Microsoft

EU accuses Microsoft of competition rules breach by tying Teams to office apps

Microsoft violated European Union competition rules with “possibly abusive” practices by tying its Teams messaging and videoconferencing app to its widely used business software, the bloc has said.

Tue, 25 Jun, 2024

Microsoft to make some Xbox exclusive games available on other consoles

Several exclusive Xbox games will be soon making their way to rival consoles, the video gaming brand and its parent company, Microsoft, have announced.

Fri, 16 Feb, 2024

Microsoft lets cloud users keep personal data in Europe to ease privacy fears

Microsoft said it is upgrading its cloud computing service to let customers store all personal data within the European Union instead of having it flow to the US where national privacy laws do not exist.

Thu, 11 Jan, 2024

Microsoft owes around $29 billion in back taxes, according to IRS

The figure, which Microsoft disputes, stems from a long-running IRS probe into how Microsoft allocated its profits among countries and jurisdictions in the years 2004 to 2013

Thu, 12 Oct, 2023

Microsoft unveils new Copilot AI assistant for Windows

The tech giant is already using OpenAI’s ChatGPT within its Bing search engine

Thu, 21 Sep, 2023

Microsoft to stop packaging Teams with Office to head off EU anti-trust action

Microsoft will stop packaging its Teams videoconferencing app with its Office software in Europe in an effort to head off anti-trust penalties by regulators.

Thu, 31 Aug, 2023

UK opens fresh probe into Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard

The UK’s competition authority has opened a fresh probe into Microsoft’s $69bn (€63. 3bn) acquisition of Activision Blizzard after the tech giant submitted a substantially different deal.

Tue, 22 Aug, 2023

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard extend deadline to close acquisition deal

The companies are looking to close a deal that has been challenged by regulators in the US, as well as by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority

Wed, 19 Jul, 2023

West Bangal, India - April 20, 2022 : Activision on phone screen stock image.

Microsoft and UK regulators win more time to resolve blocked Activision deal

Microsoft and British regulators have won more time from a court as the US tech company uses a rare second chance to overcome opposition to its 69 billion dollar (£52. 7 billion) bid for video game maker Activision Blizzard.

Mon, 17 Jul, 2023

US regulator takes legal action to block Microsoft’s takeover of Activision

A US regulator has taken legal action in a bid to block Microsoft from completing its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard.

Tue, 13 Jun, 2023

San Francisco US, Jan 2023: Female hands holding a phone with the Google Bard website on the screen. Interior shot. Bard is Goog

Google opens its ChatGPT competitor to US and UK users

Google has opened its own conversational artificial intelligence service called Bard to users in the US and the UK as the company plays catch-up to Microsoft and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Tue, 21 Mar, 2023

More than a million people using ChatGPT-powered Bing as Microsoft expands test

The US tech giant also announced that voice search is also now being added to the new Bing preview.

Wed, 22 Feb, 2023

New versions of Microsoft’s search engine and internet browser will use AI

Software developed by ChatGPT creators OpenAI will now allow Bing and Edge to give footnoted responses to search queries and summarise detailed information from multiple sources

Tue, 07 Feb, 2023

Microsoft probes outages after Teams and Outlook go down for thousands of users

Microsoft is investigating after its services including messaging system Teams and email platform Outlook went down for users around the world.

Wed, 25 Jan, 2023

EU investigates Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard

The European Union (EU) has launched an investigation into Microsoft’s planned takeover of video game giant Activision Blizzard, fearing the 69 billion US dollar (£59. 7 billion) deal would distort fair competition in the market.

Tue, 08 Nov, 2022

Microsoft unveils Surface devices for ‘new era’ of computing

Microsoft has unveiled a new range of Surface devices which it says marks the start of a “new era” of computing.

Wed, 12 Oct, 2022

Microsoft: Russian cyber spying targets 42 Ukraine allies

Microsoft says “strategic espionage” by state-backed Russian hackers has targeted government agencies, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries supporting Ukraine.

Wed, 22 Jun, 2022

Microsoft pares outlook after warning about hit from strong dollar

Microsoft pared its outlook for fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, citing the impact from a surging dollar, sending the shares tumbling.

Thu, 02 Jun, 2022

Microsoft buys gaming firm Activision Blizzard for €60bn

The announcement on Tuesday arrived with Activision still in turmoil over allegations of misconduct and unequal pay

Tue, 18 Jan, 2022

Microsoft profit up amid cloud computing growth

Growth in Microsoft’s cloud computing business helped push its profit up 24% in the July-September quarter over the same time last year. The tech company, based in Redmond, Washington, reported quarterly profit of 17. 2 billion dollars (£12.

Wed, 27 Oct, 2021

Microsoft’s new range of Surface devices ‘lead in innovation’

Microsoft’s new line of Surface devices, including the first Laptop Studio and second-generation Duo 2 foldable phone, show the tech firm “leading in innovation”, experts have said.

Wed, 22 Sep, 2021

Microsoft unveils Surface Adaptive Kit to improve gadget accessibility

Microsoft has unveiled a new kit designed to make using gadgets more accessible for people with disabilities without compromising on their form or function.

Wed, 22 Sep, 2021

Facebook told to sell Instagram and WhatsApp in new US competition case

US regulator the Federal Trade Commission has refiled its competition case against Facebook, accusing it of illegally maintaining monopoly power and again asking for it to sell off both Instagram and WhatsApp

Thu, 19 Aug, 2021

Microsoft unveils latest version of its flagship operating system: Windows 11

Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its Windows software, called Windows 11, that has a new Start Menu and other features.

Thu, 24 Jun, 2021

Cambridge University awards honorary Doctorates

Microsoft held probe on founder Gates’ involvement with employee

Dow Jones earlier reported that Microsoft’s directors found Gates’ involvement with the female employee to be inappropriate

Mon, 17 May, 2021

Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce with $146bn at stake

The Microsoft co-founder and his wife, who launched the world’s largest charitable foundation, said they would continue to work together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Tue, 04 May, 2021

Microsoft profits soar as cloud demand continues in pandemic

Microsoft’s profits soared during the first three months of 2021, thanks to ongoing demand for its software and cloud computing services during the pandemic. The company on Tuesday reported fiscal third-quarter profit of 14. 8 billion dollars (£8.

Wed, 28 Apr, 2021

Microsoft buying speech recognition company Nuance in deal worth £11.6bn

Microsoft is buying speech recognition company Nuance in a deal worth about 16 billion US dollars (£11. 6 billion). It will pay 56. 00 dollars (£36. 31) per share cash, a 23% premium on Nuance’s Friday closing price.

Mon, 12 Apr, 2021

'Green' spending plan on electric cars helps US stocks soar

US stocks rose to all-time highs as an increased 'green' stimulus in the world’s largest economy fueled optimism about the global recovery and led to a new interest in makers of electric cars.

Thu, 01 Apr, 2021

Microsoft Teams suffers worldwide outage

Microsoft said last October that Microsoft Teams had 115 million active users per day

Tue, 16 Mar, 2021

Microsoft calls for Australia-style action forcing tech giants to pay for news

Microsoft has leaned on the side of the press in an escalating debate over whether tech giants should be forced to pay news organisations for content.

Mon, 22 Feb, 2021

Microsoft posts $15.5bn second-quarter profit

In a statement, chief executive Satya Nadella called it “the dawn of a second wave of digital transformation sweeping every company and every industry”.

Tue, 26 Jan, 2021

Cloud growth helps Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations

Microsoft has reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, as it continued to weather the coronavirus pandemic amid increased demand for its flagship software and services.The company reported fiscal first-quarter profit of 13.9 ...

Tue, 27 Oct, 2020

Microsoft attempts takedown of global criminal botnet

Microsoft has announced legal action seeking to disrupt a major cybercrime digital network that uses more than a million zombie computers to loot bank accounts and spread ransomware, which experts consider a major threat to the US presidential ...

Tue, 13 Oct, 2020

Microsoft plans data centre venture in Greece

Microsoft has announced plans to build three data centre sites in greater Athens, providing a badly needed investment of up to one billion US dollars (£772m) to the Greek economy which has been hammered by the pandemic.

Mon, 05 Oct, 2020

Microsoft buys Fallout maker in €6.4bn deal ahead of new Xbox release

Microsoft has bought the owner of gaming hits Doom and Fallout in a deal worth $7. 5bn dollars (€6. 4bn).

Mon, 21 Sep, 2020

Tech Now: Surface book excels in ability to be so flexible

The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is an incredible piece of technology that tries and succeeds to do so many things.

Fri, 28 Aug, 2020

The US may lose in Trump’s TikTok War

Although Donald Trump's actions regarding TikTok could yield a short-term gain, they have introduced severe potential risks to US interests, not to mention to international and domestic rules of commerce.

Thu, 06 Aug, 2020

GameTech - Happy to say hello to Halo: Infinite

The revamped Halo and a taste of what must be the best deal in gaming were among the highlights of the recent Xbox showcase from Microsoft

Tue, 28 Jul, 2020

Facebook makes advanced Workplace platform free for emergency services

The social network has stepped in to help ‘organisations that need it the most right now’.

Wed, 18 Mar, 2020

Fantastic mouse for general purpose use

One of the most important things we hook up to our computers is often the thing we give the least amount of effort into buying.

Fri, 16 Aug, 2019

Game Tech: A glimpse of the future at E3

A lot of gamers passed on Microsoft this generation. After a poor launch, their Xbox One console never gained any momentum, for one simple reason — the games weren’t good enough.

Wed, 12 Jun, 2019

Microsoft at $1trn pulls ahead of Apple

Microsoft’s market value vaulted above the $1tn (€893bn) mark for the first time in regular trade yesterday, pulling ahead of Apple and making it the most valuable US publicly traded company after quarterly earnings and revenue beat Wall St expectations.

Fri, 26 Apr, 2019

Microsoft users' emails exposed in data breach

Microsoft has confirmed that some of its email services have been breached by hackers, with the contents of some user emails exposed by the attack.

Mon, 15 Apr, 2019