Microsoft's star turn on 'CSI: NY' worth more than $1 million

The business of branded entertainment and product integration is big and getting bigger. An analysis of the role Microsoft's technology played in Wednesday's episode of "CSI: NY" emphasizes just how sophisticated this form of advertising has become.

For those who didn't see the show or read about it, here's a reminder of what happened:

The CSI detectives investigate a murder during a high-school prom.

They use Photosynth, software that stitches together images and creates a three-dimensional map, to re-create the scene of a murder. In this case, the raw material is cellphone photos taken by students at the dance, which the software uses to build a "synth" of the high-school gym at the time of the crime.

The photographic reconstruction, which receives major airtime in the episode, leads the investigators to a suspect.

Detective Don Flack, played by Eddie Cahill, confronts the suspect with the evidence from Photosynth and then says, "It's Microsoft's world, kid. I'm just living in it."

Solved: How tech guest-stars on TV

The Seattle Times

Mon May 5

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