Microsoft plans to announce this week its first product from its long-incubating NetGen unit, according to a story in Newsweek.

The new Microsoft threedegrees instant-messaging-based application, formerly code-named "Genesis," is aimed at the 13- to 24-year-old crowd. Besides facilitating small-group instant-messaging communication, threedegrees also allows participants to share music, photos and customized animations, Web reports say.

Microsoft has been working on ideas for products that would appeal to this user segment, which, the company's own research has found, spends $153 billion annually and comprises an estimated 27 percent of all Internet users.

Read more