CES 2007
There’s been some great stuff shown to us at CES already and we havne’t even really gotten to the show floor yet.
Some of the most exciting stuff I’ve seen has been in the hardware arena. One of the things Microsoft has really been stressing is that with Windows Vista, they have tried to work with partners to get the hardware to really integrate with it.
What they clearly want to do is have the sort of integration Apple users have had for years but in a more open environment (i.e. where Microsoft sticks with making the OS and third parties make the boxes).
Some of the cool stuff I’ve seen includes Windows Sideshow which is a display you put on laptops so that you can see what’s going on your machine without having to turn it on (exact battery, IMs, email notes, etc.). Think of it like those cell phones that have an LCD display on the top.
The big sound off this year has been how to get high definition content to people. It’s not just HD-DVD vs. BluRay anymore. Now they have to compete with digital providers who would love to bypass physical media entirely. We’ll have more on that shortly.
I’ve been pulling double duty posting both here and at WinCustomize.com. Trying to keep the coverage unique but if you want to see what I’m doing there, see the link below:
More here: CES Coverage at WinCustomize.com
Off to the next meeting!
You can read our news item here.
But Microsoft unveiled some of the Ultimate Extras tonight. We’ll be covering this more in the next few hours as we get caught up on all the NDAs that are starting to expire.
DreamScene is a program that I worked with quite a bit over the past year (when it was called Motion Desktop). It uses the new Windows Vista compositor to deliver high definition video content as your desktop background.
Microsoft asked Stardock to consult on the development, provide wallpaper content, and create tools and extensions for it.
The first tool we’ll talk more about soon is called DeskScapes which extends DreamScene to support dynamic content (i.e. live 3D content). This free program should be available by the time Windows Vista Ultimate becomes generally available.
More to come, they’re kicking us out of the press room. 
ATI is getting ready to unveil a cable card tuner that’s been known as OCUR. That according to this article at CEPro.
According to ATI:
OCUR would, according to ATI, “allow Media Center PCs that run on the forthcoming Microsoft Windows Vista operating system, to receive High Definition premium digital cable TV content on the PC, ushering in the next level in functionality and opening new avenues for PC entertainment.”
Microsoft showed us where things have progress with Maps.Live.Com. One of the things that’s been really interesting with it is how they’ve extended it to allow more 3D close-ups of maps.
In their demo, they put Las Vegas into 3D where the buildings looked real. Google Maps has a feature that lets buildings be shown as 3D models but not nearly at this level. It’s like a video game almost. Extremely impressive.
What I found interesting is that Microsoft is going to open it up to the community to provide 3D models for buildings and such. The results so far have been spectacular.
Microsoft also stated that their goal is to make sure that all air-coverage will be no older than 2 years. They indicated that they’re really trying to make sure that the photo coverage of maps is much more recent than it has been thus far.
Try it yourself.
I’ve just attended the partner pavillion which is a fancy name for a cool little tent outside the convention centre.
Not allowed to say what I saw (NDA bla bla blarg) but we did see Halo 2 running on Vista - more about that later once I’m no longer marred by the NDA police. Windows Ultimate Extras…mmm.
I met Bill Gates a few moments ago and shook his hand, was rather surreal and not something that most will believe when I tell friends etc. He seemed a little nervy infront of a huge crowd of us geeks with tongues hanging out but it didn’t halt him from giving some insight into a promised huge Windows release marrying vision and speech - interesting.
The ants in Las Vegas are addicted to Advil. That’s the only explanation I have for how, at the hotel here, that armies of ants came crawling out of the wall, streamed right up to my bottle of Advil and went inside of it. They have a problem. They won’t admit it. But they do. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the inside of a bottle of Advil 1/4 full with piles of ants. Damn bugs.
Having been using the “gold” version of Windows Vista for a few weeks, I am pleased to announce that it’s pretty good. It’s not buggy in any major way. There are, however, various device issues. I’m not yet satisfied with the compatibility of games and Vista but I suspect that by the time it’s generally available, the video driver makers will have provided some decent updates.
Most of the first two days we’re spending time talking to Microsoft about some of the cool features of Windows Vista that are not very well known.
Next up, fun with USB flash drives..
Neowin will be covering all events from CES 2007 from January 5th through till January 11th. Keep an eye out for exclusive coverage here at Neowin.net
