Well, I'm very pleased to announce that the "Windows SideShow .NET Framework Components 1.0 (Beta)" is avialable as of today (January 18, 2007).

You can download it from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=06FA2ACE-A42D-4117-821C-BCE80786F1C4&displaylang=en

This is the managed API that I personally implemented for Microsoft to make it easy for managed developers to write SideShow gadget applications for Windows Vista.

I wrote about SideShow and this API in the January 2007 issue of MSDN Magazine. The article can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/01/SideShow/default.aspx

My API is being used to help produce Media Center remote controls such as these:

http://www.cepro.com/products/press/16727.html

http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/21/ricavisions-vista-mce-sideshow-remote-does-bluetooth-at-100-met/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/hands-on-with-a-bunch-of-sideshow-remotes/