Radio Reg What better venue than Las Vegas, America's playground, for the annual multi-billion dollar gadgets and entertainment jamboree that is the Consumer Electronics Show?

Among this year's players Microsoft, entering the arena surrounded by a cloud of rumor over the potential for an iPhone-killing, Zune-based, Redmond mobile phone running Windows.

Yeah, that’s the way to fight Apple: marry Microsoft’s confused mobile Windows strategy with the embarrassment that is the Zune.

Join All about Microsoft blogger Mary-Jo Foley and The Register's software editor Gavin Clarke on MicroBite, as we find out what you can really expect from Microsoft. Hint: it won’t be small, fit in your hand, and you won’t be able to make any phone calls with it.

Also getting stripped down to its undies this episode: Microsoft’s open-source strategy. How can Microsoft reconcile its need to love open-source with its hostility to Linux?

You’ll be surprised. Microsoft’s HealthVault (http://www.healthvault.com/) online patients record store might use Windows, but it's the first business service using Azure Services Platform (http://www.microsoft.com/azure/default.mspx) and it's actually reaching out to open-source developers.

Senior director of platform strategy Robert Duffner explains how Microsoft hopes to engage with open-source developers using online services such Azure.

And with 2009 here, what can you expect from Internet Explorer 8? Finished product (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/20/internet_explorer_8_2009/) or more beta? Ordinary internet users can certainly expect more problems (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/04/interent_explorer_8_list/), as Microsoft tries to straddle IE's non-standards-compatible past with a standards-compatible future at the flip of a button.

Listen either using our player below, or download in Ogg Vorbis (http://go.theregister.com/k/microbite4_200901_ogg_dl) or MP3 (http://go.theregister.com/k/microbite4_200901_mp3_dl) format.

MicroBite 4 (http://go.theregister.com/podcast/2009/01/06/microbite4.mp3)

Questions to microbite@theregister.co.uk (mailto:microbite@theregister.co.uk) ®