Microsoft proposes standard for "auxiliary" displays
posted Feb 12th 2005 10:43AM
Microsoft has proposed a standard for displaying data on an LCD mounted on the lid of a closed laptop, similar to the way some clamshell cellphones display date, time and Caller ID info (as in the gratuitous image at the right). The company plans to incorporate the technology into Longhorn (whenever it ships), and would also make the standard available on desktop machines, allowing them to work with an "auxiliary" display that could function separately from the host PC, with its own processor and memory. While we like this idea, and think being able to, say, check our email queue without opening our laptop, would be great, we can't help but be a little intrigued by the system Microsoft plans to build this on: Smart Personal Objects Technology, better known as SPOT, which has been a less-than-stellar success as the system that runs "smart watches." Is SPOT the right solution for this, or is Microsoft trying to salvage something useful from the ruins of the smart-watch biz? We'll have to wait for Longhorn to find out, so we guess we'll just have to be (very) patient.
Microsoft never had a "smart-watch" biz. It had spot technology that they shopped around and found watch companies willing to incorporate SPOT into there products. You assume Microsoft expected smart-watch technology to be anything but novelty. It was to demo the capabilites.
This was actually first mentioned last year:
http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2004/11/aux_displays_co.html
I sincerely hope Microsoft figures out all the bugs that present themselves on the main screen before it migrates the same fundamentally weak architecture to yet another display.
The world needs a Microsoft-driven "standard" almost as much as we need any manufacturer pushing the market in a given direction for its own benefit - and not the end-user's.
Vendors should listen more and dictate less.
Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
"The world needs a Microsoft-driven "standard" almost as much as we need any manufacturer pushing the market in a given direction for its own benefit - and not the end-user's."
Um, right. I assume that since you don't see a need for auxiliary displays, no one else should either then? How can you justify your point that such a feature is not to the end user's benefit? Just your way to vent some pent-up frustration at those dang vendors?
"The same fundamentally weak architecture" -- is that meant to be your critical evalution of a slimmed-down .NET runtime embedded in silicon? The "same" as, what exactly?
Doesn't support for an external display already exist with the Media PC variant of Win XP?
I think this is a great idea - I believe Microsoft are spot on with this. What we will see is the Media PC taking over and dominating 'consumer electronics' replacing the hi-fi-like unit with off-the-shelf desktop-like computer components ... pitching Dell into direct competition with the likes of Sony and Samsung ... it will be a 'value-war' and Dell has a great chance of winning. Now if Intel can make a silent running CPU cooling system ...
"Doesn't support for an external display already exist with the Media PC variant of Win XP?"
Yes, and external displays for laptops have been around for a while, too, displaying such things as battery life.
This is different - it is based on SPOT, which transmits data to SPOT devices over FM radio. So without having to open up your laptop, you can get things like calender alarms, short messages, weather, news, sports, etc.
Article crosslink here:
http://forum.spotstop.com/showthread.php?t=2114
The first poster is correct: SPOT watches are not "failures" they were simply the first devices that Microsoft could find SPOT hardware partners for. As such, although the SPOT watches haven't set the world on fire yet, they haven't actually been "failures" either. They have demonstrated something of what the SPOT concept can achieve, and that's all Microsoft wanted in its first generation of SPOT devices. Things like these external displays are simply another step in their SPOT game plan.