Posts on Microsoft  

IanFogg | May 07, 2008, 11:13 AM
BT Broadband Goes Mobile, Sortof
[updated 15.04 UK time] BT has just announced that they are bundling a mobile smartphone service as part of their home broadband package. Interestingly, this new bundle will be presented as a new top tier for BT's Total Broadband home DSL, rather than as a mobile tariff. The name for...( more )

Nate Elliott | February 01, 2008, 06:44 PM
My First Take: Can Microsoft + Yahoo Challenge Google in Search?
There's no shortage of comment around the blogosphere today about a possible combination of MSN and Yahoo, and its potential to threaten Google's dominance. But while it's useful to keep in mind what impact this will have on music, messaging, or other verticals, I'm going to stick with talking about...( more )

IanFogg | February 01, 2008, 01:18 PM
MS / Yahoo! - Communications Impact
Microsoft has bid to buy Yahoo! This is being widely reported as an anti-Google move. But in communications -- email, instant messaging/presence, social networks etc. -- a Yahoo! - Microsoft combination would be tremendously dominant. Microsoft has the leading IM platform in Europe. The second place varies by country: AOL...( more )

Thomas Husson | November 13, 2007, 06:42 AM
Microsoft to acquire MUSIWAVE
2 years ago, I posted a comment on Musiwave's acquisition by Openwave. Since then the company managed to gain a significant footprint in Europe (see more info here; Musiwave also signed a deal with T-Mobile which went largely unnoticed in the press last summer) and to a lesser extent in...( more )

Nate Elliott | October 25, 2007, 11:45 AM
Is Investing in Facebook Worth it to Microsoft Just to Get International Remnant Inventory?
Battelle wonders what's in the Facebook equity deal for Microsoft, and I understand where he's coming from. Obviously, if Microsoft gets (as he puts it) "insight/boxing out/exclusivity," then this partnership is very valuable for Microsoft. But Battelle says this deal isn't worthwhile if it's just about remnant inventory in Europe....( more )

Nate Elliott | October 25, 2007, 12:34 AM
Facebook / Microsoft Deal: First Take
Card has details from the conference call -- but the biggest news from a European perspective is that Microsoft now has rights to sell Facebook's international traffic as well as their US traffic. That gives Microsoft's AdCenter stronger reach and broader inventory (and possibly better behavioral and demographic data?) in...( more )

IanFogg | September 24, 2007, 09:49 AM
Globalisation is an S Word
The Globalisation Institute, or the self-proclaimed "Brussels' most popular think tank website", thinks so as they own www.globalisation.eu (interesting arguments about PCs and Windows here too, which is how I came by this site). But, foolishly, they've not secured the z word for their website: www.globalization.eu. This is very insular...( more )

Nate Elliott | May 18, 2007, 12:19 PM
First Take: Microsoft buys aQuantive
As you've no doubt heard, today Microsoft agreed to purchase aQuantive. As usual, I'll point out that I'm not a financial analyst, and so I'll stick to talking about how this deal impacts the companies and their clients, rather than how it impacts investors and stock prices. But there are...( more )

Nate Elliott | May 18, 2007, 09:22 AM
Microsoft buys aQuantive
So, Google have bought DoubleClick, Yahoo have bought RightMedia, AOL have bought Third Screen Media and AdTech, WPP have bought 24/7, and now Microsoft have bought aQuantive and ScreenTonic. And now every major web adserver, along with a handful of minor web adservers and mobile adservers, has been purchased in...( more )

Mark Mulligan | March 13, 2007, 10:46 AM
Paul McCartney Signs to Starbucks
I'm really going to struggle to match that headline so I'll instead opt to keep it short and sweet (much like a Frappucino). It's reported the Starbucks have managed to sign Paul McCartney to their newly launched record label. I'm not sure whether this says more about the state of...( more )

IanFogg | March 13, 2007, 06:42 AM
The Vista Zeitgeist
I've been struck by the amount of anti-Vista rhetoric around, which for the most part is at complete odds with my experiences with Vista to date. I think one issue is that Vista simply isn't a good fit with the mood of the times. Perhaps in part because of the...( more )

IanFogg | March 12, 2007, 11:02 AM
IPTV & Fibre Pioneer Fastweb Bought by Swisscom
Swisscom intends to acquire Fastweb. There are tremendous potential implications for this offer. I'll split my first takes into the benefits for Swisscom, and the impact on the Italian market. Swisscom: Swisscom gains an experienced competitive unbundled local loop and fibre operator. This will help Swisscom understand future unbundled threats...( more )

IanFogg | February 19, 2007, 05:01 PM
Vista's Upgrade Challenge
Vista is the future of the PC, despite what its many detractors may wish and so put to one side. Vista matters, maybe now, maybe soon, but it is where the PC is going, eventually. Over the weekend I installed the release version of Windows Vista Ultimate on my home...( more )

IanFogg | December 04, 2006, 02:22 PM
BT's Broadband Vision
Today's IPTV announcements are not about today, or about tomorrow. This is BT positioning for the medium and long term. BT knows it must resist downward pressure in broadband prices, which we forecast earlier this year will continue. BT's Total Broadband is the response and BT Vision is a major...( more )

IanFogg | December 04, 2006, 01:27 PM
Vodafone Vision
Well, not quite. The new BT Vision IPTV service is to be retailed by Vodafone to Vodafone UK's broadband customers. However, the IPTV part will use the BT brand. So, Vodafone's asset light approach, is still allowing the launch of both a competitively-priced broadband/home phone bundle and the option of...( more )

IanFogg | November 16, 2006, 04:02 PM
3 U-Turns with X-Series; AOL MIA
Mobile operator 3, announced today a final break with its original strategy: today there was no mention of a fully walled garden and a per event charging model for media content downloads and viewing email messages. 3 announced that the X-Series line will: "...offer mobile Internet services free at the...( more )

IanFogg | September 19, 2006, 06:05 PM
Zune Packaging - MS Learns
This is old, but worth revisiting given the Zune launch. On the positive side for Zune, unlike this video, the Zune box is clean and neat by comparison. Read more on Zune. Microsoft designs the iPod package: ( link to video.)...( more )

IanFogg | February 08, 2006, 06:27 PM
FT.com : Ebay's Wishful VoIP Thinking
The FT reports that Ebay sees Google, Yahoo, Amazon becoming less competitive with them : The four dominant internet groups - Google, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon - will increasingly focus on their core activities rather than compete with each other head-on, according to Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive. "I think...( more )

IanFogg | January 16, 2006, 05:25 PM
Google Pack - What's in it for Google
Ignoring the obvious but shallow: "because they can" / it seemed a "really good idea" / to annoy Microsoft / and Larry Page aspired to command the stage at CES '06 in the way Steve Jobs has done many times over the years at Macworld.... Potential benefits to Google of...( more )

IanFogg | October 10, 2005, 11:07 AM
'Disposable' DVD: Print Media's Shaky Foundations
Some rethinking needs to happen at the UK's sunday paper, The Business. Last week they published a story, an "exclusive", that Microsoft had developed a cheap play once 'disposable' DVD disk. A week later, and their front page follow-up story criticises bloggers for rubbishing the original. Both pieces ignore the...( more )

Nate Elliott | September 04, 2005, 07:29 PM
Ballmer Reads My Stuff
[Via Battelle] According to documents filed in a lawsuit between Microsoft and Google, in November 2004 Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer exclaimed that "Google is not a real company. It's a house of cards." I'm not at all surprised that Ballmer reads my work, but it's a real honor to know...( more )