Robots to install telescopes to peer into cosmos from the moon
A NASA-funded lab in Colorado aims to send robots there to deploy telescopes that will look far into our galaxy, remotely operated by orbiting astronauts.
A NASA-funded lab in Colorado aims to send robots there to deploy telescopes that will look far into our galaxy, remotely operated by orbiting astronauts.
Microsoft is bridging the gap between Windows PCs and Xbox with a new application development feature on the popular game console.
With the start of the U.S. professional football season around the corner, Microsoft unveiled the new tech it's going to be providing coaches and fans this season as part of its ongoing partnership with the National Football League.
Microsoft has chosen Sydney as the home for the company’s first flagship store outside of North America.
Microsoft is opening up app development for the Xbox One with the launch of a kit that will be available to all developers, bringing the console closer to the Windows 10 space.
From Cortana to Xbox streaming and the audacious Windows Holographic, these are the biggest announcements from Microsoft's Windows 10 Consumer Preview event.
Microsoft has pushed back the launch date of the Xbox One in mainland China, saying it needs more time to polish the system before it goes for sale.
China has approved the sale of 5 million Xbox One units, opening the way for Microsoft to make a big splash in the country's emerging console sector.
Microsoft's Xbox One is poised to be the first foreign game console to debut in China, but as the local pricing was announced on Wednesday -- $200 more than in the U.S. -- would-be customers made their displeasure known online.
Sales of Xbox One gaming consoles more than doubled in the U.S. last month because of the introduction of a cheaper version of the console that doesn't include the Kinect motion sensor.
Microsoft's Cloud chief, Satya Nadella, will lead the company as its next chief executive, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Microsoft's Xbox One will become available on November 22 and the company has made the game console faster by cranking up the clock speeds of the CPU and graphics processor.
Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One gaming console will contain a custom chip the company designed in conjunction with Advanced Micro Devices with the aim of delivering maximum graphics performance, presenters said Monday at Microsoft's Hot Chips conference.
Microsoft is building a 7-in. mini Surface tablet focused on gaming, possibly called the Xbox Surface, according to various reports.
Microsoft enjoyed strong income and revenue growth for its third fiscal quarter despite sluggish PC sales, with Xbox and Office doing well, the company reported on Thursday.
For the quarter that ended March 31, Microsoft reported net income of US$5.23 billion, up 31 percent from the same period last year. Third-quarter revenue was $16.43 billion, a jump of 13 percent. Diluted earnings came in at $0.61 per share, up 36 percent.
"We delivered strong financial results despite a mixed PC environment, which demonstrates the strength and breadth of our businesses," Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein said in a statement.
Overall, Windows 7 revenue shrank by approximately 4 percent when compared to the same time last year, from $4.6 billion to $4.4 billion. The company attributed this slackening of demand to sluggish PC sales.
Other business units made up the difference, however. Buoyed by strong Microsoft Office sales, the Microsoft business division generated more revenue than the Windows unit this quarter. It generated $5.2 billion, a jump of 21 percent from last year's $4.3 billion.
Entertainment and devices division revenue grew by 60 percent, coming in at $1.9 billion this quarter, up from $1.2 billion a year ago, owing to strong sales of the Xbox, the Xbox Live service and the Xbox Kinect controller.
Server and tools division revenue grew by 11 percent, to $4.1 billion from last year's $3.7 billion, thanks to continued demand for Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2 and other products and services.
Shareholders are receiving a bonus this year of $0.05 per share, thanks to an audit settlement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that covered the tax years 2004 to 2006.
Not all the business units proved to be profitable, however. The online services division posted a $726 million loss, which is actually a 3 percent increase from the $709 million loss the year before. The company's agreement to provide Yahoo with search technology has also been criticized for lackluster early results. In a conference call, Klein argued that the company is still concentrating on improving user experiences for the services, which should bring greater revenue in the future.
With Microsoft's Bing search engine, "we have made great strides in relevancy and design," he said, while admitting that "revenue per search is below our expectations."
"While we are pleased with the progress we have made with Bing, there is significant work ahead to improve the monetization of the combined Yahoo and Bing marketplace," he added.
Klein also anticipated that the company's recent partnership with Nokia will help bring more customers to Windows Phone 7, which is part of the company's entertainment and devices division. "Together, Nokia and Microsoft will integrate with greater speed and provide enhanced opportunities for users and partners to share in the success of the new ecosystem," he said.
For the immediate future, however, Microsoft will be relying more heavily on gaming sales and enterprises to spur growth.
"We feel great about how enterprises are investing in IT, and in particular, how they are interested in our product suite," Klein said. "Customers are adopting the whole suite of products, not just the Office applications - SharePoint, Dynamics and Lync. And that provides long-term sustainable growth."