Attending a Bill Gates Keynote at the CES show can be so depressing for an Australian. Firstly there are all these goodies, Xbox receivers, new IPTV services, and new technology for the car along with a new generation of media centres.
The only problem is that none of them are available in Australia. We don't have Microsoft's new Zune player or the new IPTV service or the new car service from Ford. Neither can we access TV programs from an Xbox while playing games.
But the biggest and most noticeable difference is the lack of streaming content and fast bandwidth. In fact the situation is so bad that one has to question as to whether Microsoft Australia is serious about the CE market at all as they can't even deliver a simple media centre EPG guide for TV programmes.
During the opening CES keynote Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced that Microsoft will turn its Xbox 360 into a receiver for an emerging form of digital television, seeking to expand the market for one of its key products.
They also announced that will offer a version of Windows for computer servers in the home. And it described plans to make its in-car information and entertainment system available for Ford vehicles starting later this year -- its first such agreement with an automaker. But guess what it will not be available in Australia.
