“Our vision is to deliver the software that enables a seamless technology experience for people wherever they are — in the home, in the office or on the go,” said Bill Gates in a keynote address to the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show. Gates emphasized the growing value of software services and highlighted some of the company’s efforts to extend the reach of digital media beyond the PC. These include:
- Windows Media Center Extender Technology, which enables consumers to access their digital entertainment, such as live and recorded television, photos, movies, and music that reside on their Windows XP Media Center Edition PC, from any room in the home. The technology allows devices throughout the home to utilize the full processing and storage capabilities of the PC. Alienware Corp., Dell Inc., Gateway Inc., HP, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Tatung Co. and Wistron Corp. will incorporate the technology in a variety of hardware form factors, including set-top boxes and televisions, by the 2004 holiday season.
- a demonstration of Portable Media Center devices, which lets people to take their favorite photos, music and home videos with them in a handheld player
- increased capabilities of Microsoft TV Foundation Edition 1.5, which enhances the consumer digital cable viewing experience by providing fully integrated support for high-definition television (HDTV) and digital video recording (DVR).
- the release of high-definition video for Windows XP users, with 16 feature films being released as high-definition movies on DVD discs by a variety of publishers using Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series. (The movies offer video resolution of up to approximately six times that of today’s DVD video.)
- “Media Variations,” a new tool under development at Microsoft Research that offers a novel way for people to explore large amounts of connected information.
- “MSR Media Browser,” another tool under development at Microsoft Research that offers a consistent and seamless interface that helps people find and work with “clusters” of photos and video on the PC, a digital picture frame or other device based on when the photos were taken, who they feature and other attributes.
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