Corporate stuff

Microsoft said Tuesday that it has signed a patent cross-licensing deal with Japan's JVC, the latest of many such deals.

The companies did not release financial details, other than to say that money will be headed in Microsoft's direction. And, unlike many recent patent deals, the press release did not specifically mention Linux.

Not missing was the flowery language that typically accompanies such agreements. "When technological industry leaders collaborate through intellectual property licensing, we foster greater innovation that will benefit the customer, the consumer and the overall IT ecosystem," Microsoft intellectual licensing VP Horacio Gutierrez said … Read more

There have been a fair number of changes at Microsoft HQ of late, so we wanted to provide a program for those keeping score at home. Here are some of the top executives who have joined the company or are leaving the executive ranks.

This list is neither chronological nor exhaustive. It leaves out recent departures such as dealmaker Bruce Jaffe and strategy executive Charles Fitzgerald.

Instead, I've focused on a few key folks who have left or are leaving shortly who have the biggest impact in Redmond, as well as some key outsiders Microsoft has recruited in recent … Read more

Microsoft has said it plans to continue its acquisition spree this year and it is off to a good start, having announced plans on Tuesday to buy Norway's Fast Search and Transfer.

There's no shortage of rumors of who is next on Steve Ballmer's shopping list. Earlier this week, there were separate rumors that Microsoft was interested in Yahoo as well as accessories maker Logitech.

Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider added another potential name to the list, saying Friday that he's heard that Microsoft might be interested in Limelight, a publicly traded company that runs … Read more

Jeff Raikes, the Microsoft executive most closely associated with the emergence of Office, said that the rise of that product is clearly the highlight of his long career at the software maker, which will come to an end in September.

In an interview on Thursday, Raikes noted that Office didn't exist when he left his role as a Visicalc engineering manager at Apple in 1981 to join Microsoft. Now it has more than 500 million users, while Microsoft has grown from 100 employees to 70,000.

"It's been an incredible 26 years," Raikes said. "I … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Asked about the state of the U.S. economy, Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson said on Tuesday that it is clearly a concern.

"People that are getting their first (home heating) oil bills at $3 a gallon," he said, even as the U.S. mortgage crisis continues to hang over the economy. "The share of mind that the 'r word' is getting in the media has us concerned," he said, alluding to but not uttering, the word recession.

But Anderson said it was the transition to digital television that posed the biggest threat to his … Read more

Well, now we know what Microsoft had originally planned to announce on Monday.

Overnight, Microsoft announced it is offering $1.2 billion to buy Fast Search & Transfer, a leader in enterprise search. Microsoft had been working on the deal, which went by the code name "Ferrari" for a while now, but discussions had heated up in recent days.

The move shows the importance of business search as part of the overall search war with Google and other competitors.

Microsoft has previously made moves in business search, largely at the lower end of the market, using its SharePoint … Read more

Microsoft sent out a cryptically worded media alert on Sunday, indicating the software maker planned to have a teleconference bright and early Monday morning.

Even more strangely, the company quickly killed the media alert, offering no details on what it was that it had planned--but no longer planned--to announce.

A source familiar with the first-news, now-not-news, said that Business Division head Jeff Raikes has been busy on the mergers and acquisitions front, not planning his own departure or some secret reorganization.

Does anyone know who is the apple of Raikes' eye?

Carl Yankowski, who piloted Palm during the peak of the PDA boom, was tapped Wednesday to head Ambient Devices, a company that embeds wireless data into everyday products.

Yankowski, who was also president of Sony Electronics and CEO of Reebok in the 1990s, replaces David L. Rose, one of the company's co-founders, who is leaving "to pursue other interests."

Ambient's products include a $125 umbrella that lights up when rain is in the forecast, as well as displays that can show weather forecasts or sports scores.

The company was launched in 2001 to help commercialize technology … Read more

Vonage and AT&T said late Friday that they have finalized the settlement of a dispute between the companies.

In one of the shortest press releases in recent memory, the companies said "Vonage and AT&T have entered into a definitive agreement to settle their patent dispute, the companies announced today. The companies had agreed in principle to a settlement on November 7."

Well, there you have it.

AT&T had sued the Internet phone company, alleging patent infringement. In recent months, Vonage settled a patent dispute with Verizon, in a deal worth up to $120 million, … Read more