As Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) plays catch-up in the mobile phone space, it detailed plans for mobile applications today for Windows Phone 7 at its MIX developer conference in Las Vegas. The big take-away message is that Microsoft is trying to make it easy, fast and cheap to make apps for…

Updated: A big pick-up for Demand Media; The content distributor has hired Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) SVP Joanne Bradford as its chief revenue officer, according to AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher. Demand Media says it won’t comment on rumors; Yahoo now confirms that Bradford is leaving “to pursue a new opportunity.” Our co-editor…

It’s long been known that Nokia’s had a hard time selling its popular devices in the U.S. But its latest smartphones coming have a series of enhancements that it hopes will make it more competitive. The phones will run the latest version of the open source operating system, “Symbian^3,” which…

MSNBC is continuing to try make better use of social media as a distribution tool with a small effort that ties its @BreakingNews Twitter account to a dedicated Facebook page. It’s not clear how much Facebook fans want real-time news mixed with their friends’ status updates—as opposed to following @BreakingNews…

At the powerhouse Abu Dhabi Media Summit here at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, two of the biggest third-party search deals are being negotiated behind the scenes, we have learned. It just so happens that all the players involved were here for the last day or so: Google (NSDQ: GOOG)…

Here’s why Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is launching a “completely new smartphone OS.” The latest smartphone platform market share figures were released today by comScore and Microsoft posted the steepest drop. The new Windows Phone 7 Series—due later this year—can’t come to market soon enough.

In Rob Glaser’s first public appearance since stepping down as CEO of RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK), he implored that it is incumbent upon companies to work together in order for the wireless sector to continue its break-neck pace of innovation. Glaser did not hint at what he might do next, but…

This is the TV ad Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) hopes will give its search engine a fighting chance against Google. Made by WPP’s JWT, the “Bing and Decide” campaign will run for three months on UK commercial TV and web.

Nine months since relaunching its search engine, Bing’s market share continues to inch up. It’s now at 11.5 percent, up from 8 percent prior to its remake, according to the latest comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) figures (via Business Insider). We’ve made a point of checking in each quarter, rather than monthly,…

T-Mobile USA executives explained that it abruptly ended its year-old exclusive search deal with Yahoo, and replaced it with Google (NSDQ: GOOG), because it is what their subscribers wanted. “It was customer led; the Google brand is associated with Internet and search,” Ian McKerlich, T-Mobile’s director of mobile web and…

After a month-long delay, Microsoft’s overhaul of the MSN homepage is going live to the site’s 100 million users over the next two weeks. Perhaps the three most significant of the 30 updates Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has made since announcing that a redesign was coming to MSN last November: Headlines…

Here’s why Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is advertising Bing on UK TV: it’s barely making the tiniest dent in Google’s search leadership. Though Google (NSDQ: GOOG) piled on eight tenths of the 617 million additional searches Brits made since Bing launched in June, Bing took just four percent of them, according…

When Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) unveiled Windows Phone 7 last month, we figured that was the extent of its comeback plans in mobile. But now, there’s evidence that the software giant has something else up its sleeve. Two reports released today from unnamed sources indicate that Microsoft’s “Project Pink” is alive…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is still most closely associated with its desktop software (Windows, Office etc.), but on Thursday CEO Steve Ballmer said Microsoft was “betting our company” on the cloud. About 70 percent of Microsoft employees are working on cloud-related projects right now; that figure will reach 90 percent within…

AT&T (NYSE: T) is gearing up to launch the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Backflip, its first Android device, on Sunday, and with it comes a little surprise: The Google-powered phone has been stripped of its flagship search engine, and instead comes loaded with Yahoo. The removal of Google’s search by AT&T…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) unveiled a completely new smartphone operating system last month that in no way resembles its past corporate image. The new Windows Phone 7 fits somewhere between Bing’s visually appealing user interface and the consumer friendliness of a Zune music player. But to make the necessary leap required…

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has loudly suggested that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is behind the European Commission’s preliminary antitrust inquiry into Google’s practices. Microsoft’s response: So what? “Complaints in competition law cases usually come from competitors,” writes Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner in a blog post. “This is the way that…

Windows 95’s big OS-browser integration is now but a memory - from March 1, and likely through gritted teeth, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) will start offering European Windows users a choice of web browsers. This is in compliance with a December European Commission antitrust agreement that stops it from pushing its…

It apparently can’t be an Olympics without dueling claims from both Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and NBC on whose Olympics website is tops. The headline of Yahoo’s release today: “Yahoo Sports Dominates Winter Olympics Traffic.” And here’s NBC’s: “NBCOlympics.com On MSN Leads All Competitors Through First Weekend Of Vancouver Games” (The…