Paul Thurrott

Google umbrella Alphabet announced its first-ever consolidated earnings report, with the firm beating expectations. But investors were perhaps most excited by a post-earnings stock price bump that propelled Alphabet ahead of Apple as the most successful company on earth

Sales of tablets fell 10 percent in 2015, and almost 15 percent in the fourth quarter,according to the market researchers at IDC. But sales of so-called “detachable tablets” hit a record high in the year, with Microsoft Surface falling behind Apple’s iPad Pro.

Microsoft is underwater. Literally. The software giant is testing a prototype data center that can operate hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean, in a bid to eliminate air conditioning costs.

Because Microsoft just announced its quarterly earnings, this edition of (not so) Short Takes focuses on how well its various business segments are doing: Cloud, Windows 10, Surface, Phone, Xbox, Office 365 and Office, and more.

The market researchers at IDC claim that device makers sold 1.4 billion smart phones in 2015, a record. And sales were stronger than expected in the final quarter of the year, with nearly 400 million units sold.

Apple delivered a knockout punch in its quarterly earnings as always, but warnings about slowing iPhone sales growth did not go far enough: The business was essentially flat when measured against the same quarter a year ago, the first time ever that iPhone sales haven’t grown.

Microsoft’s Surface tablet was repeatedly called out as the culprit of a technical glitch during the nationally-televised AFC championship football game yesterday. And while Surface was in fact not to blame, Microsoft will have a hard time living this one down.

This week’s other news includes a key remaining question about Microsoft’s new Windows support policy for new hardware, Google paid $1 billion to be iPhone search provider, Android revenues, the iPad Pro is not faster than a PC, and Yahoo continues to navel-gaze.

Microsoft announced this week that it will donate $1 billion in “cloud computing resources” over the next five years to nonprofits, faculty researchers, and communities that lack broadband Internet access. The goal is to help transform the cloud from a solution for the privileged into a resource that everyone can use.

Microsoft announced this morning its acquisition of MinecraftEdu, a version of the blockbuster game Minecraft that is built for the classroom, for an undisclosed sum