REDMOND, Wash. – April 30, 2010 – Beneath the clouds of ash billowing over Europe, intrepid travelers still made it safely to Hannover Messe 2010 — some even arranged special coaches to take them to the show from as far as Italy and Turkey. Despite the trying conditions, the Hannover Messe 2010 show was still one of the busiest of the year, reflecting the fact it is among the world’s most important venues for showing industrial technology.
This year, in line with its motto of “energy, innovation and sustainability,” Hannover Messe showcased an amazing 4,000 technical innovations in 152,000 square meters. The huge hall was crammed with the latest manufacturing technology trends and industry innovations, including over 300 Italian companies showcasing future technologies and energy solutions as from this year’s partner country.
There were nine zones at Hannover Messe: Energy, Power Plant Technology, MobiliTec, Digital Factory, Industrial Supply, CoilTecnica, MicroNanoTec, Research & Technology, and Industrial Automation, which is where our Windows Embedded team was located in hall 9 along with partners Beckhoff, Elbacom, Iconics, Light Blue Optics, RWE AG and Siemens.
Some of these partners, including Siemens, are using our latest software platform for embedded devices, Windows Embedded Standard 7. Windows Embedded Standard 7 was announced on April 27, 2010, at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon Valley, and the platform delivers the power, familiarity and reliability of the Windows 7 operating system in a highly customizable and componentized form. With Siemens, we demonstrated the Innovative Production Line proof of concept (POC), which leverages the latest embedded technologies from Microsoft and hardware from Siemens to connect the factory floor with the backend systems to deliver the real-time business insights that modern manufacturing plants require. We will be taking this POC on an international tour following Hannover Messe, so watch for us in a country near you soon!
The response we received concerning Windows Embedded Standard 7, the Siemens POC and our other partner activities has been tremendous.
What really made the show worthwhile for me was the opportunity to talk to people about the technology on display. The first reactions from visitors to the booth during Hannover Messe were really positive and reinforced our vision to deliver high-performance and reliable platforms, such as Windows Embedded Standard 7 and Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3, to today’s manufacturers. It just goes to show that even volcanic ash can’t stop the modern supply chain in its tracks.
Manoj Rami, senior manager, Worldwide Industry Verticals, Microsoft Windows Embedded
