In an interview at the CES,
keynote speaker Bill Gates granted an interview prior to making his address in
Las Vegas. Gates told Reuters the company would look to extend the functionality
of the Xbox, the only game console to ship with a built-in hard drive and
Ethernet connection.
"We are pushing the boundaries in terms of
expanding what people think of as what the device can do," Gates said.
 Last
year, Microsoft released a title called "Xbox Music Mixer" that allows
users to download music and photo albums from their PC to the
console.
Later this year, Gates said,
Microsoft will release a kit for the Xbox that will extend the functions
of its Windows XP Media Center Edition to the console, turning it into a
set-top box that allows the playback of live and recorded video, music and
photos.
"You'll see us keep pushing
the boundaries there," Gates said.
Microsoft has lately been
active in recruiting staff to work on gaming hardware, although Gates
declined to talk in much detail about the company's plans for the next
generation of the Xbox, which is widely expected to come in 2005 or
2006.
Market leader Sony Corp.,
which has dominated the current generation of consoles with its
PlayStation 2, has been similarly circumspect about its plans for a
PS3.
"In terms of the next round,
hey it's a new game. We're not showing our hand and I don't think Sony's
showing their hand," Gates said. "We're doing some very cool work but
that's really all we say at this
point." |
Gates went on to say he was very pleased with the
acceptance of the XBox and considers this the "second round". Since it's release
in 2001 Microsoft has battled Nintendo for second place in the US market and has
consistently lost money in the process.
Source: Reuters
