News

We're sitting here live at the 2004 CES Bill Gates keynote. We'll be updating this story throughout the speach, so refresh often for the latest information.

General

• It's officially 95 degrees in this room, perhaps it's too many people or too many geeks with notebooks running...I'm reporting live, so I don't count.
• Bill Gates is finally on stage at 6:45 local time.
• The phrase of the nught is "Seamless Computing Experiences" - This means being able to run software everywhere it can be run so that data is easily transported wherever you go.
• Gates wants to drive speach recognition, especially in the automobile.
• To keep up this information flow, Gates wants to promote the proliferation of information on smart devices that connect with each other to prevent data overlap/
• Partners are working with Microsoft to advance personal entertainment devices like entertainment PCs in the home.
• He's pushing automatic updates for product software and consumer feedback by leveraging internet connections.

MSN

• Microsoft is now officially announcing MSN Premium, which is designed as a broadband enhancement.
• It's a fee-based service to provide more value by adding SPAM filtering, pop up blocking, virus protection and other communication tools.
• A video is on now with Jay Leno doing his Jay Walking bit talking to people about what they want from the internet...it's a bit silly.
• Leno just came out on stage and told a few jokes.
• The MSN Premium service will also feature photo sharing and editing software to simplify sending pictures to friends and family.
• The service is available now for $99.
• There is also a connector to Outlook 2003.

SPOT - MSN Direct

• For more SPOT information, please visit www.SPOTstop.com
• Local Fossil stores are now selling SPOT watches
• Suunto will also officially announce their watch - no mention of Citizen though
• Gates is showing the process for setting up a new watch and the selection of content.
• The configuration seems pretty simple and changes watch data on the fly.
• MSFT will push new content as users provide feedback
• New form factors for SPOT technoloogy will be out later in the year

MSFT Based Phones and PDAs

• The goal of the software for these devices will be to maintain the same interface as PCs
• Wireless devices are definitely the focus, Smartphones and Windows Mobile Phone Edition

MSFT in Automobiles

• Gates wants downloaded music to be easily moved to the car via wireless connection.
• Services such as automatic synchronizing to vehicles will be available.

Set-top Boxes (MSTV)

• Gates wants to have an HDTV receiver that can also stream video from other machines in the house or play recordings it makes, much like TIVO
• These machines will have a clean interface and will connect idealy over wireless connection
• Challanges include finding interesting programming amongst all the available information
• The experience with live voice communication found in the XBOX Live package, has become a driver to make other experiences more interactive and social

Media Center

• Media Player will come out with an update that includes high definition support
• A demo of the Creative personal video player is being made
• Recordings from the media center PC can easily be transferred to these devices
• Secialized content will also be available from partners like Naptster
• Release is slated for the second half of this year
• Windows Media Center Extender is a new software that will run on set top boxes to connect to Media Center PCs
• Dell, Gateway, Alienware and others will produce these devices
• Extender devices will easily play recorded video and music from the PC
• Gateway and HP will be announcing LCD and Plasma tv's with Extender hardware integrated
• There will also be an Extender kit for the XBOX, so it can act the same way as the hardware pieces

That's it for the keynote. We'll bring you regular updates from the show tomorrow, and perhaps a few tid bits from the Mobile Focus event this evening.