VIA GAWKER:

In a recent interview with CNET, Bill Gates let spill the true scope of Microsoft’s ambitions for the technology behind the Xbox’s Project Natal. Basically, it isn’t just a gaming gimmick—they want to try it everywhere.

Here’s how everyone’s still-favorite Microsoft figurehead (sorry Ballmer!) sees camera-based motion tech playing out:

[The concept also works] for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication…I think the value is as great for if you’re in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it’s very cool there.

Combined with his statements that it’s specifically “Windows guys” who’ve latched onto the technology, this implies something like a motion-controlled Windows, core application set or, at the very least, Media Center. He doesn’t offer any specifics, but gesture-based music, video and photo manipulation aren’t too difficult to imagine. What about office uses?:

…I think there’s incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, why shouldn’t that be in most office environments.

So the coolest thing about Natal in the workplace is, based on what we know now, “cost reduction.” Guys, I want dance-actuated PowerPoint presentations at a minimum.

We’ll probably see some meatier details about Microsoft’s wider motion control ambitions soon enough, but even with this scant information, it’s fair to say that the company is serious about the technology. We’re well overdue for an overhaul to the way we interact with computers, and the fact that Microsoft is aware of this—and doing something about it—is promising. Tentatively. [CNET]

Coming off a strong Black Friday performance where Microsoft claims the Xbox 360 trounced the PlayStation 3 by a three-to-one sales margin, Microsoft’s vice president of strategy and business development, Shane Kim, has told Reuters that Microsoft is “cautiously optimistic” about holiday sales. This comes during a year where the industry is expected to grow 20% according to Kim. But next year is where the real concern lies, as it’s impossible to predict what impact the economic recession will have.

Regarding 2008′s growth, Kim said “people are not projecting that kind of growth” for 2009. “Who knows, maybe flat performance will be considered a remarkable achievement. It’s difficult to predict the future.”

As a result, Kim says that Microsoft is preparing for “tough times,” adding, “A big objective for us is to deliver most entertainment value for the dollar.”

If one thing is for sure, though, it’s that there won’t be any shortage of big games to keep an eye on in 2009.

Speaking to MCV, Chris Lewis, VP of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (EMEA), said the Xbox 360 has surpassed the 25 million unit mark of the original Xbox.

“We’ve already surpassed the installed base of the original Xbox — which is a really significant milestone. We’ve been blown away by the appetite of people to consumer digital entertainment experiences,” Lewis said. “We’re at a price point that is uniquely placed — not least of which because we’re in somewhat of a challenging economic time. Ever since we dropped the price seven weeks ago, we’ve outstripped PS3 on a weekly run rate in all the territories we care about in EMEA — specifically the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Russia.”

Of course, as many who bought an original Xbox probably knows, Microsoft essentially abandoned it immediately upon launching the Xbox 360, meaning there really haven’t been any sales of the console since the 360 hit retail. In fact, in an interview earlier this year, Peter Moore even admitted that Microsoft “prematurely left” the original Xbox due to high costs of the hard drive. Compare this with Sony, whose PlayStation 2 still nearly equals (if not surpasses) the PlayStation 3 in sales in any given month.

Then again, the Xbox 360 tends to outsell the PS3 in any given month, so you can see how you can spin yourself in circles trying to compare these sort of things.