Earlier today, I wrote a post wondering whether music-search engine Seeqpod had finally sold itself to Microsoft because of a suggestive link on its homepage linking to Microsoft Search. Some other bloggers noticed also. Since then, I’ve been able to confirm that no acquisition has closed and that talks continue. Seeqpod is indeed speaking with Microsoft, but not about an outright acquisition. Rather, it is trying to negotiate a piecemeal sale of its technology assets and find new jobs for its core technology team.
And while Microsoft seems to be interested in the largest chunk of Seeqpod’s assets, the company is speaking with other large search companies in hopes of finding a home for the other pieces. These assets include its targeted crawling system for finding playable media on the Web, its search index of 14 million playable search results and 500 million associated text pages, its recommendation and discovery system, five related patents, and the teams associated with each of these technologies. The fact that Seeqpod is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy makes this sort of fire sale easier to pull off. As far as the pending lawsuit with the music industry which forced it to seek protection under bankruptcy in the first place, there is no plan to settle at this point in time and “become an ATM machine” for the dying music industry, says my source.
So why would Microsoft want to touch Seeqpod, even with a ten-foot pole? It’s underlying search technology can be applied to many other areas besides music search. Seeqpod actually got its start at Lawrence Livermore Lab and genomic search (matching genomic sequences to diseases, symptoms, and even foods), so there are health search applications. But more broadly Seeqpod’s technology is around “playable search.” It can bring back playable media results (audio and video, primarily) for practically any search term. That is the kind of technology and team that could help Microsoft’s general search engine.
Here we go fucking again.
Cause those dinosaurs at Microsoft know fuck all about Web Technology, they have to buy out smart companies to help them look smart, when they ain’t bleeding smart.
And if anyone here disagrees with me, I chop off your bleeding Jacobs!
I disagree. I enjoy Google for searching purely because its the built-in search engine in my browser of choice (Safari), however I think a search engine being created by Microsoft, or Wolfram Alpha have the potential to be good. To call employees at Microsoft not smart is just unfair. come cut off my bleeding Jacobs. k thanks.
Bueno.com check this stratup has music real phone and social network all in one
it rocks !
Bueno.com is shite so stop ramping up a shite .com that’s why techcrunch have not featured it……..
Your a prick Bricktop Errol.
Microsoft is the smartest company in the world.
Smart as ‘Yes i am smart in the PC World’, but not so bleedin smart in the World Wide Web, my Pedigree chum.
Bill Gates should stop saving the bleedin world and get back full time to saving his bleedin company.
Your references to Snatch are jejune and your opinion of no consequence.
MSFT is one of the few companies that held its own during this economic whirlwind. There was a day it touched $15/share, but for the most part it is holding strong in the $18-20 range. Sure this is a loss from when it was trading at $25…but at least it is not as bad as AAPL going from $200 down to $100 a share. And GOOG going from $700 a share to $400. I have lost more money from my investments in AAPL and GOOG than I have in MSFT during this recession.
MSFT had their worst quarter and their first ever decline yet they still made billions of dollars, compared to some other tech companies and blue chips that have been losing money! (ie Sun, Yahoo, Citigroup, AIG, etc.)
Pete. Are you that same Pete that has a spotty face, lives with his mum, has no sense of humour and the personality of a light switch.
Bricktop. you look like a fucking old .Your mind has also gone old. Come on cheer up the young guys .
Swastik. You ain’t by anyway related to that dead German nutter with the dodgy nashe.
Bricktop. you look like a brick with no sense ,i would love to smash this brick.that can change ur opinion
When is Seeqpod coming back online?
I just simply want seeqpod back and working. There. A simple comment about the TOPIC :} seeqpod is good for iPods and iphone people who have heard like a new song and don’t have iTunes money to buy it with :[
I want seeqpod back too. People need to take a stand against the f&@king record companies. They’ve been ripping us off for years. If the prices for music was not so out of line, we would be able to buy it instead of find it else were. One finger solute to them.