1P Start

Right now, I am watching a live feed of the Bill Gates Keynote Speech via Microsoft’s link:

http://www.microsoft.com/ces/

Click on the link to follow along while I watch and update the blog accordingly to the keynote speech. This will be the first time I did any “live blogging” so keep that in mind as you read along.

To view all of the entires I make about the speech, follow the jump…

All times are EST

9:36pm: Got the stream ready and loaded. They’re playing some pretty bad country music to keep us “entertained”. Not that I hate country, it’s just this song stinks.

9:46pm: I went to get a bottle of water and some chips…opening a bag of potato chips was more entertaining than the crappy music that’s playing right now. Ahhh…Wise Cheese Doodles…now that’s exciting.

9:47pm: Crap, no time for chips now, the video is starting! Oooooo….

9:49pm: Bill Gates takes the stage…finally!

9:53pm: Bill is talking about all of the great strides we’ve made in technology over the year. Some information he shares with us is 60% of younger generation PC users are on their ‘Windows-based PC’ for more hours than they do watching TV. 40% of people have more than one computer in their household.

9:58pm: Bill is stating that Vista is the “highest” quality Windows ever. They’ve spent a long time getting user feedback to make Vista what it is today. Bill goes on stating that Windows is the most used piece of software and that’s why they needed to do so much research on it.

10:01pm: Bill Gates invites Justin Hutchinson to show off a demo of Vista.

10:03pm: Windows Vista will offer a search feature that will not only search your PC, but it will search your email, website, and even be able to search other Vista-based PCs for the document you are looking for. Pretty cool idea.

10:07pm:Justin shows off Windows Live Search and how you can look up information on where you need to go (just like google earth) such as address and phone numbers, but one cool thing you can do is hook up an Xbox 360 controller to fly virtually through the city so you can get a better idea of what to expect when you need to visit a place you’ve never been to before. Justin states that the Xbox 360 controller can be used for each and every game that is made for Windows Vista.

10:13pmBilly is back

10:18pmBill introduces some new Windows Vista PCs. I think I just saw a Lamborghini based laptop in the video that was being shown. Now on to the big boys, the gaming laptops, headed by Dell and Alienware. The entertainment laptops are media center based PCs that revolve around music, videos, television, and photos. And of course, they’re all powered by Windows Vista.

10:21pm: Bill introduced an HP speaker who would discuss their partnership, but then went to a message saying it’s blocking the video in respect to the new intelectual property. You know what that means…pee break!

10:25pm:Microsoft introduces the Windows Home Server which will allow home users to be able to access any information they have through either their Xboxes or PCs, and said information will be available at all times. And also, it will be available remotely. Sounds like a hell of an idea.

10:35pmRobbie Bach comes out and talks about connected entertainment. To be exact, music, mobile, and gaming. In the music, Microsoft has big ideas for Zune in 2007. Updates to the software, hardware, and more support for zune owners. In Mobile, Windows Mobile 5.0 devices are outselling Blackberry devices and continue to be a huge share of the mobile market right now. In Gaming, Windows Vista is going to be a huge medium for gamers when it’s released. The Xbox 360 has sold 10.4 million units since it’s initial release. Gears of War sold 2.7 million copies. Halo 3 will be the much talked about title in gaming in 2007. The “Starry Night” Halo 3 video is shown.

10:37pmXbox Live Members has reached 5 million members. Microsoft wants to expand the Xbox Live community into Windows. A demonstration follows of Live on Windows.

10:40pm: A game of Uno is running off Windows Vista, but acts just like the Xbox 360 version. The guide in the Windows Vista looks just like the Xbox 360 version. Lisa invites her friend into a game of Uno and the invite acts just like how it would if it was on the Xbox 360. Pretty friggin cool.

10:43pm: TV & Movies: Big news is HD and how fast that’s taking on. 4 ways you can get HD movies on the Microsoft ecosystem. 1st: HD-DVD Player. HD-DVD top selling format this year. 2nd: Media Center. 80% of PCs sold this holiday season had Media Center on them. 3rd: Xbox Live Video. Over 1000 hours of content. Adding Lionsgate to the mix to add more content for the Xbox. A demo is being shown of how easy it is to download movies/shows from the Xbox 360.

10:46pm: 4th is IPTV. IPTV will unlock the potential of your TV. Instant gratification when switching channels. Picture-in-picture feature shows you what the show is before you switch to the channel. IPTV is able to run off the Xbox 360. A game of Gears of War is launched from the IPTV screen to show how seamless the integration is. Will be available sometime this year, definitely by Christmas ‘07.

10:48pm: Bill’s back. Boy, did I miss him in his smart blue shirt.

10:50pm:Now Bill is talking crazy talk. He’s talking about connecting to our car. “People want to get the great content from their homes, in their car”. Bill introduces Mark Fields from Ford to talk about cars and Microsoft.

10:54pmMark states working with Microsoft, car owners will have a seamless hand-off of hands-free calls when you enter or exit your vehicle, text-messages can be read through your audio system through the text-to-speech technology, cars will accept nearly all portable music devices and some USB mass storage, and playlists can be played and created through voice recognition software.

11:02pm:Mark Fields leaves the stage. It’s all Bill from here on out. Bill shows off how waiting at a bus stop can be a different experience in the future. While waiting at the bus stop, you can access your cell phone and your cell phone will know where you are and give you some information on the bus schedule, but will also give you information on places to eat, even giving you coupons on your phone. While looking at the coupon, you get an alert on your phone that informs you that a package has arrived to your house. You can accept the package and sign a digital signature and the package will be delivered. Now Bill is in a futuristic kitchen, showing how your kitchen can give you information on recipes depending on what you put on the computerized kitchen table, even going as far as showing you how big the dough ball needs to be for whatever it is he’s trying to make. Now Bill is in a bedroom, Bill is using the wall of the room to personalize the room the way he wants. It first starts off with a picture and music playing in the background. Then he switches the view to an aquarium. Then, he switches it to a game that’s playing off his Xbox 360. During the game, he gets a memo reminding him that grandma is coming over. So he switches the wall to have a display of a simple wallpaper, with a clock, and a frame that is showing a video camera that was setup at grandma’s house that shows her dog at home.

11:04pm End of Keynote Speech.

Some really cool ideas were demonstrated by Microsoft in the speech. One thing I didn’t have time to mention is that Windows Vista is 20 days away from it’s release, so things are going to get very interesting once it’s released. Also, Microsoft did a great job at showing how their products future from now on is of integration. They want to make software and hardware that whatever you do, will always be able to integrate into one another. Whether it be your copy of Windows Vista, Zune, IPTV, or Xbox 360, they promise that it will all be a seamless integration.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Bill Gates, CES, CES 2007