Microsoft is playing an Apple “card” from the top of the deck this week. It won’t reveal what it’s got hidden behind the curtain, but most seem to think the quietly announced Hollywood premiere style event will unveil a Microsoft-built Windows 8 Tablet.
The “Best Supporting Players” in this screener go by the names of Barnes & Noble and Xbox.
Last April, Microsoft entered into a strategic partnership with the Barnes & Noble booksellers with Redmond putting $300 million on the books for a 17.6% share in the Nook-branded company. The next chapter of that investment has not yet turned the page. Tablet rumors abound with Microsoft because everyone expects the company who actually invented the tablet category well before its time won’t be content to live without one. It is also speculated that an MS tablet would be the first to build-in Xbox Live streaming capabilities.
Like in Tinsel Town, the jockeying for position in online gaming, entertainment and new media has no shortage of hype. The “sneak preview” in this case is totally unexpected. Wasn’t MS just at E3 barely a week ago? Was Microsoft looking for a stage where it didn’t have to share the limelight?
How strange will it be to have a Microsoft tablet loaded with B&N books on one side of Lake Washington, and the Kindle Fire loaded with Amazon content on the other side? The East-West I-5 rivalry will intersect with a North-South I-5 interstate road race. Apple and Google are Valley neighbors and Google is rumored to be working on a 7″ Nexus Tablet.
But the biggest MS movie mystery of the week is one that is hidden in plain sight. Published reports say that Microsoft is in talks to acquire Yammer, a maker of internal social networks for companies (think “Twitter for Enterprise”) for the staggering sum of over (cue Dr. Evil) “$1 billion dollars.”
Yammer has claimed its software is currently used by more than 200,000 companies worldwide. An obvious Microsoft interest would be adding a social engine to its Office software suite.
The build-vs-buy question begs to be asked. With all the programming talent in Redmond, is the $1B price tag a better play than inventing a similar service in its own backyard?
In show business, time, (or is it mime?), is money. With a Windows 8 Phone Summit just two days away, it’s time to hold onto your phones, your tablets and your hats! [24×7]
