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Throughout the keynote he made many references to what he will do withhis free time once he retires from day to day operations at Microsoft.It turns out Bill has big plans in addition to his foundation after all.
Microsoft reveals little new info; new Xbox 360 rumour is wide of the mark
Despite weeks of speculation about the possibility of major gamingannouncements from Microsoft at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show(CES) this year, company head Bill Gates and other senior executivesdelivered a low-key performance that included little related to gaming.
Rumours of a new Xbox 360 SKU to potentially contain HD-DVDplayback, a 320GB hard drive and other wish-list features were laid torest by Gates and the president of Microsoft's entertainment anddevices division, Robbie Bach, as sentimentality of Gates' closingtenure as corporation boss, a slew of social networking products forWindows, Zune updates and Windows Mobile took precedent over gaming ina presentation that contained little solid detail about existing rangesand few announcements about new ones.
After a video showing how Gates' last day at the office may lookbefore he retires as Microsoft's front man this year and focuses solelyon his charity concerns – a piece of film including the likes ofHillary Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Steven Spielberg and Bono –Gates told a packed auditorium that Windows Live now has 420 millionusers and that Windows Mobile is currently the handheld platform ofchoice for 20 million people.
A demonstration of 'new' Windows features such as a calendar(reminiscent of Google's web calendar), an event and social networktool (that seemed similar to Facebook) and an online video searchsystem were followed by an announcement that Microsoft will be handlingall the internet video coverage of this year's Beijing Olympics.
It wasn't until about 40 minutes into the presentation that RobbieBach appeared on stage, although he didn't have much to say that wasn'talready public news. He revealed that Xbox Live has now passed 10million users, and reiterated the recent announcement that Xbox 360 hassold more than 17 million consoles worldwide.
With 2007's launch of Vista, he said, Windows gaming has continuedto "grow and be strong". Non-gaming entertainment – video, specifically– formed the bulk of the conference's new 360 content, with announcements that Disney and ABC are to add TV programmes for download on Live Marketplace, and that MGM is to include movies.
The other major announcements for Xbox 360 concerned "Extenderdevices" from Samsung and HP, allowing Windows Media Centerfunctionality without an Xbox 360, while HP is going to build Extenderfunctionality into one of its new TVs.
On the media-convergence tip, Bach also confirmed that BT will bethe first global telecom provider to allow subscribers to use Xbox 360as a set-top box. No other details were offered.
Quote:
"When you look at all this together, what we've done with Xbox andXbox Live and what we're doing with Media Center and Mediaroom [thecompany's IPTV and multimedia platform] it's abundantly clear thatbuilding great connected TV experiences is not a hobby for Microsoft.This is something that we take quite seriously and we think we canbuild a great business with great products for ourselves."
Bach went on to laud Microsoft's gaming performance in the US withthe claim that up to November 2007 Xbox 360 products had accounted forUSD 3.5 billion of business.
Quote:
"That's a billion dollars more than Nintendo did on the Wii and 2billion dollars more than Sony did on the PS3," said Bach. "And if youlook at the spend on Xbox 360 games, it's more than the spend on Wiiand PS3 games combined. So our Xbox business is in a very, very goodplace."
There was no comparison given of sales in Europe and Japan, however.
The Consumer Electronics Show is taking place in Las Vegas and will continue until January 10.
Reuters wrote:
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research)Chairman Bill Gates took center stage at the world's largest technologyshow for the last time on Sunday and predicted that his industry was onthe cusp of the next "digital decade."
Gates, who plans to switch in July to a more limited role at thecompany he co-founded in 1975 with childhood friend Paul Allen, saidcomputing will become a pervasive part of everyday life through deviceslike televisions, mobile telephones.
"Everything will connect up. You'll just take it for granted. Nolonger will users have to bridge between devices and remember what'swhere," Gates told the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"The trend here is clear, all media and entertainment will bedigital driven. The first digital decade has been tremendouslysuccessful."
Gates had little to show off in the way of new gadgets.
"Part of this has to do with Microsoft being tired of announcing newstuff that doesn't ever materialize or shows up in a form verydifferent than what was shown," Jupiter Research analyst MichaelGartenberg wrote in a Web posting.
"I still think that's a good approach but a little more zing would not have hurt," Gartenberg said.
Gates said this will be his last keynote address to CES -- at leastin his current role -- and he showed a spoof video in which famouspeople like director Steven Spielberg and U.S. Senator Hillary Clintonrebuffed his pleas for new work.
In the future, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainmentand Devices division that makes products like the Xbox 360 gamingconsole and Zune portable media player, will take a central role indelivering the address.
SPEECH AND TOUCH
In a presentation sprinkled with self-deprecating jokes and a finalefeaturing rock guitarist Slash, Gates predicted that people wouldinteract more naturally with technology through methods like speech andtouch over the next decade. It is a prediction Gates has made foryears, touting devices like the tablet computer, which have had slowadoption.
However, devices like Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iPhone and Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) Wii motion-sensing video game machine are proving that more "natural" user interfaces have a broad appeal with consumers.
"All of those are just starting to show you that natural interactionpattern really breaks you out of the keyboard and mouse," Gates said inan interview with Reuters. "The next big surprise for people will behow this natural interface becomes pervasive."
Last year at CES, Microsoft unveiled the Sync car audio and mobile phone system for cars offered by Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research). Sync recognizes voice commands to play music and make phone calls.
Gates also displayed the company's Surface computer, a coffee tableshaped PC that works like a large touch-screen PC and can respond toobjects placed on top of it.
The company also unveiled a set of partnerships with media companies including a deal with General Electric's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) NBC Universal to power its Web site for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Using Microsoft's Silverlight Web video technology, a rival to Adobe System Inc's (ADBE.O: Quote, Profile, Research)Flash video technology, the Web site "NBCOlympics.com on MSN" willoffer more than 3,000 hours of live and on-demand sports coverage.
Microsoft also said it struck a deal with Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research)to bring ABC and Disney Channel shows to Xbox Live Marketplace, theonline video game and entertainment store tethered to its Xbox 360.
It also said MGM Studios will be bringing its library of moviesincluding titles like "Rocky," "Terminator" and "Legally Blonde" toXbox Live, a service that now had more than 10 million users, amilestone reached six months ahead of plan.
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