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Microsoft flatters to deceive
MICROSOFT'S BIG HURRAH ended up being a bit of a damp squib after power cuts, a "blown tube" and ultimately a lack of anything really new to show.
As Steve Ballmer finally took to the stage for his keynote - a keynote that had been delayed for 20 minutes due to a partial power failure which led to one of the demonstration televisions having what Ballmer called a "blown tube" (sorry mate, LCD screens don't have tubes) - the hordes were restless for some juicy new products.
The fact that Microsoft had little to announce was apparent with nods towards previously announced cloud computing collaboration service Skydrive, the Blio ebook reader, Mediaroom - that's BT Vision to us here in Blighty - and paid telly services to mobile phones. Ballmer also announced that all HP PCs will feature MSN as the homepage and Bing as the default search engine.
A lot of time was spent on Xbox and the ability for players to create 80s style arcades where they can invite others to play through Xbox Live. However the biggest announcement was that Project Natal will be available as a retail product by the end of this year and will not require any modifications to existing Xbox consoles.
Ballmer then moved the show along to what has become one of the main themes of CES 2010, slate computers, which according to the Microsoft CEO are "almost as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC."
Holding a dinky HP unit it was clear that these devices are aiming to be the touchscreen netbooks of 2010. Other manufacturers on the show floor were showing off similar devices and Michael Dell held aloft a working sample at a separate event yesterday, however he would not commit to when the company will bring this to market.
Microsoft must be hoping that Dell doesn't ship its device any time soon, because at present it's running Android.
And there's the problem, Ballmer's loudest push is not a Microsoft exclusive. In fact far from it. Walking around we saw some interesting slate incarnations with both Android and Windows in the mix. MSI provided the wackiest concept with two touchscreens in a folding notebook configuration. Two devices were on offer with the 8-inch version fully operational running Windows 7. If the device didn't have MSI badges on it you would have thought that Apple had moved its announcement forward a few weeks.
It's hard to fault Ballmer for what appears to be genuine enthusiasm but his keynote really didn't have any meat on it. Slate devices are going to appear in mass later this year running either Windows and Android but it'll be hard to get punters excited when they know Apple is likely to have something up its sleeve.
All in all not vintage Ballmer and sadly not much to get excited about just yet. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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open 90% of LCD screens and look at the pretty CCFL TUBES used as back lights.. whats happend to all the people who actualy knew technology on this site.
it may be shaped like a tube but don't we call it a (cfl) bulb?
I think the Apple tablet will be just as boring and uninspiring as the HP tablets. The iPhone was successful because it was first, not because of its pretty UI.
There will be a plethora of multitouch user interfaces on Android and Windows 7 slates to choose from and Apple would need something amazing to compete because it does not have a head start this time around.
The real star of the show should be that MSI tablet, but nobody seems to be talking about it. The dual screen is totally innovative. You can use it like a notebook to take notes, an e-reader that actually displays books how they were meant to be read, and you could use one screen as a touch keyboard like a regular laptop. Sign me up if the price is right. Maybe throw a nice leather cover over it as well.
What is Steve Ballmer doing launching an HP product. Where are the MS software hurrays for tablet use?
Are you sure that the iPhone was first - wasn't the Prada LG KE850 actually released first by about 5 months?
If Microsoft would ever release an OS that didn't get slower after a year or so that would be big news.
All LCD screens have tubes and those tubes look exactly like tubes. They look like long thing tubes you might see in an aquarium top. But any excuse of a blown tube is a lie as they just needed to get another LCD display.
Almost all LCD displays have tubes on the top and the bottom of the screen.
Women watch endless soaps, so give it to them on a device.
Men watch endless other stuff, so give it to them on a device.
MS - make it your device.
It's just so frustratlingly obvious, why isn't this alread happening?
TV is global, mobile phones are global. Lets combine the two and make gazillions.
Normal TV, not some daylight robbery old, out of date, has-been of a clip. Normal effing telly.
Analog and digital reception.
I'd pay an extra £150 a year, every year, for that. 5x more than I do for Windows, think about that Jobs.
So would millions in every country, for PROPER TV, not half assed shitty download that's long OUT OF DATE.
I want News, currently broadcast tv that I can watch on my TV. If they can sell a tv at a petrol station for £20 then why can't I have it on my mobile phone NOW!? ;-)
Isn't this obvious?
OffT: pictures
Agree with Archangel
(about the lack of any normal sized pictures... not even as links)
OnT:
The iPhone succeeded because it was designed as touch device. If any such device, is using regular software, like vanilla WindowsXP/7, <your , <your , <your , etc, etc, etc will fail.
And already did (TabletPC)
... never die. They just continue to bounce around the stage until they fade away.
What's the matter Stevie boy, no cause to dance onto the stage, peel bananas and generally give us normal humans a laugh?
Sad, I kind of like his antics. But then, road kill can be entertaining too.