Microsoft

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Group of Seattle Women Buy WNBA's Storm

Former deputy mayor, Microsoft execs pay $10 million for franchise

(Newser) - Though the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics could be on the way to Oklahoma City, the WNBA's Storm appears set to remain in the Emerald City thanks to a deal by four local women to buy the women's basketball franchise. The foursome, which includes a pair of Microsoft executives, will pay Sonics...

Is the Xbox 360 Going Blu?
Is the Xbox 360 Going Blu?
Jan 9, 2008 7:29 AM CST

Is the Xbox 360 Going Blu?

"Can't say it's not a bummer,' concedes Microsoft spokesman

(Newser) - Microsoft could be changing roles in the HD wars, as the corporation may consider switching from Toshiba's HD-DVD players to rival Sony's Blu-ray technology in the Xbox 360 if the warning signs of HD-DVD's demise prove true, reports Reuters. The announcement comes in the wake of Warner Bros. last week...

Microsoft to Buy Norway's Fast for $1.2B

Bid is 42% premium over enterprise searcher's recent price

(Newser) - Microsoft solidified its plans to purchase Fast Search & Transfer today with a $1.2 billion offer, roughly a 42% premium over the Norwegian enterprise search company's Friday closing price. The news drove Microsoft shares down today to $34.20, a 1.2% drop, while Fast shares rose nearly 41%,...

Departing Gates Plays Tired Tune at Vegas Show
Departing Gates Plays Tired Tune at Vegas Show
OPINION
Jan 8, 2008 12:56 PM CST

Departing Gates Plays Tired Tune at Vegas Show

Critic sees lame-duck Microsoft boss coming up short on new ideas

(Newser) - Bill Gates' last speech to the Consumer Electronics Show as Microsoft chairman left the audience underwhelmed, New York Times blogger Saul Hansell reports. Gates had few exciting new developments to report and instead chose to speak of the "digital decade"—hardly breaking news for the audience at a...

Gates: Vista Is ‘Very Successful’

Outgoing head defends Microsoft's new OS

(Newser) - On his way out the door, Bill Gates is defending Windows Vista, the OS that has failed to woo consumers away from Microsoft's older Windows XP. "I think a lot of people would say it was the best new product of the year,” Gates said in an interview...

Gates Rocks (on His Way) Out
Gates Rocks (on His Way) Out
Jan 7, 2008 8:08 AM CST

Gates Rocks (on His Way) Out

Gives his last CES keynote as CEO, unveils deals, plays swan song

(Newser) - Bill Gates kicked off a Consumer Electronics Show for the last time as Microsoft CEO last night, announcing a major deal with ABC/Disney and MGM to distribute content via Xbox sets. He also unveiled an exclusive internet deal with NBC to broadcast video from the 2008 Olympics that he said...

Disgruntled Xbox Players Will Get Free Game

Microsoft apologizes for swamped system over holidays

(Newser) - Microsoft apologized to Xbox players who weren’t able to access its online gaming system over Christmas and promised them a free game to make up for it. The software company said the system got swamped by too many users trying to play at once. Members of the service will...

Cars Get Gadgety Makeovers
Cars Get Gadgety Makeovers
Jan 2, 2008 1:42 PM CST

Cars Get Gadgety Makeovers

Vegas electronics show will preview next wave of tech upgrades

(Newser) - Cars could be the next must-have gadget, the Wall Street Journal reports, with Ford making Microsoft's Sync system standard issue on many models just a sign of things to come. Bringing the comforts of the digital age to the road will be a major theme of this year’s Consumer...

Indians Pray to the 'Visa God'
Indians Pray to the 'Visa God'
Dec 31, 2007 4:40 PM CST

Indians Pray to the 'Visa God'

Priest uses deity to hook believers hoping to work in the West

(Newser) - Every week, 100,000 worshipers converge on a temple in Hyderabad, India, that honors a local incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. But the faithful aren’t praying for good health or fortune: They seek visas to the US and other Western countries, and the deity they’re praying to...

New Web Trend Sparks David vs. Goliath 2.0

Web giants mobilize to stop developers from 'scraping' their content

(Newser) - Some call it “scraping,” others call it “importing.” Either way, it’s a controversial process pitting independent software developers against the titans of the cyber world: Techies compile, or scrape, loads of data from search engines and social networking sites and pool the data on their...

Cheating Is No Longer Child's Play
Cheating Is
No Longer
Child's Play
Dec 26, 2007 8:24 PM CST

Cheating Is No Longer Child's Play

Jobseekers flock to web for answers to professional exams

(Newser) - Crib sheets have gone high-tech, the Boston Globe reports, as legions of job seekers from would-be medical technicians to school bus drivers resort to the Web for a leg-up in passing professional qualifying exams. The result is a booming black market for “braindumps,” or exam answers. Some are...

FTC Okays Google&rsquo;s DoubleClick Buy
FTC Okays Google’s DoubleClick Buy
Dec 20, 2007 10:11 AM CST

FTC Okays Google’s DoubleClick Buy

Deal to go forward despite months of antitrust and privacy opposition

(Newser) - The FTC voted 4-1 to approve Google’s purchase of DoubleClick, despite months of lobbying against the deal on privacy and antitrust grounds. The commissioners concluded that the deal "is unlikely to substantially lessen competition,” PC World reports. The $3.1-billion deal has been fought tooth and nail...

Microsoft, Viacom Ally to Check Google

Partnership aims to counter search giant's ad growth

(Newser) - Microsoft and Viacom joined forces to counter Google's growth in the ad market yesterday, with a 5-year, $500-million partnership. Microsoft gets audio and video content from Viacom, and is a preferred partner in online gaming. Viacom will switch its ad placement from DoubleClick, which Google is about to buy, to...

Big Sites Fold on Net Gambling
Big Sites Fold on Net Gambling
Dec 20, 2007 1:39 AM CST

Big Sites Fold on Net Gambling

DOJ has winning hand in legal battle with Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!

(Newser) - Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo have agreed to cough up $31.5 million to settle Justice Department charges they promoted Internet gambling by accepting advertising from gambling sites for the past 10 years, Reuters reports. The high-tech giants will pay some of that amount in fines, and will create PSAs telling...

Microsoft Faces New Suit on Competition

Small Norwegian company says industry giant stifles rivals

(Newser) - An independent Norwegian software company is taking on Microsoft in an antitrust complaint filed today with the European Commission. Opera charges the industry behemoth with monopolizing the market by packaging Windows with the Internet Explorer browser, Reuters reports. The moves comes three months after Microsoft had to pay a huge...

Supercomputing Technology Landing in Your Lap(top)

Hardware getting smaller as software tries to catch up

(Newser) - Leaps forward in chip design are bringing supercomputing technology to personal computers and corporate data centers, Business Week writes. Hardware makers are coming up with more ways to cram colossal amounts of computing power into small spaces, but software is lagging a bit behind. Microsoft is building a brain trust...

Ask.com Addresses Privacy Worries
Ask.com Addresses Privacy Worries
Dec 11, 2007 11:34 AM CST

Ask.com Addresses Privacy Worries

No. 5 search engine says it will erase info within hours

(Newser) - Aiming to establish itself as an innovator, Ask.com is allowing users to have their search requests deleted within hours, the AP reports. The fifth-most-popular search engine with just 3% market share, Ask.com is taking a huge leap toward being the web’s least intrusive search option. "We...

Microsoft Launches Cell Phone Ad Sales

Graphic or text banners can be shown on MSN Mobile portal

(Newser) - Microsoft launched cell phone advertising in the US Monday, with banner ads displayed on MSN Mobile, a portal accessible from any mobile phone. The ads will be displayed as graphics or text, depending on the user's phone, reports AP. Competitors Yahoo, Google, and numerous smaller companies already sell mobile advertising,...

Sex Talk Sinks Microsoft Santa Software

User claims raunchy elf crossed the line with underage girls

(Newser) - Microsoft got an early peek at Santa’s naughty list and found that it contained Old Saint Nick himself. The company pulled the plug on its automated Santa instant messaging program after a user claimed the elf brought up oral sex in a chat with his underage nieces when they...

Good News Rallies Markets
Good News Rallies Markets
MARKETS
Dec 5, 2007 3:32 PM CST

Good News Rallies Markets

Sunny economic stats and hope for a rate cut give stocks a boost

(Newser) - Stocks took off today in response to cheerful economic data and rising hopes for a Dec. 11 rate cut from the Fed. Government reports showed an increase in productivity and an unexpected jump in hiring, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow was up 196.23 to 13,444.96,...

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