TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010. Thanks to everyone who checked out TechFlash over the past year. And for those who didn't, here's your chance to catch up with the most read posts of the year. Enjoy!!

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1.) "Rule No. 1: Hide the iPhone from Ballmer at the Microsoft meeting" (143 comments)

2.) "iPhone app wins top honors at Microsoft sponsored event" (19 comments)

3.) "Microsoft sues TomTom over Linux and other patent claims" (105 comments)

4.) "One force of nature vs. another: Bill Gates tries to stop hurricanes" (76 comments)

5.) "Pioneering Internet 'detox' center looks to cure online addicts" (47 comments)

Update, Friday morning: Check out this Microsoft Research video that shows the concepts discussed in the patent filing -- including a demonstration of how to use muscle movement to play Guitar Hero, air-guitar style. (Thanks, Manan for pointing this out.)

[Original post follows.]

We've covered lots of offbeat Microsoft patent applications in 2009, and here's a doozy to round out the year. According to a newly surfaced filing, the company is seeking patents on a method of controlling computers using Electromyography, or EMG -- a system that translates electrical activity from muscles into instructions for the computer.

One of the filings suggests doing this by attaching sensors to a user's forearm, but another goes further by proposing a completely wearable system of sensors on the head, chest, arm and leg. Here's how one of the filings describes the overarching concept.

A lousy economy. An up-and-down year for Microsoft. The rise and fall of media. There was certainly plenty to cover in 2009 when it came to technology news. But what was the biggest story of the year? We're winding down The Flashies, our year-end online awards of the biggest events in technology. Today marks the last category -- Tech Story of the Year -- so make sure to cast your vote.

As you can see, we're focusing not on individual posts but rather on overarching stories that we followed throughout the year. Continue reading for our take on each story. As with previous categories, feel free to offer a write-in candidate in the comments below. We'll announce all the Flashies winners in a post next week.

“By opening the Xbox Live entertainment network to the entire universe of Windows and mobile gamers, we’re creating unparalleled gameplay opportunities that will drive incredible growth of the online community. Our vision is to deliver consistent, compelling experiences that make it easy for consumers to jump in and play, from any device at any time. It’s a vision that only Microsoft can deliver.” -- Bill Gates, May 2006.

That promise by the Microsoft chairman, made at the E3 video-game convention more than three years ago, popped into my mind yesterday as people got worked up over the "news," first reported by MobileTechWorld that the company is seeking someone to bring Xbox Live to Windows Mobile, including games, avatars and social interaction. [Credit corrected; Thanks, Mike]

Of course, the interesting part isn't the job posting but the fact that the vision from '06 still isn't a reality as the decade draws to a close.

Microsoft Bing, like an uninvited guest on a BlackBerry home screen on Verizon.

PC buyers are all-to-familiar with crapware, those unwanted icons and trial programs that litter the desktops of some new computers -- so much that Microsoft has started offering "Signature PCs" whose main selling point is their lack of all that garbage.

And now, thanks to Microsoft and Verizon Wireless, some BlackBerry users are getting a crapware experience to call their own.

The icon for Microsoft's Bing search engine has been showing up, unrequested, on the home screens of BlackBerry users on Verizon's network in recent days. In an era when people carefully decide what and what not to put on their phones, the move is angering many Verizon customers -- particularly savvier users who treat as sacrosanct the contents and arrangement of their mobile home screens.

What buzzword most defined the past year in technology? That's the intriguing question in today's Flashies category, as we get close to wrapping up our year-end community choice awards.

And the nominees are ...

Continue reading for our take on each word. As with previous categories, free to offer a write-in candidate in the comments below. Other readers will be able to support your nomination by logging in and clicking the "like" button next your comment. We'll announce all the Flashies winners in a post after the end of the year.

The end of the year has brought a reshuffling of executives within Microsoft's Dynamics business software group. The company confirmed this week that it has promoted Microsoft veteran Hal Howard from general manager to corporate vice president, responsible for research-and-development across the Dynamics ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) product line, which includes Dynamics AX, NAV, GP and SL.

Microsoft also confirmed the departure of Dean Lester, another company veteran and Dynamics general manager, who had previously been general manager for Windows graphics and gaming technologies. The company didn't disclose Lester's reasons for leaving but said, in response to our inquiry, that they were not related to changes in the Dynamics organization. We left a message for Lester at a publicly listed home number but haven't heard back.

How would you move this mountain? Photo via robertpaulyoung

Amazon.com, Google and Microsoft are known for their tough -- some would say down right perplexing -- job interview questions. For example, we had a friend who was asked during an Amazon.com job interview earlier this year to calculate the weight of a Boeing 747. The answer isn't quite as important as the thought process.

Now, Glassdoor.com -- the folks who earlier this month released a list of the best and worst CEOs -- has compiled 25 "oddball" interview questions of the year. The Sausalito company, which is backed by Zillow.com's Rich Barton, put together the list from more than 14,000 interview questions that job candidates submitted on the site.

Of course, you will find some real curve balls from Microsoft -- "How would you move Mt. Fuji?" and Amazon.com -- "Given a dictionary of words, how do you calculate the anagrams for a new word?" Bellevue-based Expedia also makes the list with this question: "How would you sell me eggnog in Florida in the summer?"

Keep reading for the full list, and let us know how you'd answer some of the tougher questions. Speaking of which, Glassdoor found from its survey that tech job interviews were harder than other job interviews and that the candidates had a slightly less favorable experience during the process.

Microsoft shares are trading at a 52-week high today, at more than $31 a share. The bump comes after Thomas Weisel analyst Tim Klasell raised his revenue estimates for the company and increased his price target to $35 -- citing an improved outlook for hardware shipments and corporate tech spending going into 2010.

In a world obsessed with iPhone apps, I've been looking forward to getting an alternative perspective from Microsoft technology specialist Michael Gannotti's countdown of his top 10 favorite Windows Phone (formerly Windows Mobile) apps. Gannotti's list has been rolled out in a series of posts on Microsoft's official Windows Blog this month.

In particular, I was looking forward to discovering some hidden gems made by independent developers working with the Windows Mobile platform. And there are definitely some of those on the list. But with the naming of his top pick today -- Microsoft's Bing app for Windows Phones -- fully half of Gannotti's top picks come from Microsoft itself.

Photo Credit: Max Sweatt

The design of Microsoft's Bing logo was raked over the coals recently by the "Brand New" blog, which declared it the "No. 1 Worst Identity" of the past year, followed closely by the company's new MSN logo, which the site diagnosed with "Bing syndrome." The main criticism is the way the typography of both logos is stretched out horizontally.

But people in the Seattle region sure seem to like the way Bing looks on the side of a building. Which is to say, it's getting the attention of lots of technology geeks.

We were pretty excited to unwrap some geeky gifts this holiday season. But not quite as pumped as this little boy who went nuts after opening an Xbox360. (Note the dog's reaction too).

As for team TechFlash: Eric got a Kindle. John got a Sony digital video camera. And Todd? We're hearing reports that Santa gave him some new underwear.

Anyway, today's a day when millions of Americans watch football and try to figure out their new gadgets. (I already gave up trying to install software for my mother-in-law's new Coby Digital Photo Keychain. Really, why is this so difficult?).

What was the big holiday tech gift for you this holiday? And have you encountered any horror stories so far in trying to assemble or learn your new gadgets?

We'd be totally into this if we were 6-year-old kids on Christmas Eve. Since the 1950s, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has tracked the whereabouts of Santa Claus as he makes his global journey across the continents.

The system has evolved over the years, and it now includes a pretty fun implementation of Google Earth and Google Maps. When I checked in, Santa was making his way through Africa. Along the way, NORAD has compiled some entertaining videos of Santa as he passes through places such as France, Russia and Australia.

We've already highlighted some of the "tech debacles" of the past year. But with the holiday upon us, we're feeling a little more cheerful. That brings us to today's installment of The Flashies: "Tech Triumph of the Year." Vote in this poll, or offer a write-in candidate in the comments.

For a more detailed description of each nominee, keep reading.

Driving home last night, I heard a radio report that made it sound as if Microsoft would be halting all sales of Microsoft Word as a result of an appeals court upholding an injunction against the company in a patent suit brought by i4i Inc. of Toronto. But as we noted yesterday, the Redmond company instead says it will continue selling Word, and the Office suite, by removing the feature found to infringe on the i4i patent.

What are the implications? For most users of Microsoft Word, not a lot.