TechDays Helsinki - Bigger Than Ever
Editorial note: This post is part of Microsoft's sponsored posts series Hear it from the startups.
Microsoft Finland is throwing its annual conference, TechDays in Helsinki in just over a month's time. The event is scheduled for two days between the 8th and 9th of March. The event has a ton of speakers covering a very impressive amount of topics. Microsoft has also confirmed for us that they will be giving a first look at the new Windows 8 operating system at the event as well. In fact, there will be one whole day's worth of content aimed at Windows 8.
Microsoft Finland To Send A Team To Imagine Cup
Editorial note: This is a sponsored blog post by Microsoft as part of their series Hear it from startups.
Imagine Cup is an annual competition aimed at students worldwide, who are looking to change the world. Each year students compete against each other in many different categories for the best application. Applications are judged by their real world potential in changing the world, but also how viable they are business wise.
This year the finals will take place in Sydney, Australia and Microsoft Finland will be sending one team from Finland to the finals. The team however, has to win the semi-finals in Finland first.
Imagine Cup has multiple different categories available, but if you choose to enter the competition local semi-finals will be held for the Windows Phone Challenge as well as the Software Design categories.
Geeks On Wheels: Microsoft Student Partners On A Roadtrip
Editorial note: This is a sponsored post by Microsoft and is part of the Hear it from startups -series.
I had a chat with Drazen Dodik, a Microsoft Student Partner, about the Geeks on Wheels tour they did with the other Microsoft Student Partners in November and December. All in all the gentlemen toured some 12 different cities and universities in Finland, talking to students about the possibilities Windows Phone offers. The tour was also an answer to the numerous requests they had received regarding Windows Phone trainings from faculties and different partners around Finland.
Test Windows Phone On Your Current Phone
A big part of the process of getting a new phone is to play around with it a little. Where as before the specifications of the device played a big role, these days the usability and the experience as a whole play a major role. Microsoft has realised this and made an effort to help people with the onboarding experience. Now you can surf to http://aka.ms/wpdemo and test it on your current phone. The test is actually quite good and gives a quick glimpse of the possibilities of the phone for those who have not had a chance to test Windows Phone devices just yet.
Yandex Is Now The Default Search Engine For WP7 In Russia
While you would think Microsoft would have leveraged the Windows Phone platform to get add more use of its search engine, Bing, but things are looking otherwise in Russia. The news coming from Russia’s Search Giant, is that Yandex is going to be used as the default search engine on all Windows Phone based devices in Russia. This announcement includes the company’s announcement of partnering with major mobile manufacturing giants like Nokia, HTC and Samsung.
Xbox Live On Windows 8 Promises Asynchronous Cross Platform Games
We've covered Microsoft's new Windows 8 quite extensively this week on ArcticStartup from the Build conference, but the truth is - all this will have a lot of implications in the different ecosystems regarding mobile operating systems, app stores and what not. Furthermore, enabling Xbox Live to run as an application on Windows 8 OS will have huge possibilities for gaming companies.
Facebook Integration Comes With Skype 5.4 Beta For Mac
Skype seems to have speeded up its release of the version for the Mac and the latest update of Skype brings the much needed Facebook integration with Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac. This is similar to the Skype for Windows, and the news is definitely a big plus for Facebook users who own a Mac. Pretty much completes the Skype, Facebook and Mac triangle.
The update will enable Skype users to send instant messages and connect with their Facebook friends, right from their Skype client, giving them the true experience of one stop communication. The update lets users:
Ballmer On Microsoft Moving Forward And Nokia
Yesterday at the Build conference Microsot CEO Steve Ballmer made a surprise visit on stage to talk more about how the company views new technologies and what this means for developers. He came out to further promote the importance of Windows 8 for Microsoft and what it also means for the whole company, looking forward. In addition to this, he also mentioned Nokia in his talk, but not in an extensive fashion. According to Ballmer, not only does Windows 8 change the approach to pretty much everything Microsoft works with, but it also changes the way how Microsoft views technology - the release itself will make Microsoft pivot and look at new technologies in a Windows centered fashion.
Skype Acquires GroupMe For $85 Million
Skype, now owned by Microsoft, has announced that it will acquire GroupMe, a 16-month old group messaging startup for $85 million. There are no public statements on the price of the deal, but AllThingsD has come up with the figure referring to sources close to the negotiations. The startup was founded based on work done in a hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York in May 2010. During the 16 months of its existence, GroupMe has raised $850 000 in seed financing and later $10.6 million in venture financing. Needless to say, the payout for the investment in such a short time period is fantastic.
How Sopima Values Microsoft Technology
I had the opportunity to talk to Jaan Apajalahti, the CTO and co-founder of Sopima, a company changing the way people work on contracts. Instead of passing around documents in e-mails and having a ton of different versions saved locally, Sopima allows companies and different parties to work on contracts in a much faster way by keeping them in a central location. More interestingly for the other founders and entrepreneurs out there, Sopima is built on Microsoft technology - Silverlight as well as Windows Azure.
Hear It From The Startups
We're starting a new partnership with Microsoft, as of this month, to discuss how startups are using Microsoft technology to take themselves further. The series is titled Microsoft Bizspark: Hear It From The Startups. Also, just like in the case of Nokia, we're looking to bring you information and content you haven't heard from anywhere else. We're thrilled to have Microsoft working with us! If you have any feedback or thoughts on what you'd want to hear about Microsoft and possibly how they work with startups, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at editor@arcticstartup.com.
Windows Phone "Mango" Released To Manufacturing
Nokia and Microsoft have stated that the WP7 release by the codename "Mango" has been pushed onward to manufacturing. This means we should see it in stores before the year end. Mango is the name given to the latest version of the operating system installed in WP7 phones. Nokia has announced a few more details about the phone in their Ääni blog (in Finnish). Nokia has also confirmed that this is the operating system that will be in use in their first Windows Phones.
VC Per Capita: Europe $7, US $72, Israel $142
In Europe we've come to realise it that while there are certain hotspots, to among which Northern Europe is slowly growing into, venture capital in general is extremely scarce compared to other parts of the world. Jan Müehlfeit, Microsoft’s European chairman, spoke this week in Brussles to TechEurope, in a Microsoft Bizspark summit, about the differences and challenges Europe faces as an area for entrepreneurs. Venture capital is clearly one of them.
Microsoft Acquires Skype For $8.5B: The Who Takes What Of The Deal
It couldn’t have come at a better time than this. We had been anticipating the official word on the Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype since early morning and word has been rolled out that the acquisition has been finalized and done with. The rumored buyout price was $7 Billion and the tech community across the globe thought it was far fetched. Here’s a shocker; Microsoft paid a healthy $8.5B for its acquisition of Skype, giving it a total control of the company, even the $686M debt on it.
Microsoft, Not Facebook Or Google, To Acquire Skype For $7B
We reported a few days back regarding the possibility of the VoIP service, Skype being acquired by either Facebook or Google. While that rumor was still blazing across the Web new rumors add up, with the latest hinting at Microsoft being a very strong contender in the race to acquire Skype.
Mobile App Download Will Exceed 44 Billion By 2016
An app for everything is where we are heading onto as almost everything goes mobile. By mobile I simply point at mobility and not just smartphones in the likes of the Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, etc, although these are the devices that take the cake away the instant you mention mobility. We have witnessed how the app stores have swarmed with applications of all sorts, from those associated to communication, social networking to gaming. You think of it and there is something available, a major reason why there is a crazy number of downloads taking places each instant.
A recent study was published by ABI Research, the gist of which states that the current trend of smartphone apps will continue successfully for at least another 5 years. Before I proceed with the exact download numbers, it would be better to jot down the number of applications available for various mobile operating systems:
Nokia To Launch Four Nokia Windows Phone 7 In Early 2012
There has been a lot of debate over the Nokia and Microsoft Partnership, especially regarding when Nokia will start the production of the Windows Phone 7 devices. While the exact dates are yet to be announced, Mobile Review revealed that we can expect at least 4 devices in early 2012.
Another area Nokia and Microsoft are having a challenge in agreeing is the naming convention of the new phones. It will be difficult for both to modify their existing conventions to please the other, but at large the Nokia Windows Phone devices will be carrying a "W" prefix. This will be the link factor for the Nokia phones running on the Windows operating system.
Be A Virtual Tourist As Nokia Ovi Maps Go 3D
Nokia has just taken a big step forward with its Ovi Maps. Instead of going the obvious way of adding a Google-type Street View to its service that other similar kinds of mapping services have done, Nokia has added 3D aerial view to it maps. This enables anyone to go about a certain cities and fly around and see what the cities have to offer. It has to be said that 3D in this way is more picturesque and for sure something different to the more traditional "Street View".
Microsoft Partners With Rovio To Promote Bing
Microsoft has partnered with Rovio's Angry Birds to promote their search engine Bing. The promotion is done in a four part mini video series. It features characters from the popular game taking advantage of Bing to steal some eggs. Just on Monday we reported that Angry Birds is easily doing over $50 million in revenues this year and further distributing the sources of revenue over deals like this with Microsoft easily increases the overall return on the game.
Angry Birds Coming To Windows Phone And So Is Angry Birds 3D
Angry Birds has been on the iOS devices as well as the Android platform for quite long now and reports are that Rovio is in works to bring this to the Windows Phone 7 devices. A bit surprising to me why they haven’t given the Microsoft’s mobile platform a thought earlier? Maybe it was Microsoft alone that had kept the Angry Birds from coming any sooner. We won’t dwell into this side of conversation and will simply stick to the news.
More Information On How Nokia Plans To Transition To WP7
All About Symbian's Rafe Blandford was on Sunday in Barcelona to listen to Stephen Elop and Jo Harlow talk on how Nokia plans to transition to Windows Phone over the years and what this eventually means to the developers and consumers. Naturally, many feared that no one would be interested in developing software for the platform anymore now that it has been publicly announced that its development won't be continued indefinitely.
Nokia To Partner With Microsoft On Smart Phones
Albeit expected, very big news regarding Nokia. It has just announced that it will partner with Microsoft in the smart phone business - Windows Phone will serve as Nokia's primary smartphone platform. Additionally, Nokia has announced that it has looked at designing a new approach to "capture volume and value growth" to connect the next billion to the internet. For startups, there are good news as well, Nokia will begin (if not continue) focused investments in new technologies in key areas. Lastly, they will shuffle some of their leadership team and organisational structure to better focus on speed, results and accountability.
Wayne's Coffee, China, Apple And All Things Powerkiss
Powerkiss have not released much news this year. Apart from a feature in VentureBeat in June and a mention in connection with The Europas competition, we have not heard much about the company. Just this month, however, they've been pushing out news stories like crazy. First we hear that they've partnered with Wayne's Coffee in Sweden and Finland. The coffeeshop chain's guests can now (in limited locations) ask for a Powerkiss wireless ring from the counter, plug it into their phone, put onto the Powerkiss-enabled table and recharge it during their stay. Next we hear that Powerkiss is the official wire-free provider for Santa in China. That's right: Santa Clause foundation has been hosting showrooms in China to promote Santa and other Finnish exports and Powerkiss has been one of those products. Last but not least, Powerkiss' wireless charger has been officially approved as an Apple accessory. Charging an iPhone/iPod next to you soon! Apart from all the glitz, the case of Powerkiss poses some interesting questions.
Mobile-Review: Nokia Now In Talks With Microsoft
A few weeks ago we published an article where Fortune hinted at possible talks between Nokia and Google with regards to Android. Today Mobile-Review has written about Nokia's potential talks with Microsoft about extending their alliance. In the talks, according to Eldar Murtazin, the writer behind the Mobile-Review article, Nokia's new leadership has had talks with Microsoft for about 2 months now regarding the possibilities to further extend their partnership. The talks are not only around exchange of technology, but possibly creating an entire line of Windows phones.
So Who's Doing The Shopping In The US? The Big Eleven
In our last post in the Nexit Ventures supported series we covered "why being sold to the US is a big deal". This time round we cover the companis and the M&A activity in more detail. Basically, there are eleven large companies who do the majority of the buying. These companies are Apple, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle and Qualcomm.
The big eleven are called the big eleven for the reason that their size and cash reserves enable them to do the majority of the acquisition activity in the States. There are a few key things that entrepreneurs should understand when looking at the M&A activity in the states.
Aalto Venture Garage Bootcamp Graduates An Interesting Set of Ideas
Last Friday, 100+ people gathered in a converted workshop in Otaniemi to witness the results of the latest AaltoVG Bootcamp. After the traditional welcome words, the teams were lined up and delivered the latest version of their one line/sentence summary of their idea, and having seen them just one week ago the transformation was remarkable.
Mindtrek Offering 20k€ In Prize Money (Again)
Mindtrek, being one of the most interesting internet oriented conferences in Finland, is again this year offering a lot of prize money for the winner of the Launchpad competition as well as for the runners up. Mindtrek is organised in Tampere, Finland between the 6th and 8th of October. The event has attracted more and more startups each year as it has began to profile itself as a good doer with huge sums of prize money. Last year Multitouch, a maker of modular touch screens, took home the prize money.
Mindtrek's Launchpad competition has attracted a lot of good talent this year as well. Furthermore, Mindtrek has extended the deadline for the applications until 3rd of September. According to Mindtrek's website; The MindTrek LaunchPad competition awards innovative new Finnish digital media products or demos – and the people behind it, who have the urge to make it big. If you feel like applying, do so here before September 3rd.
Microsoft Doing Its Part To Foster The Global Startup Ecosystem
Disclaimer: While Microsoft is one of our advertisers at the time of writing this, this blog post is not in any way paid for by Microsoft. Please see our Editorial Policy for information on sponsored blog posts.
Last week I had a chat with the Director of Emerging Business Teams at Microsoft, Sam Rosenbalm, about how Microsoft is working on a global level to improve the startup ecosystem. Sam Rosenbalm is responsible for the Bizspark and other startup programs globally. Many people know that Microsoft has engulfed upon an ambitious journey with its Bizspark program. The program is aimed to be nothing less than a global startup program to create a community of startups that reap the benefits of Microsoft products.
The program has been immensely successful and I have to say, after talking to Sam Rosenbalm about it - I am impressed. There are now around 30 000 startups enlisted in the program from over a 100 countries. Microsoft is working hard with many different stake holders in the startup ecosystem to move things forward. Sam Rosenbalm rightly said that there aren't many organisations that are able to give startups useful cross border possibilities, be that partnerships, financing and so on. Microsoft is definitely one of these organisations making these possibilities available to startups.
ArcticEvening Stockholm Tickets Now Available
The tickets for our next week's ArcticEvening are now available for booking. Please find the sign-up form for registering to the event below. Note that if you are unable to make it to the event, please don't sign up. We have a limited amount of space available and would like to get everyone on board. Likewise, if you need to cancel for any reason, please inform us at events(at)arcticstartup.com so that we can reallocate the ticket.
Expect a house filled with like-minded entrepreneurial people, and lots of networking. We will start off with a brief presentation from Jaycut and continue with an interesting panel discussion. See the Stockholm event page for details. If you haven’t been to ArcticEvenings before, have a look at videos from our previous events.
So sign up below and come spice up our wonderful mix of people!
ArcticEvening Helsinki, Successful Night With Successful Companies
Thank you everyone who made it to ArcticEvening Helsinki last night. The evening was a great success and a special thank you for that goes out to the panelists David O'Weger who covered for Ari-Pekka Salovaara from Severa, Michael Falck from Relex as well as Mikko Kaarela from Technopolis Ventures as well as our sponsors for making the event possible in the first place.
