Live Blog: Bill Gates takes the stage @ CES 2007
Ladies and Gents, welcome to Gadgetell’s live coverage of the Bill Gates keynote address. The man himself is expected to take stage here in Vegas at 6:30 PM to kick-off the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. Are you ready for a good ole’ Bill Gates keynote? Yeah, us too! Remember last year when he talked about integrating the phone with y? This year, not a whole lot has changed. Expect to hear a lot about Windows Vista, Office, and of course, the Zune. We’re banking on Bill to have some A list celebrity with him like last year when he brought out Justin Timberlake. Maybe he’ll bring out Britney this year… you never know! I’ll stop blabbing on, but stick around and we’ll begin shortly.
NOTE: You know the drill, punch the F5 key for frequent updates - and by frequent, I mean every couple of minutes.
6:19 PM PST - We just got the announcement “Ladies and Gentlemen… please take your seats, the program will begin shortly.” We’re in our seats now and excited to see what Bill has to say. Stick around.
6:27 PM PST - Well, the colors on stage are changing, so you know what that means…
6:35 PM PST - We’re now getting a CES introduction… great stuff. Disclaimer: The connection here sucks so if we lose you, don’t worry, we’re still typing and will post it shortly.
6:40 PM PST - Gary Schapiro, President of the Consumer Electronics Association is now on stage giving his introduction. The man is on his way…
6:43 PM PST - They’re now playing a montage video of Bill Gate’s past keynotes. To be honest, it makes him look stupid… but it’s enough to be ironic since we know the man is a visionary.
6:46 PM PST - They’re playing a Windows Vista promo video building up the hype for Bill.
6:48 PM PST - Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the Chairman of the Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates!!!
6:49 PM PST - Bill’s cracking jokes about if they’re going to want him back after he’s been running his foundation… because he’ll be more likely to talk about infectious diseases than technology…
Here’s a good shot…
6:50 PM PST - He’s now talking about the “Digital Divide” and how youngin’s now use their computers more than they watch TV. I know that’s correct for me, but what about you?
6:54 PM PST - There are some key things missing. People want “Connected Exeriences"… people want to do things across multiple devices. This sounds similiar to last year’s keynote.
6:55 PM PST - “This is not only the best version of Windows ever, but it’s also the highest quality version ever as well”
6:59 PM PST - He’s still talking about Windows and all of the things that people enjoy doing on their computers these days.
Justin Hutchinsom, the Group Product Manager of Microsoft, is coming on stage to demo Vista… and “we’re going to show you some features we haven’t shown publically yet.
The demo is live on the big-screen, and he says, “Windows Vista is not about searching, it’s about finding.” But I’d say, to me, it’s about searching.
7:02 PM PST - Shaddow Copy is a new feature from Vista… which he says is “better than going back in time"… Good to hear Microsoft has the balls to go after Steve Jobs.
7:03 PM PST - We just took a look at Office 2007, and now we’re looking at Windows Live Search.
He’s now using an Xbox 360 controller to fly around on their Windows Live Local. http://local.live.com
7:07 PM PST - We’re now looking at a new feature in Vista Media Center called Sports Lounge which is a “sports fan’s dream”
Sports Lounge, Media Center - Windows Vista will take entertainment on the PC to the next level.
7:08 PM PST - Now we’re looking at Photo Gallery on Vista. DVD Maker in Vista “makes it easy” to burn DVDs.
7:10 PM PST - Groupshot, a new application, will let you merge photos together. The example he used was one girl’s eyes were closed in a picture - and the boy’s eyes were closed in another version of the same picture. He used Groupshot to merge the two photos into one so it’s “the picture you wish you had taken.” Very impressive.
7:12 PM PST - You can now set full-motion video as your background on your Vista computer. They showed a waterfall and an animation of people moving around - it looks great.
7:15 PM PST - They’re now showing new innovative laptops, tablet portables, and UMPCs from HP, Toshiba, Sony, and Medion.
The models that he showed are timed to launch with Vista in 22 days.
7:17 PM PST - “Now let’s take a look at some of these Windows Vista PCs” - Video comes on showing the sleek new units from the manufacturers mentioned above. They’ve got the Ferari laptop (of course - since they sent those out to a bunch of bloggers). Now we’re looking at VooDoo (which was recently acquired by HP). Do I sense a hardcore HP/Microsoft partnership?
7:22 PM PST - They just played a promo video announcing HP’s new Windows Home Server (which HP will brand as the HP Smart Server). Automatic backup, connectivity (first mention of Zune). If you want to grow capacity, you just “plunk the storage in.” I personally like the word “plunk"… very classy!
7:25 PM PST - “A big part of connected experiences is connected entertainment.” Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft Corp just took the stage to talk about connected entertainment. Integrated concept of hardware, software, and service that bring it all together is ideal.
Lets talk about music - Bill Gates introduced MTV Urge at last year’s CES.
7:26 PM PST - In our segment, we are the #2 player. “Zune is off to a great start” - hmm I sort of disagree, Robbie.
He’s now talking about the mobility - Cingular’s BlackJack, Verizon’s Q, Cingular’s Treo and T-Mobile’s Dash are now on the screen - he just said “and that’s why we outsell Blackberry in the market.” Very bold statement sir.
7:29 PM PST - There are over 200 million gamers that use Windows machines.
7:31 PM PST - “Games for Windows” demo is now playing, which pretty much means you can play games on Vista. Woo hoo!
Xbox 360 - In the first 8 weeks, we sold over 2.4 million copies of Gears of War. They will have over 300 titles in 2007;
Halo 3 - They just played a promo video - you know, the kind you see between levels in games where it looks way better than the actual game? That’s the kind of video they just showed. We’ll have that for you later.
7:35 PM PST - Xbox Live - They want to bring this to Vista. They’re demoing it with collaboration between Windows Vista and Xbox Live. They just opened UNO on Vista and are playing between both platforms.
This will roll-out on the Live service, this Summer.
7:39 PM PST - There have been 3 billion hours of Live play on the Xbox - that number is bound to sky-rocket once it’s integrated with Vista.
4 new ways for you to get TV & Movies on Vista.
1st way to get HD content - They’re now showing the HD DVD player for Xbox 360 - and talking about how the demand for the product is so high that they can’t keep stores stocked.
2nd way to get HD content - Regarding Media Center, they have now shipped 30 million copies worldwide.
3rd way - Video Marketplace on Xbox Live - They’re going over their partners for Movies (HD movies that is).
4th way - IPTV - 2 years ago, they demoed it. Today, they’re in market with 5 providers (AT&T, etc). Over the next 3 or 4 years, this will take over. What about HD DVD guys?
7:44 PM PST - We’re looking at IPTV broadcasting on the Xbox 360. This is obviously a BIG announcement. You will be able to talk to your friends while watching TV. Very impressive. This will be available holiday season, 2007. “That brings us full-circle on Connected Entertainment.”
7:46 PM PST - “Connected Entertainment gives you the ability to take content with you wherever you want it and whenever you want it.”
Bill is now back on stage.
7:48 PM PST - “Now we’re going to talk about the car.” He’s talking about their new partnership with Ford.
Mark Fields, Executive VP of Ford, has now taken the stage with Bill. They’re talking about Sync which integrates all of your devices with your car using “Micrsoft Auto.” He says you can bring devices like “Zunes, iPods, and any others” in the vehicle for connectivity. Pardon me? Did he just say iPod? I guess they’re facing the facts.
7:51 PM PST - Because it’s fully updatable, owners will never have to worry about their devices not being compatible.
Sync will be available on 12 new Ford automobiles in 2007.
“Thanks Mark, it’s great to have you here!” I think that’s Bill-speak for get off of my stage. Just kidding.
7:54 PM PST - In conclusion - They going to demo the “Connected Home of the Future.” Very similar to last year.
He’s now going to take us through futuristic scenerios…
1) Bus Stop - The phone knows his location, he just sits there and it tells you the bus that’s coming, and tells you about nearby destinations that you might be interested in. He is on his phone looking at a nearby restaurant’s menu.
2) Kitchen - “Another scenerio I have deep expertise in” - hey, at least he’s honest! He put something on the counter-top and the counter just turned into a screen with a projected image of recipes, etc.
3) Bedroom - An image is projecting on the wall which is based on his personality. He had a very hip look on the screen when he was in there, and when he mentioned that his grandma was coming to stay there, it turned into a very old traditional green house.
8:02 PM PST - That’s it, “Thank you” says Bill.
Thanks for tuning into Gadgetell for Live Coverage of Bill Gates’ keynote. Stay tuned for more news throughout the night and for the rest of the show. Have a good night.
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What “thats it” what happend to the rumured 360 v2 and no mention of a bigger hard drive uuuggghhh!!! IPTV is alright but who really wants it or needs it unless maybe if you could open two windows side by side, one to watch tv and one to play games an even play online while watching tv in the other window but thats unlikely, its probably more like talk to freinds while watching tv. Thats ok but i would much rather have a bigger hdd the standard 15gigs of writable space just isnt enough to bad.
on January 8, 2007 at 07:16 AM - LINKAn image is projecting on the wall which is based on his personality.
煤气发生炉
on August 30, 2008 at 01:12 PM - LINK秸秆压块机