In through the outbox: Microsoft is so confident it has the Internet’s best email service that it is about to spend at least $30 million to send its message across the United States. The barrage begins today when Microsoft’s twist on email, Outlook.com, escalates an assault on rival services from Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., AOL Inc. and a long list of Internet service providers. As part of the process, all users of Microsoft’s Hotmail and other email services operating under different domains, such as MSN.com, will be automatically converted to Outlook.com by the summer if they don’t voluntarily switch before then. Read the full story here.
First things second: China has a new status its government doesn’t want—world’s biggest trader. Official Chinese and American trade data indicate China surpassed the United States last year in total imports and exports by a margin of $3.866 trillion to $3.822 trillion. The difference is about $44 billion, or just over 1% of China’s total. However, the Commerce Ministry has taken the unusual step of publicly denying China is the new No. 1. Read the full story here to find out why.
The worst offense is a bad defense: Cyberattacks that stole massive amounts of information from military contractors, energy companies and other key industries in the United States and elsewhere have been traced to the doorstep of a Chinese military unit, a U.S. security firm is alleging today. China’s Foreign Ministry is dismissing the report as “groundless,” and its Defense Ministry denies any involvement in hacking attacks. China has frequently been accused of hacking, but the report by Virginia-based Mandiant Corp. contains some of the most extensive and detailed accusations to date. The full story is here.
Today’s poll question: Whose version of events that led to the firing of Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White do you believe?
