INFORMATION SOCIETY: 2006 LAS VEGAS SHOW FOCUSES ON DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND CONTENT.

Outlining his vision of a "digital lifestyle", Bill Gates, co-founder of software giant Microsoft, described the everyday possibilities that will be made available by Windows Vista, the new version of Microsoft's Windows operating system due to be launched in the autumn. "Homo numericus" can leave his home whilst transferring a picture drawn the same morning by his child on a PC onto his mobile phone via a wireless connection, store a shopping list written on a touch screen in the kitchen, and begin a video conference before arriving at the airport, continue a video conversation in a lounge fitted with a WiFi Internet connection and download an update of his business agenda. "2006 will see the continuation of the digital lifestyle revolution begun this decade. It is no longer a question of operating a number of applications but of making them operate together", Bill Gates explained.

He insisted digital technology should simplify everyday lives, highlighting a problem that is currently being resolved: the accumulation of applications, from arranging photo albums and messages, to Internet search engines, blogs, business software and video players. Microsoft believes the computer lies at the heart of this simplification, becoming a "media centre". This vision is shared by leading information technology groups, including Intel, the world's leading producer of microprocessors, which has unveiled a new generation (Viiv) processor designed to boost computer capacity.

Dell, the world's leading computer manufacturer even goes so far as to herald the...