How Did I Do In 2005? CES Tells All
In 2005 I talked about many technologies and features that I
thought Microsoft had in-store for Media
Center. Since Bill Gates just finished his CES
Keynote, I thought I would run down some of the announced features and point to
where I talked about them in the past.
During the keynote we learned that Windows Vista will be the
first Windows Operating System to provide CableCARD support, as I have said
many times in the past (Here,
Here,
and Here) In addition DirecTV will launch a Media Center friendly set-top box (who saw that one coming?).
In 2005 I also made a big deal about HD DVD
Managed Copies, and there was a nice demo showing just how easy it will be
for the consumer to make a copy via Media Center using their remote. In addition it was said that a Managed Copies
would be available on Media Center Extenders (Xbox 360), which I also said Last
Year.
I said that more Video on Demand services would be appearing
to sort-of make up for the lack of Bi-directional
CableCARDs, and this held true with Starz Vongo and Sky by Broadband (even
though Sky will likely not affect US users).
It’s almost a sure thing that a Digital
Output Dongle will be offered for the Xbox 360, come the release of the
newly announced external HD DVD drive!
While there were reports of an external HD DVD drive (CED, I believe),
it didn’t make it into my reasons Why No
HD-DVD Drive In Xbox 360 due to our Server
Migration there was a bit lost (no big deal there).
Here’s to 2006 with Vista and a whole new world of Digital Media experiences. ;-)
