A couple of weeks ago I pointed out that Google was the first big internet company to set up an R&D shop in Israel. As I said:
The only real surprise here is that it took so long for any of the big internet companies to set up R&D shops in Israel in a serious way.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft announced today the opening of their 2nd R&D facility in Israel:
U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it would open a new research and development centre in the Tel Aviv area in what will be its second such centre in Israel.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said the Israeli R&D centres will play an increasingly important role in the company's global R&D strategy.
While I obviously have no idea what the new center will focus on, I have a strong feeling that the proximity to Google's announcements is no coincidence. I won't be surprised if we start seeing Live.com stuff coming out of Tel Aviv in the next few years.
Who's next? Yahoo?
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