Meet Microsoft, Home Networker
Yahoo | at | by Mike
Microsoft Corp., whose software has come to dominate the workplace, now wants to take over your living room. Last October, the Redmond [Wash.] software giant launched Windows XP, the new operating system that makes it a snap to organize music files and gather digital photos. Microsoft then jumped into the video gaming market, with its Xbox game console. And on July 11, it plans yet another bold foray, this time into home networking.
With global sales last year of $1.4 billion, home networking hardly holds the sex appeal -- or the profitability -- of the lucrative game console business. But Microsoft now believes that networking devices, known as routers, may be the key to controlling the digitally wired home. By selling routers that link PCs to game consoles, TVs, and other household devices, Microsoft is hoping to serve as the gatekeeper connecting consumers to the multibillion-dollar world of digital entertainment: games, movies, music, and other services.