It has been a long day in the land of Microsoft, but a good and productive one. Given that so much was announced at CES, we are bringing you a classic TNW everything in one handy’ list post.
We are going to keep each bit brief, and point you to a main article or source to prevent information overload.
Of course, we hope that you had a chance to follow the news with us, but given that time zones are rough, we are here to help. Without further ado, all of Microsoft’s big news at the best place. Let’s get started.
Windows 8, ARM, and System on a Chip
Microsoft has been working with a number of chip companies to bring a technology called ‘System on a Chip’ to the world of Windows. As you may of guessed, System on a Chip is a method of combining chips into a single unit to save battery juice while bringing big power.
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The important news is that Windows 8 was shown running on these chips, including ARM chips. No, we didn’t get to see any Windows 8 UI elements, but Win8 is real, and will run on ARM and x86 chips.
Read more here.
Surface 2
The Surface lives on, and the Surface 2 was demoed today with great effect. It is more powerful, cheaper, smaller, and can be mounted on a wall. In other words, Surface is now primed for the mass market for the first time.
Read more here.
Xbox 360 Content With Kinect
Microsoft is not bothering to release a new piece of hardware for its tv push, but is instead working to fuse Xbox 360 and Kinect together to provide the world’s most compelling entertainment solution.
Kinect gesture support is coming to Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, and Zune on Xbox 360 in a big way. If you own a 360, this is for you.
Read more here.
Avatar Kinect
Microsoft is bringing face recognition to Kinect to support your facial movements for your Xbox Live avatar. New capabilities support the creation of full 3D chat rooms for you and your friends on Live.
The technology is a big step forward for Kinect, and shows the unlocked power that the gadget has yet to manifest.
Read more here.
The Big Xbox and Kinect Numbers
We will keep this terse: there are 30 million Xbox Live members; a new one joins every 2 seconds; Microsoft has sold more than 50 million Xbox 360s around the world; Microsoft sold 8 million Kinects in the first 60 days.
Read more here.
Windows Phone 7 Coming to Sprint and Verizon
As expected, Windows Phone 7 is coming to Verizon and Sprint this year, opening massive new sales opportunities. This was a complete no-brainer for Redmond, and was something that we expected. The phones will launch in the first half of 2011.
Read more here.
Other
The popular Windows 7 has sold some 7 copies a second, and Microsoft demoed some very sexy new Windows hardware. Among the mix was a dual display laptop and some other interesting tablets. Ballmer claimed that the gadgets wold go on sale ‘in a few months.’
That is just about it ladies and gentleman. More as it comes.
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