Microsoft Goes Wild for Media at CES
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Digital Devices president Robbie Bach unveiled a slew of new products geared towards video and internet integration at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Sunday.
“For Microsoft this year it’s a big, big milestone because the products we’ve been working on for many years that are foundational products are now moving into the marketplace,” Gates told the audience.
In addition to demonstrating heretofore unseen features of Windows Vista, Gates announced new partnerships with Nickelodeon, Showtime and Starz to bring entertainment content to Windows Media Center, and a collaboration with FOXSports on a new feature of Media Center called SportsLounge, which combines live TV with real-time sports scores and other sports-related media. Lisa Sikora, group marketing manager of Microsoft’s Casual Games division, also showed off a cross-platform version of the game “UNO!,” which demonstrated a Vista feature that will let PC gamers play against those using the Xbox 360 on the Xbox Live network.
Robbie Bach previewed the upcoming Xbox 360 IPTV service, which will deliver TV content over the Internet through the Xbox 360 console. In November, Microsoft introduced a pay-per-download movie service on the Xbox, which outperformed competing service Unbox from Amazon.com as of the end of December. Xbox IPTV should be available by the end of 2007.
“Our challenge,” added Bach, “is bringing those two concepts together in a powerful way. Now, you don’t just do that by having great hardware, or by having great software, or by having an innovative service. You do that by combining those three things with an integrated concept of hardware, software, and service that can deliver connected entertainment.”
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