LAS VEGAS — The way people interact with their technology devices will rely more on touch and voice recognition in the coming years, the second “digital decade.”
That was part of the message Sunday night from Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates at the Venetian Hotel Resort Casino, as he kicked off the 41st International Consumer Electronics Show.
Being able to aggregate, manage and share content across devices is a growing part of the digital experience, and Gates said Microsoft is poised to play an essential role.
“The first digital decade was a huge success,” he said. “This is just the beginning. There’s nothing holding us back from going faster and much further.”
In his 10th CES keynote address, Gates said that high-definition displays won’t be just in homes but will show up just about everywhere, particularly to help companies market their products. In the home, digital displays will drive automation.
Despite announcing that 100 million copies of Microsoft’s Vista operating system have been sold, Gates downplayed operating systems and software. Instead, he announced a number of partnerships powered by Microsoft devices or software.
Microsoft is teaming up with NBC Universal to broadcast 3,000 hours of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Bejing on an NBC and MSN-branded site. Microsoft’s Silverlight development platform will power the free site.
The company will continue to leverage its success with the Xbox 360 gaming console by offering movies from MGM and television shows for download through the Xbox Live service.
“We passed our 10 millionth member mark on Xbox Live, six months faster than we expected,” said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment devices division.
Gates also showed off Surface, a table that lets a user touch and drag, and create content. Gates demonstrated how Surface could be used at a snowboard shop to pick and customize a snowboard. When he placed another Windows-powered device — a cellphone — on Surface, it allowed him to save an image of his snowboard.
Looking ahead, Gates showed off a device from Microsoft’s labs that used optical recognition to digitally identify people and places. Identification of a restaurant prompted the user — Gates — to confirm or change reservations, get directions and get an estimate of how long it would take to get there.
This was Gates’ 12th and possibly final CES appearance. He plans to leave his full-time Microsoft post in July.
Kimberly S. Johnson: 303-954-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com
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