it everywhere we look.”
Despite the rapid rise in digital technology use and digital media consumption, the one thing missing from the profusion of applications, devices and divergent modes of content delivery is “connections,” Gates said. “People want to do things across multiple devices, working with many other people.”
Microsoft Product Manager Justin Hutchinson conducted a demo of Vista and its “central role,” in coordinating all kinds of communications and content. He debuted a new “experience” called Sports Lounge that will be made available on Vista. Sports Lounge enables viewing of sports-related content (Fox Sports, in the demo) along with integrated statistics, alerts and other interactive material.
Hutchinson also announced a couple of new content partners which will be featured on Vista, including cable networks Showtime and Starz!, as well as Starz! online movie service Vongo.
Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach offered a sneak peak at a new feature of the company’s interactive TV platform for telcos, Microsoft IPTV. Microsoft IPTV will come embedded in the company’s popular gaming platform, Xbox 360. “The bringing together of IPTV and Xbox 360 is going to give me all the benefits of next-generation IPTV and Xbox,” he said, enabling viewers to not only access linearly delivered video content but also play games and download TV shows and movies through Xbox Live. Bach also announced a new content supplier for Xbox’s TV show and movie service, Lion’s Gate Entertainment.
Xbox’s popularity continues to grow, Bach said. The company has sold 10.4 million consoles worldwide. In the first eight weeks of its release, Microsoft’s Xbox game Gears of War sold 2.7 million copies and the network of people playing games on Xbox has reached five million. “Today on Xbox live we’ve seen about 3 billion hours of gaming and I’m excited to see where that goes when we bring Xbox Live to Windows,” Bach said.
Gates ended the keynote presentation with Microsoft’s latest foray into automotive computing. “Our ambition is to give you connected experiences 24 hours a day,” he said. “One area…that clearly demands special work is information in the car.”
Mark Fields, President of the Americas for Ford Motor Company, touted his company’s debut of Sync, an integrated in-car communications system powered by Microsoft software. Sync is a voice-activated system that supports the operation of a wide range of mobile electronic devices, including mobile phones, Flash and zip drives and portable music players.
“We’re going to roll it out quickly and affordably,” Fields said, with Sync to be made available on a dozen Ford motor products later this year.
(Reprinted from today’s IP Media Monitor.)
Cynthia Brumfield at 9:22 AM|Comments(0)
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