Nicholas Kolakowski

Bing‘s new Facebook social-search features are now deployed, according to Microsoft. Those same features will also activate for Web results on Facebook, which are powered by Bing. Those features include Liked Results, which displays the Websites and links “liked” by a Facebook user’s friends. For example, if you search in Bing for “The Social Network,” […]

Microsoft predicts sales of its Kinect hands-free controller will top 5 million units during the quarter, according to Bloomberg. The device, which allows Xbox players to control their onscreen avatars through body movement, will battle for marketplace dominance against both the Nintento Wii and Sony’s Move controller. The prediction of 5 million units represents an […]

Windows Phone 7 sales seem to be off to a solid start in international markets, according to reports from around the world. DigiTimes reported in a Nov. 3 article that sales of HTC-built Windows Phone 7 smartphones are “better than expected” in Europe and Australia. Stocks of the HTC HD7 and HTC 7 Mozart had […]

Michael Dell suggested during a Hong Kong event that developers are finding Microsoft’s smartphone platform easier than Google Android when it comes to creating apps and other software. But the Dell CEO also had kind words for Android, which powers some of his company’s tablet offerings and competes against rival Apple. “What’s interesting about the […]

Microsoft moved to clear up some controversy surrounding its support of Silverlight, with a top company executive assuring developers in a blog post that the software would remain a key cross-platform solution for some time to come. Silverlight is Microsoft’s development platform for rich media applications, such as Website interactive features. Bob Muglia, president of […]

Oracle is acquiring Art Technology Group, which provides e-commerce software and on-demand applications, for $1 billion. In theory, the acquisition will expand Oracle’s abilities in online customer services, which in turn would complement the company’s existing CRM, ERP, retail and supply-chain offerings. ATG’s assets include on-demand commerce-optimization applications, such as live-help services and automated recommendations. […]

Microsoft can expect businesses to adopt Windows 7 in greater numbers over the next few years, as those firms undergo an inevitable tech refresh. That’s the conclusion drawn from a Nov. 2 report by research firm Forrester Research, which also suggests those firms will use the tech-refresh opportunity to install their offices with a variety […]

Twitter could nearly pass 200 million users by the end of 2010 if it continues adding new ones at a rate of 370,000 a day. That calculation comes courtesy of an Oct. 30 article in The New York Times, which pegged the microblogging Website’s current user base at 175 million. With 60 days left in […]

Google is suing the federal government, alleging that the Department of the Interior unfairly restricted the search engine giant’s ability to bid for a contract to update its e-mail and messaging system. Microsoft’s BPOS-Federal suite eventually won the contract, estimated at $59 million over a five-year life cycle. Google filed the lawsuit along with Onix […]

Microsoft plans to acquire Canesta, a maker of 3D sensing technology. Manufacturers can embed Canesta’s 3D-image sensor chips and camera modules into a variety of consumer products, ranging from laptops to vehicle dashboards, in order to create gesture-driven natural user interfaces. “There is little question that within the next decade we will see natural user […]

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is an iPad competitor in more ways than one, apparently: According to research firm iSuppli, the Android-powered tablet PC’s parts cost $205.22, less than the estimated $264.27 for the 16GB iPad with 3G. Combined with an estimated manufacturing cost of $9.35 per unit, iSuppli’s grand total for the Galaxy Tab rises to […]

Apple’s iPhone will arrive on Verizon Wireless in early 2011, another news outlet is asserting. That report, which appears in Fortune, adds to the swelling rumors that the smartphone will soon break its exclusive lock with carrier AT&T. “Fortune has confirmed that a Verizon iPhone will be released in early 2011,” reads the Oct. 29 […]