Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
The Obama administration urged the private sector Friday to develop methods that consumers can use instead of passwords to identify themselves online and, in some cases, in brick and mortar stores.
“The Internet has transformed how we communicate and do business,” said President Barack Obama in a statement accompanying release of a national strategy to safeguard identity on the Internet. Get the full story »
Microsoft Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a plan Wednesday to work together on bringing Internet-connected services to Toyota’s cars. Get the full story »
Information screen for Windows 8. (Microsoft)
While most of the world has yet to upgrade to Windows 7, Microsoft is gearing up to launch the next version of its PC operating system.
Web forums lit up last week with the news that PC manufacturers had just gotten their hands on a new Windows 8 test build. Several analysts reported that equipment makers had received “early beta“ test versions of the operating system. Get the full story »
A customer tries out a Nook electronic book reader at a Barnes and Noble. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Microsoft Corp. sued Barnes & Noble Inc. and the manufacturers of Barnes & Noble’s Nook electronic book device, escalating a series of patent battles over gadgets based on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Get the full story »
Kate Pietrelli, marketing director of hi5, shows off a browser during a Microsoft Explorer event. (Chip Chipman/Bloomberg)
After a decade-long hiatus, the browser wars are officially back. With this week’s release of Internet Explorer 9, last week’s Google Chrome 10 release, and this month’s expected release of Firefox 4, the three most-used browsers are all trying to outduel one another with the most impressive specs. Safari 5, which was released in June, also features many of the same modern features. Get the full story »
Microsoft Corp. and federal law enforcement agents seized computer equipment from Internet hosting facilities in Chicago and other U.S.cities on Wednesday, in a sweeping legal attack designed to cripple the leading source of junk email on the Internet. Get the full story »
Ryan Gavin, senior director of Internet Explorer for Microsoft, shows IE9 last month in in San Francisco. (Reuters)
A new version of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer to be released Tuesday will be the first major Web browser to include a do-not-track tool that helps people keep their online habits from being monitored. Get the full story »
Microsoft Corp said Wednesday it has sold more than 10 million Kinect motion-sensing game system units worldwide in just over four months, making it the fastest-selling consumer device on record. Get the full story »
Microsoft has launched a daily deals service, integrating offers from industry leaders such as Groupon and LivingSocial into its Bing search engine for the desktop and mobile devices.
The move puts Microsoft into the daily deals space, but as an aggregator rather than a direct provider of discounts. Yahoo! launched an aggregation service, Local Offers, in November. Get the full story »
The City of Chicago and Vernon Hills Police Department are among 16 new government and education customers for Microsoft’s cloud computing program, the company announced at its Public Sector CIO Summit Wednesday.
“Public sector organizations are looking for enterprise-grade cloud solutions, and that means providing high levels of security, functionality and support,” Curt Kolcun, vice president of U.S. Public Sector at the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant said in a statement. “We’re seeing government and education organizations of every size and dimension using Microsoft cloud solutions to help reduce costs and increase productivity in support of their missions.” Get the full story »
Google Inc., taking aim at Microsoft Corp.’s lucrative Office franchise, plans to release a free tool allowing users to transfer files from the widely used software suite to the Web so that multiple people can edit and collaborate on them.
The long-anticipated move is intended to bolster one of Google’s fastest-growing businesses not related to its popular search engine — selling online software to companies. The company’s Google Apps offering includes online word-processing, spreadsheet and collaboration tools used through a Web browser that are part of a service called Google Docs. They compete with Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Get the full story »
Sony Ericsson has unveiled its long-awaited PlayStation smart phone, taking video game console wars to cellphones.
Sony’s PlayStation, on the Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia Live phone, will take on Microsoft’s Xbox Live, available on Windows Phone 7. Get the full story »
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is under pressure to justify a decision to ditch the company’s smart-phone software in favor of Microsoft’s, his former employer.
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest maker of phones, announced the alliance with Microsoft Corp. Friday. In a show of displeasure, Finnish employees used flex time to go home early. Get the full story »
In a major shift, Nokia Corp. Friday said it will adopt Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform, part of a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp. that will see the next two years become a period of transition for the ailing handset maker.
“Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale,” said Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft employee. “Nokia is at a critical juncture, where signficant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward,” he said. Get the full story »
Microsoft shares fell 3.5 percent on Friday as its better-than-expected profit was overshadowed by worries it is failing to cope with threats from hot areas like tablet computing. Get the full story »
