reuters

Microsoft reportedly mulling bid for Yahoo

Microsoft is considering a second run at Yahoo.

Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported today that Microsoft is weighing a potential bid for Yahoo, and may enlist a partner to help close the deal. Yahoo investors welcomed the report, sending shares up $1.46, or more than 10 percent, to close at $15.92.

But a bid may not materialize as there are still different factions within Microsoft that disagree on whether the company should acquire Yahoo, Reuters reported.

Microsoft joins a number of companies that are eying Yahoo, which said in an internal memo that it is fielding inquiries from … Read more

Should Microsoft unload Bing?

Microsoft should consider selling Bing, says a Reuters opinion piece that's gained attention in the last day or so, after being published last Friday.

Though the search engine has grown in market share and popularity since its debut in 2009, it's still a money-losing proposition and a distraction for its parent, claims Reuters columnist Robert Cyran. Despite the flush of cash that Microsoft has poured into Bing, the search's engine's online services division lost $2.6 billion in the company's latest fiscal year, he says.

Microsoft believes Bing provides a boost to some of its … Read more

Nvidia CEO: Android tablets could outsell iPad in 3 years

Android tablets could outsell Apple's iPad in less than three years, says Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, according to Reuters.

Speaking at the Reuters Technology Summit in New York on Monday, the outspoken CEO noted that it took Android smartphones less than three years to outpace the iPhone.

"The Android phone took only two and a half years to achieve the momentum that we're talking about," Huang said at the summit. "I would expect the same thing on Honeycomb tablets."

With Nvidia supplying the Tegra 2 processor that powers many Android tablets, Huang has been … Read more

Reuters 'eyewitness' claims Apple's iPad 2 was at The Daily event

Making the rounds on the Internet today is a story about a Reuters "eyewitness" who claims to have seen an iPad 2 at the press event for News Corp.'s The Daily.

The story certainly makes a splashy headline for Reuters, but its content has been thoroughly scrutinized by other mainstream media, including TechCrunch's MG Siegler, whose "Reuters Knows A Guy Who Knows A Guy Who Totally Saw The iPad 2 Today" headline captures most of the sentiment around the Web.

Siegler's main point of contention, one that I certainly agree with, is that "this is the age of the cameraphone. Where's the goddamn picture?"

As Siegler put it, the meat of the story from Reuters reads:

A Reuters eyewitness saw what appeared to be a working model of the next iPad with a front-facing camera at the top edge of the glass screen at a press conference to mark the debut of News Corp's Daily online paper in New York on Wednesday.

A source with knowledge of the device confirmed its existence, adding that the final release model could have other features. News Corp and Apple declined to comment.

To break it down, someone saw what that person believed to be an iPad 2 (due to a front-facing camera on the device) and told someone from Reuters (apparently under the condition of anonymity) but couldn't manage to get any evidence. Another source "confirms" that Apple will indeed make version 2 of the best-selling consumer electronic device in history.

Yes, that's meaty.… Read more

Report: RIM to separate personal from work data

Research In Motion will soon debut software that can segregate the personal from the professional.

Set to launch in two months, the BlackBerry Balance software will be able to separate personal e-mail, apps, and other content from those used on the job, Jeff McDowell, RIM's senior vice president for business and platform marketing, said in a Reuters interview published yesterday.

The goal behind the software is to let BlackBerry owners rely on a single smartphone, so they can use the same device for business and social reasons. IT administrators--concerned about personal devices tapping into their networks--will also be able … Read more

Is this TV overcompensating?

Wow, the new Sharp i3 Wall is a lot of TV! I'm tempted to ask who needs that much TV but that would be a silly question. I work for CNET after all!

A few highlights of this beast: It has thirty 60-inch liquid crystal displays mounted 6.5 millimeters from one another. It will cost $550,000 when it launches in Japan later this year. No joke!

Before you start emptying your 401K to be able to afford this (and if you have that much in your 401K, good for you!), keep in mind the equation for TV … Read more

Scammers customize news to deliver you malware

Security experts warned on Monday of a new insidious e-mail scam that features false information about a bomb explosion in the recipient's hometown and leads to a malicious Web site.

The subject lines include "Take Care!" and "Are you and your friends in good health?" The e-mail includes a link to what looks like a news article on a Reuters page about the bombing. But the Web page and the news are fake, according to e-mail security provider Marshal8e6 and antivirus firm Sophos.

The scammers are using IP address geolocation techniques to figure out what … Read more

Asian air pollution could make U.S. summers hotter, but for how long?

So-called "short-lived" gasses and black particle pollution from power plants in Asia and transport in the United States could have a greater influence than previously predicted on temperature changes in North America and elsewhere on Earth, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported last week. But is the headline the whole story?

While the general press and blog coverage of the report emphasizes Asia as a cause of warming in the United States, scientists also emphasized that better practices in energy-intensive economies with less-than-clean power plants could be an equally large opportunity for stabilizing the climate. … Read more

Reuters CEO: Microsoft, Yahoo need each other

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Microhoo remained the topic of the day here, with the latest to offer his opinion being Thomson Reuters CEO Thomas Glocer.

"I don't think Jerry needs my advice," he said, but then went on to say, "I think they need each other. I think it makes a lot of sense. One way or another, I'd be surprised if there wasn't some way to make that happen."

That said, he pointed out that the media tends to make things all about one company, in this case Google. But he said, even … Read more