Engadget Interviews Bill Gates

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000440041962/">http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000440041962/</a><br /><br /><i>"We couldn’t pin him down for as long as we’d have liked, but Bill sat down with us at last week’s Windows Hardware Engineering Conference for a one-on-one. The clock ran out before we were able to ask him about Portable Media Center, what smartphone he uses, and of course, getting knighted (among other things), but we were able to rap with him about the launch of the next Xbox console, whether or not Microsoft is going to come out with a competitor for the PlayStation Portable, and the future of Windows Mobile (plus lots more in part 2, which goes up tomorrow):"</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/20050503-billgates.jpg" /><br /><br />This interview spends quite a bit of time on the Windows Mobile platform, including target audiences and a bit of history.

[alabij]

I'm No Bill Gates fan but he didn't seem to say much. All his answers were vague. Anyone without insider knowledge could have said those remarks.

Also it could just be that I'm upset: I purchased some songs from MSN Music only to find out that they wouldn't play on my PPC - H6315 iPaq. Apparently they require WMP 10 for the PPC.

Microsoft needs to be more consumer friendly. The market place is rapidly changing and consumers are more interested in quality of service these days.

All it takes is for Apple to release their OS to desktop PCs; Linux to be more useful than as a hacking port for consumers.

The Pocket PC is going the route of Apple. Upgrades are at the sole descretion of the OEM.

[Phillip Dyson]

From what I read, all of Bill's references to WM were about phones. Certainly hope that us un-convergent types aren't left out in the cold.

[Jonathan1]

From what I read, all of Bill's references to WM were about phones. Certainly hope that us un-convergent types aren't left out in the cold.

Don't worry. We will be eventually. :cry: But by then you will be able to put Windows Longhorn Embedded in your pocket on some uber small tablet device so it works out in the end. :D

[Ed@Brighthand]

From what I read, all of Bill's references to WM were about phones. Certainly hope that us un-convergent types aren't left out in the cold.
I've been saying for years that almost all handhelds will eventually have cellular-wireless capabilities. We're moving in that direction, and we're going to move even more as time goes by.

In the next couple of years, mobile email is going to become a standard part of office life, and sales of cellular-wireless handhelds will increase dramatically because traditional smartphones aren't very good with email.

[surur]

On a more cynical note, I bet Embedded Windows is the only area at MS to grow 44% year on year. As there is more and more talk around about MS share prices having peaked, its more and more important to emphasize that there is still some growth left in the giant. In today's world its cellphones which are growing, which is why MS has to be there, and to be seen to be there. Ive come across a web page which says MS expects to sell more embedded solutions than desktops by 2008. This is only likely if we are talking about handheld devices.

I expect more and more marketing to be directed at and promoting windows mobile, which I guess can only be a good thing.

Surur

[Darius Wey]

From what I read, all of Bill's references to WM were about phones. Certainly hope that us un-convergent types aren't left out in the cold.

I've always had the vision that Pocket PCs and Smartphones would merge to become a unified Windows Mobile device. Whether I'm right or not is another story, but if I am, rest assured you'll have many (and I do stress that point) years of non-convergence ahead of you. ;)

[beq]

Also it could just be that I'm upset: I purchased some songs from MSN Music only to find out that they wouldn't play on my PPC - H6315 iPaq. Apparently they require WMP 10 for the PPC.

I am (was) in the same boat. Our PDA2k's running WM2003SE came out of the box with WMP9, which don't work with any music service requiring Windows Media "Janus" DRM (only available in WMP10). Whereas our JAM also running WM2003SE came out of the box with WMP10 already and I've successfully used it with Napster (To Go), Rhapsody (To Go), and other services.

Fortunately there are already updated ROM images out there for the PDA2k, and a Mr. Wright has last weekend just released a complete installer for the latest PDA2k ROM version (including WMP10) :)

And SanDisk's 2GB SD cards are just now becoming available, which makes the PPC somewhat more comparable to the 5GB MP3 players available for the To Go services (but not compared to the 60GB iPod Photo). In fact I'd received the SanDisk 2GB regular speed card, which I'm returning for the Ultra II high speed version...

[TheZodiac]

alabij perhaps you should have been more user manual friendly. That iPaq, of course has its own problems, but, I thought it was pretty much common knowledge that a device needed MW10 to play tunes from their store - I dont use either, just thought it was a pretty common thing.