Business

It's not a mystery: Microsoft is having a hard time selling its Surface RT tablet computer. To help boost sales, the firm is now offering previously very pricey peripherals for free with the purchase of the original device. Microsoft's Surface RT ... was released alongside Windows 8 last fall. However, unlike most Windows 8-based laptops and the more recently released Surface Pro tablet PC, Surface RT runs Windows RT, a slimmed-down version of the Windows 8 operating system (OS). The big difference between Windows RT and Windows 8: the only way to get apps for the former is through Microsoft's ... (view more)

We've known for some time that Microsoft is planning to update its newest operating system, Windows 8, with Windows Blue (otherwise known as Windows 8.1). Now, the firm has revealed the changes Windows Blue will bring. For one, the long-missed Start ... button is making a return. The bad news: the Start menu isn't coming with it. According to reports, clicking the Start button will bring users to Windows 8's new Start screen. That means they won't gain access to the list of recent and popular applications that popped up when someone clicked the Start button in Windows 7. Boot Directly to the ... (view more)

Microsoft now says that more than 1 million people have signed up for the firm's new Office 365 Home Premium service. The firm feels this is an indication that consumers are willing to forego physical software and embrace cloud-based services. On ... Wednesday Microsoft announced that the new Office "is officially the best-selling Office edition yet, with more than one sold every second on average since it launched." To reach that conclusion Microsoft is counting all sales of Office, not just Office 365. Office 365 the Fastest-Selling Office, Ever However, the firm did note that it has now sold ... (view more)

Think the PC industry is due for a resurgence in the near future? Think again, says analyst firm IDC. In a new report, IDC researchers predict the PC market will see a staggering decline in sales over the remainder of 2013. IDC had originally ... predicted a modest 1.3 per cent decline in sales for 2013, followed by slight rebounds in the following years. But then we learned about first quarter sales. PC manufacturers shipped just 76.3 million units in the first months of 2013, down an astounding 13.9 per cent from the same period in 2012. Of the world's top five PC vendors, only Lenovo avoided a ... (view more)

What's the best way for Microsoft to improve its financial outlook? Sell off two prominent properties: its Xbox video game division and its Bing search engine. At least, that's the opinion of Rick Sherlund, an analyst for Nomura Equity Research. In ... a report released earlier this week, Sherlund argues that selling off the Xbox and Bing properties could help Microsoft from a financial standpoint. Bing Division Consistently in the Red First, selling Bing does make some sense. After several years competing with industry heavyweight Google, Microsoft's online services division continues to report ... (view more)

It appears the European Union feels Google's suggestions for settling complaints it engaged in anti-competitive behavior don't go far enough. The search giant had promised to change the way it orders search results, but this wasn't enough for the ... groups that brought up the complaints. The EU recently carried out a lengthy investigation into complaints that Google exploited its dominance of the search market to increase advertising revenue. It's a claim Google denies. Google was accused of deliberately favoring sites it owned when determining search rankings. In the United States, Google was ... (view more)

Google is yet again under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This time the probe, which is still at a very early stage, involves the firm's advertising practices. The investigation hasn't been officially announced, but sources have ... told both Reuters and Bloomberg that it is under way. (Source: reuters.com ) This investigation centers on Google's advertising network. Specifically, the focus is on the way it accepts advertisements and then places ads on websites that sell space. Google offers its index of web content to find the site where the ad is most likely to generate ... (view more)

Having trouble adjusting to the new Windows 8 operating system (OS)? Microsoft says it's about to release new mice specially designed to make navigating the OS' user interface (UI) a whole lot easier. Actually, Microsoft has two new mice designed to ... make Windows 8 more accessible for desktop users. First, there's the Sculpt Mobile Mouse, which connects wirelessly to any Windows 8 device, including laptops, desktops, and tablet computers. Like most other wireless mice, the Sculpt Mobile Mouse features a dongle that can be stored inside when a user is on the move. Start Screen Button Makes ... (view more)

Microsoft has officially unveiled the next version of its popular Xbox video game console. But the new 'Xbox One' is a whole lot more than just a gaming system: instead, it's a powerful machine that should draw the attention of gamers and non-gamers ... alike. First and foremost, the Xbox One features some impressive hardware specifications. It comes with an 8-core processor, 8GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, USB 3.0 ports, and WiFi Direct capabilities. Unlike the Xbox 360, the Xbox One comes equipped with a Blu-ray drive, meaning you can finally watch high-definition movies from a disc. An octacore (8- ... (view more)

A new report suggests that many Windows 8 users aren't using the new operating system's many touch-friendly applications. That finding suggests Microsoft's big gamble with Windows 8 -- building an operating system (OS) with touch screen devices in ... mind -- simply isn't paying off right now. If there's one thing that sets Windows 8 apart from its predecessors -- including Windows 7, Vista, and Windows XP -- it's the focus on touch-friendly applications. The operating system's new user interface (once known as 'Metro') is clearly designed for touch screen laptops and tablet computers. The best ... (view more)