Microsoft

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Xbox 'Gamerscore' Reels 'Em In
Xbox 'Gamerscore' Reels 'Em In
Nov 11, 2007 12:18 PM CST

Xbox 'Gamerscore' Reels 'Em In

Popular feature boosts sales, inspires cheaters

(Newser) - “Gamerscore” could be Microsoft’s secret weapon in its bitter rivalry with Apple’s iPod, the Washington Post observes. The popular feature from the tech giant’s Xbox allows players to rack up points in the console’s social-networking world and flaunt their “achievements” for friends. The gamerscore...

Microsoft Offers 'Cool Prizes' to Search Users

In quest for traffic, will give away t-shirts and games for using its site

(Newser) - Google this or Google that, the website that’s also a verb dominates the search engine market, but Microsoft is trying to increase its foothold in the search market with its “Live Search Trial Program”—which rewards users every time they use the MS engine. MarketWatch reports 4,...

Microsoft CEO Not Impressed by Android PR

Ballmer says Google is 'welcome in our world' of smartphone software

(Newser) - The announcement of Google's forthcoming 'Android' phone software and its revolutionary open source philosophy has impressed many, but decidedly not Steve Ballmer. PC World reports the Microsoft CEO declined to share his thoughts on Google's initiative, saying it was hard to compare the Windows Mobile system with "some words...

AOL to Buy Online Ad Outfit Quigo
AOL to Buy
Online Ad
Outfit Quigo
Nov 7, 2007 4:15 PM CST

AOL to Buy Online Ad Outfit Quigo

It's the last big acquisition in new restructuring plan

(Newser) - AOL will purchase online advertiser Quigo, its final acquisition on a major restructuring agenda. The Time Warner unit has had poor ad growth recently—13% this past quarter, down from 40% percent levels—and is seen as trying to stay competitive with Google and Yahoo. The purchase, reportedly valued at...

Microsoft Debuts Free Web Services
Microsoft Debuts Free Web Services
Nov 7, 2007 11:20 AM CST

Microsoft Debuts Free Web Services

'Windows Live' suite to integrate e-mail, photo, blogging and IM with Vista

(Newser) - Microsoft took its latest stab at marrying Windows and the web yesterday, debuting “Windows Live,” a new take on web applications that aims to complement Microsoft’s bread-and-butter Windows and Office offerings, rather than competing with them as other web services strive to. The company plans to heavily...

Microsoft Fires CIO
Microsoft
Fires CIO
Nov 6, 2007 10:16 PM CST

Microsoft Fires CIO

Says investigation revealed he violated company policy but won't give details

(Newser) - Microsoft sacked its chief information officer, Stuart Scott, "after an investigation for violation of company policies," according to an email response to press inquiries. The company refuses to elaborate further, but since Scott appeared onstage with his boss at a technology conference less than a month ago, it...

Google Out to Smite Facebook Software Platform

'OpenSocial' to lure software developers away from Facebook

(Newser) - Google couldn't buy a piece of Facebook, so it's going after the social networking site's software platform instead. Tomorrow a Google-led alliance will  introduce a common platform for software developers to write programs for Google's social site, Orkut, along with LinkedIn, hi5, Friendster, Plaxo, Ning and others. The hope is...

Will Costly Options Hurt Facebook?
Will Costly Options Hurt Facebook?
Oct 28, 2007 10:16 PM CDT

Will Costly Options Hurt Facebook?

High valuation from MS could slow recruiting in Silicon Valley

(Newser) - Microsoft's recently purchased stake in Facebook may make it harder for the social networking site to hire talented employees, reports the Wall Street Journal. By selling a 1.6% stake for $240 million, Facebook increased its valuation to $15 billion, in turn radically increasing the cost of stock options, which...

Newcomers Battle for Mobile Search Industry

Carriers hope to lure customers away from Google, Yahoo

(Newser) - Google and Yahoo would love part of the growing mobile search business, but phone carriers aren’t eager to have them. Carriers don’t want to be “the dumb pipe that the ISPs became,” one analyst explained. Instead they’re turning to startups like JumpTap and Medio, who...

Stocks Up on Microsoft Earnings
Stocks Up on Microsoft Earnings
Oct 26, 2007 3:42 PM CDT

Stocks Up on Microsoft Earnings

Nasdaq, others jump on Countrywide optimism and possible rate cuts

(Newser) - Optimism prevailed on Wall Street today as Microsoft clobbered estimates and Countrywide promised the worst was behind it. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way, gaining 53.33 to finish at 2,804.19. The S&P 500 rose 20.87 to 1,535.28; 65% of its components have beaten...

Vista, Office Spur Microsoft to Huge Growth

23% gains in first quarter; new PC sales drive gains

(Newser) - Microsoft yesterday reported a 23% leap in net income and its best revenue growth since the dot-com boom, making it an isolated winner in a tumbling market. The announcement drove up the company's shares 10% in after-hours trading. The sales of new PCs with Windows installed helped drive the gains,...

Facebook Seeks Hedge Fund Cash After Microsoft Deal

Social networking site now valued at $15B

(Newser) - After raising $240 million from Microsoft, the social networking site Facebook expects to raise a further $260 million from hedge funds and private-equity investors, according to the Wall Street Journal. The cash will be used to fund an international expansion and a new ad revenue system. The investment would put...

Microsoft Deal Overshadows Google's Analyst Day

Facebook deal dominates conversation, irritates execs

(Newser) - Google made some noteworthy announcements at its Google Analyst Day yesterday, but they were overshadowed by Microsoft's announcement earlier in the day that it was acquiring a $240 million stake in Facebook, a prize for which the two companies had reportedly engaged in a heated bidding war. Among Google's news:...

Microsoft Beats Out Google for Facebook Deal

Company will handle international ad sales, invest $240 million

(Newser) - Microsoft has beaten out Google for the hand of fair Facebook. The much-anticipated decision was announced today: Microsoft will handle Facebook's international ad sales (it already handles US sales) and invest $240 million for a 1.6% stake in the networking site. "We are pleased to take our Microsoft...

Facebook Closes in on Combo Ad, Investment Deal

Company's partner choice will be either Microsoft or Google

(Newser) - Google and MIcrosoft are both pushing hard to land a deal to sell international ads for Facebook, and the networking site could announce a decision as early as today. Whichever company is chosen will also buy a minority stake in the startup. Top Google and Microsoft execs are traveling to...

Microsoft Caves on EU Antitrust Suit
Microsoft Caves on EU Antitrust Suit
Oct 22, 2007 10:25 AM CDT

Microsoft Caves on EU Antitrust Suit

Must allow even open-source software developers access to Windows

(Newser) - Microsoft is conceding its 9-year antitrust battle with the EU after striking a deal that will force the software giant to license its software secrets to anyone who asks at drastically reduced rates. In exchange, the EU has stopped the daily variable fines of up to 3 million euro that...

Media, Tech Firms Team Up on Copyright

Disney, Microsoft lead pact on rules for posting material; Google a no-show

(Newser) - In an unusual truce, eight media and Internet companies are banding together to combat the explosion of copyrighted material posted on the web, the Wall Street Journal reports. The group, led by Disney and Microsoft, has framed a set of guidelines; copyright holders in the group agree not to pursue...

Game Over! Halo 3 Zaps Wii
Game Over! Halo 3 Zaps Wii
Oct 19, 2007 12:36 AM CDT

Game Over! Halo 3 Zaps Wii

Game launch boosts XBox 360 sales beyond Nintendo console

(Newser) - The launch of Halo 3 helped XBox 360 sales to zoom beyond Nintendo Wii, making the Microsoft system the hottest selling console in September. MarketWatch reports the extraordinary popularity of Halo 3 also helped push video game software sales up 64% over the same period last year. Game consoles were...

Microsoft Sees Office Phone as Next Frontier

Software giant likely to butt heads with Cisco in lucrative market

(Newser) - Microsoft is famous for ever-more-complicated programs for ever-faster computers, and now it's taking aim at an overlooked piece of hardware: the phone. Yesterday, Bill Gates launched a line of software designed for office telephones that aims to make phone tag a thing of the past. It's a multi-billion-dollar sector, Fortune...

Anti-Vista Mom Corners Hapless Microsoft CEO

Ballmer counters emotional frustration with techie excuses

(Newser) - Though he may rule the boardroom, all it took to unravel Microsoft’s chief executive was a mom on a rampage about his new Vista operating system. An analyst questioning Steve Ballmer at a conference said she’d become an early Vista adopter at her 13-year-old daughter’s request—only...

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