Good point Black. Somehow I'd just sleep better if I knew the complete AVIA solution that CUBE would like to sell COULD do WindowsCE. Here are more thoughts on that subject.......
latimes.com
THE GATE CRASHER
Microsoft Makes Sure It Gets In on the Action
By LESLIE HELM, Times Staff Writer
EATTLE--It appears Microsoft Corp. will
emerge a big winner in the
AT&T-MediaOne Group deal, skillfully negotiating
for itself a big piece of the cable television future.
The software giant is in talks to invest as much
as $5 billion in a deal with AT&T Corp. that could
help put its Windows CE software on the digital
set-top boxes of millions of households that will be
linked to AT&T's extensive cable properties,
people familiar with the talks said.
Details of the agreement, which could include
an exchange of assets and/or a Microsoft equity
investment in AT&T, have yet to be hammered
out. The talks could involve a complex swapping of
assets in an effort to avoid taxes, analysts said.
Any favoritism AT&T shows toward Windows
CE could play an important role in helping
Microsoft make the tough transition from the
computer desktop to the consumer's living room.
"A lot of people believe the set-top box will
become the gateway to the home. This gives
Microsoft a platform in the home," said Van Baker,
an analyst at San Jose-based market researcher
Dataquest. Home computers, he argues, will be networked and
connected to the set-top box in the future so all devices can have
high-speed access to the Internet through the cable line.
Microsoft got a seat at the AT&T/MediaOne Group negotiating
table by threatening to support a competing bid for MediaOne from
Comcast Corp., a cable company in which Microsoft has a $2.3-billion
investment.
According to one scenario, Microsoft would give up its stake in
Comcast in exchange for Comcast's international broadband operations
in Britain and elsewhere. Microsoft would also receive MediaOne
Group's stake in Telewest, Britain's second-largest cable company.
It appears that Microsoft's primary motive for getting involved in the
AT&T-MediaOne deal is to get AT&T's backing for Windows CE, the
scaled-down version of the Windows computer operating system that
Microsoft has been promoting as the software for the set-top boxes that
will connect the TV set to the Internet.
Although Windows CE was roundly criticized as clumsy when it was
first released, analysts say the product has been vastly improved over
the last year.
Microsoft scored an important victory last year when it persuaded
cable giant Tele-Communications Inc., now a part of AT&T, to agree to
put Windows CE in 5 million of its TV set-top boxes. Scientific-Atlanta
Inc. and General Instrument Corp., the two leading manufacturers of
cable set-top boxes, have both recently agreed to offer Windows CE as
an option, as have Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sony Corp.,
Japan's leading consumer electronics manufacturers.
Analysts said many of these companies have adopted Windows CE
only as a hedge and continue to promote their own operating systems.
But a strong agreement by AT&T to offer Windows CE on its digital
set-top boxes could bring the entire cable industry behind Microsoft's
software.
Analysts expect a deal to be announced within two weeks.
Beyond the shuffling of assets, the talks are likely to focus on what
Microsoft will charge for Windows CE. The company typically charges
$45 to $90 a copy, a price that would make set-top boxes too
expensive.
Still, analysts don't believe any impending agreement will guarantee
Microsoft's software will become the standard. In a conference call with
reporters and analysts Wednesday, AT&T Chief Executive C. Michael
Armstrong insisted that any deal the company signs would not be
exclusive.
"Microsoft wants strings attached, while AT&T is trying to snip those
strings," said Richard Doherty, a director of research at Seaford,
N.Y.-based Envisioneering, who has spoken to technical advisors
involved in the talks.
"Armstrong is no dummy," said Baker of Dataquest, pointing out that
the AT&T CEO was clearly aware that broadcasters, cable companies
and entertainment companies don't want Microsoft to have the same
power over television that it has over personal computers. "He doesn't
want to dance with the devil any more than anybody else."
Microsoft stock closed Wednesday at $79.13, up $1.06, on
Nasdaq.
Sure would be nice if CUBE and MSFT have been working on a nice solution together. |
