(IDG) -- Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will open the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas later Wednesday with a keynote address that will include a demonstration of an updated version of the plagued Windows CE operating system, according to sources.

The refined operating system, code named "Rapier" will be launched under a new name: The Pocket PC, sources said.

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The new Pocket PC devices will include the Windows Media Player for the first time, and owners of certain existing handheld devices with color displays will be able to download the player by February, sources said.

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Reported problems with the Windows CE interface have kept the operating system from achieving the level of market acceptance Microsoft had committed to, while competitor Palm has managed to carve out nearly a 70 percent market share through vendors like Nokia, Sony, and Handspring, according to sources.

Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., is at www.microsoft.com.

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