Thoughts from CES.
Day three of CES turned out to be somewhat quieter than the first two days, I talked to a number of attendees this morning about what they had seen at the event that was especially interesting – most noted that there wasn’t any obvious innovation at this years event, the general theme was making existing devices smaller and adding connectivity so that your devices can all talk to each other.
There are some interesting conversations going on around the blogsphere about Microsoft’s PlaysForSure – what is PlaysForSure? If you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back your portable music or video device then look for devices that have the PlaysForSure logo – If you see the logo you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores including: CinemaNow, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more. Look for the PlaysForSure logo on a wide variety of devices including portable music devices, portable video devices, digital audio receivers, Pocket PC's and Smartphones.
Russell Beattie has an opinion about the “Big Picture” and how MSN Videos and PlaysForSure fit into this.
They [Microsoft] have set top boxes, mobile phones, PDAs, portable video players, game consoles and more all running Microsoft software, and most importantly, all supporting the same Windows Media codec and DRM. The final piece of the puzzle was the TiVo To Go announcement. Now it's not just content you buy [that you have access to], it's your personal content as well.
It was when I bought my Creative Labs MuVo 100 that I realized how far Microsoft has gone to penetrate the CE market. I've been hearing about WMA being pushed on a bunch of platforms including even the new HD disc formats, but it wasn't until I was shopping for an audio player that I grokked what was going on. Every audio player (besides the Apple iPod), no matter how inexpensive - supported WMA.
</snip> Microsoft is going to blanket the Earth with PlaysForSure devices.
Along similar lines was the ultra cool SBC smartphone/Media Center demo during Bill’s CES Keynote, using your smartphone to get information about upcoming TV shows, getting a preview of the show delivered to your cellphone and remotely scheduling your Media Center PC or set top box to record the show – This extract from Engadget
SBC exec: IPTV has four simultaneous content streams to the home, including hi-def. “It’s about convergence of voice, video, and data.” The “Video Store” has access to a library of programs for feeds; of course, it will be DRMed out the yin-yang. With IPTV there is access to multiple angles and sports programs simultaneously, as well as remote access and recording/programming via Windows Mobile-based devices. “I also want to point out that all these demonstrations worked.” Har har. [Ed – I think this is a dig at the fact that the earlier XBOX and Media Center demos didn’t go quite so well…]
Looking at other Microsoft news from CES, InfoSync has an article about SPOT – there are some new SPOT Watches (Smart Personal Object Technologies) coming out from Suunto and Fossil, as well as concepts of non-watch based SPOT devices.
Watch maker Suunto will unveil the Suunto n6hr Smart Watch, which incorporates a heart-rate monitor and sports training software, such as interval timers and training manager software, in addition to the available MSN Direct services. Soon to be available in sporting goods and consumer electronics stores in the United States, the Suunto n6hr will retail for $399 USD.
Meanwhile, Fossil, one of the most significant proponents of SPOT technology, will show two new ABACUS Wrist Net Smart Watches that will be available in two styles featuring new casings.
In related news, Microsoft's SPOT Group also revealed plans to develop a state-of-the-art weather station alarm clock, powered by SPOT technology, with consumer electronics specialist Oregon Scientific. The alarm clocks will come in a variety of styles and price points, and will feature MSN Direct weather information such as the day's forecast, high and low temperatures, a three-day forecast, sunrise and sunset times, and more.
Also, Microsoft has teamed up with high-tech watch maker MZ Berger to deliver new takes on its existing clocks under the Sharp brand, which include "atomic" or radio-controlled clocks, as well as multifunction alarms and more. As with offerings from Oregon Scientific, products will soon MSN Direct content and functionality.
Here’s a photo of a prototype Oregon Scientific Alarm Clock running SPOT.
Tomorrow is the last day of CES, I will be glad to get back to Redmond – CES is a complete Zoo, you line up for hours to get cabs around town, shuttle busses are nowhere to be seen, lines for food or drinks at the convention center are just way too long (over an hour in line for a Starbucks today!), you would think that the conference organizers would be able to get some of these simple things sorted out, they were expecting 150000 visitors at the event – perhaps we need a Starbucks counter on the Microsoft booth next year…
Unfortunately because of CES my weekend is totally blown away, it’s straight back to the office on Monday morning, I have a ton of things to catch up on…
I’ve heard a number of horror stories about the lines for cabs, security lines at Las Vegas airport (taking up to three hours to get through!!), and cancelled flights due to weather problems – here’s hoping the trip home goes to plan…
I had Chinese food for breakfast this morning (which was nice!), I picked up a fortune cookie which contained some really good news, I just need to make sure my manager is reading this blog entry…
– Mike
