MICROSOFT

Bill Gates, the man responsible for bringing software to the masses with Microsoft and Windows, has plans to reinvent another industry: Sanitation. Gates, whose philanthropic efforts have helped bring clean water and resources to developing countries via the foundation founded by he and his wife Melinda, said on Wednesday that he plans to build a toilet that's better suited to developing countries in an effort to cut down on disease and death in those regions.

Wall Street powerhouse Standard & Poor’s lowered its opinion of Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), the No. 3 PC maker, because it’s becoming “more bearish of the PC industry in general,” the ratings agency said Wednesday. It trimmed its 12-month target price for Dell shares to $14 from $15.

Software giant Microsoft announced the hardware partners for Windows RT edition. The Windows RT tablets will be accompanied by ARM processor.

Microsoft announced its first self-branded tablet, the Surface, earlier this year, but has not officially revealed how much it will cost.

Shares of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine, set a record high of $672.85 on Tuesday, not quite eight years to the day of its initial public offering in which co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin pledged to “make money without doing evil.”

Market researcher Gartner Group (NYSE: IT) said global smartphone sales eased 2.3 percent in the second quarter to 419 million units, accounting for a record 36.7 percent of all mobile phone sales.

As Microsoft takes on the well-entrenched Apple in the tablets market with the launch of Surface, Windows 8 tablet, an inopportune knife appears directed at its long time hardware partner, Nokia as well.

We're all accustomed to the infamous "nip slip," but thanks to Katy Perry the world is getting to see a different type of wardrobe malfunction, the butt slip, after her the back of her bathing suit fell down when she was getting out of a public pool in a water park, MSN said.

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 8 is likely to see a release date this fall, as manufacturers Nokia and HTC have been ramping up production of smartphones based on this platform, DigiTimes has reported.

Following confirmed reports of an Xbox 720 development kit being used to leak prospective specs for Microsoft's upcoming next-generation console, the device popped up on eBay over the weekend, ultimately selling for $21,000.

For about a year, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble were almost completely alone in the 7-inch tablet market. It was nice while it lasted. The past few months have seen Google and Microsoft unveil their 7-inch tablet offerings, and it looks like Apple is about ready to get into the minitablet game, too.

Apple started providing its developers with the first beta build of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1 Friday. The update is available for download from the Mac Developer Center web portal and has been given a build number of 12B13.

Shares of BlackBerry developer Research in Motion (Nasdaq; RIM) jumped on speculation IBM (NYSE: IBM) might be interested in part of the company. But others like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), might also want its technology, too.

Nintendo may not be able to release its Wii U console in time for the holiday season. Sources connected to the matter have exclusively told CVG that manufacturing issues may stop the gaming company for launching its Wii successor overseas.

A report from Rene Ritchie says Apple plans to release a brand-new "mini iPad" when it launches the iPhone 5 in September. Even though most people can assume a 7-inch "mini iPad" would be able to do most -- if not all -- of the same things a typical iPad can do, there are a few nuances of the tablet's alleged features and specs that may attract -- or repel -- potential customers. Here are seven features, specs, and price rumors we've heard from the iPad Mini so far.

There have been numerous alleged leaks concerning Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox 720, but most of them have focused on the console’s hardware or its release date. However, the latest reportedly leaked bit of information revealed some details on the next iteration of the company’s motion-based gameplay device, known as the Kinect 2.

BlackBerry investor Victor Alboini said he welcomed a bid for Research in Motion's enterprise business by IBM, saying it would greatly enhance value of an undervalued asset.

BlackBerry developer Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) has been approached by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) about a possible sale of its enterprise services unit, Bloomberg News reported, citing two insiders.

Companies are using tablets more and more, and the launch of Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface tablet will build on the trend. Is everything as rosy as it seems?

It's new, it's got a scary name, it will make policing New York easier, and it's going to be marketed for profit: Meet the "Domain Awareness System"

Mac OS X Mountain Lion has been running in the wild for exactly two weeks now, and millions of downloads later, it looks like Apple is already prepping its first maintenance update for the new platform, which is good news for all those early adopters out there complaining of bugs, errors, and other assorted issues. But of all of the problems out there, what does Apple plan to fix?