Microsoft

Yahoo takes the long road to Redmond

Without a competing suitor to push Microsoft's unsolicited bid higher, Yahoo is turning to its investors to get that job done.

Yahoo, which announced Tuesday its three-year financial plan to investors and cited it would provide more "context" to its rejection of Microsoft's initial bid of $31 a share as undervaluing the Internet company, is following a familiar game plan when a better offer isn't on the hook, say proxy solicitors.

"Usually executives don't spend time on a road show when there's nothing for investors to vote on. Microsoft isn't asking … Read more

Report: Google search share down globally, up in U.S.

Updated at 4:15 p.m. PDT with no word from ComScore on global figures.

Google's share of the worldwide Web search market fell slightly in February--to 62.8 percent from 63.1 percent the month before--along with a dip at Yahoo, according to ComScore figures reported by Reuters on Wednesday.

Yahoo's global market share was down to 11.9 percent from 12.2 percent; China's Baidu dropped to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent, and Microsoft's share was flat at 3.1 percent, according to figures Reuters got from an unnamed Wall Street analyst. … Read more

eMusic: Apple's bundled-music device would be anticompetitive

UPDATED 2:55 p.m. (To include legal challenges to alleged anticompetitive relationship between iPod and iTunes.)

Apple is in for a fierce legal fight should it ever release a device that offers all-you-can-eat music, according to David Pakman, CEO of rival digital music service eMusic.

"It smells like classic Sherman Antitrust Act to me," Pakman said. "I only know what I've read but the plan sounds very similar to the tying practices Microsoft used with Windows/Explorer. And Microsoft is still paying the penalties for that one."

The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Apple … Read more

Microsoft sets November date for WinHEC

Microsoft plans to spend a lot of time in Los Angeles this fall.

The software maker had already said that, after canceling last year's Professional Developers Conference, this year's PDC would be held in Tinseltown October 27-30. This week, Microsoft noted that its WinHEC (Windows Hardware and Engineering Conference) will take place the following week, also in downtown LA.

Microsoft had previously said only that the show would take place in the fall at a West Coast location. The event typically takes place in the spring, but Microsoft said in November that it was postponing this year's event … Read more

Red Zune 80, no Valentine required

After appearing briefly as the Valentine edition of the Zune 80, today Microsoft has brought back the red version of the Zune 80 through their Zune Originals online store. Unlike the fumbled Valentine's edition, however, these red Zunes won't come cheap. In fact, Zune Originals is now charging an extra $15 for the artwork engraving service that they initially offered free of charge.

Still, for those of you who really want to fly your Zune freak flag high, the red Zune 80 definitely looks like it will get some attention.

Snappy answers to stupid technology questions

I was an avid reader of Mad Magazine in my youth. My favorite piece was called "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions." I have… Read more

Get your hands on Vista SP1

Long gone are the days where Microsoft service pack releases such as Windows XP SP2 would deliver shocks measurable on the Richter scale. Redmond has returned to its old habits of including mostly security repairs and crash fixes, but nothing in the way of new features. That doesn't mean that Vista users should skip out on Vista Service Pack 1.

Downloading anything from Microsoft is never easy, in my experience, and Vista SP1 is no different. Microsoft has announced that it won't begin to roll out the service pack through its automatic updates until April, so you must … Read more

Yahoo looks to up ante with investor pitch

Updated 5:20 p.m. PST with Alibaba looking to purchase Yahoo's stake.

Yahoo is using rosy financial projections to bolster its case with shareholders in a "last-ditch attempt" to get Microsoft to up the ante in its bid for the company, analysts say.

Yahoo executives began a series of meetings on Tuesday with the company's largest institutional investors and showed them a presentation detailing the company's three-year financial projections that illustrates "the broader picture of all the assets," says a source familiar with the matter.

Under Regulation Fair Disclosure, Yahoo is required … Read more

Podcast: Yahoo's growth plan, Facebook Chat, Intel cores, and Apple patches

This week on the EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss Yahoo's latest move to get Microsoft to cough up more cash for the company. We also talk about Facebook's new privacy options and chat service, which puts the social-networking upstart on a trajectory to collide with Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and others who offer complete communications services.

In addition, we chat about Intel's plans to produce six-core chips in the fourth quarter, and Apple's massive security update to its operating system.