It's hard to tell, for sure. But during the month of June, when Microsoft ran an aggressive campaign for Windows Live Cash Back and games, the number of searches on Microsoft's sites leaped 15 percent, according to comScore.

While continuing to place third in the search engine industry market rankings, Microsoft took first place in June for display ad views, according to a new report from analyst firm ComScore. What that means is, ads for Microsoft were seen by more Web users than for ads for anyone else.

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As the Democrats' presumptive vice presidential nominee prepares to take the stage to accept the nomination of his party this evening in Denver, BetaNews' Ed Oswald takes a look at his long record.

Hailing from the state of Delaware, Senator Joe Biden has spent 36 years in the Senate. Along the way, he's gained a reputation for his direct, often outspoken, sometimes confrontational personality. His positions on technology, which reflect that personality, are sure to please some and enrage others.

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Defendant Jeffrey Howell was scolded by an Arizona court earlier this week in a move that could potentially give the recording industry a decisive victory.

Originally, the Howell case was the flash point for discussions surrounding whether simply making available songs for download through a shared folder constitutes piracy, or if actual downloading by a third-party needs to occur. For now, however, it's about destruction of evidence, as a case that had been been going the defendants' way -- in one turn of events already -- turned south once again.

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Download Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 for Windows Vista from FileForum now.

Validating all indicators since Monday that a revamped beta was ready for public eyes, Microsoft lifted the lid on Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 8 this afternoon, offering the first glance at some very competitive new features.

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Immersion, the corporation which owns patents for haptic technologies used in the automotive, industrial, medical, and entertainment fields, will have to pay Microsoft $20.75 million to finally end litigation that began over six years ago.

In 2002, Immersion sued both Microsoft and Sony for allegedly using its patented technology in game controllers that vibrate in response to on-screen action. Microsoft and Sony took divergent routes in dealing with the suit. Microsoft chose to settle out of court, while Sony defended its controllers.

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If in the last week or so you've noticed that your desktop background in Windows XP Professional goes completely black exactly every 60 minutes, don't worry, it's not a virus.

A blackened desktop is the latest indication that the Microsoft Genuine Advantage program has determined your copy of the operating system to be non-authentic, as a service of its latest version rolled out to XP Professional users this week.

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The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that an ad for the iPhone was misleading, and cannot be aired again as it misrepresents the device's Internet capabilities.

Two consumers complained to the ASA -- Great Britain's principal regulating body for advertising -- that Apple's claim of "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone" was incorrect. It doesn't support either Java or Flash, which provide the backbone for many Web sites and services, they argued.

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While the main upgrades to Photoshop.com are not expected until October, the public beta for Photoshop.com Mobile will open a month sooner.

Prospective beta testers will be wise not to expect even a fraction of Photoshop's transformative power, but rather the stripped-down functions of the Photoshop Express beta in a dedicated mobile UI.

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Microsoft has begun promoting the "Wave 3" Windows Live Hotmail update that promises a UI and functionality upgrade that will make the web-based mail client more like Outlook.

The UI upgrade, according to Microsoft, will be a combination of Hotmail's Classic and Full versions, listing the mailboxes' content to the left of a central "reading pane." In addition, Microsoft is promising more "cool stuff," which includes an increased amount of storage, and integration with other Live services like Calendar and Messenger.

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The Federal Aviation Administration's computer that manages flight plans failed early Tuesday afternoon, causing some airlines to delay departures.

According to spokespersons with the US Federal Aviation Administration, the problem lasted roughly from 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm Eastern time. The issue centered around a communications failure at the agency's Atlanta location.

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Download ZoneAlarm Pro Beta 8.0.020.000 for Windows XP and 32-bit Vista from FileForum now.

The difficulty for third-party developers to produce security software for the most feature-rich Vista kernel continues to this day, and a lack of news from ZoneAlarm suggests it could persist well into next year.

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Although Apple's iPhone 3G is getting some plaudits in the world press, people are also complaining about wireless connectivity speeds, price, and other issues, depending in part on where they live.

In the US, iPhone 3G users with AT&T have reported average download speeds of about 990 Kbps, the same as for Softbank in Japan and Telia in Sweden. Canadian carrier Rogers Communications did much better with an average download speed of about 1,330 Kbps.

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In a blog post yesterday, a Google developer advocate detailed just why the latest SDK for the emerging Android phone OS isn't exactly the same as Google first intended -- in other words, why Bluetooth and GTalk are missing.

Why didn't Google's Android SDK version 0.9, released into beta earlier this week, include originally planned APIs for Bluetooth and Google's own P2P-enabled GTalkService? According to Dan Morrill, a Google developer advocate, Google drew the conclusion that neither its Bluetooth API nor the GTalkService would be ready for prime time prior to the final release of the SDK for the first Android phones.

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How long could an "open" system effectively been kept in the dark? The facts are stacking up, and HTC's "Dream" G1 Android phone has all but been completely revealed.

AndroidGuys, a blog dedicated to what else but Google's Android and its related handsets, has published a design drawing and compiled a list of specs for the highly anticipated HTC/T-Mobile/Google handset.

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The buzz from analysts who have begun to speak out about what they expect to see during an Apple event that for now has only been rumored, lends new credence to the theory that iPods could be revamped as soon as 9/9.

JupiterResearch analyst Mark Mulligan says he would like to see Apple start to offer pre-loaded content, and like many analysts, continued to beat the drum for an iTunes subscription offering.

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