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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (10125)	8/15/1998 11:09:00 PM
From: Bill Fischofer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Actually, your analysis tends to be on the conservative side. While folks here will gripe over PCs, MSFT is quietly moving far beyond the desktop. The September issue of Wired has an article on embedded systems which while nominally focusing on Wind River includes a most interesting sidebar on MSFT and Windows CE, under the title "The Shark": Bill Gates has been dreaming about handheld computers, automobiles, and television sets -- all running Windows CE. Originally designed for mobile devices like PDAs, the 32-bit operating system runs pocket versions of Excel, Quicken, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. But the software aims to make its way into network bridges, hubs, routers, factory-floor-automation equipment, and thermostats, says Tony Barbagallo, WinCE's product manager, and will soon show up in cars, set-top boxes, gas pumps, and other devices. The technology's greatest value may be in its networking capabilities. And no, it isn't just the same old one-size-fits-all Windows. "We wrote the embedded-systems software from the ground up," Barbagallo says. And taking a page from the Wind River rule book, Microsoft has made WinCE modular, enhancing its attractiveness as as development environment. After earlier forays into the embedded market, in December 1996 Microsoft released Windows CE 1.0, which lacked real-time capabilities. nine nonths later, 2.0, with some real-time potential, came out. While Microsoft may not dominate the desktop forever, WinCE is already popping up in some of the littlest places. Detailed are then six current and about-to-debut WinCE-based products: PDAs: WinCE powers 500,000 handheld computing devices from a dozen manufacturers, including Casio, HP, Philips Electronics, and Sharp. Kiosks: Radiant Systems, Fujitsu, and NCR licensed WinCE for kiosks in retail outlets, including fast-food restaurants and supermarkets. Among them: mall-restaurant chain Chick-fil-A's point-of-sale terminals. Cars: Car-audio specialist Clarion will introduce voice-controlled mapping technology this fall. Under the hood: WinCE. Microsoft is also delivering voice-activated WinCE dashboard interfaces to Ford, Infiniti, and Delphi, a supplier to Saab. Gas pumps: Radiant's OrderPoint for WinCE began streaming CNN video to Shell and Chevron pumps this summer. Ahead: Smart pumps will talk to smart cars. Videogame consoles: A WinCE-based Sega Dreamcast will be available in Japan this November and in the US come spring. Given the game-players built-in modem and Microsoft's interest in online gaming, Internet Explorer for Dreamcast is a fair bet. Cable/Internet TV: TCI has licensed WinCE for 5 million set-top boxes; Matsushita plans to build next-gen TV and PC products with WinCE. Sony has teamed up with Gates & Co. to build its own boxes. And Microsoft's WebTV, with 350,000 users in the US, will run the OS on its browser/box, due in 1999. Of course since other companies have been talking about this sort of stuff for some time, no doubt the Cassandra's will point to this as yet another example of MSFT's "lack of innovation". In the meantime, MSFT shareholders will reap the benefits of a vastly expanded market for MSFT products in the near future.