Corporate stuff

A judge on Friday ruled that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will have to testify in a class action suit over the "Vista Capable" logo program that Microsoft ran ahead of the launch of Windows Vista.

Microsoft had sought to limit depositions in the case to former Windows executives Jim Allchin and Will Poole, both of whom have since left the company. However, the judge ruled against the software maker.

"The court appreciates that there are severe demands on Mr. Ballmer's time; however, a busy schedule cannot 'shield' an executive from discovery," Judge Marsha J. Pechman … Read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told shareholders Wednesday he expects the company's move to slow its hiring will continue beyond the middle of next year.

Headcount, he said, will experience "much, much slower growth for the remainder of this financial year and I suspect into next year." Microsoft's current fiscal year runs through June, with the coming fiscal year stretching until mid-2010.

His comments came at the company's annual shareholders meeting Wednesday in Bellevue, Wash., not far from the company's Redmond headquarters. Ballmer's address was also offered live via Webcast.

Microsoft has denied an all-out hiring freeze, … Read more

Aiming to head off further legal action against its customers, Microsoft is asking a federal court to declare that its Visual Studio product doesn't violate patents from WebXchange.

In a suit filed last week in San Francisco, Microsoft seeks a declaration that WebXchange's patents are invalid, unenforceable, or that Microsoft does not infringe on the patents. The move comes after WebXchange sued three Microsoft customers earlier this year in Delaware.

In its suit, Microsoft said that WebXchange's lawsuit has "placed a cloud over Visual Studio software, Web services, and the SOAP protocol."

"Microsoft filed … Read more

Transmeta, a company that once hoped to rival Intel and Advanced Micro Devices to power portable computers, announced Monday that it would sell itself to Novafora for $255.6 million in cash.

Novafora said it hopes to use Transmeta's people and technology in its video processing chips.

"Transmeta's innovative technology and the expertise of its employees are valuable additions to Novafora," Novafora CEO Zaki Rakib said in a statement.

For their part, shareholders are expected to receive between $18.70 and $19 for each Transmeta share they own. The deal was unanimously approved by Transmeta's … Read more

Despite a slowing economy, sales of U.S. video games and hardware soared 18 percent from the same month a year ago, according to data released Thursday by market researcher NPD Group.

Hardware sales were up 5 percent to $494.7 million, led by Nintendo's Wii game console. Wii held onto the top spot by selling 803,000 units in October, up from 687,000 in September. The Wii, which has been plagued by shortages, has sold more than 13 million units since its release in November 2006.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 held onto the No. 2 spot by … Read more

Machinima.com announced Thursday it raised $3.85 million in funding from MK Capital and other investors, which will be applied toward its business expansion. This is the first round of venture funding the company has raised.

The company also noted it recently named five new board members: Yair Landau, former Sony Pictures Digital chief; Joi Ito, CEO of Creative Commons; Matt Coffin, LowerMyBills.com founder; Mark Terbeek, MK Capital partner; and Allen DeBevoise, CEO of Machinima.com.

The company provides tools to allow users to incorporate images from video games and apply them to movies, as well as generates … Read more

Microsoft said Friday that it is changing the leadership of its Macintosh Business Unit, the group responsible for Office for Mac.

Eric Wilfrid, a product unit manager in the division, will succeed Craig Eisler, who is moving to a role elsewhere in Robbie Bach's entertainment and devices unit. In an interview, Wilfrid declined to say what exactly his former boss will be up to or even to whom Eisler will report.

Eisler took over in June 2007 when then MacBU head Roz Ho moved to a secretive mobile job within the entertainment unit.

Wilfrid said that Office for Mac … Read more

Video game publisher Electronic Arts on Thursday cut its forecast for the fiscal year and said it will slash its workforce 6 percent, or about 580 jobs, to reduce costs.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based company posted a net second-quarter loss of $310 million, or 97 cents, compared with a loss of $195 million, or 62 cents per share, for the year-ago period. Sales were up 40 percent year-over-year to $894 million on strength of the company's Rock Band, Spore, and Madden game titles.

However, EA cut its forecast for fiscal 2009 earnings per share excluding special items to … Read more

Swedish video game developer Avalanche Studios, which made 2006's Just Cause, has apparently decided to slash nearly half its staff after losing contracts for two new games.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Avalanche said it will lay off 77 of its 160 employees after losing the contracts, which would have been worth as much as $34 million.

The company's CEO, Christofer Sundberg, told GamesIndustry.biz that it had lost the first contract in February, but had been able to weather that by moving staff around. But after the second contract was lost last week, it had nowhere to put … Read more