It looks like Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) could be jumping its last major regulatory hurdle in its bid to buy Skype: it is expected to get clearance from the European Union’s competition commission, paving the way for the transaction to close by the end of this year. The deal was first…

The second day of Google (NSDQ: GOOG) I/O was all about Google’s Chrome Web browser and its budding Chrome OS project. Google’s Chrome leader, Sundar Pichai, ran through a morning of announcements, which included pricing details on Chromebooks, welcome news about Angry Birds on the Web, and a business-oriented subscription…

Turns out it’s not only the native app stores from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Android/Google (NSDQ: GOOG) that get a little hot under their collars when they sense competition from those publishing apps in their app markets. Today GetJar announced that it has rejected the Opera Mini browser from its…

All talk these days is about Google/Android and Apple/iOS, but here’s a nifty infographic that underscores just how fragmented the picture really is for which mobile phone browsers dominate.

In Steve Ballmer’s keynote today, his first ever at Mobile World Congress, the CEO of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) said that the new version of Windows Phone 7 will feature multitasking, a top-of-the-range mobile web browser and integration with Microsoft’s buzziest product of the moment: Xbox Kinect: in short, everything that…

First Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), and now Mozilla. One by one, web browser companies are revealing their plans for beefed-up privacy settings.

Fresh from making a short-lived surge to the top of iTunes Store’s app chart, browser maker Opera is now buying Australian webmail service FastMail.fm to bolster its own email effort across multiple devices. The Opera desktop web browser, which claims 50 million users, has offered a built-in email client for…

The European Commission has approved the much-needed 50/50 JV merger of France Telecom’s Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK, subject to them giving away a small chunk of radio spectrum - creating the UK’s largest mobile network, with 30 million customers, or 37 percent of the market. The combined…

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will not be showing off any new phones next week at Mobile World Congress in Spain, but rather will focus on its content and services strategy. Bloomberg quotes an unnamed source as saying it will be the first time in at least a decade that the company…

Norwegian browser operator Opera has bought mobile ad network AdMarvel as it looks to expand its products in its contest against Apple’s Safari on the iPhone. This past summer, Opera’s mobile browser took a slim lead over Safari’s iPhone version. Opera claims over 50 million mobile users per month. The…

A changing of the guard at mobile browsing powerhouse Opera Software—as co-founder and CEO Jon von Tetzchner is stepping down—with long-time vet Lars Boilesen taking his place. Von Tetzchner ran Opera for 15 years; he’ll stay on full-time in a “strategic” capacity, though no word on his official title. Boilesen…

It appears increasingly likely that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) will finally settle its long-standing litigation with the European Commission. The EC has agreed to “market test” a Microsoft offer to include a ballot screen on new PCs so that users can easily choose to install a browser other than Internet Explorer…

Microsoft’s latest offer to the European Commission, which is threatening the company with a big fine for bundling Internet Explorer and Windows together: It’s willing to include a ‘ballot screen’ on all new PCs with Internet Explorer pre-installed so that users can easily choose to install competing browsers on their…

Usage of the mobile web data is gaining traction in the U.S. at such a rate that in the next month it will surpass the United Kingdom, which has long been thought as the more advanced wireless country despite having fewer overall subscribers. The data was released today by Bango,…