January 7, 2005

Bill Gates keynote at CES...and another year begins...


Well...another year has come and gone, and how do i know this...is it becaase my birthday has come and gone or is it because Bill Gates has done another keynote at CES??

i know what is top of mind for most people in the tech industry...sorry Bill... ;)

So i sat down in front of my Windows Media Center yesterday and watched the Bill Gates keynote live on my TV...it wasn't actually on TV (maybe one day), but going full screen with Windows Media Player on a TV makes it lot nicer to watch than on my Tablet PC. SO what did Bill have to say this year??? Well...i typed up some notes which are bloew...but if i were you i would also check out the transcript and the video as well.

My notes from the Bill Gates CES 2005 Keynote
INTRO

  • First things forst...i just don't get Conan O'Brien...is he an idiot or is it just me???
  • Bill informs us that "Digital Decade" has started to come true quicker than expected because of the rise of peoples "Digital Lifestyle"
  • The desktop PC is the core but the mobile phone, settop box (TV and gamiing), hardware in car, etc.are finally coming together
  • Micorosoft will spend $6billion is research this year
  • Email, IM ,blogging, communities, live entertainment are all becoming integrated...presence will be play a part in this.

    MUSIC

  • Creative Zen sold out over xmas...
  • Monthly subscriptions for music for Windows "Play for Sure" devices coming soon

    PHOTO

  • Wireless camera (Nikon D2X) sync with Media Center...very nice...
  • Problem with remote during Media Center and camera demo…doh…"yep"
  • Photo of Conan in bed with a hooker and Bill in bed with an Apple laptop :)

    TELEVISION

  • 1.4 million units of MCE sold in 2004
  • Discovery, Yahoo, Fox sports creating specific content
  • Sean Alexander comes out to talk about MCE - Media Center Extender (when do we get them in Aus???), MCE...It’s a platform, Universal Remote controls available, MSN remote record (late Q1), LG TV (Digital DVD recorder, MCE interface, EPG, Connect to any MCE or Windows XP box and pick up photos, music, video - syncs both ways), HDTV (Pioneer and Digitrex (40" LCD), Windows Media Connect built into TV, "Plays for Sure" approved)
  • IPTV (Video on Demand, Targeted ads)
  • SBC IPTV (Four streams of content, HD TV, Convergence of voice, video and data, Video on Demand, Multi camera angle capability, Mobile (cell phone) control of IPTV device at home including video preview)
  • Portable Media Center or PMC (New content from MSNTV, MTV Network, Ability to transfer TIVO series 2 content to Windows MCE and PMC devices)

    MOBILE PHONE

  • 61 operators selling Windows Mobile handsets in 21 countries
  • Sync MCE content including video, photos, etc.
  • Remote sync of photos to mobile phone over network…nice...

    SPOT

  • Twice as much info / channels available on SPOT watches since launch in Jan 2004
  • Other devices this year (Oregon Scientific weather devices and Sharp alarm clocks)

    GAAMING

  • Simpler tools for creation of games for both PC and XBOX
  • XBOX unit sales outsold PlayStation towards the end of 2004 in the US
  • Halo 2 (6.3 million users online, US$125 million sales in first day, 69 million hours of online Halo 2 game play since launch)
  • High Definition games coming this year

    WRAP UP

  • Technology (Chips are doubling, Storage is doubling, Software is becoming more usable)
  • Scenarios (Cheap, Simple, Word of mouth)
  • Its all coming together in 2005

    Posted by Mick (SplaTT) Stanic at January 7, 2005 6:34 PM | TrackBack

    • Comments

    Hey Mick,
    Belated happy birthday and it looks like you missed a closing em tag as everything after this post is italicised.

    Cheerio
    G

    Posted by: Greg Stewart at January 9, 2005 2:20 AM

    thnx Greg...when are you coming back down to Oz??

    Posted by: Mick (SplaTT) Stanic at January 11, 2005 11:48 PM

    You don't get Conan O'Brien?

    He always cracks me up. Each to their own I guess.

    :)

    Posted by: Ben Dummett at January 15, 2005 3:34 PM

    That keynote was sad. Bugs, errors, Conan? Try getting a clue M$ and quit selling crap!

    Posted by: Macmaniac at January 29, 2005 7:31 AM

    Ahh...yeah....right...ok...and the Mac World keynote was any better???? The shuffle??? Half a computer??? Mac's that had to be reset because they just didn't do what they were supposed to do??? And to top is off, a lousy experience in trying to watch the keynote via Quicktime (which used to be a great video app..once upon a time)???

    They both have room for improvement....but at least you could watch the CES keynote without it buffering every 2 seconds..... ;)

    Posted by: Mick (SplaTT) Stanic at January 29, 2005 10:43 PM
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