Kate Erickson

Microsoft has won another skirmish in the war for market share , as Queensland University of Technology agreed to transfer about 40,000 student email accounts to the Live@edu suite of applications. Queensland University of Technology has been ... internally testing email products from both Microsoft and Google for the past year, and made the choice to use Live@edu based on student feedback and the school's overall familiarity with the Microsoft environment. Professor Tom Cochrane, deputy vice chancellor for the Division of Technology, Information, and Learning Support, also noted that the ... (view more)

On Wednesday, Microsoft PR firm Waggener Edstrom proved that their biggest client isn't the only source of new software, releasing their own beta version of a Twitter trend analysis tool. Aptly named "Twendz," the tool analyzes tweets about any ... specified topic and indicates whether Twitter users are commenting positively or negatively. It's no secret that Microsoft insiders are tweeting on Twitter, and that the status feed is gaining notoriety as a source of information and "leaks" such as the plans for the updated MS Live Search . Twendz, Tweets, and 'Tag-Clouds' Waggener Edstrom (WaggEd) is ... (view more)

Cyber criminals beware! European police officers will soon receive corporate-sponsored university training in order to help fight cyber crime more effectively. Support for the new project will be provided by several leading IT companies. Online ... security magnate McAfee estimates that businesses lose over a billion dollars each year as a result of online crime. Just recently Ebay suffered a security breach where attackers were able to exploit a browser vulnerability. Since international police are not always trained to tackle the crimes directly, companies like Microsoft, Ebay, and AOL ... (view more)

In a bid to gain market share in the emerging mobile phone industry, Microsoft has made plans to go live with their new online mobile application store 'Windows Marketplace for Mobile.' The site will be a one-stop source for new mobile applications ... that can be downloaded to Windows Mobile 6.5 devices and earlier models, and will be analogous to the Apple App Store, Microsoft's biggest competitor in the mobile application market. (Source: eweek.com ) Windows Marketplace for Mobile (WMM) will offer mobile applications that can be accessed either directly from a Windows phone or else downloaded ... (view more)

Mozilla may be this year's winner in the "browser battles" as they ready the next beta version of their tour-de-force, Firefox 3.1. Mozilla is resolving eight critical vulnerabilities found in the current version of Firefox --a move sure to garner ... applause from devoted Firefox users. As this year's crop of new browsers emerges, enhanced features are becoming secondary to one thing: speed. Mozilla is nearly ready to release the next beta version of Firefox 3.1 to the public for testing and insiders predict that it will outpace even Safari 4, which has been the the fastest browser in wide ... (view more)

According to reports, Microsoft is getting ready to release a re-branded version of its "Live Search" in an attempt to become a major player in the search engine game. Since Microsoft recently attempted to join forces with Yahoo , it's not ... surprising that they are looking for new and improved ways to increase their status as a go-to company for online searching. What will come to The Market and When? Messages from Microsoft insiders that were observed on Twitter this week indicate that a pre-beta test version of the "new Live" already exists, and that users can expect some form of ... (view more)

Microsoft's newest lawsuit is the first on record to involve patent infringement based on usage of the Linux kernel -- proving that open source software is becoming the biggest fox in Microsoft's henhouse. Microsoft filed District Court charges and ... International Trade Commission charges Tuesday against in-car GPS navigation company TomTom Inc., claiming that TomTom is violating eight Microsoft patents. While Linux is not specifically mentioned as the focus of the charges, three out of eight alleged patent violations relate to TomTom's usage of the Linux kernel. (Source: zdnet.com ) The case ... (view more)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced today that the new and improved Windows 7 will be made available for netbooks, those tiny laptops currently out-selling conventional PCs. With the current economic crunch, consumers are cutting down on purchases ... of more expensive notebooks and desktops. Ballmer and the rest of the Microsoft family are feeling the strain, since PCs account for one of the largest markets for Windows software. Ballmer has apparently taken note of the surge in netbook popularity and plans to release a full (if somewhat "lighter") version of Windows 7 that will be able to run ... (view more)

Research teams at Microsoft are currently working on a new and improved browser that has the potential to be far more secure than the existing options. In the wake of financial problems, layoffs, and legal nightmares, Gazelle -- Microsoft's new ... browser-operating system hybrid -- could help the software company recover from its landslide in market shares . The Gazelle prototype, first unveiled in 2008 under the title "MashupOS" at the Microsoft TechFest Research Fair, incorporates the best of both browser and operating system characteristics in order to provide enhanced security features. ... (view more)

Privacy-minded Facebook members and consumer advocacy groups were victorious this week in forcing the colossal social networking site to reverse policy changes that threatened confidentiality and user control. Members once again blew the whistle on ... potential privacy violations resulting from adjustments to the license on user content. The problematic terms of service gave Facebook "irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license" in relation to user content for "promotional efforts," and also stipulated that deletion of the member account would not ... (view more)