Posts Tagged ‘MSN’

MSN holds music talks with MySpace

November 3rd, 2009

myspace-msnWASHINGTON: Microsoft’s MSN is in talks with MySpace about using the social network’s MySpace Music to help power music offerings on the software giant’s online portal, technology blog AllThingsD said Tuesday.

AllThingsD said the talks were preliminary and it was not clear what the financial terms would be in any tie-up between MSN and MySpace.

It said an agreement could include licensing of content and other services related to music, where MySpace has made a heavy push in a bid to differentiate itself from rival Facebook.

Microsoft has its own music site, MSN Music, but it draws less traffic than other music sites, according to AllThingsD, which is owned by Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. owns Dow Jones and also owns MySpace.

According to figures from comScore cited by AllThingsD, AOL Music attracted 27.4 million unique monthly visitors in April followed by MySpace Music. MSN Music was sixth with just 7.4 million unique monthly visitors. -AFP

Ballmer sees Windows 7 effect on PC market muted

October 7th, 2009

windows 7Microsoft’s release of its new Windows 7 operating system is expected to increase demand for personal computers only slightly, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told journalists in Munich on Wednesday.

“There will be a surge of PCs but it will probably not be huge,” Ballmer said in answer to a question at a news conference about the likely effect on the market of the new system, which will replace the unpopular Vista.

Major new software updates from Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs about 90 percent of the world’s PCs, are in general eagerly awaited by computer makers who hope for a sales boost.

However, in a survey of more than 1,000 companies released by ScriptLogic in July, six in 10 companies said they planned to skip the purchase of Windows 7, partly due to spending cuts and partly over concern about compatibility with existing systems.

Ballmer reiterated he saw the technology sector returning to growth only slowly, and said it would take time to reach pre-recession levels.

Windows 7 will be generally available on October 22, far earlier than originally planned.