PC shipments soar in first quarter
By Todd Bishop on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 1:59pm PDT
Breaking News: Worldwide personal-computer shipments rose more than 24 percent in the first quarter, according to numbers released by the IDC research firm this afternoon, as the PC market continued to show signs of recovering from the economic recession. Combined with strong quarterly results yesterday from industry bellwether Intel, the numbers are good news for Microsoft as the Redmond company prepares to report its quarterly earnings next week. | | SPONSORED POST | Seattle University Software Engineering
Upgrade your career! Earn your Masters degree while continuing to work full-time. Our balanced curriculum of technical and management courses enhances professional leadership in planning, design and development of today's software systems. More information here. |  | | Online journalism experiment Spot.Us expands to Seattle
By John Cook on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 1:01pm PDT
Seattle has quickly become a hotbed for experiments in online journalism. Pioneering hyperlocal news outlets such as the West Seattle Blog and Next Door Media's MyBallard got started here, not to mention bigger initiatives from the likes of msnbc.com, The Seattle P-I and Bellevue-based DataSphere. Now, a new player is emerging in Seattle to help foster in-depth online journalism. Spot.Us has launched its unique online journalism model in Seattle, offering a new way for members of the community to directly fund news stories that might not be on the radar of more traditional news outlets. It marks the third major city where Spot.Us now operates, joining San Francisco and L.A. | | SPONSORED POST | NAE "Grand Challenges" Summit in Seattle, May 2-3
Join UW Engineering Dean Matt O'Donnell, moderator John Markoff of The New York Times, and a distinguished group of keynote speakers in a stimulating dialogue about engineering better medicines, tools for scientific computing, and progress in space exploration. Complete schedule and details. |  | | Microsoft investigating report of child labor violations in China
By Todd Bishop on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 10:18am PDT
An investigation released Tuesday by the non-profit National Labor Committee reported that Microsoft's hardware division has been contracting with a factory in China that recruits teenagers as young as 14 who work under abusive conditions in 15-hour daily shifts for as little as 52 cents an hour, after deductions for factory food. Those were just some of the allegations of abusive child labor practice in the NLC report, which includes photos and other details from inside the KYE factory, based on the extensive investigation. In a statement this morning, Microsoft said it's looking into the situation based on the NLC investigation. The factory makes Microsoft mice, the NLC reported. | | SPONSORED POST | CoreLink Data Centers - Deal of the Decade
The Deal of the Decade: Colocation Pricing - Great Entry Level Offering for Colocation Solutions CoreLink Data Centers offers pre-packaged bundles for data center solutions, including colocation, in secure, environmentally controlled locations. More information here. |  | | Zillow rises to No. 2 online real estate site behind Realtor.com
By John Cook on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 9:56am PDT
Zillow.com surpassed Yahoo Real Estate to become the second most visited online real estate site during the month of March, according to a new report from Experian Hitwise. Zillow -- which for the past two months had ranked third -- recorded a search market share 3.49 percent. That compared to industry leader Realtor.com which came in at 6.51 percent. Yahoo Real Estate finished the month at 3.38 percent, while Rent.com came in fourth at 2.75 percent and ZipRealty finished fifth with 2.52 percent. Zillow.com's key rival, San Francisco-based Trulia, finished sixth with a market share of 2.32 percent. And Redfin continues to climb the online real estate charts as it expands service into more markets. | Amazon.com paying more for Bezos security arrangements
By Eric Engleman on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 9:50am PDT
Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos saw his compensation go up more than 39 percent in 2009, after being flat for years, according to a new company proxy filing out today. The reason? Increased security costs. The online retailer says it paid $500,000 more for security for Bezos last year — though it didn't specify exactly why. Amazon has also decided to shrink its current board from eight to seven members, following the decision of longtime director John Doerr not to stand for re-election. Reports have indicated that Doerr, a prominent venture capitalist, decided to step down amid a Federal Trade Commission inquiry into close ties between Google and Amazon (Doerr also serves on Google's board). | Sonicsgate, MSN's Wonderwall and others up for Webby Awards
By John Cook on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 9:08am PDT
We've always gotten a kick out of the Webby Awards -- in part because the organizers brilliantly limit the winners to acceptance speeches of five words or less. Well, as it turns out, several Seattle area companies might want to at least start thinking about their remarks for the New York gala on June 14th. Nominees were released this week in more than 100 categories, spanning segments such as online video, interactive advertising and mobile. And, as in past years, there's a solid representation from Seattle area companies, filmmakers and entrepreneurs. | Bill Gates going back to Harvard ... and Berkeley, Stanford and MIT
By Todd Bishop on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 3:45am PDT
Toward the end of his era as a full-time Microsoft executive, Bill Gates would often spend a week or so visiting and speaking at college campuses across the country, talking about his vision for the future of technology and trying to keep the Redmond company at the forefront of college students' minds. In his absence, that role has been assumed by Craig Mundie, the company's chief research and strategy officer. But like an aging rock star who can't resist the allure of the road, Gates announced last night that he'll be back at it next week -- visiting UC Berkeley, Stanford, the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and MIT. You can almost hear the students now: Bill Gates? He's still touring? | Why Kin? Microsoft does its best to explain its new 'social phone'
By Todd Bishop on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 5:01pm PDT
Yesterday we focused on the "what" of Microsoft Kin, explaining the ins and outs of the new devices designed to appeal to a generation of hyper-social mobile phone users. But given that Microsoft just revamped its broader mobile phone initiative with Windows Phone 7, the bigger question is why the company felt it necessary, with the Kin, to launch what amounts to a completely separate product line. In interviews since the Kin unveiling, Microsoft has been fielding scores of questions on that topic, giving responses that shed light on its thinking, even if they leave room for debate about its reasoning. After quizzing a Microsoft product management director, Wilson Rothman of Gizmodo came away with this conclusion. | Dog food, e-forks and other ideas from the First Look Forum
By John Cook on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 4:54pm PDT
There aren't many places where you can learn about natural dog food, an anti-snoring device and the world's first electronic fitness fork -- all under one roof. But those ideas and others were on display this afternoon at the Northwest Entrepreneur Network's First Look Forum, a business plan competition that introduced 12 new startup companies to the Seattle angel community. Here are the 12 companies, with the five finalists and top two winners noted. | Seattle's TEDx: The business of technology, for good of society
By Todd Bishop on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 3:16pm PDT
More than 1,000 people applied for the privilege of paying as much as $50 to attend this Friday's TEDx Seattle event -- requiring the organizers from the University of Washington's Master of Communications in Digital Media program to hold a lottery to fill the 300 available seats. It's a testament to the popularity and cachet of the original TED conference, which is known for insightful talks from smart speakers. It's also a sign of high expectations for TEDx Seattle, an independent event operating under a license from the TED conference. So what, exactly, should people expect? We talked with Hanson Hosein, director of the UW MCDM program, to get a sense for what's in store. Continue reading for excerpts from his remarks. | Nintendo wins appeal in patent suit over classic game controllers
By Todd Bishop on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 2:16pm PDT
Nintendo was rewarded for persisting in its patent battle with Anascape Ltd. today, winning a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that overturns a $21 million jury verdict previously handed down against the company. The court (PDF, 18 pages) sided with the company in the dispute over the Classic Controller for the Nintendo Wii and the WaveBird (pictured) and standard controllers for the Nintendo GameCube. The jury had previously determined that the Wii Remote and Nunchuck didn't infringe on the Anascape patent. The effect of the ruling today is to clear all of the Nintendo controllers of the infringement claims. | |
Comments
Post a Comment