Business | Technology
Microsoft will focus on voice and touch screens
People will increasingly interact with computers using speech or touch screens rather than keyboards, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said.
- AP
- Published: 01:04 February 23, 2008
Pittsburgh: People will increasingly interact with computers using speech or touch screens rather than keyboards, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said.
"It's one of the big bets we're making," he said during the final stop of a farewell tour before he withdraws from the company's daily operations in July. In five years, Micro-soft expects more internet searches to be done through speech than through typing on a keyboard, Gates told about 1,200 students and faculty members at Carnegie Mellon University.
Gates also said the software that is proliferating in various branches of science, including biology and astronomy, must become even more advanced.
"They're dealing with so much information that... the need for machine learning to figure out what's going on with that data is absolutely essential," he said.
Microsoft is trying to establish ties not only with university computer science departments but also with researchers in other scientific areas "to help us understand where new inventions are necessary", Gates said.
Gates plans to retire as Microsoft's chief software architect in July and focus on philanthropy.
More from Technology
More from Business
Business Editor's choice
-
Saudi-Bahraini economic ties hit new high
Whilst press reports continue speculating on a possible new political structure defining ties between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, facts on the ground confirm ever- stronger economic ties between the two neighbours
-
Cupid targets the Fed with early tweets
Declarations range from pure romance to cute overtures and racier fare
-
Do unemployment figures flatter to deceive?
Jobseekers and recruiters give out mixed signals ranging from optimism to downright despair even as official data show recovery
