Microsoft

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'Halo 3' Sells Record $170M in First Day

Explosive debut stands to boost Microsoft's Xbox 360 console

(Newser) - Microsoft's "Halo 3" lived up the hype, the Wall Street Journal reported today, bringing in an estimated $170 million on its first day of release to shatter the record set by its predecessor, "Halo 2." Analysts say the first-person shooter game should be a boon for sales...

Microsoft Plots to Dent Google Ad Lead

Software company touting its new non-search model

(Newser) - Microsoft wants to reinvent online advertising, replacing the dominant search engine model with a tracking system that would tell advertisers precisely which ads consumers had viewed before visiting their sites. The new model is the product of aQuantive, an internet ad firm purchased by Microsoft last month, whose main competitor...

'Halo 3' Disk Comes Scratched
'Halo 3' Disk Comes Scratched
Sep 26, 2007 12:46 AM CDT

'Halo 3' Disk Comes Scratched

Limited-edition packaging can harm media

(Newser) - A limited-edition package for Microsoft's 'Halo 3' may be scratching the game disks, AP reports. The latest installment of the famous shoot-em-up franchise appears to be well on its way to huge sales, but with its new Xbox 360 suffering from news of bugs in recent months, the scratched disks...

Stocks Edge Up in Balancing Act
Stocks Edge Up in Balancing Act
Sep 25, 2007 3:44 PM CDT

Stocks Edge Up in Balancing Act

Retailers’ sales sink as homes out-perform expectations

(Newser) - Stocks rose slightly today as retail woes were somewhat offset by August home sales that outperformed expectations, MarketWatch reports. Led by Microsoft, which rode the release of “Halo 3” to a 1.5% jump, the Dow climbed 19.59 to 13,778.65. The S&P dipped 0.52...

GeoCities' Fate Offers Lesson for Facebook

Warning signs found in an earlier deal for a once-hot site

(Newser) - As Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg contemplates a big Microsoft deal, the Wall Street Journal’s Dennis K. Berman has a cautionary tale for him: GeoCities. The web community, once the third-most-visited site on the internet, fell into obscurity after Yahoo's huge buyout stymied its innovation. That’s relevant for Zuckerberg,...

Halo 3: Believe in Big Sales for Microsoft

Gamers turn out in droves for video game's midnight release

(Newser) - Wired predicts a surge in sick-days today as gamers who picked up some of the 4 million preordered copies of Halo 3: Believe when it went on sale at midnight skip work after all-night sessions. Crowds at the Manhattan release party—one of 10,000 nationwide—held up traffic...

Microsoft May Pump up to $500M Into Facebook

Bidding war with Google could net even more

(Newser) - Facebook is in talks with Microsoft about a $300-500 million investment that could give the software company as much as a 5% ownership stake in the social networking site. The deal could boost Facebook's value over $10 billion, and help Microsoft challenge rival Google for Internet advertising cachet, the Wall ...

Microsoft Goes Incognito to Attack Google

Hires PR firm to build opposition to merger; its name is disguised

(Newser) - Microsoft quietly hired Burson-Marsteller to rally opposition to Google’s proposed acquisition of online ad networker DoubleClick—and some are rankled that the software giant’s name was kept out of the pitches. The PR firm sought to convince key players the deal would hamper Internet competition and impact privacy...

IBM Challenges Microsoft Office With Free Software

Free software does many of the same things as expensive suite

(Newser) - IBM is issuing a new challenge to the supremacy of Microsoft's Office software, releasing a suite of free programs, called Symphony, that can perform many of the functions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft just released Office 7.0, and one analyst speculates many users will switch to Symphony rather...

Microsoft Ruling in Europe Major Blow to Tech Giants

Court upholds record fine and order to share codes

(Newser) - A European Union appeals court yesterday upheld an anti-trust decision against Microsoft, leaving intact a record $689 million fine and and a challenge to how it does business in Europe, the New York Times reports. The decision has huge repercussions for other tech giants as the European Union seeks to...

EU Court Upholds Record Microsoft Fine

Rejects appeal on $613M antitrust fine

(Newser) - A European Union court today rejected Microsoft's appeal of  the $613-million anti-trust fine handed down in 2004--the largest fine ever imposed by EU regulators. Microsoft will also have to share communication code with rivals and start selling copies of Windows without its Media Player program. Microsoft is expected to appeal...

Microsoft, EU Await Landmark Antitrust Decree

Verdict could change firm's business model, or embarrass EU

(Newser) - Microsoft execs will be waiting to hear if they won an antitrust appeal against the EU tomorrow, the BBC reports. A 2004 probe declared the tech giant guilty of abusing its industry status and fined it $690 million. If Microsoft pulls off a victory, analysts say, the EU commission will...

Microsoft Defends Silent Windows Updates

Calls download practice efficient, not shifty

(Newser) - Microsoft is reconsidering its updating practices after coming under fire for "silently"downloading a Windows patch—even for users who had opted for notifications. Microsoft defended itself, pointing out that the silent fixes affected the update software itself, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Skeptical opponents maintain similar situations in the...

Apple Takes a Bite Out of the Competition

iPod maker replaces Microsoft as industry bully, monopolist

(Newser) - Apple has replaced Microsoft as the tech industry’s “biggest bully,” according to PC World. The iPod dynamo has shed its rebel rep and assumed Microsoft’s former mantle as a monopolist, copycat, and bully. “Bundling,” a tactic Microsoft used to tie together Windows and Internet...

Panel Rejects Microsoft Standard Bid

As open document formats catch on, software giant meets resistance

(Newser) - Microsoft got a surprise smackdown from an international panel yesterday in its bid to have its open document format recognized as an international standard. The effort to certify Office Open XML met with resistance from 26% of the voting nations, and anything over 25% is a deal-breaker, the Times reports....

Apple Juiced About Big Surprise
Apple Juiced About Big Surprise
Sep 3, 2007 5:46 AM CDT

Apple Juiced About Big Surprise

Tech geeks believe Jobs will unveil new iPod this week

(Newser) - Apple this week invited tech geeks and reporters to a Wednesday event in San Francisco to unveil a secret something, and rumors are rampant about what it could be. The most popular theory is that Apple will revamp iTunes or launch a new version of its iPod—perhaps a video...

Prankster's 1st Computer Virus Turns 25

'Dumb little practical joke' led to $38 billion security industry

(Newser) - A prankster who wrote the first computer virus 25 years ago says only, “It was some dumb little practical joke.” Yet Richard Skrenta’s desire to infiltrate other Apple II’s with a poem (“It will get on all your disks; it will infiltrate your chips”)...

Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar
Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar
Aug 30, 2007 11:37 AM CDT

Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar

Car would appeal to young target groups, analysts say

(Newser) - Apple and Volkswagen are cruising toward a new partnership to develop a car loaded with gizmos from the digital maverick. Steve Jobs met with VW chief Martin Winterkorn in California this week to discuss plans for an “iCar,” the AP reports. Negotiations have just begun, but a VW...

Wii Are the Champions
Wii Are the Champions
Aug 24, 2007 3:29 AM CDT

Wii Are the Champions

Nintendo game console outsells Sony and Microsoft combined

(Newser) - Vdeo gamers were reaching for the Wii-mote in July after buying up an impressive 425,000 Nintendo Wii consoles—more than twice the sales of either X-Box 360 or Playstation 3.  It was a strong month for video games as a whole, with console sales more than doubling since...

Advertisers Will Soon Be Facebooking You, Too

Social-networking site to allow targeted ads based on user profiles

(Newser) - Facebook is at work on a way to sell ads based on information users and their friends post on the site, the Wall Street Journal reports. A basic version of the service could launch this fall, and the social-networking titan eventually might allow marketers to predict products and services users...

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