Nancy Gohring

Microsoft last week similarly announced its plans to cut inbound data fees to Azure. The moves could encourage some companies that may have been worried about the cost of transferring large amounts of data to move to the cloud

The company has signed an agreement to acquire ITKO for $330 million in cash. ITKO's flagship product, Lisa, allows developers to test applications that combine components from SaaS, BPM and SOA applications

Small businesses will keep hardware on site, but pay a service provider on a monthly basis for maintenance and applications

The next version of Windows Phone software will come to handsets later this year, but Microsoft has made developer tools available now so that applications can be prepared. The company unveiled some of the 500 updates that will come to Windows Phone later this year

The hosting provider will start with virtual desktops from Citrix. It added that it will host VMware and Microsoft virtual desktops if there is demand

Smart phone shipments will be at the lower end of expectations, RIM said. The company now expects revenue to fall slightly below the range of $5.2 billion to $5.6 billion that it had predicted earlier

Samsung Focus and LG Quantum users are now receiving both Windows Phone 7 software updates. Microsoft is still testing updates for the HTC Surround

The service lets users find a lost phone on a map and remotely wipe it. BlackBerry users who do not connect through a corporate BlackBerry Enterprise Service can sign up to use the service