 |
As recently as 2 years ago Microsoft was still persuading partners to ship SPOT watches using their MSN Direct specialized FM radio broadcast service, but that has all come to an end:
As of recently, the Smart Watches with MSN Direct have sold out and are no longer for sale. While we continue to move forward with MSN Direct and seeking out new opportunities for devices that would benefit from the MSN Direct service, we, along with our watch partners, do not have immediate plans to create a new version of the Smart Watch, as we are focused on other areas of our business. We will maintain support of our watch customers and continue to deliver information to the watches, but we do not plan to increase our investment in the watch business going forward.
Those other areas are MSN Direct for GPS navigation devices and MSN Direct for Windows Mobile where the form factor is more amenable (the watches had to be recharged every few days) and in fact, the Windows Mobile variant doesn’t even use the FM broadcasts. However, if you are still pining for dubious geek chic, there’s still a Melitta coffee pot.
Not every Microsoft announcement at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show made the Bill Gates keynote.
From the Microsoft Hardware group (i.e. the part of Entertainment & Devices that makes money but gets no buzz):
Microsoft Hardware’s Innovative Industry Firsts Earn Top CES Honors
This week at the 2007 International CES in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp. will showcase its award-winning peripherals, the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 and the Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000, both named CES Innovations 2007 Design and Engineering Awards Honorees on the basis of their innovative designs and advancements in peripheral engineering…
Microsoft’s Upgraded Fingerprint Reader Makes Windows Vista Features More Convenient
…Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the Microsoft Fingerprint Reader with software updates from DigitalPersona Inc., for Windows Vista compatibility, offering users the convenience of replacing their passwords with their fingerprint…
Microsoft and Razer Launch Cutting-Edge Gaming Keyboard
HD DVD related:
Microsoft Technology Brings HD DVD to the Mainstream
Microsoft Corp. showcased the growing momentum behind HD DVD through its contribution of core technologies. Microsoft helped deliver the highest-quality video with the VC-1 codec, advanced interactivity with HDi™, and a streamlined and affordable platform for player manufacturers through the use of Microsoft Windows CE 6.0.
Microsoft Corp. and Broadcom Corp. announced a joint effort to support a hardware and software reference design for more cost-efficient HD DVD playback. The new platform uses Microsoft Windows CE 6.0 and Broadcom’s BCM7440 system-on-chip solution, allowing consumer electronics manufacturers, original design manufacturers and systems integrators to more easily and affordably deliver HD DVD playback. Several of the more innovative, high volume electronics companies that plan to use this new hardware and software platform to speed the production of HD DVD players include Lite-On IT Corp. and Zhenjiang Jiangkui Group Co. Ltd./ED Digital.
MSN Direct:
MSN Direct Goes High Def with Clear Channel
Microsoft Corp. and Clear Channel Radio today announced at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that they have executed a collaborative agreement to build a nationwide data delivery service using HD Radio technology, providing personalized and localized content to a variety of HD Radio receivers. This initiative will be branded MSN Direct HD, an extension of Microsoft’s existing MSN Direct service, which currently transmits a variety of information including traffic, weather, movie times, sports, and stocks to Smart Watches, weather stations, Global Positioning System navigation devices and small home appliances.
Microsoft SPOT Initiative Accelerates With Addition of MSN Direct to Navigation Devices
Microsoft Corp.’s Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) Group announced the availability of MSN Direct navigation services and announced that Garmin International Inc. will be the first to offer the new MSN Direct service to Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Customers will be able to receive dynamic local information, including weather condition and traffic updates, movies listings, and gas prices.
Microsoft SPOT also announced plans to work with future versions of Microsoft Streets & Trips and Pharos Science & Applications Inc. to offer MSN Direct Navigation Services to their devices. In addition, Microsoft SPOT is working with Centrality Communications Inc. to integrate MSN Direct with its GPS reference designs…
Some new Microsoft betas this week (so far):
Microsoft Launches Forefront Security for SharePoint Beta:
Microsoft Corp. today (Sept. 28) is launching the public beta of Forefront Security for SharePoint® (http://www.microsoft.com/forefront). This latest release of Microsoft® Forefront security products for businesses is based on Antigen for SharePoint Server, the multi-engine security solution acquired by Microsoft as part of the acquisition of Sybari Software Inc. in 2005.
Forefront Security for SharePoint is optimized to provide advanced protection for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows® SharePoint Services 3.0. Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies facilitate easy collaboration across an organization, connecting people, processes and systems within and beyond organizational boundaries. Forefront Security for SharePoint uses the combined power of multiple antivirus engines from leading security providers to protect against viruses, unwanted files and inappropriate content.
While we’re on the subject, Microsoft was also touting Gartner’s glowing assessment of their email security offerings including including Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services and Forefront Security for Exchange Server.
Windows Mobile Device Center Beta Coming Soon. It’s the replacement in Vista of ActiveSynch for synching up mobile devices with a Vista machine. It was AWOL in Vista RC1.
Windows PowerShell Release Candidate 2 was released. The scripting tool (codenamed “Monad”) for system administration tasks is expected to ship in the 4th quarter and/or embedded in Exchange 2007 when it ships.
The Windows Live Writer blogging tool beta got an update which fixed a number of problems in the original beta released in August.
Windows Live Expo started a limited beta in the UK.
Microsoft Releases First Broad Beta Developer Kit for .NET Micro Framework:
Microsoft Corp. today (Sept. 26) released a beta developer kit for the Microsoft® .NET Micro Framework, a new development platform for use with devices that are typically constrained by cost, memory, processor and/or power consumption. Announced at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston, the .NET Micro Framework broad beta extends the advantages of .NET and the Visual Studio® toolset into a class of the smallest of devices.
…
The .NET Micro Framework grew out of the Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative at Microsoft.
The framework currently provides the software platform for all Smart Watches for MSN Direct. Additionally, the company plans to include it in Windows Vista SideShow displays and in an upcoming version of Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, the statements say.
Consumer research1 has revealed that people want to stay connected, and many would use webcams if they were easier to operate and provided better audio and video quality. To counter those frustrations, Microsoft Hardware and the Windows Live team have joined forces to introduce a line of LifeCams starting with the LifeCam VX-6000 and LifeCam VX-3000.These next-generation webcams provide groundbreaking video and audio quality that opens the door for richer digital communications experiences. Optimized for use with Windows Live™ Messenger, the world’s largest instant messaging network,2 LifeCams meet the growing demand for easier, more meaningful connections.
More details by following the link including a promise that “Microsoft will introduce additional LifeCam products in September 2006.” Todd Bishop has more on the business aspects.
While the Microsoft Hardware team is a savvy bunch with a variety of industry leading products, it’s harder to find nice things to say about Microsoft’s dogged persistence in getting partners to turn out SPOT watches:
Microsoft Corp.’s Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) initiative today launched the next generation of Smart Watches for MSN® Direct: the ABACUS Smart Watch 2006. These newest watches feature double the storage capacity of previous watches, improved download speed, a thinner bezel and several stylish bands.
…
From Fossil Inc., one of the original providers of Smart Watches, the new ABACUS Smart Watch 2006 is the next evolution of the Smart Watch category. It features a metal bezel and a choice of watch bands: black leather, brown crocodile leather, green fabric, classic metal or modern metal. In addition to the new styles, with the increased storage capacity and download speed, wearers of the ABACUS Smart Watch 2006 can download even more MSN Direct channels, providing them with additional value and a wide range of choices.
If the whole thing’s a puzzle, MSN Direct is a specialized FM radio broadcast service for these watches. Silicon Valley Sleuth provides some caustic perspective in Microsoft turns the knife on its self inflicted SPOT wound:
Microsoft has unveiled an updated SPOT watch: the Abacus Smart Watch 2006 started selling today for $179.Microsoft must like rubbing salt in its own wounds. Most of the world would have forgotten about SPOT if the company wouldn’t have reminded them of this technological failure by keeping it on life support.
SPOT uses the FM radio signal to broadcast data such as weather and traffic info. Microsoft was hoping that consumers would fork out $10 per month for such a service, but has now lowered the subscription rates to $39.95 per year.
That’s still 40 dollars too much for a service that comes bundled with most mobile phones.
More by following the link, but it’s past time to put this one out of its misery. Interestingly, the SPOT/MSN Direct team is responsible for the Vista Sideshow design - it’s the little ancillary external screen supported on notebooks running Vista.
Catching up with a number of recent of Windows Vista items, the top of the list is provided by Paul Thurrott - Microsoft Missed Vista ‘Code Complete’ Milestone, Plans for February CTP:
Back in early December 2005, Microsoft publicly announced that it planned to ship a code-complete version of Windows Vista internally by the end of 2005, setting the stage for a future code-complete Community Technical Preview (CTP) build that the company would issue to testers. However, sources at the software giant now tell me that the company didn’t make this milestone, and Microsoft now plans to ship a code-complete Windows Vista version internally by January 31, 2006 instead.
Microsoft, however, says it’s actually on schedule. Thurrott also reports that the next Community Technical Preview (CTP) is likely due February 17 and it won’t be code complete either, but should be feature complete.
Speaking of CTPs, over the weekend came the news that Microsoft Ships First Vista Security Patches for the December CTP. They fixed the WMF vulnerability that drew so much comment earlier in the month and which apparently affected Vista as well.
The new features of the Vista firewall are explained in the January Microsoft Technet column by “The Cable Guy.” Leading the list is that outgoing traffic can be checked.
NotebookReview.com has a pictorial preview of the Windows Vista Sideshow. The sideshow is a secondary LCD display built into the cover of Windows Vista notebooks and tablets with a variety of PDA-like functionality. It got some play in Bill Gates’ CES keynote and interestingly is from the SPOT/MSN Direct team.
The user interface (UI) in the Vista December CTP is reportedly the final design and there are some complaints that it is not too much different from Windows XP. Decide for yourself in the pictorial side-by-side comparison at BentUser.
Windows PE 2.0 beta is coming this month. PE is short for Pre-installation Environment and it’s a special purpose OS for large scale deployments of Windows Vista. Details here.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jul | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | ||||||
