Sony, IBM, Toshiba to make new OS

[irmongoose]

Today it was announced that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), IBM Corp., and Toshiba Corp. are gonna make a new OS!!!!

Wat is this supposed to mean?

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Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE), Toshiba Corp. and IBM Corp. have reached a basic agreement on jointly developing a new operating system (OS) to be released in 2005 for computers capable of high-speed Internet connections, industry sources said Friday.

The OS would allow personal computers and home appliances to exchange huge volumes of data, including the high-resolution graphics of a television screen, through a broadband connection.

Users would also be able to control their home appliances via PC, and watch television programs and movies on their PC at any location.

According to the sources, the firms intend to make the source code of the finished OS available to other companies in an attempt to make it the global standard of the anticipated high-speed Internet age.

SCE will bring to the project software development skills honed through its work on two PlayStation video game consoles and their attendant software. Toshiba and IBM will provide semiconductor and computer manufacturing expertise.

Work on the OS project has not yet begun, but the three companies have begun joint development of next-generation semiconductors that will be hundreds of times faster than current integrated chips and feature networking functions.

The three companies predict the entire development cost will run to about 400 million dollars (52 billion yen).

According to the sources, local area networks will be used to connect PCs installed with the operating system to TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators and other home appliances, giving great flexibility in controlling home appliances.

The larger bandwidth of a broadband connection will open the door to the downloading of movies, TV programs and video games via the Internet, the sources said.

Users will be able to store television programs in their PCs and watch them at any time and any place.

TVs with the OS installed will be much smaller as they will not need a tuner, the sources said.

All controls will be accessible from the TV screen, making the system more user-friendly, the sources said, an important feature when considering the elderly and those unfamiliar with using PCs.

The OS will also enable tasks impossible for current technology, the sources said.



Yomiuri Shimbun (English Newspaper from Japan)
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Wat do u think?


irmongoose

 

[networkman]

will apple be in on it?

there is that ibm or sony buying/merging w/apple thing i am now hearing a lot

as long as the apple products and software continue to grow with the industry and apple sharholders get rewarded for their faith in the company, i really don't care if apple gets merged or bought but i don't want to eventually see an all windows world out there though

if it takes apple being bought by ibm or sony in order to keep it from getting killed by dell (who took away apple's core business in education), then so be it

this is business and mergers and buyouts happen so the world can still have a compaq, kensington, volvo, and lambroghini and have those brands still exist but under a new leadership

apple was controlled in its early days by the two steves but when it went public, the board of directors then took control because it was no longer owned by two people or even controlled by them

steve jobs just has a job at apple and he knows he can't control the company like he once did so he knows the direction of apple is much more a consensus thing with people like larry ellison on the board and others

i do know that steve jobs does admire sony a lot and sony's huge size can shield apple from the agressive tactics of dell which has become the microsoft of computer hardware

 

[pimentoLoaf]

Oh, no...

Not OS/2 again !

 

[Doraemon]

LOL

 

[dantec]

Why don't they...

Just use an upgraded version of OS X and let Apple manufacture the hardware... Who wants Toshiba crap?

 

[blackdog]

The New World

It's a brilliant strategy, if they can pull it off. Allows creation of the entire digital lifestyle and if they get there first they will be the AOL, Microsoft, Cisco (hopefully not Enron!) of the next decade.

It's the natural evolution of current technology concepts (HDTV, universal internet access, storage of TV, radio programs, on-demand movies, etc.) combined with ultrabroadband capabilities and cheap storage media.

Although the associated ethical/cultural/intellectual property issues stagger the mind, and raise the spectre of further megalegal nightmares similar to what Napster and Microsoft are currently involved in.

Should be fun to watch, but it's scary, too.

Do we want to go where all of this will take us as a race? (or am I just getting old?)

 

[IndyGopher]

Originally posted by pimentoLoaf
Oh, no...

Not OS/2 again !

Oh yes, God forbid another OS/2. Who wants another stable, multi-threaded, multi-tasking OS built around hardware that is dirt cheap and plentiful.. Wanker.

 

[evildead]

trying to compeat

They are trying to compeat with MS ... MS wants to do the same kind of thing. I would like to see how this turns out. I would like at all costs to keep windows off my toaster!!

 

[SPG]

Bill Gates' CES keynote last year showed a lot of consumer devices that were controlled by the PC, coffee makers, picture frames, alarm clocks, TV's, etc. There were a few oohs and ahhs, but mostly shrugs. The reality of the consumer electromics world is that who wants to go out and buy a new TV, alarm clock, toaster, coffee maker, and picture frame? The only people who will adopt the new stuff are the ones whose appliances have just broken down and need to be replaced. The new ones will cost more and will they really offer that much more? much more for the increased price? Testament to our engineers, appliances generally last a long time compared to the technology lifespan of computers. The refrigerator my mom bought before the advent of the IBM 386 is still freezing ice cubes and keeping the milk cold while still adhering a bunch of kitschy magnets very well thank you. I've had the same TV since '96 and won't replace it until I have to whether Apple or MS or anyone adds functionality to it. DVD player? sure, got one. Tivo? Nah, maybe later. The only things that consumers will really go for is add ons if they don't need to replace the unit itself from a breakdown.
This networked home concept will only be an option for a small percentage of the people who can afford it at first, and even those may not see the value in it.
Another problem which I alluded to earlier is that these appliances may become obsolete through incompatibility...then what?
Consumers have been more price conscious than ever with their appliances, even when the economy was healthy, so how will they justify 20-50% higher prices for the integration feature?
The only bright spot in this plan is the downloadable Tivo style broadband TV, that might work, especially if they develop it as a black box for existing TVsets.