MICROSOFT

Even when Apple didn't create "insanely great" products, the one thing Apple could always do was create compelling and clever advertisements. No longer.

Windows Phone 8 is expected for a release date close to the Windows 8 rollout, and Samsung has just unveiled at least two potential devices it will be manufacturing. One will be called “Odyssey” and the other will be called “Marco.”

A new investigation confirmed some suspicious rumors about Microsoft's next-generation videogame console, the Xbox 720, following a leak of the console's preliminary software development kit.

After considering formation of a strategic relationship for over a year now, Apple and Twitter are reportedly back in talks about Apple investing in the short-messaging service, Twitter, to gain a toehold in the social-media world. According to the New York Times, Apple is reportedly considering an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Twitter, which would raise Twitter's value to $10 billion -- more than $1.5 billion more than its valuation last year.

As Microsoft Corp gears to take on the leaders in the handheld devices market with the Oct 26 release of Surface, its tablet answer to competitor offerings, the software maker has strengthened its war chest with the launch of the wireless mice and keyboard.

OCZ Technology Group, Green Dot, Exelixis, Mellanox Technologies, Nokia Corp, Synacor, Microsoft Corp, Statoil ASA and JPMorgan Chase & Co are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Monday.

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), and his wife Mackenzie Bezos have pledged $2.5 million to help defend same-sex marriage in Washington state. Will this move affect Amazon as did forays into the culture wars made by Chick-fil-A Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., and other companies?

Ever since the head of Valve slammed Windows 8 in a recent interview, content creators have questioned Microsoft’s upcoming operating system. But Valve isn’t the only video game industry force to feel opinionated on the matter. An executive at Blizzard Entertainment recently endorsed statements made by Gabe Newell that describe Windows 8 as “a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space.”

The release date for Windows Phone 8, said to be code-named “Apollo,” is likely to come in the fall, but some of the smartphone’s features have already surfaced online. On Wednesday, the software kit for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 leaked via Chinese website WPXAP, and revealed new camera improvements and 3D maps.

The SDK for the upcoming Windows Phone 8 was leaked on Thursday through the Chinese website WPXAP. Information contained in the document included details on improved apps for the phone's camera as well as 3D Nokia maps and expanded capabilities for third-party developers.

Google has added another feature to its versatile search engine, a scientific calculator. Less than a day after the calculator launched, Google’s IM service, Google Talk experienced an outage for over four hours.

Mac users have been able to play with Apple's new big cat, OS X Mountain Lion, for roughly 24 hours at this point. Though the initial reviews were overwhelmingly positive, we mentioned that it was still early in the day, and as Apple users had a chance to explore Mountain Lion, they would inevitably find some bugs and errors. And that's exactly what happened. Mac OS X Mountain Lion: Apple Users Report More Bugs, Errors, And Incompatibility Issues

Nintendo reported another loss Wednesday, saying its revenue has decreased nearly 10 percent year over year. But upcoming releases including the Wii U and the handheld 3DS XL could jump start the troubled company this fall.

Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), the world's largest social networking platform, is expected to post a profit in its first quarter as a publicly traded company following revenue growth in the April-through-June period.

Speaking on the first day of the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., chief executives from over 20 leading multinational corporations called upon 46 countries to lift travel restrictions on HIV-positive individuals.

Sony Computer Entertainment will not be announcing it's latest and most-likely final iteration of the Playstation 3 console next month at the Gamescom trade show in Germany, several sources confirm. But while the pricing for the PS3-4000 are still heavily rumored, some details on the new models have been confirmed.

Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system is set for an Oct. 26th release date, and is on track for Release To Manufacturing in the first week of August. Screenshots of this version that mobile developers will be seeing next month have surfaced on the Internet over the weekend, and show a number of planned changes.

Internet users and investors were heartened last week when Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), elected Marissa Mayer, 37, as its third CEO in less than a year. A hedge fund gets part of the credit but not all hedge funds score as well in the tech sector: how about Eastman Kodak (Pink: EKDKQ)?

In a piece of software connecting the Linux kernel to Microsoft's HyperV program, a small piece of hexadecimal code reading 0xB16B00B5 was found. Translated from geekspeak, the code reads, BIG BOOBS.

Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 8, will launch in the fall, and it looks like the company is rolling out a brand new smartphone to go with it. Windows Phone 8 is rumored for a November 2012 release date, along with various other launches from the company.

Ocean Power Technologies, Google, Diageo plc, Microsoft Corp, salesforce.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Amyris, Vodafone Group Plc and ARM Holdings plc are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Friday.