News Multiples for Jan. 8th 2008

A number of exciting news are coming that I'd like to share with you.

• Zune is coming to Canada this Spring!  This is one of the biggest announcements we made at CES 2008. For people that don't know about Zune, Zune is our music and entertainment brand that provides an integrated digital entertainment experience. The Zune platform includes a line of portable digital media players, the Zune Marketplace online store and Zune Social, created to help people discover music. I've been using Zune 1 to listen to music, radio and watch videos but not able to use the social features and download music from marketplace. With Zune now entering into Canadian market, people now have more choices to enjoy richer entertainment experience. 
• Another big news coming out of CES is that Silverlight will be used on the website for the 2008 Olympics to be held later this year in Beijing. NBC Universal, who owns the sole rights to the Olympics in the US, will team up with Microsoft and deliver enhanced video for the Beijing Olympics using the Silverlight platform. See detailed news here. Check out Microsoft at CES.
• Preview the Silverlight version of Microsoft Download Center. The beta version of the site has rich experience such as slide show banners on the top, animated transitions, and more importantly making the whole site much more simpler by revealing information as needed.  For example, use of rich tooltips to provide more information about particular products when a user hovers over the product name.

• Design Inspiration: Smashing Magazine captures a list of Innovative Designs and Devices. My favorite designs are the Sony's Apple Remote Control and Toast Messenger.  Richard Banks' Trend Blog is another great places to stay updated within the field of HCI and device design.