Beyond Binary

So that's why Bill Gates hasn't accepted my friend request.

I was beginning to wonder why he hadn't added me to his list of Facebook friends. Well, apparently I wasn't the only person that was trying to add him to their list of pals.

According to the British tabloid The Sun, Gates was getting some 8,000 requests per day. While he once spent half an hour per day on the site, he has stopped using it altogether, the paper reported.

So I guess I shouldn't feel so bad.

According to a Wall Street Journal … Read more

Updated at 11 a.m. PST with Microsoft comments and more background on Danger.

Microsoft apparently is serious about the consumer cell phone business.

The software giant said Monday that it's acquiring Danger, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of the T-Mobile Sidekick for an undisclosed amount.

"The addition of Danger serves as a perfect complement to our existing software and services, and also strengthens our dedication to improving mobile experiences centered around individuals and what they like," Microsoft entertainment unit President Robbie Bach said in a statement.

Danger's Sidekick brings many of the same abilities … Read more

Hank Nothhaft has pretty much the same approach as a CEO that he does as a thoroughbred owner--try to guide the race horse to the winner's circle.

Nothhaft, who has been running Danger since 2002, has known for some time that the company needed more resources to fulfill its potential.

For months, the company has been talking to Microsoft about strategic possibilities. At the same time, Danger had also filed an initial public offering to stay independent and raise money.

Ultimately, though, Nothhaft decided that the company really needed to be part of a bigger stable. Hence, Monday's … Read more

Often, when Microsoft finishes the code for a new product, it is available almost immediately. That's why it was a bit of a surprise when Microsoft said last week that it had finished Windows Vista Service Pack 1, but that customers would have to wait until March to get it.

On Monday, Microsoft reversed course and said it would make the code available to volume license customers on Friday, with Technet and MSDN developer program members having access to the software later this month. The masses will still have to wait until next month, Microsoft said.

"For general … Read more

Update: 10:25 p.m. with photo, more details

Handset maker Sony Ericsson is announcing plans for its first Windows Mobile device, a move aimed at boosting the company's presence in the North American smartphone market.

The first product is a business-oriented phone with a QWERTY keyboard, but a family of devices is expected. Over time, Microsoft hopes Sony Ericsson will leverage its camera and music expertise to help build more consumer-oriented devices.

"They've really got some great consumer brands that we'd love to partner with and bring to Windows Mobile," Microsoft Vice President Pieter … Read more

Microsoft is making a series of changes to its Office Live Small Business service, offering some previously paid-for services free, while adding a new charge for domain name registration after the first year.

Domain name registration will continue to be free for the first year. But each subsequent year Microsoft will charge $14.95, though it will add the ability for so-called private registration, where customers can keep their personal information out of the public Whois database. Microsoft said that those who have already signed up for Office Live will continue to have their domain name registered for free "… Read more

Yahoo's board has decided Microsoft's $31-per-share offer "massively undervalues" the company, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Yahoo is expected to formally reject Microsoft's offer, the Journal reported.

In the report, it appears Yahoo is floating the idea that it might consider an offer of at least $40 a share. I'm not in the boardroom, but all of this--the leak, the wording--sounds like more of a negotiating tactic than a final rejection.

But, if Yahoo does want to play hardball, it has bolstered its position. The report says that Yahoo has … Read more

Microsoft said Friday that it has issued a second near-final "release candidate" version of Windows XP Service Pack 3. The move follows the company having finished the first service pack for Windows Vista.

"Yesterday, we released Windows XP SP3 RC 2 to private beta testers," the software maker said in a statement. "This release catches the build up on previously released hotfixes and responds to critical feedback from previous betas."

The software maker repeated that it plans to finalize the XP update by the end of June, but added its customary hedging that its &… Read more

Microsoft says it can find $1 billion in cost cuts by combining Yahoo's business with its own Internet services operation, however CEO Steve Ballmer says the Yahoo name isn't one of the things on the chopping block.

"Yahoo, the brand, will live," Ballmer told BusinessWeek.

Even if the brand lives, though, it is unclear which of Yahoo's technologies Microsoft would adopt. A merged company would have to choose among two e-mail systems, to ad platforms and two instant messaging systems, to name just a few of the many overlaps.

Microsoft has thus far offered few … Read more