TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

Bellevue-based Intelius has purchased the Silicon Valley people search engine Spock, according to a report in VentureBeat. VentureBeat confirmed the deal with Spock co-founder Jaideep Singh, though editor Matt Marshall didn't have a purchase price.

Marshall reports that Spock -- which had burned through $8 million -- attracts about 10 million unique visitors each month. 

Post updated with comments from Ed Petersen of Intelius.

Cascadia Capital has formed a new board of directors to help the Seattle investment bank address some of the complex issues now arising in financial transactions. The board includes former Washington Mutual vice chair of corporate development Craig Tall; former Cybersafe and aQuantive board member Rick Fox and former Matthew G. Norton Co. COO Jim Doud.

Ever since Microsoft incubated Expedia 15 years ago, Seattle's been a hotbed when it comes to online travel. There's Farecast, Yapta and Escapia to name just a few. Now, a new startup company called Raveable is emerging with a product that promises to help people make sense out of hotel reviews and recommendations.

Samal near courthouse after sentencing.

Minecode CEO Pradyumna Samal was sentenced to 90 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring and three years' probation by a federal court judge in Seattle for his role in crippling the website of online wine business Vinado in 2006. He was also instructed to complete 288 hours of community service and "moral reconation therapy."

Here's a fun clip from last night's TechFlash Live, with John talking to I Can Has Cheezburger's Ben Huh about his company's concept for a new site that takes its inspiration from the swine flu. (This is the appropriately irreverent and profane address the company has acquired.) Also in the clip, Huh explains how to keep investors on their toes with some carefully-chosen LOLspeak.

Joe Mallahan

Seattleites will have the chance to elect a mayor from the high-tech industry this November. T-Mobile USA executive Joe Mallahan, a 47-year-old Wallingford resident, has tossed his hat into the race to unseat longtime mayor Greg Nickles.

The Stranger -- Seattle's alternative news weekly -- has launched a new iPhone application called Cocktail Compass to help thirsty Seattleites find nearby happy hours at local bars. That will be added competition for GoTime, which launched its hapy hour locator on the iPhone to much fanfare in February.

[Update: AT&T blames software upgrade and says problem has been resolved. Details after the jump.]

We've been experiencing ongoing problems trying to connect to the Internet using AT&T's 3G network via our iPhones over the past two days. As it turns out, we're not alone. iPhone users in Seattle report sporadic service, according to messages on Twitter. "Experiencing ATT 3G suckage since yesterday. Only EDGE seems to be working all over Seattle," wrote one user about an hour ago.

Perhaps inspired by the Microsoft TV commercials featuring a 4-year-old, Zillow.com COO Spencer Rascoff films his 4-year-old daughter Sophia looking up homes via the company's new iPhone app.

Tech site Pocket-lint quotes a representative of PC maker Acer saying that Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, will be available Oct. 23. If it's accurate, it would be the first time the release date has been nailed down. Microsoft isn't commenting on the report yet. The company, which issued the first Windows 7 Release Candidate today, has so far declined to give a specific release date or even to confirm that the new operating system will be available this calendar year.

Bill Gates writes about his fellow Seattle billionaire, Jeff Bezos, in a piece for Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. It is a short, but fascinating essay. Gates calls the Amazon.com founder "one of those insatiable pioneers of business and technology." He finishes the piece by comparing Bezos to Johannes Gutenberg, writing that the Kindle may change how people read books.

Online travel site Expedia's shares jumped after the company beat revenue estimates for the first quarter. Bellevue-based Expedia reported revenue of $635.7 million, down 8 percent a year ago. Net income was $39.7 million, down from $49.8 million the same quarter a year ago.

Amazon.com says its Amazon Payments service is gaining traction. The Seattle online retail giant said more than 25 shopping cart and ecommerce platform providers -- including CardinalCommerce,Miva Merchant, Magento, ShopVisible, Mercantec, and Zoovy -- have included Amazon Payments in their offerings.

The National Venture Capital Association is calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to help spur the slumping IPO market by easing corporate governance laws for startups and providing tax relief to IPO investors.

Peter Wilson, Google's Kirkland engineering and site director, was named today to the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum board of directors.

Seattle-based supercomputer company Cray narrowed its net loss in the first quarter to $4.9 million, from $12 million the same quarter a year ago. Revenues rose to $74.5 million from $26.1 million the same quarter in 2008.

Drugstore.com says its Q1 revenue set a record at $98.3 million, helped by a one-time $1.2 million benefit from settlement of a sales tax case in New Jersey. The online pharmacy company reported first quarter net income of $1.3 million, up from a net loss of 2.7 million in 2008.

Microsoft's servers have been overwhelmed this morning as subscribers to its MSDN and TechNet services scramble to download the newly issued Windows 7 Release Candidate. The continued demand is another good sign for the next version of Microsoft's flagship product, following generally positive reviews for early builds.

But the Windows team is being careful not to declare victory yet.

"We feel very confident about the quality of the product, the path we're on, and being able to meet our goals," said Jeff Price, senior director of Windows product management. At the same time, he made it clear that the team is doing its best to keep that confidence in check. "We're trying to be cautiously optimistic," he said.

Big Fish Games is gobbling up Grubby Games, a Vancouver, B.C.-based game studio known for titles such as "My Tribe," "FizzBall," and "Incredibots." Three of Grubby's employees are joining Big Fish, which opened a Vancouver game studio last year.

We had a great time Wednesday night at the second TechFlash Live, and we're glad so many of you could join us. Lots of great people, conversations, food and drinks. Thanks to Ben Huh of I Can Has Cheezburger for sharing insights into one of Seattle's more unusual startups. And thanks to event sponsors SolutionsIQ, Seattle University and Microsoft BizSpark.

Stay tuned for details on the next TechFlash Live, scheduled for this summer. In the meantime, here are a series of photos from tonight's event, taken by photographer Matt Hagen.