Talko has cool technology. But customers? Unclear.
Every decade or so Microsoft seems to feel the need to buy a Ray Ozzie company. This time it’s Talko, a Boston-based startup dedicated to helping workgroups (or families or other sets of associates) collaborate using their smartphones.
Terms were not disclosed but in a blog post, Microsoft said Talko technology, at least part of it, will live on in Skype.
If this rings a bell to long-timers it’s because ten years ago Microsoft bought Groove Networks, Ozzie’s then Boston area startup geared for, yes, computer-assisted collaboration.
When Microsoft MSFT 1.29% engulfed Groove Networks, some of the startup’s technology ended up in SharePoint and some of its revolutionary synch technology—viewed as Groove’s secret sauce—ended up in OneDrive. But the speculation was always that Groove was an acquihire planned to snag a set software development stars, most notably Ozzie himself.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft once called Ozzie, who was still a competitor at the time, one of the greatest programmers on the planet. (For Ozzie’s take on 30 years of Windows, check out this story.)
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