Gigaom Asks: Will Microsoft�s Living-Room Quest Finally Pay Off?

"Most of the digerati remain skeptical about Microsoft's long journey to becoming a key player in the digital home. I can't really blame them, given that the sheer number of swings and misses the company has undergone over the past decade may only be second to that of its hometown baseball team. But recently the company has been swinging a hot bat, not only with its Xbox 360, which has been picking up momentum, but also with a legitimate holiday hit in the Kinect. A few months of resurgence doesn't excuse a decade of lost opportunity. But the Kinect, the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live do illustrate that, while Apple and Google are often seen as much more innovative and nimble when it comes to the digital home, Microsoft actually does offer compelling innovations that, every once in a while, it actually executes on. And execution, of course, is key when it comes to staying relevant."

An interesting article was posted on Gigaom discussing Microsofts position in the digital home and how they have succeed or failed with various products such as Media Center, Windows Home Server, and Xbox.  The Kinect is proving to be a massive hit I wonder if Microsoft will focus on this the Xbox, and start to push this as the core of the Digital Home, possibly integrating those earlier technologies such as Media Center, and Web TV. However, as we have seen with Microsoft, so often, they get a good idea but never seem to realise the full potential of it