Last week, Mr. Gates did the keynote on the first day of MDC.  Luckily, I got a seat up front due to the MVP program.  The short of the talk is that mobility has great momentum and Microsoft is and will be a key player in this area.  A more professional explanation of the presentation can be found here.  But allow me to mention a few things that caught my attention:

Specs of Future PC
4-6 Ghz processor, 2+GB RAM, 1+TB HD, GPU w/ performance of 3x today, Network: 1Gb, 54Kb wireless

Spot Watch
10x the power of the original PC

Video on Future Innovation
This was a spoofed video where a Bill Gates look-alike is working with a team on an electronic toaster being communicated to across a bulk of wires (with the narrator bragging of our wireless advancements).  As toast pops up, the team goes crazy with Gates leading the charge.  And I didn’t know that Mr. Gates could dance like that.  The video ends with BillG running through the halls showing off the cooked piece of toast.

Jay Roxe Demo of VB.NET Whidbey
Jay is the Product Manager of VB.NET and also brave enough to demo pre-beta builds in front of large audiences.  He demonstrated the following enhancements while building a Smart Client application: the new DataSourceObject, the My object (My.Computer.Printers.DefaultPrinter), snippet manager, new tool strip, Edit-And-Continue, Exception Assistant, Click Once, and the goal of 50% less code.  Now we know why some people write his name as “Jay Rocks”.

Announcement of Community Preview

Mobility - ”one of the hottest targets today”
8% YOY growth, 2.5G and 3G phones in 2004, 100 million Smartphones by 2007, Windows Mobile penetrates broader phone market

Development statistics of Today
2.5 million developers using VS .NET
380K mobile developers in the U.S. targeting Microsoft technologies
12,000 mobile applications exist today
700+ applications deployed through Mobile2Market

Motorola MPx phone – very cool design and includes keyboard.

SmartPhone Demo by Ori Amiga
Showed VS.NET spippet manager and how it supports the camera API, sensor/report
Deployed to AT&T Mobile2Market site
Downloaded to device from AT&T site
Executed downloaded application – a blogging entry application.
Visited web site to see blog entry from device

Speech Technology
Speech will be the most important input in the near future
There will be the ability to read voice mail and listen to email (no type-o’s in that statement)
There are 2.2 billion phones in use today.
Speech Server is announced.  Standard based on SALT.
Demonstration of server – app developed in VS .NET, very powerful demo
BillG reports that Chinese super typist is out performed by PC doing speech translation

Case Study of Speech Server
New York City School System, largest in U.S. with 1.2 million kids, 1,200 schools, 80,000 teachers
Built web site for parents/kids to check on homework assignments and other school related activities, extended to speech technology using Microsoft Speech Server