Gates Eyes Trend Toward New, Smarter Devices and Personal Networks For
Unprecedented Convenience and Choice In Information Access, Entertainment and
Home Management
LAS VEGAS -- Jan. 5, 2000 -- In a keynote address at CES 2000
International, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and CEO Bill Gates demonstrated a new
era in consumer electronics that will give consumers personalized, convenient
access to their favorite music, news, entertainment, family photos, personal
calendars and e-mail through an array of consumer electronics including
televisions, telephones, home and car stereos, and Pocket PCs, from almost any
location.
"The year 2000 ushers in the 'consumer electronics-plus' era, a defining
moment in computing when software will enable new services and new tools for
consumers, simply and easily," Gates said.
For the first time, Gates said, people will access over the Internet their
favorite music, books, videos, and friends and family from their homes, cars,
offices, malls and even outdoors. People will be able to choose from any number
of devices for access to television shows, electronic messages and
videoconferencing, and for streamlining mundane household tasks.
Gates' keynote builds on Microsoft's vision for creating software and
services that empower people any time, anywhere and from any device - a theme
reinforced by Microsoft's booth at CES, which depicts people using technology in
their daily lives at home and on the road.
Gates also emphasized how access to core services is becoming increasingly
available from a wider range of devices and vendors based on the broad standards
efforts that Microsoft and its industry partners are supporting, including the
core Internet standards, digital television standards, and home networking
standards.
Gates grouped the areas in which people can experience clear benefits into
information and communication, entertainment and home automation and security:
- Better access to information and communication.
Continuing on themes
begun in previous CES keynotes, Gates showed how families can enjoy
personalized access to e-mail, voice mail and the Internet from an
ever-expanding range of devices, including televisions, PCs, Pocket PCs, cell
phones, in-car and Internet devices such as MSN™-based Web companions.
- Personalized entertainment on myriad devices.
Gates demonstrated how a
family with disparate tastes can download a mix of music from the Web or their
own CDs, creating separate playlists that can be played from any stereo in the
home, and on personal players, Pocket PCs, computers and car stereos. He also
showed how the family television is moving well beyond the one-way, passive
channels that are currently available toward highly personalized and
interactive television.
- Home automation and security.
Gates also showed how people could
control their home environment for comfort and security, either from home or
away from home. Working with Microsoft's Digital Diva, the company's new
consumer ambassador, at the new Microsoft® Concept Home in Redmond,
Wash., Gates showcased home security and integrated control of core functions
such as lighting, music and temperature, as well as a single interface to
manage all the home appliances and PCs.
Announcements at CES
Gates also touched on several news announcements that further support the
company's vision of computing made easier any time, anywhere and on any device.
In support of consumers, and of the technology to improve consumers' lives, the
company did the following:
- Announced additional features to the MSN-based Web Companion and previewed
MSN Mobile Service 2.0, which will make MSN services accessible from
Web-enabled cellular phones
- Introduced the naming and vision for the next-generation Windows®
CE operating system-based Palm-size PC, now called the Pocket PC, and
announced that Microsoft Reader, Microsoft's eBook technology, will be a
featured application for the Pocket PC
- Previewed announcements with barnesandnoble.com llc and Barnes & Noble
Inc. to support Microsoft Reader and to help enable broad distribution of
eBooks content
- Announced the Windows Media™ Player for Palm-size PCs and the Pocket PC,
and highlighted recent statistics showing 900 percent growth for Windows
Media in the first 10 months of 1999
- Unveiled the Microsoft Concept Home at the company's Redmond campus,
designed to showcase the company's vision of how software can improve
people's quality of life
- Announced availability of version 2.0 of the Windows CE for Automotive
solution for OEMs and manufacturers, along with a new industry partner and
new naming
- Introduced the Digital Diva, a consumer ambassador whose mission is to
help consumers understand and feel comfortable with technology as well as to
frame technology issues and trends clearly
- Unveiled Philips Consumer Electronics Co. and Thomson Multimedia SA's
plans to expand their long-standing partnerships with WebTV Networks, Inc.
and develop new Microsoft WebTV Network™ Personal TV products establishing
WebTV Networks as a leader in personal television services
- Announced the new IntelliMouse® optical ambidextrous pointing
device, which offers the benefits of Microsoft's innovative IntelliEye™
optical technology in a new shape comfortable to both left- and right-handed
individuals
Separately at MacWorld today, Microsoft unveiled the Internet Explorer 5
browser software, Macintosh Edition, and announced a time line for products
supporting Apple's next operating system, OS X, including Office, Internet
Explorer and the Outlook® Express messaging and collaboration client.