Comments on: Microsoft Sideshow – iPod killer?

By: Credit Suisse on PortalPlayer & Microsoft Relationship at Nyquist Capital

Credit Suisse on PortalPlayer & Microsoft Relationship at Nyquist Capital — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 20:56:19 +0000

[...] January 30th 2006 – Microsoft Sideshow – iPod Killer? What at first appears to be a silly laptop design is actually a new open platform for syncing a PMP. When you hear rumors about MSFT getting into the MP3 hardware business, my guess is it would be something along these lines. If this platform brought tight integration between Vista and PMPâ€™s, that would be really bad news for Apple. Apple has been selling iPods to legions of Windows users who buy the iPod for its slick design and ease of use and are willing to accept Appleâ€™s closed system as a tradeoff. Users will no longer need to make that tradeoff if the integration between Vista and the PMP is well done using Sideshow. [...]

By: Portalplayer Preface Chipset Gaining Recognition - Nyquist Capital

Portalplayer Preface Chipset Gaining Recognition - Nyquist Capital — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:27:29 +0000

[...] PortalPlayer (PLAY) continues to follow a trajectory of diversification from it’s core Apple (AAPL) iPod business. Portalplayer currently derives 90% of it’s revenue from Apple iPod and Nano hardware sales and is working on a new chip in partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) called Preface. Preface is the brain around which Microsoft Sideshow is built. We’ve written about the potential for the Preface chipset, and there are a few recent developments that reinforce our opinions here that I thought were worth sharing. [...]

By: Chuck

Chuck — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 20:06:30 +0000

The current iPod already doubles as an auxilary file storage device. What MS is doing now is putting it IN the case.

It SOUNDS nice and LOOKS nice, but it is bloody useless.

By: Xbox 360 IPTV - DirecTV

Xbox 360 IPTV - DirecTV — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 18:10:39 +0000

[...] It’s clear to us the Microsoft has extensive plans to grow the Xbox 360 platform horizontally to encompass the set top box business (starting with DirecTV), the PVR business (aka Tivo (TIVO) ), and eventually the handheld PMP business, potentially through a partner like HTC (2498.TW) and the use of Windows CE 5.0 and Windows Vista Sideshow functionality. [...]

By: steve

steve — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:57:09 +0000

I think you may be right about your theory of sideshow replacing the standard mp3 someday but the first gen of sideshow/preface will be more about saving battery life and not having to wait for your laptop to boot.Also who is to say the next gen ipod wont have the same functionality.

By: NJ

NJ — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 21:56:54 +0000

“access to calendar, contact, email, and micro-information that was downloaded when the PC was last booted and networked”

So basically you are offering me:
* A thing that makes my laptop heavier.
* Does nothing in addition to my laptop.
* Is a PDA but with a docking cradle that can’t be removed from my laptop.
* Is an MP3 player, but to use it I have to leave a big hole in the case of my laptop.
* Play video on a screen the size of a postage stamp.

iPod killer? Hummmm…

“The Windows Vista SideShow platform will also enable hardware manufacturers to build auxiliary displays in a wide range of peripheral devices such as keyboards, LCD display casings, remote controls, and cell phones. These devices can then display information received from a Windows Vista-based PC, providing even more convenience to your everyday computing.”

Without looking at the keyboard:
Is your numlock light on? Do you have eyes in your fingers that monitor the ‘num lock’ light?

Have you ever typed with your caplock on? Yet there’s a capslock light there to tell you its on!

This is one comment I’ll disagree on.