Microsoft outlines seamless computing plan

Bill Gates has outlined a strategy for seamless computing with the unveiling of Microsoft Speech Server 2004 and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software.

Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect said that, along with software such as MapPoint Location Server, the new tools would enable developers to create "breakthrough experiences" with smart devices and speech recognition.

"The developer community is the catalyst that takes seamless computing from vision to reality," said Gates in a statement.

"Microsoft remains committed to enabling software developers to create the applications and services that will shape the future of computing."

Speech Server 2004 is designed to reduce the complexity and cost of developing and deploying speech applications, by integrating speech development into Visual Studio .Net.

"Speech Server will fuel enterprise adoption of speech technology by empowering developers to use familiar development tools like Visual Studio and existing skills to quickly and easily build speech-enabled, web-based applications," said Eric Rudder, senior vice president of the server and tools business at Microsoft.

Gates claimed Microsoft to be the first company to offer a single product combining web technologies, speech-processing services and telephony capabilities.

He also showed off Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, the company's latest mobile OS. The product includes features such as support for square-screen resolution, dynamic screen-switching between landscape and portrait modes, and support for high-resolution displays.

Also unveiled were community technology previews for Visual Studio 2005, formerly codenamed Whidbey. The previews are to provide customer access to pre-release versions of Visual Studio that fall between major beta releases.