Microsoft

Microsoft giving Xbox 360 a makover; hundreds of new games

The Associated Press — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:37:55 +0000

Microsoft Corp. kicked off its Electronic Entertainment Expo presentation Monday by unveiling a new Xbox 360 with a design inspired by its upcoming next-generation Xbox One console.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's vice president of marketing and strategy, says the updated Xbox 360 is "smaller, sleeker and as quiet as ever." Mehdi added it would be available beginning Monday.

Microsoft, FBI say they've disrupted $500 million botnet

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:31:30 +0000

Working jointly with the FBI, Microsoft says it has disrupted a botnet responsible for stealing more than $500 million from bank accounts worldwide.

In a blog post published late last night, Microsoft said this was its "most agressive botnet operation to date" and the "first time that law enforcement and the private sector have worked together" to "execute a civil seizure warrant as par

Is Windows 8 doomed?

Dave Meyer and Mark Anderson — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

When computer sales declined 14 percent in the first quarter of this year, fingers immediately began pointing at Microsoft.

The release of a new version of Windows is supposed to stimulate PC sales. But Windows 8 has received a lukewarm reception.

Strategic News Service publisher and KPLU technology commentator Mark Anderson doesn’t mince words. He thinks Windows 8 is a bomb.

Microsoft reveals Xbox One

The Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:22:29 +0000

Microsoft thinks it has the one.

The company revealed the Xbox One, its next-generation entertainment console, during a presentation Tuesday at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft beats Street, readies new mobile devices

The Associated Press — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:16:50 +0000

Microsoft is working with manufacturers to produce a line of small touch-screen devices powered by Windows, apparently intended to compete with 7-inch tablets like the iPad Mini and Amazon Kindle Fire.

Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, told investors and analysts on a conference call Thursday that the new devices will be available in coming months at competitive prices.

Microsoft Corp. is struggling to extend its software into smartphones and tablets as consumers are turning away from PCs, the foundation of its empire. Over the winter, it launched two larger tablets under the Surface brand. And in October, the company took a large stake in Barnes & Noble's digital unit, which sells a line of entertainment-oriented 7-inch tablets under the Nook brand.

Microsoft offers security enhancement for sign-ins

The Associated Press — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Microsoft is offering enhanced security for email, storage and other services.

People who turn on the new feature will be asked not just for a username and password, but also a second piece of information, such as a temporary code sent as a text message to a phone on file. Users can have their devices remember the second code, so they're not asked for it again and again.

Investors dump Microsoft, PC stocks on bleak news

The Associated Press — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:38:55 +0000

If fewer people are interested in buying a new personal computer, then fewer investors want to own stakes in companies whose fortunes are tied to the sales of laptop and desktop machines.

That's the message emerging Thursday as Wall Street reacts to fresh evidence that PCs are turning into a dying breed of technology as consumers and businesses embrace smartphones and tablet computers.

Microsoft escalates advertising assault on Google

The Associated Press — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:23:29 +0000

&amp;lt;A data-cke-saved-href=&amp;quot;http://www.bing.com/videos/browse?mkt=en-us&amp;amp;vid=5ca0a386-f0c2-4a4f-bdea-bd971e54a3b0&amp;amp;from=shareembed-syndication&amp;amp;src=v5:embed:syndication:&amp;quot; href=&amp;quot;http://www.bing.com/videos/browse?mkt=en-us&amp;amp;vid=5ca0a386-f0c2-4a4f-bdea-bd971e54a3b0&amp;amp;from=shareembed-syndication&amp;amp;src=v5:embed:syndication:&amp;quot; target=&amp;quot;_new&amp;quot; title=&amp;quot;Watch how you get Scroogled by the Google app store&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Video: Watch how you get Scroogled by the Google app store&amp;lt;/A&amp;gt;

Microsoft is skewering Google again with scathing ads that say as much about the dramatic shift in the technology industry's competitive landscape as they do about the animosity between the two rivals.

The missive that began Tuesday marks the third phase in a 5-month-old marketing campaign that Microsoft Corp. derisively calls "Scroogled." The ads, which have appeared online, on television and in print, depict Google as a duplicitous company more interested in increasing profits and power than protecting people's privacy and providing unbiased search results.

Report: Bribery probe targets Microsoft partners

The Associated Press — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:46:06 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that U.S. government regulators are investigating allegations that some of Microsoft's partners resorted to bribery to help sell software in China, Romania and Italy.

Europe hits Microsoft with $731M fine over browser options

Scott Neuman — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:47:28 +0000

Some sloppy coding on an update to Microsoft's Windows 7 two years ago has cost the computer giant a $731 million fine to the European Commission.

Microsoft said Wednesday it would not contest the fine, imposed for what the commission said was the company's abuse of its market dominance to stifle competitors' Web browsers.

It all started in 2009, when Microsoft agreed to pay an 860 million euro fine to the commission and to give Windows users in Europe the option to choose browsers such as Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox, instead of having its own Internet Explorer automatically insta

Microsoft quarterly sales rose, but PC makers still waiting for a boost

Ashley Gross — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:00:30 +0000

Microsoft says sales rose about 3 percent in its most recent quarter. But analysts say the company still has to contend with a slowing market for personal computers.

Microsoft shareholders ask: Why should we own the stock?

Ashley Gross — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:31:32 +0000

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stood in front of shareholders today telling them what a tremendous year it’s been. But they wanted to know, why should we own the stock?

Would Microsoft or Amazon.com buy Netflix? Doubtful, analyst says

Ashley Gross — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Amazon.com and Microsoft are two of the cash-rich companies that investors speculate may be interested in buying Netflix. But would either of them want to? One analyst says he doubts it.

Activist investor Carl Icahn kicked up the takeover speculation last month when he disclosed that he’s bought 10 percent of Netflix. He says Netflix is too small on its own and needs to be bought by a bigger company – like Amazon, Microsoft or Google.

Bigwigs out at Microsoft and Apple. Now what?

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:59:48 +0000

In less than a month, two instrumental figures at two of the world's biggest tech companies have left their positions. Now industry watchers wonder whether the departures at Microsoft and Apple will mean dramatic changes of direction for the tech giants.

On Monday, Microsoft announced that Steven Sinofsky, an employee at the company for the last 23 years, and head of the Windows unit since 2006, was leaving.

Microsoft proposes 'pay-to-play' immigration plan to grow workforce

Jake Ellison — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:13:40 +0000

With 6,000 high-tech jobs on the table, Microsoft said today it has a pay-to-play plan that would increase the number of H-1B visas to the U.S. by 20,000 and raise more than $500 million for education.