It looks as though Microsoft really does intend to drop its line of fitness bands. The latest evidence: Microsoft has removed all references to its Band fitness trackers from its online store. A tipster who asked not to be named showed me a cached version of the Microsoft Online Store listing from yesterday, October 2, …

Microsoft made good Monday on its promise to give Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users a shove toward Windows 10. The shove arrived in the form of Windows 10’s shift from an “optional” upgrade to a “recommended” upgrade. Microsoft’s move comes as the Windows 10 operating system finally passed Windows XP and Windows 8.1 last month in terms of market …

Microsoft’s Surface Hub videoconferencing systems will be pricier and later than originally announced. In August, Microsoft said to expect the 55-inch Surface Hub model to cost $6,999 and the 84-inch model to touch $19,999. On Tuesday, company execs said in an e-mailed statement that they are increasing the prices to $8,999 and $21,999, respectively. Customers who already placed orders will …

It’s been a long, long time coming, but Microsoft’s Bing is no longer a bottomless money pit. Microsoft said Thursday in its fiscal first quarter earnings call that Bing had achieved profitability. Search contributed more than $1 billion to Microsoft’s first quarter that ended September 30, said Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood. More interestingly, nearly 20 percent of Microsoft’s search …

Enlarge ImageMicrosoft Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore is heading to sea with his family. Robert Galbraith/Reuters/Corbis The face of Windows Phone is taking a break. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore, a key member of the Windows team, is planning to take a leave of absence starting in November. Belfiore used Facebook to publicly announce his plans, and CNET confirmed …

Asus will pre-install unspecified Microsoft “productivity services” on its Android-based smartphones and tablets. Sarah Tew/CNET I’m starting to wonder whether Microsoft has a new strategy when it comes to signing patent-licensing deals with device makers that use Linux, Android or Chrome operating systems. On Thursday, Microsoft announced it had signed an “expanded” patent-licensing deal with Asus that covers the latter’s …

Windows 10 is settling in. Nate Ralph/CNET Windows 10’s adoption is continuing at a strong pace, according to Microsoft. Within the first 24 hours of Windows 10’s release on July 29, Microsoft said its newest OS was installed on 14 million devices. Two weeks after Windows 10’s launch, 12.6 percent of all unique visitors to ZDNet (roughly one out of …

The now defunct Kinect for Windows V2 sensor. Microsoft Last year when Microsoft announced an adapter kit that would allow Kinect for Xbox One sensors to work with Windows, some wondered whether the company would cease making Kinect for Windows sensors. On Thursday, we learned that the answer is yes. Starting today, Microsoft will no longer be making Kinect for …

Office Lens (shown here in the iPhone version) enables users to take pictures of things like receipts, business cards and whiteboards, and save and share them in a variety of ways. Microsoft Office Lens, a scanning app that’s been a hit on Windows Phone, is coming to iOS and Android. On Thursday, Microsoft made available a preview of the Android …

The Lumia 535 is among the Windows Phones that will be able to run the next test build of Windows 10. Andrew Hoyle/CNET Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group team has added code to the next test build of Windows 10 Mobile that will allow that release to work on the majority of Windows Phones. When Microsoft released the first test build …