Bill Gates gave his keynote speech at CES on Wednesday night. CNN offers a summary of events of the presentation.
Microsoft unveiled a new music service called "Urge". Previous reports of Urge had revealed that Microsoft and MTV were joining forces for the new music service. The new service launches with over 2 million songs for purchase or subscription-based service. Few other details are otherwise available. The Urge.com site simply says "Coming Soon." Urge will be promoted through their Windows Media Player and appears to be Microsoft's answer to iTunes.
Gates also announced partnerships with Intel and their Viiv platform which will allow users to have more entertainment based machines -- providing DVR functionality and more. Microsoft's upcoming revision to Windows called "Vista" will be the operating system for these machines.
Also mentioned:
- DirecTV Content transferable to Portable Media Centers - Upcoming HD-DVD support for Xbox 360
Intel's keynote takes place Thursday night and will presumably reveal more information about the Yonah and the Viiv platform. Traditionally, CES has been of limited direct interest to the Macintosh platform, but with the switch to Intel processors taking place, Intel's plans become far more relevant.
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Apple finally released the first beta of iOS 18.4 to developers for testing purposes, and while the beta is lacking some of the Apple Intelligence features we were hoping for, there are some notable new additions.
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Priority Notifications - Apple Intelligence
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