Microsoft Corp’s next version of the Windows operating system is almost ready for prime time.
That’s one message chief executive officer Steve Ballmer delivered on the eve of the official opening of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The world’s largest software maker also announced deals to make its Live Search program the default search engine on more personal computers and mobile phones.
It also showed off a new version of its Ford Sync in-car technology that folds in the voice-operated directory service TellMe, which Microsoft bought in 2007.
For years, the opening keynote at CES belonged to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, whose status as an industry pioneer justified the sweeping visions of the future he would build into his speech.
Gates passed the mantle on when he stepped down from day-to-day operations at Microsoft last summer, and Wednesday marked Ballmer’s first time making the high-profile address.
“It feels like we’ve entered a period of reduced expectations, a time when we may be tempted to temper our optimism and scale back our ambitions,” Ballmer said, in a nod to the recession.
“But no matter what happens with the economy or how long this recession lasts, I believe our digital lives will only continue to get richer,” he said.
Ballmer said Microsoft would continue to invest more in research and development than its technology peers.
The CEO announced that a nearly final “beta” test version of Windows 7 would be available today for regular PC users to download and tinker with.
The new operating system — which could be available for purchase on PCs within a year — uses much of the same underlying technology as its predecessor, the much-maligned Vista. But Windows 7 aims to resolve many problems PC users had with Vista.
For instance, Microsoft pledges to make it easier to install peripheral devices and to have the software pump out fewer annoying warnings and notifications.
Ballmer also pledged that Windows 7 would boot faster and drain laptop batteries more slowly.
“I believe Windows will remain at the center of people’s technological solar system,” Ballmer said. “We’re putting in all the right ingredients — simplicity, reliability and speed — and we’re working hard to get it right and to get it ready.”
Ballmer is hoping to boost the number of people using Microsoft’s Live Search engine, which ranks well behind Google Inc and Yahoo Inc in popularity, through a deal with PC maker Dell Inc.
Dell will put a special Live Search browser toolbar and Windows Live programs, including Microsoft’s e-mail and instant-messaging applications, on most of the consumer and small-business PCs that it sells worldwide.
With this year’s Semicon Taiwan trade show set to kick off on Wednesday, market attention has turned to the mass production of advanced packaging technologies and capacity expansion in Taiwan and the US. With traditional scaling reaching physical limits, heterogeneous integration and packaging technologies have emerged as key solutions. Surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips has put technologies such as chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS), integrated fan-out (InFO), system on integrated chips (SoIC), 3D IC and fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP) at the center of semiconductor innovation, making them a major focus at this year’s trade show, according
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Germany is to establish its first-ever national pavilion at Semicon Taiwan, which starts tomorrow in Taipei, as the country looks to raise its profile and deepen semiconductor ties with Taiwan as global chip demand accelerates. Martin Mayer, a semiconductor investment expert at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), Germany’s international economic promotion agency, said before leaving for Taiwan that the nation is a crucial partner in developing Germany’s semiconductor ecosystem. Germany’s debut at the international semiconductor exhibition in Taipei aims to “show presence” and signal its commitment to semiconductors, while building trust with Taiwanese companies, government and industry associations, he said. “The best outcome
Semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan are expected to double this year, as manufacturers in the industry are keen to expand production to meet strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, according to SEMI, which represents companies in the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain. Speaking at a news conference before the opening of Semicon Taiwan trade show tomorrow, SEMI director of industry research and statistics Clark Tseng (曾瑞榆) said semiconductor equipment billings in Taiwan are expected to grow by an annual 100 percent this year, beating an earlier estimate of 70 percent growth. He said that Taiwan received a boost from a
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