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Well, a Bill Gates keynote -- at least for the crowd at the Consumer Electronics Show -- is something more than a lecture. I fought through a mob to be among the first in line at the big white doors to the Palazzo ballroom in the Venetian here in lovely Las Vegas.
When the doors opened for the press and VIPs to enter, it was a no-holds-barred sprint to the best seats.

I feel pretty lucky to have gotten to a center spot, four rows back from the stage. In front of me are three rows of photographers and then Bill. But now we wait.

The keynote isn't set to begin for another 50 minutes. People are sipping on beer and wine, watching jugglers on stilts and chatting in several languages over the non-descript rock and pop music (to my ears, anyway) thumping through the cavernous room. I can only guess at how many people will pack this place -- they're still filling in -- but I'd guess it will be several thousand at least.

The staging for this lecture is elaborate. Dozens of spotlights on gyroscopes hang over head. On stage, there are several large screens, a demo station, a futuristic living room scene complete with a huge hi-def flat-screen TV connected to an Xbox 360, another scene that could be a home office, and another one that looks like a bedroom.

It's all set in front of a blue-green background emblazoned with "Microsoft" no fewer than seven times.
So, what's he going to talk about? That's under embargo for a little while yet.

We know about the , which certainly drew some visceral responses from readers of this blog.
Check back here and on for all of our CES coverage.
Ford and Microsoft have teamed up to put software in vehicles that links a driver's cellphone and digital-music player to the car.

The hardware and software combination, called SYNC, will be available in a dozen of the automaker's 2008 vehicles. Ford aims to have it in all of its cars and trucks by the 2009 model year.
The partnership is being announced as part of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

SYNC, based on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, will automatically establish a wireless link with Bluetooth-equipped phones brought into the car. The phone's function -- making and receiving calls, selecting contacts from the address book -- will then be accessible through the car using speaker phone, a readout on the center console, voice commands and controls on the steering wheel.
Velle Kolde, product manager in Microsoft's automotive business unit, said the system's voice-command capabilities are state of the art.

It requires no training, he said, and will understand English, Spanish and French Canadian. It will read text messages -- including emoticons -- in concert with some higher-end phones.
SYNC cars will also have a USB port to connect iPods and other portable music players.

Players can be fully accessed and controlled in the same way as the phones. Kolde said the system supports virtually all players and music file formats.
This is a high-profile win for Microsoft's 10-year-old automotive business unit.

Kolde said it represents an effort by the company to put its software in more places beyond the home and office.
"There was a lot of opportunity in the car that hadn't really been addressed so we're very excited about what we're announcing with Ford," he said.
The business unit, part of the mobile and imbedded devices group, has about 120 employees and benefits from the work of several other groups that make the base operating systems that it optimizes for use in automobiles.

Ford and Microsoft did not disclose the financial terms of their agreement. Microsoft did a in July 2004. And Kolde said Microsoft is open to working with other automakers.

The company's products are already in lots of cars today, but the deals have been lower profile for Microsoft.
"We power a lot of the screen-based navigation systems that are available in many of the vehicles today, although you wouldn't know it because there's no branding on it," Kolde said.
Not so with SYNC.

Gary Jablonski, manager of Ford's "infotainment" systems product development, said consumers would be very aware that there's Microsoft software under the hood.
"Vehicles equipped with the system include promotional badges with the brand name SYNC along with the word Microsoft," he said.
We'll start our coverage of CES -- the 40th annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas -- with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates's pre-show Sunday night.

CES is the world's biggest technology event and North America's biggest trade show of any description. You can check back here for blog posts describing my experience there. It's my first time going and everyone says to drink lots of water and wear comfortable shoes -- there are 35 football fields' worth of official exhibit space to cover.

My CES posts will be tagged with the Consumer Electronics Show category for ease of access on this blog. , our technology columnist, will also be attending and blogging from the event. He's been several times.

When I asked him what to expect, he said imagine standing in a Best Buy on the busiest day of the year with every device turned on as loud as it goes. And it's busier, louder and crazier than that.
The , which puts on the event, has some statistics to put the show in perspective, if that's even possible: More than 2,700 exhibitors are expected along with something north of 140,000 attendees.

Starbucks sold almost 100,000 cups of coffee there last year. The U.S.

consumer electronics industry sales probably surpassed $135 billion in 2006.
Much of my focus at the show will be on Microsoft, which is launching Windows Vista and Office 2007 at the end of January. But the company will be talking about more than just its operating system and productivity suite.

Product groups from across the company will be represented.
Of course, we'll also be reporting on other big news from the show, as well as trends in digital entertainment, Internet television, high-definition video, gaming and gadgets that might actually be useful -- like maybe a digital foot massager.