![[AskAboutComputers.com]](logo_com_305x118.gif){kind=logo}
Tid-bits
1/5 - It looks like Microsoft owns the show, the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), that is. At least the first day or two, anyhow. However, there was one non-CES piece of news. The security patch for the Windows Meta File vulnerability is available now, sooner than was expected. The patch was originally scheduled for release on the 10th. Microsoft stepped up its efforts in response to strong customer sentiment. Testing was "completed earlier than anticipated".
Bill Gates kicked off the 2006 International CES with a keynote address. It was his tenth CES keynote in as many years. Part of the keynote was devoted to Windows Vista, Microsoft's next generation operating system, which is due in the second half of the year. Many of the features of Windows XP and XP Media Center Edition shall find enhancements in Windows Vista. There shall be improvements in security and protection against phishing scams. The OS will have the ability to fine tune itself to the computing habits of individuals to increase performance. A Windows Sidebar shall offer real time information, services, and applications. The OS will turn on and off more quickly, like a consumer electronics device. It was "the first broad demonstration of Windows Vista for consumers".
Microsoft shall propel the digital home with Intel and Intel's Viiv technology in 2006. Every "every Intel Viiv PC that ships this year will be a Media Center PC".
Not to be outdone, the competition talked up its forthcoming AMD LIVE! initiative. It may be that AMD shall focus on connecting digital media to the audio and video equipment that is already in place in homes. AMD LIVE! shall enhance "the consumer electronics and broadcast devices already accepted and used by consumers today".
Gates previewed two mobile phones. The phones were similar in that both allowed traditional landline phone calls and next generation VOIP phone calls using the Internet. The phones therefore allow one to have one's cake and eat it too, or have the best of both worlds. The phones offer a migration path from landline phone service to IP telephony. Since the phones do both, there is no need for an abrupt cut off between one service to the next.
The successor to MSN Messenger will be Windows Live Messenger, currently in limited beta. Both of the mobile phones previewed shall use the forthcoming Windows Live Messenger to make the VOIP calls. Both phones incorporate presence technology which is a part of instant messaging.
Since the phones are similar, why two phones? Why not one phone? Well, the answer probably lies in location. The Uniden WIN 1200 will be available "in North America".
The Philips VOIP433, on the other hand, "will debut in Europe, Asia Pacific ... and Latin America".
MTV joined Bill Gates on stage to promote MTV's next generation digital music service URGE. URGE shall be part and parcel of Windows Media Player 11 . WMP11 shall be available on Windows Vista. It shall also be available on Windows XP later in the year. "MTV Networks’ URGE will be the first and only digital music service designed by music veterans for music fans".
For those unwilling to wait for Windows Media Player 11, there's a digital music service from Verizon Wireless that uses Windows Media Player 10. V CAST is available to about half of the U.S., or to about 150 million individuals. You have to be in the area of coverage. V CAST Music will be available January 16. Verizon Wireless' current V CAST is "the nation’s first broadband entertainment service providing high-quality video content to wireless handsets ".