Microsoft

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Sony Slashes Price of PlayStation 3

Floundering console still costs twice as much as a Wii

(Newser) - Sony is easing up on the retail price of its struggling PlayStation 3 by $100. The console will now cost $500—$20 more than the Xbox 360 and twice as much as the bestselling Nintendo Wii. Sony's CEO had promised to hold the price, but poor receipts appeared to necessitate...

Microsoft Will Drop $1B on Xbox Warranties

Company calls number of defective consoles 'unacceptable'

(Newser) - Microsoft will respond to complaints from around the world by extending the warranty on its faulty Xbox 360 gaming console, at a potential cost to the company of over $1 billion, USAToday reports. The company will extend warranty coverage from 1 year to 3 in response to buyer reports that...

Google Court Filing Cranks Up Heat on Microsoft

Request to extend consent decree points to potential problems with Vista changes

(Newser) - As if their relations weren't frosty enough, Google has asked a federal judge to extend the consent decree and judicial supervision Microsoft has operated under for nearly 5 years. Microsoft responded to a Google complaint last week by agreeing to modify the desktop-search function in its new Vista OS, but...

Mobile Servers Save Energy, Add Capacity

Sun packages extra processing power in steel shipping containers

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems has a solution for the booming demand for network space, and as a bonus, it lowers energy use: packing servers into steel shipping containers that can be parked wherever they're needed. It's called Project Blackbox, and Sun says it reduces power consumption by 20%. The giant 20-foot boxes...

Google Complaint Spurs Vista Revision

Microsoft responds to antitrust action with change to desktop search feature

(Newser) - Microsoft has caved in to Google's antitrust complaints and agreed to alter the search tools in its new Vista operating system by the end of the year. The move is a victory for Google, which complained to antitrust regulators that Vista's hard-drive indexing was difficult to switch off and made...

Apple Wants to Send Windows Users on Safari

Jobs sees chance to grab larger share of browser market

(Newser) - Apple will venture into Microsoft's turf again, this time making a version of its web browser Safari compatible with Windows. Microsoft's Internet Explorer commands 78% of the browser market compared to Safari's 5%, reports the Wall Street Journal, but Apple's interest in expanding its share is only part of the...

Google Grabs for Microsoft Territory

With new app, Schmidt and company gear up for offline revolution

(Newser) - Google is releasing its first ever hard-drive-based application, in what some tech watchers are calling a charge onto Microsoft's turf. Google Gears, an open-source browser extension now in beta, will allow users to operate Google programs without a web connection—a domain Gates, Ballmer, and co. have traditionally ruled.

Gates and Jobs Banter in Rare Face-to-Face

Tech gods praise each other, discuss the PC guy from the Mac ads

(Newser) - Long-time rivals Bill Gates and Steve Jobs quipped and reminisced their way through their first joint public appearance in two decades at last night's D: All Things Digital conference in San Diego. The two tech kings ditched their traditional rivalry for a cozy, back-and-forth love fest. We've been "secretly...

Feds Nab Top Spammer, Predict Junk Mail Drop

One of world's "top 10" spammers jailed; used "zombie" computers to send out millions of junk emails

(Newser) - The feds arrested one of the world's worst spammers yesterday—a guy so prolific they claimed net-users worldwide would notice a drop in junkmail as a result of his detention. Robert Alan Soloway used infected "zombie" computers to send out millions of messages, and continued to do so even...

Microsoft Surface Plays Hard to Get
Microsoft Surface Plays Hard to Get
May 30, 2007 11:24 AM CDT

Microsoft Surface Plays Hard to Get

The company's new table begs to be touched, but price won't allow it

(Newser) - The bottom line on Surface, Microsoft's touch-sensitive table being unveiled today? The possibilities are exciting, says PC World's Harry McCracken, but the roll-out is annoying.  Surface—which skips a mouse in favor of an index finger—can interact with multiple users, and even objects. But, too expensive to be...

In Challenge to MySpace, Facebook Opens Up

Networking site sets its sights on platform model

(Newser) - In a challenge to social-networking giant MySpace, Facebook will open itself to outside software developers. With 65 partners—including Microsoft and Amazon—cleared to build web applications within the site, the scrappy No. 2 is attempting to transform itself into an all-in-one destination. The lure: Partners don't have to pay...

Microsoft Buys Ad Firm for $6B
Microsoft Buys Ad Firm for $6B
May 18, 2007 11:15 AM CDT

Microsoft Buys Ad Firm for $6B

Deal shores up Microsoft's flailing online advertising presence

(Newser) - Microsoft will plunk down $6 billion for aQuantive, a leading digital marketing agency. The $66.50 per share offer—nearly double aQuantive's closing price yesterday—comes on the heels of WPP's 24/7 Real Media purchase. It's Microsoft's biggest acquisition ever, reflecting its growing desperation to regain its status as a...

Tech Guru Takes Mass Approach
Tech Guru Takes Mass Approach
May 8, 2007 4:39 PM CDT

Tech Guru Takes Mass Approach

WSJ 's Walt Mossberg is the Everyman of high-tech—and the public is listening

(Newser) - The New Yorker profiles columnist and technology prophet Walt Mossberg, whose word has decided the fate of many a digital revolution. Mossberg's mantra is that technology should be easy and elegant, and he tells Ken Auletta that companies like Mac and Microsoft still have a ways to go in satisfying...

Microsoft Opens Window To Yahoo! Deal

(Newser) - Could a Microsoft-Yahoo! merger be in the works? The New York Post reports that Microsoft has quietly approached the Internet giant about opening merger negotiations, after informal talks fell apart several months ago. Insiders say Microsoft is looking to fight back against Google after the search-engine leader bested it in...

Yahoo's Earnings Drop Despite New Ad System

(Newser) - Yahoo's new online advertising system failed to break the company's earnings slump, with the search-engine pioneer reporting an 11% drop in first-quarter profits. Yahoo faces increased competition for graphic display advertising that represents a third of revenue, and the company is no longer doing ad brokering for Microsoft, which bolstered...

Google Dials 411
Google Dials 411
Apr 12, 2007 9:06 AM CDT

Google Dials 411

(Newser) - Google has unleashed an 800-pound-gorilla in the the $8 billion market for U.S. directory assistance: a free 411 service. 1-800-GOOG-411 launched last week as part of an initiative to bring Google's power to voice searches. And unlike traditional 411, customers can call in with search terms ("pizza Upper...

Big Guns Battle Video Sharing With Free TV Shows

Copyright-protected content will be available for free online in new NBC-News Corp. partnernship

(Newser) - TV biggies NBC Universal and News Corp. are teaming up to hit YouTube with the full force of their their combined TV content, offered online for free. Starting this summer, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and News Corp. subsidiary MySpace will hope to win over internet users (and the advertising that...

Google's Worst Nightmare
Google's Worst Nightmare
Mar 18, 2007 8:41 PM CDT

Google's Worst Nightmare

Can Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales take on Google in search and win?

(Newser) - Fast Company’s Alan Deutschman profiles Wikipedia founder Jimmy “Jimbo” Wales’ effort to take on Google in search. With 1000 initial volunteers, $4 million, and a commitment to mass collaboration Wales’ new for profit company, Wikia, mostly has idealism on its side as it takes on Google.

Billionaire's Club Welcomes New Members

The Forbes rich list is bigger—and even wealthier—than ever

(Newser) - The rich are getting richer, younger, and more geographically diverse, Forbes reports, with the number of billionaires up a whopping 19 percent, and their total worth up 35 percent to $3.5 trillion. Not only have billionaires been galloping away from the pack, they've been doing it earlier, bringing the...

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