Microsoft, Electronics | featured news

Microsoft Corp will invest $300 million in Barnes & Noble Inc's digital and college businesses in a deal that values the businesses at $1.7 billion.

Microsoft, struggling to dent the dominance of Apple and Google in the smartphone market, is aggressively courting app developers for its Windows Phone.

As AT&T gets ready to launch a new wave of Windows Phones to the pubic, independent analysis of Microsoft's app store reveals more than 80,000 applications have been submitted.

As far as years in technology go, 2011 was one for the record books. It wasn’t just about big battles like Apple vs. Samsung, Microsoft vs. Google, AT&T vs. the world, or Hewlett-Packard vs. itself. It wasn’t just about the growth of apps and the ever-increasing pervasiveness of the Web in our daily lives, though there were plenty of amazing developments both these realms. It wasn’t just about hardware or software. And it wasn’t just about towing the line or trying to hold onto it.

The Windows Phone Marketplace continues to grow at a steady rate. In little over a year, the Marketplace now has over 40,000 published apps according to an estimate from All About Windows Phone. This number is not the total available to consumers, but the total number that has been submitted to the online store. An estimated 5,500 apps are no longer available to consumers because they were removed by Microsoft or the developer.

Oops! Nokia will launch a Windows 8-based tablet in June 2012, according to Paul Amsellen, the company’s general manager in France. He disclosed the tidbit in an interview with Les Echos; The Verge picked up on the news.

To recap, Google’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, sent a shot across the bow of Apple, Microsoft and Oracle, accusing them of participating in an “organized campaign” to take Google’s Android platform down through patent lawsuits.

In the last week’s time, Nintendo has unveiled its brand new Wii U home game machine, Sony has taken the wraps off its handheld PlayStation Vita gadget and Microsoft has breathed new life into the historic “Halo” game franchise.

Microsoft plans to restrict the number of computer hardware makers that initially can make tablets using its Windows operating system, requiring five select chip makers to pair up with one development partner each.

Microsoft offers glimpse into the operating system that will feature in its Nokia handsets later this year.