And, as promised, the first of our reader correspondent reports from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. From Morgan of Knitwitology:
Bill Gates’ Keynote was more impressive than I would have expected,
certainly kicked the pants off of Steve Jobs’ fiasco in San Fran. Highlights of Microsoft in the upcoming year focus on connecting the home (Thoush I thought is was amusing that when he showcased commercials they have advertising the Office software, “restrictions on the content” prevented the commercials from being shown in the “overflow” rooms)
Highlights for 2004 include:
MSN Premium (Active now apparently). For $99 a year you get the new-fangled MSN services including more communications and security features. A more user friendly homepage setup – including a drag and drop user interface for the template. As well as a partnership with eBay to provide an eBay search plugin.
However the big highlight is an Outlook-based Hotmail account that not only provides the benefits of Outlook’s orginizational tools but can also be set up to sync with your work’s Exchange server.
The other cool gadgets announced deal with upping the Media Center PC. Including the incorperation of Windows Media Video High Deffinition, and the Portable Media Center handheld (previously hinted at real details to folow) that will “Smart sync” content from a Media Center PC to the device.
The other big announcement for this gear was the trilogy of last mile connections:
1.) The Windows Media Center Extender- a wired, or WiFi bridge to turn your TV into a Windows Media Center.
2.) HP and Gateway to release Media Center Ready LCD televisions, which will automaticly search for a network when turned on. and
3.) The Xbox Media Extender Kit which when the proper Disk, dongle, and remote are setup, turn your Xbox into a Windows Media Center Extender.
Bill went on to talk about the future of metadata orginization of files, and the importance comunication and social interaction will play in future versions on the Media Center PC. A good note to start the CES on I think.
Of course, when traveling to CES, make sure when the hotel say they have connectivity, they don’t mean WebTV.
