Gates Opens Comdex Show
The ``tablet PC'' that he demonstrated, not expected to reach the market until 2002, is a bit of a cross between a handheld computer and a laptop.
As the name might suggest, the three-pound device is the size of a legal pad. Unlike a laptop computer, it does not open and close like a clam.
``It is a PC you can take anywhere with the simplicity of a pen and paper,'' Frank Shaw, a Microsoft official, said before the presentation.
Gates also demonstrated some enhancements to the best-selling Office suite of business software, due on the market this spring. One feature called ``smart tags'' allows users to embed links in various types of documents to other sources of information, both on the Internet or locally, without having to open other programs. A law firm, for example, might use the tags in a legal document to provide an easy link to related cases.
Another new Office feature, Gates said, would finally bring speech-activated capabilities to common computer tasks. Office users will be able to dictate information or navigate through menus verbally. |
