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By Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft Chairman also talks up new Windows Media Center Extenders, next version of MSN, and SPOT watches in his Consumer Electronics Show kick-off keynote.



LAS VEGAS - Microsoft wants to do more than make sure there are Windows-powered devices in every office, home, cell phone, and car. The software giant also wants to make sure they are networked seamlessly.

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During his sixth consecutive kick-off keynote of the Consumer Electronics Show here, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates highlighted the ways that Microsoft intends to achieve this goal.

Gates used his roughly one-and-a-half hour presentation at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater to show off three new categories of products that Microsoft and its hardware partners plan to make available in time for the 2004 holiday season. Known as Windows Media Center Extenders, Microsoft's forthcoming connectivity kits are designed to make TVs and Xbox consoles able to network more easily with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition home-entertainment hubs.





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"The home is going digital," Gates proclaimed. And "Media Center is the centerpiece product for what goes on in the home of the future."

Throughout his remarks, Gates emphasized the concept of "seamless computing experiences." These experiences - where "smart" devices are connected together via "very rich interfaces" - are at the heart of Microsoft's next-generation software products, ranging from its "Longhorn" version of Windows for the desktop to its MSN Premium Internet software for broadband networking.

The Redmond, Wash., software vendor is aiming to allow users to create, organize, distribute, and consume music, photos, DVD movies, and other "rich media" into these kinds of experiences. Gates and various Microsoft managers, including a representative from the Microsoft Research division, showed off a host of current and future experiences under development.

Gates said that these experiences will be driven by a number of technologies, including IP networks; wireless networks; larger hard drives; emerging connectivity standards like USB; and new graphics chips.

Gates also used his keynote to announce availability of the company's new Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) watches (now officially renamed "Smart Watches with MSN Direct"). The new watches went on sale in Fossil stores in Las Vegas today and will be available via additional retailers, including Macy's, Circuit City, Fry's Electronics, and Amazon.com, starting this month. The Smart Watches allow users to obtain up-to-date sports scores, stock prices, weather reports, and other information.

Gates touted Microsoft's newest version of its MSN Internet service customized for broadband, dubbed MSN Premium, during his keynote. MSN Premium, unlike past versions of MSN, is designed to provide value-added content -- including a connector that allows Hotmail and Microsoft Outlook to sync - rather than Internet networking. MSN Premium runs on top of third-party Internet service provider networks. MSN Premium costs $9.95 a month or $99.95 per year.

Gates highlighted three flavors of forthcoming Media Extenders. One is designed to connect TVs to Media Center PCs; the second to connect TV set-top boxes to Media Center PCs; and the third will allow Xbox systems to hook seamlessly into Media Center PCs. The set-top-to-Media Center Extender is code-named "Bobsled," while the Xbox-to-Media Center unit is code-named "Xsled."

Among the Media Center Extender partners committed to working with Microsoft on products that will ship later this year are Alienware, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung Electronics, and Tatung.

To conclude, Gates showed off two seamless-computing-experience-related technologies under development by Microsoft Research's Next Media group. One project, code-named "Media Variations," allows users to explore the connections between large amounts of connected information. Microsoft demonstrated how users could find movies based on common denominators, such as actors, directors, and genres.

The second project, code-named "Media Framework Browser," allows users to more easily find, annotate and store "clusters" of photos, movies, books, and other media on their PCs, digital picture frames, PDAs/cell phones, and other devices.

It's not clear when and how Microsoft plans to commercialize its Microsoft Research technologies.