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Microsoft is paying $1.2 billion for Yammer and is folding the enterprise social networking vendor into its Office division.

[UPDATED at 1:14 p.m. PT]

The rumors were right. Microsoft announced on June 25 it has bought enterprise social networking vendor Yammer for $1.2 billion.

I doubt seriously whether Microsoft will be integrating any of Yammer's technology into Office 2013, as the client, server and services that are part of this wave are already quite far along in development. A public beta of Office 2013 is expected by many of us Microsoft watchers in July.

So many folks have asked me since the original rumor-go-round began why Microsoft would want Yammer. After all, Microsoft already has several partnership deals in place with Yammer and has its own social-networking technology built into SharePoint.

Here's the official statement from Microsoft as to why it's ponying up for the company:

(In my earlier speculation I wondered aloud whether Microsoft might be buying Yammer for similar reasons it bought Skype: It needed a cooler brand and wanted the cross-platform support. I still stand by those wonderings.)

As I blogged earlier this month, Microsoft was working on its own Yammer competitor, known as OfficeTalk. Last week, the Softies posted a downloadable case study which indicated that OfficeTalk is now nothing more than a Microsoft IT demo project.

When I asked Microsoft officials whether the company had decided against commercializing OfficeTalk after all, I received this response from a spokesperson: "Great ideas areas such as OfficeTalk, are always coming from The Garage. We have nothing new to share." (The Garage is a Microsoft internal incubator.)

Update: Here are a few additional tidbits from a call Microsoft and Yammer held for analysts and press about today's announcement:

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Microsoft acquires corporate social network Yammer for $1.2B

Yammer lets businesses can set up private "social" networks where employees can communicate.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Is corporate America ready to adopt social networking alongside traditional office tools like word processing apps and spreadsheets?

Microsoft is making a big bet in that direction. It has acquired Yammer, an "enterprise social networking" startup, for $1.2 billion in cash. The deal is Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) biggest acquisition since Skype, which it bought last year for $8.5 billion.

Yammer operates like a gated Facebook (FB): A business can set up a private network where employees can post announcements, share files, create events, swap messages and more. It also offers more traditional corporate features like a content management system and an "extranet" that businesses can use to communicate with outside contacts like customers and vendors.

Buying Yammer "underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a prepared statement.

Yammer, which was founded in 2008, had raised about $142 million in venture funding. It claims more than 5 million corporate users, including 80% of the Fortune 500 list.

The companies' joint statement said Yammer "will continue to develop its standalone service," and that it will also be paired with "complementary offerings from Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics and Skype."

On a conference call immediately following the press release, journalists asked several more questions about what the Yammer integration will look like.

But executives wouldn't get specific, instead throwing out corporate-speak about "natural synergies."

After a few minutes of that, one reporter asked if he should look to the the Skype incorporation as a model for how Yammer will fit in with Microsoft.

Original post:
Microsoft buys social-office network Yammer for $1.2 billion

Fed up with Facebook?

Facebook is clearly the top tool for social networking, but new and arguably more innovative social networking alternatives have emerged in recent years to fill the void left by Friendster and MySpace. So if you're looking to network somewhere other than Facebook, here are five alternative sites.

Pinterest One of the most popular social networks on the web today, Pinterest has received widespread acclaim for its fresh take on the standard photo sharing social network.

"Pinterest is a good example of an alternative social network that focuses on a simple feature -- photo sharing -- which has a complete social network built around it," said Christopher Gentile, CEO of the new social network Family iBoard.

This more focused approach to social networking helps create a simpler and more intuitive user experience.

Path Path is a simple photo and message sharing social network that limits users to a maximum of 150 connections. These restrictions are designed to provide a more private and personal experience, by encouraging users to connect only with the people they know best (the number 150 is based on "Dunbar's number," which purportedly denotes the limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain genuine social relationships).

In this more intimate setting, users may be encouraged to share photos and send messages more freely than on a more public platform like Facebook.

Foursquare Foursquare is a location-based social network that lets you "check in" at venues using your phone or mobile device. You can then connect with other Foursquare users to share information about where you are and what you are doing. The program also allows you to search your location for the restaurants, bars, shops and other amenities, and receive personalized recommendations based on other users' experiences.

Nextdoor Critics argue that the impersonality of the Internet has compromised the once thriving sense of community in America's neighborhoods. Nextdoor's mission is to rekindle this community spirit in neighborhoods across the U.S., by connecting users and their neighbors through a localized social network.

Users join with their home address and are automatically placed into a home neighborhood. This ensures that all of the content, connections and messages you see will come from other users living in your area.

Link:
Tired of Facebook? Here are five social networking alternatives

INDIANAPOLIS A national civil-rights group said Sunday it would appeal a federal judge's decision to uphold an Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other social-networking sites used by children.

On Friday, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said in an 18-page order that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and that the rest of the Internet is open to those who have been convicted.

"Social networking, chat rooms, and instant messaging programs have effectively created a 'virtual playground' for sexual predators to lurk," Pratt wrote in the ruling, citing a 2006 report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that found one in seven youths had received online sexual solicitations and one in three had been exposed to unwanted sexual material online.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the class-action suit on behalf of a man who served three years for child exploitation, along with other sex offenders who are restricted by the ban even though they are no longer on probation.

Federal judges have barred similar laws in Nebraska and Louisiana.

"We will be appealing," ACLU legal director Ken Falk said in an email Sunday to The Associated Press.

Courts have long allowed states to place restrictions on convicted sex offenders who have completed their sentences, controlling where many live and work and requiring them to register with police.

But the ACLU claimed Indiana's social-networking ban was far broader, restricting a wide swath of constitutionally protected activities.

The ACLU contended that even though the 2008 law is only intended to protect children from online sexual predators, social media are virtually indispensable and that the ban prevents sex offenders from using the websites for political, business and religious activities.

But Pratt found the ban is limited only to social-networking sites that allow access by children, and that such sites aren't the only forms of communication on the Internet.

Continued here:
Judge upholds Indiana's ban on Facebook for sex offenders

A national civil rights group said Sunday it would appeal a federal judge's decision to uphold an Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other social networking sites used by children.

On Friday, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said in an 18-page order that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and that the rest of the Internet remains open to those who have been convicted.

"Social networking, chat rooms, and instant messaging programs have effectively created a 'virtual playground' for sexual predators to lurk," Pratt wrote in the ruling, citing a 2006 report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that found that one in seven youths had received online sexual solicitations and one in three had been exposed to unwanted sexual material online.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the class-action suit on behalf of a man who served three years for child exploitation, along with other sex offenders who are restricted by the ban even though they are no longer on probation. Federal judges have barred similar laws in Nebraska and Louisiana.

"We will be appealing," ACLU legal director Ken Falk said in an email Sunday to The Associated Press. Appeals from federal courts in Indiana go to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Courts have long allowed states to place restrictions on convicted sex offenders who have completed their sentences, controlling where many live and work and requiring them to register with police. But the ACLU claimed that that Indiana's social networking ban was far broader, restricting a wide swath of constitutionally protected activities.

The ACLU contended that even though the 2008 law is only intended to protect children from online sexual predators, social media are virtually indispensable and the ban prevents sex offenders from using the websites for political, business and religious activities.

But Pratt found that the ban is limited only to social networking sites that allow access by children, and that such sites aren't the only forms of communication on the Internet.

"The Court readily concedes that social networking is a prominent feature of modern-day society; however, communication does not begin with a 'Facebook wall post' and end with a '140-character Tweet,' " she wrote.

Though the law doesn't list which websites are banned, court filings have indicated the law covers Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Google Plus, chat rooms and instant messaging services. Earlier filings indicated LinkedIn was also covered by the ban, but Pratt's ruling said it wasn't because children under 18 can't sign up for it.

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Judge Upholds Sex Offenders Facebook Ban