Is Google becoming a bit like Microsoft? In terms of how it handles patent demands I mean.

Apple might be the new media and Wall Street darling, but arch rival Microsoft is no slouch among users. The software giant which is gearing up to release Windows 8, revealed some numbers about usage of its software applications suit dubbed Windows Live

Facebook spent $1 billion to acquire Instagram and now it has slashed out another $550 million—this time for patents. The social networking giant has inked a deal that will see Microsoft transfer 650 of the 925 patents it [Microsoft] acquired from AOL just last month. The deal seems to have a lot more than just an upfront cash benefit for Microsoft who will retain licenses for all 650 patents that are now being transferred to Facebook.

It looks like the acquisition of Skype by Microsoft has produced the Midas effect, because since the $8.5 billion purchase, Skype has been breaking record after record.

It looks like the acquisition of Skype by Microsoft has produced the Midas effect, because since the $8.5 billion purchase, Skype has been breaking record after record. Last February Skype stunned the tech world by announcing a whopping 32 million concurrent users.

What do you do when you are struggling tech and media company that can’t seem to make enough money in your core business? Why you create a veritable digital garage sale of course, and this is exactly what AOL has done with some of its patents—800 to be exact. The once giant of Silicon Valley has just inked a deal with Microsoft which will see AOL passing 800 of its patents to Microsoft for a whopping $1.1 billion

When it comes to App stores, nobody does it quite like Apple, and so when App store success is measured, it is done on a completely different standard. Take Microsoft’s Windows Phone for example; it has just surpassed the 70,000 Apps mark

Giving is part of the Microsoft culture so it comes as no surprise to hear that co-founder Paul Allen has given $300 million to help with brain research.