Microsoft

We've been doing some more digging on the definitive moves by Microsoft to woo newspapers over to Bing and away from Google, a story we broke two weeks ago . Since then there have been some follow-up by various media outlets, notably the Financial Times this week which confirmed that Microsoft had had discussions with News Corp to ?de-index? its news websites from Google. Who approached who first? The FT said the impetus came from News Corp, although our information is that Microsoft is also talking to a range...

Microsoft has donated $1 million to help D.C. teachers redesign their classrooms using a "blended learning" approach that combines online learning with face-to-face instruction. Blended learning has drawn both excitement and skepticism as it has exploded in popularity in recent years. Boosters believe that technology could transform schools and give students a more personalized learning experience, while critics fear that when executed poorly, blended approaches reduce learning to clicks on a...

Microsoft will hand out $100 to CES 2012 attendees who are able to beat the speed of Windows Phone. Ben Rudolph, Microsoft's phone and PC guy, is running the contest from the software makers' booth at CES. The challenge is simple, beat a Windows Phone feature with a rival device. Microsoft has created a number of challenges, including taking, tagging, posting pictures to Facebook, and posting status updates to multiple social networks. To win $100 all people have to do is simply beat Windows Phone with any other cellphone.

NEW YORK — A planned Windows 8 update to address complaints and confusion with Microsoft's new operating system will be made available for free this year, the company said Tuesday. Microsoft also announced a name for the update: Windows 8.1. Not charging extra for Windows 8.1 is consistent with the company's practice of offering "decimal point" updates to operating systems for free. However, when Microsoft Corp. announced the update last week, it didn't say that it would be free.

You can thank prudent network censors that we don't hear any of George Carlin's so-called "Seven Dirty Words" on broadcast television. But live television broadcasts can sometimes foil even the best of censors. They only have a seven-second delay to bleep words. But thanks to Microsoft , censors may soon be getting a new tech tool to bleep blunders and zap foul language. A patent filed by Microsoft describes a technology that makes it possible to censor, in real-time, an audio stream.

Until today I've largely been a big supporter of Microsoft 's efforts to acquire Yahoo. A couple of days before Microsoft placed its initial $44.6 billion bid for the company, I told Fox Business Channel that a Microsoft merger had to happen to save Yahoo (and I certainly wasn't the first to say this, I just had magnificent timing). Throughout the ups and downs and stupendous drama of the negotiations, I held firm that a deal was in the best interests of both companies.

Microsoft today acknowledged a problem that is preventing Hotmail users from accessing their accounts. "The issue is purely impacting the log-in process for customers and largely does not impact customers who were already logged in," Microsoft said in a statement. "We have made significant progress in decreasing the number of customers currently affected since initial reports, but the issue has not yet been completely resolved. Microsoft is working quickly and aggressively to resolve the issue and expects to restore...

Microsoft announced that it has improved its Mediaroom IPTV service to bring more show producers and IPTV networks to its platform. According to Microsoft, its plan for increasing the value of Mediaroom IPTV contains three parts: increase advertising opportunities, make it easier for IPTV networks to port shows to the platform, and make IPTV more interactive. The improved Mediaroom platform will let service providers using the service offer targeted, interactive advertising spots and have access to better data in order to...

I guess it had to happen: Microsoft is opening retail stores with the help of some guy named Dave Porter who used to work for Wal-Mart. Super synergy. I can see it now: these stores will be the exact polar opposite of the Apple Store - brightly lit, overstocked, and oddly jarring (kind of like Windows - ZING!!!)No real information on these stores just yet, but Dave is going to start planning a slow and steady roll-out. Will they have Smartie Stations with crack technicians? Weekly training in Windows Paint?

Microsoft executive vice president and general counsel Brad Smith leads a legal department that is larger and more multinational than many corporate law firms: The software giant has a 1,100-member legal team that includes 480 lawyers in 51 countries. Smith is an advocate of using business incentives to diversify the legal profession, which lags behind industries such as medicine and business in terms of minority representation. He sat down with Capital Business to discuss the...

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft's disdain for Google doesn't extend to all of its rival's products. In a rare bit of cooperation, Microsoft's Outlook.com is giving users of its free email service the option of logging into Google Chat to exchange instant messages and engage in audio or video conversations. The tie-in announced Tuesday represents an uneasy alliance in the midst of a typically contentious relationship between Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. Microsoft is framing its...

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft says its new chief financial officer is Amy Hood, previously CFO of the Office division. She replaces Peter Klein, who announced his departure three weeks ago. He has been CFO for four years. Hood, 41, joined Microsoft Corp. in 2002. Before that, she worked at Goldman Sachs. She has a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University. Klein is staying with the company until June to help keep the transition smooth....

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft has extended a guarantee that provides Yahoo with financial protection as part of the two companies' Internet search partnership. An arrangement requiring Microsoft Corp. to pay Yahoo Inc. a minimum amount per search on Yahoo's website expired March 31. That had raised concerns Yahoo might make less money from the Microsoft partnership. Those worries eased Tuesday with a Yahoo regulatory filing that disclosed Microsoft is maintaining...

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. said it sold 100 million licenses for its latest operating system, and that it will introduce an update to the company's flagship product in time for the year-end holiday shopping season. The number of Windows 8 sales since the software's debut in October is in the "general ballpark" with the previous version during a similar period, Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows division, said in an interview last week. ...

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft is retooling the latest version of its Windows operating system to address complaints and confusion that have been blamed for deepening a slump in personal computer sales. The tune up announced Tuesday won't be released to consumers and businesses until later this year. The changes, part of a software package given the codename "Blue," are a tacit acknowledgment of the shortcomings in Windows 8, a radical overhaul of Microsoft Corp.'s ubiquitous...

The gaming world is about to get more interesting. Microsoft said Tuesday that it will be revealing the next generation of its Xbox console in an afternoon event on May 21. In a company blog post , Microsoft director of programming Larry Hryb — better known to the gaming community as "Major Nelson" — displayed countdown to the event and said that it will be streamed live over Xbox.com, Xbox Live and broadcast live on Spike TV. Hryb...

After Research in Motion's disastrous earnings report yesterday — with a loss of 37 cents a share, an additional BlackBerry 10 delay to 2013, and the reveal that it would cut 5,000 jobs — it's no surprise that shareholders are desperate for a fix. RIM's investors are apparently pushing the company's board for extreme options like forming an alliance with Microsoft, or selling its network technology to another tech firm or private equity...

A German regulatory agency has fined Google for violations of privacy connected to the company's Street View service, the Associated Press reports: Hamburg's state data protection agency said Monday that Google admitted collecting data including emails, passwords, photos and chat protocols from 2008-2010 as it prepared to launch its Street View service. Google says it never intended to store personal data and the agency says it has been deleted. Agency head Johannes Caspar says ‘company...