Forget the eye-catching models. What turned out to be the prime attraction at Microsoft's spacious stand at the Hong Kong Computer and Communications Festival on the weekend was an idea whose time has come.
That is the ability of smart software to extend regular people's digital media - the home videos, photos and information used every day - across a wide range of devices, and overcome the complexity faced when using current technology.
Without selling anything but this concept, Microsoft executives at the fair said consumers were ready for a more integrated in-home computing and entertainment experience using, mostly, whatever basic Windows technology they already own.
'This has been such a fresh change of pace for us because we're not selling any products at this festival,' Kevin Leung, business group lead for information worker and client technologies at Microsoft Hong Kong, said on Friday.
'All that we want people who visit our booth to take away is that advanced software, including the existing software in their personal computer at home, could help simplify their lives and allow them to enjoy all their digital content when and where they want.'
The four-day fair, which ended yesterday, was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and was organised by the Hong Kong Chamber of Computer Industries. About 200,000 visitors flocked to the festival, which featured some 400 exhibitors, mainly small information technology retailers from Kowloon.
