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.

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.

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.

Mike Koss had a hand in developing some of Microsoft's most important products during his 19-year career, from Excel to Outlook to Sharepoint. But the 49-year-old software developer -- who left Microsoft in 2002 to pursue his own entrepreneurial ventures -- now proudly proclaims that he's turned into a "Google fanboy." We chatted with Koss about his role as leader of Seattle's newly-formed Google Technology User Group and why he believes Microsoft has fallen behind in the innovation race. The self-titled "launch director" at Seattle software incubator StartPad.org also shared stories about his early days in the software business, including interactions with Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer.

A map of Waledac infections (Microsoft graphic)

In an operation worthy of a spy novel, Microsoft says it has disrupted a botnet known as Waledac that's believed to have infected hundreds of thousands of computers. The company says the botnet was able to send more than 1.5 billion pieces of spam every day -- until the company secured a court order allowing it to secretly cut the spammers off from the network before they realized what hit them.

The initiative, known internally as "b49" is described in detail today in a Wall Street Journal piece and a Microsoft blog post. A botnet is a network of PCs that have been infected with malicious code that allows them to be controlled remotely, often without the user's knowledge.

We're excited to kick off the TechFlash Live event series for 2010 with a fun networking get-together and panel discussion at a great venue, Seattle's Showbox Sodo, on March 23rd. The topic for the evening discussion will be the future of advertising. Details and registration are available here.

It promises to be an insightful and timely discussion.

Advertising is at a crossroads, with digital innovations creating better ways for companies to reach their customers and build their brands using everything from traditional websites to video games. In the meantime, many technology startups are faced with a dilemma — bet the future of their businesses on advertising, or look for alternative sources of revenue?

Panasonic has licensed a Microsoft file system that makes it possible for consumer electronics devices to store larger files, joining Sanyo and Olympus as licensees of the "exFAT" technology, according to a Microsoft news release this morning. At the same time, Microsoft said Panasonic obtained a patent license from Microsoft that covers Panasonic's use of a long file-name technology, known as FAT32, in its products.

Microsoft's patents on File Allocation Technology (FAT) have played a role in some of the company's disputes over the open-source Linux operating system, with Microsoft claiming that some implementations of Linux violate those patents. However, Microsoft doesn't specifically mention Linux in the Panasonic news release, in contrast with its statement about a patent deal with Amazon earlier this week.

Ron Markezich

Microsoft says it's creating separate data center facilities -- protected by biometric controls and accessible only by U.S. citizens -- in an effort to win business from federal government agencies with needs for extra security. The company plans to use the facilities to offer a high-security version of its Business Online Productivity Suite, which includes cloud-based versions of its Exchange messaging and SharePoint collaboration servers.

The facilities will be designed to comply with International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which apply to many federal agencies and suppliers, said Ron Markezich, corporate vice president of Microsoft Online, in an interview this afternoon. The small number of workers who are granted access will have gone through background checks and fingerprinting, Markezich said.

Photo Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft is making a new bid for the attention schools around the world with the release of server software that lets students access the same computer from multiple mice and screens, for shared classroom exercises and educational games.

The product, Windows MultiPoint Server 2010, is an outgrowth of a project that began several years ago in the company's research lab in India, and had been a fixture at the company's research events. Microsoft is selling the program through its volume licensing program for academic institutions, and making it available through partners including Hewlett-Packard, DisplayLink, NComputing, ThinGlobal, and others.

Google overnight confirmed reports that European regulators are looking into complaints that it's unfairly pushing down the rankings of some of its competitors in its search results. The company denied wrongdoing, and pointed out that Microsoft is connected to two of the three companies making complaints.

One is a price-comparison service called Foundem, which is a member of a Microsoft-funded organization called ICOMP, the Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace. Foundem has been outspoken on the subject of "search neutrality" in that role. Another is a similar service called Ciao!, renamed Ciao! from Bing after it was acquired by the Redmond company. Google said it "always had a good relationship" with Ciao, but started receiving complaints from the company after Microsoft's acquisition.

McGinn

We already know that Seattle's new mayor would prefer an alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system. Turns out he feels the same way about the company's strategy for regional transportation.

Responding to Microsoft's newly launched campaign to press forward with the existing 520 bridge replacement plan, Mayor Mike McGinn yesterday continued to lobby for a competing proposal that would put light rail on the bridge rather than dedicated HOV lanes for vehicles. He pointed to a recent talk in which Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called on the world to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

Tim Cook

Answering questions today at a Goldman Sachs technology conference, Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook talked at length about the company's strategy. But in the process, he sounded at times almost like a professor presenting a case study in opposition to Microsoft's business model, on subjects including hardware integration, mobile phones, retail stores, and just about everything else.

I just finished listening to the online audio playback, and these are some of the comments from Cook that stood out.

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith spoke with reporters this morning about the company's campaign to move forward with the state's existing plan to replace the 520 bridge between Redmond and Seattle. Our question: Considering the impact its employees have on traffic, would Microsoft consider using its cash reserves to help fund the project? Skip ahead to the 2:30 mark to hear Smith's answer.

Supporters of the open-source Linux operating system are responding with indifference to last night's news that Amazon will pay Microsoft an undisclosed sum in a patent deal that covers the e-commerce company's use of technologies including Linux servers, and open-source components of its Kindle e-reader device.

The implication of the deal is that Amazon is paying Microsoft to use Linux, and thereby supporting Microsoft's longstanding and controversial contention that Linux and other open-source technologies violate its patents. But Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, says the weird part is the way Microsoft went out of its way to single out open-source technologies in its statement about the deal.