January 4, 2007
What to look out for at GatesWorld
Spare a thought for Bill Gates. Steve Jobs’ annual appearances at MacWorld are the subject of breathless speculation. Next Tuesday’s event may bring more news on Apple’s iTV video streaming box, more content partnerships with movie studios, an iPod phone and a video iPod with a bigger screen (there again, it may not.)
Why so little speculation about Gates’ annual pitch to the digital consumer, which comes this Sunday at the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas? To set the record straight, this is a guide to what Gates may have up his sleeve:
Zune 2.0 Forget the apparently weak sales so far: Microsoft is at least finally in the game against iPod. It now has to move fast. Gates should extend the Zune range and announce new uses for the device’s wireless capabilities.
Windows Vista With the consumer launch coming on January 30th, Gates won’t be able to resist showing this off. But expect him to be upstaged two days later, when Jobs shows off more features of Apple’s upcoming Leopard operating system. Jobs kept them under wraps before to prevent Microsoft copying them.
Home Server According to Microsoft Watch and others, Gates is likely to unveil a home media server, a machine for storing and managing all the digital media that is building up on users’ PCs. There could also be an option to store the same stuff on servers run by Microsoft, a service rumoured to be called "Live Drive."
An iTV spoiler With Jobs expected to talk about Apple’s new box for streaming video into the living room, Gates is likely to dwell on his own plans in this area. After all, Microsoft got there first with its Media Center Extender, and the capability is built into every new Xbox.
Xbox 360 There should be lots of bragging about the early lead in next-generation consoles, but as Sony and Nintendo ramp up, how will Microsoft keep the attention? Halo 3 and other blockbuster games are badly needed.
A sharper presentation would also help. Gates may lack the Jobs cool factor, but last year’s flowers and open-neck shirt didn’t cut it.
