Embed from Getty Images The New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons — the two best teams in the National Football League — will square off on Sunday in Super Bowl LI, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine is predicting which one will be crowned champions. According to Bing’s number crunching, the Patriots have a 52.3 percent chance of winning, as of Thursday. Bing applies machine-learning web data to inform its predictions on everything from sporting events to political contests. Its “traditional statistical models” are coupled with “social listening and search analysis.” Last year, Bing predicted New England would repeat as Super Bowl champs… Read More
Sensoria is adding two former Microsoft execs to its leadership team. The Redmond, Wash.-based startup today announced that former Microsoft president Richard Belluzzo has joined the company’s board. Belluzzo was president and COO at Microsoft from March 2000 to September 2002; he left to become CEO at Silicon Valley-based Quantum for the next eight years. He got his career started at HP, where he worked for nearly 23 years. “Sensoria is a very early leader in what will be a large and dynamic market,” Belluzzo said in a statement. “It is a very interesting company in an up-and-coming field — wearables.… Read More
Microsoft told GeekWire in August that having NFL players and coaches use the company’s Surface tablet on the sideline during games to review past plays is “the greatest technology integration in sports.” Bill Belichick would disagree. The New England Patriots head coach on Tuesday blasted the devices, telling reporters that he’s “done with the tablets.” Embed from Getty Images Belichick ripped Microsoft’s product, saying that “they’re just too undependable for me” and noting that he’s going back to the traditional printed black-and-white photos. “I’ve given them as much time as I can give them,” he said. “They’re just too undependable for… Read More
Richard Sherman doesn’t think much of Donald Trump’s comments about concussions in the NFL. GeekWire caught up with the Seahawks star after his appearance at an American Express local merchant event Friday in Seattle, just days after the financial giant extended its partnership with the NFL team. Asked about Trump, who called the NFL’s rules for concussions “soft” on Wednesday during a campaign rally, Sherman initially didn’t have much to say. But given how other players have ripped Trump for the comments — TIME called it “dangerous” — and Sherman’s recent monologue about player health in the NFL, he did have one response. “He’s… Read More
Scott Oki has cashed in again. The ex-Microsoft vice president, who made millions by building the company’s international operations and then left in the early 1990s and eventually purchased a number golf courses, sold eight of those courses on Tuesday for $137 million. Oki Golf announced the sale of the premier Washington properties to HNA Holdings Group, a Hong Kong-based investment group. According to a news release, Oki Golf Management will be retained to run daily operations for each course. The courses are: The Golf Club at Newcastle, Washington National Golf Club, The Golf Club at Redmond Ridge, Trophy Lake Golf & Casting, Harbour Pointe Golf Club,… Read More
