Tom saves Yahoo demo

News.com reports:

Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel’s glitch-riddled keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show on Friday was saved by Tom Cruise and Ellen DeGeneres–and by making Microsoft Windows the butt of jokes.

While trying to demonstrate the new Yahoo Go TV, which allows people to access Yahoo content and services through a Windows XP-based PC connected to a TV, the Internet connection failed. Executives tried to ad lib until Semel called his surprise guest, Cruise, to the stage.

Cruise, twirling sun glasses in his hand, told the audience he was there to help his old friend Semel before showing a trailer of his new movie, “Mission Impossible III,” which is due in U.S. theaters in May.

Afterward, Cruise, Semel, Marco Boerries, Yahoo’s senior vice president of Connected Life, and Dan Rosensweig, the company’s chief operating officer, milled about the stage awkwardly, patting each other on the back.

A man in the audience yelled, “Play it again,” and Cruise said he wanted to see how fast Yahoo’s system could replay the movie. “Press the button,” he said, and Cruise could once again be seen in the action-adventure film dodging blasts and kissing women.

After Cruise left the stage, Semel said, “I guess if you’re going to have a demo glitch, (there is no) better way to follow it up than with Tom Cruise.”

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