(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-07 21:40

BEIJING -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, speaking at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Sunday, shed light on how his company is extending the reach of its software beyond desktops and servers, while incorporating alternative inputs such as voice and touch.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is seen in front of a Guitar Hero menu screen during his keynote address for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada Jan. 6, 2008. [Xinhua]

"The first digital decade has been a great success," Gates said. "This is just the beginning. There's nothing holding us back from going much faster and much further in the second digital decade."

Traditional PC programs got less airtime than in previous keynotes. That contrast stood out considering not only the tepid response for Microsoft's year-old Windows Vista operating system but also the way that Web-based applications are threatening Microsoft's hold on desktop computing.

Gates also explained how Mediaroom, the Internet-based television platform that Microsoft created for telecommunications companies to sell, will work with TNT and Showtime to let users select their own camera angles when viewing sports. For example, a Nascar fan could maintain a constant view from his favorite driver's car, or plug into a certain ringside shot in a boxing match. For now, though, Mediaroom is mainly used for TV services in other countries.

Microsoft will have another chance to show its video talents this summer, when it runs NBC's online Olympics portal, which is designed to let people zero in on specific events that interest them.

Surface, Microsoft's computer in a table, is debuting as a virtual concierge in hotels, but Gates hopes it will soon be used in retail stores. For example, Gates showed how an outdoors-shop customer could use a Surface table to customize a snowboard and transfer an image of his creation to a mobile device simply by putting it on the table.