Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Deliver Preshow Keynote Address at the 2012 International CES

Arlington, Va., July 6, 2011 – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® announced today that Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, will deliver a preshow keynote address at the 2012 International CES®. Owned and produced by CEA, the 2012 International CES, the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, is scheduled January 10-13, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"We are pleased to welcome Microsoft back to the CES keynote stage," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. "From mobile to desktop to gaming and beyond, Microsoft has a significant impact on all aspects of the consumer technology industry, and Steve Ballmer's keynote is a great way to kick off the exciting 2012 International CES. We are excited to hear Microsoft's latest initiatives and Ballmer's vision for where consumer technology is heading."

Ballmer's preshow keynote address is slated for 6:30 p.m., Monday, January 9, in The Venetian. Microsoft has used the CES keynote stage in previous years to unveil innovative new products, including the original Xbox and Avatar Kinect.

The full line-up of 2012 International CES keynote addresses will be announced in coming months.

The 2012 International CES will feature more than 2,700 global technology companies unveiling the latest consumer technology products and services across 15 major product categories including the latest in audio, automotive electronics, connected home technologies, digital imaging, electronic gaming, entertainment/content and more. For more information on the 2012 International CES, visit CESweb.org.

About CEA
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $186 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. More than 2,000 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also owns and produces the International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA's industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org and www.Innovation-Movement.com.

TAIPEI, Taiwan, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) announced today that its upcoming award-winning Snapdragonâ„¢ family of smart mobile processors, including the MSM8960â„¢ with integrated 3G/LTE modem, is designed to power devices running the next version of Windows. The companies’ collaboration continues to address the converging and fast-changing mobile computing landscape, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon family of dual-core and quad-core processors will enable optimal computing performance, extended battery life and connectivity, and top-notch graphics and multimedia in devices.

“Qualcomm and Microsoft have a long and productive history of collaboration focused on driving innovation forward, and we are pleased to be among the leaders of the next evolution of mobile computing,” said Luis Pineda, senior vice president of product management, computing and consumer products at Qualcomm. “Our upcoming family of Snapdragon processors is intelligently integrated, optimized for mobile and built smarter, making it the ideal processor to address consumers’ growing demands for new, innovative experiences and usage scenarios that we believe will be delivered by the next version of Windows.”

The first processor in the Snapdragon family to power devices using the next version of Windows will be the MSM8960, which is sampling this month, followed by the quad-core Snapdragon APQ8064â„¢, which is anticipated to sample in early 2012. Qualcomm has built its Snapdragon family of mobile processors from the ground up to deliver enhanced power efficiency for devices running the next version of Windows. The MSM8960 from the Snapdragon family of mobile processors provides the first dual-core solution with an integrated multi-mode 3G/LTE modem and is designed to meet the multi-tasking requirements of the next version of Windows. The Snapdragon family of mobile processors will include dual and quad asynchronous CPU cores that can be independently controlled to deliver maximum performance at maximum efficiency.

“Windows 8 will enable customers to have the flexibility, connectivity and power that they expect from Windows today with new, touch-only devices like tablets. This will require high-performing, low-power processors like those from Qualcomm, with features like 3G and 4G wireless wide area network (WWAN) connectivity,” said Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows planning, hardware and PC ecosystem. “We collaborate with Qualcomm because Snapdragon-powered devices will help Windows 8 consumers experience more out of their Windows device and enable hardware manufacturers to try exciting new PC designs.”
Qualcomm will be showcasing the latest Snapdragon-powered tablets and smartphones at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2011. For more information on Snapdragon processors, please visit www.qualcomm.com/snapdragon.

On tablets Windows 8 will support PlayBook like bezel gestures (the gestures actually take place on the first pixel next to the bezel, apparently not in the bezel itself). Gestures for the OS take place on the left/right edges of the screen, while app gestures happen on the top/bottom bezel.

Swipe in from the right to reveal the start button, and swipe in from the left to multitask. You just swipe between active apps like you would on a PlayBook.

The interface doesn’t require a touchscreen, Microsoft showed how you can multitask or switch between screens using a keyboard on a standard PC as well. This will be a common interface across all Windows 8 devices, tablet or standard PC.

Tapping the start button switches between the standard Windows desktop and the new tile interface. You can even display multiple applications on the screen at the same time using Windows 8′s snap feature.

With a widescreen display (apparently snap isn’t supported yet on 4:3s) you can display two apps side by side in the new tablet style UI:

You can even have a standard Windows 8 desktop on one side and a new Windows 8 app on the other. Microsoft also mentioned that Windows 8 will have the same system requirements or lower vs Windows 7.