Connections Keynote: Using PC Technologies to Win in the Home

Microsoft's vision of the digital home centers on a "home experience server" that works with televisions, stereos, smart phones, notebooks, tablet PCs, watches, PDAs, and even automobiles, said Kevin Eagan, General Manager for Business Development and Marketing at Microsoft's Windows eHome Division, speaking at the Connections 2003 conference in San Jose. The PC-centric vision provides benefits to the industry and to end users, argues Eagan, because a common, centralized platform will make it easier for consumer electronics companies to develop and sell networked devices. Consumers want an integrated and consistent means of managing preferences, privacy, digital rights and security settings across all their devices, instead of the current, confusing collection of unique interfaces for each device. Eagan demonstrated a Windows Home Media PC delivering both live and PVR content to TVs, plasma displays, PC monitors, tablet displays and PocketPCs. The home server dynamically provides the user interface to each device. A wireless "smart display" functions as an intelligent controller, allowing the user to view media and access controls. Live TV can be paused and resumed on demand at any location. Incoming phone calls can be routed to PocketPC-based mobile phones, which function as local extension when detected by the home Wi-Fi network but would otherwise serve as conventional cellular phones when outside the home. Microsoft plans to enrich all devices in the home networked environment with instant messaging and calendar functions that are automatically synchronized with other devices on the network. Eagan believes that consumer demand for digital home products will be driven first by entertainment applications, followed by later by communications and home control solutions. Still, Eagan admitted that more reliability and innovation are needed, especially with device boot-up times, software updating mechanisms, quality of 802.11 wireless connections and authentication technologies. He also acknowledged that there would be challenges in convincing the mass consumer market.