Interesting development from Microsoft - and one that makes perfect sense given their
media device strengths (a.k.a. stranglehold over the OS). Microsoft has released a
Windows Live for TV beta. The project is code-named "Orbit" and it is built on the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). Windows Live for TV will connect people via a Vista PC (with IE browser) or
Windows Vista Media Center, which is shaping up to be Microsoft's linchpin Internet
connection device for the living room. According to the official
blog:
"Windows Live for TV is an early beta 3D browser application that makes it easy to connect to your social network as well as friends and family from within Vista Media Center or IE7.0. You're be able to view the best of Windows Live Spaces and communicate with Friends and Family over Windows Live Messenger 8.1 with voice & text chat as well as make a phone call."
Right now you need to sign up for a trial account - and some features are either not yet available, potentially buggy, or US-only. Not to mention that it requires Vista, which is still very early in its release cycle. But the signs are promising for Windows Live for TV, as it potentially takes social networking from the PC to the TV; plus features like free VoIP calls from your sofa are sure to be a hit, in the long term.
If any R/WW readers have checked out Windows Live for TV yet, please leave a comment describing your experience.
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If you want to learn more about MSFT's digital strategy check out Bill G's pre-conference keynote at CES in a couple of days.
Niall Ginsbourg an Aussie Media Center developer also has a good blog about this stuff http://mobilewares.spaces.live.com - Niall has built a similar application for interacting with Flickr through a Vista Media Center. This is something that I have been running at home for some time -http://www.mobilewares.net/mce/bpscreens.htm
Posted by: Nigel Parker | January 4, 2007 8:16 PM
Screencast, if you're interested:
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/archives/2007/01/05/windows-live-for-tv-screencast/
Posted by: Nathan Weinberg | January 4, 2007 8:50 PM
This is big news, seems like Microsoft is on something really big.
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | January 4, 2007 9:40 PM
the story broke turkish blogs yesterday:)
emre, do you read webtakip.blogspot.com?
Posted by: elvirs | January 4, 2007 11:59 PM
Social Networking is now the latest trend, almost all the major search engines have been contributing equally.
Posted by: vps hosting | January 5, 2007 2:39 AM