TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

Maybe it's just me, but Microsoft's post about Google's antitrust problems in Europe reads at times like an old, recovering alcoholic counseling a younger man still in denial.

"Google’s public response to this growing regulatory concern has been to point elsewhere—at Microsoft," writes Dave Heiner, Microsoft vice president and deputy general counsel. "Google is telling reporters that antitrust concerns about search are not real because some of the complaints come from one of its last remaining search competitors."

The post continues, "It’s worth asking whether Google’s response really addresses the concerns that have been raised. Complaints in competition law cases usually come from competitors ... Believe me, I know: I’ve been chief competition counsel at Microsoft since 1994, so I’ve seen plenty of competitor complaints."

In other words, Heiner is telling Google: Yes, you don't think you've done anything wrong. Neither did we. What matters is that other people think you might have. And you're too big to expect to be ignored.

I just logged back on to my computer a little bit ago after spending most of the day playing tennis, reading a book and taking a long nap. Apparently I missed a hockey game?

It sounds like it was epic, but as the only guy in the developed world who wasn't watching, what fascinates me was the way I found out about the news -- or, more precisely, the order in which I found out.

First was a bunch of people on Twitter, starting at 2:53 p.m. ("I'm pissing my pants and I don't even know anything about hockey," was the first one I noticed, from Ryan Naraine.) A minute later, at 2:54 p.m., the news was in the Breaking News Twitter feed. Two minutes later, at 2:56 p.m., the New York Times had the news in its Twitter feed, and word of the result buzzed into my phone via the Breaking News app.

Three minutes after that, at exactly 2:59 p.m., the NYTimes.com news alert showed up in my email inbox: "Olympics Alert: Canada Wins Hockey Gold With 3-2 OT Victory Over U.S."

Does a minute or three really matter? Not really. It just caught my attention because it was a perfect test of speed for the modern news media, in all their forms.

Schneiderman

David Schneiderman: In 1984, Rupert Murdoch thought he had seen the future. He summoned his top editors and publishers to a meeting in New York to learn about “electronic journalism” and the impending death of printed newspapers. After two days of spirited discussions and a primitive demonstration of an electronic Washington Post, the attendees declared that the demise of printed newspapers was inevitable.

Strangely, we didn’t discuss what might happen to the advertising dollars that accounted for the lion’s share of revenue for newspapers. It was merely assumed that those dollars would migrate seamlessly to the electronic newspaper. The participants focused on a simple, attractive equation: If you subtract the cost of newsprint, printing and the subsequent job reductions in production, newspapers would become money machines. As we now know, it did not quite work out that way.

Here's a look at the top stories on TechFlash for the month of February. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting over the past month, and we'll be looking forward to bringing you more tech news as it happens in March. By the way, see any themes from the past month?

Video: Bing Maps at TED

Is Microsoft getting its mojo back? Maybe

Gates, Ozzie, Microsoft execs patent 'personal data mining'

Microsoft Bing Maps adding Flickr images, live video, stars

My Fling with Droid? Is it time to dump the iPhone and go Google?

Microsoft, Amazon strike patent deal covering Kindle and Linux

Comcast's list of 33 new HD channels includes MSNBC, MTV (July 2009 story)

Microsoft's self-powered TV remote, no batteries required

Microsoft's new Windows Phones add Xbox, Zune, 'live tile' design

Microsoft's new keyboard will let gamers smoosh 26 keys at once

Seattle-based interactive ad agency Razorfish has been sold twice in three years, operating against a seemingly constant backdrop of industry speculation about its fate. But the uncertainty appears to be over, now that the dust has settled on ad giant Publicis Groupe's purchase of Razorfish from Microsoft for $530 million — the second-biggest deal of 2009 in Washington state mergers and acquisitions.

“We feel like we have found a home,” said Joe Mele, a Razorfish managing director of media and marketing. “The Publicis people have made it clear that we are part of the family.”

Seven months after the sale, Publicis has signaled that it sees Razorfish as a key part of the massive French advertising holding company’s push to increase its digital advertising business. And if Razorfish stays an independent brand centered in Seattle, that bodes well for the region’s position as a center for online advertising services.

Subjects covered this week: Apple removes sexually suggestive apps; Do app developers really need carriers anymore?; Microsoft licenses patents to Amazon; Microsoft and the 520 bridge; Seattle venture capital firms broaden their geographic focus; Redfin in Portland; and a look at the week ahead.

Listen below or subscribe to the TechFlash Podcast using this RSS feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/techflashpodcast), or via iTunes or Zune. Call 206-876-5465 to leave a message for next week's podcast, and continue reading for links related to this week's episode. Access the archive of past episodes on our podcast category page.

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Will Poole

MOD Systems continues to add firepower to its growing team, naming former Coinstar executive Dan Gerrity and former Microsoft Windows executive Will Poole to the board. The news follows a series of appointments at the company which were announced last week, most notably former Clearwire exec Robert DeLucia who joined as chief financial officer. They also come amid ongoing legal troubles with MOD's founder and former CEO: Mark Phillips.

Poole is a well known technology executive, having previously served as senior vice president of Windows Client and corporate vice president of the Unlimited Potential Group at Microsoft. Prior to leading Coinstar, Gerrity served as CEO of aviation startup Naverus.

Amazon's recent tussle with Macmillan showed that the online retailer may have to accept higher prices on electronic books — matching terms offered by Apple's iPad. But Amazon is scrambling to ensure that its book, newspaper and magazine content for Kindle is priced the same, or below, what consumers can get on the iPad and other reading devices.

Classmates.com hopes to gain new momentum by digitizing and offering online access to old yearbooks, but experts in the field say the Seattle-based social network will first need to overcome a series of legal and logistical hurdles.

As a smaller player in the technology industry, Classmates.com may not face the fierce opposition that Google has encountered with its controversial book-scanning project. But the situation illustrates the challenges faced by online sites as they attempt to bridge the worlds of print and digital publishing.

“It takes a lot of money and a lot of time to scale up a large scanning operation for yearbooks,” said Bryan Michael, president and founder of e-yearbook.com of Burlingame, Calif., which has been in the business for the past four years. “It’s not cheap and it can’t be done overnight.”

Burke

Brian Burke, Smashing Ideas: Having developed software for multiple mobile devices, and realizing all the challenges (and costs) of each, our company treats each new device with cautious optimism, thinking about its potential to help our business. We watched the iPhone closely, and we believe we pounced when the time was right. We’ve warmed up to Cupertino’s golden child, and now that device and its iTouch counterpart are an absolutely integral part of our multi-screen development DNA.

So, now comes the iPad. You may be familiar with the old expression: “no one likes the kid that grows up on third base, and tells everyone he hit a triple."

Well, the iPad is sort of that kid and while it is polarizing the development and gaming community on the blogs and in the press, Apple is also giving us an opportunity to think differently about the way we approach content and user-experiences for new form-factors. It’s not the absolute perfect opportunity, but an interesting one.

With three episodes under our belts so far, we're having a great time producing the TechFlash audio podcast. If you don't check in on weekends, you may have missed this new weekly feature, so we wanted to catch everyone up on how to access and participate in the show.

How to listen: Subscribe in iTunes or Zune, for easy transfer to a portable device, or use the raw RSS feed to subscribe in the media software of your choice. We also post the audio directly on the site each Saturday morning, using a handy tool from Seattle-based startup Entertonement, and you can access the archive of past episodes on the site using our podcast category page.

How to take part: Call the TechFlash listener line at 206-876-5465 to leave a message for inclusion in the show. Reader comments make TechFlash a better site, and in the same way we're looking to make the podcast more of a two-way conversation, so we'd love to hear from anyone who has thoughts to share on anything tech-related.

Blue Origin vehicle test launch day, west Texas, November 13, 2006. Courtesy Blue Origin.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has kept a tight lid on his commercial space flight project, Blue Origin. But with the Obama administration looking to outsource astronaut transport duties to private space contractors, the company is talking a bit more about it plans. Space.com reports Blue Origin will use a recently announced $3.7 million grant from NASA to "develop an astronaut escape system and build a composite space capsule prototype for ground-based structural testing."

Seattle venture capital firms sometimes get a bad rap for failing to bankroll cutting-edge companies. But MIT Technology Review doesn't quite see it that way. The esteemed publication recently listed the 25 most innovative privately-held companies in the world, and interestingly enough no fewer than five venture capital and angel investment firms with ties to the Seattle area have companies on the list.

That's the good news. Now, here's the bad news. None of the companies they are backing are from the Seattle area.

As Microsoft tries to regain traction in the mobile business, the last thing the company needs is prominent software developers pulling their apps from its mobile platform. On the bright side, Internet phone company Skype's reasons for dropping its Windows Mobile app provide further evidence that Microsoft is planning the right changes in its upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series.

"[W]ith the latest version of the Windows Mobile OS [6.5] it’s been increasingly challenging for us to maintain an app which behaves as you’d expect on a wide range of handsets without working with a mobile operator partner," writes Skype's Peter Parkes in a blog post.

TerraPower reactor image

Backers of a Bellevue-based project to build a new type of nuclear reactor are raising its public profile amid signs that the Obama administration is growing more open to nuclear energy.

In recent weeks, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates — who is providing financial backing to the TerraPower project — has sung its praises in public presentations and interviews as an energy source that does not contribute to global warming. TerraPower says it has made progress in computer modeling and design work and is moving toward seeking out partners to develop its plans.

TerraPower — which was born at Intellectual Ventures, a firm headed by former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold — is one of several projects looking to take advantage of President Barack Obama’s recent embrace of nuclear power.