A remote control for the PC and a "smart" display with built-in wireless connectivity to a PC are among the products that Microsoft hopes will turn the PC into a hub for entertainment and communication. Displayed during Chief Software Architect Bill Gates's keynote speech at the Jan. 2002 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the products are still in the preproduction stages. Nonetheless, they point to future opportunities for hardware manufacturers that support Microsoft's vision of the connected home.

Freestyle and Mira Demonstrated

Freestyle is the code name for a new PC remote control and an accompanying software update to Windows XP. The update will deliver a new Windows interface designed to be usable from up to 10 feet away on a standard PC monitor (or PC-connected TV screen). Microsoft believes it will be most useful for digital media applications, such as listening to music or watching video with the Windows Media Player, viewing digital images with others, or watching TV shows with the addition of a TV tuner card. Freestyle is the first product announced by the eHome division, which was created in Feb. 2001 to extend PC-based entertainment and communications applications to other devices in the home. OEMs Hewlett-Packard, NEC, and Samsung have announced they will support Freestyle, although Microsoft has not announced whether the OEMs will be building the remote control units, or simply offering them with new PCs.

Mira is the code name for a set of technologies that will enable small flat-screen displays to connect wirelessly to a PC. Based on Windows CE .NET (the latest version of CE, known in its beta incarnations as Talisker), Mira will use a built-in 802.11 wireless connection and Windows XP's Remote Desktop feature (which is based on Terminal Services) to allow users to interact with their PCs from a portable flat-panel device. Although Mira was demonstrated with a detachable PC monitor, Microsoft also suggested that Mira would find its way into flat-panel TV screens, making it easier for users to perform PC functions (such as watching downloaded movies) on their TVs. Chip makers Intel and National Semiconductor and monitor manufacturers ViewSonic and Wyse have announced support for Mira.

Microsoft has revealed few technical specifications for either Freestyle or Mira, and their release date is uncertain—Gates said only that they would be out "in the 12-month period." However, they represent part of a consumer strategy that could provide significant future opportunities to hardware manufacturers.

Strategy Presents Partner Opportunities

Microsoft wants the PC to become the central hub and controller for networks of entertainment and communication devices in the home. The main reason for this "connected home" strategy is fairly straightforward: by encouraging new uses for the PC, Microsoft hopes to spur the next generation of growth for the consumer PC and software. In addition, Microsoft must respond to the potential threat of new consumer electronics products which use Internet connections and digital technologies, but which don't promote or use Microsoft products or services. Such devices include Sony's PlayStation 2 (which will connect to the Internet using AOL and play streaming media in RealNetworks' formats) and SonicBlue's devices for storing, distributing, and playing MP3 music files.

Freestyle and Mira demonstrate how hardware manufacturers can capitalize on Microsoft's connected home vision by building new classes of devices based on the PC technologies that Microsoft has created or supported. To do so, manufacturers should be familiar with the supporting technologies in Microsoft's operating systems, such as 802.11 and BlueTooth for wireless connectivity, Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for attaching peripherals to a network with a minimum of user effort, and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for locating users and establishing real-time communication sessions over IP networks.

Resources

Information about Windows CE.NET, including a list of supported technologies and case studies about products from early adopters, is at www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce.net/.

More information about Freestyle and the eHome division is at www.microsoft.com/windows/ehome/.

Microsoft recommends that hardware and device manufacturers interested in understanding the company's future directions attend the 2002 WinHEC conference, from Apr. 16–18 in Redmond, WA. See www.microsoft.com/winhec for details and registration information.

For background on the networking and device support in Windows XP, see "Windows XP at Home" on page 9 of the May 2001 Update.

For background on SIP, see "Session Initiation Protocol" on page 10 of the Aug. 2001 Update.

For background on UPnP, see "Windows Me Hints at Future" on page 8 of the July 2000 Update.