Filed under: Home Entertainment

We’re not sure who let Yahoo! into Intel’s party in San Francisco, but the two sure are getting along great. Much to the chagrin of Mark Cuban, these two actually believe that there’s a future in internet TV, particularly if you force it down people’s throats. Intel spent the bulk of its time talking up the Media Processor CE 3100 (formerly known as Canmore), which would theoretically be installed within HDTVs and enable users to access internet-based content without the need for an additional set-top-box (’course, the STB is still optional). That’s where Yahoo! comes in — it’s hoping that its Widget Channel will encourage users to utilize its services when watching re-runs or other lackluster material in order to get news, weather and other related information right on the living room set. Not that this is a totally new concept, but these two surely have the power to push it one step further. Lots more information and pictures in the links below.

Update: It’s official… surprise!

Read - Intel / Yahoo preview plans for Widget Channel
Read - Images of the tech in action
Read - Gigabyte Intel box (first product to use the CE 3100)

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Filed under: Portable Audio

If you woke up this morning worried about what Yahoo! is planning to do for its Music Store customers who are about to be left in the lurch with its DRM server shut-down, have no fear. Yahoo! has announced that it will offer customers coupons or refunds for those songs you bought. Basically, you’ll get a coupon that you can use at RealNetworks Inc.’s Rhapsody download service. Their songs, of course, are DRM-free. For those of you who have “serious problems with this arrangement” (their words, not ours), refunds will be available. The servers go down on September 30, so start combing your collections, kids.

[Thanks, JC]

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Hey, both of you Yahoo! Music Store customers, listen up. Just hours after Yahoo! affirmed that it would be powering down its DRM servers, along comes a spokesperson to alleviate any worries that you two will get screwed in all of this. According to Carrie Davis, customers “will be compensated for whatever they paid for the music,” and she continued on to state that Yahoo “had not yet decided what exactly it would do, but it would take care of its customers.” Some of the possible options include getting cash back for the money spent on tracks or receiving MP3 versions of the jams sans DRM (we’d take the former, thanks). Depressingly, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive time table laid out just yet for the restitution process.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Alright, we’re so over this, guys. Either somebody buys somebody or they don’t, but we can’t stand all the drama and the grandstanding and the hurt feelings. Microsoft won’t pay $33 a share anymore, Yahoo’s shares are down, Icahn is on a rampage — when did this stop being fun?

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Yes — they’re at it again. Please for the love of all that is sacred, let somebody buy something… quick. From the horse’s mouth;

“In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft announced that it is continuing to explore and pursue its alternatives to improve and expand its online services and advertising business. Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo!”

[Via Emiliano]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

After the beating the company is taking in the stock market, and with several prominent investors stepping forward to express dissatisfaction with how things were handled, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang says he was willing to discuss things further if Microsoft hadn’t turned its back on the offer. “We did not say it was a take-it-or-leave-it number in the sense that we would never negotiate any more,” he said, referring to the $37 figure. “We were totally willing to do a transaction, and they walked away.” Deep down we know he’s just miffed to be missing out on sleeping bag to sleeping bag discussions with Ballmer about adding an exclamation mark to Microsoft. Dream on, Yang.

[Via Silicon Valley Insider]

Update: Microsoft claims “we’ve moved on.“

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Well, that’s that! Microsoft has officially pulled its bid for Yahoo! — inflated another $5 billion for good measure — after the company did “not move toward accepting [the] offer”. Developing…

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Yahoo’s done its best to fend off Microsoft’s aggressive advances until now, but it suddenly looks like the struggling company might be getting some help — both the Wall Street Journal and Reuters are reporting that the Yahoo is “closing in” on a deal to merge with Time Warner’s AOL division and partner up with Google on search advertising. Yeah, that’s pretty major, and it would probably do something about those declining shares Microsoft’s been making noise about. The idea is for Time Warner to sell AOL to Yahoo and make a large investment in the new company, which would probably be valued at around $10B. There’s apparently a lot of work left to do on the deal, and it would still have to be approved by Yahoo and Time Warner shareholders, but it looks like Yahoo is no longer stuck taking Ballmer and Co. to the dance.

[Disclosure: Look up to the right. See that? Yeah, Engadget is owned by AOL — but trust us, we have no idea what’s going on.]

Read - WSJ article
Read - Reuters article

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/Yahoo_responds_to_Microsoft_ultimatum_more_money_please’; As expected, Yahoo has responded to Microsoft’s 3 week ultimatum this morning. The bottom line is pretty clear in a letter signed by Jerry Yang (CEO) and Roy Bostock (chairman). In the “Dear Steve” response to Ballmer they state, “we will not allow you or anyone else to acquire the company for anything less than its full value.” They go on to state that, “We consider your threat to commence an unsolicited offer and proxy contest to displace our independent Board members to be counterproductive and inconsistent with your stated objective of a friendly transaction.” Make no mistake about it, this is corporate war and will likely end with Yahoo’s best engineers working for Google.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/Microsoft_threatens_to_get_more_aggressive_with_Yahoo’; No more Mr. Nice Microsoft. Apparently when Microsoft puts $44.6 billion on the line, it really means it, and the company just sent an open letter to Yahoo’s board of directors stating in no uncertain terms that the 62% premium over Yahoo’s closing price on January 31, 2008 was more than fair. The word is now that if Yahoo can’t see that, Microsoft will be compelled to take its case “directly to [Yahoo’s] shareholders.” Microsoft is giving Yahoo three weeks, and then promises to try and start a proxy contest to elect an alternative set of directors to the board. This is about to get good.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve heard a lot of talk from Hop-on, makers of all those cheap cellphones that never seem to go anywhere, but the company may have bitten off a little more than it can chew with its latest trademark registration filings for “YahooPhone” and “YPhone.” Yep, that’s right — those names bring to mind any massive consumer-oriented companies that might not be happy? Oh, right. There’s been some speculation that Hop-on is actually developing a phone for Yahoo!, since it has some deals in place with AT&T and Verizon, but it’s pretty unlikely the company is also in charge of branding to the point where it’s registering trademarks. No, our guess is that someone’s hoping that the folks up in Sunnyvale are a little too distracted by the clumsy advances of one Mr. Ballmer to keep track of a little thing like potentially infringing trademark registrations — yeah, we don’t think that’s going to work out so well for you, guys.

[Via Trademork]

Read - YahooPhone filing
Read - YPhone filing

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

After a torrid moment shared in the backseat of America’s largest investment firms, Yahoo decided, at the behest of friends and family, that things just wouldn’t work out with Microsoft. But it isn’t over. In a very heartfelt public statement today set to the backdrop of In Your Eyes, Microsoft let it be known that it’s still interested in “consummating” with Yahoo, and even got a little aggressive sounding in “reserving the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.” You old sweetheart, you’re shaking!

Continue reading Microsoft to Yahoo: come back, this isn’t over!

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We’re fairly certain we haven’t heard the last of this Microsoft offer to buy Yahoo! — or Google’s plans to intervene — but it looks like round one has Yahoo! saying “no thanks” to Microsoft’s $44.6 billion buyout offer. Apparently some of the number crunchers inside Yahoo! feel like the number is too low of a valuation, while others want to get tied up with Google to improve search revenues — which some seem to think might have some antitrust implications. Pah, “antitrust implications.” At least Microsoft remembers when men were men, and monopolies were monopolies.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Yahoo! Music (and its customers) is the latest victim of the digital media shakeout. However, unlike the shutdown of Sony’s Connect service which left customers stranded with DRM-laden tracks, Yahoo has struck a deal to send its existing subscription customers to the PlaysForSure-friendly Rhapsody music service from RealNetworks. The shift will occur sometime in “the first half” of 2008 and leave Yahoo Music’s payment plans and music libraries in tact for customers “for a limited time.” Eventually, Yahoo’s legacy customers will be required to sign up at Rhapsody’s relatively higher rates of $12.99 per month (Yahoo charged $8.99 per month or as little as $5.99 per month for a year paid in full). So, do you still think that the subscription model is a good thing? Just wait, the shake-out has only begun.

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Yahoo! Music (and its customers) is the latest victim of the digital media shakeout. However, unlike the shutdown of Sony’s Connect service which left customers stranded with DRM-laden tracks, Yahoo has struck a deal to send its existing subscription customers to the PlaysForSure-friendly Rhapsody music service from RealNetworks. The shift will occur sometime in “the first half” of 2008 and leave Yahoo Music’s payment plans and music libraries in tact for customers “for a limited time.” Eventually, Yahoo’s legacy customers will be required to sign up at Rhapsody’s relatively higher rates of $12.99 per month (Yahoo charged $8.99 per month or as little as $5.99 per month for a year paid in full). So, do you still think that the subscription model is a good thing? Just wait, the shake-out has only begun.

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Filed under: Portable Audio

Yahoo! Music Unlimited (and its customers) is the latest victim of the digital media shakeout. However, unlike the shutdown of Sony’s Connect service which left customers stranded with DRM-laden tracks, Yahoo has struck a deal to send its existing subscription customers to the PlaysForSure-friendly Rhapsody music service from RealNetworks. The shift will occur sometime in “the first half” of 2008 and leave Yahoo Music Unlimited’s payment plans and music libraries in tact for customers “for a limited time.” Eventually, Yahoo’s legacy customers will be required to sign up at Rhapsody’s relatively higher rates of $12.99 per month (Yahoo charged $8.99 per month or as little as $5.99 per month for a year paid in full). So, do you still think that the subscription model is a good thing? Just wait, the shake-out has only begun.

Update: To be clear, Yahoo Music will continue to offer streaming audio, music videos, web radio and other advertising-supported music offerings and integrate Rhapsody into its online portal. Only the subscription service is being shut down.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to readers that the folks over at Google might not be totally stoked on the potential merger of Microsoft and Yahoo!. If you weren’t sure where the company stood on the issue, you can now get clued in thanks to a post on the official Google Blog earlier today. David Drummond, senior VP of corporate development (and the company’s chief legal officer) says that he worries the acquisition of the internet portal by a company that has “frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies” could “extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the internet.” His concern centers around the possibility that the combination of the two monoliths could “unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors’ email, IM, and web-based services.” Sure, Google has more than a little stake in seeing fair play on the net (gotta keep those ad revenues up), but this is serious food for thought nonetheless.

Update: It looks like the war of words is really starting to heat up. Brad Smith, general counsel for Microsoft, has issued his own little statement here, telling us that Google holds far more marketshare when it comes to internet searching than a combined Microsoft and Yahoo! possibly could, and then going on to explain that the Redmond giant is “committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy.” Uh, whatever you say Brad.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/Microsoft_offers_44_6_Billion_for_Yahoo’; Microsoft just announced what has been rumored forever: a formal offer for Yahoo. Microsoft’s proposal to Yahoo’s board of directors represents $31 per share (a 62% premium over yesterday’s closing price) or about $44.6 Billion. Steve Ballmer, CEO and big fan of developers, says, “We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market.” Apparently, the deal was laid out in a letter sent by Ballmer to Yahoo’s board just yesterday. Seriously. The letter confirms that the two giants have been discussing the topic since late 2006. It also appears to be a direct response to the Google threat as outlined in the following paragraph:

“Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers.”

The deal, of course, rests with the two coming to a “merger agreement” and Microsoft (and Yahoo to a limited degree) having the time to conduct the required due diligence. Microsoft is ready to begin immediate discussions and have a draft merger agreement ready for consideration. So Yahoo, ball’s in your court. The world is wondering… what will you do?

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Filed under: Laptops, Portable Video, Transportation, Wireless

In another mostly positive step for in-flight entertainment options, Continental Airlines will be rolling out DirecTV along with email and IM service on 225 of its planes starting next January — the majority of its domestic fleet, according to Reuters — although watching some tube will reportedly cost economy passengers six bucks-a-pop. Continental is teaming up with LiveTV on the venture, a subsidiary of JetBlue which also provides that airline with DirecTV, XM, and, more recently, limited Yahoo email and IM services courtesy of its 800MHz bandwidth acquisition. LiveTV will both provide and install a majority of the in-plane hardware in exchange for most of the revenue from economy section TV viewers; the 36 DirecTV channels will be free to first class passengers, and anyone with compatible devices and a Yahoo account can connect to the flying hotspots.

[Via Reuters]

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Filed under: Laptops, Portable Video, Transportation, Wireless

In another mostly positive step for in-flight entertainment options, Continental Airlines will be rolling out DirecTV along with email and IM service on 225 of its planes starting next January — the majority of its domestic fleet, according to Reuters — although watching some tube will reportedly cost economy passengers six bucks-a-pop. Continental is teaming up with LiveTV on the venture, a subsidiary of JetBlue which also provides that airline with DirecTV, XM, and, more recently, limited Yahoo email and IM services courtesy of its 800MHz bandwidth acquisition. LiveTV will both provide and install a majority of the in-plane hardware in exchange for most of the revenue from economy section TV viewers; the 36 DirecTV channels will be free to first class passengers, and anyone with compatible devices and a Yahoo account can connect to the flying hotspots.

[Via Reuters]

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