On my second day at WinHEC I really wanted to make it a point to stop by the Expo Hall and take a closer look at all the really cool hardware. So I spent about two hours walking around the Expo Hall and talking with folks until the Expo Hall closed. Microsoft’s Pavilion had numerous kiosks set up with product experts at those kiosks to answer any questions.
At the Microsoft Pavilion, I caught up with one of Nick’s colleagues Matt Krueger who was helping show off some Mobile PC’s that take advantage of Windows Vista and it’s technologies.
After talking with Matt, I spotted the HD Media Bridge kiosk and Network Attached Storage kiosk right next to it. I got a closer look at the D-Link Xtreme N Duo MediaBridge units. Right next to the Media Bridge units was the Maxtor (now under Seagate) network storage device that are use Windows Rally. You can check out Maxtor’s selection of network storage devices here.
During the Windows Rally keynote demo by Program Managers Glenn Ward and Jim Barber, they showed off a Windows Sidebar Gadget that worked with the Maxtor network storage devices using Windows Rally technologies. I was able to take some shots of the Gadget running on one of the kiosk demo PC’s. I would like to see more hardware devices come with Windows Sidebar Gadgets that work like this Gadget does with the Maxtor network device. To be able check the status of a networked storage device and see how much storage space I have through a Sidebar Gadget is simply amazing.
Next I stopped by to take a look at a couple of SideShow devices including a Ricavision SideShow-enabled Windows Media Center Remote. This is one real slick remote. I was also able to check out a Digital Picture Frame too.
The Windows Vista Logo program had a huge presence this year at WinHEC. They had a very nice Certified for Windows Vista device showcase of some of the neat new devices out in the marketplace today that are certified. Ironically, I was using my Nikon D40 to take these photos which is also a Certified for Windows Vista camera.
Ben Reed was there talking with folks about certified devices. Ben has been blogging Certified for Windows Vista here on the Windows Vista Team blog for a few months now and has been producing some really neat videos on certified devices.
I also stopped by and chatted with the folks from AMD, HP, Intel, and a few others before the Expo Hall had closed. I had a great experience!
WinHEC 2007 ended for me that evening on a high note when we all went to Universal Studios Hollywood (thanks to the Windows Server Team) to celebrate the coming of Windows Server 2008.
Click here to see my entire WinHEC 2007 Photo Gallery.