Microsoft Corp.'s fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 65 percent, buoyed by sales of its new versions of Windows and Office and by upgrade coupons for the operating system issued over the holidays.

Earnings for the quarter ended March 31 rose to $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per share, from $2.98 billion, or 29 cents per share in same period last year.

Microsoft Corp. today unveiled the first publicly available test version of the next edition of Windows Server®, code-named “Longhorn.” The release allows people to evaluate the increased control, flexibility and protection built into Microsoft® Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 3, available for download today at http://www.microsoft.com/getbeta3. The final version of Windows Server “Longhorn” is on track for release to manufacturing in the second half of 2007. ...

IT professionals face increasing pressure from rapidly changing technology, security concerns, increasing costs and expanding business needs. Windows Server “Longhorn” builds on the improved reliability and security of Windows Server 2003 R2 to help alleviate these pressures by addressing the automation of daily management tasks, tightening security, improving efficiency and increasing availability.

According to Microsoft internal research, approximately 70 percent of an IT budget is devoted to daily management tasks, indicating a high demand for services such as help desk, infrastructure health monitoring, and systems and update management. Windows Server “Longhorn” helps simplify administration tasks via improved event logging, task scheduling, enhanced remote management and the powerful scripting capabilities of Windows PowerShell™.

On April 24, Microsoft announced internally that Dane Glasgow, general manager for Live Search, is leaving the company to work for various nonprofits and spend more time with his family.

... Lieberman asked, "When can we look forward to a Zune phone?" and Ballmer responded:

"It's not a concept you'll ever get from us. We're in the Windows Mobile business. We can put Zune into Windows Mobile, we can put Xbox into Windows Mobile. We can pour everything in. We wouldn't define our phone experience just by music. A phone is really a general-purpose device. You want it to make telephone calls. You want to get and receive messages -- text, e-mail, whatever your preference is. You may want music, you may want to play games, you may want to carry your contacts with you, and you may want to pay for things. I think we have to think about the phone instead of as a fixed-function device, a phone is really kind of a general purpose device that we need to have clean and easy to use."

RIM Announces New BlackBerry Application Suite for Windows Mobile-based Devices
New Software Will Deliver Virtual BlackBerry Solution

Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to expand its support for Windows Mobile®-based devices with a new software application suite that will enable devices from third-party manufacturers to benefit from the popular BlackBerry® software applications and services*. RIM plans to begin offering the new software application suite later this year for select devices based on Windows Mobile 6. Once installed, the software will provide users with a virtual BlackBerry application experience, including support for BlackBerry email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, instant messaging and other applications developed for the BlackBerry platform. Devices running the BlackBerry application suite will be able to connect to BlackBerry services via BlackBerry® Enterprise Server as well as BlackBerry® Internet Service. ...

The new BlackBerry application suite will complement existing Windows Mobile 6 functionality and will appear as an icon on the screen in the same manner as other third-party applications. Upon clicking the BlackBerry icon, a suite of BlackBerry applications will load and will feature the familiar user interface of a BlackBerry smartphone. The device's existing Windows Mobile applications are preserved, allowing the user to easily and quickly switch between the Windows Mobile applications and the BlackBerry application suite.

Microsoft met a deadline for responding to European Union charges in its long-running antitrust dispute, the company said Monday, and called for regulators to clarify how much it can charge rivals for Windows server information.

"We need greater clarity on what prices the (European) Commission wants us to charge," said Brad Smith, Microsoft Corp.'s general counsel.

1. Google - $66.4bn
2. General Electric - $61.9bn
3. Microsoft - $55bn
4. Coca-Cola - $44.1bn
5. China Mobile - $41.2bn
6. Marlboro - $39.2bn
7. Wal-Mart - $36.9bn
8. Citi - $33.7bn
9. IBM - $33.6bn
10. Toyota - $33.4bn

Vertical filed suit April 18 in a U.S. District Court in Texas alleging that Microsoft has infringed on its Patent No. 6,826,744, for a "system and method for generating web sites in an arbitrary object framework."

But he then named a rough release date for Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). "But the [Vista] deployment [in enterprises] will actually happen when the Service Pack gets released in the fourth quarter time frame, probably the October-November time frame," said Otellini.

Although Microsoft has confirmed that SP1 is in the works, it has refused to name a release date or peg it to a particular quarter. That didn't change -- even after Otellini's leak.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (US)
Avatar: The Legend of Aang (EMEA/ANZ)
Breakdown
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex
Daisenryaku VII
FIFA Soccer 2007
Full Spectrum Warrior
Guilty Gear Isuka
Innocent Tears (Japan only)
Jet Set Radio Future
King of Fighters 2002
King of Fighters: Neowave
Mad Dash Racing (Japan only)
Mech Assault 2
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Nascar 2006: Total Team Control
NFL Fever 2004
Oddworld Munch's Oddysee
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Petit Copter (Japan only)
Phantom Dust
Reservoir Dogs
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
Rugby League 2
Sengoku Warriors (Japan only)
Sonic Riders
Soul Calibur 2 UPDATED
Spider-Man 2
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
Tenku (Japan only)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
Tony Hawk's Underground
Ultra Bust a Move/ULTRA Pazzle Bobble
Unreal Championship 2

Microsoft Corp. today unveiled a new commitment to help close the digital divide by creating new products and programs that will help bring social and economic opportunity to the estimated 5 billion people who are not yet realizing the benefits of technology.

Through the expansion of Microsoft® Unlimited Potential, the company is renewing and accelerating its long-term commitment to use technology, training and partnerships to transform education, foster local innovation, and enable jobs and opportunities to sustain a continuous cycle of social and economic growth for everyone.

Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. today announced that the companies entered into a broad patent cross-licensing agreement. Samsung Electronics is the largest publisher of U.S. patents in 2006 and owner of one of the largest U.S. patent portfolios. The companies expect the agreement to accelerate their respective product development efforts. Microsoft has actively sought patent agreements with a range of companies to build bridges with an array of consumer electronics, telecommunications, computer hardware, and Linux and UNIX platform providers.

Through the agreement, Samsung will obtain access to Microsoft® patents that may be practiced in a range of Samsung’s existing and future product lines, such as computer products, set-top boxes, digital media players, camcorders, televisions, printers and home appliances. In these product lines, Samsung and its distributors and customers may utilize Microsoft’s patents in Samsung’s products with proprietary software, and Samsung will also obtain coverage from Microsoft for its customers’ use of certain Linux-based products.

Likewise, Microsoft will gain access to Samsung’s large patent portfolio relating to digital media and computer-related inventions for its existing and future products. The specific financial terms of the agreement are confidential, but both parties will receive monetary payments compensating them for the value of their portfolios.

Judge Scott Rosenberg today granted preliminary approval to the terms of the settlement of the Comes v. Microsoft class action lawsuit at a hearing today in Polk Country District Court. Notice describing the terms of the settlement and what class members must do to participate will be sent shortly. The parties initially announced the resolution of this case in February.

Microsoft agreed to pay up to $179.95 million to individuals and businesses that purchased Microsoft operating systems and applications between May 18, 1994 and June 30, 2006. Government entities that purchased products from June 2002 through June 2006 are also eligible to file claims. This settlement dismisses all alleged antitrust and damage claims which had been raised in the case and which could have amounted to $1 billion or more.

Systems covered by this settlement include MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT Workstation and Windows 2000 Professional. Microsoft applications in this settlement refer to Word, Excel and Office versions designed for computers with the above MS-DOS or Windows operating systems. Iowans who purchased these products for use in Iowa will receive:

• Operating systems: $16

• Microsoft Office: $29

• Excel: $25

• Word: $10

Individuals will receive cash while volume licensees will receive vouchers which can be used toward the purchase of a broad range of technology products from Microsoft, its competitors and others.

The DoubleClick aquisition announced Friday does not violate antitrust, even though Microsoft and AT&T say it does. "Microsoft?" Schmidt said, his mock incredulity recalling Microsoft's own antitrust woes. "Did you say Microsoft and AT&T? What is the year?"

"They're wrong," he said, showing some emotion. "Give me a break! It's false." He said Google and DoubleClick together account for 1 percent of all the world's advertising revenue.

"This is an emerging business with lots of different choices," he said. "These were people who were involved in the bidding, who lost."

However, Microsoft simply ordered a small number of the Medis rechargers to give away at events, according to a representative at the software company's public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom.

CBS Corp. will distribute its television programs more widely over the Internet, adding new deals with Joost, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and AOL LLC to existing agreements with Apple Inc.'s iTunes and Google Inc.'s YouTube.

A New York-based company that is one of a handful developing fuel cells for consumer electronics devices says it has started commercial production of a fuel cell-based recharger for Microsoft Corp.

Today at the 2007 National Association of Broadcasters conference (NAB2007), Microsoft Corp. unveiled Microsoft® Silverlight™, a new cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web. Early supporters of the new platform include Akamai Technologies Inc., Brightcove Inc., Eyeblaster Inc., Limelight Networks, Major League Baseball and Netflix Inc.

Microsoft Silverlight, previously called Windows® Presentation Foundation Everywhere (WPF/E), integrates with existing Web technologies and assets to provide higher-quality experiences with lower costs for media delivery. Delivered to end users through a seamless, fast installation, Silverlight offers consistent experiences to both Macintosh and Windows users on a variety of browsers including Internet Explorer®, Firefox and Safari. ...

Leading media companies and solution providers have announced support for Silverlight including Akamai Technologies, Brightcove, Eyeblaster, Limelight Networks, Major League Baseball, NaviSite Inc., Netflix, Pinnacle Systems Inc., Rhozet Corp., Skinkers, Sonic Solutions, Tarari Inc., Telestream Inc. and Winnov. All have indicated plans to deliver Silverlight-based experiences for their viewers and customers.