SOYO Group Inc (SOYO)

[pnnymn]

Gates bids farewell to tech gathering

By Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
Last update: 11:46 p.m. EST Jan. 6, 2008Print E-mail RSS Disable Live Quotes
LAS VEGAS (MarketWatch) -- Bill Gates took the opportunity in his latest keynote address at the annual Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday to bid an early farewell to the industry.
The co-founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:Microsoft Corporation
(MSFT) has delivered the opening keynote for CES for the last eight consecutive years. But as he already plans to step down from day-to-day involvement at the software giant this summer, Gates indicated that this will also be his last year kicking off the annual high-tech extravaganza.
"This will be the first time since I was 17 that I haven't had my full time job at Microsoft, Gates said of his pending retirement, adding that he has mixed feelings about the move.
Gates also used the speech to outline his vision for the future of consumer technology, noting that advances in areas such as connectivity, user interface and high-definition video and audio will be the main driving forces for the sector in the next 10 years.
"The first digital decade has been a great success," he said of the past 10 years. "The second digital decade will be more focused on connecting people. It will be more user-centric."
In particular, he predicted that a key element in the next decade will be "natural-user interface," in which consumers interface with their devices in more natural ways. He even mentioned the iPhone - the iconic touch-screen wireless phone introduced last year by longtime Microsoft rival Apple Inc. as a key development in that area, and predicted that touch-screen and voice commands will play a much larger role in future electronics devices.
"This is the area that people underestimate the most," he said of natural-user interface. "But the reaction to these natural interfaces has been very strong."
The address, however, didn't feature the same level of high-profile debuts as in years past, which have showcased notable product developments such as Windows Vista and the Xbox - Microsoft's entry into the video game market.
Instead, Gates and fellow Microsoft officers announced partnerships with a wide-array of partners ranging from Ford Motor Co. to television networks such as General Electric's .
Dan Gallagher is MarketWatch's technology editor, based in San Francisco.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gates-bids-farewell-tech-gathering/story.aspx?guid=%7BF2083B3C%2D8F71%2D414B%2DB716%2D02B30BFA9BC7%7D