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Windows Phone app leader goes to Amazon Kindle team
Brandon Watson, who oversaw Windows Phone's work with third-party app developers, is leaving Microsoft to join Amazon.com's Kindle team. Watson confirmed the news on Twitter and said in a message that he'll be working on the Kindle cross-platform team. As Mary Jo Foley notes at ZDNet, that group makes Kindle apps for a variety of platforms, including Windows … Read More...
Ask Andru: Should I get Kinect if I use my Xbox 360 mostly for watching Netflix?
We're back with another edition of Ask Andru - this time we're focusing on the wildly popular Kinect add-on, and how useful it might be for Xbox 360 owners who primarily use their consoles for watching streaming video. On to the question: My family has an Xbox 360 but we end up using it primarily for Netflix, not games. I've read that the recent Xbox Live update added … Read More...
Startup Weekend Redmond is coming February 17-19!
Startup Weekend is an intense 54-hour event which focuses on building a web or mobile application that could form the basis of a credible business over the course of a weekend. It’s a crazy but very rewarding time – you’ll learn a lot about yourself and your great business idea. On Sunday evening your newly-minted team will face a panel of industry veterans. Get ready!
Report: Google testing mysterious new entertainment device
GigaOm today uncovered a pretty interesting tidbit about Google's plans to test a new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled entertainment device in the homes of Google employees through July 17. The tests are to take place in Mountain View, California; New York, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Los Angeles. Reporter Stacey Higginbotham wonders if the application with the Federal … Read More...
Micron CEO Steve Appleton, 51, dies in plane crash
Steve Appleton, the CEO and chairman of semiconductor company Micron Technology, died this morning in a small plane crash in Boise, Idaho, the company said in a statement a short time ago. Appleton, 51, was an avid pilot. He was the only person in the plane at the time of the accident at the Boise Airport, according to a report by the Idaho Statesman. The newspaper … Read More...
Xbox 360 tops Wii and PS3 for 1st time in yearly global sales
Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been dominating its home turf for the past couple of years, sitting atop the monthly sales charts for the U.S. video-game console market, but the Redmond company has just taken the title of top-selling home console worldwide, as well. Sony's earnings report, issued yesterday, puts the PlayStation 3 at 6.5 million units sold worldwide for the … Read More...
Redfin exposes gritty underbelly of real estate with Twitter feed @REConfidential
Who knew that being a real estate agent entailed so many odd encounters. But thanks to Redfin we are now getting a closer peek into this strange and -- at least what appears to be -- wild world. Earlier this week, the Seattle online real estate company unveiled a new Twitter feed @REConfidential. Like the name suggests, these Tweets expose things you don't typically see … Read More...
Zillow posts massive uptick in traffic, Wall Street applauds
Well, it may be true that some brokers are upset with Zillow and its growing power in the online real estate business. But home buyers and sellers are still very much tuning in to the Seattle company's real estate site, checking Zestimates and researching properties. Zillow today just released traffic numbers for the month of January, and the growth rate is quite … Read More...
Why this tech company is using potty humor for its 30-second Super Bowl ad
Ok, I'll admit it, I am a bit of a sucker for the Super Bowl ads. And each year before the big game, I am especially interested to see which tech companies feel compelled to toss down $3.5 million for a 30-second spot. This year, there's a new entrant in the field: InfoSpace. Well, not InfoSpace directly. But the Bellevue company's newly-acquired TaxACT business plans … Read More...
The fastest (and slowest) wireless networks in Seattle
Are you looking to switch wireless carriers? Well, before you make the jump it might be worthwhile to spend some time with a new report released today by Root Metrics, which analyzes the performance of the four big carriers in Seattle. The results of the survey -- compiled after some 20,000 tests and analyzing factors such as network speed, dropped and blocked calls and … Read More...
Nearly 100 million Americans own a smartphone, and just 4.7% choose Windows Phone
The holiday season wasn't too cheerful for Microsoft, at least when it came to its Windows Phone business. According to a new report from comScore, Microsoft lost market share during the three month period ending December 31st. Obviously, that's a critical holiday sales period, a time when many people pick up new mobile devices. However, consumers are increasingly … Read More...
Windows and Windows Phone: Their worlds are colliding
Earlier this week, a veteran Wall Street analyst said in a note to clients that development of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, under newly installed Microsoft mobile chief Terry Myerson, was reporting to Windows chief Steven Sinofsky. After reading the note, I set out to verify the information, but it turned out it wasn't true. Microsoft flatly denied that the reporting … Read More...
4 ways Microsoft can make Azure better for startups
Guest Commentary: This week Microsoft made a big announcement by providing TechStars startups up to $60,000 worth of Windows Azure services for two years. That’s huge. I have never seen Amazon or any other cloud provider, or any other provider of anything, offer this much. It’s an exciting opportunity for those startups, but it also shows that Microsoft has not been … Read More...
Chart: Who pays the most in Seattle for software engineers
Steve Ballmer was right. It's all about developers, developers, developers these days. In fact, the market is so hot that companies like Amazon.com, Twitter and Facebook are doing "acqui-hires" -- like the one today of TeachStreet -- just to gobble up key engineering talent. But that's not really the norm, and most tech companies are still having to pay out … Read More...
Geek Made: How to make apple cider … with a bicycle
As I pedaled on a bright red Schwinn, with the sweet scent of Gala apples around me, I realized that nothing exemplifies creative Northwest sustainability better than a bicycle-powered cider press. On Saturday I headed to the house of Audrey Lawrence and Nathan Royston to try out their bike press and get a taste of fresh cider with organic apples from Tonnemaker … Read More...
Chatting with Bill Gates, and your chance to quiz him today
I got a chance to talk with Bill Gates for just a few moments last night at an event previewing the new Visitor Center at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters across from Seattle Center. The upshot: He's excited about the new facility because it will make it easier for people to get a sense for the foundation's work, and maybe inspire them to get … Read More...
How Windows is still a better business than Facebook
Facebook's financial results, revealed yesterday in the company's IPO filing, showed 2011 profits of $1 billion from sales of more $3.7 billion -- translating into a strong 27 percent profit margin. It's a key ratio to watch because it reflects a company's efficiency as a business and an investment. By comparison, Google's 2011 profit margin was 26 percent, Microsoft's … Read More...
Legalize couchsurfing: Why renting rooms shouldn’t be like harboring fugitives
Tight budgets and the internet have given rise to the hottest new thing in travel accommodations. Web-based company Airbnb has received a lot of press recently for its for-profit service that matches travelers with spare bedrooms, such as mine (pictured). It’s already growing like moss in the Northwest winter, but the potential is much bigger than most have … Read More...
GeekWire Game Night and Meetup coming up next week
Who will be crowned the almighty Lord of Catan? We're just six days away from the GeekWire Meetup and Game Night where we'll be busting out some of our favorite old-time board games (Yes, Settlers of Catan), as well as some new favorites (Kinect bowling or boxing, anyone?) We've got a crowd of gaming geeks coming out for the big night on Wednesday, February 8th, and … Read More...
Google challenges Microsoft ads, and Microsoft unleashes its ‘Gmail Man’
It's Day No. 2 in Microsoft's three-day bid to court Google users, and Google isn't letting Microsoft's claims go unanswered. Google yesterday afternoon issued a detailed rebuttal to Microsoft's newspaper ads -- seeking to debunk assertions made by Microsoft about the unification of Google's privacy policies across its various online properties. Contrary to … Read More...
Amazon opens sports collectibles store, with signed items from Tom Brady, Derek Jeter and other greats
Just in time for the Super Bowl, Amazon.com is rolling out its latest game plan in e-commerce. The company today announced a new Sports Collectibles Store where sports fanatics can purchase everything from autographed baseballs to signed soccer cleats. The site allows shoppers to browse by professional sports -- NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL -- and items -- jerseys, balls, … Read More...
Exclusive: Amazon.com buys TeachStreet
TeachStreet founder Dave Schappell traveled from coast-to-coast over the past 12 months entertaining offers for his Seattle-based startup. But, at the end of the day, he found the best fit right in his own backyard. Amazon.com has acquired TeachStreet, the 5-year-old online marketplace that matches students and teachers. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, but this … Read More...
Top 10 stories: Remembering Arfa; Bill Gates on Steve Jobs; and more
There was no shortage of news on the technology beat during the month of January, one of the reasons that GeekWire's traffic soared to record heights. And it doesn't look like things will be slowing down anytime soon, with President Barack Obama touting the importance of innovation in his State of the Union Address; Facebook filing for an initial public offering and … Read More...
Sneak Peek: The technology behind the new Gates Foundation Visitor Center
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation opens its new Visitor Center in Seattle starting this weekend, giving the philanthropy a new opportunity to inform and engage the public in its mission of improving education and global health for the world's poor. Frankly, the photo booth alone is worth a visit. The high-tech system, which captures and displays high-resolution … Read More...
Concur posts ‘exceptional’ quarter, tops $100 million in revenue
Concur Technologies today exceeded financial expectations for its fiscal first quarter as the Redmond maker of travel and entertainment expense management software posted $100 million in revenue. That was a 25 percent increase over the same period during 2010, and a five percent increase over the previous quarter. Concur showed a net loss of $900,000, compared to net … Read More...
Review: Hands-on with Nest … a thermostat from the future!
I run a real estate company by day, and electronic gadgets are one of my passions, so it comes as no surprise that I needed to be one of the first to install the Nest Learning Thermostat in my home. After a couple months on their wait list, I installed it last week and wanted to give my fellow GeekWire readers a glimpse of this neat gadget. The premise of Nest is pretty … Read More...
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