Microsoft Corp has bought personal information manager Jump! Networks Inc for its calendaring, email and address book technology in a move that has been expected for a few weeks (04/12/99). Redmond will add Jump’s tools to its MSN service. One of the main reasons Microsoft wanted Jump is for its group-based calendaring. It will also use it to alert MSN and Hotmail users to upcoming events and try and sell them things connected with those events. The integrated service will begin rolling out in late summer. The Jump team will move from its Mountain View, California office down the road to Hotmail’s in San Jose. Jump’s founder, chairman and CEO Bill Trenchard assumes the position of lead product manager overseeing the integration, but it doesn’t sound as if he’s in it for the long haul, although Microsoft would not comment on his long-term future. It also wouldn’t comment on any of the financial terms.
