Microsoft targets internet devices to drive cloud services

Can Windows Embedded point the way to its Azure cloud services?

Microsoft is targeting the market for internet-connected devices designed for accessing cloud-based services.

The sector, known as consumer internet devices (CIDs), falls between smartphone and netbooks, according to Windows Embedded business general manager Kevin Dallas.

He told delegates at the Computex 2009 ICT event in Taipei that Microsoft hopes to provide the first devices in this category, aimed at “consumers’ digital lifestyles, such as files, pictures, music and video, that are currently stored primarily on PCs.”

Dallas said a broad range of devices will shape this emerging market, which could include “GPS handhelds, portable media players, networked TVs and set-top boxes".

But Microsoft also sees the potential for using its Windows Embedded platforms combined with development tools such as Visual Studio, Expression Studio and Silverlight, to allow developers and designers to create CIDs that offer a richer, more dynamic browsing interface. The aim is for such devices to work with standard PCs, while also driving Microsoft’s cloud services.

Google is increasingly moving to develop cloud-based applications, and last week unveiled Wave, a new online collaboration tool that could rival server-based systems such as Microsoft's Sharepoint.

For Microsoft, having the Windows operating system embedded onto CIDs could be an advantage, although industry experts point out that even though Microsoft software is dominant on desktop systems, it trails the undisputed search leader Google by a large margin.