At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced a new partnership with NBC and discussed future details on Microsoft’s direction post the digital decade.

Gates made his first speech at CES in 1994 and since then has used the event to launch technology such as the Media Centre PC, the SmartPhone and the Xbox. This year Gates announced a partnership with NBC Universal where NBC will use msn.com to host this year’s Olympics from Beijing. Microsoft’s Silverlight technology will also be used to allow viewers to watch additional footage.

Gates’ focussed his CES discussion last year on Microsoft’s new generation of connected experience. Now, Gates said, the direction will extend to providing people with tools to stay connected from wherever they are.

Gates predicted an advance in services, enabled by three key elements, which will be delivered through applications running on Microsoft delivered platforms.

The first element Gates mentioned was the growth of high definition experience, which will mean many web experiences become 3D enabled. Gates gave examples of walking through a store and meeting people in a social environment.

Also, Gates said all rich devices will be service connected. “No longer will users have to try and bridge devices and remember what’s where,” Gates said. Instead when you pick up any device, even if it is new or borrowed, as soon as you authenticate you will be instantly connected to your information, Gates said.

The final element mentioned by Gates and one that he said “people underestimate the most,” was the “power of the natural user interface”. Gates pointed to the emergence of touch on Windows and the iPhone, as well as the voice activated Ford SYNC, which is powered by Microsoft Auto software. “People are interested in a simpler way of navigation,” Gates said, adding that “this is something the software industry will work on.”

Gates believes the elements are the result of long term research and innovation that has been carried out over the previous years.

During his speech, Gates also revealed numbers on people using certain Microsoft applications: Vista has 100m users, Windows Live has 420m and Windows Mobile has 20m.

The highlight of the event was Gates’ leaving video speculating on what might become of him once he steps down from his full time position at Microsoft. The video shows Gates attempting to be a star in rock, rap, movies and politics and features numerous Hollywood stars, as well as past and present US presidential candidates.

The reality is that Gates will now concentrate his efforts on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is focussed on delivering global health and education and has an asset trust fund amount of 37.6bn dollars. Gates will also continue to advise on a number of projects at Microsoft. Causes mentioned were: fighting diseases in Africa, boosting America’s graduation rates, and helping women start businesses.