11 to Jan. 14, says Microsoft.
The new operating system and software stack for retailers was
first announced by Ilya Bukshteyn (right), Microsoft's director of Windows Embedded marketing, at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in April. The software giant has made no secret of its plans to launch POSReady "during 2009." However, only limited technical details of the product, intended to supplant
Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS), have so far emerged.
In an October posting, Microsoft blogger John Coyne described POSReady 2009 as "a compact, but powerful operating system based on Windows XP Professional SP3. Retail, hospitality, kiosk, and other OEMs will benefit greatly from this product."
According to Coyne, POSReady 2009 will include the
POS for .NET common control library, which he says allows for "seamless plug and play with retail peripherals." The product will also include "embedded-specific features" taken from the
Windows Embedded Standard (WES) operating system, he added.
Now, Microsoft has apparently chosen the NRF Show -- which primarily targets retailers, not software developers -- to give POSReady 2009 its formal sendoff. Bukshteyn will introduce attendees to POSReady 2009 at a session called "Competing at the point of service: A recipe for success," according to the company. The session is set for Monday, Jan. 12, at 1:45 PM in Room 3D05.
NRF Expo attendees will each receive a card promoting Windows Embedded POSReady 2009As an inducement to attend the Microsoft session, NRF attendees will receive prize cards resembling the one pictured above. If brought to Bukshteyn's session, the cards will give bearers a chance to win a $1,000 American Express gift card. Card holders will also get a chance to win $50, if they visit the Microsoft booth (#637), where ongoing POSReady 2009 demos will also be provided, the company says.
In addition, according to Microsoft, everyone attending Bukshteyn's session will receive a 4GB USB stick, preloaded with an evaluation copy of the new POSReady 2009 operating system.
BackgroundNow in its 98th year, the NRF Expo is described by its organizers as "the world's leading retail event, bringing 18,500 retail executives and vendors from more than 50 countries together." Of more than 600 exhibitors, the majority are outside the IT industry, but heavy-hitters such as Cisco, Fujistu, Honeywell, IBM, NCR, Wincor Nixdorf, and many others are all represented, in addition to Microsoft.
Of more than 100 educational sessions planned for the Expo, Microsoft will participate in two, in addition to the POSReady 2009 session already mentioned. A session called "Building bridges, replacing silos" on Jan. 13 will be devoted to
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (customer relationship management) software, and another session later the same day will discuss the company's
Virtual Earth platform.
Other tech-oriented sessions will be presented by companies including Cisco, IBM, Motorola, Oracle, and SAS.
Further informationThe NRF Expo opens at the Javits Convention Center in New York on Jan. 11, 2009, and continues through Jan. 14. According to Microsoft, POSReady 2009 will be on shown at booth 637.
To search a list of educational sessions planned for the NRF Expo, go
here. For an overall NRF exhibitor list, see the show website,
here. For general information about the event, see
here.
To see John Coyne's blog posting about Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, go
here. Finally, Microsoft's web page devoted to its NRF participation and POSReady 2009 launch can be found
here.
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