There has been a lot of speculation about the possible comeback of Bill Gates to Microsoft in the last couple of weeks, after Fortune hypothesized what Bill Gates’ return to Microsoft would be like.

Today, in an interview with Fairfax Media, Gates confirmed that he won’t be coming back to Microsoft. Instead, he will be focusing on his philanthropic foundation – the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for”the rest of his life.”

“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 a great impact,” said Bill Gates.

Ever since Bill Gates quit in 2000, Microsoft’s share price has dropped almost 50% and has been stagnating under $30 for many years. Apple’s stock, on the other hand, has risen exponentially in that period – Apple is now the most valuable company in the world.

Steve Ballmer has been asked to resign as Microsoft’s CEO by many prominent investors, including David Einhorn.

Steve Jobs and Larry Page are among some founders who returned to the helm to help their companies. Steve Jobs was wildly successful, while Larry Page’s return seems to be helping Google’s share price too.

A lot is being said about Steve Jobs after his death by those who liked and those who didn’t. The fact is even if Apple wasn’t the first, they did it better. Tablet  manufacturers  haven’t been able to come up with devices as feature rich as the iPad at the same price. Innovation in IT isn’t about the final product, there’s a lot more around it. Apple’s ability to leverage exclusive bulk components and create an efficient supply chain for itself is an integral part of the company’s success. Walter Isaacson who’s a big deal in the publication industry was chosen by Steve Jobs to write his official  biography. With Jobs’s untimely death, the book is being published ahead of schedule and quotes from the book have started causing ripples. The book has information about why Jobs wore his traditional polo neck tshirt for keynotes. It has to do with Sony’s uniforms at their factory and Jobs wanting something similar for Apple.  An excerpt shared by Gawker  from the biography  talks about the turtlenecks:

Sony, with its appreciation for style, had gotten the famous designer Issey Miyake to create its uniform. It was a jacket made of rip-stop nylon with sleeves that could unzip to make it a vest. So Jobs called Issey Miyake and asked him to design a vest for Apple, Jobs recalled, “I came back with some samples and told everyone it would great if we would all wear these vests. Oh man, did I get booed off the stage. Everybody hated the idea.” In the process, however, he became friends with Miyake and would visit him regularly. He also came to like the idea of having a uniform for himself, both because of its daily convenience (the rationale he claimed) and its ability to convey a signature style. “So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them.”

The more interesting details have now started to come out as the book release nears. Associated Press got a copy of the book and their technology writer  Michael Liedtke has shared some of Jobs thoughts in the book.

On Microsoft:

On Google, Android and Larry Page:

“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.” (via Associated Press)

On Obama’s presidency:

The Huffington Post quotes Steve Jobs meeting President Obama at the Westin  San  Francisco  Airport, warning the President that he is heading for a single term presidency citing regulations that restrict business. Jobs said, “You’re headed for a one-term presidency.”

Steve Jobs’s famous return to Apple and the company’s subsequent success against Microsoft is something everyone will remember. Luckily for Google, Steve’s poort health robbed the tech world of another epic battle.

Remember the Bill Gates-Seinfeld ads that were aired before the popular I’m a PC’ campaign by Microsoft? The ads, with no product mention or any geeky conversation ended with the line: The future is delicious’.

I love the line. Yes, I do. Concept cars, technology vision videos, and even the scenarios in science fiction movies have been reasons of many of orgasms I have had. Anyway, do you notice a pattern in all these desires? The keywords are: concept, vision, and fiction. Well, that hurts. However, Microsoft’s peek into the future is built around current products and technologies and looks a certain reality in few months.

In the past, the focus for living room has been entertainment and electronic appliances like home-theatre systems and entertainment/gaming consoles like Xbox. The time has now changed and along with consumer interests the industry has also seen a transformation in terms of technologies and offerings. Traditional broadcast and cable TV have made way for time-shifted and on-demand TV via DVRs and other devices. DVD rentals have been replaced by on-demand movie delivery via services such as Netflix and Hulu. Watching videos on sites like YouTube almost equals the time spent watching TV series.

Xbox presents a wide array of entertainment options games, movies, music, TV shows, sports programming, services like Netflix and Hulu, and programming and on-demand options available through cable and satellite providers. By converging the Xbox’s catalogue with Bing’s deep search expertise, Microsoft Tellme’s voice technology, and the magic of Kinect, Microsoft hopes to give the consumers the power of simplicity, discovery, and personal choice in your living rooms with the people you care about.

Watch this video by Microsoft that is inspired by their philosophy in this space: All the entertainment you want, with the people you care about, made easy. Delicious indeed!

I’ve talked to quite a Microsoft employees who’ve been a part of Windows Phone 7 and they are all genuinely excited about what they’ve come up with. Microsoft will   be handing out Windows Phone 7 devices to all its employees. Paid attendees at   Microsoft’s developer conference PDC 10 were given LG WP7 handsets. Some brilliant sleuthing by Daniel Rubino of WPCentral he found out that Bill Gates uses the Samsung Focus:

The Focus will be launching in the US on AT&T starting November 8 and is considered as one of the better WP7 device by reviewers. The AMLOED screen and light weight make it a nice phone to own and now that it has got Bill Gates’ approval, Samsung and AT&T better stock their inventory.

Ok, shouldn’t we have stopped with jokes about the iPhone 4 Antenna issues already? Yes, we should have, but I just couldn’t let this pass away as it definitely made me laugh out loud.

Here is a conversation (manufactured) between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates where Steve Jobs tells Bill Gates that he is being sued because of the iPhone 4 and the hilarious response from Bill Gates.

(Image via Wild Ammo via @J3rwin)

Forbes has released the latest list of the richest people on the planet Earth, and Bill Gates is no longer the World’s richest man, that title now sits on the head of Mexican telecom tycoon, Carlos Slim Helu.

According to the latest Forbes report, Carlos Slim is the riches man followed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Carlos Slim has a net worth of $53.5 billion, followed by Bill Gates with a net worth of $53billion and Warren Buffet at $47 billion.

Considering that Microsoft is in the process of launching new technologies later this year, including Office 2010 and Windows Phone 7, we will definitely see a role reversal in the next year’s Forbes ranking, or will we?

[via Business Insider]

Twitter has millions of users, several of them celebrities and stars on their own rights. However, this news will definitely cheer up Microsoft fans on Twitter.

According to reports from the Next Web and confirmation from a twitter employee, Bill Gates has finally joined Twitter. Yes Microsoft fans, Bill Gates can now be followed on twitter @billgates. At the time of reporting, Bill Gates has 4955 followers, is listed 196 times and is following 39 people.

Interestingly Bill Gates first tweet was:

"Hello World." Hard at work on my foundation letter – publishing on 1/25

However, it looks like Mr. Bill G has already got a hang of Twitter, as he has used the new retweet feature, and has been replying to followers :-). Twitter has also added the "Verified Account" stamp to the profile, so rest assured this is the man himself.