@BillGates Joins Twitter…No, he didn't buy it, he's just on Twitter. (BTW, so is Jackie Chan @EyeOfJackieChan)

Bill Gates has launched a Twitter feed, with his early posts focused on the events in Haiti and his foundation work.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ina Fried/CNET)

Bill Gates is many things: software giant, philanthropist, and now Twitter user.

As of a few hours ago, the Microsoft chairman is one of the millions offering brief takes on their world to anyone who wants to follow them. I doubt that he'll be sharing what he had for breakfast or bemoaning the fact that his cell phone just dropped a call, but Gates is now on Twitter.

The "@BillGates" account existed before, but it wasn't actually Gates or anyone on his staff doing the posts. Now, though, the account is held by Gates and is also one of the pages that Twitter lists as a "verified account."

The first post by the real Bill Gates was a note that he plans to release the second of his annual foundation letters on Monday, charting the progress and challenges in his philanthropic efforts.

"'Hello World," Gates wrote. "Hard at work on my foundation letter--publishing on 1/25."

The first foundation letter (PDF), posted a year ago, noted that it planned to increase its spending in 2009, despite the recession.

Gates also retweeted posts from Time and Ryan Seacrest on Haiti, thanking Seacrest for his work in the quake relief effort.

As of this writing, Gates has about 8,800 followers, but I'd expect that to jump very quickly. It was 3,000 followers when I started typing this post.

Among the first people Gates started following--even before @Microsoft--was actress/singer Ashley Tisdale. Tisdale was added, I'm told, because of the work she does with Microsoft and her efforts working with developing countries.

Gates was also once on Facebook, but he said he eventually gave up on the service after being inundated with friend requests.

Update, 5 p.m. PST: Sure enough, Gates has already topped 50,000 followers within just a few hours. He's following only 40 people so far. In addition to Tisdale, Gates is following an array of folks, from early eBay executive Pierre Omidyar to ABC's George Stephanopolous (and yours truly). He's also following group accounts, including the Microsoft corporate account to the Carnegie Foundation to Malaria no More.

"2010 Will Be the Year for Microsoft!" – Steve Ballmer

I think not…Apple Tablet, New iPhone + iPhone OS 4.0, and iTunes in the Cloud, all in the first half of the year

Music exec says Apple's iTunes cloud is real, coming in 2010

Another prediction that Apple's acquisition of streaming music service Lala will result in a cloud-based iTunes service was offered Tuesday, with a digital music executive suggesting purchased content will be available from any browser or Internet-connected device.

In a guest column on TechCrunch, Michael Robertson, a 12-year veteran of the digital music business, former CEO of MP3. com and current CEO of MP3tunes, said he believes Apple will not offer a subscription music service in the future. Instead, he said, the purchase of Lala will allow Apple to create an iTunes service that will make content accessible from anywhere.

"An upcoming major revision of iTunes will copy each user's catalog to the net making it available from any browser or net connected ipod/touch/tablet," he wrote. "The Lala upload technology will be bundled into a future iTunes upgrade which will automatically be installed for the 100+ million itunes users with a simple 'An upgrade is available…' notification dialog box.

"After installation iTunes will push in the background their entire media library to their personal mobile iTunes area. Once loaded, users will be able to navigate and play their music, videos and playlists from their personal URL using a browser based iTunes experience."

Robertson's column echoes what was said over a month ago by The Wall Street Journal: Apple will change its iTunes business model to focus on Internet-based content. The $85 million purchase of Lala will allow users to access and manage their iTunes purchases directly through the Internet without downloading the content in question, or the iTunes software.

In its current form, iTunes requires users to download and manage purchased content on a per-computer basis. But with Internet-based management, users could log into their iTunes account and access and stream all of their music from any computer, or device, with an Internet connection. Apple could even sell music on other Web sites or through Web-based search results.

In addition, analyst Maynard J. Um of UBS Investment Research said in early December that he believes iTunes content will become available from a Web browser and other Apple devices. The purchase of Lala could tie in to Apple's $1 billion server farm in North Carolina.

The presence of iTunes on the Web has already grown, with the iTunes Preview Web page being introduced in early 2009, and browser-based 30-second song samples coming soon after. The iTunes Preview site allows users to view content available from the service without opening the media suite software.

Robertson wrote Tuesday that he expects a mobile iTunes to appear in 2010, allowing Apple to "protect their media franchise from encroachment." Such a move, he said, would allow the Cupertino, Calif., company to stay well ahead of the competition.

"Think Amazon/e-commerce, Microsoft/OS, Google/search, Apple/media," he wrote. "(Apple co-founder Steve) Jobs is keenly aware of the digital transition from PC to cloud centric programs and services. It’s imperative Apple lead in this transition or risk ceding leadership in media to others such as Amazon, Real, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc."

Analysts debate P.A. Semi's role in forthcoming Apple wares

It's easy to forget that Apple snapped up P.A. Semi for a song way back when, but now that we're just days, hours and seconds away from Apple's expected tablet reveal, a new wave of processor-related conjecture is hitting the fan. Richard Doherty, director of technology consulting firm Envisioneering Group, has come forward with some exceedingly detailed rumors on said tablet, a touchscreen MacBook and an OS X-based unicorn that lives in the cloud. As the story goes, Apple's pickup of P.A. Semi was primarily an effort to acquire a huge pool of engineering talent to use for its own internal designs, and now Doherty is saying that "before the year is out, Apple will have the most powerful, lowest-cost SoC in the industry." According to him, there's nothing from "ARM licensees or Intel that could challenge the power-per-watt, the power-per-buck, the power-per-cubic-millimeter of size," and he anticipates that four new products are in the pipeline from Cupertino. Need details? How's about atouchscreen iMac, an "iPod touch on steroids" with a 5-inch display, and "two different versions of media pads in the 7- to 9-inch (screen size) area." Alright Dick, you just put your reputation on the line -- here's hoping you've got your story straight.

Update: Looks like UBS Investment Research has been hearing something similar. According to it, the forthcoming tablet "will be powered by a processor designed by P.A. Semi and built by Samsung."

Core i5 and i7-equipped laptops / desktops emerge from every corner

Best Buy already stocked up on the Core i5-equipped VAIO Sand Satellite E205, and now it seems that everyone else is following suit. Just weeks after Intel announced that it would be releasing Core i5 and Core i7 chips for the mobile realm, the usual suspects have already outed a number of refreshed rigs that include said slabs of silicon. Sony's 14-inch VAIO CW is now available from $829 with a mobile Core i3, while the $1,120 version ships with a Core i5, NVIDIA's GeForce GT 330M CPU and a Blu-ray combo drive. Dell has obliged by adding a 2.53GHz Core i5 to its 15-inch Studio (available now for $999.99), and there's even a version that ships with Netgear's Push2TV adapter for taking advantage of Intel Wireless Display technology. Over on the desktop side, Acer hasn't wasted any time by updating its Aspire G Predator with a sultry black shell (as opposed to the old orange one) and a 3.06GHz Core i7-950 processor, though the $3,185 MSRP should scare away all but the hardest of hardcore. Seen any others get the Core i5 / i7 bump? Shout 'em out in comments!

Apple Tablet rumor roundup: summer 2010 edition

Before we get into the rumors, here's a fact: unless the Apple Tablet cures cancer, global warming and obesity in one fell swoop, there'll be plenty of disappointed faces leaving the Yerba Buena theater next Wednesday. The hype is that overpowering. But hey, that doesn't mean we are not curious to know what it will actually do, so let's get to the latest batch of uncorroborated scuttlebutt.

The Rumor: The Mac Observer believes these are legitimate photos of a 10-inch glass front for Apple's new machine. Coming from a "trusted source," the pictures seem to confirm a 10-inch screen size and an iPhone-inspired design (which includes an earphone hole!). In the pic to the side, you can see it resting atop a unibody MacBook Pro's keyboard for a sense of scale.
Our Take: Naturally taken in the worst possible light and suffering from a strong dose of noise and noise-reducing blur, the photos are close to impossible to verify. Their claim for legitimacy is also not helped by the blatant appearance of a scaled-up iPhone front plate -- something we could mock up ourselves if we had the patience.

The Rumor: Actual retail units of the fabled world-changing device won't be available until June.AppleInsider reports some analyst noise indicating that battery life and durability issues could delay the tablet's release until the middle of this year. Moreover, on the authority of "supply chain sources," it has been described as a "super iPod touch," with a suggestion it might have an ARM-based core inside.
Our Take: It's well known that the original iPhone followed a similar launch pattern of a January announcement and a June release, but Apple must be equally aware of how disappointing to its fans (and shareholders, more importantly) a paper launch would be. ARM internals seem logical, particularly since the iPhone already runs such hardware, and NVIDIA's Tegra 2 platform -- driven by a dual-core Cortex A9 chip -- has made some lofty promises about what can be done with the architecture.

The Rumor: The Guardian, via 9to5Mac, informs us that Apple has been in talks with UK mobile carriers about bringing its famine destroyer to the Queen's backyard in subsidized form. We're told it'll be bundled with mobile broadband contracts -- in much the same fashion as netbooks are treated currently -- but there'll be no exclusivity deals on the table so Orange, O2 and Vodafone are all in the running. There's also pretty firm word that the iWonder won't be making its UK debut until "later in the spring."
Our Take: Mobile broadband takeup is only going to grow in the UK and netbook bundles seem to have been popular so far, so it seems like a no-brainer to try and capitalize on this burgeoning market. As pointed out in The Guardian, behind the scenes talks don't always turn into real world deals, but at this point we'd be surprised if Apple wasn't talking to carriers about subsidies.

Well, we wanted photos and we got 'em -- in the signature grainy style that all pre-announcement hardware seems to appear. The latter two rumors have some intriguing synergy, though: both point toward availability coming significantly later than the announcement, and both seem to steer away from integrated 3G connectivity. We really can't wait to know -- if only to stop this speculative madness.

Sony Delays Launch Of PS3 Motion Controller

Sony has just announced that its motion control peripheral for the PlayStation 3 will not, as originally planned, be shipping in Spring 2010.

"We have decided to release the Motion Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users," says Kaz Hirai, boss of Sony Computer Entertainment.

"We will continue to work to have a comprehensive portfolio of attractive and innovative games for the Motion Controller, not only from SCE Worldwide Studios but also from the third party developers and publishers, whom we have been working closely with. We look forward to soon unveiling the exciting software line-up that further expand and define the PS3 platform as the ultimate entertainment system for the home".

Not the world's biggest shock, since Spring is right around the corner (and we'd still seen/heard so little of the device), but if the delay means more/better games for it in the Fall, then all the better.

Apple, Microsoft in Cahoots: Bing to Replace Google as Default iPhone Search Engine?

According to BusinessWeek, Apple and Microsoft may be in talks to defenestrate Google as the iPhone's default search engine, in favor of Bing. This Apple-Google battle for the mobile throne is getting heated.

This is all coming from "two people familiar with the matter," so, you know, eat a bowl of salt or whatever, but it sort of makes sense in a Machiavellian kind of way. Windows Mobile 7 notwithstanding, Apple's competition in the mobile arena isn't Microsoft, but Google, and so it's not really that outlandish, especially considering that Bing isn't necessarily a worse search engine than Google. Apple avoids throwing unnecessary support to Google (although the iPhone will still feature Google Maps, YouTube, and Gmail) while Microsoft gains a huge market for Bing. Everybody wins, except Google, who only mostly wins.

What do you guys think? If Bing was the default search engine on your phone, would you go through the necessary steps to change it to Google? I have a feeling a lot of people might just not care. [BusinessWeek]