Archive for March, 2008
Senior executives from Microsoft 
and Yahoo powwowed this week to discuss Redmond’s $44.6 billion offer to acquire Yahoo, according to The Wall Street Journal. The reported gathering could bring the companies closer to agreement. Executives from the companies had not met to discuss Microsoft’s Jan. 31 offer since Yahoo rejected it in February.Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Journal reported that Monday’s meeting wasn’t a negotiation, and no bankers attended. Instead, Yahoo allowed Microsoft to present its vision of a merged company at a location near Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters.
Yahoo executives reportedly listened, but further talks were not scheduled. It remains unclear, the Journal reported, whether Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were present at the meeting.
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March 15th, 2008
Guitar Hero just made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2008, but Gibson Guitar would seemingly rather see its developer in court. Claiming its innocence and looking for exoneration, Activision is welcoming the showdown in a patent dispute that has gamers tuned in.The drama began when Gibson Guitar filed a patent claim against Activision in January, alleging that its Guitar Hero franchise violates a 1999 patent Gibson had filed for technology to simulate a musical performance.
The suit struck the wrong chord with Activision. The company is now suing Gibson, saying its game doesn’t infringe on the patent. Activision filed suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The video-game maker has asked the court to officially declare that the game does not infringe on Gibson’s patents.
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March 14th, 2008
On Patch Tuesday, Microsoft fixed 12 vulnerabilities in four security bulletins. Every one of them fixes bugs in Microsoft Office.Included is a fix for the zero-day remote-code vulnerability in Excel. The exploit was made public in January and is corrected by the MS08-014 patch that addresses seven vulnerabilities in Excel. The other patches, MS08-015, MS08-016 and MS08-017, address issues in Outlook, Office and Office Web Components, respectively.
All the security bulletins are serious, but the Office Web Components patch stands out because these ActiveX components are widely distributed and relatively easy to exploit, according to Ben Greenbaum, senior research manager for Symantec Security Response. Symantec has observed attackers continuing to target Web plug-ins to quickly and quietly install malicious code.
“While browser plug-ins of all kinds represent an increasingly attractive vector for attackers, the security of other nonnetwork-facing applications is still a relevant issue as well,” Greenbaum said. “With seven vulnerabilities being addressed in the Microsoft Excel patch, it’s clear that users need to keep all software patched and up to date. Additionally, full-featured security software can protect users from attacks against some vulnerabilities well in advance of the availability of patches.”
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March 12th, 2008
After nearly a year of discussions and regulatory delays, online search giant Google closed its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., one of the leading Internet advertising service providers. Google reportedly closed the deal and took control of DoubleClick within hours of receiving approval from the European Commission.The EC had begun a review of the proposed DoubleClick acquisition six months ago and finally determined that the purchase would not be prohibitive to competition in the world of online advertising, despite protests from competitors. In justifying its decision, the EC focused on the fact that Google offers free search capabilities and sells advertising through its AdSense network, whereas DoubleClick sells ad serving, management and reporting technology to Web-site publishers and to advertisers and agencies.
“The commission’s in-depth market investigation found that Google and DoubleClick were not exerting major competitive constraints on each other’s activities and could, therefore, not be considered as competitors at the moment,” the EC said. “Even if DoubleClick could become an effective competitor in online intermediation services, it is likely that other competitors would continue to exert sufficient competitive pressure after the merger.”
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March 12th, 2008
The revolving door at Motorola could spin off a new business as an executive exodus continues. On the heels of Paul Liska stepping into the CFO role, Motorola announced that Stu Reed, who was president of the mobile-devices business until Motorola President and CEO Greg Brown took over in February, will leave.Reed and his team launched a number of key initiatives for the mobile-devices business that Motorola said it will continue. Reed also generated significant cost savings by consolidating suppliers and implementing a supply-chain strategy.
“We appreciate Stu’s many contributions to Motorola and wish him the best in the future,” Brown said. Motorola is searching for a leader for its mobile-devices business, which Brown told an audience at the Morgan Stanley conference last week is consuming 80 percent of his time.
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March 11th, 2008
Telecom bills may seem trivial compared to server expenditures and building leases, but managing telecom expenses can save enterprises a small fortune.Indeed, it may surprise you to learn that telecom expenses can gobble as much as 3.6 percent of a company’s revenues, according to the Aberdeen Group, with mobile expenses accounting for a growing share of the telecom pie. For large enterprises telecom expense savings could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So, the question becomes, are your managing your telecom expenses with an eye on savings? If you are doing a fair job on the hardwire expenses, are you paying close enough attention to the wireless world? Aberdeen reports 67 percent of enterprises proactively manage wireless expenses — but only 57 percent manage wireless costs. Late payment penalties alone can cost a bundle.
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March 11th, 2008
While Yahoo looks for ways to thwart a Microsoft takeover, Microsoft is already planning to integrate Yahoo. In an interview Sunday, Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, told the Financial Times that the company will take its time, even if it means delaying potential shareholder benefits.”Technology companies, if they dive in and just smash things together for smashing them together’s sake, it’s reckless, it’s just simply reckless,” Ozzie told the Times. “They have a number of different types of technologies. They have their own corporate culture.”
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March 11th, 2008
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