Microsoft News

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Event Set for Feb. 29 (Mashable)
Mashable - Microsoft chose a special day -- Leap Day -- for its special event: the official unveiling of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. The Redmond software giant began seeding invites for its exclusive event in Barcelona, Spain, where the Mobile World Congress trade show is also being held. There were virtually no details beyond the invite, but it's expected Microsoft will open Windows 8 downloads to consumers who will be able to install and preview the new OS on current hardware. Typically, these previews cease to function sometime after the final operating system ships, which will likely be this fall. The Consumer Preview should also represent the first major update since Microsoft delivered the Developer's Preview at its Build conference in September of last year. Response to this anticipated update should be big: millions downloaded the Developers Preview last fall.
Google, Facebook remove "offensive" content in India (Digital Trends)
Digital Trends - Responding to strong government pressure to remove content offensive to Indian politicians and religious groups, Google India has removed an unspecified number of sites and images from Google services in the country (reportedly including Blogger and YouTube) in response to an ongoing court case. The action follows weeks of pressure by the Indian government against nearly two dozen Internet companies, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Facebook—according to the Press Trust of India, the firms now have until March 1 to present their plans to a New Delhi court for policing objectionable content on their services.
Microsoft slams Google user data policy in new ads (AP)
AP - Microsoft Corp. slammed search rival Google Inc. with full-page newspaper ads Wednesday, saying that recent changes at Google that allow it to internally merge the data it collects on user activity across services such as YouTube and Gmail are meant to allow advertisers to better target customers.
Microsoft cuts about 200 marketing employees (AP)
AP - Microsoft Corp. said it laid off some of its marketing staff on Wednesday as part of an effort to restructure its operations.
Microsoft Begins Private Preview of Office 15 (Mashable)
Mashable - Microsoft says it's started a private preview program of the next version of Office to a "select group" of customers. Going far beyond just refining and enhancing existing applications, the next version of Microsoft Office, codenamed "Office 15," will unite the software suite with the company's cloud and mobile platforms. Announcing the move in a blog post, Microsoft says this is the first time the next version of Office will be seen by anyone outside the company, though it didn't identify any of its partners for the technical preview and mentions that they're all bound by non-disclosure agreements. Microsoft says its sales team nominated the participants, and they represent a broad range of industries and customer profiles.
Kinect technology is heading to laptops (Digital Trends)
Digital Trends - According to a recent report from The Daily, Microsoft is working manufacturers third-party manufacturers on prototypes of laptops utilizing a built-in Kinect sensor. Microsoft has already discussed desktops that include Kinect functions while at CES this year, but this is the first mention of the motion controller in a portable solution. The prototypes appeared to be ASUS netbooks and they were running Windows 8, likely to use motion navigation within the metro style version of the operating system. 
Yahoo's income drops 5 pct during fourth quarter (Digital Trends)
Digital Trends - Although many earnings announcements may have been lost in the wake of Apple’s $46.3 billion quarter, struggling Internet giant Yahoo also posted its earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2011—and they weren’t nearly so rosey. The good news is that Yahoo managed to earn some $312 million during the quarter; the bad news is that figure is a five percent decrease from the same period in 2010. Although income from operations increased a bit year over year, Yahoo attributed the overall decline in revenue from decreasing revenues garnered from its search agreement with Microsoft. Measured by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Yahoo’s revenue for the quarter was $1.32 billion, and its revenue for the year some $4.98 billion—and that full-year figure represents a 21 percent decline compared to 2010.
Microsoft's New Xbox 720 Will Be 6x More Powerful [REPORT] (Mashable)
Mashable - "More power!" You can imagine Steve Ballmer yelling it through Microsoft's halls but that's exactly what is happening with the Xbox 720, according to reports from IGN.
Core suppliers savor bigger Apple pie (Reuters)
Reuters - Suppliers basked in the reflection of Apple's glowing results on Wednesday after the company's gold standard iPhones and iPads flew off the shelves over the holiday sales season.
Will Microsoft Points be replaced with real-world currency? (Digital Trends)
Digital Trends - If you’re tired of trying to figure out the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and Microsoft Points, a new rumor making the rounds should give you hope.