With Microsoft Out, Who Will Keynote CES 2013?

By Christina Bonnington

A CES tradition is coming to a close: Microsoft will not appear, let alone own the keynote, at next year’s consumer electronics trade show. But with ending traditions come new opportunities, all begging the question: Who will deliver the CES keynote in 2013?

On Wednesday afternoon, Microsoft’s Frank Shaw announced in a blog post that 2012 would be Microsoft’s last year at CES. Next year, the company won’t be hosting a booth (well, it’s been more like an all-consuming Microsoft pavilion), and its run of 14 straight keynote addresses will be over.

“We won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing,” Shaw wrote in the blog post.

Microsoft cited a few different reasons for the decision. Shaw explained the company asked itself a few questions in order to decide the best course of action.

· What’s the right time and place to make announcements?
· Are we adjusting to the changing dynamics of our customers?
· Are we doing something because it’s the right thing to do, or because “it’s the way we’ve always done it”?

Microsoft is set to unveil the beta version of its new Windows 8 operating system in February of next year, with Windows 8 hardware debuting toward the middle and latter parts of the year. Windows 8 is designed to run on notebooks, desktops and tablets with equal proficiency, all thanks to dual-home screen interfaces: one designed for touch, one designed for traditional mouse and keyboard input.

It’s possible that we could be seeing Windows 8 move to phones as well. But for the time being, Microsoft and hardware partners like Nokia are busy introducing the next wave of Windows Phone Mango devices, many of which we’re sure to see at CES 2012.

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Nice reading :)
 

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Hi everyone
Happy New year

These sort of shows are really becoming less and less useful -- they just are really "corporate Jolly's" these days. The sort of products MS is introducing doesn't need a sort of "Las Vegas Boxing Ring " extravaganza showman style of introduction.

Savvy consumers get a lot of their info from the Web etc.

Trade exhibitions are often good for renewing contacts, hobbling up new business etc etc but for much more specialized products / activities.

CES isn't really "fit for purpose" anymore as far as MS is concerned. Maybe for companies like Samsung etc it's different but MS -- I think correct move and this should be reflected in the MS stock price fairly soon (EPIC Code MSFT).

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Hi everyone
Happy New year

These sort of shows are really becoming less and less useful -- they just are really "corporate Jolly's" these days. The sort of products MS is introducing doesn't need a sort of "Las Vegas Boxing Ring " extravaganza showman style of introduction.

Savvy consumers get a lot of their info from the Web etc.

Trade exhibitions are often good for renewing contacts, hobbling up new business etc etc but for much more specialized products / activities.

CES isn't really "fit for purpose" anymore as far as MS is concerned. Maybe for companies like Samsung etc it's different but MS -- I think correct move and this should be reflected in the MS stock price fairly soon (EPIC Code MSFT).

Cheers
jimbo

Well, CES is a "consumer electronics" show and beyond the Xbox, there is not much there for Microsoft. However, I believe that Microsoft's withdrawal will hurt Microsoft much more than the show. Microsoft needs more positive press, it has been walking into one disaster after another and Win8 may be, just may be, another disaster in the offing. The last thing that Microsoft wants at this time is to withdraw into its shell and let the press create the news.

Another thing: in CES, many smaller companies and developers that used Microsoft tools and technologies were covered under the Microsoft booth. With MS gone, these small companies will loose their visibility and again, Microsoft will suffer.

Microsoft does not have the cult following of Apple. It cannot afford these withdrawals.
 

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Hi there

What disaster is MS walking into ??? -- apart from the VISTA Fiasco and the possible total uselessness of Windows Home Server -- most companies have at least one or two duff products that don't put them out of business -- including mistakes even Apple have made in the past -- the Iphone 4S for example when everbody was wanting and expecting an Iphone 5.

MS is getting a lot of corporate server markets (OK still small compared with Red Hat etc but improving hugely), its database system MSSQL is being adopted by a lot of companies running ERP / CRM / SRM type of software such as SAP instead of using ORACLE as the underlying DB system and there is talk of MS going also into the service sector supplying contract / I.T services in the manner that IBM etc have done. I wouldn't even bat an eyelid over MS's withdrawl from CES.

I don't think smaller companies who have decent contracts with MS would really worry either.

Todays stock price -- In spite of Wall St being 140 down on the day is slightly up -- last trade (after hours) is 25.82. Its price is roughly half way between 52 wk low and high (23.65 - 29.46) - which given current uncertainty in the Markets including some pretty horrendous "Nightmare on Wall St days" seems more than reasonable.

CES withdrawl certainly won't hurt MS -- the stock holders also don't seem to think so either.


Cheers
jimbo
 

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Hi there

What disaster is MS walking into ??? -- apart from the VISTA Fiasco and the possible total uselessness of Windows Home Server -- most companies have at least one or two duff products that don't put them out of business -- including mistakes even Apple have made in the past -- the Iphone 4S for example when everbody was wanting and expecting an Iphone 5.

MS is getting a lot of corporate server markets (OK still small compared with Red Hat etc but improving hugely), its database system MSSQL is being adopted by a lot of companies running ERP / CRM / SRM type of software such as SAP instead of using ORACLE as the underlying DB system and there is talk of MS going also into the service sector supplying contract / I.T services in the manner that IBM etc have done. I wouldn't even bat an eyelid over MS's withdrawl from CES.

I don't think smaller companies who have decent contracts with MS would really worry either.

Todays stock price -- In spite of Wall St being 140 down on the day is slightly up -- last trade (after hours) is 25.82. Its price is roughly half way between 52 wk low and high (23.65 - 29.46) - which given current uncertainty in the Markets including some pretty horrendous "Nightmare on Wall St days" seems more than reasonable.

CES withdrawl certainly won't hurt MS -- the stock holders also don't seem to think so either.


Cheers
jimbo

Jimbo,

You are making some good points. The disaster I foresee is Windows 8 and MS's foray into tablets and smartphones. I will discuss MS's stock price later.

If Win8 fails in the enterprise (and in my opinion, it will) and does not get any decent upgrade sales (and, in my opinion, it will not), then MS's bargain to forsake the enterprise in order to get traction in the consumer market would be a failure and it will cost the company dearly. Would it keep on selling Win7 licenses? Yes, it will. Will Win8 end up in many new PCs? Yes, it will. But if the sales volume falls way below that of Win7 (and, in my opinion, it will), then MS would not only lose precious market share, it would lose mind share.

I think that not only I but many have discussed Win8's incompatibility with the desktop/laptop. It simply does not help in running the applications that I depend on. It actually hampers this task.

But will Win8 be a success in the tablets? The answer to this is an emphatic NO. People buy tablets to consume content. Thus, MS must have a very rich ecosystem to compete. Is this true? NO. MS does not come close in providing an ecosystem comparable to iTunes, Google or Amazon. Why would a consumer buy an MS tablet? With the iPad at about $500 and an Amazon Kindle fire at $199, where would the Intel-based Win8 tablets find any customers? As for the ARM-based, Win8 tablets, these are already stillborn. Deprived of the capacity of running any legacy Win applications, the reasons for their purchase must be sheer sadomasochism.

What about smartphones? MS has blown it with WP7. Not a single WP7 phone now offers LTE while dozens of Androids do. By the time WP7 starts doing LTE, the LTE iPhone would be out putting paid to this venture. Too little, too late. Plus, WP7 and WP7.5 are nowhere near as nice as ICS (Android 4.0). By the time they get updated, we will be at Android 5.0.

Microsoft should have concentrated in making Windows 8 an insanely good desktop/laptop OS. It could have incorporated, as options, some connections to its mobile platforms without making them a core of the new OS. Then, it should have developed WP7 more aggressively and it should have used this system for tablets. WP7 tablets could have been out for a year or more!!! Instead, you would need to wait for a year more and, in the process, MS is going to kill Win7.5 (another dead OS), in order to move the phones to WP8 which will be based on Win8 code!!! Why buy a WP7 phone today? Users must be crazy to do so.

Now, the MS stock price. Let's forget daily gyrations. The fact is that the MS stock price has been stuck at that level ($20-30) for a decade!!! If you want to buy Microsoft stock for the dividend, do so. But if you want to make a tidy capital gains profit, look somewhere else. This stock is not going anywhere in a hurry.
 

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I happen to like the CES in Vegas, you get a ton of free goodies, plus chips to gamble with <g>
For ADRz's argument, we can ALL look at Microsoft's own Courier. MaximumPC:
MS had the interwebs abuzz with it's "secret" two-screen tablet in a book form factor. "Sadly" It never seen the light of day. [end-quote] Strange that this device never seen the light of day, when ascetically blew away Apple's iPad2. Also Windows 8 WOULD look perfect on it! I seriously wonder if Microsoft is planning on bringing it back? Here is a Wikipedia article on it Microsoft Courier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia SEEMS would be fantastic for Windows 8. Read the article and judge for yourself.


*EDIT* HOLY crap!! I just ask this question on the Microsoft's MSDN board!! And got a FAST response! And I quote Microsoft has been working on the public release of Courier and in mid-February will be selecting 2500 beta testers to receive a courier and Windows 8 beta to test, and report on. HOLY MOLEY!!!!!!! gimme....gimme....gimme... :thumb:
 
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I happen to like the CES in Vegas, you get a ton of free goodies, plus chips to gamble with <g>
For ADRz's argument, we can ALL look at Microsoft's own Courier. MaximumPC:
MS had the interwebs abuzz with it's "secret" two-screen tablet in a book form factor. "Sadly" It never seen the light of day. [end-quote] Strange that this device never seen the light of day, when ascetically blew away Apple's iPad2. Also Windows 8 WOULD look perfect on it! I seriously wonder if Microsoft is planning on bringing it back? Here is a Wikipedia article on it Microsoft Courier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia SEEMS would be fantastic for Windows 8. Read the article and judge for yourself.


*EDIT* HOLY crap!! I just ask this question on the Microsoft's MSDN board!! And got a FAST response! And I quote Microsoft has been working on the public release of Courier and in mid-February will be selecting 2500 beta testers to receive a courier and Windows 8 beta to test, and report on. HOLY MOLEY!!!!!!! gimme....gimme....gimme... :thumb:


I would not assume that this is the "Courier" that you saw a demonstration on. If you recollect, that Courier was stylus driven and it was mostly a notes taking machine based in a technology called "Inseine". If you have a stylus-driven tablet (and I do), you can download "Inseine" (I am sure that it can still be found) and try it out. You will see then all the notions behind the Courier.

Of course, for all that, one needs resistive screens. Capacitive screens are just too "coarse" to be fully usable in that mode and they do not register pressure either (which was an element of the Courier).
 

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No, the device I seen looked like a book *portrait mode" and from the looks of it seems that Windows 8 would feel at home on it.
As well as not mentioning anything about stylus driven. (BUT possible) Also was mentioned in the article it has a on screen keyboard. As well looking at Windows 8 DP, you notice it would look best on a tablet, book like one and this device I seen it looks perfect for that. As well as REALLY mysterious that THIS device will be released sometime in Feb 2012. Coincidence? strange, very STRANGE indeed. Could this possibly be the Microsoft Courier 2 then? I want to see what happens in Feb 2012 on this.
 

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No, the device I seen looked like a book *portrait mode" and from the looks of it seems that Windows 8 would feel at home on it.
As well as not mentioning anything about stylus driven. (BUT possible) Also was mentioned in the article it has a on screen keyboard. As well looking at Windows 8 DP, you notice it would look best on a tablet, book like one and this device I seen it looks perfect for that. As well as REALLY mysterious that THIS device will be released sometime in Feb 2012. Coincidence? strange, very STRANGE indeed. Could this possibly be the Microsoft Courier 2 then? I want to see what happens in Feb 2012 on this.

That there is an onscreen keyboard in MS tablets for a decade now, so this is not news. I am not particularly interested in the "Courier". It was a good concept but it is rather dated right now. This device is probably nothing more than a reformated Acer Iconia tablet running Win8 beta and called "the Courier". I do not think that there is something new here. In any case, we will soon find out, right?
 

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This is true, but with me that last sort of like this type of device I owned was a Palm Pilot (Original) "ducks" LoL Not joking
and this might draw me back into that arena.
 

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