Show Us Your Software
Kid Reporter gets the latest on digital technology at Consumer Electronics Show
Guitarist Slash, left, plays next to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, right, during his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 6, 2008. (Photo: ©Paul Sakuma/AP Images)
The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the biggest annual technology convention in the world. This week, nearly 3,000 companies have booths at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, to show off their latest gadgets and software, from robots to refrigerators with built-in iPods.
More than 140,000 attendees, hailing from more than 130 countries, have gathered for the show. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’s big keynote speech has been a huge attraction at CES for many years, and on January 6, he gave his last one as a Microsoft employee. (Gates is stepping down as chairman in June to focus on his multibillion dollar charities.)
Scholastic Kid Reporter Aaron Broder is in the thick of the new tech at CES, and filed this report on Gates’s fond farewell.
From Aaron Broder
Ever since Bill Gates delivered his first keynote in 1994, it has become the most popular speech of the expo, requiring people to line up hours in advance so they can get in. Now, more than a decade later, the Gates era is drawing to a close, and for his final keynote speech, Gates said goodbye to the first digital decade, and hello to the new one.
The mainstay brand for Microsoft is, of course, Windows, be it Windows Vista, Windows Live, or Windows Mobile, and it is clear that the company is hard at work to make sure that all of the Windows products are well-integrated. A picture that you take on your phone, for example, can be easily uploaded to your personal Windows Live page. To make the process as easy as possible, there is only one login for all your devices.
Microsoft also announced a new partnership with NBC for the 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics. Using Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, NBC will put on its Web site more than 3,000 hours of live and on-demand footage.
The XBox 360, in addition to being a game console, has also turned into a movie and TV show player via Xbox Live Marketplace. The service is a virtual market that allows Xbox Live members to download movies, games, and more. Now, one can even download Disney Channel shows like Hannah Montana and the High School Musical movies.
Windows to the Future
Of course, even though virtually all of the newest technology is being displayed at the show, it is always cool to look a little further into the future. Gates envisions a special mobile phone technology that can identify a person or place on sight. If it is a place, the technology will tell you how to get to it from where you are, or, if it is a person, you will be told who they are and will be reminded of details about the person from notes about them that you have previously input.
Gates demonstrated this by pointing the future-tech device at Microsoft Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach. In addition to recognizing Gates’ co-worker, the device also reminded Gates that Bach owed him $20.
The two settled the debt on stage, and ended the speech in a spectacular grand finale—a Guitar Hero III showdown. Since Bach knew that Gates had been practicing, he brought in a special guest, Guitar Hero champion Kelly Law-Yone. She played the intro to the song Welcome to the Jungle for Bach on her guitar-shaped game controller.
Gates had his own ace up his sleeve, however. He brought out his own guitar hero, Slash, who plays for rock superband Velvet Revolver. Slash came in blasting the same song on his real-life guitar. Gates was the clear winner of the showdown.
CHECK BACK FOR MORE TECH
Aaron Broder will be filing more stories from CES soon. Get all the latest news on technology, from video games to tech innovations from Scholastic News Online Special Report "KidTech."
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Aaron Broder is a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.
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