On-The-Go Conferencing

Good news, "information workers" and cubicle dwellers of the future: Microsoft Corp. is working on new software so you'll never have an excuse for missing a meeting.

Through wireless networking, videoconferencing improvements and software that lets multiple users collaborate on a project, Microsoft envisions a future that lets -- or makes -- you participate in meetings from your house, your car or even an airplane.

Improved conferencing software is one of the products that the Redmond software giant is showcasing in its new "Center for Information Work," a futuristic office being unveiled Thursday.

The center, a 2,400-square-foot office housed in a Microsoft building on its Redmond campus, includes such products as a security card that combines fingerprint identification with a password for access to computer networks; a program that automatically reminds the user of an upcoming birthday and makes dinner reservations at a favorite restaurant and an expanded, wraparound computer screen that allows users to display e-mail, documents and Web sites simultaneously.

It's the work version of the Microsoft Home, a prototypical home that incorporates futuristic devices to present ideas of how people may live five years down the road. Of course, since the Home was created in 1994, few of its innovations have actually made their way into the mainstream market.

The Center for Information Work, however, has a head start. One of the products included is a Tablet PC, a portable computer that can be used as a traditional laptop or as a notebook for note-taking during meetings. It includes handwriting recognition, can connect wirelessly to the Internet and is slated to go on sale in November.

But the idea behind the Center for Information Work isn't necessarily to design a specific product and move that to market, said Jeff Raikes, Microsoft's group vice president of productivity and business services. Rather, it's to spark ideas that may be used in the future, he said.

"It's a great opportunity for us to demonstrate our vision, to use it as a way to experiment and see how people react," he said.

It also shows how Microsoft is determined to court the small and medium-sized business sector, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with the independent Kirkland-based research firm Directions on Microsoft.

Although the company remains focused on its Xbox video-game initiatives and its MSN Internet service, Microsoft is counting on the small and medium-sized business sector as a major driver of sales in the next few years, he said. The center serves as a marketing tool, Rosoff said, to promote Microsoft as innovative.

"It's a marketing thing to get people to think of Microsoft and where they're heading and the fact that the PC on every desktop, while that's nice, there's a lot ahead and a lot more that can be done in the work place," he said. "This is part of a wider campaign."

Among other concepts: a circular set of video cameras, called a "RingCam" that records a 360-degree view around a conference table and will shift focus, depending on the direction of the speaker; software that allows users to combine a Web site, a word processing document and other applications as a single document; software that automates the process of creating a Web site into a click of a button; and the ubiquity of wireless connections.

The center won't be open to the public, but will be available for tours by companies who are customers of Microsoft software. The company expects about 1,000 people to tour the center each month.

By Helen Jung