Media center computer case

Byline: Cynthia L. Webb

Not satisfied with its dominance of the global business and personal computer software market, Microsoft Corp. has set its sights on the home entertainment market.

Yesterday, Bill Gates 's company launched a special version of its Windows XP operating system to empower home PCs to work as sleek home entertainment centers. The Wall Street Journal said the product delivers "a new breed of living-room PCs developed in a collaboration with hardware makers such as Dell Inc. and Japan's Sony Corp. The new machines will play digital music, videos, games and control personal digital recorders such as the popular TiVo all from one remote control. The goal: to capitalize on the explosion of consumer-electronics and digital entertainment by rolling all those functions into one PC."

According to the Journal, "The new PCs, which connect to a TV set, look more like consumer-electronics gear than boxy desktop computers. They are based on a new layer of Microsoft software that works with its Windows XP operating system to allow the systems to be easily controlled remotely. It's not a new idea. The so-called Media Center PCs follow a initial generation of machines, introduced last year, with the same name. But the effort is an important step in a long and crucial march for the Redmond, Wash., software company. With sales of PC hardware and software to businesses slowing, Microsoft is under more pressure to spur PC sales into the home." * The Wall Street Journal: Microsoft Takes On Consumer Electronics With Its New PC (Subscription required) * Microsoft.com: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

Dell and Sony aren't the only partners for the ambitious super PC. Others include " Gateway , Hewlett-Packard , Toshiba and Samsung . Entertainment companies Napster , CinemaNow and Movielink have created online programs for the system, such as on-demand music and movies," The San Jose Mercury News reported. (CinemaNow and MovieLink, for example, plan to offer downloadable films for the systems).

The Mercury News noted a weak point with the Media Center concept: it costs too much. "Some models cost as much as $3,000, which doesn't include monthly entertainment subscription or Internet access fees. Some Media Center PCs demonstrated Tuesday sell for about $1,000, including monitor and remote. HP said it plans to target higher-income and more technically proficient consumers. Consumer electronics retailers said they believe Windows Media Center PCs will spark a wave of sales of related products, such as digital cameras, liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs and games," the article said. * The San Jose Mercury News: Microsoft Hopes To Inspire Spending With Media Center

More on some of the models that are newly available: "Dell, the world's biggest PC maker, yesterday introduced a basic $999 media-centric computer -- one of the cheapest machines of its type so far. The relatively low price should help stimulate the nascent market, analysts and others said," Cox News Service reported. "Other computer makers used yesterday's software introduction to unveil unique products that look and work more like televisions than computers. Gateway Inc., for instance, unveiled a new all-in-one media center PC with a 17-inch flat-panel screen designed for watching DVDs, a built-in stereo system and wireless keyboard and remote. The new machine is priced at $1,500." * Cox News Service via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Taking Computers Beyond Work -- To Fun * Reuters: Internet Movie Services Sign On For Media Center

The Windows Media Center PCs will also serve as a placeholder of sorts, according to The Seattle Times. Microsoft's new software is "filling the long gap between major releases of Microsoft's flagship operating system, from Windows XP to Longhorn , code name for the version not expected until at least the end of 2005." This is really Version 2.0 of a similar product Microsoft launched last year. "Last year was a very good first-product effort, and lots of consumers who bought it have been very happy with it. But I think this year, by opening the platform, getting more OEMs (computer makers), getting a wider range of experiences, we're going to appeal to a much broader set of consumers," Joe Belfiore , general manager of Microsoft's eHome division, told The Seattle Times. * The Seattle Times: Q&A: Media Center Puts Microsoft In Living Room

Some analysts think the new home entertainment PCs will be more successful than earlier, clunkier PCs. But don't bet on a runaway hit just yet. "Over the next year, about a million media center PCs will likely ship worldwide, said Roger Kay , an analyst with IDC, a technology marketing and research firm in Framingham, Mass.," Newsday reported. "That compares to more than 130 million shipments of regular PCs. Still, they will likely catch on, Kay said. 'I think the media center is going to be more the norm in the future even if right now the adoption is going to be a little bit slow.'" * Newsday: Microsoft Soups-Up Its Windows

Another Lawsuit Settled

Microsoft said yesterday that it will pay an estimated $10.5 million to settle antitrust litigation filed by purchasers of its Windows software. The suits claimed that Microsoft overcharged people when they made purchases of software directly from Microsoft. The settlement has to be approved by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz , the company said. "Under the settlement, consumers and businesses who bought Microsoft's software directly from the company's Web site or direct marketing campaigns agreed to drop their charges. Microsoft, which admitted no wrongdoing, said it will pay each purchaser a portion of the price paid for software bought up until April 30, 2003," Reuters reported. "The settlement, if approved, would represent more progress for Microsoft as it works to resolve remaining anti-trust cases based on claims that it used its monopoly on PC operating systems to push prices higher or harm rivals." * Reuters: Microsoft Settles Software Sales Suit For $10mn

Some 550,000 consumers could benefit from the settlement, The Los Angeles Times reported. The newspaper put Microsoft's settlement in perspective: "The suit claimed that the buyers had been overcharged because Microsoft had improperly used its monopoly power to stifle competition. Initiated as a formidable federal class action, the suit lost power in 2001 when Motz eliminated millions of potential plaintiffs who bought the Windows software from computer companies or retailers. Microsoft's payments would amount to $19 per copy of Windows. The company earns $10.5 million every nine hours." * The Los Angeles Times: Microsoft To Settle Windows Lawsuit (Registration required)

Bill Gates's Other Work: Charity

Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates continues his globetrotting to promote the charity work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . The Washington Post reports on the foundation's significant work to promote public and reproductive health in many of the world's poorest nations. Reporter Justin Gillis tagged along with Bill and Melinda on a recent trip to Botswana where they saw first hand how AIDS is ravaging the country.

Excerpt: "The Gateses are pouring billions of dollars into world health initiatives, a cause they have backed since 1994 but have tackled with rising fervor in the past couple of years. The extent of their giving has grown so quickly that the world has barely begun to absorb the implications. Their money is being used to dramatically expand and improve international vaccination efforts. They are bankrolling programs to find new ways to stop the world's greatest killers, including AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Gateses have created a foundation worth $25 billion, the largest in the world, and have pledged to give it most of the rest of their $46 billion fortune. ... Their foundation far exceeds in assets some better-known names in American philanthropy. It is 10 times the size of the Rockefeller Foundation and three times the size of the Ford Foundation . It is only slightly larger than the Wellcome Trust , a London charity that was once the world's largest, but the Gates Foundation has adopted a more intensive focus on saving lives in poor countries." * The Washington Post: Bill Gates's Hands-On Charity

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