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• March 8, 2002 •
During his keynote address last January 7 at the 2002 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft Corp., previewed new technologies designed to enhance and extend the experiences delivered with the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system. Gates' demonstration included an early version of a set of technologies, code-named "Freestyle," which includes a new user interface to enable consumers to access their music, videos and photos from anywhere in the room. "Freestyle" also will enhance Windows XP to deliver new TV experiences on the PC. In addition, Gates unveiled a set of Windows CE .NET-based technologies, code-named "Mira," designed to be included in a new generation of smart display devices such as detachable, wireless mobile flat-screen monitors and digital televisions, extending a complete Windows PC experience to relaxed settings in any room in the home.
"Microsoft's vision is to bring technology to life in a way that not only is a natural extension of what people already want to do, but also greatly expands what people could do but may not have imagined possible," said Jim Allchin, group vice president of Platforms at Microsoft. "Today's previews of 'Freestyle' and 'Mira' show how Microsoft is connecting the power of Windows XP PCs to a wide variety of consumer electronics, thus bringing us closer to this vision."
Microsoft is working closely with leading consumer PC manufacturers to design media center PCs optimized for the rich capabilities of Windows XP and "Freestyle." The first wave of these manufacturers includes Hewlett-Packard Co., NEC Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Further details and availability will be announced later this year.
A new set of Windows CE .NET-based technologies, code-named "Mira," will enable a new generation of smart displays that give people the freedom to experience Windows XP from anywhere in their home. Harnessing the remote desktop and wireless networking features of Windows XP and Windows CE .NET, "Mira"-enabled smart displays will deliver to consumers the freedom of the complete experiences in Windows, including browsing the Web, sending or receiving e-mail messages, listening to music, and editing and displaying digital images, from any room in the home.
"Mira" will enable smart displays in a variety of instant-on and silent-running form factors ranging from a primary PC monitor that detaches to become a portable wireless touch-screen monitor to a large digital television that presents a complete Windows XP experience including music and photos from a PC. Microsoft recently released Beta 1 of "Mira" and is teaming with leading companies, including Intel Corp., National Semiconductor Corp., ViewSonic Corp., and Wyse Technology Inc. to deliver "Mira"-enabled smart devices. "Mira" is scheduled to ship in the second half of 2002, enabling these new smart devices to be available for the 2002 holiday season.
More information can be found on the eHome Web site.
Now some of you might think that this is another "gimmick" doomed to fail.... Let's face it, on occasion Microsoft does get it wrong.... Remember all the hype about Microsoft's UltimateTV? It's as good as dead and buried now. Or Microsoft's Tablet PC? It's clinging on for dear life, and will probably fade away too. So why would this be any different?
One thing to keep in mind is that - according to some information I received - "Mira" and "Freestyle" -technologies are being rolled into Service Pack 1 for Windows XP. This service pack is expected to be released at the end of 2002 now, instead of the original plan of a release in the first half of 2002.
