Following weeks of speculation, Microsoft Corp. Monday
acquired Web calendar services provider Jump Networks Inc.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Jump employees will join Microsoft’s Consumer and Commerce Group and move from
offices in Mountain View, Calif., to MSN Hotmail offices in San Jose,
Calif. Bill Trenchard, Jump chairman and chief executive officer will work with the Jump! and
MSN Hotmail teams in integrating Jump’s technology into the
MSN network.
On April 9, it was reported the Redmond, Wash-based giant was in talks with
the Ithaca, N.Y.-based calendar company, whose technology enables consumers
to access their e-mail, address books and
calendars from any Internet-connected computer. On April 5, Jump’s main
rival, When.com Inc. was purchased by America Online Inc. for approximately $150
million in stock.
Microsoft said that it expects to bundle Jump’s service with its MSN
Internet network, adding to MSN offerings such as e-mail service MSN
Hotmail and MSN Web
Communities. The integrated area will be a one-stop communications area
which providing e-mail, calendaring capabilities and online communities.
Microsoft said Jump’s technology will also lend itself to e-commerce
initiatives on MSN. Users will be able to receive upcoming events
notifications which relate to personal interests, and they will
also be able to automatically purchase goods and services through sale
notices sent to their calendars.
“Consumers want constant access to their personal calendars and shared
event information so they can
make the Web a more personal and productive tool,” said Marty Taucher,
director of MSN network
communications. “Integrating Jump’s premier technology with the
award-winning Internet services on
MSN will further empower consumers, no matter where they are.”
“We are very excited by this acquisition, because the value our team has
created in Jump! will now
benefit millions of MSN customers,” said Bill Trenchard, chairman, founder
and chief executive officer of
Jump Networks. “From the start, our vision has been to improve the way
people get things done on the
Web, so that they can focus on their lives rather than their tools. Our
becoming a part of MSN kicks that
process into overdrive.”
