Bill Gates: live at his 12th and final CES keynote
6:25PM PT - Ok! "Ladies and gentlemen, the keynote will begin in five minutes, take your seats please."
6:28PM PT - Two minutes. "PLEASE take your seats." Let's not keep North America's 2nd richest man waiting, shall we?
6:30PM PT - Here we go! Lights are down, harp music.
6:30PM PT - Showing a CES promo video. All about the square footage, bajillions of attendees, keynote speakers -- oh, the hype.
6:33PM PT - "Ladies and gentlemen, president and CEO of the CEA, Gary Shapiro!" Mild applause. "Happy new year, and welcome to 2008 CES!"
"In my opinion, these are the best four days of the year. The floor officially opens tomorrow morning for the ribbon cutting, with cutting edge product..." Woops, teleprompter mistake in there, sorry Gary. Talking about keynotes, the CE industry forecast, and so on.
6:36PM PT - "We're hosting a new program this year..." -- Technologies in emerging countries. "And now, I'm honored to kick off 2008 CES with Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates." Applause! Bill! "He's spoken at CES 11 times... clearly Bill's changed the world, and he's brought his vision to hundreds of millions. His story is legendary."
6:36PM PT - Xbox, Media PC, Smartphone... all products Microsoft's announced at CES. "Microsoft aims to provide the tools to let people connect no matter where they are. ... He's also the world's most successful philanthropist. ... I am proud to introduce to you... Bill Gates!" Big applause! Retro tech video playing before Bill's on.
6:38PM PT - People love playing Xbox 360, using their Media PCs, Smartphones, and Zunes alright. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates!" That's the what, third, fourth time he's been introduced?
6:33PM PT - "Ladies and gentlemen, president and CEO of the CEA, Gary Shapiro!" Mild applause. "Happy new year, and welcome to 2008 CES!"
"In my opinion, these are the best four days of the year. The floor officially opens tomorrow morning for the ribbon cutting, with cutting edge product..." Woops, teleprompter mistake in there, sorry Gary. Talking about keynotes, the CE industry forecast, and so on.
6:36PM PT - "We're hosting a new program this year..." -- Technologies in emerging countries. "And now, I'm honored to kick off 2008 CES with Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates." Applause! Bill! "He's spoken at CES 11 times... clearly Bill's changed the world, and he's brought his vision to hundreds of millions. His story is legendary."
6:36PM PT - Xbox, Media PC, Smartphone... all products Microsoft's announced at CES. "Microsoft aims to provide the tools to let people connect no matter where they are. ... He's also the world's most successful philanthropist. ... I am proud to introduce to you... Bill Gates!" Big applause! Retro tech video playing before Bill's on.
6:38PM PT - People love playing Xbox 360, using their Media PCs, Smartphones, and Zunes alright. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates!" That's the what, third, fourth time he's been introduced?
6:39PM PT - "Good evening, it's great to be here and see all the exciting things going on... my first keynote was in 1994. That was a time when Win95 was just coming together, the internet was just getting started, and we entered the start of what we called the first digital decade. The PC installed base grew to over 1b machines..." music, photos, cellphones. "The trend here is clear: all media and entertainment will be software-driven. The first digital decade has been fantastically successful."
6:44PM PT - "We've made a lot of progress. The first digital decade has been a great success. Thousands of companies have worked together... this is just the beginning. There's nothing holding us back from going much faster and further in the second digital decade. But before we talk about that, I want to talk about the fact that this IS my last keynote.... This will be the first time since I was 17 that I won't have my full time Microsoft job.
Brian Williams: "Join us all day as we report on Bill's last full day at Microsoft." Bill drives off in a tiny car, briefcase on top. Ballmer is talking about Bill totally The Office style. Awesome. Bill spins in his chair, plays with action figures.
Matthew McConaughey: "After all these years he's finally taking work-life balance seriously. He's even got a personal trainer."
Ummm, Bill's singing "Big Pimpin'," being produced by Jay-Z. "Let me get one thing straight with you Jay-Z, you can retire, and then UNRETIRE?" Jay-Z: "Yeah, keep 'em guessing."
6:46PM PT - Bono: "Yeah, Bill, I'm a little busy here!" Bill's playing Guitar Hero II. "Bill, we've talked about this before. We're full up in the band. All positions are filled. I know... I know... I can't just replace Edge because you got a high score on Guitar Hero." "Bill's always had a passion for music... and as long as it's not my music, I'm fine with that."
Apparently now Bill's auditioning with Spielberg. "Oh Bill, what money can't buy." Clooney: "Steven, I can't play Bill Gates. Why don't you get Russell Crow to do it? Tom Hanks? Passed on that one too?"
Bill: "I was thinking the last time I was on the show it was really successful..." Jon Stewart: "Yeah, you were great. But you did kind of run off at the end, like it had monkey-pox." Clip of that classic moment, oh yes. Jon's waffling, no Jon, let Bill co-anchor!
6:48PM PT - Bill asks Hillary and Obama to be their running-mates -- Gore: "Oh hey Bill. No, it's not an INCONVENIENT time. Yeah, that was a good one."
Ozzy Osbourne: "We're the first to give credit where it's due. Microsoft Bob? All his."
Bill drives away from Microsoft one last time... all his office stuff falls off his car -- oh Bill. Another Brian Williams clip. And huuuuuge applause. Over 6k people!
6:53PM PT - "I don't think it's an accurate representation... but it was fun to put together." Gee, thanks Bill, ya don't say. "Of course, after the transition, I'll have a few projects I'll pick about the magic of software... how it will advance education and health. The second digital decade will be more focused on connecting people, more focused on being user centric. Microsoft will deliver platforms that will let people build apps -- but they'll run not only on the PC, in the cloud, on the phone, in the car, in the TV."
"We'll use the best of rich platforms and services.... these devices will span work and business. ... The three key elements I'd highlight: high def experiences everywhere. On the wall, in your desk and in your table -- it will just be there, easy to manipulate."
6:53PM PT - The quality of the rendering will be very, very rich, and will apply high quality AV... getting your data, you'll just take that for granted. No longer will users have to bridge between the devices. The master in the cloud -- backing up, searching, connecting -- will be very simple. The information can be shared in a simple way."
"When you get a new phone or want to borrow a device, it'll be a very simple thing to get up and running... organizing memories and having the system find what's relevant to you, that digital memory application will be something broadly used and very important. Devices will know your context, know your location. Finally, the third and most underestimated: the power of the natural user interface."
6:58PM PT - "We've seen new interfaces: touch on the Windows PC, touch on the iPhone." Oh? "The reaction to those natural interface implementations has been very dramatic. People are interested in a simpler way of accessing their information. All of these things come together with the other elements to create very new experiences. We're just at the beginning of this. This is something the software industry will build into the platform."
"The innovation of the previous years will come together... a key building block has been the Windows platform. We will evolve that and use it as the central building block. The last year has been an amazing year PCs. ... A year ago we launched Vista, we have 100 million people using Vista."
"We have great partners building neat, new form-factor PCs... we have online services, we're seeing incredible growth in those. Windows Mobile, over 10 million new users last year, and we'll double that next year. The phones have gotten so rich."
6:59PM PT - I want to give you a quick glimpse about the latest exciting developments." Mika Kramer (sp) has taken the stage: "My lifeline is Windows... gone are the days of multiple sign-ins and multiple hassles. With my single Windows Live ID all my services are integrated, personalized, and connected. Tonight I want to share what's fresh and new -- what helps me stay connected."
7:01PM PT - Windows Live calendar demo.
7:02PM PT - Now doing a demo of the Windows Live photo gallery...
7:05PM PT - Demo of Live Spaces, Live Video Search. All done!
Bill's back: "Well, I got invited to that snowboard thing, so I now I have to buy one of these things." Bill, you're such a nerd. Surface demo! Bill's talking about the recognition systems, playing with customizing the board.
Bill writes his signature on this snowboard as: "Bill!" in cursive. Nice.
Demoing Surface integration with a phone to send out to Windows Live. "We see surface showing up in many situations -- even here in Vegas -- as a new flexible interface. Another big announcement for us is the introduction of a web technology called Silverlight. It came out with some unique capabilities, shipped in its first version it got a great response."
7:08PM PT - "I'm pleased to announce today we've found a perfect partner to showcase Silverlight: NBC has chosen Microsoft has as its exclusive video partner for online video footage. We'll make it all available live and on demand." Handing off to NBC via video.
Lots of clips from the Olympics -- Bob Costas, yo Bob. NBCOlympics.com / MSN -- video on the web "in high quality and with enhanced features." Bob: "One last thing -- you HAVE to stop calling me. There's simply no place for you on our Olympic broadcast -- there's nothing I can do. Lose my number."
7:11PM PT - "I'll enjoy watching the Olympics... I can watch all the obscure sports." Robbie Bach is up! "It's good to be here again to talk about connected entertainment! I want to talk about the successes we've had in 2007 and talk about what's coming in the future... first, we'll talk about gaming."
"Vista is a great OS for gaming, and Windows is far and away the largest gaming platform -- Xbox has had tremendous success as well. 17.7m consoles shipped to date -- in the US through November we did 3.5b in business, more than the Wii and PS3.. more than the spending on Wii and PS3 combined. We also continue to grow on Xbox Live."
"We have passed the 10 million member mark -- that's six months faster than we expected to get to that number. Certainly a lot of the time people are on Live playing games, but they're also enjoying TV and movies.... ABC and Disney will be bringing their shows to Xbox Live this month. High School Musical, Lost, Desperate Housewives... We're also adding in the movie space."
7:15PM PT - MGM! "Xbox Live will provide 2x on-demand content than any cable or sat provider. Our approach to TV isn't just through Xbox -- Media Center continues its success, and is on the vast majority of PCs in the market to date." Talking about Media Center Extender tech: "New extenders from Samsung and HP -- which we already heard about last week."
Finally Mediaroom (MSFT's awesome IPTV service): "First, we have tech called DVR anywhere -- distribute recorded content around the house." Talking about interactive services with CNN. "The final announcement, last year we talked about the 360 being an STB -- this year we're excited to announce that BT will be the first to provide that capability. But a 360 and use it as an STB for your TV."
"This is not just a hobby, this is something we take quite seriously." That a dig at Jobs and the Apple TV as "Apple's hobby"? Now the Zune, comparing it to the iPod. Yep. "For the first time we'll begin selling the Zune outside the US, in Canada."
7:19PM PT - "Music is an inherently social experience, and that's why we made Zune Social." Robbie's invited a pal, Molly, up on stage to help demo Zune Social, Zune Card, etc.
Ha! Robbie's user name is EDprezz (President of Entertainment and Devices -- high-larious).
Shins, Silversun Pickups, Decemberists, it's a hipster hit parade up in this piece!
7:23PM PT - Robbie's moved on to Sync, demoing that. Robbie asks the Sync machine to play Cars by Gary Numan. Huzzah, Numan!
6:44PM PT - "We've made a lot of progress. The first digital decade has been a great success. Thousands of companies have worked together... this is just the beginning. There's nothing holding us back from going much faster and further in the second digital decade. But before we talk about that, I want to talk about the fact that this IS my last keynote.... This will be the first time since I was 17 that I won't have my full time Microsoft job.
Brian Williams: "Join us all day as we report on Bill's last full day at Microsoft." Bill drives off in a tiny car, briefcase on top. Ballmer is talking about Bill totally The Office style. Awesome. Bill spins in his chair, plays with action figures.
Matthew McConaughey: "After all these years he's finally taking work-life balance seriously. He's even got a personal trainer."
Ummm, Bill's singing "Big Pimpin'," being produced by Jay-Z. "Let me get one thing straight with you Jay-Z, you can retire, and then UNRETIRE?" Jay-Z: "Yeah, keep 'em guessing."
6:46PM PT - Bono: "Yeah, Bill, I'm a little busy here!" Bill's playing Guitar Hero II. "Bill, we've talked about this before. We're full up in the band. All positions are filled. I know... I know... I can't just replace Edge because you got a high score on Guitar Hero." "Bill's always had a passion for music... and as long as it's not my music, I'm fine with that."
Apparently now Bill's auditioning with Spielberg. "Oh Bill, what money can't buy." Clooney: "Steven, I can't play Bill Gates. Why don't you get Russell Crow to do it? Tom Hanks? Passed on that one too?"
Bill: "I was thinking the last time I was on the show it was really successful..." Jon Stewart: "Yeah, you were great. But you did kind of run off at the end, like it had monkey-pox." Clip of that classic moment, oh yes. Jon's waffling, no Jon, let Bill co-anchor!
6:48PM PT - Bill asks Hillary and Obama to be their running-mates -- Gore: "Oh hey Bill. No, it's not an INCONVENIENT time. Yeah, that was a good one."
Ozzy Osbourne: "We're the first to give credit where it's due. Microsoft Bob? All his."
Bill drives away from Microsoft one last time... all his office stuff falls off his car -- oh Bill. Another Brian Williams clip. And huuuuuge applause. Over 6k people!
6:53PM PT - "I don't think it's an accurate representation... but it was fun to put together." Gee, thanks Bill, ya don't say. "Of course, after the transition, I'll have a few projects I'll pick about the magic of software... how it will advance education and health. The second digital decade will be more focused on connecting people, more focused on being user centric. Microsoft will deliver platforms that will let people build apps -- but they'll run not only on the PC, in the cloud, on the phone, in the car, in the TV."
"We'll use the best of rich platforms and services.... these devices will span work and business. ... The three key elements I'd highlight: high def experiences everywhere. On the wall, in your desk and in your table -- it will just be there, easy to manipulate."
6:53PM PT - The quality of the rendering will be very, very rich, and will apply high quality AV... getting your data, you'll just take that for granted. No longer will users have to bridge between the devices. The master in the cloud -- backing up, searching, connecting -- will be very simple. The information can be shared in a simple way."
"When you get a new phone or want to borrow a device, it'll be a very simple thing to get up and running... organizing memories and having the system find what's relevant to you, that digital memory application will be something broadly used and very important. Devices will know your context, know your location. Finally, the third and most underestimated: the power of the natural user interface."
6:58PM PT - "We've seen new interfaces: touch on the Windows PC, touch on the iPhone." Oh? "The reaction to those natural interface implementations has been very dramatic. People are interested in a simpler way of accessing their information. All of these things come together with the other elements to create very new experiences. We're just at the beginning of this. This is something the software industry will build into the platform."
"The innovation of the previous years will come together... a key building block has been the Windows platform. We will evolve that and use it as the central building block. The last year has been an amazing year PCs. ... A year ago we launched Vista, we have 100 million people using Vista."
"We have great partners building neat, new form-factor PCs... we have online services, we're seeing incredible growth in those. Windows Mobile, over 10 million new users last year, and we'll double that next year. The phones have gotten so rich."
6:59PM PT - I want to give you a quick glimpse about the latest exciting developments." Mika Kramer (sp) has taken the stage: "My lifeline is Windows... gone are the days of multiple sign-ins and multiple hassles. With my single Windows Live ID all my services are integrated, personalized, and connected. Tonight I want to share what's fresh and new -- what helps me stay connected."
7:01PM PT - Windows Live calendar demo.
7:02PM PT - Now doing a demo of the Windows Live photo gallery...
An image of the new Palm!
7:05PM PT - Demo of Live Spaces, Live Video Search. All done!
Bill's back: "Well, I got invited to that snowboard thing, so I now I have to buy one of these things." Bill, you're such a nerd. Surface demo! Bill's talking about the recognition systems, playing with customizing the board.
Bill writes his signature on this snowboard as: "Bill!" in cursive. Nice.
Demoing Surface integration with a phone to send out to Windows Live. "We see surface showing up in many situations -- even here in Vegas -- as a new flexible interface. Another big announcement for us is the introduction of a web technology called Silverlight. It came out with some unique capabilities, shipped in its first version it got a great response."
7:08PM PT - "I'm pleased to announce today we've found a perfect partner to showcase Silverlight: NBC has chosen Microsoft has as its exclusive video partner for online video footage. We'll make it all available live and on demand." Handing off to NBC via video.
Lots of clips from the Olympics -- Bob Costas, yo Bob. NBCOlympics.com / MSN -- video on the web "in high quality and with enhanced features." Bob: "One last thing -- you HAVE to stop calling me. There's simply no place for you on our Olympic broadcast -- there's nothing I can do. Lose my number."
7:11PM PT - "I'll enjoy watching the Olympics... I can watch all the obscure sports." Robbie Bach is up! "It's good to be here again to talk about connected entertainment! I want to talk about the successes we've had in 2007 and talk about what's coming in the future... first, we'll talk about gaming."
"Vista is a great OS for gaming, and Windows is far and away the largest gaming platform -- Xbox has had tremendous success as well. 17.7m consoles shipped to date -- in the US through November we did 3.5b in business, more than the Wii and PS3.. more than the spending on Wii and PS3 combined. We also continue to grow on Xbox Live."
"We have passed the 10 million member mark -- that's six months faster than we expected to get to that number. Certainly a lot of the time people are on Live playing games, but they're also enjoying TV and movies.... ABC and Disney will be bringing their shows to Xbox Live this month. High School Musical, Lost, Desperate Housewives... We're also adding in the movie space."
7:15PM PT - MGM! "Xbox Live will provide 2x on-demand content than any cable or sat provider. Our approach to TV isn't just through Xbox -- Media Center continues its success, and is on the vast majority of PCs in the market to date." Talking about Media Center Extender tech: "New extenders from Samsung and HP -- which we already heard about last week."
Finally Mediaroom (MSFT's awesome IPTV service): "First, we have tech called DVR anywhere -- distribute recorded content around the house." Talking about interactive services with CNN. "The final announcement, last year we talked about the 360 being an STB -- this year we're excited to announce that BT will be the first to provide that capability. But a 360 and use it as an STB for your TV."
"This is not just a hobby, this is something we take quite seriously." That a dig at Jobs and the Apple TV as "Apple's hobby"? Now the Zune, comparing it to the iPod. Yep. "For the first time we'll begin selling the Zune outside the US, in Canada."
7:19PM PT - "Music is an inherently social experience, and that's why we made Zune Social." Robbie's invited a pal, Molly, up on stage to help demo Zune Social, Zune Card, etc.
Ha! Robbie's user name is EDprezz (President of Entertainment and Devices -- high-larious).
Shins, Silversun Pickups, Decemberists, it's a hipster hit parade up in this piece!
7:23PM PT - Robbie's moved on to Sync, demoing that. Robbie asks the Sync machine to play Cars by Gary Numan. Huzzah, Numan!
7:28PM PT - "The other exciting thing that's happening in the auto space is a new upgrade to Sync, which is called 911-assist. If an airbag deploys, the system automatically makes a 911 call --unless you stop it -- so emergency services can come quickly to help you out." Windows Mobile time. "Phones are going to be a BIG platform -- PCs will grow, but phones are the fastest growing platform. We outsell BlackBerry, we outsell the iPhone."
"Tellme is a leader in the telephony space, but in the future they're going to launch something called Say and See." Demoing again -- this app uses GPS and voice recognition to search local listings. Too bad this doesn't appear to be happening on a Windows Mobile phone.
Correction -- definitely not happening on a Windows Mobile phone.
Now Robbie's showing his end of the demo, receiving movie tickets from Molly's Tellme service, then previews a Cloverfield trailer. Talking how well Microsoft is in position to take advantage of integrated (mobile) advertising. Robbie wrap-up time. "Microsoft is poised to deliver. Before our big finale, I wanted to invite Bill on stage to show us the future of where we're going..."
Bill's on, showing a demo of software camera recognition -- knows Robbie owes Bill $20. Knows what it's being pointed at, can show contextual information -- like having a HUD that tells you whatever you want to know about whatever you're looking at in real space.
According to the system Steve Ballmer is, apparently, playing nickel slots. Nice. Bill's about to call up his history of CES keynotes... media, people, and information stacks of clips and data. The Rock 2001 CES keynote flashback for the launch of Xbox. Ah, nice, CES 2005 -- we were there when Conan co-hosted. "The idea is that you don't have to take a lot of manual steps -- this should just happen for you." Robbie: "Now, we have this $20 I supposedly owe you. I want to see how good you are at Guitar Hero 3." Oh snap, they're about to "jam."
Robbie's inviting Guitar Hero champion Kelley Leyone (sp). She's playing Welcome to the Jungle, and certainly a hell of a lot better than we are.
7:39 PM PT - "Well, it turns out I've got my own ringer here." He brings out the Slash. Who is actually playing Welcome to the Jungle, ha.
Robbie's already got his wallet open.
Bach: "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, I'll see you again next year..." Slash is shredding, or whatever it is those guitarists do. "Cool."
Looks like that's it! So long, Bill. I've been liveblogging you since we first started Engadget, and I'm absolutely going to miss this.
"Tellme is a leader in the telephony space, but in the future they're going to launch something called Say and See." Demoing again -- this app uses GPS and voice recognition to search local listings. Too bad this doesn't appear to be happening on a Windows Mobile phone.
Correction -- definitely not happening on a Windows Mobile phone.
Now Robbie's showing his end of the demo, receiving movie tickets from Molly's Tellme service, then previews a Cloverfield trailer. Talking how well Microsoft is in position to take advantage of integrated (mobile) advertising. Robbie wrap-up time. "Microsoft is poised to deliver. Before our big finale, I wanted to invite Bill on stage to show us the future of where we're going..."
Bill's on, showing a demo of software camera recognition -- knows Robbie owes Bill $20. Knows what it's being pointed at, can show contextual information -- like having a HUD that tells you whatever you want to know about whatever you're looking at in real space.
According to the system Steve Ballmer is, apparently, playing nickel slots. Nice. Bill's about to call up his history of CES keynotes... media, people, and information stacks of clips and data. The Rock 2001 CES keynote flashback for the launch of Xbox. Ah, nice, CES 2005 -- we were there when Conan co-hosted. "The idea is that you don't have to take a lot of manual steps -- this should just happen for you." Robbie: "Now, we have this $20 I supposedly owe you. I want to see how good you are at Guitar Hero 3." Oh snap, they're about to "jam."
Robbie's inviting Guitar Hero champion Kelley Leyone (sp). She's playing Welcome to the Jungle, and certainly a hell of a lot better than we are.
7:39 PM PT - "Well, it turns out I've got my own ringer here." He brings out the Slash. Who is actually playing Welcome to the Jungle, ha.
Robbie's already got his wallet open.
Bach: "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, I'll see you again next year..." Slash is shredding, or whatever it is those guitarists do. "Cool."
Looks like that's it! So long, Bill. I've been liveblogging you since we first started Engadget, and I'm absolutely going to miss this.
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 7)
Brent @ Jan 6th 2008 9:32PM
Please limit flash photography to the first 60 seconds... Sharpshooters will be greenlighted at the 61st second.
Noah @ Jan 6th 2008 9:32PM
My brother is IMing me from the keynote. He's sitting in the audience. Jealous... He's such an ass sometimes.
Elisha Adeagbo @ Jan 6th 2008 9:35PM
I'm also watchin the keynote (live)
Elisha Adeagbo @ Jan 6th 2008 9:36PM
no i'm not at the conference
BigDave @ Jan 6th 2008 9:37PM
Anyone else watching this live and wondering why this guy doesn't have a mic that works?? I can hear the crowd just fine, but not the presenter!! WTF!! Go microsoft....
vb @ Jan 6th 2008 9:39PM
Don't know what you're talking about. Works fine by me, I can hear him just fine.
vancanucksfan @ Jan 6th 2008 9:38PM
*crosses fingers for a linux based windows mobile phone
nxtiak @ Jan 6th 2008 9:38PM
How would that be called "windows mobile phone" then?
nxtiak @ Jan 6th 2008 9:38PM
"Bill and his wife..........Melinda"
Brent @ Jan 6th 2008 9:38PM
Truly the nerdiest I've ever felt... Watching the stream on my TV.
peter @ Jan 6th 2008 9:39PM
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-06-2008/0004731120&EDATE=
Bill Gates Looks Ahead at 'Next Digital Decade'
Microsoft announces new entertainment partnerships with Disney-ABC
Television Group, MGM and NBC Universal.
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At the 2008 International
Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and
Microsoft President of the Entertainment & Devices Division Robbie Bach
today unveiled several new entertainment services and partnerships,
including new deals with Disney-ABC Television Group, NBC Universal and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), that demonstrate how software is
improving people's ability to connect with their favorite content and
communities through new and expanded forms of entertainment experiences
.....
A joint Microsoft-NBC Universal announcement provides just one
indication of the power of software to change the way people experience
online entertainment. NBC Universal and Microsoft will raise the bar for
live and on-demand Internet broadcasting through an exclusive agreement
where Microsoft and NBC will deliver NBCOlympics.com on MSN, the official
U.S. online home of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the first
"long-tail" Olympics, online viewers will have access to more than 3,000
hours of live and on-demand content so they can watch their favorite
athlete or sport, regardless of whether the sport has seven fans or 7
million. NBCOlympics.com on MSN will be available free and powered by
Microsoft Silverlight technology, a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in
for delivering high-quality video experiences on the Web.
....
Hit ABC and Disney Channel Programs Join Xbox Live Video Lineup; MGM
Brings Legendary Library of Films to Xbox LIVE
...
Adding to the entertainment momentum, Bach announced that Zune will be
available in Canada in spring 2008, the first time the family of digital
music players will be available outside the U.S.
.....
more in the press release
Klip @ Jan 6th 2008 9:39PM
His vision was a personal computer on every desk at home and at work?
Ha!
That Bill Gates guy was crazy.
xiux @ Jan 6th 2008 9:42PM
i want that screen behind him..
Itchy Pajamas @ Jan 6th 2008 9:42PM
Man, where do they have the microphones? I can barely hear the speakers talking, but the audience applause blows me out of my La-Z-Boy. :-(
xsirxx @ Jan 6th 2008 9:43PM
Im waiting to find out if the 360 is getting a new thumb control for FPSs, I think that will help the 360 out ALOT!
Richard @ Jan 6th 2008 9:47PM
The current controller seems to work fine...
vb @ Jan 6th 2008 9:43PM
I guess a lot of people in the audience don't know how to count time and what 60 seconds means, since I see a lot of flash photography going on.
Amit @ Jan 6th 2008 9:43PM
microsoft.com is providing live feed for the keynote
John C. @ Jan 6th 2008 9:44PM
I'm getting the video, but no audio when I try watching the keynote is Firefox. Any suggestions?
The Aggie CEO @ Jan 6th 2008 10:06PM
Why not watch it in Windows media Player by clicking the link??
it worked in Firefox for me........but it was too small
andrew @ Jan 6th 2008 9:44PM
who injoys the zune
andrew @ Jan 6th 2008 9:44PM
DOOOOOORK!!!!!!!!!!
nxtiak @ Jan 6th 2008 9:45PM
HAHAAHA THE OFFICE spoof is AWESOME
nxtiak @ Jan 6th 2008 9:45PM
Ok except the workout thing.. but Matthew Mcaughenghey???
vb @ Jan 6th 2008 9:45PM
HAHAHA, that "last day at work" video is awesome.
jbhitter24 @ Jan 6th 2008 9:46PM
Did i miss something? why the fuck is everyone still talking about dang blu-ray? shut up!
anyways, bill gates is one of my most repected persons, not only is he one of the fathers of the computing we see today, but hes a great man.
Ondskan @ Jan 6th 2008 9:46PM
"Adding to the entertainment momentum, Bach announced that Zune will be
available in Canada in spring 2008, the first time the family of digital
music players will be available outside the U.S."
No Europe?Blame Canada!
jamma @ Jan 6th 2008 9:46PM
That previous post was NOT me, it was Bodgen. Tosser.
I'm i'm not anyone's fanboy, i'm just a nerd who like tech and hates pre-pubescent idiots who ruin blogs like this
JefTek @ Jan 6th 2008 9:47PM
I hope we get some Zune + Xbox Lovin'
Richard @ Jan 6th 2008 9:47PM
Switch to Internet Explorer :)
Galley @ Jan 6th 2008 9:47PM
Bill Gates is rapping. Someone please kill me now!
JefTek @ Jan 6th 2008 9:47PM
Interesting to see JayZ with the new Apple Record Label looming....
Brent @ Jan 6th 2008 9:48PM
So the point of this video... Bill's life is so much cooler than mine?
Yeah, I could get all these guys to make a retirement video for me.
The Aggie CEO @ Jan 6th 2008 9:48PM
LMAO@ JAY-Z & Spielberg...
John C. @ Jan 6th 2008 9:52PM
Anyone getting audio when watching the feed via IE or Firefox? I can see the video but can't hear anything. Any suggestions?
JefTek @ Jan 6th 2008 9:54PM
The Video stream is working great here... sorry :(
are you streaming via Silverlight or via Windows Media Player?
I tried both, and they are working
vb @ Jan 6th 2008 9:54PM
Turn on the speakers?
But seriously, I don't know what's wrong. Works fine by me, try direct WMV link and open it in media player (http://wm.istreamplanet.com/customers/ms/01062008_750.asx)
darkuser @ Jan 6th 2008 9:53PM
Does anyone else get an error when trying to watch the feed??
xsirxx @ Jan 6th 2008 9:53PM
No, I had to watch it on my media player, it should give u the option....
clark Kline @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
i'm watching it in safari on a mac. hehe.
darkuser @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
yeah it does but then it states that it cannot cannot to the stream
xsirxx @ Jan 6th 2008 9:58PM
I use VLC Media Player, by far the best...
John C. @ Jan 6th 2008 9:55PM
No errors here other than no audio...I can see whats going on when I play it in Windows Media Player or within Firefox.
Toph @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
Well, beyond all the other overlap in their businesses, here's another thing that Apple and Microsoft have in common: they both make videos making fun of Microsoft.
JefTek @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
Silverlight streaming on http://www.microsoft.com/ces is smooth, but small
I'm using the WMV version.
Jm @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
was I the only one that heard that he saud playstation?
Racy @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
haha man that last day video was freakin brilliant
_-_Goldfinger_-_ @ Jan 6th 2008 9:56PM
Spielberg had an iphone in his pocket. :)
vb @ Jan 6th 2008 9:57PM
OMG OMG Bill mentioned the iPhone!
imacmatt09 @ Jan 6th 2008 10:00PM
Bill has a 1 TB iPhone with windows mobile 7 on it.