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NEWS ABOUT: Bill Gates

Microsoft Takes Windows to the Walls

Microsoft's TouchWall technology aims to make any surface part of your computer

(Newser) - Microsoft has already unveiled mega-expensive “Surface” computers, with which a user interacts solely through touch. Now, cNet reports, it's unveiled an impressive lower-budget version: the TouchWall. Touchwall looks like an ordinary projector, except that the image it projects on the wall is itself an interactive touch screen. More »

Ballmer's Competitive Streak Drove Yahoo Bid

Microsoft CEO once vowed to 'kill Google'

(Newser) - Microsoft's Yahoo bid put CEO Steve Ballmer to the test: How much would he pay to fulfill his promise to "(expletive) kill Google"? Forty-seven billion bucks was too high, but many say he'll try again—and may have a tough time convincing investors it's all cool calculation. Microsoft... More »

Spam, Curse of Web, Turns 30

First junk email sent three decades ago; it's as healthy as ever today

(Newser) - Spam turns 30 today, but don't break out the champagne just yet: The junk e-mail is as healthy as ever, frustrating tech experts desperate to blow out its candles. It all started on May 3, 1978, with a pitch for a new computer on a government-run precursor to the Internet.... More »

Microsoft Profit Dips 11%

Revenue of $14.5 billion virtually unchanged from last year

(Newser) - Microsoft's profits fell 11% in the third quarter amid concern that corporate clients are cutting back during the economic downturn, Bloomberg reports. The software giant reported net income of $4.39 billion, or 47 cents a share, down from $4.93 billion a year ago. The company's revenue remained flat... More »

Microsoft and Yahoo: Second Date, Still No Kiss

The two sides meet again, but neither will budge

(Newser) - Microsoft and Yahoo execs met again this week, but the software maker refused to raise its takeover offer and the two sides failed to make progress toward an agreement. Yahoo won’t enter formal negotiations unless Microsoft increases its Jan. 31 cash-and-stock bid, then worth $44.6 billion and now... More »

Gates to FCC: Give Us More WiFi Spectrum

Urges regulators to approve Internet use of TV "white space"

(Newser) - A month after Microsoft failed its second opportunity to convince the FCC that companies could deliver broadband Internet via unused TV frequencies without interfering with programming, Bill Gates pushed regulators Thursday to approve the plan, Reuters reports. He said “white space” between channels could allow WiFi to “explode”... More »

US Needs More Visas, Gates Tells Congress

America's status as tech leader is in jeopardy, he says

(Newser) - Bill Gates exhorted Congress today to increase the number of available H-1B visas for highly skilled foreigners, and invest more in domestic education in science and technology, cNet reports. "It makes no sense to educate people in our universities, often subsidized by US taxpayers, and then insist they return... More »

US May Move to Restrict H-1B Visa 'Cheaters'

Demand for skilled labor will fuel another application rush

(Newser) - The US is expecting a record number of applications for H-1B visas—given to highly skilled, specialized foreign workers—and is considering rules to penalize companies that try to improve their chances, ComputerWorld reports. Desperate firms have been known to send more than one application—123, 480 were received last... More »

Buffet Unseats Gates as Richest Man on Earth

He's worth $62B; Gates is now third with $58B.

(Newser) - Bill Gates has passed the gilded torch: Warren Buffett and Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim have ended the Microsoft founder's 13-year reign as richest man on earth, Forbes reports. Buffett's fortune grew $10 billion this year to $62 billion, while Slim weighs in with an estimated $60 billion. Gates trails... More »

Microsoft Pioneer Leaves $65M to Gay Rights Groups

Gates' high school pal leaves a record gift

(Newser) - One of the first five Microsoft employees has left $65 million of his estate to gay rights groups, the Seattle Times reports. Ric Weiland, who helped high school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen launch Microsoft, committed suicide in 2006 at age 53. His donation is believed to be the... More »

Microsoft Talks Tough; Proxy Battle Likely

Gates says Yahoo should 'take a hard look' at $41.6B bid

(Newser) - Microsoft, at loggerheads with Yahoo over its $41.6-billion offer for the popular web portal, is talking tough, threatening a proxy battle to unseat Yahoo’s reticent board of directors, reports the Wall Street Journal. But even a win, which experts say would be relatively cheap to achieve, could cost... More »

Microsoft's Big Yahoo Offer May Be a Ruse

PC leader aims only to block a Yahoo-Amazon alliance, analyst says

(Newser) - One possible reason for Microsoft’s massive bid for Yahoo: It’s a ploy to block a Yahoo-Amazon team-up, one analyst says. The $44.6 billion offer will never make it past regulators, Trip Chowdhry explains to MarketWatch. But Microsoft insists otherwise: Chowdhry’s report “is completely incorrect,”... More »

Gates Optimism Buoys Mood in Davos

After glum start, 'creative capitalism' speech rallies leaders

(Newser) - An upbeat, optimistic Bill Gates livened up the dour World Economic Forum in Davos with a speech on "creative capitalism" and a pledge of $306 million to support African agriculture. After two days of muttering about the subprime fallout and an American recession, Gates told delegates yesterday to cast... More »

Departing Gates Plays Tired Tune at Vegas Show

Critic sees lame-duck Microsoft boss coming up short on new ideas

(Newser) - Bill Gates' last speech to the Consumer Electronics Show as Microsoft chairman left the audience underwhelmed, New York Times blogger Saul Hansell reports. Gates had few exciting new developments to report and instead chose to speak of the "digital decade"—hardly breaking news for the audience at a... More »

Gates: Vista Is ‘Very Successful’

Outgoing head defends Microsoft's new OS

(Newser) - On his way out the door, Bill Gates is defending Windows Vista, the OS that has failed to woo consumers away from Microsoft's older Windows XP. "I think a lot of people would say it was the best new product of the year,” Gates said in an interview... More »

Gates Rocks (on His Way) Out

Gives his last CES keynote as CEO, unveils deals, plays swan song

(Newser) - Bill Gates kicked off a Consumer Electronics Show for the last time as Microsoft CEO last night, announcing a major deal with ABC/Disney and MGM to distribute content via Xbox sets. He also unveiled an exclusive internet deal with NBC to broadcast video from the 2008 Olympics that he said... More »

Gates Sees Stars, Donates $10M to 'Scope

Joins 2nd Microsoft mogul in backing plan to photograph heavens

(Newser) - Bill Gates and Bill Simonyi—space geeks and Microsoft billionaires both—are donating $30 million to the Chilean-based Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Guardian reports. The $400 million endeavor, scheduled to be working in 2015, will snap pics of the sky with a 3,200 megapixel digital camera every 15... More »

Stop Picking on Nerds!

US needs more brainiacs, even if they are unsexy, new book argues

(Newser) - Americans mock nerds ad nauseum, and psych prof David Anderegg says it's time to lay off. In his new book, Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them, Andregg breezily but thoroughly critiques a cultural prejudice that he claims dates back to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Washington ... More »

Best, Worst Celeb Do-Gooders

Jolie tops list of high-profile humanitarians

(Newser) - From Angelina Jolie (nominated as a UN Goodwill Ambassador) to Madonna (the Malawian adoption controversy), these stars topped a Reuters poll that asked: Who gave the best—and worst—name to “celebrity humanitarianism” in 2007? The best:
  1. Angelina Jolie
  2. Bono
  3. Desmond Tutu
  4. Bill Gates
  5. Bill Clinton
More »

Gates Charity Creates New African Woes

AIDS dollars distort fragile health systems, undermining basic care

(Newser) - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given $8.5 billion to global health causes and is slowly defeating AIDS in Africa, but it’s creating unexpected new problems for the continent, the LA Times reports. By pouring money into the treatment of AIDS, TB and malaria, it has lured... More »

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