Monday, October 11, 2004

NYT: Microsoft’s Latest Plan for TV

NYT: Microsoft’s Latest Plan for TV "Television has been something of a great white whale for the Microsoft Corporation. The company has tried to sell WebTV and build software for TV's and cable boxes. It has even invested billions in cable systems. So far, these efforts have been expensive and have not yet put Microsoft into the position it covets: the maker of the software behind every glowing screen.
Tomorrow, Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, ventures into Hollywood to announce a renewed assault on a different front in his war of the tube, one that builds on Microsoft's greatest strength: Windows.
Mr. Gates will unveil a new version of the Windows XP Media Center, software that combined with specially configured personal computers from dozens of manufacturers, turns the PC into a photo album, jukebox, DVD player and, most important, a TV set with a built-in recorder.
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More importantly, say industry executives, demand will be spurred by a series of new hardware devices using the Windows software that will be introduced tomorrow. Several manufacturers, including Linksys, a unit of Cisco Systems, and Hewlett-Packard, are expected to introduce versions of a product Microsoft announced last January called the Media Center Extender, a device that allows a television signal to be sent from a Media Center computer to a television in another room, by way of a wireless network."

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