Technology
Phone companies survive by not calling themselves phone companies
Back in the days of one local telephone company, one type of service and maybe one style of phone, what happened to companies like Pacific Northwest Bell or General Telephone & Electronics was big news. But when the successors to these legacy landline telephone companies in Washington state were sold in the space of a…
Mobile App Developers Are the New M&A Target
Mobile applications are emerging as a critical component in the strategies of corporate giants from retailers to accounting companies. Are golf course operators among your clients? Better make sure they have a good caddy app that takes advantage of the latest in GPS technology. If you’re a retailer, you want to make sure your point-of-sale…
Novel has raised $1.6 million to develop games that helps companies hire and train employees
Novel, a Seattle company that is developing products that use game mechanics to help companies train and recruit employees, has just raised $1.6 million, GeekWire reports.Seattle Business magazine’s September cover story reported about the growing trend towards using games to engage people in productive online activities that range from protein design to school work. The…
Windows Phone GM leaving Microsoft
Windows Phone general manager Charlie Kindel is leaving Microsoft to launch his own tech startup. In a farewell blog post to colleagues, Kindel said he may stop using some Microsoft products after he departs the company — “but not Windows Phone, the BEST product Microsoft has ever built.” In a humorous aside to his children,…
Sophisticated palette: Visualant sees what the eye cannot
As human beings, we think we see what there is to be seen, says Ron Erickson, CEO of Seattles Visualant Inc. Born of a conversation on the vanity of human perception, Visualant has 12 employees and annual revenues of $9.13 million. Its product is a device that allows humans to see what their eyes cannot…
Venture capitalists see strong Amazon but continued weakness at Microsoft2012
Four experienced venture capitalists offering their predictions for 2012, unanimously agreed that Amazons Kindle Fire would be a big success while Microsoft would continue to struggle. They were speaking at Washington Technology Industry Association’s annual Prediction(s) event. Several said Amazon’s value would continue to rise, potentially taking it past Microsoft in valuation within five years….
A Prague gamemakers take on gamification and the family business
Seattle has made it. Making it isnt about checking up on rankings–the lists in magazines from Forbes to Kiplingers citing Seattle as a tech center, a startup hub, an educated city with a decent employment rate, top town for dogs, dating, data and so forth…Making it is receiving a press release from Prague announcing that…
Boeing testifies on the next chapter in spaceflight
John Elbon of Boeings Space Exploration Division was among commercial aircraft representatives testifying before Congress Wednesday. He presented Boeings plan for developing crew transport vehicles for use with the International Space Station. Focusing on transport, Elbon said, would allow NASA to free up funds for exploration beyond near-Earth orbit. In addition, transport technology would increase…
Nokia unveils its first Windows Phones
On Wednesday, the world got to see what the Microsoft and Nokia partnership will look like. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop unveiled two Windows Phones, called the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, during his keynote address at the Nokia World conference in London. Nokia will not sell either phone in the United States immediately, but Elop…
Microsoft posts 6 percent rise in first-quarter earnings
Microsoft reported earnings of $5.74 billion, or 68 cents a share, for the first quarter ending September 30. That’s 6 percent better than the earnings of $5.41 billion, or 61 cents a share, for the same period a year ago. Revenue rose to $17.37 billion, an increase of 7.3 percent. The company slightly outperformed the…
Pioneer Square tech scene expands
EMC Corp. unveiled its plans for the future of Isilon Systems and other tech hubs across the country Wednesday. EMC, a data management company based in Massachussetts, acquired Isilon last December for $2.25 billion. Isilon focuses its business on data storage. The company just opened a 140,000 square foot Center of Excellence in the heart…
Microsoft completes acquisition of Skype
Microsoft on Friday (Oct. 14) closed thedeal for Internet phone company Skype. The acquisition Microsofts largest ever at $8.5 billion was announced in May. Skype nowbecomes a division of Microsoft and Skype CEO Tony Bates assumes the title ofpresident of the Skype Division, reporting directly to Microsoft CEO SteveBallmer. As part of the deal, Skype…
Microsoft warrants little but jokes at a tech conference held in the company’s own backyard.
At a Seattle conference about technology trends in the Northwest, the region’s 800-pound gorrilla, Microsoft, was hardly in evidence. And when the name did come up, it was typically in disparaging tones. Asked about Seattle as an environment for building a company, Apptio CEO Sunny Gupta complained about the absence of large companies from which…