| Microsoft unveils home PC experience with 'Freestyle' and 'Mira' |
Jan. 07, 2002
Las Vegas, NV -- (press release excerpt) -- During his keynote address today at the 2002 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft Corp., previewed new technologies designed to enhance and extend the experiences delivered with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. Gates' demonstration included an early version of a set of technologies, code-named 'Freesty', which includes a new user interface to enable consumers to access their music, videos and photos from anywhere in the room. 'Freestyle' also will enhance Windows XP to deliver new TV experiences on the PC. In addition, Gates unveiled a set of Windows CE .NET-based technologies, code-named 'Mira', designed to be included in a new generation of smart display devices such as detachable, wireless mobile flat-screen monitors and digital televisions, extending a complete Windows PC experience to relaxed settings in any room in the home.
'Freestyle': Anywhere in the Room
For digital media enthusiasts and consumers such as teens, college students and small-apartment dwellers who already enjoy their PC in their main living area, 'Freestyle' will be an important step toward creation of a complete media center on the PC. This set of technologies will build on the power of Windows XP and the high-quality audio and video capabilities to create an enhanced media experience. With a new easy-to-navigate user interface and a simple remote control, users will have a more relaxed way to enjoy their music, videos and photos with friends and family from their Windows XP PC. In addition, a new TV experience in 'Freestyle' will enable users to easily search for TV shows with a built-in electronic programming guide and watch, pause and record live television. All these elements combined will offer consumers more choice for enjoying the digital media they edit, organize and store on their PC.
Microsoft is working closely with leading consumer PC manufacturers to design media center PCs optimized for the rich capabilities of Windows XP and 'Freestyle'. The first wave of these manufacturers includes Hewlett-Packard Co., NEC Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Each company is committed to working with Microsoft to extend the PC experience. Further details and availability will be announced later this year.
'Mira': A New Generation of Smart Displays
A new set of Windows CE .NET-based technologies, code-named 'Mira', will enable a new generation of smart displays that give people the freedom to experience the power of Windows XP from anywhere in their home. Harnessing the remote desktop and wireless networking features of Windows XP and Windows CE .NET, 'Mira'-enabled smart displays will deliver to consumers the freedom of the complete experiences in Windows, including browsing the Web, sending or receiving e-mail messages, listening to music, and editing and displaying digital images, from any room in the home.
'Mira' will enable smart displays in a variety of instant-on and silent-running form factors ranging from a primary PC monitor that detaches to become a portable wireless touch-screen monitor to a large digital television that presents a complete Windows XP experience including music and photos from a PC. Microsoft recently released Beta 1 of 'Mira' and is teaming with leading companies, including Intel Corp., National Semiconductor Corp., ViewSonic Corp., and Wyse Technology Inc. to deliver 'Mira'-enabled smart devices. 'Mira' is scheduled to ship in the second half of 2002, enabling these new smart devices to be available for the 2002 holiday season.
With 'Freestyle' and 'Mira', Microsoft is taking two important steps toward achieving its vision of enabling consumers to enjoy simple, relevant and personalized PC-driven experiences anywhere in the home. The first will change how people interact with their PCs and the second will provide more freedom in where they access those experiences. In the future, the two will work in tandem to offer consumers a seamless, connected ecosystem of devices, content and services throughout the home.
(Click here for further information)
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