My favorite home audio solution just got a little sweeter and just in time for the holidays.  On top of over 15,000 radio stations being added, Sonos now has Pandora and Last.FM support for FREE. When Pandora support was added last year, it carried a monthly fee after an evaluation period, leading many customers (including myself) to evaluate and discontinue in favor of our own music libraries. Now with the support of arguably the two largest "free" personal music services, Sonos ups their game.

But it gets even better with support for Sonos Controller for iPhone and iPod Touch.   Let's admit it, the Sonos Controller first introduced in 2005 is getting a little long in the tooth.  While it continues to be best of breed, the lower-resolution display and large form factor just don't add up as well in today's marketplace.  While no less than four 3rd party solutions hit the market a short while ago, this natively supported application is a great addition for consumers who have an iPhone or iPod with WiFi support.  It also effectively drops the entry price for Sonos to about $350 for customers who already own a Sonos unit.  The application is also free, adding new value to their customers.  Check out the video for even more.  In a tough economic time when many companies are looking for any way to improve their bottom line by charging for updates and service packs, it's nice to see companies such as Sonos continue to innovate and add value for free.  Their higher price tag certainly looks better when you factor in the free updates.  Now how about support for Zune playlists? ;)

More here

By popular demand, Bill Gates' last day at the office video, courtesy of Channel 10.

Bonus points if you can name all the cameos and the song he's playing on Guitar Hero. ;)

Bill's Last Day: The CES Keynote video
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I'm watching the CES 2008 keynote right now, streaming live on the web with Microsoft Silverlight at www.microsoft.com/ces.  I'm so happy they allowed the funny video with a long cast of celebs in the simulcast.  I have four streams going right now for test purposes. Kudos to the istreamplanet team for keeping up with the crushing stream load, I understand it kept rising and rising during the keynote.

Speaking of which, I'm happy that Bill just unveiled that NBC Universal has selected Silverlight exclusively for online delivery of the 29th Olympics in Beijing, PRC in partnership with MSN.  Lots of exciting stuff to come there.   I'll write more on that later.

More pictures below:

Update: If you're unfamiliar with this whole Silverlight thing, check out Andy Plessner's Beet.TV interview where we discussed Silverlight last year. For some reason that day, I opted for the Quicksilver T-shirt instead of my "Evil Monkey" shirt.  Perhaps it was partner love.

The new Microsoft at CES site is up, and it's powered by Silverlight. There are so many projects underway now it's hard to keep track of them all and this was a great one to see.   
What's more, you'll be able to watch the keynote live in-page with Silverlight or via WMP/default browser.  Take a look, spin the wheel in LV fashion and check out the latest news from Microsoft at CES.

Hope y'all enjoy the show - Sunday night @ 6:30pm

Todd Bishop of the Seattle P-I provides a glimpse into the Take-Home testing that many of us do on digital home technologies at Microsoft.  Scott and Hakkan are two of the guys I've had the pleasure of working with in the past - nice to see inside their homes. 

Which brings me to realize my setup has changed so much in the past few years since I was GPM for Media Center- it might be time for a video this weekend walking around our Digital Home 2.0 ;)

Microsoft employees try out new technology at home

Earlier this AM, HP shot me a mail with the latest details on announcements they're making for CES.  Here's the latest:

• MediaSmart Receiver - works with XP and Vista PCs, offering wireless delivery of media via 802.11 ABGN and is also DivX certified.  Includes a Pocket Media Drive slot on the front for the big files and will offer Media Center Extender support this spring via an Internet-delivered update.  No note on whether that's an additional cost.
• MediaSmart TVs - Updated 1080p TV's with three (3) HDMI ports, wired and wireless connectivity and (drumroll please) Media Center Extender support built in!
• Media Vault and Media Vault Pro - Home "NAS Plus" offerings in 500GB and 1GB offerings for the Media Vault mv2100, and up to 1.5TB for the mv5100. Both include Photo Webshare and iTunes server features previously seen in HP MediaSmart servers. These units are Linux-based, unlike the HP MediaSmart Server which is powered by Windows Home Server.

All products will be available in Spring 2008

Jake's got some great guidance here for those of you going to this year's CES.  After 7 years of attendance, I'm sitting this one out and going to watch from afar.  A few more suggestions:

1.  Bring a 3 prong Multi-Outlet Adapter - you know, one of those little doo-dads that turns one 3-prong plug into three.  Now, when you get to McCarran airport and can't find an outlet during your flight delay, you can share with a spare.

2.  Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate - drink 2x as much water as you think you need.  Stop by the grocery store in Las Vegas and stock up or you'll pay $$$$ elsewhere. We used to get palettes of water at the local store and bring them into LVCC for the booth staff.

3.  Bring Mints for you and others - you're sure to encounter others who after last night's bender didn't rush home and brush their teeth.  A polite offering of a mint as you take one can often improve the persons outlook - with you and others.

4.  Bring Airborne - Placebo effect or actual benefit,it doesn't taste bad and can help ensure you're more in balance beyond vitamin B suggested by Jake.  I'm also a fan of melatonin if you're from a different time zone.

Hope that helps, as always be sure to share your CES war stories and tips here.

Update: Even more great suggestions from LiveDigitally's Jeremy Toeman here.

CES Survival Guide - 7 Tips For a Successful Consumer Electronic Show ~ Jake Ludington’s Digital Lifestyle

eHomeUpgrade is reporting today on the availability of HP's sleek and sexy Windows Home server.  Now available for pre-order on Amazon.com and the other usual places, a 1TB version is available for $709.99.  If you don't already have a home server and hard-drives sitting around, this is a solid alternative to the Data Robotics Drobo which I've reviewed in the past and everything in-between.

Windows Home Server is nearing critical mass with the number of add-ons for everything from TiVo to iTunes, to a PhotoSync app for Flickr.  My main feature request is Media Center DVR support as a part of the server itself. Having recently upgraded to 802.11n and Gigabit Ethernet in the house, I want one box in the network closet that does it all.  How about it Charlie? ;)

In what is sure to be a smart business move for TiVo, they've announced that they're bringing Rhapsody's music service and the ability to download any of four million digital track into the living room.

There are some limitations according to the New York Times- TiVo owners can't move music around their homes or transport songs from TiVo to a mobile device.  These are both well understood and limited issues given that most consumers will just save the music to a playlist, and then sync  from their PC. 

This is great progress to see for TiVo. Their support for application extensions has languished and ISV community fizzled in part due to the lack of rich graphical capabilities such as what Media Center + Xbox 360 extenders can offer.  First MTV, now this, Rhapsody seems to be building out a new playbook.  I have to wonder- does Rhapsody have a Media Center solution waiting in the wings?

While on the show floor, I got permission from a friend to video behind the scenes at the Games for Windows Booth.  Unbeknownst to many, they were enjoying Halo 2 for Windows on DirectX 10-enabled NVidia cards, in some of the fastest PCs yet.  You'll notice a sneak peek of the Live for Windows integration announced, which will for the first time enable you to play on Windows against others.

Video: Vista Halo 2 with Live integration from CES 2007

No details on whether you'll be able to play Halo 2 on PC against users on Xbox 360, however I did notice a few maps I didn't recognize while playing, evaluating the platform.  Long Zheng has more on Live for Windows here.

I recently got my hands on the original source of the PC manufacturer's video shown in Bill Gates' keynote.  The first person to correctly identify all PCs models shown in the video (in order) will win a cheap tacky prize.  Submit via comments :).

Video: Windows Vista New PCs - CES 2007

I also have it in WMV-HD and will post later this weekend.  Perhaps we should do a mash-up contest for the best remix of the spot?  I'll pose it to some friends who could make that happen.

While at CES, I ran into the unusual problem of bleeding out not one, but two Samsung Blackjack batteries while at the Hard Rock Hotel sending/receiving SMS messages from pals trying to meet.  I was annoyed, but went back to my room and plugged the phone in to sync via USB, shunning travel with an AC power "Wall Wart" to keep my lifestyle streamlined.

When I woke up, I went from annoyed to cranky in realizing my phone batteries still wouldn't charge.  So, I grabbed a cab and went to a Cingular store to pick up a battery. Kept the meter running, it was only going to be a few minutes. 

Wrong.  They had the car charger, no batteries or AC charger.  Told me the corporate store would have one.  Interrupt my taxi driver's lunch and we're off to the "corporate store".  There I was being "helped" by a customer service rep who seemed to have his heart in the right place, but it was beating so slowly he couldn't risk moving very fast or he might pass out.  Batteries?  Nope.  AC charger? Nope?  Even a backup for a demo unit? None.  Call around other stores?  Radio Shack would have them.  Asked him to call. What about other stores?  (By now nearly 40 minutes have gone by and I'm still on the clock for the cab).  This is no joke- the closest store out of 12 that had said AC adapter was over 30 minutes away in the Vegas area.  My cab driver was getting ready to time out.  So I spent a mint on cab fare and had nothing to show for it.  I was more than cranky now.

So what did I do?  I went back to CES at the LVCC, straight to the Samsung booth and asked for the product manager for the Blackjack.  I talked to the PR folks and explained the situation, and was directed to the Product Manager, a nice, Korean gentleman who get this - swapped out his own, fully charged Blackjack battery with me, and then offered to let me use the demo bar to jumpstart my phone!  I was in shock.  The booth was packed, and he was bending over backwards, from his own personal backpack he pulled the battery.  He said he would have offered me a charger but it was back at his hotel.

Now that is customer service.  He could have said, "No, sorry, we don't have one" and moved on.  This is why my current TV was a Samsung (which I got the main logic board updated a few years back for only $200 as a special offer for early adopters wanting better controls).

So, a battery translated into a future purchase of ~$2500 for Samsung.  Sometimes it pays to pay it forward. 

As for Cingular, it's been a rocky road with them the second time I've tried switching to them in three years.  First I was overcharged over 2x for the first month, then they didn't give me the full employee discount.  I miss T-Mobile's service.  If only they had cooler phones and 3G, things would be different...

Last night, I had the honor of attending the Technical Emmy Awards ceremony at CES to help accept the Emmy Award for Streaming Media Architectures and Components.  Afterwards, we went to the Vista party at the Pure Nightclub in Caesars and brought the Emmy for safe keeping and to take pictures with other team members. It was a hit with a number of old friends who helped us to get this win.  It was a shared win- there was a sense of surprise when I congratulated the Apple team on their shared win as well.

John Carmack, co-founder of iD, creator of Doom and Quake and founder of Armadillo Aerospace was one of the presenters.  When I get a chance, I'll post some video I took during the ceremony. The DirectX team was also on-hand to accept an award for their 3D engine.

Thank you to all the engineers, designers, bizdev, marketing, management who helped to make the win possible but most importantly, to our customers.

More pictures from the party on Flickr here

Well, no integrated TV (yet), but it looks like my other prediction specific to the iPhone in August may be at least partly right.  Remember how Apple last year made a big pre-order with Intel/Micron's IMFlash effort and everyone assumed it was for new iPods?   An intrepid analyst should ask Apple if they're going to use their 50nm NAND Flash in the iPhone.  I believe so, and that it's the secret to how they're getting it so small.  The 2nd manufacturing facility doesn't come online until oh, just about the time the iPhone will ship.  Most of the other players are still dealing with much larger (and bulkier) flash.

Anyone notice there was no announcement of iTunes Store in related?  I'd expect they'll do a deal w/ Cingular cum AT&T to provide free WiFi hotspot access to iTunes Store in public places.  Next up- direct billing of media purchases to your AT&T bill...

Apple's going to do it with iTV.  Intel's Viiv certifying hardware for it Sling Media is announcing the SlingCatcher.  Microsoft has been doing it with Media Center Extender and Xbox 360. NetGear is getting (back) into it.  Will this be the year of the DMR?  Probably not, but some big names are getting into the fray/renewing efforts.

The challenge is how do you get to a unified view of your family photos, music, video, and recorded TV regardless of which set your on in the home.  Lots of effort in the NAS server space, and I'd expect some additional announcements to make the content easier to distribute, including HP's new Windows Home Server. Still, there's a LOT of work that has to be done for setup and connectivity across the industry.  HDMI makes this much easier but not many consumers have TV's with HDMI, while others have to figure out how to route video to the TV and audio to the AV receiver while getting it all to work well together (hint: start with a Harmony remote from Logitech- I just got a Harmony 890 for the holidays, more on that later).

I'm pretty frustrated right now because BOTH of my Samsung Blackjack batteries fully burned out last night and won't trickle charge.  There should be an "emergency reserve" button on the batteries themselves.  Serves me right for forgetting my AC power cable...

My wild prediction for today: Apple will announce the iTV as an actual HDTV w/ the hardware built-in.   They'll do this before releasing a set-top style product.  That and perhaps Flash gaming support on the iPod.

Michael Gartenberg says it's going to be a year of maturation at CES.  Michael tends to really know his stuff and I have to admit, most of the news out of Engadget of late has been about convergence of technology. 

I expect a lot of focus on usability this year.  The past few years, certain devices have become abominations of usability harkening back 20 years (certain high def players as an example ahem).  Having just built a home media server and dealt once again with the incompatibilities of video formats between my camera, my Media Center (Xbox) and my portable player, I can truly relate to his sentiment.

Let me start off by saying I'm a hard-core Xbox 360 fan and just finished Gears of War. I'm a little less addicted to achievements and points than Scoble discusses (more on that later).  What shocked me this holiday season was how we became a two-console household literally overnight.

Some friends of ours had a large tree hit their house the night of the windstorm and we decided to have them over for a pizza party.  We made fresh pizzas on the Big Green Egg, and they brought over their Nintendo Wii. My in-laws were here too, from the heartland, they had little interest in gaming.  I was concerned this was going to be too geeky for them.

I was wrong. Again.

In what started to look like a tupperware party for the new millennium, from the first time the Wiimote was "thrown", a crowd started gathering.  The kids at first, then... my wife, who on only two occasions with pleading has ventured beyond casual games in Xbox wanted to create a Mii caricature with the older kids of herself.

Then my father in law wanted to play bowling.

Then my mother in law tried tennis.

I then KO'ed my neighbor in boxing.

Which led to my father in law challenging my wife to a boxing match (she won).

Which led to my wife telling me she wanted a Wii for Christmas, and my father in law noting he wanted to get a Wii as well.

In my case, I didn't really mind the lower video quality- the gameplay made up for that.  This is what Nintendo does so well.  The Xbox 360 largely stays turned off during family events and parties unless used for showing home movies, pictures, music etc. via Media Center.  The party game aspect just isn't there and with a 3 year old in the house, there's precious little time when I can boot it up and play games around him.  Sure, arcade is fun, but Nintendo has a lock on the natural interaction model with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, the titles have less depth (so far) but fun and engaging.

So last week I did the unthinkable and stood in the cold at 6am in front of Fred Meyer with others to get a Nintendo Wii.  Since then, we've had one small party and again it was a huge hit.  My son is getting good at bowling too. 

Would I play Call of Duty 3 on the Wii? No.  That's the kind of game that for me requires the visual impact and cinematics the Xbox 360 does so well.  But there's space in my home for the Wii for all ages. We're trading Mii caricatures of famous people with friends.

Now my sister, a Doctor at the CDC called to rant that a second Wii I happened on was sold (at retail cost) to my Uncle and young cousins.  Apparently she wanted  it.  She doesn't play video games.

Kudos to Nintendo for bridging the generation and gender gap in this release.  Their commercials are spot-on. There are some things I don't like about the Wii, but more on those after I've had it a few more weeks.  (I'll post my Wii access code shortly).

After we got power, I had a great vacation where I stayed unplugged from the grid (mostly) and reconnected with family and friends. But it's a new year. I notice that Long Zheng and Brandon LeBlanc both tagged me for their "5 Things you didn't know about me" meme:

1. I got my first computer ~1984 and after playing the first game, I knew wanted to work at the game developer some day - the game was "Flight Simulator II".

2. I sold my backup copy of same program to a friend, something I'm not proud of.

3. I was operations manager of a small communcations software company making the first Windows GUI-based BBS.  I quit and went back to school after being told the Internet was a fad.

4. I once did a developer keynote in germany with a 103+ degree fever and delirious.  At the end of the presentation I reintroduced myself.

5. I ran the only Windows-based mirror site for the Mars Pathfinder project in partnership with NASA's JPL.  And yes, the load was so great, the mirroring software so bad that I spent nights in the server room debugging it.  We've come a long way.

So there you go.  I'm supposed to tag other bloggers.  Here goes for Chris Pirillo, Shawn Morrissey, Robert Scoble, and Thomas Hawk.

P.S. - I'll be at CES Sat-Tues. Ping me if others want to meet up, we may do a small dinner on Saturday.

A certain other company may have been first to mention this shared win, but they neglected to disclose this was a 4-way tie in the same category.  In the order announced by the National Television Academy:

• Microsoft for Windows Media
• Adobe for Flash Video
• Real for Real System
• Apple for QuickTime

Congrats to the Windows Media team (and others) on the win.  The real winners at the end of the day are end-users enjoying audio and video on the Web.

http://www.emmyonline.org/emmy/advmedia_nom_release.html

Engadget has good coverage of the new TiVo Series 3 in action, complete with videos. Apparently the box is THX certified, noting they're interested in attracting videophiles.  The price point of $800 does a lot to cement that as well. Unfortunately there's no suport for TiVo2Go or streaming from TiVo-->TiVo in the home, though Engadget is optimistic this will come in the future.  With the ability to record 300 hours and transfer a lifetime TiVo account to the  box for $200 (or $12/mo for regular joes) you can buy it at www.tivo.com starting today. 

Xbox Live's Major Nelson interviewed my VP, Amir Majidimehr for his podcast while I was out on vacation.  This is a frank and highly informative look at HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and DVD.  Even if you have no idea what I'm talking about, I still recommend you listen to this interview to learn more about why Microsoft got behind HD-DVD, and continues to supply technology that will ship in both formats.

Today the announcement was made that Bill Gates will be stepping down as Chief Software Architect and in two years will retire to his part-time position as Chairman of Microsoft. Instead he's going to focus on efforts such as battling tuberculosis, a topic near to our family. 

My "little" sister is a microbiologist for the CDC, running Tuberculosis projects around the world.  Yesterday she IM'ed me from Botswana-a surreal moment.  She was in Kazakhstan just a few months ago, it's amazing.  Regularly she talks about Bill Gates a reverence not seen (in my parts) in a while now.  Despite all the flak he received in years past, Bill is doing something incredibly worthy with his immense wealth.

I've had the opportunity to work with and talk with Bill on four separate occasions.  In each of these, he had the air of an elder statesman, on one occasion even sticking around for an extra hour to brainstorm a few ideas with a group of us.  It was energizing to have this kind of engagement with him, outside of a review, just like a group of friends and co-workers out of the office shooting bull about the industry.  He's human, we didn't necessarily share all the same ideals but could discuss and debate.  I enjoyed our time in this capacity.

Bill is part of the reason I joined Microsoft- the mystique inspired me like many; the desire to meet him "one day" was strong (checkbox filled plus pictures).  But in actuality his is just one person.  Microsoft is filled with bright and passionate people I learn from every day. He's not the only one.  The transition is bittersweet, but now it is perhaps my sister's turn.  I know she (like many other scientists) would like to one day work at the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation.  Perhaps she'll get her opportunity one day to meet Bill and the two of us can compare.

For now, we can all joke about how Bill is following Robert Scoble's lead :).

Wow.  I thought the combo was good, but sometimes you zoom in and stare at the blemishes for so long you lose sight that you're looking at a Ferrrari. Even I didn't expect this kind of welcome. 

Read: CNet's, "Awesome: The WMP/Urge/Clix Combo"

And no, no one was paid off/schmoozed/invited to a poker game to get this review. ;)

Many more positive reviews today - Michael Gartenberg has his thoughts here.
In fact, they were all glowing of WMP/Urge/Clix in one way or another.
Today was a very good day. 

I've been a fan of Orb, but found it didn't run as stably as I like.  And with a bunch of international business trips coming up, I bit the bullet and am evaluating Slingbox as a way to control and watch my favorite shows recorded on our DVR.  I have to say, wow I'm impressed so far.  The UI could use some work, but the function is solid.

Underneath the hood, it's basically a hardware-based WMV Encoder that can easily be found across the Internet. Put in some quality of service (QoS) goo and away you go.  Lots of folks have been having fun with it including Scoble.  Hundreds of uses - some folks monitor their babycam using one. 

One idea I had was for Slingbox to build a Gadget for Windows Sidebar and Live.com.  They're already close-with the ability to dock the SlingPlayer on the left or right sides of your screen, but it leaves a lot of unused space.  What do you say SlingMedia? 

In the coming months I'll be blogging my experiences with Slingbox from Hong Kong and Japan.  Away we go!

Thomas Hawk has an excellent writeup on his blogger's dinner with Microsoft VP Jim Allchin last week. Jim confirmed that in order to get HDTV over digital cable in a Windows Vista PC, you'll have to buy a PC system that has been "certified" by CableLabs. Unfortunately there's nothing Microsoft could do here - they must honor the wishes of  CableLabs.  I've been fortunate to be one of those who has been testing the technology and I have to say it's fantastic.  I've done A/B switching tests vs. my Comcast set-top DVR and see no difference in image quality, despite the fact that the tuner is a simple USB-based box (RNDIS) that you just plug your cable (and cable card) into and go.  No news on whether free and clear QAM services will require a CableLabs certified system but I will check. I suspect local channels in HD may still be an often from after-market or home grown builders.  In order to get your premium channels DVR'd you'll need that CableCard-qualified system and CableCard installed by your local cable operator.

Also news at CES was the DirecTV Media Center announcement.  In the future (timing wasn't discussed), you'll be able to have an installer come out and install a DirecTV tuner into your Media Center PC and get your local channels complete with DVR.  As many know, DirecTV uses their own protection scheme with a "conditional access card" not unlike a cablecard.  The big difference here is that they recognize the value in offering an after-market system installed by their own installers.  In the past, it was DirecTV that was considered "evil" for their use of DRM and protecting their assets too stringently vs. Cable. Could the shoe be on the other foot?  Only time will tell.

There's been a bit of speculation over the past few weeks about what Microsoft's recent reorgs both company-wide and within Robbie Bach's org mean to the company's entertainment efforts.  While I certainly don't speak officially for anyone other than myself, I did want to share my perspective:

Reorgs happen at Microsoft.  They happen more often across the company than gets reported (or speculated upon).  Reorgs in my experience bring more focus.

So what does this mean for me in particular?  Not much really.  I'm as strongly committed to my job and my partners as ever.  More and more devices are supporting our technologies and PlaysforSure and they're getting better (look at my prior CES scorecard post).  Partnerships like those with MTV with Urge and Verizon Wireless's V-Cast are the result of significant investments on both sides.  What matters isn't speculation, but proof.

From the wires: Netflix Inc. the world's largest online movie rental service, today

announced it will carry the first movies available in HD DVD when the new

high-definition format launches in late March, according to plans recently

outlined by several major movie studios, and said it will similarly offer

titles in the Blu-ray format when that product launches, expected to be

later this year.

Audioholics did an interview with Sage Schreiner, HD DVD Program Manager which helps to clear up some misconceptions about the coming format.  Personally, I got one of the sample (production-ready) hybrid HD-DVD/DVD discs that was being handed out at the Microsoft booth at CES and can't wait to try it out.  It's literally a single-sided disc with both the HD-DVD and DVD formatted movies on it and plays in both types of drives.

The winners of the Next-Gen Windows PC Design Competition have been announced.  This was a risky idea I had back when I worked on Vista planning. While I'm not longer associated with its development, I'm excited to see the team do a great job carrying through on this competition and the winning design, "Bookshelf" was personally my favorite as well.  I understand it was so successful it may become an annual event.

There's a ton of good talent and good ideas out there.  I just wish the economics of the PC industry were such that more manufacturers had premium brands that looked premium as well as the innards (hello, Dell XPS?)

I have a cold, so I'm a bit cranky tonight.  Can someone please add this one to snopes.com alongside the idea that Bill Gates will give you $5000 or a trip to Disneyland if you send some random email to 5 of your friends and family?

There have been recent reports in the blogosphere that Verizon's new upgraded V-Cast service won't allow users to play MP3s, and this is Microsoft's doing.  This is categorically false.  Yes, Microsoft was a technology provider to Verizon to enable their new services, but in now way put restrictions on Verizon using other technologies.

<rant> I mean, come on, Microsoft added high-bitrate MP3 encoding to WMP10 (ok, it was a bit late) but at the end of the day, I don't know of anyone wringing their hands thinking about how Microsoft can kill MP3.  WMA and MP3 happily co-exist in most portable music devices (ahem, except for iPod, but you'd have to ask Mr. Jobs about that one).

Another case in the textbook on why it's best not to assume the worst of intentions before you start pointing fingers.

CNet has posted their Best of CES award winners and Creative has done it again with the Zen Vision:M. I've been playing with a Zen Vision:M for a few weeks now and I love it.  It has twice the video playback of the video iPod (4hrs vs. iPod's 2hrs) and frankly, I'll exhange a bit of thickness for being able to watch a full movie on a charge any day of the week.  The UI is familiar and friendly.  My only major complaint so far is the adapter needed for USB/charging and it has too many controls (4 discrete buttons + 2 rocker positions + touchpad.

So, this got me thinking about how Windows Media might have fared this year at CES. Here's a rundown of my report card:

• Best in Show: Creative Zen Vision:M - does WMV, WMA, and is PlaysforSure
• People's Voice: Pioneer Inno (aka Samsung Helix) - it does 50 hours of XM Radio recording, WMA and cool bookmarking feature for Napster so it's going to be PlaysforSure. Not bad- not bad at all.
  
• Cameras and Camcorders: Sanyo Xacti HD1 - a slick little HD (720p) camcorder/digital still camera that records to 1GB SD cards. Though no direct support for WMV, it records into MPEG-4 which Microsoft is a member of the patent pool.
• Home Audio: Denon AVR-2807 - supports playback of multiple formats including HDCD owned by Microsoft, but what's really stellar is the built-in WM Connect digital audio receiver in it's older sibling product, also called out in the article.
• Car tech: Pioneer AVIC-Z1 - This double-din unit is a multimedia powerhouse w/ 30 GB HDD, GPS, bluetooth built-in all atop Windows Automotive so it should be able to support WMA as well. iPod connector support coming too.
• Home Video: Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player - noted to be around $1800 vs. $499 HD DVD players, this is still a win because Blu-Ray requires the SMPTE-standard submitted Microsoft VC-1 codec.

So how did Microsoft do? Both of the grand prizes support PlaysforSure services and WMA and 6 out of 8 winning products (in eligible categories) for awards include Microsoft digital media technologies.  Not a bad roundup at the end of the show and there's still a ton of work to be done.

I also just learned that all 3 nominees in the Best of CES: MP3 and Digital Video category support PlaysforSure and WMA (or WMV), including Windows Media Player 11 :).

I had the rare opportunity to lounge in the grass picnic-style with Thomas Hawk, Ian Dixon and his wife and blather on about digital media in general.  Thomas has a good recap of our conversation over on his site not to mention some stunning pictures.  Thomas has inspired me to re-engage on Flickr and I've posted my own pics from the show here.

Lots of big announcements that are ushering in the year of HD.  I would link but have to run to my flight.  A quick recap:

• CEA announces HDTV sales will beat analog TV sales in 06
• Windows Vista will have support for HDTV over digital cable, and DVR! I've tested it, it really works.  I can't wait.
• ATI announces HDTV Cablecard designs (note they aren't the first and only though ;)). 
• ViiV PCs from Intel will sport HDTV playback abilities.
• Buzz on the floor that retailers saw Xbox 360 as a key accelerant to HDTV purchases during the holiday season.
• Gates tipped us off that Xbox 360 will get an external HD-DVD drive :):):)
• HD-DVD and Blu-Ray were everywhere at CES, duking it out.  Blu-Ray demos focused on hardware demos, Microsoft on ability to copy HD-DVDs to your PC and really rich interactivity. It will be interesting to see how this goes.
• Oh, a consumer HD-DVD player will ship for $499 from Toshiba available this March! 
• TiVo announces their new Series 3 with HD over digital cable (OCUR/Cablecard) support and a SATA-based drive, sync to PMC, iPod, and PSP coming (does Portable Media Center (PMC) devices today.
• Tons of HDTV set announcements.  Excitement around 1080p - only place to get 1080p today is select WMV-HD discs, almost everything else is up-res'd 1080i but people like the buzz.

More to come...

Whew.  Crazed schedule at CES, I really haven't had time to post as I'd like.  The Windows Vista/MTV-Urge party last night was completely crazed.  I've literally never seen lines that long (about 200 feet) to get in, and when in, the floors were completely packed.  Microsoft parties have had great attendance before, but the buzz I kept hearing was about the Urge announcement (and the party). I get irritated with large crowds so I ended up hanging out in the "VIP area" most of the night trying to keep away from the crowds.

The keynote went well the day before- I had lunch with BillG's speechwriter the week before and made a few jokes about the importance having an electrical engineer monitoring the power after last year's power outage. It's good to be able to laugh about it now.  It's even better when the keynote went so well.  One thing that did bother me though- little applause, little laughter. This is a fundamental difference between MS and Apple - they surround themselves with their fans, throw a bash for them, and THAT is where they announce their products (like next week).  The buzz is infectious. Press and public alike get wrapped up.  I don't buy statements that CES or other shows are the equivalent of a "WinWorld".  The problem is too many audiences to make this work effectively.

One of the pieces that has me so excited this year is the new Windows Media Player 11.  This is part of the reason I re-joined the group.  Can you say performance?  I have over 10,000 tracks in my library.  I was so tired of UI freezes and slow searches that I started using Windows Desktop Search as my way of finding music. WMP11 takes a completely rethought and highly optimized database that is hands-down the fastest media player library I've ever seen- visually and logically. Album art is amazing. There are tons of perf improvements folks are just starting to see. I'm also hearing about additional perf optimizations in Vista's USB stack that will help as well. MCE users will benefit from all of this as well.  More on this over on the new Windows Vista site at : http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/community/mediaplayer.aspx

I've accepted recently that I'm now more a part of the VH1 demographic than MTV. At first I wasn't wild about Urge but then I realized that MTVN (Networks) recognizes this fact, and that's part of the reason they created the Urge brand.  I'll be able to tap into my favorite "classic rock" like Alice in Chains, Aerosmith, and  Now, I'm addicted. Urge integrates cleanly into the UI, I can download and sync a playlist in one step.  And my favorite is "Feeds"- these are truly smart playlists. This concept takes the best of smart playlists, smart sync, and concepts like RSS and mashes them together.  What you get is truly smart playlists that update (and sync) to your device automatically.  More on that later.

There's so much more to WMP11 and Vista which hasn't even been announced yet.  Stay tuned.

Some of you may have seen my earlier thoughts on the Sonos Digital Music Player system. Today, Sonos addresses two of my big complaints with their ZP80 unit - Price and Audio Connectors.

The ZP80 ditches the built-in amplifier, allowing you to easily connect the device to your existing amplifier, home theater or the like using a optical or coaxial SP/DIF connector.  The casing for the unit has also been updated.

Unfortunately still no support for Windows Media PlaysforSure Music Services or iTMS, but it will play non-DRMd WMA and a host of other formats.  Both are specifically called out as "not able to be supported". You can still connect an external source such as a PfS or iPod device and stream it around the house.

Still, this is a great step in the right direction of affordability and connectivity.  Availability is slated for this Spring.
(Courtesy iPodNN.com)

You have to hand it to Intel.  Their runaway success with the branding of their Centrino mobile technology platform (basically a reference design/chipset for WiFi/Network/Video/Sound/Processor) has given birth to the Intel Viiv brand (pronounced "VIIVe" like Vibe with a "v").  Viiv PCs will offer Windows XP Media Center and bring new technologies like Intel's Quick Resume technology, 7.1 surround sound and guaranteed HD video playback in a dual-core processor design that will offer a quieter solution than many on the market today. One of my favorite features is the ability to put the PC into a low-power state, where it appears to be off, but can continue to record TV, with Media Center at the helm.

Those in the know have discovered the coolest Media Center designs come from europe. Kapsel's just-annonced Viiv-based Media Center is one such PC.  I affectionately call it the "Mentos Media Center" because the design straight-on looks like the mint confection, chipped away to unveil a black licorice center.  You can also position it horizontally, vertically, or even mount on a wall.

The picture is a bit deceptive- visit Kapsel's site for a more front-on picture. It is a bit on the thick side but it has promise. I would like to see at least a small TFT display on the front or side, but it's not a deal-breaker.

The Kapsel is slated to go into production first quarter of 2006, price has not yet been disclosed.

According to last night's NYTimes/CNet report:

Starz Entertainment Group is introducing a $9.95-a-month subscription service [Vongo] that will allow people to download movies from the Internet and watch them on their computers, portable video players and television sets.

The article goes on to note:

Since 2004, Starz has offered a movie download subscription service, called Starz Ticket, using technology from RealNetworks. But the RealNetworks software does not allow movies to be downloaded to handheld devices. With Vongo, Starz will shift to technology from Microsoft that will allow movies to be downloaded and watched on portable video players using Microsoft's software.

Feedback has been mixed on Digg.com.  Personally, if I'm a paying subscriber to Starz on my TV, I think a $2.99-3.99/mo add-on price to view TV programs on my devices would be more appealing.  Then there's the offering of movies- everyone knows the premium channels each strike their own high $$ deals to secure premium content.

Personally, I think this is a big step in the right direction, but ultimately it's going to take an NCO (Comcast?) or similar to roll these up into an, "OnDemand 2 Go" subscription service to broaden appeal.

I'll be at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas January 4th-7th.  I'll be doing my best to blog my perspective on the happenings around digital media and beyond.  I'll also be sure to snap some pictures with my Smartphone and my new holiday gift, the Canon PowerShot SD500.  Up from 3.2 Megapixels to 7.1 :)

I also was able to score an Xbox 360 using my technique reported earlier in a # of outlets including The Guardian. I've spent entirely too much time playing "King Kong".  Redundant in a few parts, by the time you play Kong, the graphics are truly inspired by Peter Jackson.  Finally, a movie game title that doesn't suck!

I also installed a SoundLinQ SLI by Vais Technology in my Toyota Prius.  Yes, the S2000 is gone, but with me is iPod bliss- sort of.  The SoundlinQ is a pricey system that allows you to control two sources- an iPod and another source via most Toyota/Lexus in-car stereo systems. The iPod shows up as a minidisc player, and all my playlists show up as discs.  I get basic information including track details displayed and can control the iPod via my steering wheel controls.  It's nice but as mentioned before- pricey.  At $299, thankfully I could do the install myself.

As for the other input, I went ahead and installed the Sirius S50.  An updated firmware installed two days ago has fixed a # of issues and adds the ability to schedule recordings on all channels, though limited to 2 hours.  Howard Stern fans will have to set up two recordings in 2hr chunks.

More details on CES to come...