Verizon has tapped Microsoft to provide search services for its mobile phones.Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said on Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would formally announce the deal later today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Reuters reported.
Microsoft Setting Aside Seattle Expansion Plans
Sometime this spring, construction of a Seattle development known as 2201 Westlake should be completed. There will be 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 134 condominium units, and 302,200 square feet of office space. Only the office space may remain empty, because Microsoft has backed away from it.
Rumors Of Microsoft’s 15,000 Person Staff Cuts
Are the rumors true? Reports have emerged that Redmond based tech giant Microsoft is set to slash its global workforce, as the pressure of the current financial crisis takes hold.Last month, speculation started that Microsoft was looking to cut its staff early in the New Year, with unconfirmed reports suggesting several thousands of employees would start 2009 looking for new jobs.
Microsoft’s Latest Global Problem
All of the Microsoft haters out there will love this one. When I got up this morning and went to my car to go to the office, I plugged my Zune in to get some tunes on for the drive, and to my dismay, I could not get a single thing to come up on the screen (much less out of the speakers) except the Zune logo. In fact, the device is currently sitting on my desk with the same problem.
Does Microsoft Want to Take Your Whole PC to the Cloud?
Microsoft has filed a patent for a "Metered Pay-As-You-Go Computing Experience." The exact words of the filing’s abstract are as follows:
Microsoft Prolongs XP’s Life Yet Again
Windows XP is, in a sense, like a horror movie franchise that the studio just won’t let die. Microsoft has said it will deliver XP licenses up until May 30th, 2009, even though January 31st of the same year was supposed to represent a death date of sorts.
Microsoft’s adCenter Desktop To Exit Beta
Microsoft’s adCenter Desktop, currently in beta testing, is about to go public, said Jeremy Lamothe, Search Account Manager for Microsoft Advertiser and Publisher Solutions at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago. (Coverage of SES Chicago continues at Murdok Videos. Keep an eye on Murdok for more notes and videos from the event this week.)
Yahoo Investor Wants Search Business Sold To Microsoft
Ivory Investment Management can’t order anyone to do anything. Since it’s only in control of 1.5 percent of Yahoo’s stock, Ivory may not even be able to make suggestions using a loud voice. Still, the investment firm is adding to all the previous Yahoo-Microsoft mess by recommending a sale of Yahoo’s search business.
Microsoft Talks Up Vista Customer Satisfaction Trend
A lot of eyes may be fixed on Windows 7, but Microsoft hasn’t given up on Vista just yet. An executive recently spoke out in defense of the operating system, saying that customers’ reactions are improving.
Microsoft’s Windows Live Social Network
I got my first invitation today to join a "network" on Microsoft’s new "Windows Live" social network. Here are some of my rough initial thoughts.