Microsoft, Intel Launch "Digital Joy" Campaign

Yesterday, computer industry giants Microsoft and Intel launched a rare joint advertising campaign, Digital Joy, that targets the connected home lifestyle that Media Center PCs, Media Center Extenders, and Portable Media Center devices enable. Microsoft told me this week that Intel was so excited about the capabilities of Windows XP Media Center Edition (XP MCE) 2005-related products that the microprocessor giant wanted to work with Microsoft to promote the technology.
  
"We're rallying around a common vision for digital entertainment for consumers," Brad Brooks, director of consumer marketing for the Windows division, said. "That includes XP Media Center Edition 2005 running on Intel Hyper-Threading processor-based PCs." Microsoft and Intel are touting the capabilities of such systems through a Digital Joy Web site, national TV and print advertising, online advertising, and a set of almost 40 Experience Zones in malls across the United States, where consumers can experience these technologies firsthand.
  
Coupled with the recent recasting of XP MCE 2005 as a more mainstream offering (earlier versions were available only with expensive new Media Center PCs), the new marketing campaign represents a significant step toward educating consumers about the wonders of Media Center. Using a Media Center PC, you can record and watch TV shows, enjoy vibrant photo slide shows on your TV, listen to music playlists on your best stereo systems, access a wide range of subscription and a la carte music and movie downloads, listen to Internet and FM-based radio stations, and more. If you add one or more Media Center Extender devices to the mix, you can remotely transmit those experiences to any TV in the house. And if you add a Portable Media Center, you can enjoy those experiences anywhere on earth.
  
I've written extensively about each of these products on the SuperSite for Windows and believe that they're the most revolutionary digital media technologies available today. For more information, see the following reviews on the SuperSite:

XP MCE 2005

MediaCenter Extender

PortableMediaCenter Extender