Microsoft’s getting in the game of Internet-to-television movie downloads. A new partnership with Netflix will bring streaming movie and show capabilities to TVs via the Xbox 360 gaming system.
The service will be offered only to users who pay for an Xbox LIVE Gold membership and also have a Netflix membership. If you fall [...]

After reporting June 30 that eWeek’s BlogSeeker blog tracking service hadn’t been updated since March, someone at eWeek must have been reading The Inquisitr, because the page has been updated…with ads.
There isn’t a lot known about the service as for what ever reason eWeek has scrubbed nearly every mention of it, except for a few [...]

CareerBuilder now has a French recruitment agency in its ranks. The job search giant — co-owned by Gannett, Tribune, McClatchy, and Microsoft — has announced it’s snatching up Lesjeudis.com, for an as-of-yet unspecified amount of money.
Lesjeudis describes itself as one of the most visited job sites in France, featuring six separate sub-sites focused on [...]

Yahoo has issued its own statement in response to Microsoft’s letter explaining it would hold off on further talks until a new board is in place:
Yahoo!’s Board of Directors continues to stand ready to enter into negotiations with Microsoft Corporation for an acquisition of Yahoo!. Indeed, as recently as June, Yahoo!’s independent directors and management [...]

Yahoo’s starting up direct talks with Time Warner, while Microsoft is meeting with Carl Icahn to plan for the future.
Yahoo spent time with Time Warner over the holiday weekend, according to London’s Times Online. The paper reports Yahoo’s board is struggling to seal some kind of deal before its August 1 shareholders’ meeting — [...]

Microsoft’s made it official: Powerset is now under its control.
Word of the acquisition first surfaced last week. Today, Microsoft confirms the San Francisco natural language search company will become part of its “Search Relevance team.” The announcement at Microsoft’s Live Search blog seems to imply that most, if not all, of the Powerset [...]

Having failed to acquire Yahoo, Microsoft has been busy spending money, with news that they’ve acquired natural language search company Powerset for $100 million.
Powerset sort-of launched in May, with a smart search service that only indexed Wikipedia and Freebase entries. In use, Powerset is like the original Ask Jeeves on speed, focusing on questions as [...]

Microsoft has a new mobile software company in its hands. Executives have announced the acquisition of MobiComp, an eight-year-old Portugal-based business specializing in cell phone data backup and cell phone integration with online services.
MobiComp’s programs include MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, and Active mTicker.
The move marks Microsoft’s biggest investment in [...]

Following yesterday’s rumors of rekindled talks between Yahoo and Microsoft, Yahoo execs have sent a letter to shareholders basically begging to keep their jobs while saying nothing new.
The letter emphasizes the fact that the Google ad deal “does not prevent Yahoo from pursuing other alternatives that could increase stockholder value” and even goes on to [...]

With news being strategically leaked earlier today that Microsoft and Yahoo had resumed talks again (although over what seems to be depending on which leg of the Chinese whisper you listen to), Yahoo shares bounced to close at $22.04 after trading as high as $23.07. Volume was double the already relatively high due to past [...]

Will it ever end? Microsoft and Yahoo may be back in talks, according to information obtained by CNET.
The site’s source says Microsoft is looking at increasing its offer to buy Yahoo’s search business — something Yahoo’s board had previously indicated was not in its shareholders’ interest. CNET, however, reports Yahoo may now be [...]

Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Navic Networks, a provider of television advertising solutions.
Navic offers sophisticated campaign management tools that use data to optimize the delivery and placement of targeted interactive television media. Microsoft said the acquisition would allow Microsoft to be able to facilitate enhanced digital advertising across online and (notably) offline environments.
Navic [...]

Microsoft is offering up more money for you to use its services.
Weeks after announcing a plan to give discounts for products found through Live search queries, Microsoft has added in a new option to save directly on eBay “Buy It Now” items. eBay offers found via Live will now have built-in “Cash Back” discounts. [...]