Wondering what Microsoft has up its sleeves for the CES keynote? Steve Ballmer’s supposed speech with little in the way of surprises may have leaked online already, but we’re hoping for a few curveballs, and you’ll be able to catch them right here on our live blog. Zune phone? Any Zune at all? Or maybe just Windows 7. Just hit refresh every minute to watch all the latest Microsoft news unfold in front of you.
03:54: And that’s it. No news. No curve balls. All in all a rather meagre show. Maybe it’s the credit crunch, but Microsoft was lacking anything major in terms of products – looks like we’ll be waiting a bit longer for the Zune phone. ElectricPig out.
03:49: Galore is showing a new display concept which is less than a millimetre thick, and supposedly flexible, though she’s not bending it. Kinda cool though.
03:48: It’s the surface PC again! You can annotate physical objects on the screen, and the notes will show when you place it on it.
03:45: The graphical interface is nice: it’s showing a web of a university paper’s keywords, scanned and analaysed by Microsoft research. Be nice if someone could actually say what this is called though.
03:43: An R&D bod, Janet Galore, is showing off some Microsoft concept tech. That’s a nice tablet she’s holding, it’s got multitouch and everything. Where can I get one?
03:41: Screens will be everywhere in the future. “Computing will be far more useful and far more personalised”.
03:39: Ballmer’s back, talking about “new products”, but we haven’t really seen any here today.
03:38: She just destroyed Clark at the game, though to be fair, she did make it.
03:37: There’s a young girl on stage showing how easy it is to develop games on Xbox Live. She certainly knows her stuff, she’s editing this level at supersonic speeds. LittleBig Planet, eat your rag doll heart out.
03:33: More Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Lips plugging. Last time we checked, these games were already out. C’mon Microsoft, new stuff!
03:30: Video content is also a priority, so Clark’s showing off the not especially new Netflix features. Wouldn’t it be nice if Love Film did the same thing in the UK?
03:28: Brad Pitt! The answer’s Brad Pitt! We’re getting into this quiz game now.
03:27: Back to Xbox Live and the NXE. More content is coming though. A new channel, Prime Time, is launching in the Spring. Clark’s playing that daft One vs One Hundred game on stage, with lots of avatars. We can live without this.
03:24: Surprise! Halo Wars and Halo 3 ODST announced. ODST is out in the Autumn, new levels and characters etc. But we already knew that.
03:23: Now we’re getting to the good stuff. Clark’s describing how Xbox Live is growing rapidly: 3m more members added in 2008. And Halo is very successful. Yeeeesss……
03:21: Clark is recapping about the success of IPTV and Media Room. The “application platform” is about to expand. Que?
03:19: Clark is rubbing it in all the European journalists’ faces by talking about Zune and how good it is. Now he’s moving on to media centres.
03:17: Clark is talking about Microsoft, “connected entertainment” and TVs. And Ford, for some reason. They don’t make TVs.
03:16: They’re singing about Xboxes. Microsoft VP Robbie Clark is up now though.
03:15: Bye Charlotte! Now a band called Tripod is on stage and I’m getting that sinking feeling like when Jack Johnson sang at the iPod launch in September. These guys are a bit more left field though: think an a capella Darkness mixed with Flight Of The Conchords.
03:12: The What’s New feed goes into your homepage, Hotmail, and your phone. Not bad, turns a Windows Mobile phone into an INQ1, essentially. Now she’s demonstrating a new feature in Messenger by talking to her husband on Windows 7: you can edit your profile pic on the fly. Wait, she’s married? Damn.
03:09: Windows Live integrates more than just Facebook though: Flickr, Twitter and 50 other social network apps are supported. But does it work on Firefox?
03:07: If it wasn’t working with it, the new Windows Live Essentials would definitely be giving Facebook a run for its money. Statuses, emails, pictures, they’re all sorted from one page, the “What’s New” Feed.
03:06: We’re looking at Windows Mobile now, with flash support. But Charlotte wants to show us how it connects with Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8.
03:04: Oh, multitouch in Windows 7. Slide fingers apart to zoom, for instance. This should make multitouch very easy to put in for computer makers, let’s hope they’re all here taking notes!
03:02: Jump list is a good feature though, showing you your history of recent/popular actions in a program. Home group also sets up a home network very easily. Charlotte is definitely the hottest Microsoft exec ever.
03:00: Nice task bar demo on 7. Windows and programs snap to either side of the screen, which might be useful on occasion.
02:58: Charlotte Jones, Group Product Manager, is up to show off Windows 7. Her top is better than Ballmer’s.
02:57: We’re on to mobiles now. Microsoft haS linked up with Verizon in the US for Live Search on all its phones. Now, how about that Zune phone?
02:55: New Windows Live Essentials also going live, works on Xp, Vista and 7. Ballmer’s also just announced a link up between Windows Live and Facebook for easy photo sharing. Dell will also pre-install Windows Live on all its machines, which isn’t quite so thrilling.
02:54: Yep, Windows 7 Beta is released. Available worldwide from Friday online. Free operating system? Intriguing.
02:53: Microsoft is to become a connected platform across the PC, the phone, the TV and the cloud. Ballmer says he’s going to make Windows 7 “the best version of Windows ever”.
02:50: Ballmer just said he was a PC. He’s about to announce something about Windows.
02:49: There’s a video playing of some Windows based laptops. Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo etc. A Blu-ray drive chucked in for good measure. Ooh, and some phones too: I spy a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. This isn’t new though.
02:47: Ah yes, “Windows is the linchpin”. It’s “the language that over a billion people speak”. Now he’s talking about Windows on mobiles. Shudder.
02:45: The cloud is connecting every screen seamlessly. Now, how does this relate to Windows 7 eh?
02:43: For emerging market, mobile phones are even more important than PCs. And TVs ahve been the centre of family entertainment, with few improvements in capabilities. TVs will become more connected, he says.
02:41: He’s outlining three main ideas. Number one is convergence of PC, phone and TV. Apparently 1bn people own a PC, but Ballmer says that’s not enough. We need to “democratise computing for the next one billion people”.
02:40: We’re “facing really big challenges”. Ah yes, the recession. But, says Ballmer, our digital lives will only continue to get richer. Let’s hope so! Now, what have you got?
02:37: Ballmer is reading out messages wishing him luck. Bill Gates has told him not to accidentally go to the Adult Entertainment Expo across the street. Now here comes the driving innovation bit.
02:36: Ah he’s here now. Maroon jumper, not very billionaireish.
02:34: Hagiographical video of Windows now playing. Cut to the chase, Redmond!
02:32: Oh, he’s introducing Ballmer now. People clap, but he’s not here yet.
02:29: Gary Shapiro is strolling on stage. Where’s Ballmer?
02:23 Well, we’re in. We’re not expecting too much from Ballmer’s speech, so here are some observations that might be more interesting, just about. This room is huge, there’s a good few thousand people in here. And there’s also someone rapping on stage about CES. He’s quite good. Definitely not a Microsoft exec though.
