Windows Phone 7 has not made a much of a dent yet in the worldwide smartphone market—it has less than a four percent share worldwide, according to the latest figures from Gartner—but Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is still moving full steam ahead in its push to carve out a space in…

Microsoft’s Xbox Live internet service, which recently lost one of its trump cards when rivals Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Nintendo matched its partnership with Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX), may soon fire back with a new content deal of its own. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) “has held in-depth discussions” with Walt Disney Co.…

The pending Xbox Live integration with Last.fm, Facebook and BSkyB shows that *Microsoft* has been busy making new content deals ever since the launch of last year’s very successful *Netflix* partnership. And Xbox Live’s GM Marc Whitten said that there were more coming down the pike—including deals that would increase…

*Google* is beating *Microsoft* at search, and *Apple* is pummeling *Microsoft* on the music front—but with the popularity of the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, *Microsoft* has a major edge on all of its challengers when it comes to controlling the living room. And the company made it clear that…

Tired of being forced into one-sided deals with big publishers, indie game developers are flocking to platforms like Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo’s Wii Ware to reach consumers directly. But as developer Mommy’s Best Games notes, these direct-distribution channels come with their own middle-man: the console-maker, who sometimes takes an…

*Sony* boasts that its PlayStation Network has more than 20 million registered users, beating Microsoft’s Xbox Live with 17 million, despite being about four years younger. But thanks to its Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) deal, Xbox Live’s content library has more than 30,000 movies and TV shows—and since PlayStation Network users…

*Microsoft* is known for keeping its paid subscriber stats for Xbox live close to its vest, so when the company said it had topped the 17 million subscriber mark during back-to-back presentations at CES, it was hard to put a financial value on that. Ditto when it said it added…

The first wave of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) layoffs has cut across the company’s various game-related divisions, and the first high-level casualty is Chris Early, GM of Games for Windows Live, according to VentureBeat. The online gaming service is the PC-based counterpart to Xbox Live; it lets players access their unique…

Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) are taking their game console war to the next level—launching dueling virtual environments in the next few weeks. Microsoft is rolling out the Xbox Live Experience November 19, while Sony’s much lauded (but also much delayed) Home is slated for a launch sometime…

PBS may be known for much more than Masterpiece Theatre these days, but the news that it will place parts of its programming on Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) Xbox is still something of a surprise. The public TV net is making a variety of full-length shows available for download on Xbox…

Hollywood producer and talent agent Peter Safran’s deal with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) to bring digital entertainment to the Xbox Live system represents a major expansion for both. As the NYT outlines, for Safran, who left his role as president of Hollywood powerhouse Brillstein-Grey Entertainment over two years ago to start…

—IAC-HuffPo: Expected last March, 23/6, the comedy news site from IAC (NSDQ: IACI) and the Huffington Post, is finally live. Contributors include writers for “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and HuffPo bloggers. WSJ has more. The delayed timing may help: the site launches just as broadcast and cable comedy…