Microsoft offers to buy the search portal for $44.6 Billion.
Fearing that they are slipping behind Google, Microsoft is making a big play to take control of Yahoo.
“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,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
Yahoo said in a responding statement that its board “will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly, in the context of Yahoo’s strategic plans, and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.”
If Yahoo accepts the $31 a share buyout, Microsoft will finally have the tools and traffic, to compete against Google for online advertising.
“Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player, who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition,” Microsoft said. “Together, Microsoft and Yahoo can offer a credible alternative.”
It is quite ironic for Microsoft to be talking about Google in much the same way people talked about them during their anti-trust battle.
Now that the iPhone 1.1.3 software update is out, and you can add Safari Web Clips to your home screen on the iPhone and Touch, don’t let your visitors settle for the generic icon that Safari will stick in there. Here are drop dead simple instructions on how to add your own web site icon or logo to your visitors iPhone or Touch.
1.) Fire up Photoshop and create a shiny new graphic at 114 x 114 px (technically the size is 57 x 57 px, but this size worked best for our icon)
2.) Save the file as a 8 bit PNG with the name apple-touch-icon.png
3.) Upload the file to the root directory of your web server. That’s it! Safari will re-size larger images and automatically add the glass look so it fits right in with your visitors other icons.
Apple today released the long awaited ultra-thin MacBook Air laptop. Steve Jobs used this years Macworld event to introduce the svelte 13.3″ laptop to the world. The computer is the world’s thinnest laptop. It’s tapering design is only .16″ thick in some places and .76″ at its thickest point. It is so thin that it can fit in an envelope! The machine features a standard 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB RAM, a 13.3″ LED widescreen display, magnetic latch, built-in iSight, MacBook-like keyboard with an ambient light sensor, multi-touch trackpad and 80 GB hard drive plus all the wireless connectivity you need for $1799.
The big selling point here is the ultra-thin design, but the multi-touch interface that allows you to manipulate object in much the same way as the iPhone but using the trackpad might be the most revolutionary for a laptop.This will undoubtedly spawn many imitations like the iPhone as touch computing is brought to the masses.
At Macworld today, Apple, Inc. unveiled the much rumored iTunes movie rental service. All of the major studios are on board, including Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, FOX, Warner Bros., Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony. The initial library will include over 1,000 movies and will be available 30 days after the DVD release. You can watch the movies anywhere (on Macs, PCs, all current iPods and iPhones) and have 30 days to begin watching the movie and 24 hours to finish. At $2.99 for older titles and $3.99 for new releases and $4.99 for a limited set of HD movies, the prices are in line with other on demand services.
With the release of the rental service Apple has updated their Apple TV, calling it Take 2. The quality of the movies is said to be comparable to DVD for the standard rentals with HD movies now featuring Dolby 5.1 surround sound. The Apple TV also received a software update and is now a stand-alone product and can be used independent of iTunes. This with the new HD capabilities should make the Apple TV more appealing to home theater buffs. On aspect that was only briefly touched on is iTunes Digital Copy. On select DVD’s a free iTunes Digital Copy will be provided for personal use. When you insert a compatible DVD into your computer, the iTunes version transfers to your iTunes library, ready to watch or sync to your iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV.
Suspense builds as we all wonder exactly ‘what is in there air‘ at Macworld 2008. Here’s what you’ve been waiting for. The unboxing of the new Macbook Air. That’s right it’s hear and wait until you see how thin it is. It’s like, paper, wait, no thinner, yeah, just like – air! Enjoy the spoof posted by the well known Sarah Meyers, and the anticipation.
Macworld begins tomorrow in San Francisco and the rumors are flying. Recent snapshots of the this year’s MacWorld banners have revealed a new tagline, perhaps. There’s something in the air.
Most of the rumors revolve around a new ultra-thin Macbook which we reported on last week. What appear to be a fake photo of an smaller MacBook has already hit the net. While specific details of the machine have not been leaked, that hasn’t stopped anyone from throwing out some wild guesses.
The 12″ model disappeared from Apple’s MacBook Pro product line when they made the last big release. It’s makes sense that they’ll bring back a smaller model than the current 15.4″. And certainly shrinking the form factor a bit seems to be a logical next step regardless. The use of a flash memory drive would seem to be a step in that direction. But what’s up with “There something in the air” slogan? Here’s a few guesses.
In order to further reduce the already thin form factor of the Mac notebook line means you’ve got to deal with various cables and plugs, – ethernet being one of the largest. Those things aren’t going to change size. So removing them from the Book itself might be the only path to shrinking it’s thickness. You would also have to remove the optical drive. Which leads us to the idea of a dock station for the new MacBook ‘Mini’. But nothing like a traditional docking station. The Macintosh News Network has already reported on patent’s filed by Apple that outline some form of multiple purpose docking stating. And we’re taking a leap and thinking that it might end up using inductive coupling to communicate with the book itself. No wires. No connections. Just Air between them. Something in the air indeed.
Check out this iPhone parody commercial with director David Lynch. He seems, well, a little pissed off. I guess he can’t appreciate the cinematic experience that watching a movie on a 3-inch screen brings. Curious as to where the clip came from. Seems like some sort of real interview. He references watching movies on your ‘telephone’, though not specifically an iPhone of Touch. Pretty funny though. I guess I won’t tell him I’m watching Blue Velvet right now, and yes, it’s on my iPhone, curmudgeon. Brief NSFW language fyi.
