Microsoft quarterly profit edged lower as Office software sales slowed ahead of a new launch, offsetting a solid but unspectacular start for its Windows 8 operating system and sending the company's shares down 1.4 percent.
'Tis the night before Christmas, and all through the house, last minute shoppers are panicking. What do you still have time to get your loved ones that they'll actually want? A new survey sheds some light, revealing what people actually desire more than traditional holiday intangibles like goodwill towards men.
On Tuesday, Microsoft put out a chest-thumping press release about how well its new Surface tablet is selling. But read between the lines of the PR puffery, and you'll see a worried tech giant making another big gamble in its attempt to produce a tablet that can compete with the iPad.
The buzz this week is back to tablets: Apple is expected to introduce a new smaller iPad, and Microsoft definitely will begin selling its Surface device.
Microsoft is hoping that its Surface tablet is ready for prime time ahead of its Oct. 26 roll out -- even as market-dominating Apple prepares for a big event on Oct. 23 that's expected to be the iPad mini reveal.
Microsoft is no longer willing to simply put out the software and establish the ecosystems for the benefit of its longtime hardware partners. The company wants some more skin in the hardware game.
Microsoft's unveiled the Surface tablet Monday, and this new iPad foe will of course be met with some skepticism. But there are plenty of reasons to take the world's largest software company seriously here. Here are five reasons to get excited.