Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[Fullmoon]

barge:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20560

Music is obviously a key part of the digital media future, and the INQ gave a short gasp when a video shown by Gates mentioned the 'i' word (that's iPod). Gates said that whilst people looked at Microsoft and saw that they weren't first in the market, they looked to them to do something different and better. He said that he wanted to provide a rights management system that would allow your music to go everywhere and everywhere. Whilst most people didn't necessarily have huge digital music collections, Gates suggested that enabling subscriptions for music would make a big difference here. With the new Windows Media Playsforsure DRM technology, users could be assured that they could take their subscription music with them, a shortfalling of current devices.

BILL GATES gave his keynote speech to a packed CES audience last night at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Cunningly foiled by Late Night's Conan O'Brien, Gates took the opportunity to speak about the future of media and Microsoft's vision for the entertainment of the decade to come.

Whilst there would be numerous portable devices to enable people to take their media with them wherever, the role of the PC in the future would be as the place where 'it all comes together'. Gates said that he likes Microsoft to think less about software and hardware and more about usage scenarios - leading the technology to solve everyday problems.

Music is obviously a key part of the digital media future, and the INQ gave a short gasp when a video shown by Gates mentioned the 'i' word (that's iPod). Gates said that whilst people looked at Microsoft and saw that they weren't first in the market, they looked to them to do something different and better. He said that he wanted to provide a rights management system that would allow your music to go everywhere and everywhere. Whilst most people didn't necessarily have huge digital music collections, Gates suggested that enabling subscriptions for music would make a big difference here. With the new Windows Media Playsforsure DRM technology, users could be assured that they could take their subscription music with them, a shortfalling of current devices.

Media Center is also a key part of the vision of the future, and Gates announced a number of new partners that are teaming up with Microsoft. XM Satellite Radio, Yahoo, Fox Sports and Discovery are all providing exclusive services for Media Center users, including expanded programme information and behind the scenes features. Pioneer and Digitrex displayed TVs which have wireless hardware built in to connect to a Media Center box somewhere else in the house, whilst SBC demonstrated their prototype IPTV offerings, which include picture in picture, fast channel switching and video on demand.

Having recently launched Portable Media Center with partners Samsung and Creative, Microsoft are keen to expand this market. They announced a partnership with Tivo which will allow Tivo users to download recorded programmes to PMC devices, and the MTV network - encompassing MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central - has committed to providing exclusive portable downloads.

Disappointingly, Bill didn't mention anything specific about Xbox 2, contrary to what was expected. However, he did mention that he thought the future of games would be high definition, lending further support to the information published in the American Official Xbox Magazine this month that Halo 2.5 will be available on launch for the Xbox 2, running at a High-Def resolution.

Bill ended up by saying that he was very excited about the future direction of this market. "This industry is moving fast," he enthused. "I want these things myself