The company said last week at the O'Reilly's Open Source Conference that it's submitting its shared-source licenses to the Open Source Initiative, which judges whether new licenses meet its criteria for listing. Increasingly, the organization also is trying to cut down on the number of open-source licenses, too, which is a problem for programmers who don't want legal obstacles in the way of source code sharing.

... the new version of Works will be ad-funded, according to Satya Nadella, the newly minted Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Search & Advertising Platform Group. Nadella told me during an interview on July 27 that Microsoft recently released the new ad-funded version of Microsoft Works.

The game's story works only because of the delivery: full motion video acting featuring favorites Michael Ironside from Starship Troopers and Splinter Cell, Billy Dee Williams from The Empire Strikes Back, Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica, and yes, miss Jennifer Morrison from Fox's "House M.D." among other notables.

Microsoft Corp. today announced it has agreed to acquire AdECN, Inc., an advertising exchange platform company based near Santa Barbara, Calif. AdECN’s technology serves as a hub where advertising networks can come together in a neutral, real-time auction marketplace for buying and selling display advertising. The deal is a key component of Microsoft’s strategy to develop a comprehensive search and display advertising platform helping advertisers and publishers to maximize return on investment (ROI) on their digital advertising investments. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. ...

Founded in 2003, AdECN brings both key technologies and significant domain expertise to the Microsoft team. Advertisers and publishers will benefit from this deal in the following ways:

• Advertisers will get access to more inventory, enabling more efficient matching of their requirements which can help increase ROI.

• Publishers will be able to increase yield – earn more money per page view – due to the higher volume of available inventory.

• Both groups will benefit from the exchange’s neutrality and transparency, enabling them to make more informed decisions about their bid and ask decisions.

The City of Richmond, British Columbia is
pleased to announce it has been chosen as the home for the new Microsoft
Canada Development Centre.

Scheduled to open in the early fall, the Microsoft Canada Development
Centre will focus on software development and will eventually employ hundreds
of highly-skilled workers from around the world. Earlier this month, Microsoft
Corp. announced its intentions to establish a centre in the Greater Vancouver
area. Microsoft has now reached an agreement to lease two buildings totalling
80,000 square feet located in the Crestwood Corporate Centre, which is owned
and operated by Bentall Capital, and is acknowledged as one of the leading
business parks in the Greater Vancouver area.

Digg Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced an agreement in which the two companies will collaborate to bring relevant advertising to the more than 17 million unique monthly visitors to Digg, an innovative Web site that harnesses the collective wisdom of the world’s online audience to prioritize the overwhelming amount of content available on the Web. Microsoft’s advanced advertising technology and sales force combined with Digg’s unique and growing user community make possible the three-year collaboration, grounded in the companies’ commitment to technological innovation and user experience.

As part of the relationship, Microsoft will be the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising on Digg. The two companies also agreed to work together on future technology and advertising initiatives.

Microsoft's CEO made a bold prediction for the Windows install base, during his keynote as part of the company's annual financial analysts conference today.

Steve Ballmer said that during fiscal 2008, which started on July 1, there will be "more PCs running Windows in the world than there are automobiles. The number: 1 billion.

Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) today announced the incorporation of five premier titles from EA. All the titles will be live in the Massive Network this year.

The EA titles joining the Massive Network include the year’s most anticipated new releases and perennial best-sellers in their respective categories:

• “Madden NFL 08” (Xbox 360™ and PC)

• “NASCAR® 08” (Xbox 360)

• “NHL® 08” (Xbox 360)

• “Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 08” (Xbox 360 and PC)

• “SKATE” (Xbox 360)

“SKATE” is EA’s highly anticipated entrant in the skateboarding genre and is set in urban environments, well suited for integrating real-world brands. EA’s titles deliver incredibly realistic gaming experiences, in which advertising fits naturally as part of the gameplay experience. ...

The addition of EA’s leading franchises will greatly increase the range of dynamic in-game ad opportunities available to marketers looking to reach and engage the gaming audience. “The addition of these top EA titles to Massive’s growing network provides the means to reach consumers with contextual brand messages across a variety of popular sports titles that were previously unavailable for dynamic ad insertion. This is a huge win for brand marketers,” said Brian Bos, vice president, convergence director at Mindshare – Team Detroit.

Massive’s dynamic advertising platform allows for in-game ad elements to be updated and changed in real time, keeping ads fresh and relevant for gamers. EA’s development teams work closely with Massive to ensure that advertising is placed in areas that fit within the game environment.

Microsoft's controversial Windows Genuine Advantage software validation mechanisms have been a source of frustration for PC users, and a subject of lawsuits against the company. But Microsoft says the anti-piracy tool, and the actions taken by consumers who received WGA alerts, were critical in tracking down a huge counterfeit software syndicate based in Southern China.

Expanding on its ongoing work to help protect customer privacy, Microsoft Corp. today announced an enhanced set of privacy principles for Live Search and online advertising data collection, use and protection. The principles outline new, enhanced steps to help protect the privacy of Microsoft® Windows Live™ users, including making search query data anonymous after 18 months by permanently removing cookie IDs, the entire IP address and other identifiers from search terms. Microsoft will also work to give customers more control over what information it uses to personalize their online search experience. In connection with its efforts to support a common industry approach to privacy issues, Microsoft also announced that it will join the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) later this year when it begins to offer third-party ad serving broadly. ...

Microsoft privacy principles for Live Search and online ad targeting include the following:

• User Notice. Microsoft will continue to be transparent about its policies and practices so that users can make informed choices. It will regularly update the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement, accessible from every page of each major online service it operates, to maintain transparency as its services evolve or its practices change. This will include an update to its privacy statement to provide more detail about online advertising and search data collection and protection.

• User Control. Microsoft will continue to implement new privacy features and practices as it continues to develop its online services and offer new controls that help users manage the types of communications they receive from Microsoft. For example, once the company begins to offer advertising services to third-party Web sites, it will offer customers the ability to opt out of the behavioral ad targeting by Microsoft’s network-advertising service on those Web sites. Microsoft also will continue to develop new user controls that will enhance privacy, such as letting people search and surf its sites without being associated with a personal and unique identifier used for behavioral ad targeting, and allowing signed-in users to control the personalization of the services they receive.

• Search Data Anonymization. Microsoft will implement specific policies around search query data, be explicit with customers about how long the company retains search terms in an identifiable way, and inform people of when and how it may “anonymize” such data. Specifically, Microsoft will make all Live Search query data anonymous after 18 months, unless the company receives user consent for a longer time period. This policy will apply retroactively and worldwide, and will include permanently removing the entirety of the IP address and all other cross-session identifiers, such as cookie IDs and other machine identifiers, from the search terms. It will ensure that any personalized search services involving users choosing a longer retention period are offered in a transparent way, with prominent notice and consent.

• Minimizing Privacy Impact and Data Protection. Microsoft will continue to design its systems and processes in ways that minimize the privacy impact of the data it collects, stores, processes and uses to deliver products and services. For example, Microsoft will store Live Search service search terms separately from account information that personally and directly identifies the person, such as name, e-mail address and phone numbers. Moreover, Microsoft will maintain and continually improve protection to prevent the unauthorized correlation of this data. Microsoft will ensure that any service requiring the connection of search terms to individually identifying account information is offered in a transparent way, with prominent notice and user consent.

• Legal Requirements and Industry Best Practices. Microsoft will continue to follow all applicable legal requirements as well as leading industry best practices in the markets where it operates. Microsoft adheres to globally recognized privacy standards set forth in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Online Privacy Alliance guidelines, is a member of the TRUSTe Privacy Seal Program, and abides by the Safe Harbor framework set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce. When it begins to offer advertising services on third-party Web sites, Microsoft will follow applicable NAI Principles.

More information, including the full text of Microsoft’s enhanced privacy principles for Live Search and online ad targeting, is available at http://www.microsoft.com/privacy.

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, a 13% increase over the same period of the prior year. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.31. Excluding $0.08 of previously announced charges primarily related to Xbox 360™ warranty policies, earnings per share would have been $0.39, an increase of 26% over the same period of the prior year when also adjusted for certain items.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, Microsoft announced revenue of $51.12 billion, a 15% increase over the prior year. Diluted earnings per share for the year were $1.42. Excluding certain items, earnings per share would have been $1.49, an increase of 17% over the prior year when also adjusted for certain items. $31 billion in cash, or approximately 175% of operating cash flow, was returned to shareholders during the year through share buybacks and dividends.

Excluding this [Xbox] charge, Microsoft earned 39 cents per share, in line with analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Financial.

Total revenue grew 13 percent to $13.37 billion from $11.80 billion last year, just ahead of Wall Street's estimate of $13.27 billion.

Microsoft management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending September 30, 2007:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $12.4 billion to $12.6 billion.

• Operating income is expected to be in the range of $5.0 billion to $5.2 billion.

• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.38 to $0.40.

Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2008:

• Revenue is expected to be in the range of $56.8 billion to $57.8 billion.

• Operating income is expected to be in the range of $22.2 billion to $22.7 billion.

• Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.69 to $1.73.

The foregoing guidance does not include the impact of currently undetermined costs associated with Microsoft’s acquisition of aQuantive, Inc., which is expected to close in the quarter ending September 30, 2007.

Whether they’re having another day at the office or enjoying downtime at home, members of the Windows Live™ Messenger network are just a click away from exploring a new virtual world as Microsoft® Casual Games partners with GoPets Ltd. to launch GoPets on Windows Live Messenger. Inhabited by pets that owners create and customize, the virtual GoPets world on Windows Live Messenger offers environments to explore, casual games to play, groups to join and countless ways to express individuality. The relationship between Microsoft and GoPets Ltd. brings about the unique integration of a virtual world into an instant messaging (IM) service. GoPets is exclusively available now via IM to the Windows Live Messenger network in the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea, with expansion planned to more than 30 countries by the end of 2007.

Interestingly, though, it was not the first time Microsoft had talked about the technology. But when the company had done so a year earlier, it was under the name "Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere," which just didn't excite people the way Silverlight did.

The improved moniker was no accident. For the past two years, Microsoft has put in place a concerted effort to improve its product naming, an effort that is just now becoming publicly visible with the introduction of products like Silverlight, Popfly and the new Surface tabletop computer.

Microsoft has been voted the UK's number one brand for the second year running, according to a survey out today.

Brand monitoring group Superbrands surveyed 3,000 consumers for its annual rankings, which put Microsoft top, followed by Coca-Cola, Google, the BBC, BP, British Airways, Lego, Guinness, Mercedes-Benz and Cadbury. Brands falling out of the top 10 this year included Porsche, Marks & Spencer, Heinz and Duracell.

Microsoft Corp ... said on Tuesday the head of its gaming business, Peter Moore, would leave the company to join Electronic Arts Inc. ... the world's biggest video game publisher.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Don Mattrick, a former president at Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), will lead the Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), which includes overseeing the Xbox® and Games for Windows® businesses. Peter Moore, who currently serves as corporate vice president of IEB, has decided to move his family back to the Bay Area for personal reasons and has secured another opportunity in the video games industry.

Mattrick will take over as the senior vice president of IEB at Microsoft, effective July 30. Mattrick was the founder of Distinctive Software Inc., which operated as a private company from 1982 until its merger with EA in 1991. Mattrick held various senior positions within EA, most recently as president of Worldwide Studios, until his resignation in February 2006. In February 2007, Mattrick began working with the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft as an external advisor.

MSN® and Farecast.com, the airfare prediction Web site, announced an agreement today in which MSN will offer its users free airfare predictions and planning tools on the MSN Travel Channel. The addition of Farecast’s innovative technology and planning tools on MSN Travel will empower its millions of monthly users to make more informed decisions when planning and shopping for travel.

This agreement marks the first distribution deal for Farecast to bring its unique travel technology and planning tools to a broader consumer audience. Farecast joins the existing list of premier travel content partners on MSN, including Expedia, Frommer’s and Travel+Leisure.

Microsoft® Office Live (http://www.officelive.com) today announced that it is adding Ask Sponsored Listings (http://sponsoredlistings.ask.com) to its adManager Beta search advertising service. adManager enables small businesses to purchase and manage search-based keyword advertising easily and affordably directly from the Microsoft Office Live platform. Ask Sponsored Listings joins the MSN® network and Live Search as distribution sources for Microsoft Office Live customers’ search ads.

Ask Sponsored Listings(ASL) is an automated, open-auction system that allows search marketers to purchase, manage and optimize pay-per-click and contextual advertising campaigns on the ASL publisher network, including Ask.com.

As more consumers are making purchase decisions online, search marketing has emerged as a $15.8 billion global industry, and experts expect it to grow to $44.5 billion over the next five years. Search is also the second most commonly used application on the Web, with 550 million searches daily in the United States, according to Piper Jaffray & Co.* Local search is also catching on as more businesses want to be able to target their ads to a specific region; in 2006, local search accounted for approximately 15 percent of total online ad spending.** adManager is heeding these trends by offering small businesses a solution to develop a national or locally targeted search-engine advertising campaign in no time that can be managed across multiple search engines.

To that end, Microsoft committed nearly $5 million to open requests for proposals (RFPs) — opportunities for academia to receive research funding from Microsoft’s External Research & Programs group, the arm of Microsoft Research that works closely with academic institutions around the globe.

Microsoft will provide funding in the following key areas, which also complement the company’s overall research agenda and goals:

• Cell phones as a platform for healthcare ($1 million). Encourages the development of new prototypes and tools that utilize cell phones to enable better healthcare services in rural and urban communities

• Biomedical computing for genome wide association studies ($700,000). Encourages researchers to develop tools that can facilitate better data usage and analysis for genomewide association studies to provide a stronger framework for enabling personalized treatment methods

• Intelligent Web 3.0 ($500,000). Encourages research to help find, discover, extract, publish, and share information, at a desk or on the go, safely, making the Web meaningful (from string manipulation to meaning computation) and enabling a human-centric, context-aware model of information access

• Mechanisms for safe and scalable multicore computing ($500,000). Encourages research in how operating systems and runtimes can evolve to enable safe and scalable concurrent programs

• Sustainable computing ($500,000). Encourages research in innovative approaches toward power-optimized system architectures, and adaptive power management solutions for maximizing the energy efficiency of computing infrastructure

• Human-robot interaction ($500,000). Encourages research to take human-robot interaction to the next level through development of tools and methods that lead to practical applications with realistic commercial potential within five to 10 years


Microsoft Research also announced the creation of the A. Richard Newton Breakthrough Research Award, which will provide $1 million in funding across several projects to encourage high-quality, breakthrough academic research in computational and multidisciplinary areas. The award honors the memory, legacy and accomplishments of the late A. Richard Newton, former dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and a longtime member of Microsoft Research’s Technical Advisory Board, who died in January 2007.

In addition to funding open RFPs, again this year Microsoft Research will award $1 million to five new and rising faculty members as part of the Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellowship program. This will be the fourth consecutive year Microsoft has made the awards to stimulate and support creative research by promising researchers who have the potential to make a profound impact on the state of the art in their respective research disciplines. ...

As part of Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to using technology to improve education, Microsoft also announced a $750,000 donation over three years to launch the Center for Collaborative Technologies at University of Washington (UW). This is the latest of 11 centers Microsoft has helped to establish to allow university researchers to focus deeply on extending the state of the art in computing. The center will further develop ConferenceXP, a technology that allows researchers, teachers and students to benefit from real-time research collaboration, wireless-enabled classrooms and highly interactive distance-learning environments.

Woo-hoo! We did it. Today we are announcing that Windows Home Server has been released to manufacturing (RTM). We have finalized the software and now handing it off to our OEM partners. The evaluation version (with 120 day evaluation period) and the system builder version are also heading into the distribution channels and will be available in the next couple of months. French, German and Spanish versions will be finalized shortly, and OEM products will hit retail shelves this fall.

ComScore largely attributed Microsoft's gains to its Live Search Club, which is a few months old. Users play games using Windows Live search and some win prizes. The gaming generates Live Search queries. In a sense, Microsoft is paying these gamers to use Live Search, a strategy that may be paying off for Microsoft.