Microsoft had revenues of $36.84 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2004, and employs more than 55,000 people in 85 countries and regions. The software firm popularized the personal computer through the development of operating system and productivity software throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Within this decade, Microsoft plans to play a leading role in bringing digital technologies and lifestyles to the home.

For consumers, the biggest impact of tomorrow's technologies will be on entertainment. New graphics hardware, networks that can deliver high-definition video to any screen, and advanced software will redefine TV and video games, delivering a real-time generation of incredibly realistic scenes. TV is becoming more dynamic and interactive, with new kinds of content and advertising made possible by powerful software and rich connectivity. Gaming is rapidly becoming a social activity, as software creates vivid and engaging graphics for players and spectators alike and makes it possible to compete with friends around the world.

Gates' vision is for this content to be transported by broadband to computer-based platforms. His combined address to the Connected@Home and FTTH Conference & Expo will explore this concept.

CABA's Connected@Home Conference will focus on innovative connected home technologies and applications. The event will be held between October 3-5, 2005 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Convention Center in Las Vegas, and collocated with the 2005 Fiber-to-the-Home Conference & Expo, which is produced by the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council. The FTTH Conference & Expo 2005 will be held October 1-6 at the same location.

Both events will offer industry leaders a unique opportunity to attend an end-to-end solution showcase. The FTTH Conference will focus on issues of fiber-to-the-home broadband transport while the Connected@Home Conference will focus on technologies beyond the home's demarcation point.