XplanaZine

Updates on: Facebook, Microsoft, HP, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

With its $240 million equity investment announced Wednesday, along with a commitment to expand its pre-existing relationship as exclusive third-party representative for advertising on Facebook, Microsoft has cemented its connection to the company Silicon Valley is obsessed with. — CNN

In 2008, HP will award nearly $7 million in cash and equipment to K-12 schools in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and to colleges and universities throughout North America (Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.). The HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative is designed to support the innovative use of mobile technology in K-16 education, and to help identify K-12 public schools and two- and four-year colleges and universities that HP might support with future grants. – HP

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today $8.3 million in grants to help public libraries in 10 states provide quality access to computers and the Internet. — All American Patriots

Microsoft has rolled its Office Live Workspace technology into Live@edu, the company’s portal, communications, and collaboration suite for higher education. — Campus Technology