Key points by Bill Gates’ on the second digital decade (i.e. the future)
- No more keyboard and mouse, hand gestures instead (Microsoft Surface – see video below)
- Seemless connectivity between various handheld devices and computers. Access to files and applications by each device.
- 3D environments would be used for online shopping, virtual interaction and other such activities
- Visual recognition of objects by mobile phones. This will allow people to take a picture of an object, allowing the phone to detect what it is and bring up relevant information about it.
At the show, Bill Gates ended off on stage with Gun ‘n’ Roses’ guitarist Slash in a Guitar Hero game battle alongside game champion Kelly Law-Yone.
The world’s first commercial web browser and being one of the first at the internet boom will no longer be available from Feb 1 2008. The browser has had 13 years of existence spending many of those at the knees of Microsoft’s introduction to Internet Explorer. Today its open-source cousin, Firefox has taken over the battle.
Time Warner’s AOL, who is to be the last owner of Netscape, has decided to pull the plug on development and technical support and focus its growth as an advertising business.
The browser can still be downloaded indefinitely, however no support or patches will be released. Director of Netscape, Tom Drapeau, recommends people using Netscape Navigator now move over to Firefox.