Microsoft PC hub products to debut this year

SEATTLE: Two Microsoft Corp. initiatives to turn personal computers into hubs

for work and entertainment will be included in products by the end of this year,

the software giant's chairman Bill Gates is expected to announce on Thursday.

The initiatives are "Mira", which adds wireless abilities to

flat-panel displays so they can be toted around a home or office, and

"Freestyle", which adds remote control features to PCs so music, video

and photos can be accessed from, for example, a living room couch.

Gates, scheduled to address the yearly Windows Hardware Engineering

Conference on Thursday morning, is expected to announce that four electronics

makers, Fujitsu, NEC Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Acer Inc. unit Wistron, will add

"Mira" technology to displays that should be on sale later this year.

The four companies join others like Philips and ViewSonic in supporting Mira.

"We expect to see Mira products on the market by the fall time frame.

They might not be there in time for back-to-school, but definitely by the

holiday," Microsoft's senior director of business strategy Steve

Guggenheimer told Reuters in an interview.

Such technology, which would let users browse the Web, access documents and

photos on the detached display, might add $100 to $200 to the cost of a system,

making it likely the features will debut in high-end computers, Guggenheimer

said.

"If you are buying a flat-screen you'd want to consider a Mira version.

It's clearly the next generation of flat-screen monitors," Guggenheimer

said. "It's like going from a phone with a long cord to a cordless

phone."

At the conference, known as WinHEC, Microsoft also announced developments in

Freestyle, saying it would make Windows-branded remote controls using Philips

technology.

The remote would call up a large interface on a computer screen that could be

read from across a room, and would let users play music and video or view

pictures stored in folders in Microsoft's Windows XP operating system.

The remote technology is also expected to hit the market by the end of the

year in computers made by Hewlett Packard Co., NEC and Samsung, Guggenheimer

said.

Freestyle and Mira are among the first concrete pieces of a Microsoft plan to

turn PCs into digital hubs that could eventually record television shows, pipe

music and video to a home theater system, and even control home lighting and

heat functions. Gates' Thursday keynote is expected to focus on that strategy,

which has become one of his favorite themes lately as he hails the start of the

"digital decade".

"Just a few years ago the PC was a stand-alone device used simply for

personal productivity. Today its versatility is unmatched: It helps us learn,

communicate, be entertained, run businesses and work smarter than ever,"

Gates said in a statement before his speech.

"It's also becoming the 'command center' for an increasing and dazzling

array of smart devices. We expect that trend to accelerate through this Digital

Decade, as the stand-alone PC, TV, telephone and associated devices are replaced

by a world of interconnected user experiences," Gates said.