Microsoft

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is putting his money where his mouth is. He is backing a new initiative called Graphite that is a free online resource to help teachers discover and share education technology.

Gates has long emphasized his belief that investing in education and digital tools could help solve the world's education crisis.

"What's surprising is given how the Internet has changed how we buy airline tickets and books and how we look up things, is that formal education hasn't changed hardly at all," Gates said in an interview with CNET in 2010. "… Read more

If you lock yourself out of your General Motors car, but have a Windows Phone in your pocket, good news: you can now use your phone to get back in your vehicle.

Tuesday General Motors and Microsoft launched the OnStar RemoteLink app for Windows Phone, three years after the app launched with the Chevy Volt in 2010. The app is also available for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry.

RemoteLink lets you unlock and lock your doors, remotely start your vehicle, and turn off and on your horn and lights, all from your smartphone. You can also view data on your car'… Read more

Microsoft's Games for Windows Live may end up going the way of the Dodo.

The software company on Monday posted an update to its Age of Empires Online support page saying that Games for Windows Live "will be discontinued on July 1, 2014." The news, which was spotted by several gaming publications, had not previously been announced by Microsoft. The page update was promptly taken down and no longer shows that excerpt.

It's not much of a surprise that Games for Windows Live is being shut down. Last week, Microsoft announced that the Games for Windows Live Marketplace, … Read more

Gamers who trade-in an Xbox 360 game can snag its Xbox One version for just $10, courtesy of Amazon.

A new promotion from the retail giant allows you to trade in certain Xbox 360 games, including Call of Duty: Ghosts, Need for Speed Rivals, Madden NFL 25, and NBA 2K14. After Amazon receives the game and ensures that it's in good condition, you can order the Xbox One version of the same title.

For giving up your Xbox 360 game, Amazon rewards you with both a bonus credit of $25 and a trade-in value of at least $25. All … Read more

Microsoft has integrated its two biggest communications services: Skype and Outlook.

The tech giant announced Monday that Skype is now available for all Outlook customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Canada, and Brazil. What this means is that people can use the video calling and messaging service directly from their e-mail. Microsoft first announced it would begin rolling out this feature in April.

"E-mail is an important and personal tool for most people, but there are moments when you want to be able to speak live or chat face-to-face," Outlook group product manager Dawn Martynuik … Read more

Nokia may be prepping a supersized Windows Phone handset.

The Finnish phone maker is testing a Windows Phone device with a 6-inch display, according to the folks at The Verge. Citing "sources familiar with Nokia's plans," The Verge reported on Monday that Nokia is eyeing a launch date later this year, certainly by the end of the year.

The big phone, codenamed Bandit, will be powered by a Qualcom Snapdragon quad-core processor and offer a 1080p display. Bandit could be the first of many potential 1080p Windows Phone handsets from Nokia, according to The Verge's sources.… Read more

Microsoft is killing its proprietary alternative to QR codes.

The company announced the news on Monday, saying that Microsoft Tag will "terminate in two years, on August 19, 2015." Although it might seem odd that Microsoft would announce the closure so far in advance, the company's terms of service require that it provide that much notice to users.

The colorful Microsoft Tag was supposed to be the software giant's answer to bar codes, traditional black-and-white QR codes, and other similar scannable tags. But the service, which Microsoft says was used by some major companies and ad … Read more

It might be something to do with a complete inability to trust my fellow human, but I don't stick to any one provider of Web services.

I use three different browsers and three different e-mail services.

I have no adoration toward any of them, but if there's one thing that's hard not to admit, it's that most of Google's tend to work a little better than anyone else's.

Which made me wonder how last week might have proved that point.

Microsoft's Outlook e-mail has sometimes -- at least for me -- been more … Read more

It's no secret that there are some serious issues around competition and Windows that spell trouble not only for Microsoft's Surface, but for other tablets, detachables, and convertible devices running the latest incarnation of Microsoft's venerable operating system.

But there is also some cause for hope. Recent findings from Reticle Research, where I'm the principal analyst, show that more consumers are interested in purchasing new Windows form factors than traditional notebooks. In fact, more consumers express intent to purchase such devices than actually have them today. As Microsoft's tablet efforts will soon resurface in a … Read more