Gates keeps an eye on the time

His software drives the majority of the world's PCs, and you will also find it on many electronic personal organisers and mobile phones. Now Bill Gates is sizing up your wristwatch.

During a keynote speech to launch the International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) in Las Vegas yesterday, Microsoft's chairman explained how the recently-unveiled Smart Personal Object Technology (Spot) would be integrated into watches. Not only will the watches tell the time, but they will also deliver timely information.

Owners will be able to customise timepieces so that the screen will display everything from traffic information to the latest sports news.

The Spot technology, which allows the watches to run Microsoft's .Net Compact Framework, will also enable the user to change the appearance of their timepiece to suit their mood, keep them abreast of their appointments and receive basic text messages.

Data is delivered to the Spot timepiece via an FM sub carrier and, as Gates explained, the watches will work anywhere an FM signal can be received.

The first generation of Spot watches are being tested this month, with three companies - Suunto, Citizen and Fossil, promising models for US consumers in Autumn 2003. There is no news on a UK launch.

Gates sees many potential uses for the Spot technology. When it was originally unveiled at the Comdex computer show last year, he demonstrated a prototype Spot alarm clock that not only woke the owner up but also delivered sports news and traffic information as well as reminding them of their schedule.

Microsoft, which is investing more than $5bn (£3.1bn) in research and development of the technology, also sees a role for Spot fridge magnets, perhaps displaying a series of digital images or giving details of takeaway food menus and prices.

The Spot announcement was the centrepiece of a speech that set the tone for this year ICES - the biggest event of its kind in the world with Sony, Philips, Panasonic and Intel among the key exhibitors.

Gates took the opportunity to reveal how advances in devices, connectivity and services would deliver networked products that operated together in the digital domain.

To prove that the public was ready for a connected product that moved beyond the PC, Gates pointed to the success of Smart Displays - wireless touch screen monitors that can be moved around the home, yet still allow the user to access their PC's applications.

So far, 10 companies have manufactured Smart Displays. Two of them - ViewSonic and Philips - have added extra applications enabling people to remotely control all the electronic devices in their homes.

Gates also described Windows Media Centre XP PCs (which are accompanied by a remote control to operate video and audio functions) as "selling like hot cakes" since launching in 2002. He added that the first notebook PC to feature Media Centre, a model in the Toshiba Satellite range, would go on sale very shortly.

Microsoft's chairman talked about the launch of a new platform, Media2Go, and paraded a prototype portable device that pairs a 20gigabyte hard disk with a 4" LCD screen. The model lets its owners watch videos, listen to music or look at digital images.

Earlier in the week, Microsoft strengthened its position in the mobile phone market by announcing new versions of its Pocket PC 2002 and Smartphone 2002 operating systems.

These will be debuted on a pair of phones to be launched by Hitachi and Samsung for the North American market. So far, only one UK phone - the Orange SPV - uses Microsoft's Smartphone OS.

In keeping with previous years, Gates's speech was accompanied by a video, and to illustrate how far the PC has developed, he treated attendees to a light-hearted history lesson.

Crammed with in-jokes, including a few pops at rivals Apple, the video featured a roll-call of leading industry figures and celebrities (including Bill Clinton and Sean 'Puffy' Coombs) offering their take on everything from the Dos operating system to the internet.

Gates also let conference attendees in on his New Year's resolutions. Apparently, top of his list is an Extreme Bridge game for the X Box. Given the flurry of announcements, he is far more likely to keep that resolution than his second - returning to Harvard to finish his degree.