Microsoft – News Stories About Microsoft - Page 36

Nov 21, 2007 4:59 AM CST

Anorexia Blogs Shut Down

Microsoft pulls four sites after complaints

(Newser) - Four websites hosted by Microsoft's Spanish division have been shut down for allegedly promoting anorexia and bulimia. The sites were closed following complaints by a Catalan provincial government internet watchdog, Iqua. It's the first time that a host has voluntarily closed websites accused of promoting eating disorders following complaints by...

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo: Blogger

Nov 18, 2007 1:24 PM CST

Microsoft to Buy Yahoo: Blogger

Says software company has sent a clear signal of intent

(Newser) - Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo, blogs Huffington Post’s Henry Blodget—there’s no other way to interpret comments made by a honcho Thursday that the Bill Gates brand plans to up its online search market share from its current 10% to 30%. Do the math, says Blodget: Acquiring Yahoo’...

Singapore Lifts Ban on Game With Lesbian Love

UPDATED

Nov 16, 2007 2:54 PM CST

Singapore Lifts Ban on Game With Lesbian Love

Mass Effect can be sold with M18 rating

(Newser) - Gamers in Singapore may now buy Microsoft's Mass Effect despite a female-female love scene. The country has decided to allow the sale of the video game under an M18 rating, reports Singapore's Straits Times, after previously banning it due to a scene showing a human woman and an alien woman...

Price Cut Lifts PlayStation Sales

Nov 15, 2007 9:02 PM CST

Price Cut Lifts PlayStation Sales

Lower prices and a new low-cost model may help Sony to escape third place

(Newser) - Long lagging behind the Nintendo Wii and without a 'Halo 3' to rescue it, Sony's PlayStation 3 is finally seeing sales pick up in the weeks after a $100 price cut and introduction of a lower-end model. Sony said it sold 100,000 consoles last week, compared to sales of...

Game Banned for Lesbian Scene

Nov 15, 2007 8:53 AM CST

Game Banned for Lesbian Scene

Microsoft's anticipated "Mass Effect" not showing up in Singapore

(Newser) - Singaporeans anticipating Microsoft’s much-ballyhooed Mass Effect video game should stop anticipating. Thanks to a scene in which a human woman kisses and caresses an alien woman, Singapore has banned the action-RPG, Reuters reports. Microsoft said it would respect the ban, but outraged gamers decried the decision as too strict....

Firms Are
Waiting on
Windows Vista

Nov 15, 2007 7:13 AM CST

Firms Are Waiting on Windows Vista

Problems could prompt many to hold out for big '09 upgrade

(Newser) - It has been almost a year since Windows Vista was released to businesses, but a spate of hardware compatibility issues has many still waiting to upgrade until the release of the first service pack, scheduled for early next year. With the next version of Windows due in late 2009, PC ...

New VC Fund Wants
Only Facebook Apps

Nov 14, 2007 12:26 PM CST

New VC Fund Wants Only Facebook Apps

Investor puts exclusive attention on site he thinks is worth $100B

(Newser) - Venture capitalist Lee Lorenzen is so enamored of Facebook that he started an investment fund just to finance developers creating applications for the social network site. Not only is Lorenzen investing in a month-and-a-half-old industry, last month at a conference he said Facebook might be worth $100 billion, more than...

Europe Blocks DoubleClick Deal

Nov 14, 2007 7:29 AM CST

Europe Blocks DoubleClick Deal

DoubleClick acquisition held up for review

(Newser) - European antitrust regulators have put up a roadblock to Google’s $3.1 billion bid for internet ad giant DoubleClick, ruling that it needs to be reviewed before approval. The US has yet to approve the deal, though Brazilian and Australian regulators signed off on it. Google already controls 70%...

Can Firefox Stick to its Open Source Roots?

Nov 12, 2007 3:54 PM CST

Can Firefox Stick to its Open Source Roots?

Some fear huge profits from search deal make Mozilla a Google proxy

(Newser) - The image of the Mozilla Foundation is that of Internet underdog—an open source, non-profit network of developers whose Firefox browser has nabbed 15-20% of the market from Microsoft's Internet Explorer. But as the New York Times reports, a Google tie-in deal has enriched the foundation's for-profit Mozilla Corporation subsidiary...

Microsoft Finally Makes a 'Pretty Good' Media Player

Nov 12, 2007 2:12 PM CST

Microsoft Finally Makes a 'Pretty Good' Media Player

PC World 's qualified praise for the new Zunes

(Newser) - Microsoft released its latest Zune portable media players today, garnering approval from PC World. "This latest generation of Zunes should finally provide some real competition," declared the reviewer. The magazine praised the players for high sound quality and good extra features, but pointed to improvements to the Zune...

Imagining a Facebook Search Engine to Rival Google

Nov 12, 2007 10:19 AM CST

Imagining a Facebook Search Engine to Rival Google

Is 'social search' worth banking on?

(Newser) - With a new option allowing users to search for advertising pages, Facebook has crept another step closer to a search engine. Will the social networking site take the ultimate plunge in its battle against Google and roll out a full-fledged search engine? VentureBeat's Doug Sherret explores how this engine would...

Justice Backs Microsoft
in Antitrust Action

Nov 12, 2007 4:07 AM CST

Justice Backs Microsoft in Antitrust Action

US opposes extension of scrutiny

(Newser) - Microsoft chief Bill Gates has a critical ally in the latest phase of his company's marathon antitrust suit—the Justice Department. The agency is opposing court action by New York and California to extend judicial oversight of Microsoft's activities to 2012, reports the Wall Street Journal. Monitoring was part...

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

Nov 8, 2007 9:54 PM CST

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

Nov 8, 2007 4:08 PM CST

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

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

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

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

Oct 31, 2007 11:56 AM CDT

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?

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...