Northwest: Beijing Buys Microsoft Software After All

Microsoft Corp. said it sold software to the Beijing city government, after an earlier order was canceled following a complaint by a science ministry official.

“The Beijing city government bought software products from Microsoft as well as from other software vendors,” spokesman Roger Chen said in an e-mailed statement, without giving the value of the contract or other details.

Beijing’s government procurement office said Nov. 27 that it canceled an order for Microsoft Windows and Office software after Li Wuqiang, director general of the Ministry of Science and Technology, criticized government agencies for buying software from overseas companies.

The decision to buy Microsoft products is a boost for the Redmond- based company’s efforts to compete with government-backed local software makers and combat piracy.

Mars invests in Vanson HaloSource

Vanson HaloSource Inc., whose technology kills germs, viruses and bacteria, has received a $5 million investment from Mars Inc., Alexander Hutton Venture Partners, Buerk Dale Victor and WRF Capital. The money will be used to begin selling new products, including a water purification system.

Michelle Weese, a spokeswoman for Mars Inc., maker of Snickers Bars and Pedigree dog food, said that Vanson HaloSource’s technology could be used in its pet care and vending machine coffee business.

Review will delay Cray’s annual report

Seattle-based supercomputer company Cray Inc. said it would delay the filing of its annual report with federal regulators because of a review of its internal financial controls under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Cray said it expects the review to “identify one or more material weaknesses, including inadequate review of third-party contracts and lack of software application controls and documentation, and that it will conclude that its system of internal controls was not effective.”

Cray said its auditors have expressed “serious reservations” about whether the company will be able to complete its review or whether auditors will be able to ratify the assessment or the company’s internal controls.

Ballmer banking on Internet services

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Internet services such as Web searching and its MSN products are the company’s biggest prospects for future growth.

“People ask me what’s the No. 1 growth opportunity for Microsoft,” Ballmer said at a conference for advertisers at the company’s Redmond headquarters.

“It’s Internet services. It’s what we do in MSN. It’s search. It’s people’s personal communications and information experience, the ability to author a space, to send an e-mail, an instant message. It’s what we do with content.”

Ballmer is seeking new avenues for growth as analysts project Microsoft’s slowest sales growth ever this year, 8 percent. The company said it will begin testing a service where clients pay to be listed alongside its MSN search results in a bid to boost revenue from Internet advertising.

Ballmer said he will convey the growth opportunity of MSN to the company’s board at its annual retreat next week.

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Irdeto Access, a provider of content protection technologies for digital video and IP networks, announced its acquisition of LockStream Corp., a Seattle-based provider of mobile digital rights management software. LockStream will become the Irdeto Mobile division of Irdeto Access, which is a subsidiary of multinational media group Naspers.

NATIONAL

Maker of BlackBerry resolves litigation

NEW YORK – Research In Motion Ltd., the Canadian maker of BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices, said yesterday it will pay $450 million to resolve litigation with NTP Inc., a Virginia company that said the devices infringed on its patents. Its shares soared more than 18 percent in early trading.

Under terms of the agreement, NTP will grant the company and its customers the right to continue its BlackBerry-related wireless business without further interference from NTP or its patents.

Why Motorola shelved iTunes announcement

CHICAGO – Motorola Inc.’s last-minute decision to indefinitely postpone an announcement about its iTunes phone resulted from concerns voiced by Apple Computer Inc., according to the cell-phone manufacturer’s chief executive.

Ed Zander, CEO of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola, said at a briefing during a wireless industry trade show in New Orleans on Tuesday that Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t want the phone announced now because it wouldn’t be on the market for a few more months.

EU approves Symantec purchase of Veritas

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The European Union yesterday approved U.S. security company Symantec Corp.’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Veritas Software Corp., a U.S. storage solutions provider. The EU had jurisdiction in the deal because of the size of the operations of both companies within the 25-nation bloc.

Quick Hits is written by P-I reporters Todd Bishop, John Cook and Dan Richman. Send comments to johncook@seattlepi.com. This report includes information from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.