Restrict your flash photography to the first 60 seconds of this keynote.
Last night's CES keynote was rather disappointing. Actually, it was also impressive, in a different way. You've probably heard most of the news through Twitter or someplace else already but here are a few of the big announcements:
- Zune is coming out in Canada this Spring. (see footnote 1)
- New movie studios and TV networks hitting US Video Marketplace.
- Media Center will be built into HP televisions in the future.
- DVR Anywhere, that lets you share DVR content to other Mediaroom devices on your network. (whatever the hell that means, see footnote 2)
News-wise, that's about it. But two things about it made me smile.
The first is Robbie Bach's diss at Apple TV when he was talking about Media Center.
When you look at all of this together: what we've done on Xbox and Xbox Live, what we're doing on Media Center, and what we're doing in Mediaroom, it's abundantly clear that building great, connected TV experiences is not a (fingerquotes) hobby for Microsoft. This is something we take quite seriously.
And sadly, they're right. If Apple was putting a bit more attention into Apple TV, it could be a killer product. Apple TV is a good product, but definitely not as good as many of the other offerings in that category of products. Give it the ability to download movies, either to your iTunes library or as a rental (see footnote 3), and allow users to do the same with TV shows would make a big difference. It's also missing a DVR, but it simply doesn't seem like it'd be in Apple's mindset. Remember that they're also trying to sell the same shows. :/
The second is a phenomenal and hilarious video put together by Microsoft as a parody of The Office, except instead of being about life on MS campus, it's about what Bill Gates' last day is going to be like. Microsoft's keynote videos usually have some humor and production value, which is not to say, it was the highlight of the night in every way. No matter how you look at it, most of it was PR spin on currently available products, and the yearly snorefest that is "The Digital Decade" vision.
If it hits YouTube or any other video outlet (I'm guessing MSN Soapbox, this is Microsoft), I highly recommend you check it out, it is simply hilarious.
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Footnote 1: Much much much overdue. Now get two more generations of your product out there and maybe you can compete with the iPod!
Footnote 2: After some research (looking it up on Wikipedia), Mediaroom appears to be Microsoft's IPTV set-top box platform. They changed the name in mid-June, which is probably why anyone who doesn't care about Microsoft's multimedia efforts aside from Xbox never heard of it until the keynote. It's apparently been adopted by 17 partners, but does anyone actually HAVE a Mediaroom device? I doubt it. :S
Footnote 3: Movie rentals are practically confirmed to be announced next week at Macworld, and I'd be really surprised if the iTunes store wasn't getting a front-end on Apple TV alongside that.
