The Engadget Interview: Bill Gates, Part 2 – Engadget – www.engadget.com / Bill Gates on cable supported HDTV and CableCARD in Media Center: ” Oh, we?ll get support for CableCARD into Media Center. That?s the whole idea of enabling different end devices to connect to the cable network. I mean there are a lot of efforts to enable that to happen. We?re working hard with the cable industry right now to get through the specific qualifications there. But that?s a very necessary thing and it?s nice that the framework guarantees that end devices can get connected up on an objective basis. So we?re off doing that. In fact, we have good relationships with the cable industry that are hopefully helping us get that done faster.”
and
“Media Center, Tablet PC will all be integrated into Longhorn, correct?
That?s right. They will ship. We?ll have different SKUs but all those things there will be a major release that will ship with the client and so that?s the big update for those things.”
I love it when he uses the words CableCARD and faster in the same breath. It would also be nice to hear about a strategy for Media Center in working with HDTV signals from DirecTV and satellite as well.