Gates: Microsoft in quest for single remote

Microsoft Corp. is determined to help accelerate the integration of consumer electronic devices and personal computers, Bill Gates, chairman of the software giant, said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.

"The thing that's really hard to use is consumer electronics, because they each have their own buttons--they each have their own remote control. You can't go out and get shows and edit shows," he said Thursday, when the 2005 International Consumer Electronic Show opened in Las Vegas.

"What you need is one remote control that lets you do all of these things, and that hasn't come out of consumer electronics. The concept of the Media Center PC is to take what's required in the living room--that is the styling, quiet, really nice device--and have the pluses of the PC and the pluses of what kinds of devices you want in the living room, and then make that work together with all the other devices," Gates said.

"We announced here how Media Center now works with TiVo. We announced here we have over 50 devices that let you take music and video with you by synchronizing with that Media Center PC," he said.

"So obviously, in terms of ease-of-use and size and setup, there's lots of work to be done. But with the Windows PC, because of that richness, there is nothing that comes close in terms of software for creativity and the power and the visual interface and the connections to the Internet," Gates added.

Since the latest Media Center operating system was introduced in autumn, more than 1.4 million copies have been sold. "We doubled our sales this holiday season, and we have a target of doubling next season," Gates said.

Gates emphasized: "Media Center is just like what we've done with the PC itself--it's open. Anybody can make the peripherals, the content people are coming in, and we're really the only one pioneering this idea of a single remote control that has all those capabilities--music, photos, games--fully integrated together. Unless you have the openness of the PC, you'll never get that power."

Asked about partnerships with Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers, Gates said, "We've probably had more partnerships with Japanese companies than companies in any country, and their work is overwhelmingly complementary to our work."

He noted that there is "a little bit of competition" with some Japanese companies. "Of course, Sony is a strong competitor in the video game market with the PlayStation 2, but 90 percent of what goes on is our advances and their advances are coupled," he said.

Gates said Microsoft had regular meetings with Japanese companies "to make sure we know exactly what they're doing, and that we can help them sell it in high volume."


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