Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition will begin shipping on new PCs with an ad-supported revenue model until a user buys a key to the full version. This new strategy offers the limited functionality of Works with the annoyance of ad interruptions.

There’s a rumor afoot that Twitter is talking to both Microsoft and Google about licensing the full Twitter feed for real-time search. If so, it could mean that the company starts making money without having to sacrifice the user experience.

Bing Engineers are willing to do whatever it takes to steal market share away from Google, even if it means copying features. So Microsoft teamed up with TellMe to create a Bing voice search feature for a new Sprint phone.

It’s been a long time coming, but Adobe has announced that it’s bringing full Flash capabilities to handsets from RIM, Windows Mobile, Android and Palm. The only major smartphone being left behind the pack is the Apple iPhone.

IBM has announced the launch of LotusLive iNotes Web-based email for businesses aimed at competing directly with Google’s low-cost business solution. And the kicker is that it’s cheaper to go with Big Blue.

Apple bought mapping API company called PlaceBase back in July that allows developers to embed maps in a site using JavaScript, though no one heard a peep about it. It sounds like Steve Jobs is looking to take a bite out of Google Maps.

After wrapping up the worst fiscal year in the company’s history, Microsoft is slashing the compensation of its named executive officers. The company is also set to freeze salaries of all employees for the next year.

Amazon partnered with Princeton to provide 50 free Kindle DX e-readers to students at the University. However some students found the Kindle so difficult to use that they would rather go back to lugging around textbooks.

At least one Washington Post staffer has shuttered his account on Twitter based on new guidelines from the company forbidding journalists from expressing their personal opinions online. How can journalists participate in social media without saying a word?

Investors just pumped $100 million into Twitter in its third round of financing, valuing the site at a total of $1 billion. The only problem is that the newly-minted billion-dollar site doesn’t actually make any money.

Even in the midst of lawsuits from Skype’s original founders regarding the use of its technology, EBay CEO John Donahoe is hell-bent on jettisoning the unit. This turbulence comes just as EBay’s long-term outlook is starting to look up.

Microsoft’s online properties have always been a bit of a joke with MSN losing cash year after year. But who would have thought that Microsoft could even lose money in the lucrative search market?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old, rich or poor, nobody wants to pay for online news. With almost three quarters willing to move on to another site, just how many consumers are willing to pay for the news?

Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently called Chrome out as his favorite product released recently by the company. But is that because of Chrome’s design aesthetic or because he enjoys eating Microsoft’s lunch?

How can Palm keep up with the massive catalog of applications stacking up in both the iTunes App Store and Android Marketplace? By paying developers to create versions of their applications that run on WebOS, of course.

Last week Steve Ballmer made headlines by threatening to demolish an employee’s iPhone in the middle of the meeting. Imagine his reaction when he notices that Bing’s Visual Search feature shows a Palm Pre to represent cell phones.

It’s rumored that T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom may be eyeing a bid for rival Sprint-Nextel in an attempt to reinvigorate its struggling U.S. division. See why this merger may not just sound like a potential train-wreck.