Exciting week for most of us I guess. Here's the first of much more to come. Microsoft Unveils Wave of New Products and Services at CES Bill Gates and Robbie Bach hit play on new releases from Windows Vista, Xbox 360, Microsoft TV and more. LAS VEGAS — Jan. 7, 2007 — Speaking at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach showed how the company is delivering a new generation of connected experiences that are inspired by the universal desire to create community and share interests and passions with friends and family. Gates and Bach announced several new products and services that include new Windows Vista™-inspired PCs, never-before-seen Windows Vista features, an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)-enabled Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, and a new partnership with Ford Motor Co. that will extend digital experiences to the car. The company also unveiled Microsoft® Windows® Home Server, which provides a central place to help store, protect and access all the digital content in the home. “As the magic of software makes it easier for people to be creators, publishers and consumers of digital content, it is expanding the way we think about community and entertainment,” Gates said. “From your living room to your car, we’re delivering a wave of new software products and services that make it easier for you to manage your day-to-day lives, express your ideas and share your interests.” READ MORE HERE
damn, still no official announcement of the v.2 of the 360, wondering if i should hold out for that, or wait for v.2... might as well wait, have been for more than a year.
ok, can't wait till that long, would be awesome if they released it around E3.... wait, that doesnt exist anymore
Some of the things mentioned in the MS keynote sounded pretty cool. Besides the IPTV stuff, the Sportslounge and Virtual 3D Earth sounded really neat (I haven't checked out any videos of it yet though). Gears of War apparently sold 2.7M copies WW already, which is really impressive (assuming it is sold and not shipped to retailers...pretty sure it is sold though). Here's some other stuff that caught my eye... From Sony's keynote yesterday: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/07/live-from-the-sony-ces-keynote/ Surprised they were able to hit their target of 1M by the end of 2006. Their launch target was ~400K, and IIRC, they had less than 200K at launch (~200K by the end of November IIRC). It seems like they took shipments from Japan though, so their worldwide target wasn't met (target was ~2M, WW total seems to be 1.5M-1.8M or so). How did they become #1 in HDTV? I know the Bravia LCDs were helping them, but I thought they were still not doing all that great in this department (at least compared to Samsung and the other HDTV makers). Guess I was wrong. The rest... Samsung's wireless plasma HDTV: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home...eless-plasma-hdtv-cleans-things-up-226720.php Wireless HDMI: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/press/release/detail/0,,2076_310069589_396277724,00.html Turn your phone into a projector: http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9672038-1.html?tag=head Some Blu-ray movie announcements from Disney: http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-08-2007/0004501557&EDATE= Similar announcement from Fox: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2007/08/c3814.html HD DVD announcement: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-07-2007/0004501052&EDATE= 51GB HD DVD discs: http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/003423.html Some info related to LG's new dual-format player and Toshiba's 2nd generation HD DVD player can be found in this thread: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=122630 The LG player will retail for $1200 and will be released this quarter. It seems kind of gimped though (kind of slow, plus it can't handle all the iHD stuff for HD DVD). The new Toshiba player supports 1080p and will retail for $600.
