Nicholas Kolakowski

Apple could launch its Mac App Store Dec. 13, according to the latest rumors circulating around the blogosphere. The PC version of the company’s iOS App Store will offer third-party developers the chance to offer low-cost programs for both consumers and business users. Quoting an unnamed “inside source,” the blog Appletell proclaimed in a Dec. […]

High sales of the Xbox Kinect boded well for Microsoft’s holiday retail season, but the company nonetheless faced difficulties this week on a number of fronts. Some 2.5 million Kinect hands-free controllers have sold in the device’s first 25 days of release, according to Microsoft. “We are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 […]

Microsoft is reacting strongly to news that rival Google had locked down a contract to provide Gmail and Google Apps to the General Services Administration. Both Microsoft and Google offer cloud-based productivity and communications software and compete fiercely for large public- and private-sector contracts. While Microsoft originally built its business on desktop-based software, the its […]

Dell will begin shipping the Venue Pro, its first Windows Phone 7 handset, Dec. 9. Retailing for $99.99 with a two-year contract, the smartphone includes a 4.1-inch multi-touch display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Microsoft hopes that the Venue Pro and other Windows Phone 7 smartphones launched during this holiday season will attract both consumers […]

Microsoft continues fine-tuning its Windows Phone 7 resources for developers, cognizant of how a failure to attract third-party apps will harm the platform’s chances against Google Android and the Apple iPhone. Over the past few weeks, complaints from developers about some of Windows Phone 7’s policies and backend infrastructure have percolated through the blogosphere. A […]

Xbox Kinect and Windows Phone 7 are just the beginning of Microsoft’s push into natural user interfaces, according to discussions with company executives. Plans include baking touch, gesture and voice-activated technology into products ranging from video games to vehicles. Ilya Bukshteyn, senior director of marketing for Microsoft Tellme, told eWEEK during a Dec. 1 meeting […]

E-commerce spending rose on Cyber Monday 2010, in what analyst firm comScore termed the “heaviest online spending day in history.” Created in 2005 as a marketing buzzword, “Cyber Monday” denotes the Monday following Thanksgiving, when holiday shoppers supposedly use their return to work-and presumably, their office’s broadband connection-to embark on an online shopping spree. Indeed, […]

Level 3 Communications has accused U.S. cable provider Comcast Communications of imposing an unfair fee on bandwidth traffic. As a provider of fiber-based communications services, Level 3 helps stream Netflix’s television shows and movies to consumers. Now U.S. regulators are getting involved. “On November 19, 2010, Comcast informed Level 3 that, for the first time, […]

Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader faces a growing threat from the Apple iPad, according to a new survey by ChangeWave Research. After polling 2,800 consumers, the analysis firm concluded that the iPad’s share of the e-reader market had expanded from 16 percent to 32 percent between August and November, while the Kindle’s dipped from 62 percent to […]

Microsoft is claiming sales of 2.5 million Kinect hands-free controllers, making the Xbox 360 accessory one of the first reported successes of the holiday shopping season. “With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers […]

Microsoft could face some difficulties as it attempts to kick-start interest in Windows Phone 7, according to a new analyst report. That comes along with new rumors that the smartphone’s next software update, reportedly due in the next few weeks, will be massive in scope. “Not all the stars are aligning for the Microsoft operating […]

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Microsoft’s appeal in its long-running patent case with Canadian firm i4i. That decision not only gives Microsoft yet another shot at overturning a substantial monetary judgment, but gives the Supreme Court a chance to leave its mark on the escalating patent-infringement battles gripping the tech industry. The case before […]