| CES 2009: Microsoft spins Windows for all |
Jan. 08, 2009
 Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer heralded the beta release of Windows 7, and provided good news about Windows Mobile, in a keynote last night at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. Over the past year, more than 20 million Windows phones have been sold, Ballmer said.
(Click here for a larger view of Microsoft's Steve Ballmer at CES)
In his first year giving the opening address, traditionally delivered by Bill Gates, Ballmer provided few actual product specifics, apart from announcing public availability of Windows 7 (see below). Microsoft also failed to unveil a Zune mobile phone, as some rumors had suggested.
Instead, the ebullient chief executive promoted Windows at a high level, saying that versions of the operating system will extend across devices and tie them together "seamlessly." He added, "Microsoft is transforming what Windows is -- from a PC operating system to a connected platform and experience across the PC, the phone, the TV, and the cloud."
Windows on phones
Addressing the smartphone part of the triumvirate, Ballmer implicitly refuted criticism aimed at Windows Mobile by those obsessed with Apple's iPhone. During the past 12 months, he said, more than 20 million Windows Mobile phones have been sold.
During 2008, according to Ballmer, more than 30 new Windows Mobile phones were released. And, of those already on the market, eleven devices have sold more than a million units apiece, he added.
"Our original vision was to put a PC in everyone's home," said Ballmer, noting that today, about a billion people -- approximately a fifth of the world's population -- do have PCs. Meantime, more than a billion mobile phones are sold every year, he added. Microsoft expects that within seven years, half of all phones sold will be smartphones, said Ballmer.
 
Microsoft's Charlotte Jones (left) demonstrated Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Mobile (right)
(Click either to enlarge)
Ballmer was then joined on stage by Charlotte Jones, group product manager, and Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's EDD (entertainment and devices) division, who provided Windows Mobile product demonstrations, but no major product announcements. Jones (above left) showed off the Adobe Flash capabilities of the previously announced Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Mobile (above right), quipping that the browser will provide "anywhere access to such video classics as 'Hamster On a Piano' or 'Cat Flushing Toilet.'"
 
Microsoft's Robbie Bach (left) demonstrated a Netflix application for Windows Mobile (right)
(Click either to enlarge)
Bach (above left), for his part, primarily focused on Xbox, Microsoft's connected gaming console. But he, too, gave props to Windows Mobile, showing off a new application (above right) that will allow users to organize their Netflix queues wirelessly. The app, which permits selecting movies that will be streamed later via a PC or Xbox, will be downloadable later this week, he added.
 
Microsoft's Surface concept was demonstrated by Steve Ballmer and Janet Galore (left), who also showed off a prototype rollup color display (right)
(Click either to enlarge)
As it has in the past, Microsoft also showed off its Surface concept, touted as "turning an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface." In an interesting product demonstration, a tablet PC and a Windows Mobile phone that appeared to be Samsung's Omnia were placed on a Surface device (above left), with which both began to trade data. Ballmer and program manager Janet Galore also showed off a prototype rollup color display (above right), though no predictions of its availability were offered.
Subsequently, off-stage, Microsoft announced a pair of rather futuristic Windows Mobile apps that are available today. As highlighted in a posting yesterday on the company's Live Search blog, a new version of the Live Search Mobile client (below left) incorporates technology -- presumably involving WiFi access point or cell tower triangulation -- that is said to find the user's location even if their phone isn't equipped with GPS.
 
Microsoft's Live Search Mobile (left) and Tag Reader (right)
Meanwhile, the company has also fielded Microsoft Tags (above right), a service using HCCBs (high capacity color barcodes), said to store twice as much information as traditional 2D barcodes. By using a camera-equipped phone and Tag Reader software -- available for Apple's iPhone, J2ME, Blackberry, and Symbian S60, as well as Windows Mobile -- users can snap a picture of an HCCB wherever one is displayed, then be taken automatically to a related URL, says Microsoft.
Windows on the desktop
We've given relatively short shrift to Microsoft's Windows 7, also highlighted at CES, because it's been previously announced and isn't (yet) an embedded product. Nonetheless, the Vista successor is big news for Microsoft, and now, members of the public, who will be able to download free trial editions that don't time out until August. (To find out more about Windows 7, including its purported suitability for netbooks, see our previous coverage, here.)
Microsoft's newly downloadable Windows 7 beta
(Click to enlarge)
According to Microsoft, Windows 7 betas (above) can be downloaded today by MSDN, TechBeta, and TechNet customers. Starting tomorrow, the company says the beta will be open to all -- but only until 2.5 million copies have been downloaded.
Further information
For further coverage of Steve Ballmer's CES keynote speech, see our sister publication eWEEK.com, here.
For more information on obtaining a beta copy of Windows 7, see the Windows 7 Team Blog, here.
For more information on Microsoft's latest Live Search Mobile client for Windows Mobile devices, including downloading instructions, see Microsoft's Live Search blog, here. To find out more information about Microsoft Tag technology and download the Tag Reader software, see the company's website, here.
Finally, the Netflix application mentioned above will be available later on the Windows Mobile Total Access website, here, according to Microsoft.
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