TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

How to get Microsoft to use your photo for the Bing home page

Internet search | Bing | Microsoft

The short answer: Win a contest.

In our story last week on the team behind the Bing home page images, we mentioned that Microsoft would soon be launching a contest on Facebook to give people a shot at having a picture featured there. The company launched the contest yesterday, and the winning image will be used on the site Aug. 3.

Another exec leaves Microsoft's internal startup business group

On the move | Startups | Microsoft

The group responsible for building startup businesses inside Microsoft has lost another key executive, this time to another Microsoft division -- providing more evidence that the company has been rethinking the group's role.

Xuedong "XD" Huang, a speech-technology guru, has shifted to Microsoft's Online Services Division to work on mobile search and advertising initiatives, the company confirmed. Huang had previously been general manager for Communications Innovation inside the company's Startup Business Accelerator group, overseeing areas including the Response Point small-business telephone system.

The Startup Business Accelerator, under chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie, was among the groups hit hard by the company's latest round of cuts. The MSN Direct and .Net Micro Framework teams, other parts of the startup group, were also affected by those cuts.

Welcome to Twitter, @Microsoft, now can you fix my computer?

Social Networking | Windows 7 | Microsoft | Twitter

The official @Microsoft account on Twitter stirred to life Wednesday, but so far the company's foray into microblogging is less interesting than the response to it. The move is getting lots of attention, positive and negative, and Twitter users are taking the opportunity to publicly let Microsoft know it has some glitches in its software -- you know, just in case it wasn't aware.

"Now that you're finally on here @microsoft let's talk about all my problems with Outlook. Cool?" writes Geoff Peterson.

"Live Hotmail Mobile log in site has a bug which prevents access on Cricket flashed HTC Mogul Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro smartphone," chimes in John King, apparently hoping for some sort of fix.

Um, yeah, good luck with that.

Leaping from Windows XP to 7? Some important stuff to consider

Personal computers | Software | Windows 7 | Microsoft

Budget-conscious PC users contemplating a move to Microsoft's Windows 7 might be tempted to upgrade their existing machines, rather than spend money on new PCs that come with Windows 7 installed. With large swaths of the population avoiding Windows Vista, that means many would be making the upgrade on PCs now running the older Windows XP.

And those tech-savvy cheapskates would appear to be in luck. For a limited time (until July 11 in the U.S. and Canada) Microsoft is  offering reduced prices to people who pre-order upgrade versions of Windows 7 Home Premium ($49.99) and Windows 7 Professional ($99.99). The discounted upgrade prices are available not just to Windows Vista users but to people running Windows XP machines.

So it's a no-brainer, right? Well, maybe. There are a number of important issues to consider before making the jump to Windows 7 on an existing Windows XP machine. Here's what we've learned from questions we posed to Microsoft and independent PC experts.

Microsoft: IE8 still beats Firefox, just ignore those pesky add-ons

Chrome | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Microsoft

With Firefox 3.5 now finished and available for download, Microsoft used the occasion to tout the speed of Internet Explorer 8. Whereas previously Microsoft focused on page load times, the company today made the case that IE8's "Accelerators" make it faster to use.

Accelerators let Web users highlight text on a page and right-click to bring up a menu to automatically insert and use that text on other sites, rather than cutting and pasting. Microsoft offered up a video showing how Accelerators speed up simple tasks, but it made a point of noting that "all tests were performed using the default installation settings for each browser. No additional add-ons or extensions were added."

Why is that important? Well, it just so happens that an easily installed Firefox add-on called KallOut offers similar functionality.

New Firefox knows your location

Web | Chrome | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Microsoft

Mozilla released its Firefox 3.5 browser today, and one of the more interesting new capabilities is "location-aware browsing." The feature, which will be familiar to iPhone users, determines the computer's location and asks permission to share it with sites that use it to enhance the functionality of online applications.

The feature grew out of ongoing efforts to bring Firefox to mobile devices. Mozilla decided that it made sense to include geolocation functionality in its PC-based browser, as well. It uses the IP address and wifi signals to determine location, by default, but it also could work with GPS, which is starting to appear in more mobile computers.

Microsoft Services chief leaving

On the move | Technology | Microsoft

Maria Martinez, the corporate vice president in charge of the big Microsoft Services division, is leaving the company. Microsoft confirmed the move in response to our inquiry this morning, saying Martinez would be replaced by Kathleen Hogan, current corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Customer Service & Support.

Microsoft Services is the part of the company that provides consulting and product support to the company's big enterprise customers. Martinez's corporate bio, last updated in April of this year, says she leads a team of 17,000 people, but the services and consulting group was among those hardest hit in the company's latest round of layoffs.

Microsoft's sidewalk memorial to Encarta, Money and other fossils

Walking through Microsoft's campus the other day, I came across a place I hadn't visited for several years, and realized how much it's starting to feel like a graveyard.

For anyone who's never been there, the company has this great old courtyard in Redmond where for many years it placed plaques in the sidewalk for nearly every piece of software it shipped. Taken as a whole, the hundreds of markers tell the story of the company's rise to the top of the software industry in the 1980s and 1990s.

Each plaque, engraved in classic Microsoft font, was originally placed in the ground in celebration. Windows, Office and other hit products are represented well. But the recent discontinuation of some of Microsoft's best-known consumer brands -- combined with plaques for others that never amounted to much -- make other sections feel like a memorial to fallen products. Click through the pages below for pictures of some of the Microsoft relics commemorated in the courtyard.

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Report: Microsoft looks to unload ad agency Razorfish

Advertising | Media | Mergers and acquisitions | Seattle | Microsoft

Rumors have circulated for months that Microsoft was looking to unload Razorfish, the Seattle digital advertising agency it picked up as a result of its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive. Now, the software giant is formally moving ahead with the plan, hiring Morgan Stanley to help find a buyer, according to a report.

One potential buyer is Publicis, the French advertising giant which has a tight relationship with Microsoft, reports the Financial Times.  Quoting an analyst, the newspaper reports that Razorfish -- which employs 2,000 people -- could fetch $600 million to $700 million.

Last fall, rumors also circulated that Microsoft had discussed selling the unit to WPP. At the time of that rumor, Razorfish CEO Clark Kokich told TechFlash that there were "no plans" to sell the company.

Al Roker, Twitter and more in msnbc.com's new iPhone app

Advertising | Media | Mobile communications | iPhone

Msnbc.com has released a free iPhone application -- built in conjunction with Seattle startup Zumobi -- that allows users to quickly access the news of the day by clicking on a colored peacock feather. For example, if you're looking for sports news just click on the green peacock feather. Politics is shown in blue, while science and tech appears in yellow.

It is an interesting way to display and segment the news, with the main menu showing 12 categories.

This Week in Reader Comments

Seattle | Startups | Technology | Bing | Twitter

It's been another active week of discussion on TechFlash. Here are some of the comments that caught our eye. Keep up the chatter.

Anonymous on Startups and venture capitalists look to profit on Twitter mania: "The VC desire to latch on to Twitter reminds me of the VC craze for Facebook apps a year or two back. Any winners come out of the fbFund or other Facebook app funds?"

Mike on Is Bing Travel copying Kayak's popular travel Web site? "Microsoft is not copying Kayak any more than Expedia and all the airlines are copying one another. You have to display departure and arrival cities, dates, etc. to function as a travel site. And Kayak's approach is not very "innovative"...creating a list is nothing new."

Timothy James on Microsoft search execs reunite at eBay:  "I didn't know anyone still used eBay. No joke."

Mike Mathieu on Bill Gates wants a better beer keg: "Just a guess, but it probably came in a brainstorm related to cold-supply chains, which are needed to deliver some types of perishable vaccines to places without broadly reliable electricity, like sub-Saharan Africa. The ice cold beer is just a happy side effect."

Anonymous on Top sirloin and Twitter? "Hello Twitter. Meet the Shark. You just jumped over it.

Brainstorm: Green web apps

Energy | Environment | Microsoft

Seattle-area Internet geeks and environmental groups came together on Microsoft's Redmond campus today to brainstorm about environmentally oriented Web applications in what was billed as a "Green & Geekalicious Hackday." Here are a couple whiteboards where they wrote down some of their ideas. (Click for larger versions.)

What do you think? See anything interesting? What would you add? People at the event focused on using the Microsoft Bing application programming interface, but don't limit yourself if you chime in below.

Microsoft sets the stage in Egypt

Education | Technology | Microsoft

Microsoft likes to call its Imagine Cup student competition the Olympics of Technology, and it looks like the closing ceremonies this year will live up to that billing. The finals are being held in Egypt, providing a dramatic backdrop for the July 7 awards, including a laser light show. Via the company, here are pictures of the stage going up.

Suzanne Mubarak, the first lady of Egypt, will take part in the ceremonies. The Imagine Cup finals begin July 3 in Cairo. Competitors include the Dickinson brothers of Tigard, Ore., profiled in this earlier TechFlash post. Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, will deliver the Imagine Cup opening keynote this year.

'Bing, the better way to Google'

Video | Bing | Google | Microsoft

"Introducing Bing, the better way to Google." That's how the folks at CollegeHumor start out this humorous parody of Microsoft's new search engine.

What do you think?

Microsoft plans to fold enthusiast sites into overhauled 'Channel 9'

Social Media | Social Networking | Windows | Microsoft

The internal group responsible for "evangelizing" Microsoft's technologies plans to phase out its standalone Channel 8 website for students and Channel 10 site for tech geeks -- folding elements of them into an overhauled version of Channel 9, the company's flagship video site and forum for software developers.

The group is putting a positive spin on the decision, saying it will strengthen Channel 9 and give it more of the content that originally made it popular. Channel 9 will be redesigned and revamped to add live webcasts, better integration with social networks, new technical training materials and more posts from the company's technology leaders.

But the move also reflects the company's struggle to build thriving online communities beyond its core audience of software developers.

MySpace bungles final check payments to laid off staffers

Bad news | Layoffs | Web | Microsoft

What is it with technology companies screwing up payroll for those workers getting the ax? According to TechCrunch, recently laid-off employees at MySpace have been asked to refrain from cashing their final checks due to errors in how the payments were calculated.

That's similar to an unfortunate situation earlier this year when Microsoft overpaid severance to some workers and then asked for the money back. The company changed its mind a few days later and allowed workers to keep the extra money.

Microsoft search reunion at eBay

Internet search | On the move | Bing | Internet Explorer | Microsoft

Just as Microsoft is becoming a popular destination for former Yahoo search engineers and executives, eBay appears to becoming one for ex-Microsofties.

Microsoft's Hugh Williams, who played a key role in the company's Bing search engine, has left to join eBay, as first reported this week by Silicon Alley Insider's Nicholas Carson. Our calls to eBay this week haven't been returned, but PaidContent.org's Joe Tartakoff confirmed with Williams that he will be leading the company's search development team.

What's interesting is that eBay already employs two former Microsoft search executives, Christopher Payne and Dane Glasgow, who joined the e-commerce and online auction company when it acquired Positronic, their Seattle-based startup, earlier this year.

Behind the scenes with the team behind those scenes at Bing.com

OK, let’s get to straight to the big controversy: The people responsible for the daily image on Microsoft’s search home page swear they weren't taking a swipe at Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system in February, when they published an attention-grabbing picture of a real snow leopard -- accompanied by text noting that the big cats can’t roar.

Totally unintentional, vows Stephanie Horstmanshof, editorial lead for Microsoft’s search group.

“We weren’t trying to send any hidden messages to Apple or to anyone else," she said, laughing as she remembered the tortured attempts by technology bloggers to find meaning in the picture.

It's no wonder the attention caught the team by surprise. Back then, it was hard to find people who knew what Microsoft's search site was, let alone used it. But the recent rebranding of Live Search as "Bing" has raised the awareness of the company's search initiative, at least temporarily, and put a spotlight one of its signature features -- those distinctive pictures on the Bing.com home page.

Veteran Windows exec leaving Microsoft after long transition

Networking | Windows | Windows Vista | Microsoft

Jawad Khaki, a longtime Microsoft executive who was an early member of the Windows NT development team, is leaving the company at the end of the month. Khaki, whose role has been in flux since late 2007, said this morning that he decided it was time to start a new phase of his life, much as Bill Gates, Jeff Raikes and other Microsoft executives have done.

Khaki, 51, was a Windows networking leader for many years, including a role as vice president of Windows networking and device technologies during the rocky Windows Vista development cycle. Khaki was shifted to corporate vice president of the Windows Hardware Ecosystem Group in late 2006, around the time Windows Vista shipped, and remained in that role for about a year before leaving the position in late 2007 and taking an extended leave.

Is Bing Travel copying Kayak's popular travel Web site?

Legal issues | Travel | Web | Bing | Microsoft

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, maybe not for the folks at online travel company Kayak.com who are now accusing Microsoft's recently launched Bing Travel service of what essentially amounts to Web site design plagiarism.

Kayak has sent a legal letter to Microsoft asking them to alter the site, with the Norwalk, Connecticut company's chief marketing officer telling Wired that: “from the look and feel of their travel product, they seem to agree with our approach to the market.”

In a statement sent to TechFlash, Microsoft spokeswoman Whitney Burk denied that there's any sort of copying going on.

Details: Microsoft's Windows 7 price cuts, upgrade promotions

Personal computers | Software | Windows 7 | Microsoft

Microsoft, trying to revive its flagship product in the middle of a recession, is pricing the primary edition of Windows 7 for home users 17 percent below the retail price of its predecessor.

The unusual move is one of a series of Windows 7 pricing announcements being made by the company today as it gears up for a scheduled Oct. 22 launch. Under the plan, Windows 7 Home Premium will be available for $199.99 in stores, $40 less than Windows Vista Home Premium. Even before adjusting for inflation, that matches the original price of Windows XP Home, released in 2001.

Ballmer at Cannes: 'Advertising. Advertising. Advertising'

Advertising | Media | Newspapers | Web | Steve Ballmer | Microsoft

You've heard Steve Ballmer's famous chant about "Developers. Developers. Developers." At the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival today, the Microsoft boss employed that speaking technique again when he started his talked about the advertising industry.

"Our guys talked to me and said: 'You are flying over to Cannes it is a big advertising deal. And immediately my brain locked on advertising, advertising, advertising. You go to talk about advertising," said Ballmer. "And I'd say for the first four weeks of working on this presentation, it was grounded in advertising. But I woke up one morning, and said no, we may start actually in a slightly different place. We may actually have to go all of the way back ... and think about the future of content and advertising because in some senses all ad possibilities are enabled by worlds of content."

More of Ballmer's remarks, including about Apple, Google and Bing, after the jump.

Big Windows breakthrough: Now you can actually open the box

Personal computers | Software | Windows 7 | Windows Vista | Microsoft

Here's a bit of good news for anyone who struggled with the cruel puzzle that was the Windows Vista retail packaging. Microsoft today released details and pictures of the upcoming Windows 7 packaging, promising a much more simple and streamlined experience.

"We’ve reduced the number of elements in the package down to three: the plastic case, the paper sleeve, and a simple Getting Started Guide," writes Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc on the Windows 7 team blog. "The plastic case opens easily like a standard DVD case and it will have a single easy-to-remove seal at the top -- and that’s it!"

Microsoft 'Hohm' is a new online energy management service

Energy | Environment | Microsoft

Microsoft today confirmed plans to roll out a new product under the "Hohm" brand name that surfaced in a trademark filing last week. Turns out the name is a reference to "ohm," the common unit of electrical measure. Hohm is a free online service designed to help people monitor and manage their home power consumption -- ultimately helping utilities get a better handle on energy demand.

Hohm will let people fill out a private profile of their homes, including such details as the geographic location, number of stories, windows, type of heating system and square footage. It will also let people automatically pull in data about their energy usage from participating utilities. In addition to letting people track their energy usage, the service will provide suggestions for saving energy.

Google announced a similar service called PowerMeter this year.

Bill Gates wants a better beer keg

Innovation | Bill Gates | Nathan Myhrvold | Microsoft

Gee, what were Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold doing when they dreamed this one up?

Microsoft's chairman and its former chief technology officer are among the inventors listed on a series of patent applications for "temperature-stabilized storage containers" -- super-high-tech devices intended for use in the storage and transport of "water or flavored water, dairy product or fruit juice, carbonated soda, wine, beer or distilled spirits, for example."

OK, so they threw a bunch of other beverages in there, too, but why else would a bunch of geeks imagine a temperature-controlled liquid container if not for the noble purpose of keeping beer cold?