Microsoft's work to enhance home PCs spilled out to industry partners this week as engineers huddled at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, or WinHEC, to hear the latest ideas about DVD, audio, video and other consumer computing technology. The company briefed engineers on developments in writing DVD discs, using PCs to record TV shows, controlling PCs with a remote control, setting up home networks, and revamping computer audio systems.
The software maker is nearing its goal to have all manner of home equipment join a network, with a hardware and software developer kit due by the end of the year to let companies link everything from light switches to refrigerators to computers. To accomplish this task, Microsoft advocates use of a standard called Simple Control Protocol (SCP), a communication method that lets different devices find each other and control each other.
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