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BlackBerry, Microsoft and the Ever-Smarter Connected Car

January 31, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

BlackBerry announced that its turnaround was finished, and Microsoft finally provided some information on its new connected car deliverables. CEO John Chen excitedly pointed out that BlackBerry had displaced Microsoft in Ford and announced a strategic initiative to work more closely with Microsoft’s Azure platform on BlackBerry’s own market-leading QNX car operating system. That showcased not only the massive changes in both companies, but also the really strange way this market is evolving. With all the focus on the coming autonomous car and on BlackBerry’s old phone business, most don’t…

Microsoft Expands Artificial Intelligence Footprint in Montreal

January 19, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Microsoft has plans to double the size of its local AI research group and aswell give the University of Montreal $6 million and McGill University $1 million over the next five years to help spur artificial-intelligence research. The moves were announced Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Microsoft president Brad Smith; Navdeep Bain, Canada’s minister of innovation, science, and economic Development; and other officials. The news also comes just days after Microsoft announced its acquisition of Maluuba, an AI startup founded by University of Waterloo grads. That business was founded…

Evolution of enterprise mobility will continue in 2017

January 6, 2017

With businesses more commonly embracing mobile-centric strategies throughout 2016, it’s easy to view the past year as a tipping point where companies became serious about mobility. However this doesn’t mean that innovation in enterprise mobility is going to slow down, and 2017 should see the industry accelerate faster than ever. In fact the move toward a mobile only workplace may be happening quicker than many businesses realize, with the recently released Gartner Predicts 2017 Mobile Apps and Their Development forecasting that that by 2022, 70 percent of all software interactions…

U.S. tech look to Africa for developers

November 11, 2016

Tech companies founded in the United States are setting up software development centers in Nigeria and Kenya, where a number of young developers has led to growing tech communities. Microsoft has launched its Microsoft 4 Afrika initiative, aiming to help empower African youth, entrepreneurs, developers and others to make their ideas a reality. Steve Case, the AOL founder, and his wife Jean, Generation Investment Management and Sir Richard Branson have provided $19 million to Kenyan pay-as-you-go energy start-up M-KOPA Solar. Andela, which has attracted $24 million of funding from a scheme led by…

Microsoft Is Buying LinkedIn For $26.2 Billion

June 14, 2016 Dianne Jacobs

In what is being considered as the biggest tech merger of all time, Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for a whopping $26.2 billion in cash. As the guardian reports, both companies announced the move on Monday.This is Microsoft’s biggest purchase ever and it said that LinkedIn would retain it’s distinct brand, culture and independence. The success of the deal would see Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s chief executive will report directly to Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s boss. Weiner said that the deal would give LinkedIn a chance to change the way the world works.…

Apple Gains Support From It’s Greatest Rivals

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 Dianne Jacobs

The last couple of weeks have been interesting in the world of tech, as we are in the throes of what might be the biggest tech battle of the decade. As we had reported last week, Apple was facing pressure from the FBI and the Department of Justice to not only hack into the San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone but to also create a permanent backdoor into all future versions of the iOS. In the beginning, tech enthusiasts declared their support for Apple but now tech giants have gone a mile…

European Court of Justice Privacy Rule Could Ruffle American Tech Companies

September 25, 2015February 15, 2016 Staff Writer

A top European lawyer made a decision this morning that could prove a massive headache for American tech companies in Europe. Advocate General Yves Bot, an advisor to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said the “safe harbour” agreement for transferring data between the US and EU is “invalid,” because of concerns over US spying. Bot’s opinion isn’t legally binding, and the ECJ judges will make a formal ruling in the coming months. But as The Irish Times notes, the judges follow such opinions “in most cases.” But if…

Microsoft in antitrust suit against InterDigital over mobile technology

August 25, 2015February 15, 2016 Staff Writer

Microsoft has filed an antitrust lawsuit against InterDigital Inc., upping the ante in a legal dispute over mobile technology that threatens to impair Microsoft’s effort to sell its new smartphones. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Delaware, where InterDigital is located, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) accuses the patent-licensing company of balking on its promise to fairly license its technology, according to a report from Reuters. The legal dispute with InterDigital is part of the hangover from Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia in 2014. For the full story about Microsoft ,…

Microsoft admits Nokia acquisition was a bad deal

July 9, 2015February 17, 2016 Staff Writer

Barely a year after Microsoft paid $9.5 billion for Nokia’s handset unit, the company says it has lost $7.6 billion of that value. That’s equal to about 95 percent of what Microsoft paid for the assets, excluding the cash that came with them. Along with a hefty writedown, Microsoft plans to cut as many as 7,800 jobs, many of them related to the purchase of the Finnish mobile phone maker. Reports Bloomberg “I am committed to our first-party devices including phones,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s current CEO, wrote in an email to employees about the moves.…

Microsoft opens a ‘No Back Door’ Transparency Center to allow European governments a look at its source codes

June 8, 2015February 16, 2016 Staff Writer

Microsoft has opened a Transparency Center in the Belgian capital, offering European governments a look at its source code. The center, opened in Brussels last week, will “enable governments to review and assess the source code of Microsoft products and to access important security information in a secure environment,” Microsoft said. The center is the second such facility the company has built – the first was opened in Redmond last year – and will be open to governments that have signed up to the company’s Government Security Program, which lets…