Business

It's likely to be months, if not more than a year, before Windows 8 goes on sale to the general public. But according to Microsoft, a preview copy of the system has already had more than 500,000 downloads. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been making ... several public appearances this week to coincide with the formal public unveiling of the new system at BUILD, Microsoft's conference for hardware and software developers. Ballmer said that although there's a lot of work to do, the core of the system is finished. He said one of the main goals was to make sure that Microsoft's other services -- such ... (view more)

Five universities are being sued for their part in scanning millions of copyrighted books. It's an unexpected development in the ongoing legal wrangling over Google's Book Search service. Google began scanning books and first made them available to ... the public in 2004, with the idea of making it possible to search for phrases in printed books in the same way as on web pages. However, this led to legal action from groups representing both authors and publishers who complained that Google had scanned books without permission. Deal Brought Into Question The two sides eventually reached a ... (view more)

White collar crime may not always pay, but it sure doesn't result in heavy prison sentences, either. Last week a former Microsoft accountant found guilty of stealing $1.1 million from the Redmond-based firm received just a two-year jail term. Ray ... Seal, a 54-year-old resident of Shoreline, Washington, was recently found guilty of stealing more than a million dollars from Microsoft while working as an accounts analyst for the firm. Seal was indicted late last year and finally plead guilty to the charge in May 2011. (Source: thenextweb.com ) Accounting Loophole Exploited During the trial, ... (view more)

After months of waiting, developers have finally got their first peek at Microsoft's next operating system (OS), Windows 8. The major difference between Windows 8 and any other version of Windows, for that matter, is that it embraces tablet ... computing and tablet technology from the ground up. The demonstration came Tuesday during Microsoft's first BUILD developers conference in Anaheim, California (the show runs until September 16). About 5,000 developers are expected to attend the event. (Source: pcworld.com ) Sinofsky: Windows 8 is "Reimagined" According to Microsoft Windows ... (view more)

It may be another year before Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system (OS) officially hits retailers, but that doesn't mean hardware companies aren't already using it for new devices. In fact, it's expected that Samsung will unveil a new ... tablet PC running Windows 8 at the Microsoft BUILD conference this week. BUILD is a developers conference being held by Microsoft for the first time this fall. The conference will be held in Anaheim, California from September 13-16. Attendees May Receive Free Copies of Tablet Now, everyone expected that Windows 8 would be a hot topic at the event, but ... (view more)

Last week Google was fined $500 million for carrying illegal advertising for Canadian pharmaceutical exporters. Now, the lawyer who led the probe has made the shocking claim that Google chief Larry Page explicitly knew about and ignored the ... advertisements. Google's $500 million fine not only covered the profits it made from running the ads, but also the money the advertisers are estimated to have made from selling the drugs to US customers. Those sales are illegal because of Food ... (view more)

There are reports that Microsoft is about to hand out an ultra-portable computer running Windows 8 and containing a quad-core processor. If true, it could serve as a very effective way of promoting the new system on portable devices. The rumors ... center on BUILD, a Microsoft event that takes place in California in September designed to help both hardware and software developers work better with Windows. The event also serves as a source of feedback for Microsoft about how it could improve the operating system (OS), including those still in development. This year's event is going to be built ... (view more)

Steve Jobs has announced that he will step down as CEO of Apple Inc., currently the world's second-most profitable tech company. The news initially resulted in a stiff drop in Apple stock, though shares have rebounded since Jobs made the ... announcement on Wednesday. Jobs has been Apple's chief for the last 14 years, and that decade-and-a-half has proven extremely lucrative for the Cupertino, California-based company. Under Jobs, Apple went from a relatively obscure computer and software company to the premium designer and manufacturer of the world's hottest gadgets, including the iconic iPod, ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 8 will include support for a smartphone-like "app store". But it's not yet clear what the implications will be for app developers. The app store is simply a central marketplace through which users can purchase ... software and then have it automatically installed on a device like a PC. The term app store was made popular on smartphones, most notably the Apple iPhone. (Source: sfgate.com ) Although leaked screenshots of Windows 8 suggested such a feature was on the way, Microsoft has now all but made that certain. It's published a list of the teams it has ... (view more)

For the majority of those who scour the Internet for information, Google's search engine continues to be a favorite tool. But a new report is showing that Google's success rate is slipping, even being surpassed by rivals Yahoo! and Bing. Google ... remained the most popular search engine in July, commanding 66 per cent of all searches for the month. But of those searches, only 68 per cent were deemed successful. In comparison, more than 80 per cent of searches conducted on both Yahoo! and Bing were considered successful. Link Usage Renders Search "Successful" The most obvious question coming out ... (view more)