Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft rolls out the Zune to go up against the iPod in 2006. And then, three years later, a new Zune HD to vie with the iPod Touch.  The Zune gets more traction with late-night talk-show comedians than with consumers. Both the player and the brand are now dead. Burger King gives away a free AOL Music download with every Original Whopper. The download code is on the burger wrapper — try not to get grease on your screen! McDonald’s begins renting DVDs. Actually, this one wasn’t a total flop: Turns out people don’t want DVDs with their fries, but Redbox, which now has

The Justice Department released a document today that characterized criticism by Apple and publishers of a controversial price-fixing settlement as “self-serving” and ill-founded. The Department also pointed to recent ventures by Google and Microsoft as evidence that the e-book market is thriving and that Amazon’s dominant position has been overstated. The arguments came in response to the 868 public comments that were filed in response to a settlement announced in April under which three publishers agreed they would change their pricing policy in accordance with Justice Department demands. The settlement was imposed after the Justice Department sued Apple and

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos introduces the new Amazon tablet called the Kindle Fire on September 28, 2011 in New York City. From their strongholds on the American West Coast, companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, and Amazon have used the Great Recession as an opportunity to think big, invest, and take the world by storm with their products and services. All four of these firms’ success is obviously and irrevocably linked to technology. But one of these companies — Amazon — is a tech company that is firmly rooted in the age-old industry of retail, in the quotidian business of

Microsoft has said little so far about Office 15, the codename for the successor to the current Office 2010, but on Monday, all will likely be revealed. In the meantime, we can at least speculate on the features we'd like to see in the next version of Microsoft's productivity suite, drawing on some of the rumors and leaked details we've seen so far. Here are five things we'd like to see in Microsoft Office 15: Now that widescreen displays are the norm, Microsoft Office should make use of the extra space in the margins. Instead of cluttering the top

10 Great Summer iPad Apps (click image for larger view and for slideshow) Amazon may be developing its own smartphone--with help from some former Microsoft employees. Robert Williams, formerly a Microsoft senior program manager, used his Twitter feed this week to let the world know that he had bolted from the Redmond campus to downtown Seattle, where Amazon calls home. "Working on a top-secret project called, oops, gotta go," Williams . More Hardware Insights Webcasts More White Papers More Reports More Williams is the second high-profile member of Microsoft's mobile team to defect to Amazon in recent months.

Sure, you can burn through the latest bestseller this summer, but why not be entertained and learn something at the same time? These novels range from masterpiece classic to fun thrillers, but they all offer excellent commentary on the business world:

Severance Package
At Jamie DeBroux’s office, layoffs aren’t as simple as packing up your things in a banker’s box. As a former cover for a branch of the intelligence community, DeBroux’s boss expects everyone to surrender themselves to death or be shot in the head.

Google Inc will soon unveil a tablet co-branded with Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc and priced to compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire device, an Asustek executive said on Wednesday. Amazon's Kindle Fire, which runs a version of Google's Android operating system, sells for $199. Through it users can access Amazon content including books, music and video. "It's targeting Amazon. The Kindle is based on Google's platform but with its own service, so Google has to launch its own service, too," said the executive of the device. Google has its own store for apps called Google Play, but does not

Barnes & Noble reported a fourth-quarter loss of $57.7 million on Tuesday, falling short of market expectations, even though sales of the popular “The Hunger Games” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” and the liquidation of Borders lifted same-store sales by 4.5 percent in the period.

The company reported sales of $1.38 billion for the three months that ended April 28, which was lower than expected and flat compared with the same quarter last year.

Barnes & Noble reported Q4 revenues of $1.4 billion for the period ended April 28, on losses of $1.08 per share. Following Microsoft’s $300 million investment during the quarter, B&N is now breaking out the Nook segment separately in its earnings. Nook revenues were $164 million for the quarter and $933 million for the fiscal year ending April 28.

Nook Simple Touch hurts revenues, but digital content sales increase

There’s a ton of speculation around what Microsoft will be announcing on Monday in Los Angeles. Both the Wrap and ATD claim the event will showcase a Microsoft built Windows RT/Windows 8 tablet. According to folks with knowledge of the situation, they’re somewhat right but mostly wrong. We’re being told that a tablet/e-reader built in conjunction with Barnes & Noble is on tap and that it will be entertainment driven.

Before we get to that, let’s go over the brief chain of events starting with timing and location.