Microsoft (MSFT) News

‘One of the dumbest things I’ve seen’: Backlash mounts against Microsoft’s plan to install Bing as default Chrome search for some Office users

by Nat Levy on January 24, 2020January 24, 2020 at 5:56 amComment

Microsoft’s plan to override Google’s search engine in its own Chrome browser for some Office customers has roiled users and led to widespread criticism on social media. What happened: The… Read More

Amazon asks judge to block Microsoft from working on JEDI cloud contract while court considers bias question

by Monica Nickelsburg on January 23, 2020January 23, 2020 at 9:28 am1 Comment

Amazon’s crusade to overturn the Department of Defense’s award of a lucrative cloud contract to rival Microsoft inched forward this week with a new court filing. What’s new: Amazon filed a… Read More

Videos: Here’s how browsing on Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Duo phone will work

by Nat Levy on January 23, 2020January 23, 2020 at 7:16 am 6 Comments

Information is starting to trickle out about how Microsoft’s Surface Duo — the Android-powered, dual-screen device that marks the tech giant’s return to the smartphone market — will work when… Read More

Video

Microsoft to test ‘Total Recall’-style personnel scanners at two data centers, Redmond office and mystery East Coast location

by Mark Harris on January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 at 12:28 pmComment

Microsoft is poised to test a new millimeter-wave body scanner at four locations, according to two filings made with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the past weeks. The device… Read More

Microsoft exposed 250M customer service records due to ‘misconfiguration’ of internal database

by Nat Levy on January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 at 8:07 amComment

Microsoft exposed approximately 250 million customer service records due to what the company called a “misconfiguration of an internal customer support database” used for tracking support cases. Tech review company… Read More

News Brief

Microsoft President Brad Smith calls for AI regulation at Davos

Podcast

GeekWire Podcast: Apple acquires Xnor.ai; Microsoft’s bold climate plan; Seattle startup trivia

by Todd Bishop on January 18, 2020January 18, 2020 at 10:22 amComment

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Apple doubled down on artificial intelligence and boosted its presence in Seattle with the acquisition of Xnor.ai, an Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence spinout… Read More

Microsoft’s ambitious ‘carbon negative’ climate goal sets it apart from Amazon and other tech giants

by Lisa Stiffler on January 17, 2020January 18, 2020 at 1:37 pm 3 Comments

A wide-ranging environmental initiative unveiled by Microsoft this week represents some of the most aggressive goals that climate experts say they’ve seen. Microsoft on Thursday pledged to become “carbon negative”… Read More

Video

Microsoft pledges to be ‘carbon negative’ by 2030, launches $1B Climate Innovation Fund

by Todd Bishop on January 16, 2020January 16, 2020 at 12:41 pm 7 Comments

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft says it will be carbon negative by 2030, removing more carbon from the environment than it emits each year, and will remove enough carbon by 2050… Read More

Microsoft president talks ‘tech Cold War’ with China, which accounts for 2% of company’s revenue

by Gregory Scruggs on January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 at 11:16 amComment

Microsoft President Brad Smith speculated last month that the U.S. and China were on the verge of a “Tech Cold War.” Even as the countries signed phase one of a… Read More

Why Microsoft embraced Chromium, and what the new Edge says about the state of web browsers

by Todd Bishop on January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 at 9:45 am 11 Comments

As of today, Microsoft’s default web browser is officially shifting to an open-source engine best known for powering a rival browser. Let that sink in for a second, and you’ll… Read More

Microsoft adds $250 million to Seattle housing pledge, bringing total commitment to $750M

by Monica Nickelsburg on January 15, 2020January 14, 2020 at 4:51 pm 2 Comments

Microsoft is increasing its spending on affordable housing and homelessness philanthropy in the Seattle area by 50 percent. The company announced it will spend an additional $250 million on the… Read More

NSA opts to ‘Turn a New Leaf,’ disclosing Windows vulnerability rather than using it as a weapon

by Christopher Budd on January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 at 12:20 pmComment

Today is the final day for public security updates for Windows 7. It is also the day when, as security writer Brian Krebs reports, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)… Read More

Microsoft and Amazon rise in patent rankings; Ford lands in top 10; Samsung and IBM take top spots

by Todd Bishop on January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 at 11:19 amComment

Two new rankings show Microsoft rising up the list of companies that won U.S. patents in 2019, based on the total number of patents issued for the year. The Redmond… Read More

RIP, Windows 7: Microsoft ending updates and security support for popular operating system

by Nat Levy on January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 at 9:20 amComment

One year ago, Microsoft began the doomsday countdown for Windows 7, promising to end support for the stubbornly popular operating system. Today, that clock hit zero, leaving millions of Windows… Read More

Amazon seeks to block Microsoft from working on JEDI contract as legal battle continues

by Nat Levy on January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 at 6:35 am1 Comment

Amazon’s legal quest to overturn the decision to award the coveted JEDI cloud contract to rival Microsoft could be a long, drawn-out process. While the court battle plays out, Amazon… Read More

Samsung unveils new smartphone with Microsoft Teams walkie-talkie feature

by Nat Levy on January 13, 2020January 13, 2020 at 10:33 amComment

Microsoft and Samsung took their partnership to the next level with a new smartphone that features a built-in Teams walkie-talkie capability. The new Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro is a thin,… Read More

Microsoft eyes huge new office building near its headquarters campus

by Nat Levy on January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 at 9:27 amComment

Microsoft has set its sights on a huge new office in its hometown of Redmond, Wash., according to a new report, in a sign that the tech giant’s appetite for… Read More

Solar-powered Surface? Microsoft wins patent for device cover lined with charging panels

by Nat Levy on January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 at 7:14 amComment

A future generation of Microsoft Surface tablets could feature solar charging capabilities if a new patent granted to the tech giant this week comes to fruition. The patent, first spotted… Read More

News Brief

Microsoft Teams to roll out new Walkie Talkie feature for instant workplace communication

Microsoft rolls out tool to scan chat apps for sexual predators seeking to exploit children

by Monica Nickelsburg on January 9, 2020January 9, 2020 at 9:28 am1 Comment

Microsoft released a new tool Thursday that scans online chats for people seeking to sexually exploit children. It’s part of a broader push by the technology industry to crack down… Read More

These tech stocks were the biggest winners and losers in the Seattle area for 2019

by Nat Levy on January 2, 2020January 2, 2020 at 9:03 pm 3 Comments

Microsoft and Amazon are the centerpieces of Seattle’s booming tech scene, and 2019 was a big year for both of them. Microsoft eclipsed a market capitalization of $1 trillion and… Read More

Tech’s extraordinary decade: What mattered most in the past 10 years of innovation

by Todd Bishop on January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 at 9:29 am 2 Comments

What were the top tech stories of the past decade? I’ve been discussing this topic with others recently on LinkedIn, and as I was editing GeekWire contributing writer Christopher Budd’s… Read More

Video

The decade when tech turned dark: Learning from the mistakes of the past 10 years

by Christopher Budd on January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 at 9:30 am 3 Comments

The arrival of 2020 is a chance to look back on the past decade and what it has meant for the world of technology. Recent security problems with security cameras… Read More

Microsoft seizes network of 50 domains from hacker group with ties to North Korea

by Nat Levy on December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 at 9:07 pm 2 Comments

Microsoft said it got a court order to seize 50 websites used by a hacker group with ties to North Korea that targeted government employees, universities, human rights organizations and… Read More

LinkedIn CEO explains why Microsoft integrations have been so slow since $26B acquisition

by Nat Levy on December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 at 10:12 am 2 Comments

In the leadup to its acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016, Microsoft promised to take a deliberate, hands-off approach to integrating the business social network with its own products, learning a… Read More

Podcast

Seattle tech’s extraordinary year: These are the stories we’ll remember in the business of innovation

by Todd Bishop & John Cook on December 28, 2019December 28, 2019 at 4:53 pmComment

From Amazon to Zillow, big successes to surprising failures, it was an extraordinary year for technology and innovation emerging from and impacting Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. That’s our consensus… Read More

The future of Cortana? Microsoft patent shows new advances in reading and summarizing emails

by Nat Levy on December 27, 2019December 27, 2019 at 8:27 amComment

Microsoft’s vision for Cortana continues to evolve, and according to a new patent, the next step for the digital assistant could include new capabilities to better read and summarize emails,… Read More

Video

A Tech Cold War? Microsoft policy leaders predict the future, preparing for a wild decade ahead

by Monica Nickelsburg on December 19, 2019December 19, 2019 at 10:36 amComment

It’s only been a few weeks since Microsoft President Brad Smith completed his book tour, in which he reflected on the most important tech policy issues he’s experienced during his… Read More

Microsoft’s M12 backs AI-powered contract management startup Evisort in $15M round

by Nat Levy on December 19, 2019December 19, 2019 at 12:14 pmComment

Microsoft is getting behind Evisort, a startup that makes artificial intelligence software to automate processing and tracking of corporate contracts. Microsoft’s investment arm M12 co-led a $15 million Series A… Read More

Microsoft

‘One of the dumbest things I’ve seen’: Backlash mounts against Microsoft’s plan to install Bing as default Chrome search for some Office users

Videos: Here’s how browsing on Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Duo phone will work

Microsoft to test ‘Total Recall’-style personnel scanners at two data centers, Redmond office and mystery East Coast location

Microsoft exposed 250M customer service records due to ‘misconfiguration’ of internal database

Microsoft President Brad Smith calls for AI regulation at Davos

GeekWire Podcast: Apple acquires Xnor.ai; Microsoft’s bold climate plan; Seattle startup trivia

Microsoft’s ambitious ‘carbon negative’ climate goal sets it apart from Amazon and other tech giants

Microsoft pledges to be ‘carbon negative’ by 2030, launches $1B Climate Innovation Fund

Microsoft president talks ‘tech Cold War’ with China, which accounts for 2% of company’s revenue

Why Microsoft embraced Chromium, and what the new Edge says about the state of web browsers

Microsoft adds $250 million to Seattle housing pledge, bringing total commitment to $750M

NSA opts to ‘Turn a New Leaf,’ disclosing Windows vulnerability rather than using it as a weapon

Microsoft and Amazon rise in patent rankings; Ford lands in top 10; Samsung and IBM take top spots

RIP, Windows 7: Microsoft ending updates and security support for popular operating system

Amazon seeks to block Microsoft from working on JEDI contract as legal battle continues

Samsung unveils new smartphone with Microsoft Teams walkie-talkie feature

Microsoft eyes huge new office building near its headquarters campus

Solar-powered Surface? Microsoft wins patent for device cover lined with charging panels

Microsoft Teams to roll out new Walkie Talkie feature for instant workplace communication

Microsoft rolls out tool to scan chat apps for sexual predators seeking to exploit children

These tech stocks were the biggest winners and losers in the Seattle area for 2019

Microsoft seizes network of 50 domains from hacker group with ties to North Korea

LinkedIn CEO explains why Microsoft integrations have been so slow since $26B acquisition

Seattle tech’s extraordinary year: These are the stories we’ll remember in the business of innovation

The future of Cortana? Microsoft patent shows new advances in reading and summarizing emails

A Tech Cold War? Microsoft policy leaders predict the future, preparing for a wild decade ahead

Microsoft’s M12 backs AI-powered contract management startup Evisort in $15M round

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