+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Microsoft buys itself an ex-executive's company for Christmas

Dec 21, 2015, 23:38 IST

Fred Prouser/Reuters

Microsoft has purchased Talko, a tiny startup helmed by ex-Microsoft bigwig and tech legend Ray Ozzie, just in time for Christmas, per a blog entry.

Advertisement

Talko's tech lets users tag, bookmark, save, and search through phone conversations, letting workers share notes and snippets of conference calls with each other. Talko also uses sound analysis to let you know who's speaking on a conference call.

In that blog entry, Microsoft says that Talko's employees will join the Skype team - good timing, as Microsoft looks to boost Skype's credibility in the workplace.

The price of the deal was not disclosed. And Ray Ozzie, founder of Talko, will not be rejoining Microsoft, he confirmed to Fortune.

Ozzie is best known as the man who took over the title of Microsoft Chief Software Architect from 2006 to 2010, replacing Bill Gates himself in the role. Indeed, Gates once called Ozzie one of the greatest programmers on the planet.

Advertisement

Before that, Ozzie invented the Lotus Notes software, one of the first tools for workplace collaboration, and a big reason why IBM purchased Lotus for $3.5 billion in 1995.

Ozzie started Talko, originally called "Cocomo," in 2012. In 2014, Talko came out of stealth mode, but failed to set the world on fire. In fact, he indicated to Fortune that this sale wasn't actually his plan for Talko.

Also of note: This is actually Microsoft's 20th acquisition of 2015. Microsoft has given itself one more present under the tree.

NOW WATCH: What it's like inside Microsoft's new flagship store

Please enable Javascript to watch this video
You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article