“Microsoft chairman Bill Gates on Sunday evening hit the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas determined to convince us Microsoft can connect digital content on devices, from mobile devices to the living room and into cars,” Laurie Sullivan reports for Red Herring.
Sullivan reports, “The new products center on family entertainment. Mr. Gates detailed several new products and services such as Windows Vista, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) enabled by the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows Home Server, and a new partnership with Ford Motor.”
Sullivan reports, “Microsoft’s IPTV announcement pits the Redmond, Wash., company against Apple Computer, which industry observers expect to provide details of its iTV set-top box at MacWorld in San Francisco on Tuesday.”
“The debut of Windows Home Server, available during the second half of 2007, will act as a central storage place in the home for digital photos, music, movies and other media. The first products are due out later this year from Hewlett-Packard and others,” Sullivan reports. “And by the end of this year, the Xbox 360 gaming console would act as a set-top box for interactive IPTV.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Apple ‘iServe’ home server for the masses? – December 11, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s ‘ITV’ poised to shake up tech industry, could ‘iPod’ the mainstream players – January 03, 2007
second half of 07…that means sometime in 2010…in Microsoft years.
This is reminiscent of when Saddam invaded Kuwait, and the outcome is likely to be the same.
This is reminiscent of when GWB invaded Iraq, and the outcome is likely to be the same.
Shouldn’t that be “Microsoft’s Bill Gates preps for war against Apple’s Steve Jobs”? Or “Bill Gates’ Microsoft preps for war against Steve Jobs’ Apple”?
Love it–classic good vs. evil. If this were Star Wars, what episode would this be?
I would like to call Microsoft’s attempts here “second rate”. However, I don’t think that they’ll even be that good. Perhaps “third rate” would be more accurate. New slogan: “Microsoft: Striving towards mediocrity.”
Bill Gates prepping for a war he will lose just about 24 hours from now. Funny stuff! And I bet he didn’t make it through his oh-so-thrilling presentation without using the word “innovation” several stomach-churning times.
Star Wars Episode VII: The Phantom Products
I’m ready for war as an Apple soldier! I say, “Bring it on!”
“This is reminiscent of when GWB invaded Iraq, and the outcome is likely to be the same.”
As in a tyrant hanged and the nation he once suppressed on its way to being governed fairly by majority rule?
Sounds like a compliment to me.
RMN
“Love it–classic good vs. evil. If this were Star Wars, what episode would this be?”
Gotta be The Empire Strikes Back. Although I don’t recall any chairs being thrown in that episode. I don’t foresee Steve getting carbon frozen any time soon either.
I saw his horrible keynote. 99% of Vista is directly copied from OSX. The rest of his “news” was the same old bullshit.
Can I use a Wii in this new war against Microsoft?
And, when has Bill Gates ever correctly predicted anything? Anyone?
I hear from a lot of people that the Xbox is the only thing M$ has done a pretty good job on. What i see as their obstacle, though, is that it’s considered primarily a game device. This has limited appeal compared to a mainstream “adult” appliance. No insult intended. In contrast, iTV or whatever it’s called already banks on the known and established iTunes ecosystem– broad appeal for all demographics. More likely to be adopted.
‘Windows Home Server’
Wow. Those of us who use (and have used for years) the standard release of OS X for web serving, email server, LAN media sharing, etc. might wonder why a special (and doubtless more expensive) version of Windows is necessary to do what we do for free. I used OS X Server for a while, but while the GUI admin tools are great, they’re certainly not vital to do what most home and SOHO users need.
But hey, good luck with that Bill. Gimme a call tomorrow afternoon and let me know how it’s going. =)
-c
MW: ‘progress’ (halted by bloat)
I would really hope that Apple would bring a Mac OS X Leopard Home Server too…
If Bill Gates wants war he will get it, in a hard way.
Live / Xbox on Vista…wonderful, further solidifying Windows dominance in the game market…and the Personal Server, it is very exciting to see Microsoft taking the lead in the commodification of server technology.
Hey Steve, don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.
Okay…
Which one of these phrases carries a more positive connotation in the Home Entertainment market?
A.) From the Makers of the iPod comes iTV!!!
B.) From the Makers of Windows comes IPTV!!!
(A) Denotes ease of use, style, instant satisfaction
(B) Denotes hours of configuring, limited useability, odd pricing schemes, no compatibility with Mac systems, …. (do I need to keep going?)
I don’t see any of this really being a competition.
War? Gee, let’s see who has the most loyal following of the 2 Generals.
Micro$oft’s army has been steadily increasing their practice of cut and run to the opponent’s side, due to poor equipment and the lack of leadership with General Gates and Major Money Boy.
Steve’s army (of which I have proudly served for over 20 years), has been loyal and courageous throughout both our victory’s and our hours of near defeat in the fox holes and stinking trenches filled with sugar water of the Scully days. With Steve back in command the rest of the war is easy by comparison.
Bring it on Billy boy, bring it on.
Mission Accomplished!
Saddam is a martyr, a nation is now broken into sectarian factions and ruled by terrorists where there once were none, and Iran’s next door enemy has been removed. Move on in Tehran, if you haven’t already.
Sounds like a catastrophe to me.
Will someone please tell Mr. Bill Gates and Ford that the system described has been done by Chrysler/Jeep/Mercedes and working great without Microsoft Software. My new Grand Cherokee Limited has UConnect hands free communications along with Sirius satelite radio and GPS navigation system, just talk to it and it works. No reboots required!
Bill has been given the same the world is connected speech for years now. Why doesn’t he just stream last years keynote to all the xboxes in the world and save himself the trouble of going to CES
This is really rediculous.
I have absolutely no problem with competing companies going after the shiney “Apple”. It’s better for all of us when there is competition like that.
One huge disadvantage that Microsoft has, and why I haven’t committed to any of their technologies 100% like I have the Mac products, is that it’s constantly changing. Sure, technology evolves faster than our wallets would like, but that’s what technology is all about – evolution and emerging. But at the pace that Microsoft goes, you’d have to get a new “set-top box” within 18 months of it’s first introduction. And there is no guarantee that it will be compatible with the older devices you have. “Plays For Sure”…anyone care to remember that. That concept wasn’t even 2 years old and it was shelved to make way for the Zune Marketplace. What about all those content providers and partners that in good faith went alone with Microsoft to provide the consumer with a half-decent product…where is it now?
The Apple track record has been constant inovation, but not at the expense of the consumer that invested a lot of time and money into their product. I have an iMac (Green) 450, and it’s running Tiger without any problems…iTunes runs great, all the iLife apps, and got Front Row to work. The damn thing is over 8 years old, but can still keep up with my family. Who’s got an 8 year old PC that can even boot up IE without needing a coffee breat (or boot up at all?!?!).
Invest in MS and you’ll need to keep paying down that debt for years to come.