Stories by: Juan Carlos Perez

Microsoft has released technical design details about the new version of Windows for devices that use ARM chips, outlining in a lengthy blog post different ways in which this OS, called WOA and still in the works, will be alike and different from existing versions of Windows.

Microsoft is looking at creating a bridge between Lync, its enterprise IM, voice and video communications product, and Skype as part of its broader initiative to extend the Office platform, a company executive said on Wednesday.

Microsoft has entered into a broad partnership with customer-service software provider 24/7 that the companies expect will yield a superior cloud-based platform that large companies can use to better address their customers' needs.

Lync Online, the instant messaging, online meeting and PC-to-PC voice and video communications tool in Office 365, will gain interoperability with non-Microsoft IM networks.

External developers will be able to build much more sophisticated applications and tools for Office 365 once Microsoft releases the next upgrade of that cloud-hosted communication and collaboration suite, according to a Microsoft partner.

Cisco is in the midst of a major initiative to better integrate its various collaboration products and to give their interfaces a uniform, consistent design in order to make them easier to use and more effective at helping employees work with each other.

Google+ is now officially welcoming teenagers and tailoring the experience of the social networking site for them by making it more restrictive and potentially safer.

Yahoo struggled selling both display and search advertising in the fourth quarter, as its revenue and net income both dropped year-on-year.

Google has relaxed somewhat its strict real-names policy on Google+, by letting existing members attach an alternate moniker to their profile name and by letting new members sign up with just a pseudonym, provided it is an "established" identity online or offline.

Microsoft has given details on a variety of ways in which the upcoming Windows 8 operating system does a better job than its predecessors at letting users manage their connections to Wi-Fi and mobile broadband networks.