Bill Gates gave his keynote speech at CES on Wednesday night. CNN offers a summary of events of the presentation.
Microsoft unveiled a new music service called "Urge". Previous reports of Urge had revealed that Microsoft and MTV were joining forces for the new music service. The new service launches with over 2 million songs for purchase or subscription-based service. Few other details are otherwise available. The Urge.com site simply says "Coming Soon." Urge will be promoted through their Windows Media Player and appears to be Microsoft's answer to iTunes.
Gates also announced partnerships with Intel and their Viiv platform which will allow users to have more entertainment based machines -- providing DVR functionality and more. Microsoft's upcoming revision to Windows called "Vista" will be the operating system for these machines.
Also mentioned:
- DirecTV Content transferable to Portable Media Centers - Upcoming HD-DVD support for Xbox 360
Intel's keynote takes place Thursday night and will presumably reveal more information about the Yonah and the Viiv platform. Traditionally, CES has been of limited direct interest to the Macintosh platform, but with the switch to Intel processors taking place, Intel's plans become far more relevant.
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
Update: Since publication, new information has come to light suggesting the images have been AI-manipulated and are not in fact iPhone 18 Pro chassis parts. The original article follows.
The color options Apple is reportedly planning for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max have appeared online today in the form of images of chassis parts of unknown authenticity....
Siri is getting a major overhaul in iOS 27, but Apple also has some big updates planned for apps like Camera, Photos, and Wallet. There are multiple new AI features in the works, plus some non-AI upgrades.
Camera
Apple is moving Visual Intelligence from the Camera Control button to the Camera app in iOS 27, according to Bloomberg. There will be a Siri mode that will be available alongside...
