Microsoft expected to unveil new version of its Internet search engine

Microsoft expected to unveil new version of its Internet search engine:

Microsoft is expected to unveil a new version of its Internet search engine next week, turning up the heat in the battle for market share with Google and Yahoo.

The new search engine, which has been in private tests within Microsoft for months, is designed to help consumers better organize search results, according to people familiar with the matter.The software giant, the sources say, plans to demonstrate its new search engine publicly for the first time next week at the All Things Digital technology conference in California. Microsoft had no comment on the report.

Tracking firm ComScore said that 64.2% of the searches conducted by Americans last month were at Google sites, up from 63.7% in March. Yahoo's share slipped slightly to 20.4% while Microsoft was down to 8.2%.

Separately, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft said Wednesday they will spend as much as $180million over the next four years to jointly develop and sell hardware and software for messaging, video and voice in a challenge to Cisco Systems.

H-P plans to create new desk phones and expand its ProCurve networking products for use with Microsoft software. The effort is one of the largest undertaken by the Frontline Partnership they formed two decades ago, the companies said.

The deal is the second in the past month between H-P, the world's largest personal-computer maker, and Microsoft, the biggest software company.

Microsoft said last month it will sell its Web-based e-mail and business software through H-P's Electronic Data Services unit in an agreement that is expected to generate $3 billion in sales over five years.