10/28, 1:20pm
Microsoft Signature PCs arrive at retail
The Windows PCs at Microsoft's first retail stores are deliberately purged of the third-party apps they would normally carry, employees and eyewitnesses have confirmed. Product Advisor Jared Marino explains these systems, regardless of the brand, are considered Signature PCs and won't include any unnecessary third-party software. In exchange, they come preloaded with the normally optional Windows Live Essentials pack as well as extras like Bing 3D Maps, Security Essentials and the Zune client.
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10/22, 6:15pm
MS chief talks Win Mo 7, Sidekick, Courier
Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer today provided a handful of minor revelations for his company's strategy in an interview today. In his discussion with Engadget, the executive has now all but confirmed that Windows Mobile 7 will "come hard" with elements of the Zune interface; previously, the company had only made indirect allusions to the software appearing in a future update. Most anticipate the release moving the phone OS towards a more touch-friendly platform as well as to give it stronger media playback.
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08/27, 6:40pm
Bing SDK for iPhone
Microsoft on Thursday announced a software developer kit (SDK) to integrate the company's Bing search engine onto iPhone or Mac apps. The SDK allows developers to query Bing from within their Cocoa or Cocoa Touch applications, with support for both synchronous and asynchronous queries. Users can search Bing for web links, images, videos, news or phonebook results.
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07/29, 8:50am
MS Yahoo Search Deal
Microsoft and Yahoo today at last announced a partnership between the two companies for both ads and search. The 10-year deal will see Microsoft's Bing search engine replace Yahoo's own in most areas and will give the Windows developer a license to Yahoo's search technology to use for itself. In return, Yahoo will sell premium ads for both companies and will collect revenue from Microsoft for traffic sent its way during the first five years. Microsoft also vows to guarantee Yahoo's revenue for the first year and a half the new arrangements take effect in a given country. It should improve Yahoo's cash flow by about $275 million per year.
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05/28, 12:10pm
Microsoft Bing
Microsoft today tried to rekindle its search engine efforts through Bing (link active soon), a new service it hopes will fix problems with conventional search. The new tool is organized around common tasks like shopping or trip planning and has an Explore Pane that automatically suggests navigation and searches; it also has a "best match" to highlight what Bing thinks is the best answer and, in certain cases, shows the information the user was looking for on the page itself rather than requiring an additional click.
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05/25, 1:20pm
MS 80m anti Google Ads
A rumor today suggests Microsoft is planning to partly repeat its anti-Apple ad strategy when it launches a major new search engine. AdAge hears that Microsoft plans to spend between $80 million to $100 million advertising Bing, the final version of a radically revised search engine codenamed Kumo and meant to compete with Google, Yahoo and other top-tier search engines. At least initially, the ads created by marketing firm JWT won't target Google directly but will instead suggest something wrong with today's search engines and push Bing as the alternative.
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