First phones started becoming more like computers. Now computers are getting to be more like phones.
Phonelike features are prominent in several prototype computers that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is expected to unveil at a conference today where Microsoft is helping computer makers build the PCs of tomorrow.
Gates will also release the latest test version of Longhorn, the new version of Windows due late next year, to the 2,800 computer hardware developers from 500 companies and 42 countries attending the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle this week.
WinHEC is an annual event, but this year it's particularly important for Microsoft. Computer sales are slowing, competition from Linux is growing, and the company needs to get the industry fired up about Longhorn as the software enters its homestretch. Most of the show is devoted to helping companies start building products to go on sale alongside Longhorn in late 2006.
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