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It’s not often that you see two moguls of this magnitude sharing the stage with eachother.  Tonight however, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates will sit across from one another at the D: All things Digital conference.  They will take the stage in 15 minutes or so, and we’ll keep up the updates as more develops, so keep an eye on Gadgetell for anything of substance.

Update: Nothing too exciting happened at the event other than seeing old buddies reminiscing.  It was interesting how well Mac and PC got along on stage and how good it made each of them look.  My favorite thing that Steve Jobs said when talking about Bill Gates’ charity work, is that Bill is not trying to be the richest guy in the cemetary.  And no, unfortunately, they didn’t reinact the Mac vs. PC ads.  Maybe next time.

Update 2: We added the highlight video and remove the picture.

Photo Credit: Engadget

Microsoft’s Bill Gates is still on his media tour following the launch of Vista.  Next up is his interview with CNN where he *claims* that Windows Vista is innovative, and that nothing was taken from Apple’s OS X.

Video [YouTube] Via [Cult of Mac]

As a part of his Windows Vista launch tour, Bill Gates was on the Today show on NBC, as well as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  The interview was filled with Stewart cracking jokes and lite on the content, so don’t expect anything on that front.  Hit the play button above to watch.

Video [YouTube]

Ladies and Gents, welcome to Gadgetell’s live coverage of the Bill Gates keynote address.  The man himself is expected to take stage here in Vegas at 6:30 PM to kick-off the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show.  Are you ready for a good ole’ Bill Gates keynote?  Yeah, us too!  Remember last year when he talked about integrating the phone with y?  This year, not a whole lot has changed.  Expect to hear a lot about Windows Vista, Office, and of course, the Zune.  We’re banking on Bill to have some A list celebrity with him like last year when he brought out Justin Timberlake.  Maybe he’ll bring out Britney this year… you never know!  I’ll stop blabbing on, but stick around and we’ll begin shortly.

NOTE: You know the drill, punch the F5 key for frequent updates - and by frequent, I mean every couple of minutes.

6:19 PM PST - We just got the announcement “Ladies and Gentlemen… please take your seats, the program will begin shortly.” We’re in our seats now and excited to see what Bill has to say.  Stick around.

6:27 PM PST - Well, the colors on stage are changing, so you know what that means…

6:35 PM PST - We’re now getting a CES introduction… great stuff.  Disclaimer: The connection here sucks so if we lose you, don’t worry, we’re still typing and will post it shortly.

6:40 PM PST - Gary Schapiro, President of the Consumer Electronics Association is now on stage giving his introduction.  The man is on his way…

6:43 PM PST - They’re now playing a montage video of Bill Gate’s past keynotes.  To be honest, it makes him look stupid… but it’s enough to be ironic since we know the man is a visionary.

6:46 PM PST - They’re playing a Windows Vista promo video building up the hype for Bill. 

6:48 PM PST - Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the Chairman of the Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates!!!

6:49 PM PST - Bill’s cracking jokes about if they’re going to want him back after he’s been running his foundation… because he’ll be more likely to talk about infectious diseases than technology…

Here’s a good shot…

6:50 PM PST - He’s now talking about the “Digital Divide” and how youngin’s now use their computers more than they watch TV.  I know that’s correct for me, but what about you?

6:54 PM PST - There are some key things missing.  People want “Connected Exeriences"… people want to do things across multiple devices.  This sounds similiar to last year’s keynote.

6:55 PM PST - “This is not only the best version of Windows ever, but it’s also the highest quality version ever as well”

6:59 PM PST - He’s still talking about Windows and all of the things that people enjoy doing on their computers these days.

Justin Hutchinsom, the Group Product Manager of Microsoft, is coming on stage to demo Vista… and “we’re going to show you some features we haven’t shown publically yet.

The demo is live on the big-screen, and he says, “Windows Vista is not about searching, it’s about finding.” But I’d say, to me, it’s about searching.

7:02 PM PST - Shaddow Copy is a new feature from Vista… which he says is “better than going back in time"… Good to hear Microsoft has the balls to go after Steve Jobs.

7:03 PM PST - We just took a look at Office 2007, and now we’re looking at Windows Live Search.

He’s now using an Xbox 360 controller to fly around on their Windows Live Local.  http://local.live.com

7:07 PM PST - We’re now looking at a new feature in Vista Media Center called Sports Lounge which is a “sports fan’s dream”

Sports Lounge, Media Center - Windows Vista will take entertainment on the PC to the next level.

7:08 PM PST - Now we’re looking at Photo Gallery on Vista.  DVD Maker in Vista “makes it easy” to burn DVDs.

7:10 PM PST - Groupshot, a new application, will let you merge photos together. The example he used was one girl’s eyes were closed in a picture - and the boy’s eyes were closed in another version of the same picture.  He used Groupshot to merge the two photos into one so it’s “the picture you wish you had taken.” Very impressive.

7:12 PM PST - You can now set full-motion video as your background on your Vista computer.  They showed a waterfall and an animation of people moving around - it looks great.

7:15 PM PST - They’re now showing new innovative laptops, tablet portables, and UMPCs from HP, Toshiba, Sony, and Medion.

The models that he showed are timed to launch with Vista in 22 days.

7:17 PM PST - “Now let’s take a look at some of these Windows Vista PCs” - Video comes on showing the sleek new units from the manufacturers mentioned above.  They’ve got the Ferari laptop (of course - since they sent those out to a bunch of bloggers).  Now we’re looking at VooDoo (which was recently acquired by HP).  Do I sense a hardcore HP/Microsoft partnership?

7:22 PM PST - They just played a promo video announcing HP’s new Windows Home Server (which HP will brand as the HP Smart Server). Automatic backup, connectivity (first mention of Zune).  If you want to grow capacity, you just “plunk the storage in.” I personally like the word “plunk"… very classy!

7:25 PM PST - “A big part of connected experiences is connected entertainment.” Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft Corp just took the stage to talk about connected entertainment.  Integrated concept of hardware, software, and service that bring it all together is ideal.

Lets talk about music - Bill Gates introduced MTV Urge at last year’s CES.

7:26 PM PST - In our segment, we are the #2 player.  “Zune is off to a great start” - hmm I sort of disagree, Robbie.

He’s now talking about the mobility - Cingular’s BlackJack, Verizon’s Q, Cingular’s Treo and T-Mobile’s Dash are now on the screen - he just said “and that’s why we outsell Blackberry in the market.” Very bold statement sir.

7:29 PM PST - There are over 200 million gamers that use Windows machines. 

7:31 PM PST - “Games for Windows” demo is now playing, which pretty much means you can play games on Vista.  Woo hoo!

Xbox 360 - In the first 8 weeks, we sold over 2.4 million copies of Gears of War.  They will have over 300 titles in 2007;

Halo 3 - They just played a promo video - you know, the kind you see between levels in games where it looks way better than the actual game?  That’s the kind of video they just showed.  We’ll have that for you later.

7:35 PM PST - Xbox Live - They want to bring this to Vista.  They’re demoing it with collaboration between Windows Vista and Xbox Live.  They just opened UNO on Vista and are playing between both platforms.

This will roll-out on the Live service, this Summer.

7:39 PM PST - There have been 3 billion hours of Live play on the Xbox - that number is bound to sky-rocket once it’s integrated with Vista.

4 new ways for you to get TV & Movies on Vista. 

1st way to get HD content - They’re now showing the HD DVD player for Xbox 360 - and talking about how the demand for the product is so high that they can’t keep stores stocked.

2nd way to get HD content - Regarding Media Center, they have now shipped 30 million copies worldwide.

3rd way - Video Marketplace on Xbox Live - They’re going over their partners for Movies (HD movies that is).

4th way - IPTV - 2 years ago, they demoed it.  Today, they’re in market with 5 providers (AT&T, etc).  Over the next 3 or 4 years, this will take over.  What about HD DVD guys?

7:44 PM PST - We’re looking at IPTV broadcasting on the Xbox 360.  This is obviously a BIG announcement.  You will be able to talk to your friends while watching TV.  Very impressive.  This will be available holiday season, 2007.  “That brings us full-circle on Connected Entertainment.”

7:46 PM PST - “Connected Entertainment gives you the ability to take content with you wherever you want it and whenever you want it.”

Bill is now back on stage.

7:48 PM PST - “Now we’re going to talk about the car.” He’s talking about their new partnership with Ford.

Mark Fields, Executive VP of Ford, has now taken the stage with Bill.  They’re talking about Sync which integrates all of your devices with your car using “Micrsoft Auto.” He says you can bring devices like “Zunes, iPods, and any others” in the vehicle for connectivity.  Pardon me?  Did he just say iPod?  I guess they’re facing the facts.

7:51 PM PST - Because it’s fully updatable, owners will never have to worry about their devices not being compatible.

Sync will be available on 12 new Ford automobiles in 2007.

“Thanks Mark, it’s great to have you here!” I think that’s Bill-speak for get off of my stage. Just kidding.

7:54 PM PST - In conclusion - They going to demo the “Connected Home of the Future.” Very similar to last year.

He’s now going to take us through futuristic scenerios…

1) Bus Stop - The phone knows his location, he just sits there and it tells you the bus that’s coming, and tells you about nearby destinations that you might be interested in.  He is on his phone looking at a nearby restaurant’s menu.

2) Kitchen - “Another scenerio I have deep expertise in” - hey, at least he’s honest!  He put something on the counter-top and the counter just turned into a screen with a projected image of recipes, etc.

3) Bedroom - An image is projecting on the wall which is based on his personality.  He had a very hip look on the screen when he was in there, and when he mentioned that his grandma was coming to stay there, it turned into a very old traditional green house.

8:02 PM PST - That’s it, “Thank you” says Bill.

Thanks for tuning into Gadgetell for Live Coverage of Bill Gates’ keynote.  Stay tuned for more news throughout the night and for the rest of the show.  Have a good night.

The Consumer Electronics Show is well known for its series of executive keynote speeches.  Speakers often announce ground-breaking products, and bring celebrities on stage to help them out.  At this year’s show, we will be Live Blogging ALL of the keynotes from CES 2007.  We’ve got our EVDO cards and we’re ready to rock.  Come back during the times listed below for a constantly updating post with news and quotes straight from the keynotes.

The executives and industry experts shown below are among this year’s keynote speakers…

Bill Gates Chairman, Microsoft Corp. 6:30 p.m. PST Sunday, January 7, 2007	Gary Schapiro President and CEO, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) 8:30 a.m. PST Monday, January 8, 2007	Ed Zander Chairman of the Board and CEO, Motorola Inc. 8:30 a.m. PST Monday, January 8, 2007 with Gary Schapiro
Robert Iger President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company 4:30 p.m. PST Monday, January 8, 2007	Michael Dell Founder and Chairman, Dell Inc. 9 a.m. PST Tuesday, January 9	Leslie Moonves President and CEO, CBS Corp. 4:30 p.m. PST Tuesday, January 9, 2007

NOTE: All times are Pacific. (+2 for Central, +3 for Eastern)

I’m a Microsoft guy. Always have been and probably always will be. From the days of BASIC, MS-DOS, Windows 3.1 up until now when I’m developing web applications with .NET and SQL Server. Although I may not agree with how they do business at times, I keep defending them from all the attacks that my friends or co-workers hurl at them. I’ve seen how Microsoft has changed its attitude towards criticism within the last few years. Whereas previously they would just ignore it and act with arrogance, these days Microsoft seems more open to suggestions and are adopting a more customer centric approach to their products.

My affinity for Microsoft products cannot be separated from my respect and admiration for one of its founders and most recognizable face, Bill Gates. Call him what you may, the devil (try Googling “Bill Gates 666”), a thief (people claim he just steals ideas and builds on them, case in point – Mac OS & Windows), arrogant, builder of a monopoly, and much more, but nobody can deny what he’s accomplished. He’s built an empire from scratch, withstood so many blows against Microsoft, provided a great working environment to thousands of loyal Microsofties, and set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he puts quite a fortune into charity work. To me, Bill Gates is a visionary; I believe that without such vision, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what he has.

And yet, when I see quotes like this from 2004:

Two years from now, spam will be solved.

I cringe and question whether his vision was distorted at the time, or has just been delayed. No disrespect to Mr. Gates at all, but he has been known to throw a vision curveball at the world (remember the now infamous 640K ought to be enough for anybody quote back from 1981?). Of course, in 2004, he was talking in the context of Microsoft’s Caller ID technology (now called the Sender ID Framework), supposed anti-spam technology that would cause a major dent in spammers’ livelihood worldwide.

It’s currently December 11th 2006, and I really doubt this particular vision of Mr. Gates will come to pass. The spam that comes through my mailboxes (Hotmail, Yahoo and GMail) still haven’t shown any signs of slowing down. It looks like this quote will go down in history alongside that 640K quote as ones that will be used against him (and Microsoft undoubtedly) over and over again.

Read [GadgetsOnTheGo]

The video is about two months old but now that we are coming up on the release of Windows Vista it is a good time to watch it. Go Billy, go!

It was a while ago when Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, announced that he was going to be leaving his post at the software monopoly company, but I just found this great clip that I had to share.

You know what, I’m going to watch it again too. Oh crap, program crashed time to reboot, scratch that idea.

Thanks for joining us as we live-blog Bill Gate’s keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show.  The show is set to start at 6:30PM PST.  To check out our updates, click the refresh button every couple of minutes and you’ll be right up to date.

Here we go…

6:36 - Cool little video intro taking us through the different categories that CES covers.

6:39 - Gary Shapiro (President of the CEA) gives us an intro.  Talks about the great keynotes that they are hosting this year.  “Our world cup of technology.”

6:41 - Shapiro introduces Bill Gates and gives a pat on the back to Gates and Microsoft for everything that they’ve introduced at CES in the past.  He then talks about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and how they are Time Magazine’s People of the Year.

6:43 - Microsoft’s “digital vision” video takes our attention as Gates prepares to come on stage.  The video highlights various Microsoft employees and how they’re living the dream.  My eyes are turning yellow from the background.

6:45 - Gates comes on stage and talks about the stiff competition he and his wife had for Time’s Persons of the Year.  He talks about 1982 when the PC was on the cover of Time.

6:47 - This is the “digital decade.” He talks about the Xbox 360 that they’ve been building up for 5 years.  Mentions Office 12 in 2006.

6:48 - Has a touch screen LCD that he’s playing with.  It has a TV, and doesn’t look anything like a Microsoft product.  You can use it to keep track of the family schedule and watch news channels.  Kind of like an enhanced Media Center PC.

6:50 - He has a tri-screen desktop setup that is about 2’ x 9’.  He also has a tablet PC that he moves things to his desktop or to the video conference that he’s in with Thomas Anderson (the creator).  This kind of looks like a Steve Jobs keynote to me…

6:52 - Traffic information comes up automatically on his desktop telling him that he might want to leave a little early for the airport.

6:53 - Moves on to the “airport” where he puts his phone down on a table and the screen pops up what’s on the cell phone’s screen.  Business card information is scanned and then automatically entered into his phone.  The system is called “BlueYonder.” “I get the benefit of the full screen when that phone normally has a smaller screen.”

6:55 - Shows image of devices that he used… PC, Smartphone, and Xbox 360.  Talks about the great sales growth we’ve seen in the “digital decade.” Broadband overtook Dialup… over 100,000,000 broadband users.

6:56 - Describing a digital home/office environment where information follows you wherever you go.  Talk about this as a “cross-device approach.”

6:59 - Personalization, empowerment, everything moving to the internet.  Mentions IPTV and security that goes along with it.

7:00 - Going to introduce Windows Vista by the end of the year.

7:01 - Aaron Woodman, Group Program Manager (in charge of Vista) shows us Vista.  You can now see all of the applications in full motion when you click Alt+Tab.

7:03 - Flip 3D gives you a visualization of the programs that you have open.  Gadgets are shown in the sidebar and can be dragged to the desktop to see a full version.

7:04 - Slideshow: can see your calendar and other information without even powering on your laptop.

7:05 - The implementation of “Tabbed browsing… but with a twist.” You get to see all of the tabs that are open in an Alt+Tab style.  Kind of like a PowerPoint slideshow.

7:07 - Parents can now block different levels of games without even having the games.  If your kid buys a game and its above the allowed level, it gets automatically blocked.

7:08 - Gaming, memories, and music:  Gaming… Microsoft Flight Simulator demo.  Uses Xbox 360 controller with the Vista PC to control the Flight Sim.  They have a little bit more than a year to finalize the product… but “Gaming is going to be awesome on Windows Vista.”

7:09 - Memories: Photos and videos… looks like iPhoto with a Vista theme.  You can crop an image in the photo viewer without opening up any type of editor.  Vista “always saves the original” so you can revert back to the original if you want the content that you cropped out.

7:11 - Motion video can be played in the Windows Slide Show.  On to Music… the next generation of Windows Media Player.  “Nice… clean user interface.” Digital Stacks… you can see exactly how many songs are in each album, genre.

7:12 - Brings Bill back out and the Van Taffler, President of MTV networks to discuss some things they’re doing with music.  Shows picture of Napoleon Dynamite and Bill Gates and says they’re “twins separated at birth.”

7:15 - Announces URGE.  “URGE will offer a customized relationship with music.” 100 radio stations with customizable soundtracks.  Subscribers will drive the service (feedback).

7:17 - “Please… take note… we are trying something new with URGE.” BTW, this is Taffler speaking.  Aaron is now giving us a sneak preview of URGE.

7:18 - The music service will have 2 million tracks… you can buy the songs or you can have “all you can eat.” Plus 100 CD quality radio stations.  Editorial blogging is integrated in the music store.  They’re also doing this for MTV, VH1 and CMT… for example TRL.

7:20 - “There’s no stale music in your experience.” They play Justin Timberlake and then Justin Timberlake comes out and cracks a few jokes.  “URGE offers artists like myself a way to connect with the listeners.” URGE and Timberlake will be doing some “new and creative things together.”

7:23 - Gates comes back and talks about Tablet PCs (which they’ve been pushing for some time now).  As you use the Vista Table version, it will learn your handwriting so it gets better… and better.

7:24 - Talks about the Palm 700w and how amazing it is with its shortcuts.  Mentions that Verizon approved the device early so it will come out sooner than they expected.

7:26 - Has an in-home cordless phone by PHILLIPS that uses the Windows Live phone service so you can use Live Messenger without being on your computer.

7:28 - “Individualized video feed to your TV.” If you’re in a hurry and you’re in the middle of a show, new software will pick the highlights of the show and condense it so you don’t feel like you missed anything.

7:30 - You’re going to want to bring your information and content onto one screen anywhere you are in the house.  “This is where Media Center comes in...” 130 manufacturers using Media Center.

7:31 - Microsoft will take full advantage of the new Intel VIIV processors.  Over 150 partners have designed different parts of the Media Center.  “Any show, any time, anywhere” Gates announces partnership with DirecTV…

7:34 - Video on demand will work with Media Center with DirecTV’s help.  Joe Belfiore now takes the stage to introduce Media Center… where we are today and where we’re going.  “Texas 16, USC 10”

7:35 - Shows Comedy Central “MotherLoad” and announces 5 partners for their online Spotlight guide.  Play clips from The Daily Show, The Chapelle Show… and old shows.  Good way for channels to have a good connection with their viewers.

7:36 - Shows a PC from Averatec that’s about the size of a Mac mini.  They will be available this spring for under $1000 with a TV tuner and $499 without a tuner.

7:39 - Show the upcoming Toshiba Gigabeat (30 GB, 4 hour battery life) and shows how it uses the “familiar media center menu.” Purchased movies from Starz!/VONGO service can be transferred onto devices like the Gigabeat.  About 1000 movie titles.

7:40 - LG Electronics portable media device is now being demo’d… and now it’s done.

7:42 - We’re now looking at Live.com and the movie and TV show content recommendations that are integrated in the site.  Allows you to set Media Center to record a show for you through the internet (similar to TiVoToGo).

7:45 - Windows Live Messenger has integrated “Activities” that will give you recommendations of shows and movies that your friends like.  The service automatically offers you promotional content such as trailers right in your Live Messenger buddy window.

7:46 - HD-DVD: Joe shows Toshiba’s new HD-DVD player… there’s a demo coming on now.  Plays the “Bourne Supremacy” in the Toshiba player.  You can now choose scenes while you’re still watching the movie.  HD-DVD has an interactivity layer that will show you the actors that are in the scene you’re watching.  It also gives you a bio on the actor.

7:49 - With the producer commentary option, you can actually see the person talking in the corner.  (Kind of looks like a floating head in the middle of the screen)

7:50 - HD-DVD players will allow you to copy high-def version of the movies over to the player.  Joe moves on to cable card device by Dell.

7:52 - Windows Vista Media Center demo… high-def content is available on any compatible device in your house (PC, Xbox 360, etc...)

7:54 - Media Center allows you to select albums by album-art instead of the song name.  You can also view by Artist or Year.  “Don’t forget… all of this is available on the Xbox 360 through it’s extender capabilities.”

7:55 - The movies that he copied before (Bourne Supremacy) is now available on your PC.  Hands it off to Peter Moore (Corporate VP of Xbox) to talk about the Xbox 360.  We’re now watching a video intro to the presentation.

7:58 - Xbox 360 had an “Unprecedented Global Launch” Forecasted to ship 4.5-5.5 million units worldwide by June 2006.  Moore announced they now have a 3rd manufacturer for the 360.

7:59 - More than 50% of Xbox 360s are connected to Xbox Live.  Since the launch, there have been more than 4 million Live Marketplace downloads.

8:03 - Later this year, “we will be launching an external HD-DVD player.”

8:04 - By June of this year, Xbox 360 will have 50 HD games.  Al Bernstein comes out to demo EA Fight Night Round 3.

8:05 - Bill Gates comes back out to take the place of Mohammad Ali, Steve Ballmer comes out to fight him… Ballmer is actually trash-talking Bill Gates.  Ballmer looks like he tweaking out as he handles the controller.

8:08 - Joe Frasier (Ballmer) goes down and gets knocked out.  Ballmer just threw his controller.  Who would’ve guessed Gates would win.  Fight Night demo will be available on Xbox Live immediately following the show.

8:10 - Gates is back going solo.  Themes of tonight’s show: High Definition, Partners that create the content, and that all of this has to work across all of the devices… “User-centric.” Biggest investments: Security, Privacy, speech recognition.

8:12 - “Microsoft… Your Potential, Our Passion”

Thanks for joining us for tonight’s live-blog of Bill Gate’s keynote speech at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show.  We’ll see you back here for some more live action as it comes in.  Have a good night.

Photo courtesy Engadget.