TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

Tech bloggers are roundly dismissing a Sunday Times of London story that has Microsoft in talks to acquire Yahoo's search business for $20 billion.

Problem No. 1: That would be a wacky price -- more than Yahoo's entire market value. Problem No. 2: One of the people purported to be involved in the deal, former Fox Interactive President Ross Levinsohn, says it's simply not true.

HP and Microsoft generated lots of positive buzz last week with their Black Friday promise of 40 percent refunds on everything in the computer giant's online store. The promotion translated into huge discounts on HP desktops, notebooks and other devices through Microsoft's Live Search Cashback service.

At least, that was the idea -- before consumers were hit by a double-whammy of glitches.

Bill and Melinda Gates (Foundation Photo)

These two new Times of London stories about Melinda Gates read at times as if penned by Barbara Walters. One reporter can barely get past the second paragraph before writing about Gates revealing that her husband “often weeps at the stories of suffering” they encounter in their philanthropic work.

But mixed in with the saccharine prose are some actual insights into the lives of “Bill & Melinda” following the Microsoft chairman’s shift to full-time foundation work this summer. Here are some of the best nuggets.

Microsoft Game Studios released the new "Lips" karaoke game for the Xbox 360 in the U.S. and Europe this month. It's one of the socially oriented games that the company is hoping will broaden the interest in the console as holiday shoppers head to the stores today. But despite the popularity of karaoke in Japan, the game isn't available there. Here's why.

Microsoft and computer makers are facing one of their most challenging holiday seasons in years as a result of the troubled economy, a shift toward lower-cost portable computers and the gap between major Windows releases.

The only real question is how bad it will get for them -- and how low PC prices will go for consumers.

Indian-American entrepreneurs in Seattle's technology community expressed shock and outrage over the tense situation in Mumbai, where 119 people have been killed in terrorist attacks that have virtually shut down one of India's most important commercial cities.  Meanwhile, alerts went out to technology professionals at Microsoft and other companies doing business in India warning employees to avoid Mumbai.

ROBERT SORBO

Steve Ballmer (Robert Sorbo / Microsoft)

It has been an unusually eventful year for Steve Ballmer, and despite some rocky moments along the way, the Microsoft CEO will have a lot to choose from when it comes time to give thanks at the dinner table this evening.

We thought we'd help him sort through the possibilities. Here are just a few of the things for which Ballmer should be thankful -- from Apple to Google to the sorry state of physical education in Hungary.

From Windows Vista to Zune, it's easy to focus on Microsoft's struggles these days. The analysts at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft offer a different take in their latest article -- drawing business lessons from the strategies Bill Gates & Co. used to build the world's largest software company. The piece is available here: What Microsoft Got Right: The First 30 Years.

What should Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Amazon.com and eBay do in 2009? That's the question that Alex Iskold of ReadWriteWeb tries to answer in this informative post on how the big Internet companies should position themselves amid the economic headwinds.

Iskold offers a couple tips for each of the tech titans, noting that Microsoft needs to "execute faster and better" while Amazon.com should "simplify and clean up the product pages."  A good read.

Seventeen sales positions have been cut in the U.S. by Microsoft subsidiary Fast Search, the Oslo, Norway-based enterprise search provider acquired by the Redmond company earlier this year. Ten of the positions were in the Boston area, where the division has 167 employees. Five were in New York, one in Washington, D.C., and one in California, a Microsoft representative confirmed via e-mail.

"Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" are just around the corner, which means shopping deals abound on all sorts of gadgets, gizmos and software. Attempting to jumpstart what could be a sluggish holiday retail season, the deals are starting early this year.

We've compiled a short list of hot products, so you don't have to. (Feel free to use the comments to point out any screaming deals you've seen.) I am in the market for a digital recorder and a headset for my phone. What are the cool tech gifts you are looking for this year? Happy shopping.

John Cook, Eric Engleman, Todd Bishop

As the news slows down a bit for the holiday week, we’ve finally been able to take a few deep breaths.

A little more than a month ago, we launched TechFlash, and our lives haven’t been the same since. We’re working harder than we’ve ever worked. And in case it’s not obvious, we’re having a ton of fun. It's great to have so many of you joining us.

Here's the latest on the site, and a glimpse of what's coming.

Rumors of a Microsoft Zune phone have been around literally since the company launched the device in November 2006. Now they've resurfaced again, with CNBC's Jim Goldman reporting that the company will combine the Zune brand with technology from its Danger Inc. acquisition to produce a possible iPhone rival. Tech commentators are divided on the subject.

But here's the interesting question: Should the company come out with its own mobile phone?

Just last week, we reported on numbers from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers that indicated a slow down in online advertising.

Now, here's more evidence from eMarketer which predicts that the online ad category will only grow by 8.9 percent next year. That compares to an 11.3 percent growth rate in 2008. And the report notes that it will take another two years -- 2011 -- until ad growth rates surpass the levels of 2008.

The latest Internet search numbers from comScore Networks show, once again, just how tough it will be for Microsoft loosen Google's grasp on the market. Despite the Redmond company's proclamation of progress in specific commercial search categories, Microsoft's share of the overall U.S. search market was unchanged in October, at 8.5 percent, according to comScore numbers cited by TechCrunch and Bloomberg News.