TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

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Over the last 18 months, Microsoft has aggressively pursued licensing agreements with hardware manufacturers who build Android-based devices, technology the Redmond company claims infringes on its intellectual property.

We ran a story Friday spotlighting Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC's potential move into Pioneer Square and touching on the device maker's relationship with Microsoft, as well as the royalties it pays to maintain that relationship.

When HTC agreed in April 2010 to start paying Microsoft licensing fees -- an estimated $5 per device sold -- it signaled Microsoft's effort to jump-start a patent-licensing program related to Google's Android operating system. Since then, Microsoft has entered a total of eight such licensing agreements and filed two lawsuits against Android manufacturers.

So why would HTC, and other companies, willingly enter these agreements?

Ryan Foucault

In a post-9/11 world, keeping people secure has become a top priority for managers of large campuses, like universities and corporations. One Seattle company has found the solution when traditional methods won't work.

Using a series of solar panels atop an attractive cover, Solar Secure's setup allows a completely wireless security system, which may include emergency phones or cameras.

AT&T has filed a motion to dismiss Sprint Nextel’s antitrust lawsuit related to AT&T’s attempt to win regulatory approval to buy Bellevue-based T-Mobile USA.

Here is Sprint’s response, attributed to Vonya McCann, Sprint’s senior vice president of government affairs:

The 54-hour entrepreneurial marathon Startup Weekend Seattle kicks off tonight, hot off the news that it will partner with -- and get more funding from -- the Kauffman Foundation for a new venture.

The growing nonprofit has received support from the Kauffman Foundation in the past, including a $400,000 grant last year. The two organizations are now taking the partnership to the next level, creating a new Startup Foundation that will research cities to identify influential leaders, programs and gaps in community resources, said Kauffman on Tuesday.

IBM has passed rival Microsoft in market valuation for the first time since 1996, becoming the world's second-most valuable technology company.

IBM's market valuation reached $214 billion on Thursday as Microsoft fell to $213.2 billion, reports Bloomberg.

The world's most valuable tech company is, of course, Apple with a market cap of $362 billion. Apple surpassed Microsoft last year, following more than a decade of declining market value for the Redmond computer giant.

Getty Images is in a big battle over business taxes. The Seattle digital stock photography and news photo agency says it plans to fight a Court of Appeals ruling that Getty undercalculated its Seattle business and operations taxes by $1.6 million.

Getty says it plans to appeal to the Washington state Supreme Court. If Getty wins its appeal it could affect how the state and 39 of its cities calculate the tax bills of large businesses, according to a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal (subscription required). The Business Journal says other companies may interest in helping Getty fight the business and occupation tax, which is unpopular among many companies.

Microsoft could announce a streaming TV partnership with Verizon, HBO and Comcast for the Xbox 360 as soon as next week, according to a new report.

The news has been building for awhile now. Microsoft officially announced its plans for live TV on the Xbox at a video game conference back in June, and earlier this month we reported the company was in negotiations with Comcast and Verizon to leverage the Xbox as a distribution service for cable content.

With Palm’s WebOS software, Amazon could have another option for Kindle Fire

Amazon is certainly busy. The same week that the Seattle tech and e-commerce giant grabbed the world’s attention with its new Kindle Fire tablet, Amazon apparently also is talking with Hewlett-Packard to buy Palm and its WebOS software.

Several sources Friday morning are reporting that Amazon is among contenders vying to acquire HP's Palm smartphone business, which HP bought in 2010 for $1.2 billion.

Palm has been a poor seller, according to Forbes, which reported that Amazon was in “serious negotiations” to make the deal.

TECH HEAVY: The 605 Union Station building (center) could soon house HTC, as the Taiwanese smartphone maker expands its small -- and hush-hush -- Pioneer Square development center, a sign of revival in the area.

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a two-part series looking at the growth in Pioneer Square. Next week, we’ll take a look at the revival of the historic neighborhood as a Washington leader for technology and innovation.

Taiwanese smartphone company HTC Corp. is looking to expand its footprint in Seattle’s Pioneer Square area, as the growing company turns up the volume on its long-standing partnership with Microsoft.

The historic Pioneer Square district already is home to numerous tech companies, including a small — and very hush-hush — HTC development studio. But the neighborhood known for its picturesque red-brick buildings is undergoing a major transformation as companies such as game developer Zynga and data storage company Isilon Systems set up shop there.

HTC confirmed it has a “small studio space for our innovation team that’s looking to expand,” in the area, but wouldn’t disclose details about the size or specific location of the new space.

The company is thought to be looking for about 50,000 square feet in Pioneer Square, said Sally Patterson, a commercial broker with CB Richard Ellis who works with technology and creative companies in the Seattle area.

BookieJar provides an online platform that lets writers self-publish electronic books. BookieJar also gives writers tools to promote their works and even get “autographed” versions in front of readers.

With the startup’s “Autograph Now!” technology, a writer can sign an e-books in-person on the reader’s iPad, Nook or Kindle.

The Kirkland company launched in 2010 and also has a distribution deal with e-book retailer Kobo.

BookieJar was co-founded by Deyun Wu, a former program manager at Microsoft, where she worked with Bing Maps and Windows Wireless. Another co-founder is Bruno Botvinik, who was a co-founder and CTO at MotionBridge, a mobile search company acquired by Microsoft in 2006.

The Department of Justice has requested more information from Google on its bid to buy mobile phone maker and Android licensee Motorola Mobility. This is the government's second request for information, a step that happens in only 4 percent of transactions reviewed by the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission, and highlights the agencies' concerns about possible antitrust issues related to the acquisition.

Antitrust experts expect the government to approve the $12.5 billion deal, due to a strong market for mobile phone manufacturers. Google has won government approval for most of its previous acquisitions, including its recent bid for travel software company ITA. Google has agreed to pay Motorola more than $2.5 billion if the deal is rejected.

Android-based smartphones lead the way, with 39 percent of users, followed by 28 percent for Apple's iOS. In comparison, Windows Phone only commands 9 percent of the market. (Source: Nielsen)

With yesterday’s patent deal with Samsung, Microsoft now receives royalties from most of the large Android device manufacturers. However, one major company remains, but Microsoft is already making plenty of money off the deals.

In the U.S. Android smartphone market, four manufacturers lead the pack: HTC, Motorola, Samsung and LG. Microsoft now has deals in place with HTC, Samsung, LG and a slew of smaller device manufacturers.

But noticeably absent from the list of signed deals is Motorola. The company was one of the first to release an Android smartphone, and was recently purchased by Google in a $12.5 billion deal.

As for LG, it’s unclear whether the 2007 deal covering Linux-based devices covers today’s smartphones. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment beyond the press release.

Google, which leads the Open Handset Alliance of Android developers and device makers, has had its share of tough words:

Amazon.com, Madrona and others are investing $10 million more in Yieldex, a New York-based startup that makes software to help digital publishers increase revenue by better targeting ad inventory.

Triangle Peak Partners and Hearst Interactive Media led the round, with participation from Amazon, Madrona, Sequel Venture Partners and others, and brings total funding for the company up to $22 million.

This is the third round of venture capital funding for the four-year-old startup, which received an initial $100,000 from Amazon after it won the Amazon's web services startup challenge in 2008. Madrona, whose own Matt McIlwain was a judge for the event, and Amazon have both continued to invest in the growing company.

Amazon appears willing to sell Kindle Fire at a substantial loss to steal market share from Apple's iPad. (Amazon image)

With Kindle Fire, Amazon is playing the old-fashioned retail game with rival Apple, offering a new product that significantly undercuts a competitor’s price with hopes that it sparks a customer stampede.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that the goal was making “premium products and offering then at non-premium prices” when he unveiled Kindle Fire for $199, a price point that shocked those who were closely watching the move.

But with Amazon selling the Fire tablet for less than half of the $499 price tag Apple has on the iPad, how is the math adding up for Amazon?

Not so good, say two analysts who closely follow the tech industry. Both say Amazon appears to be willing to sell Kindle Fire at a loss, perhaps as much as $150 million this year.

Amazon has big plans for Amazon Silk, the web browser the Seattle e-commerce giant announced Wednesday when it rolled out its Kindle Fire tablet.

Kindle Fire incorporates a new kind of split browser, called Amazon Silk, which partially lives in Amazon’s EC2 cloud and partially lives in the Kindle Fire. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that Amazon Silk will take advantage of the “incredible computational horse power of EC2” to speed up Web browsing, a challenge for most mobile devices.

But it seems clear that Amazon sees Silk playing a role beyond the tablet, with a heavy focus on web browsers, mobile platforms and cloud computing.

Amazon has bought up domain names, such as SilkSmartphones.com and shoponamazonsilk.com indicate Amazon is thinking about mobile and retail applications involving Silk.

Amazon has posted numerous job openings for people to work on the Silk team in Seattle that reveal some of the Silk strategy.