Microsoft Conference

Microsoft Windows Phone to be free for phones and tablets under 9 inches

Microsoft Corp is to give away its Windows operating system to makers of smartphones and small tablets for consumers as it seeks to make more of an impact on those fast-growing markets.

Microsoft BUILD: Windows Phone 8.1 comes with Siri-like voice assistant called Cortana

The assistant, Cortana, is named after an artificial-intelligence character in the company's "Halo" video games. Cortana tries to be chatty like Apple's Siri, while anticipating information you might want, like Google Now.

Microsoft BUILD 2014 to start tonight: Get ready for Windows Phone 8.1

Microsoft is following through on a promise to update its Windows 8 operating system on a regular basis to respond to consumers' complaints and other feedback.