CES: Microsoft Music Service and Entertainment

[840quadra]

Please, what's more annoying than listening to some no-neck screaming on their Nextel to some guy a few miles away, the static making the voice on the other end all but white noise. And that f-ing "BEEP!!!" after the mike button is pushed... over and over and over again. It's all I can do not to grab it and crush it under my size 15's.

Go ahead and try to take mine, I kick hard and can run quite fast in my 13s 😀 😉 !

In most cases I can't stand Other nextel users myself. I don't know why they can't go to speakerless mode when using Direct connect in a busy area, or when their is allot of background noise. I can hear much better with the speaker off, using the normal cellular ear piece in those conditions

The nice thing about speakerless is the fact that depending on how you use it, others won't even know that you have nextel, as they won't hear beeps. The other nice thing about Nextel that I love about work, is the other person cannot interrupt you when you need to make a point, if they try to stop you from talking, their phone just beeps at them. 😀

Apple got OUT of the PDA business a long time ago. They don't need to go back. So what to make of my ASUS wireless PDA running Win CE? GREAT bathroom companion with Scrabble.

A sad day indeed, however it was hurting their bottom line, and distracted them from their more serious need of getting systems selling again. I do also agree with your tech comment. I work in a datacenter, and many of our clients have PDA's, I rarely ever see them doing anything other then games, or simple notes!

 

[MarcelV]

vista is catchup, thats obvious.
we have the dashboard like gadgets already, we have the spotlight searching, we have the document previews in the dock. maybe we need some further refinement, thats what 10.5 is all about.

The only issue I see is that it will be much less tempting for Windows users to switch. If the choice for the Windows user is to buy hardware with Windows Vista or hardware with OS/X , they probably will chose Vista, just because it's Windows and they are familiar with it. Even that it has a dark side. People just don't like to change often. It's most people's human nature.

 

[strange days]

This is the most rational comment so far....

My cellphone runs Windows, Outlook, Excel, Word, map applications, Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, and hundreds of other ports of Windows apps.

It has WiFi, Bluetooth, "Cellular DSL" (EVDO) with 700 Mbps downloads,...

Add to that the new things that Bill showed at CES, and it's huge.

Maybe if Apple has "Mobile OSX" ready for a handheld they can avoid losing this battle (although "losing" isn't really the right word - Apple hasn't joined the game)

second that 😱 ...than again, i have to agree the smartphone market is still a niche market and will never be for everyone. But it's growing fast...

 

[840quadra]

As far as bashing Mac or Apple..... I don't. I am simply discussing MY point from MY advantage relating to MY profession and constantly being STOPPED by insane "oh you're hitting us" crap from other forum members.

Actually you do a good job at bashing Apple, and it's users.

If you cannot see the snide somewhat aggressive tone in your own writing (the cause of those PMs no doubt), you should perhaps take some journalism or writing classes. 😉

This rant, yes, a tad bit bitchy but I am so sick of the private messages, etc, going hay ****ing wire over crap they have created in their own mind simply because of my forum handle windowUSER(not fan)

Deal with it!

As long as you are making points in the way that you are, you are not going to make many friends here. You can get your point across just as easily, without offending Macintosh users, on a Macintosh forum!

And before you go after me (which really won't bother me), I am fine with both Windows, and Microsoft. They both make me plenty of money, and I enjoy working with many types of Technology, operating systems, and environments.

 

[Photorun]

At first the story/article made me concerned, then I read on CNN (always huge suck ups to M$) that during their unveil they had Justin "It was a wardrobe malfunction, errr, it was her idea" Timberlake at the unveil, like that would give them some type of cred? That whiny little weak R&B weasel adds about as much credibility to the proceedings as having Pamela Anderson handing a Nobel Peace prize. If his milquetoast appearance was a sign that this is going to flop I don't know what is.

 

[bigandy]

sorry, you mistook me for someone who gives a crap.

urge will fail. yet another "ipod killer" from microsoft? just like all their other "ipod killers", the ones that did their job so well.

 

[richdun]

Anyone else find it funny that the urge.com bookmark icon is the Netscape logo (at least for the moment)? Firefox and IE for Win both show the same one.

 

[boombashi]

Bull-flop. 🙂
Relax, dude. Let Apple do their thing.

No kidding - If it twice as good as Windows Media Center - They will have years to go to catch up to where Apple was 2 years ago. I'm not concerned - looks like more assey M$ crap.

Funny thing they call it "URGE", isn't that what the Devil does to try to get you to fall for his tricks and come over to the dark side, then you buy in all the suddenly you realize your in HELL.
- kind of like all the Windows users are today.

Anyone else find it funny that the urge.com bookmark icon is the Netscape logo (at least for the moment)? Firefox and IE for Win both show the same one.

I noticed the same thing 😀 just like M$ attention to detail. Apple uses a scalple M$ uses as Broad Sword.

Did anybody watch the CNN interview with Bill Gates!? Did you see Bono with Bill Gates! I know it's a non-profit Business Relationship, but it looked a little fishy to me.

check it out here

http://money.cnn.com/services/video/

 

[AidenShaw]

I don't see the elderly on Rodeo Drive with their iPods, either!

Rational comment, it isn't. You are not the typical average person.

I'd like to see old men and ladies shopping Rodeo drive fiddling around with a smart phone. And those who use smart phones are not using it in the gym to listen to music. More features does not translate to more success against something iconic like the iPod.

Don't worry about the elderly, worry about the high schoolers....

Ask them if they'd like one pocket device that plays music, plays videos, does email and text messaging, manages their appointments, can take notes or record audio, can surf and download from the web, and lets their parents ask them why they aren't yet home?

I bet the reaction will be YES!, except maybe for that last item....

Many kids and young adults are gadget freaks, and they'll be leading the smartphone revolution. The technophobes won't be getting them, but they're not buying iPods either. The gym rats will buy Creative Nano players or shuffles anyway. (I wonder what percentage of shuffle-equipped people at the gym have a "large" iPod at home?)

As to the comment about price, increased volumes will soon make smarter phones the norm. Color bitmap displays in phones used to be outrageously expensive. The first camera phones took top dollar, but today they're freebies or nearly so. Phones with web and email are free today (http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=2100).

Also, look at smartphones as coming out in multiple tiers:

1. Dumb phones - voice plus text
2. "Not very smart" phones - voice, text, maybe camera or simple email. Limited smart functions.
3. "Somewhat smart" phone - voice, text, camera, calendar,email, browser. Builtin functions, can't add applications, have to use carriers' tools and infrastructure
4. "Smart" phones - as above, but can add custom or non-carrier apps. QWERTY keyboards, bluetooth/WiFi with VOIP, Can interface with anything (I don't have to go through Verizon to download my Outlook email and calendar). AKA "PDA".

For #4, at least Microsoft splits this tier into two. A Microsoft "Smartphone" is a smaller device with a typical phone keypad (a few extra buttons), no touch screen. Although it runs mostly the same apps as the PDA, its UI makes it mainly a read-only device. A Microsoft "Windows Mobile" device (or "Pocket PC Phone Edition") has a larger touch-screen, often QWERTY or on-screen keyboard. It's read/write, and can replace a laptop for people who only need email/web on the go.

To all the people who say that the iPod won't be dethroned - one word: "Walkman".

But you're right, Lacero - I'm the atypical average person 😉

 

[Yvan256]

To all the people who say that the iPod won't be dethroned - one word: "Walkman".

I'll add "Atari" and "Amiga" to your list if you don't mind.

 

[Peace]

I watched Gates's Keynote via live stream ( hey Steve!! hello?? ) and the theme of the whole CES is gadgets connecting to a PC for everything under the sun..
That's great..But

The Windows world is still trying to figure out how to connect the livingroom to the PC..

I believe come next Tuesday we will see how the livingroom IS the PC.

And that my fine friends will define the difference between us and them.😉

 

[840quadra]

Don't worry about the elderly, worry about the high schoolers....

Ask them if they'd like one pocket device that plays music, plays videos, does email and text messaging, manages their appointments, can take notes or record audio, can surf and download from the web, and lets their parents ask them why they aren't yet home?

I bet the reaction will be YES!, except maybe for that last item....

Many kids and young adults are gadget freaks, and they'll be leading the smartphone revolution. The technophobes won't be getting them, but they're not buying iPods either.

I agree 100%

I think it was good for Apple to pull out of the PDA space back when they did, however now is the time to get back in as long as they make it something worth using.

I see many people use only 10% of what their PDA is capable of. Part of the problem is due to the fact that many of the functions are not exactly easy to use, or intuitive for most. And I am talking about people that work in the IT field, not your average father or housewife.

The Kids will like the idea, and support it. However the parents and older people are the ones that have the money to pay for them. I think the golden ticket would be to win over both groups, for different reasons.

Just my opinion though nothing more 🙂

 

[esaleris]

Image

Music-buying is an emotional issue. It's my theory that the burst in the need for portable music players came from the movie industry. The younger generation links so many specific moments in their lives with music, just as a soundtrack accompanies the screen. Whether or not that theory is true isn't the point. The point is that it's still an emotional issue.

With that, Apple has a huge lead. Why? Image. Microsoft has never been a hip company nor one with a positive image. Microsoft is, yes, so ubiquitous in our lives, yet we do not celebrate them. We don't admire Windows XP, remark on its beauty and elegance, awe at its simplicity, and stand bathed in white heavenly light at a CompUSA. Buying a PC with Windows is a chore, a necessity, a standard component of business life. But Apple is a choice. Apple draws people with the emotional aspects of computing - beauty in form, elegance in design, and modern in nature.

Therefore, it is my opinion that Urge will capture more people outside the target market than inside. Baby booomers who are not familiar with the whole iPod phenomenon will consider an integrated solution with their computers. They do not have that emotional attachment with beautiful products; to them, computers are still darned complicated things. Children, teenagers, and young yuppies, on the other hand, will not be as darwn to Urge because they are saavy enough to know what they want. They identify with the product not on a cost-basis, not on a utility or funcational-basis, but at the emotional level.

If Microsoft thinks it can win on a traditional business strategy platform, it is dead wrong. Lower prices and easier accessibility will still not "urge" a general hooked on elegance and style into their service, unless they paint a different image of themselves.

 

[iris_failsafe]

What infuriates me off is that all of these technology stuff from M$ is always the same crap. They build things with a zillion features that no one uses. They add all of these things designed by engineers jailed in Redmond which becomes pointless because either they crash the OS or slows it down so much the computer becomes unworkable.

Lets face it, if MS didn't make Windows just all of the other extensions porgrammes no one will use Explorer or their mediaplayers or technology because at the end they are really bad.

 

[BenRoethig]

I watched Gates's Keynote via live stream ( hey Steve!! hello?? ) and the theme of the whole CES is gadgets connecting to a PC for everything under the sun..
That's great..But

The Windows world is still trying to figure out how to connect the livingroom to the PC..

I believe come next Tuesday we will see how the livingroom IS the PC.

And that my fine friends will define the difference between us and them.😉

The current difference is that we're coming up with the innovations and they're making the money off of it.

 

[AidenShaw]

convergence from small business

The Kids will like the idea, and support it. However the parents and older people are the ones that have the money to pay for them. I think the golden ticket would be to win over both groups, for different reasons.

In the professional space, the real two-way email capability will do this, IMO.

Email is the killer smartphone app - many people in business are realizing that being away from your email is as big a problem as being away from your phone.

Blackberry has a good niche here - among the people who can write the considerable expense off on their expense accounts.

Soon smartphones will make your plumber and your gardener realize that having email all day long is important for making money. They'd never recover the expense of a Blackberry, but a smartphone with email included in the low monthly rate will hook them.

When those same people go shopping for a phone, they'll see phones in the store that seem to run the same Windows that they use on their PC. And even some of the same applications - IE, Outlook, Excel, Word, Powerpoint (Microsofts "Streets" highway atlas even includes the Windows Mobile version on the same DVD....).

That will be a "halo effect" that should have Jobs frightened!

 

[YouBelongInCT]

Is any competition scary in the video market?

In my experience, it seems that the general population could care less about video capabilites on their music players. Videos, for the time being, belong on TVs with DVD players, not on computers, and certainly not on 2" screens. Don't get me wrong, I have a video iPod myself, and it's fantastic, but I don't feel like new introductions into the video market are a huge threat right now. If you remember when the original iPod came out, Apple had 0% of the MP3 player market (a market which was MUCH larger than the current mobile video market). Innovation won that market, and it will win this one. Microsoft has continually failed to innovate, and I don't see Urge being any different.

 

[Peace]

The current difference is that we're coming up with the innovations and they're making the money off of it.

That is so very true...

There was one gadget I saw. I think it was made by Panasonic.Not sure.Basically what it is is an EyeTV HD box that you can slip your DirecTV card into and connect to the LAN..
That was a cool gadget..

 

[aegisdesign]

I really think that Microsoft may get some market share from this, the only problems and its big is windows media player! its awful in every sense of the word! There are some great Portable music players out there including iRivers, Can't wait to see what apple will bring out this january, one things for sure, they will not let microsoft get away with this.

WMP is awful but lots of Windows users hate iTunes too. On Windows it's slower and quicktime 7 is slow too. Plus it looks so out of place and has some weird interface glitches left over from it's OS9 days.

Actually, thinking about it, it's pretty weird on OSX today too.

Apple need to overhaul iTunes, throw out the old style interface and improve the performance, especially on Windows. Plus, with iTunes now managing iPods, podcasts, videos, radio, music... it's a wonder they can cram it all in and still be useable.

 

[MacinDoc]

This is the most rational comment so far....

Now don't you go accusing anyone of being rational on these forums, especially in the week leading up to MWSF...

I am concerned that with the over-inflated expectations (such as a dual core Yonah iBook and a dual core Yonah multimedia center Mac Mini at the current price points), there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth here following the Stevenote...

 

[deadturtle]

Netscape Icon

I see the same Netscape icon. I don't know what the deal is with that. I'm sure it will change soon if it is an error.

Heh on my Fedora box I have the SUN logo. Somehow seeing a SUN logo on a Microsoft page is kinda funny!

 

[SiliconAddict]

Here's where the fun begins...

 

[csimmons]

I love Apple and their products, but lets face it, this is a big threat to Apple. Hopefully they can raise the bar soon, and offer higher quality versions of downloadable videos, and TV shows, as well as a more advanced media device for the home..


The fact that Apple makes the whole widget (Systems, portable systems, displays, software, and network), gives them an advantage if they use it correctly. I truly hope they don't squander the money and advancements they have made! Only time will tell what we can expect, I hope Apple does well 🙂

The fact is, Apple is still the ONLY company to offer TRUE CHOICE, in that their solution is cross platform. Many of you are forgetting just how important a factor that is. When Apple's market share skyrockets in the next two years (increasing the Mac user base) because of Intel-based Macs, the ratio of Mac to PC users will be such that the also-rans will have to take notice. The power of the Mac user base will be felt by these other companies very soon. You'll understand what I mean shortly.
😀

 

[Peace]

Speaking of icons..
Did anyone watch Gates's keynote?

He was "showing off" Vista's search capabilities and I tell you what..

Vista's search icon is almost an exact duplicate of the OS X spotlight icon.

 

[Doc383]

What's this about...

Anybody read this article yet?...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/01/05/ces.gates.ap/index.html

This is the sentence that interested me...

In addition, Intel Corp., which is promoting its so-called Viiv chip technologies aimed for multimedia machines for the networked, digital home, will require that Viiv customers base their products on Microsoft's Media Center Edition.

What's that about????