
During a visit to Japan, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company <A HREF="http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/newsItem/0,289139,sid1_gci990952,00.html">will spend about $6.9 million</A> on research and development next year, an 8% increase over the current R&D budget. Ballmer said speech recognition and digital media will be key areas of focus.