The one team within Microsoft that has done this well, very well in fact, is the Xbox and Zune teams. The way Xbox Live works online, on the Xbox and even integrates into Zune is great. It could be better, but the team has really thought through the way their users will utilize their technologies.

The acquisition of Danger is an interesting one, though. Especially since Microsoft seems to work fairly well with 3rd party hardware vendors already. I’m thinking they want the brains behind the software and hardware to see if they can’t build up additional opposition to Apple. The nature of the Sidekick has always been social and, combined with the brand positioning of Zune, it’s not a far reach before you get to the Zune phone. One that doesn’t compete directly with iPhone, but it certainly brings an alternative to the market.

If anyone, it’s likely be the Xbox group that’ll continue to bring success and change to Microsoft’s “connected technologies”.

Almost every one of the bullet points is a siloed device, maybe capable of being plugged into a computer for some fairly limited and restricted (e.g. around DRM) data exchange.

A company focused on ubicomp would have everything able (and willing) to talk to everything else. And this isn’t a technology problem, just one of intent and vision. Most of these have some internet connection. So info could be transferred over the existing internet connection, and proximity, PANs and humans pushing buttons can be the handshaking.

When someone (Microsoft? Nokia? Apple?) finally gets the gist of environmental design, and my context and intentions — as well as my data — are transported seamlessly about the sea of devices that accompany me, then I will start being excited, and will buy a lot of those devices.