The Xbox 360’s exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV add-on, “The Lost and Damned,” debuted yesterday to generally positive reviews. That’s good news for Microsoft–especially considering how much the company paid for rights to the extra downloadable episode. Seth Schiesel’s New York Times review gives you a good sense of what $25 million buys a console company these days.
Bill Gates and several of Microsoft’s top technologists are credited as inventors in eight newly disclosed U.S. patent applications. That isn’t a surprise. But here’s where it starts to get unusual: The applications weren’t made on Microsoft’s behalf.
Big companies that put themselves between artists and fans, without providing real value, risk becoming obsolete in the age of digital music. And if they can’t adapt, forget about ‘em. That was the message today from Ian Rogers, 36, the former Yahoo Music director, who heads the Topspin media technology company.
Just months after his Microsoft farewell, Bill Gates is quietly creating a new company–complete with high-tech office space, a cryptic name and even its own trademark. Public documents describe the new Gates entity–bgC3 LLC–as a “think tank.”
A vice president from Microsoft’s eHome Division, who oversaw initiatives including Windows Media Center, has shifted to the Zune team, according to the latest Microsoft organizational chart from the independent Directions on Microsoft research firm. The question: Does the change indicate a new direction for the company’s iPod competitor?
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