Microsoft to Invest in 'Web 3.0'

Seeing as it was late to the game with Web 2.0, Microsoft is making a preemptive effort to be ready the next time around. The company has pledged $500,000 in research grants toward what it calls "Intelligent Web 3.0," in which the Web becomes more aware of where and how it's being accessed in order to custom tailor information.

In total, Microsoft pledged nearly $6.5 million in research grants to colleges and universities. $1 million will cover utilizing cell phones in the healthcare industry, $700,000 for genome studies, $500,000 each for multi-core and sustainable computing, and another $500,000 for human-robot interaction. In addition, $1 million will be put toward academic computational research, and another $1 million provided to five new faculty members to be put toward their research.