Microsoft Officially Announces Windows Media Center Extender

Consumers Can Access Their Digital Photos, Music Collections and Recorded Television

This evening during his keynote address at the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates unveiled Windows® Media Center Extender Technology. The software will power a new generation of products that will allow consumers to access their favorite digital entertainment, such as live and recorded television, photos, movies, and music that reside on their Windows XP Media Center Edition PC, from any room in the home regardless of where the PC is located. Alienware Corp., Dell, Gateway Inc., HP, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Tatung Co. and Wistron Corp. are among the industry-leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) working with Microsoft to bring these products to market in a variety of hardware form factors, including set-top boxes and televisions, by holiday 2004. Consumers will be able to enjoy the benefits of Media Center Extender technology through a set-top box connected to their television, or will be able to purchase a new television with this technology fully integrated. In addition, Microsoft announced the Xbox® Media Center Extender Kit, which will combine an Xbox DVD title with a dedicated remote control, allowing consumers to extend their Windows XP Media Center Edition experience around the home using their Xbox game console.

"Consumers are telling us that they don't want to be tied to the room where their PC lives to look at their digital pictures or view a program recorded on their Media Center PC," said Joe Belfiore, a general manager in the Windows eHome Division at Microsoft. "With industry partners, we are meeting this demand by developing innovative new products that give consumers the freedom to enjoy their digital entertainment experiences anywhere in the home."

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