08.18.2008 — Windows SideShow allows information from a PC, including stocks, the weather, and tickers, to be displayed on other devices, such as controllers and phones, as well as secondary displays like a laptop lid display.

So far, products incorporating SideShow include touchpanels, universal remotes, speakers and even computer bags.

With a Windows SideShow device and the appropriate Windows SideShow Gadgets, you can:

• Bring up a list of your music from the machine and start, stop, or pause whatever is playing without having to turn on the computer’s display
• Select a TV show to record from an on-screen program guide without interrupting what you are watching on TV
• Control your lights or thermostat without having to bring up your home automation software’s User Interface on your TV or PC (I think this will be a huge selling point for the technology)
• View pictures stored on the computer
• Get notifications that you have new emails and then be able to read them
• Receive your latest stock information
• Display RSS feeds subscribed to on the computer
• Do whatever a developer’s imagination wants to enable

This Advantage Series will shed some new light on the underlying technologies behind Windows SideShow and why so many vendors and home system integrators have such a big interest in them.

Written by Derek R. Flickinger, vice president of R & D for Interactive Homes, Inc., this Advantage Series is a free download for CE Pro Community members.

Click here to download Windows SideShow: The Advantage Series now!