Business / Technology

LAS VEGAS — Steve Ballmer is on stage now. For a rundown of what he’s expected to announce, see this post.

He asked the audience to join him in a round of applause for Bill Gates — Microsoft co-founder and chairman, and his predecessor on the International Consumer Electronics Show stage — for his decision to devote the majority of his time to helping people around the world, particularly children in Africa. The full house (though not overflowing) obliged.

LAS VEGAS — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is set to take the stage here now. Here’s a rundown of the news he’s planning to announce, along with some analysis, based on an advanced briefing from Microsoft and an interview earlier today with Robbie Bach, president of the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division, who is expected to join Ballmer on stage. Check back for color from the speech and any surprises.

Paul Sakuma / The Associated Press

Slash joined Gates on stage at CES in 2008.

One significant change at the International Consumer Electronics Show is who will deliver the preshow keynote. Bill Gates delivered it for more than a decade. Now, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will do the honors on Wednesday night. Check out this preview of a story on what the change could mean from Monday’s paper. I’ll be in Las Vegas covering CES beginning Tuesday. Check back here for updates throughout the week.

Not that he needed one, but Bill Gates had rock star Slash help him cap his performance at the International Consumer Electronics Show last year.

After keeping Microsoft on center stage at the annual gathering of all things silicon and circuitry for more than a decade, Gates said goodbye to CES last year, six months before he dialed-back at Microsoft to pursue philanthropy full time.

But Microsoft has managed to hold on to the coveted preshow keynote at CES.

MICROSOFT

Meet the new boss: Former Yahoo Qi Lu to lead Microsoft Online Services Group.

Just announced: “Microsoft Corp. today announced that Dr. Qi Lu will join the company as president of the Online Services Group. Dr. Lu will lead Microsoft’s efforts in search and online advertising and all the company’s online information and communications services. Dr. Lu will report to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer.”

Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Microsoft Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group, is leaving the company, Microsoft said in a statement.

Updates throughout at 1:59 p.m.

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled this afternoon that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be deposed in the ongoing Windows Vista Capable class action lawsuit. He must be deposed within 30 days and plaintiffs attorneys will have up to three hours with Microsoft’s top executive.

During Microsoft’s shareholder meeting in Bellevue on Wednesday, there was an old guy in the front row sleeping as CEO Steve Ballmer repeated the same message he’s given on Yahoo several times in the past few months: “acquisition discussions are finished.” But a search partnership remains a possibility. Maybe if his delivery, instead of…

Updated with full quote, additional information: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer restated his position on Yahoo in response to a question from a shareholder at the company’s annual meeting in Bellevue this morning.

“Can you tell us what’s happening with Yahoo, or not?” asked a woman who did not identify herself.

Ballmer replied: “Yeah, let me be as clear as I think I’ve tried to be publicly. We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo. I’ve said that a bunch of times. Somehow, some people got confused nonetheless. We did our best. We thought we had something that made sense. If it made sense to them, we’ve moved on. With that said, I’ve also been clear that if they were interested we would still be— I think an interesting possibility to look into search collaboration with Yahoo, as we had proposed last summer, but there’s no active discussion on that front, but we’d be very open to it. But acquisition discussions are finished.”

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Bellevue this morning, said the economic downturn will certainly have an impact on the company’s business. The company is looking at every aspect of its business for opportunities to reduce costs; utilize resources more efficiently, and “much, much slower growth, particular in headcount,…

Despite Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang’s assertion that buying Yahoo is “the best thing for Microsoft to do,” Microsoft doesn’t see it that way.

A company spokesman told Bloomberg News today that there are no talks between the companies and that the official statement it issued on the matter in mid-October remains the official position. To review: “Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo!; there are no discussions between the companies.”

At 7 a.m. today, Google announced on its official blog that it was scrapping its partnership with Yahoo on search advertising:

“[A]fter four months of review, including discussions of various possible changes to the agreement, it’s clear that government regulators and some advertisers continue to have concerns about the agreement. Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners. That wouldn’t have been in the long-term interests of Google or our users, so we have decided to end the agreement.”