Media Center 2005 Is Now Final!

[protecteur]

Windows Media Center 2005 To Support High Def TV

Source: The Inquirer
URL:

By Rob Squires : Sunday 12 September 2004, 06:11 ACCORDING TO Microsoft represetatives at IDF last week, it's very likely that the upcoming release of Windows Media Center 2005 will support high defination televison signals. It was unwilling to comment officially, but was willing enough to provide us with an update to its release schedule. Refined from a general release of Q4 2004, a mid to late October launch is planned. Unlike the free update provided to Tablet PC users with Service Pack 2, it is still

[protecteur]

[protecteur]

[protecteur]

More pictures here:
http://alphatesterusa.indiegroup.com/photo.html

[protecteur]

Microsoft Corp. plans to introduce several new consumer products on Oct. 12 at an event in Los Angeles. The announcements are expected to include an update to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 and the first devices using Media Center Extender technology.


The Redmond, Washington, software maker has hosted events in September or October for the past two years to introduce new Media Center products for the December shopping season. In 2002, Microsoft announced the first version of Windows XP Media Center Edition, followed by an update, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, last year.

This year's event at The Shrine Auditorium and Expo Center in Los Angeles will include a presentation by Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates. Several Microsoft partners, including hardware makers Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and Gateway Inc., are expected to attend.

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed that the company has scheduled an event for Oct. 12 to talk about consumer products and that the current plan is for Gates to speak. He declined further comment.

Windows XP Media Center Edition is a superset of the Windows XP operating system, designed to make the PC the media and entertainment hub for the home. The PCs come with a remote control and a TV tuner card. Users can watch DVDs; manage digital audio, video and picture files; and play, pause and record live television; in addition to using the PC for traditional tasks.

An update to Windows XP Media Center Edition has been in the works for a while. The product, code-named Symphony, has been in beta testing since early this year. The end-product is expected to be called Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

The update includes a host of new features, including support for more portable media players, DVD burning, high-definition television and an improved user interface. A key new feature is support for wireless technology and in particular Media Center Extender, a new technology that lets users wirelessly connect TVs to the Media Center PC.

Media Center Extender was first announced by Gates at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. Microsoft at that time said hardware makers including Dell Inc., Gateway, HP and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. would deliver products incorporating the technology by the end of 2004.

Media Center Extender technology will be offered in set-top boxes as well as in new TVs, Microsoft has said. At CES, Gates demonstrated one HP flat-screen TV with the extender built in. The technology supports 802.11a and 802.11g for wireless transmission of data from the Media Center PC to the Media Center Extender device.

Microsoft has gradually expanded the Media Center product as well as the geographic market it is sold in. Initially ,Windows XP Media Center Edition desktops were only sold in the U.S., Canada and South Korea by HP. The product has since expanded to laptops and many more manufacturers and countries

[protecteur]

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.

ADVERTISEMENT


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.





Microsoft Readies Its Consumer-Electronics Game Plan

Gates Pushes Convergence of Consumer Devices, Connectivity and Services




"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.