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Here's just the latest reported evidence that the late Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a strong relationship at the time of the Apple icon's death.

Microsoft's co-founder told The Telegraph that yes, the two had some stormy days as fierce competitors. But things changed around 2007 when Gates left Microsoft to set up his foundation and the two did an event together (presumably referring to the D Conference in 2007, pictured right). Before Jobs' death in October, Gates said he paid the Apple co-founder a long visit. "We spent literally hours reminiscing and talking about … Read more

Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates maintained a close friendship over the years, the Microsoft co-founder tells Yahoo and ABC News.

"He and I always enjoyed talking. He would throw some things out, you know, some stimulating things," Gates said in a wide-ranging interview scheduled to air tonight. "We'd talk about the other companies that have come along. We talked about our families and how lucky we'd both been in terms of the women we married. It was great relaxed conversation."

The two had a complex relationship: they sometimes partnered, always … Read more

Intel has announced a number of changes to key management, including promoting Brian Krzanich to chief operating officer.

Krzanich will now report directly to CEO Paul Otellini. Krzanich had been vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Supply Chain and responsible for all aspects of Intel's factories worldwide.

That's a nontrivial position at Intel. In fact, any manufacturing-related management position at Intel--the world's largest chip manufacturer and owner of multiple multibillion dollar chip plants--is deemed critical.

In years past, Krzanich had been responsible for the implementation of new manufacturing process technologies at the company. For instance, … Read more

Arfa Karim, the youngest girl ever to become a Microsoft Certified Professional, passed away in her native country of Pakistan on Saturday owing to complications from an epileptic seizure and cardiac arrest. She would have turned 17 next month.

Granted the MCP title in 2004, Karim was only 9 years old at the time, making her the youngest MCP in Pakistan and reportedly the second youngest in the world, just behind India's Mridul Seth, who became an MCP at the age of 8. Her excitement about technology first bubbled up after her father bought her a PC, mainly to … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft had one last shot to go out with a bang at the Consumer Electronics Show today but instead opted to take a victory lap or two.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did a lot of shouting and talking, but didn't say anything too substantive in his final keynote address at CES. Instead, the company chose to run through a number of its upcoming--but previously announced--projects, from Windows Phone to Windows 8.

The company, however, did say it would bring the Xbox 360 peripheral Kinect to Windows on February 1, and Ballmer said the motion-sensor device has sold 18 … Read more

When is a phone just a phone? A TV just a TV? A Blu-ray player just a Blu-ray player? How about last year? Because in 2012 and beyond, the next wave of consumer electronics evolution is all about the "ecosystem."

That concept, in fact, is the topic of CNET's Next Big Thing Supersession at CES 2012. We'll be talking about this idea of the ecosystem, and how it's changing the landscape of consumer electronics--and turning media and service companies into hardware partners, if not actual hardware makers.

We'll talk one on one with Google'… Read more

We all seek solutions to our financial issues.

Some turn out to be imperfect. Take this one, tried recently by a gentleman who allegedly walked into a Wal-Mart in Lexington, N.C., in order to buy a microwave, a vacuum cleaner, and other unspecified items.

You see, his inventive notion was to proffer a $1 million bill and claim that it was perfectly legal tender.

The way the Winston-Salem Journal has it, Michael Anthony Fuller, 53 was merely being asked to pay $476 for his electronic and other items.

Presumably, he imagined that he would received $999,524 in change … Read more

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has officially put all speculation to rest that he might be coming back to his company.

"Well, I made the transition to work full-time on the [Bill & Melinda Gates] Foundation, and that'll be what I do for the rest of my life," Gates told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview published today. "I'm part-time involved with Microsoft, including even being in touch this week to give some of my advice but that's not going to change--the foundation requires all of my energy and we feel we're having … Read more

To leap to the next generation of nuclear power technology, Bill Gates-backed start-up TerraPower is approaching countries rather than individual utilities or financiers.

Gates last week disclosed that he brought up TerraPower's fourth-generation nuclear power technology with government officials at the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology during a visit to China. "TerrPower is having very good discussions with [China National Nuclear Corporation] and various people in the Chinese government," Gates told the Associated Press.

Bellevue, Wash.-based TerraPower then said that the company has visited energy experts in the U.S. France, India, Japan, Korea and … Read more