Microsoft will demonstrate on Monday a tablet-shaped device that will serve as a bridge between the TV, the PC and the company's .Net services, according to sources familiar with the plans. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will show off the device, known as Mira, during his eHome presentation Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The device is effectively a cross between a Pocket PC-based handheld computer and a TV remote control. Sources said Mira will depend on Microsoft's Terminal Server, software that governs the exchange of data between a computing device and a central server.

Mira will be a wireless handheld device and contain a sizeable screen. In conjunction with a TV or a PC, Mira will deliver Internet content, serve as a portable game player in conjunction with Microsoft's Xbox video game console, and allow consumers to shop online, see program listings and perform other tasks. Mira will be larger than a standard Pocket PC-based handheld and be closer in size to Microsoft's Tablet PC, the wireless, portable computer design Gates touted at this fall's Comdex trade show.