Bing Makes Triple-Column Play With New Interface Design
Responses to queries keyed into Bing will list experts and the user's friends, who can comment on the topic in the right panel. A new feature called 'Snapshot' will display useful information about a specific place or topic in the middle column. The updated version of Bing will roll out over the next few weeks and will be broadly
Bing fires at Google with new social search
Microsoft is launching a major overhaul of its also-ran search engine Bing on Thursday, aiming at a weakness it sees in market leader Google. The most prominent new element in Bing's redesign is 'Sidebar,' a social search feature that scours users' social networks to surface information relevant to their search queries. Google (GOOG,
Nokias woes might call for Microsoft aid
Addressing Nokia Oyj employees in January 2011, Chief Executive Stephen Elop - at that point only four months into the job - dramatized the company's predicament by comparing it to standing on a burning platform. Nearly a year and a half on, and with Nokia's Lumia mobile phone range failing so far to revive sales, its position still looks
Microsoft Pins $99 Price Tag on Xbox Bundle
That two-year subscription will offer access to the Xbox Live Gold service, along with the possibility of some additional streamed content that could include sports or cable TV offerings. Is this really a deal? Not exactly. 'What is up with the $15 a month? Currently the same service is available for $5,' said Billy Pidgeon, principal
Report: Microsoft to offer $99 Xbox 360 bundle with service commitment
(Ars Technica) -- Buying a home video game console may soon become a lot more like buying a cell phone, according to a new report suggesting Microsoft is planning to offer a subsidized, $99 bundle including a 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect sensor to anyone who commits to two years of a new, $15 monthly online service package.
Lawmakers push for vote to limit post office closures
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to drum up support in the House of Representatives to vote on a Senate-passed bill that would make it tougher for the Postal Service to close some facilities, in part by targeting representatives who may lose postal facilities and jobs in their districts. The group hopes representatives who are
Myanmars Suu Kyi takes oath of office
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in Wednesday as a lawmaker for the first time, a key step in the country's recent shift toward democracy after decades of repressive military rule. Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy campaigner who spent years under house arrest, traveled to the
Court bans Microsoft products from German market
A court in Mannheim ruled on Wednesday that Microsoft infringed Motorola Mobility's patents and ordered Microsoft to remove its Xbox 360 gaming consoles and Windows 7 operating system software from the German market. Judge Holger Kircher said Microsoft breached an agreement with Motorola, which is in the process of being bought by Google,
Boot up: selling Bing, Gosling on Android, Apples malware ratio, mobiles win and more
A quick burst of 7 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team'Everything we are doing is oriented around getting to 2 billion users.' You might think that statement was from Mark Zuckerberg, as Facebook approaches 1 billion active users on its social network and focuses on the next billion. But it was Satya Patel,
Microsoft buys Nook stake, Barnes & Noble shares soar
Microsoft Corp is jumping into the fast-growing e-books market by investing $605 million over five years in Barnes & Noble Inc's Nook e-reader and college business, as it looks to unlock Amazon.com and Apple Inc's grip on the exploding tablet computer market. The move comes just six months before the world's largest software maker is due
Microsoft invests $300m in Barnes & Nobles Nook ebook business
Microsoft is challenging Amazon's dominance of the ebook industry with a $300m (£185m) investment in Barnes & Noble's Nook reader and college textbook businesses. News of the deal sent shares in Barnes & Noble up 76% from $13.68 to $24.09 in US morning trading on Monday, boosting the bookseller's value by almost $900m, from $823m on
Microsoft buys stake in Barnes & Nobles digital business
Microsoft Corp will invest $300 million in Barnes & Noble Inc's digital and college businesses, valuing them at $1.7 billion. Shares of Barnes & Noble jumped 79 percent. Microsoft will get a 17.6 percent stake in the new unit, while Barnes & Noble will own about 82.4 percent, the companies said in a statement on Monday. The business,
Microsoft accused of trying to secretly influence government consultation
Microsoft is accused of trying to exert clandestine influence on a UK government consultation which could slash the software giant's £700m income from the UK's public sector. The Cabinet Office has thrown out one 'independent' expert who had been helping organise a public discussion on how to introduce free software into government - a
Microsoft's master plan to beat Apple and Google
Microsoft is staging a comeback -- and, unlikely as this sounds, it's one Apple and Google should be worried about. Microsoft's recipe relies on three key ingredients: Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox. The secret sauce, which features a dash of Bing and SkyDrive, is still simmering. But Microsoft is nothing if not patient, and it thinks
Nokias dismal numbers: is Windows Phone a bust?
Oh, Nokia. The red ink is pouring all over the place. The first-quarter 2012 results (PDF) show that not only did smartphone sales decline (to 11.9m units from 24.2m a year ago, and 19.6m in the previous quarter) but so did mobile phone sales (70.8m, down from 84.3m a year ago, and 93.9m in the typically higher Christmas quarter). Windows
Microsoft infringes Motorola Mobility patents: ITC judge
Microsoft infringed Motorola Mobility's patents in making its popular Xbox gaming consoles, a judge for the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled on Monday. ITC Judge David Shaw said that Microsoft infringed four patents and did not infringe on a fifth in the complaint. The full commission will review the judge's decision and
Microsoft rises as better PC sales boost profit
Shares of Microsoft Corp rose more than 5 percent on Friday after the world's largest software maker reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street forecasts on better-than-expected sales of personal computers. The deluge of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, has seen Apple Inc and Google Inc vie for top honors in
Microsoft revenues beat forecasts but Xbox and Bing disappoint as profits dip
Microsoft fared better than analysts anticipated in its latest financial quarter, boosted by an unexpected rise in sales of its Windows operating system for PCs. But profits dipped due to unexpected losses in its Entertainment & Devices division, which houses the Xbox 360 games console and also its Windows Phone mobile software
