Microsoft

Should Microsoft purchase Nook Media assets?

TechCrunch is reporting that Microsoft is mulling the idea of buying out the Nook Media venture in which Microsoft invested $300 million last year. TechCrunch says it has obtained "internal documents" that indicate Microsoft may pay $1 billion for the assets of Nook Media.

Does this make any sense? Given I thought rumors of Microsoft buying Skype and Yammer (both of which Redmond ended up purchasing) were pretty ludicrous, I'd say I'm probably not the best one to judge.

Microsoft officials, as one might expect, are saying they have no comment on rumors or speculation involving … Read more

Microsoft picks Amy Hood as chief financial officer

Microsoft promoted Amy Hood to chief financial officer Wednesday, replacing Peter Klein, who announced plans to leave the software giant last month.

Hood, 41, joined Microsoft in 2002 and worked most recently as the chief financial officer of Microsoft's Business Division, a job she held for a little more than 3 years. There, she handled financial strategy for the $24.1 billion unit and was deeply involved in the acquisitions of both Skype and Yammer. Prior to that job, Hood was chief of staff in Microsoft's Server and Tools group.

"I'm excited to step into this … Read more

Microsoft continues its kiosk kick, will open new 'specialty stores'

Microsoft's brick-and-mortar store expansion is increasingly happening via "specialty stores," which are kiosks and small storefront-type outlets, typically located in shopping centers and malls.

On May 8, Microsoft announced it will be opening four new specialty stores in May and June. The four newest locales: Roseville, Calif.; Arlington, Texas; Novi, Mich.; and Seattle. In April, Microsoft opened five new specialty stores.

According to Microsoft's Store locator page, there are a total of 34 specialty stores in the U.S. and Canada that are open now and/or opening soon. That's out of a total of … Read more

Microsoft tells more about 'Gemini' Office Web apps

Like the rest of the Microsoft Office unit, the Office Web Apps team seems to be on a path to deliver more new updates more frequently.

This week, the Web Apps team (which also internally goes by WAC, or Web Applications Companion) blogged about some of the new features coming to Office Web Apps "over the next year and beyond." These include official support for Chrome on Android tablets and real-time co-authoring (instead of "same time" authoring), starting with PowerPoint Web App.

Microsoft executives also previously have said that Yammer integration will be coming to Office Web Apps, … Read more

Toshiba: Microsoft confused tablet buyers with Windows 8

Microsoft's strategy to push both Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets has confused the market, according to a Toshiba executive.

In a Toshiba product launch on Wednesday in Sydney, Australia, Mark Whittard, managing director of Toshiba Australia, criticized Microsoft's dual operating system approach. Marketing two types of tablets -- one line with Windows 8, the other with Windows RT -- confused consumers, Whittard said, according to The Australian.

"I think one of the challenges is, there was a lot of confusion with Windows 8, my personal view is that they (Microsoft) confused the market with a couple … Read more

Microsoft revamps YouTube app for Windows Phone 8

The appearance of a new app suggest that Microsoft and Google have made progress in resolving their feud over YouTube.

Microsoft announced Tuesday the release of an overhauled YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 to make the most of the mobile operating system's features. While the previous iteration of the app was rather bland -- a situation Microsoft blamed on Google compatibility issues -- the new app is "completely redesigned" to take advantage of the platform's live tiles presentation.

Microsoft claimed that Google, which bought YouTube in 2006, had been blocking Windows Phone 8 access to … Read more

Unlike Adobe, Microsoft won't abandon packaged software

A day after Adobe Systems killed its Creative Suite software, moving instead to a Web-based subscription service, Microsoft said it would not follow suit with its Office suite of productivity applications--at least not yet.

In a blog post Tuesday, Office spokesman Clint Patterson said that Microsoft, like Adobe, believes in the future of software-as-a-service, in part because the applications can be always up-to-date, and because subscribers can use the applications across a range of devices.

"However, unlike Adobe, we think people's shift from packaged software to subscription services will take time," Patterson wrote.

How much time? Patterson … Read more

Windows Blue preview to hit in late June, Microsoft exec says

NEW YORK--Users will get a preview of Windows Blue in late June, a Microsoft executive said Tuesday.

Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Windows, said a public preview of the update to the Windows 8 operating system will be available in time for Microsoft's developers' conference next month.

She declined to provide many details about Windows Blue, the codename for the update, but she said it will enable device makers to create products with smaller screen sizes. She added that despite some reports, Windows Blue won't have any major changes from Windows 8.

"We're … Read more

Microsoft extends revenue guarantee with Yahoo

Microsoft is going to continue to pay Yahoo a guarantee for the revenue-per-search (RPS) shortfall that is continuing to persist.

Reuters noted that Yahoo disclosed the latest year-long extension of the guarantee, which had expired on March 31, on May 7. The guarantee took effect on April 1, according to Yahoo's latest 10-Q filing.

Search Engine Land recapped RPS this way:

"(W)hen Yahoo & Microsoft signed a search deal in 2009, Microsoft promised that Yahoo would earn a set amount of money for each search that happens, a 'revenue per search' or RPS. If this didn't … Read more