Software Notebook: Microsoft in buying mood

"Microsoft says it paid $649 million for a total of 23 companies in its recently completed fiscal year. A sampling of its acquisitions:
Alacris Inc., Ottawa, Ontario: software for smart-card systems.
Apptimum Inc., Sunrise, Fla.: maker of Alohabob PC Relocator products for transferring applications between machines.
DeepMetrix Corp., Gatineau, Quebec: Web site analysis company.
FrontBridge Technologies, Los Angeles: corporate message filtering and scanning services.
GeoTango International Corp., Toronto: 3-D visualization and mapping technologies.
Lionhead Studios, United Kingdom: maker of the 'Fable' game for Xbox 360 and Windows.
Massive Inc., New York: in-game online advertising technology.
MotionBridge, Paris: search technology for mobile devices.
Onfolio Inc., Cambridge, Mass.: Web clip and blogging technology.
Seadragon Software, Seattle: image-browsing technology that has been integrated into Microsoft's Photosynth project.
Teleo Inc., San Francisco: Voice over Internet Protocol software.
Vexcel Corp., Boulder, Colo.: image and remote-sensing technologies to augment Microsoft's Virtual Earth group.
Whale Communications Ltd., Fort Lee, N.J.: technology for remote access to corporate data and documents."