Sony's European King Bee, David Reeves says Sony is Not Concerned With Market Share.

The name of the game is not market share, it's how fast we can grow the industry—our ambition is to grow 15 per cent a year on hardware and software if we can. We want to try and double digital entertainment in the next five to six years. Whether we have 40, 50, or 60 per cent market share is not that important

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Apple Computer Inc. shares shot up in afternoon trading on Wednesday after the company unveiled software that allows users to run Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system on Apple computers -- a move that Wall Street believes will help Apple grow market share

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Seattle-based Giant Bite Games officially opened its doors. Founded by game industry veterans Hamilton Chu, Michael Evans, Andy Glaister, and Steve Theodore, Giant Bite describes itself as "a next generation game development studio focusing on the creation of excellent games and a fun workplace."

Giant Bite's team has a wealth of experience in making top-flight games, having worked on Halo, Halo 2, Half-Life and Counterstrike. They've also been involved in making key contributions to Microsoft's DirectX technologies. Collectively Giant Bite's executive team has shipped over thirty games with over twenty million units sold.

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The Fujitsu Hitachi plasma display corporation (FHP) today announced the mass production of the 42" and 37" plasma that adopt the new ALIS system (PDP).

Both models feature an aspect ratio or 16:9, and panel resolution of 1,024x1,080 dot. The 　42V" model features a brightness of 1,400cd/ which becomes the industry highest.

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Market Watch is reporting. that Apple could make a bid to buyout Disney after CEO Steve Jobs becomes the legendary entertainment firm's largest shareholder.

Jobs, who is the CEO of computer animation business Pixar , as well as Apple will own 7% of Disney after that firm's agreement to acquire the maker of movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

"I think he has an open option," Barron's quoted analyst Christopher Whalen, a New York-based managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics. "Disney is badly undervalued right now. Jobs might get an opportunity to take it out."

Sony has issued a statement to set shareholders at ease, after a their share price dropped 3.6 percent. the dropped for a second time. The initial drop followed a report by Merrill Lynch & Co. report that claimed the PlayStation 3 video game console may be delayed. the report also claimed that the PS3 will cost $900 per-console to manufacture. Sony denied the delay report, but left the $900 tag open for speculation.

The fall affected the entire Tokyo stock market, with the Nikkei index dropping 1.75 percent to 15,437.93 yen ($130.57).

It predicted the launch of the PlayStation 3 console could be delayed by 6 to 12 months from its current spring 2006 window, resulting in an autumn launch in Japan and a late 2006 or early 2007 launch in the US reports Gamespot

"We wrote last November that Sony’s design choices for the PS3 had resulted in an expensive and difficult-to-manufacture product," read the report, "and we think that we’re seeing the consequences of those choices play out now. In particular, we think the problem points are the Sony Cell processor and the Blu-ray drive." Merrill Lynch also cited heat-generation issues with PS3 hardware and the far-from-finished state of most games for the platform as factors.

"We're aiming for spring, but we haven't announced specific regions," a Sony Computer Entertainment America spokeswoman told USAtoday. "We're waiting for [final PS3 specifications] until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they're not decided soon."

Xbox 360

Microsoft Corp. reaffirmed its target to ship between 4.5 million and 5.5 million Xbox 360 consoles by the end of June despite supply shortages in its fiscal second quarter, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The world's biggest software maker said it expects to make up the shortages over the next two quarters, Colleen Healy, Microsoft's director of investor relations, said.

More at Reuters

Sony Cuts : Qrio, Aibo & Walkman Plant

As part of its ongoing cost-cutting and reorganization effort, Sony Corp. has cut its line of robotic Aibo dogs, along with another, more-expensive, humanoid robot called the Qrio, which was never sold as a product reports ZDNet

According to a company representative, more than 150,000 Aibos have been sold since they went on the market in 1999. But the overall company is in the midst of an historic belt-tightening, and the robotics unit didn't make the cut.

In other Sony Cost cutting news, the company, said Wednesday that by the end of March it will close a factory that began producing the Walkman music players in 1979 when it first debuted, according to Atsuo Omagari, a Sony spokesman reports S pi

Image via Engadget

The world's fourth largest mobile phone company, Sony Ericsson has reported record fourth quarter sales and profits thanks to strong demand for mobile phones with camera and music features reports BBC. Sony Ericsson shipped 16.1 million phones in the last three months of 2005, a rise of 28% on the same period in 2004.

Sony Ericsson added it had shipped three million of its Walkman branded handsets since August last year.

It is also bringing a high-speed 3G version of the Walkman phone to market.

Sales of iPod music players propelled Apple Computer Inc.'s quarterly revenue and profit to all-time highs, with earnings nearly doubling from a year earlier reports the LAtimes

Apple earned $565 million, or 65 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter, compared with $295 million, or 70 cents, a year earlier, before a 2-for-1 stock split.

Despite increased research spending, Apple beat estimates "quite materially," said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, an equity research firm.

Sony has begun offering $500 trade-in bonuses on Dell notebooks and paying solution providers additional incentives reports informationWeek.

"I think that's actually great," said Andrew Krantz, senior account manager at Westwood Computer, a solution provider and Sony partner based in Springfield, N.J. "Anything that targets Dell is good. Dell has a unique way of stealing business, so any way we could steal business back is positive."

Sony's trade-in offer of $500 for working Dell systems tops the $300 it provides for trade-ins on all other systems for Vaio BX series notebooks. Sony said the rebate can be claimed by solution providers for their clients.

Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, on Tuesday announced plans to deliver many of its key products and services as online services as well as selling subscriptions or licenses for software installed on computers reports Reuters.

"These new offerings demonstrate how software is evolving through the power of services in ways that enable more dynamic and relevant experiences for people", said Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect.

Windows Live and Office Live will give users some of the basic features of the software giant's two most-profitable products, but without the complexity of installing and maintaining the software in computer hard drives.

Samsung Electronics Co., Korea has shot down rumors of plans to enter the online music business with a system similar to Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service.

"We are not at all interested in a music service ourselves," Choi Gee-sung, president of Samsung's digital media business told reporters.

South Korean media earlier this week quoted Choi as saying the company planned such a service, remarks later confirmed by the company.

Choi on Thursday said there had been a misunderstanding of comments he made to Korean reporters late last week reports Yahoo News

Samsung is currently bottoming for muscle top Apple, so while a music service of their own is inevitable, now is obviously not the time.

Pictured Samsung's YP-F1 flash player

Handset maker Nokia and music label EMI have started a project to let coffee shop customers listen to music sent to their phone via Bluetooth.

As well as music, customers will be able to get hold of ringtones, wallpaper, video clips and vouchers reports BBC.

The first free tests of the service will be in six coffee shops and music stores in Helsinki, Finland.

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Samsung Electronics, Korea's biggest digital products maker has announced plans for a digital media player application like iTunes of Apple Computer.

Samsung president Choi Gee-sung made the remarks during a press conference late last week South Korean newspaper the Chosun Ilbo reports.

"We are now in talks with our partners to debut a service program like iTunes of Apple. Our No. 1 priority is to help customers use our products with ease," the 54-year-old said.

"Our items show healthy performances in China and Southeast Asian countries where iTunes services are not provided," he added.

Choi said the service will be launched domestically and overseas shortly.Choi gave no other details, but the service is likely to be founded on Windows Media technology, leaving Samsung competing against the likes of Napster, Virgin Digital, HMV and Yahoo! Music reports the Register

Samsung, a latecomer in the MP3 digital audio player business, has tried to catch up with Apple, which commands the portable audio player market.

The Seoul-based firm has vended flash memory-based items with a brand of Yepp and sold about 1.7 million MP3 players last year. Choi said the success of iPod has affected Samsung minimally and the company has enough energy to jump over bigger competitors.

IBM, today announced that it has acquired DataPower, a company specialized in tools for XML message processing reports Xinhua

DataPower, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers products that improve security and the speed of processing transactions, which simplify SOA deployments by hiding the complexities of handling different message formats.

DataPower products include the X150 Integration Device, which streamlines SOA infrastructure; the XA35 XML Accelerator for XML processing, and the XS40 XML Security Gateway, to provide message-level web services security.

Apple Computer , the maker of iPod digital music players, has dropped a joint $3.8 billion investment plan for flash chip production with Samsung Electronics.

Apple, had plans to buy as much as 40 percent of Samsung's flash memory output in the second half of this year for its popular iPod Shuffle and other music players reports Reuters. Last Week Macworld reported that South Korea's anti-trust regulator had plans to question Apple Computer and Samsung about unfair trading practices. Samsung reportedly sold a significant amount of its NAND flash memory chips to Apple at a discounted rate for the launch of the iPod nano.

"Apple had proposed a joint investment with Samsung Electronics in the production lines of NAND flash chips used for its MP3 players," a senior Samsung official was quoted by the Korea Economic Daily as saying.

"But as the anti-Samsung sentiment has recently deepened among some political and civic groups, Apple ended the talks, complaining about the sentiment,"

Cingular Wireless, has announced plans to use RealNetworks Inc.'s video streaming technology to deliver video to mobile phones, the companies said late on Tuesday reports Yahoo News.

"If Microsoft had won this contract the battle for the mobile media player market would have been close to being over," said Ovum analyst Roger Entner, who noted that Microsoft is ahead of RealNetworks in the desktop media player market.

"This is version 2.0 of the media player battle. It shows that somebody is fighting back," Entner said.

Cingular's biggest rival, Verizon Wireless, uses Microsoft's media player for a mobile video service that delivers news and entertainment video clips to customers using its high-speed wireless data network.

Sony Corp. plans to cut around 10,000 jobs, close eleven plants and reduce or close fifteen unprofitable operations as part of a major restructuring of the company.

Ryoji Chubachi, Sony's president and electronics CEO, made specific comments relating to Sony's video game holdings, in both the PlayStation 3 and PSP, commenting in particular of the costs related to designing the PlayStation 3: "Game-related investment has been wrapped up and we hope the game business will recoup the investment."

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Cingular Wireless, plans launch a service next year that will let users download music on their mobile phone, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

The service would likely charge "slightly higher" than what consumers pay for songs on iTunes , Ralph de la Vega, chief operating officer at Cingular, said on the sidelines of a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York reports Reuters

Sony, Japan, is in talks with Apple Computer about a possible launch of an online music download service for Japanese users of Apple's iPod digital music player.

"We are negotiating with Apple over the download business and hope to expand our customer base to iPod users," said Yasuhi Ide, a spokesman for Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

"We simply want iPod users to listen to our music," Ide said, adding the deal could bring some 25,000 songs by the company's Japanese artists to iPod users reports AFP

Thursday, Toshiba Corp. Japan said on Thursday it may delay the year-end launch of its next-generation HD DVD players.

Toshiba has said it planned to launch HD DVD players in the fourth quarter of 2005 in Japan and the United States, while rival Sony plans to put a Blu-ray disc drive in its new PlayStation game console next year reports Reuters

"We originally aimed for the year-end launch in the United States. But we have not really decided on that."

There is also a possibility that the products' launch in Japan may not come until after December, the spokeswoman said.

Chip Giant, Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to collaborate on ways to make their wireless LAN products work better together reports eWeek

Intel Corp. and Cisco demonstrated the Business Class Wireless Suite which is designed for customers who use Cisco access points and Intel-based clients.

The suite includes features that improve the clarity of VOIP (voice-over-IP) calls for software-based phones, for customers who happen to make phone calls from their laptops, officials said.

Apple Computer Inc., lost an attempt to patent some the iPod's technology because rival Microsoft Corp. had already filed a similar application reports Washington Post

Microsoft beat Apple to the patent application by five months, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documents show. Apple's request, filed by chief executive Steve Jobs and other officials in October 2002, was rejected by patent officials last month.

Apple plans to appeal the decision to ensure it won't be forced to pay royalties to Microsoft on every iPod sale.

America Online, has purchased Wildseed Ltd, a privately held wireless technology company as part of the company's initiative to more quickly get AOL service onto phones and other wireless devices reports Reuters.

Wildseed Ltd. was founded by Microsoft Corp. veteran G. Eric Engstrom, who co-invented Microsoft's DirectX multimedia and games technology.

The deal marks the second purchase in as many weeks to find ways to expand its services ahead of the official launch of AOL.com, which will offer more of its services for free.

Sunday, the Business newspaper reported that Cisco Systems Inc.is considering mobile handset maker Nokia in an effort to gain its wireless infrastructure technology.

"Nokia has been identified as the most likely target," the paper said.

Cisco, the largest maker of Internet equipment, is worth around $123 billion, while Nokia's market value is around $71 billion reports Reuters

The paper, which did not reveal the source of its information, said U.S.-based Cisco's mainstay networking market was fast changing with the convergence of fixed-line and wireless networks, and Cisco needed a merger to acquire the technology to create intelligent wireless applications.

While Nokia is the world's largest maker of wireless phones, the company has experienced erosion in profit margins as intense competition forces handset makers to lower prices.

At the same time, Nokia has decided to accelerate efforts to capture market share in large developing markets such as China and India, where the wireless-phone industry is likely to generate the bulk of future growth reports Market Watch

German PC maker Fujitsu-Siemens is taking orders for Esprimo E and P models with AMD processors, and will ship them at the end of the month to customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, according to Fujitsu-Siemens spokesperson Sabine Twest. ( Esprimo E small form-factor PC and Esprimo P tower used Intel processors before)

The launch of the new models comes just two weeks after AMD accused Intel of using its influence with PC manufacturers to shut AMD out of the market.

The Esprimo E is priced from $913 with an AMD processor, or from $1035 with an Intel chip, Fujitsu-Siemens says. Esprimo P models with AMD processors begin at $730, it says. Fujitsu-Siemens quotes reference prices for Germany.

"The AMD filing, which is surprisingly readable for a legal document, seems to have been crafted not only as a legal complaint, but as part of a media campaign. AMD has also run full-page ads in major newspapers outlining its position," said Martin Reynolds, vice president and fellow at Gartner Research.

The case will draw intense media attention, according to the analyst, but is unlikely to have an adverse impact on either companies' operations.

Gartner advised firms to ignore the suit and not make any changes to system procurement plans. "AMD and Intel will not be distracted from their operations, " the analyst stated.

via Forbes

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. or AMD rose Thursday after the company said its second-quarter profit fell 65 percent but beat Wall Street expectations as the chipmaker reported record microprocessor sales and a drop in flash memory chip revenue.

For the period ending June 26, AMD earned $11.32 million, or 3 cents per share, on sales of $1.260 billion. That's down from a profit of $32.2 million, or 9 cents a share, on revenue of $1.262 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts were expecting the maker of Athlon and Opteron processors to lose 5 cents per share on sales of $1.22 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial reports Forbes

According to Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, Sony is set to lose around $100 per PlayStation 3 console, even with a $400 price tag.

Analysts believe that production costs is around $500 (per console), with key components (Cell Processor, RSX and BD ROM drive) averaging over $100 each to make. Merrill Lynch claims that SCE is likely to sell the PS3 at $399 in the US and $410 in Japan, figures that project a loss of around $1.2 billion in the first year the machine is on sale.

By the time the PlayStation 3 launches, Microsoft may have had a year with its Xbox 360 on sale, probably at $299.

PlayStation 3, SCE chief Ken Kutaragi said "Whether consumers think a product is expensive or inexpensive depends on the balance between its appeal and price. Our goal for PlayStation 3 is for consumers to think to themselves, 'I will work more hours to buy one.' We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."

Kutaragi continued, "Nintendo was selling its 16-bit machine for $114 and we sold the first PlayStation for $364. The press said that it was too expensive, but it was a huge hit. The story is the same with the PlayStation Portable from last year. The Game Boy Advance is a handheld gaming machine, and it costs $91. The PSP had cost $229. But people queued up overnight to buy it, and it sold out on launch day. It depends whether people want it and naturally I'm confident that the PS3 is a product that people will definitely want."

Motorla has announced the E895, a new handset that delivers a robust suite of intuitive multimedia tools to capture everyday escapades including a 1.3 megapixel camera, video record and playback and optional removable memory.

Swedish Wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson and online music distributor Napster Inc. will offer a digital music service that will let consumers download music to mobile phones.

The announcement came as wireless providers and device makers rush to deliver music, video and ringtones to mobile phones, viewed by many as the next medium of choice for entertainment reports WP.

Motorola Inc. plans to launch a cell phone that can buy and play songs from Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes. It was supposed to have been unveiled in March, but was postponed at the last minute, fueling speculation that a wireless service provider had become involved

Monday, American Express said it will begin issuing credit cards with ExpressPay. Expresspay will allow payment to be authorized in seconds and will not require a signature. You wave your card in front of a sensor to make payments. The new cards offer a function already common at many U.S. gas stations. They are an alternative to the traditional cards that are swiped through a machine that reads information embedded in a magnetic strip.

American Express said test results showed that, on average, ExpressPay transactions are 63 percent faster than using cash.

The Taiwan-based BenQ Group, will acquire Siemens' entire mobile phone business with more than 6,000 employees worldwide. The business will be headquartered in Munich. The closing of the deal is expected in the fourth quarter of Siemens' fiscal year 2005. Siemens will invest in BenQ by purchasing shares of the company. In addition, the transaction also includes the rights to the brand and name, which BenQ will be allowed to use for a total of five years.
With this acquisition, BenQ will advance to become one of the world's leading mobile phones vendors. The two partners complement one another ideally in their strengths. In addition to its GSM mobile phones activities, the Taiwan-based company is also a leading vendor of consumer electronic products, such as LCD screens, notebook computers, cameras and scanners. The acquisition will strengthen BenQ’s GSM mobile phones business. BenQ intends to expand mobile devices into a core business in the future.

Next week, EMC Corp. is expected to unveil its much-anticipated storage router, Invista, a hardware and software package designed to optimize use of storage resources. Invista goes up against IBM Corps SAN Volume Controller, and Hitachi Ltds Lightning TagmaStore and will be the first application to fully exploit Brocades Rhapsody-inspired smart switch.

Built on a dual-node server cluster Invista connects to a Fibre Channel switch within a storage-area network (SAN) and will be able to present arrays on a heterogeneous SAN to application servers as if from a single pool of capacity, said Mark Lewis, chief development officer at EMC.

The presidents of Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. will meet as early as this week to try and hammer out an agreement on a unified format for next-generation DVD technology, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday.

Sony and Toshiba, heading rival groups, have waged a three-year war to have their new technology standards adopted by the industry and gain pole position in the multi-billion-dollar markets for DVD players, PC drives and optical discs reports Reuters.

Eastman Kodak Co., said Wednesday it will replace its chief executive, Daniel Carp, with its No. 2 executive, Antonio Perez. The world's largest film manufacturer said Carp, who has been CEO since January 2000, will step down from the top post on June 1 and will retire as chairman at the end of the year. Perez also will succeed him as chairman next Jan. 1.

Dulles-based America Online, under pressure to increase subscribers is offering a beta version of a free e-mail service to anyone with Internet access.

"Our vision," said AIM vice president Chamath Palihapitiya, "is to make AIM a complete communications service."

IBM plans to cut between 10,000 and 13,000 jobs, or about 3 percent to 4 percent of its global workforce, and a company official said as much as three-quarters of the job cuts will fall in Europe, with Germany, Britain, Italy and France. IBM will take a charge of $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion in the current quarter to pay for severance packages and other payments to the laid-off workers.

Cisco Systems Inc., the largest maker of routers and other communications gear for directing Internet traffic, is preparing to unveil on Tuesday its latest network security products, a suite of devices that unify multiple security functions onto a single platform to help companies simplify network management and trim costs. Cisco is looking to gain ground in the network security products market.

The Three-month bidding war for long-distance provider MCI ended Monday as Qwest dropped out after MCI agreed to an $8.54 billion deal with Verizon and rejected a higher-priced offer from Qwest for the fourth time. The deal with Verizon pays shareholders $1.3 billion less than what Qwest had offered.

"It is no longer in the best interests of shareowners, customers and employees to continue in a process that seems to be permanently skewed against Qwest," the Denver-based company said in a statement. "We pursued MCI with tenacity and discipline and feel strongly that our bid would have brought far more value to MCI shareholders."

Lenovo Group has completed its $1.25 billion acquisition of IBM's personal computing division, making the Chinese vendor the world's third largest PC maker behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Lenovo chairman Yuanqing Yang said the deal "marks a new era for the global PC industry" and promised to deliver "high-quality products and world-class service."

Shares of Google Inc. danced with new highs on Friday after the Web search giant's quarterly results showed more of the dramatic advertising growth.

Google's shares reached $223.97, up $19.75 from Thursday's close. That is more than twice the $85-a-share valuation for Google's initial public offering only last August. By the close of trade, however, shares had retreated to $215.81, up $11.59 or almost 6 percent.

MCI Inc.'s decision on Wednesday to accept Verizon's $7.6 billion bid, citing Verizon Communications Inc.'s better growth prospects and stronger finances, is not going over well with some folks. Bill Miller, chief executive of Legg Mason Capital Management, whose funds own 5.6 million shares of MCI and some other institutional investors said this week they would vote against MCI's deal with Verizon in favor of a higher $9.1 billion takeover bid from Qwest Communications International Inc. MCI's recent decision to side with Verizon for a third time could push Qwest to pursue a hostile bid. Qwest said on Wednesday it was weighing its next move, and had previously hired a proxy firm.

MCI rejected Denver-based Qwest Communications for a third time, opting to go with the lower offer from Verizon. Qwest had bid $8.9 billion or $27.50 a share for MCI. Verizon's offer valued the company at $23.10 a share or $7.5 billion.

In a statement early Wednesday, the MCI board said it was "not willing to jeopardize the certainty of its Verizon agreement for the uncertainties surrounding the Qwest proposal."

In a letter to the MCI board, Verizon said it would drop out of the bidding for the No. 2 long-distance operator if MCI's board deems Qwest's latest bid superior reports thestreet. The news comes as MCI considers an $8.9 billion stock-and-cash bid from Qwest. MCI agreed last month to accept Verizon's sweetened $7.5 billion stock-and-cash deal, citing the company's financial and operational strength relative to Qwest.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and Digeo, Inc., today announced their intention to enter into a deal to produce the next-generation Moxi(TM) II Media Center product family. Both Charter Communications and Adelphia have agreed in principle to purchase the Samsung Home Media Center products, which leverage Digeo'scost-reducing X-Stream silicon architecture, and Moxi(TM) II MediaCenter software and applications, in addition to Samsung's broad technology portfolio, manufacturing, and marketing expertise. Read More

Critical Mention, a Web-based TV search and monitoring service has announced the addition of 100+ markets in its CriticalTV 3.0 BETA platform.

The upgrade will provide users with access to broadcast content from over 400 national and local US channels from their desktops. In addition, the ability to order CDs and tapes of coverage automatically from within the CriticalTV app will have a tremendous impact on the multi-billion dollar broadcast monitoring market, and will establish Critical Mention as THE one-stop shop for communications professionals’ television monitoring needs. The new version will be officially released in May. More

Sony announced on the 31st that they have established a production corporation for small-size TFT LCD display panels, called "ST Mobile Display Corporation" (STMD). Production will begin in April. About 25,000 panels per month will be produced (550 x 650mm substrate base). Read More

Qwest Communications International Inc. on Thursday raised its takeover bid for MCI Inc. to $9 billion. Qwest's latest offer topped its previous bid of $8.45 billion and exceeds by 18 percent Verizon's sweetened offer of $7.6 billion that MCI accepted on Tuesday. MCI had cited Verizon's stable financial health and strong growth prospects as reasons for rejecting Qwest's previous overtures reports Reuters.. Denver-based Qwest is now offering MCI shareholders $27.50 a share, including $13.50 in cash and stock valued at $14. The company also strengthened protections against declines in Qwest's stock price.

The world's second-largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard Company, has named Mark Hurd as its new CEO. Speaking to reporters at the company's headquarters on Wednesday, Mr. Hurd, who takes the reins on Friday, said it would take time to acquaint himself with the challenges facing the company's five divisions, but he would not rule out anything that might be necessary to put the company back on track.

"We'll look at the entire enterprise," he said. "I can't give you any guarantees on anything." His first priority, he said, would be "improving operations, creating demand for our technology and increasing shareholder value."

A judge has ordered Sony Corp. to pay $90.7 million to Immersion Corp but immediately stayed an order that would stop U.S. sales of Sony's popular PlayStation consoles.

"There's no way that Sony's going to stop selling PS2s any time soon, so I don't see the injunction ever taking effect," said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan.

In 2002, San Jose-based Immersion Corp. sued Sony, saying the Japanese company infringed on patents related to "vibro-tactile" technologies that simulate the sense of touch in videogame play. The suit specifically names the PlayStation consoles, Dual Shock controllers and 47 games.

Oracle Corp. said late Monday it had reached an agreement to acquire Retek, Inc. for $631 million, or $11.25 a share, winning a bidding war for the maker of retail-management software after German rival SAP found the price too expensive reports MarketWatch. Some analysts say Oracle's triumph could set back SAP's plans in the North American market for retail software by several years. Retek shares fell 27 cents, or more than 2 percent, to $11.19 in Tuesday trading after SAP confirmed it would not make a third offer for the company. Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison twice outbid his German competitors for Retek, a long-time Oracle partner whose software helps large retail chains manage their operations.

Acquiring Retek "strengthens (Oracle's) position in the retail applications market globally," Ellison said in a statement. Ellison had said he wanted to acquire Retek to defend what he called his firm's leading position in the North American market for business application software.

IAC/InterActiveCorp on Monday said it would buy the fourth-largest Web search provider Ask Jeeves Inc. for $1.85 billion, in a bid to pull its diverse holdings and profit from search advertising.

IAC/InterActiveCorp, operates a variety of online and offline businesses, including CitySearch, Expedia, and Ticketmaster. "Global search is the gateway to everything,'' said media mogul Barry Diller, chairman and chief executive of IAC.

IAC, which plans a spin-off of its Expedia and other travel-related businesses in the second quarter, said it will integrate the Ask Jeeves search box and its Web search results on all of its sites, including the Home Shopping Network, event ticket site Ticketmaster, online dating site Match.com and online mortgage provider LendingTree, as well as Expedia reports MSN Money.

In a statement, Barry Diller, chairman and CEO of IAC, said, "Ask Jeeves was founded almost 10 years ago based on the idea that simple text search results alone are not sufficient or satisfying--but, rather, that consumers want answers to questions--and questions posed in natural language and answered with spot-on accuracy were especially desired and appealing. Of the many search engines launched during that time, Ask was one of the very few that established itself and we believe that in the future it has the potential to become one of the great brands on the Internet and beyond, and by beyond, we mean in wireless, in the search for anything on any device."

Palo Alto-based, Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to acquire online photo services startup Snapfish in a bid to boost sales of its popular photo printers and ink. Snapfish's Web site contains roughly 350 million photos, which users can organize into digital albums, share with other members, turn into calendars or mouse pads, and have printed for as little as 15 cents per photo reports seattlepi.nwsource.com.

Larry Lesley, senior vice president for HP's Consumer Imaging and Printing division, said the computer maker plans to ask all 1.5 million HPphoto.com customers if they'd like to migrate to Snapfish when the deal closes next month. Snapfish's 80 employees will work with HP to produce new products and services - including promotions that help people who don't have fancy photo printers print images from their digital cameras.

Judge James Kleinberg of the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose, Calif. heard arguments on Friday in a lawsuit brought by Apple Computer to force three Web site publishers to reveal the names of confidential sources who disclosed to them Apple's plans for future products.

Judge James Kleinberg issued a tentative ruling that three Web sites cannot seek a protection that shields journalists from revealing the names of unidentified sources or turning over unpublished material. He is expected to issue a formal ruling as early as next week.

Qwest Communications International Inc. submitted a revised bid for Long-distance telephone company MCI Inc. on Thursday, the new offer is expected to have little impact on MCI's decision to be bought by Verizon Communications Inc. for $6.75 billion. In fact Washington Post reports the revised bid disappointed a few people, Qwest did not offer more cash for MCI stock as expected which probably was a factor in the 6 percent dive Qwest's shares took on Friday. MCI Chief Executive Michael Capellas vowed the company would "do our utmost" to complete the Verizon deal quickly and said the deal made the most sense for MCI. MCI, who was recently accused of not fully analyzing Qwest's previous offer, said it would thoroughly analyze the revised $8 billion bid by Qwest Communications International Inc.

Leon Cooperman, chairman of hedge fund Omega Advisors, which owned 2.9 percent of MCI's shares as of Dec. 31 asked "What has to happen for us to be willing and legally able to speak with Qwest to find out what they've got in their mind?"

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Qwest Communications International is expected to make a revised offer for long-distance phone company MCI sometime this week. In a letter sent to MCI's board last Thursday and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Qwest chairman and CEO Richard Notebaert expressed heartache over MCI turning down his offer. Qwest also made details of its original $8 billion offer public. Even though Qwest's offer was considerably higher than Verizon Communications' $6.75 billion bid, MCI accepted Verizon's offer.

According to thestreet.com by taking its bid for MCI public, Qwest hoped MCI shareholders would force the board to consider its offer and allow the company to sweeten the proposal if need be. So far it appears to have some effect, MCI Inc. shareholder Joseph Pojanowski III sued to block the long-distance telephone company's $6.6 billion takeover by Verizon Communications Inc., saying the price was too low reports Reuters/

Even though Qwest has stated it has backers on hand to supply money, some analysts say Qwest still has a weak hand and that its rebidding ploy isn't likely to succeed. The decision to appeal to shareholders is likely to end in either a higher Verizon offer or a formal rejection from MCI's board, the analysts say.

Sony has announced plans to end production of the CLIE (an acronym of "Communication Linkage for Information & Entertainment." ) PDA line in July. Parts and repair service will continue to be available for 6 years from end of production, as outlined in the warranty statement. Specialist telephone support for Clie users will continue for one year. After that, support calls will be handled by VAIO customer service. Associated paid services such as the sale of content downloads and the clie domain mail service will continue for the time being.

The CLIE is a Palm OS-powered PDA released in 2000.

According to Sony, "although this is the end of the CLIE platform, the concept of a 'portable entertainment information terminal' will continue" and we can anticipate further expansion of platforms such as the PSP and mobile phone.

- Read More

In an attempt to bring MCI back to the table, Qwest Communications plans to submit another offer despite having its nearly $8 billion offer ignored by the MCI board in favor of Verizon's bid of $6.7 billion reports thestreet

In a letter sent to MCI's board Thursday and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Qwest chairman and CEO Richard Notebaert expressed heartache over MCI turning down his offer.

In the words of his letter - you can fill the blanks.

The Verizon bid "is substantially less than the consideration Qwest offered to MCI shareholders,"

A deal between Qwest and MCI "is superior to the Verizon proposal because our regulatory approval process is likely to be completed at least six months more quickly."

A deal with Qwest would produce more "synergies" than a deal with Verizon. reports NewsFactor Network

More Notebaert "to date, we have not received any response from MCI or its advisors on the terms of our February 11 proposal."

Qwest got "substantially less" access to MCI's financial records to conduct due diligence than "other parties."

Qwest intends "to submit a modified offer to acquire MCI, and we would expect MCI and its advisors to engage us in a meaningful dialog regarding the merits of our offer,"

MCI chose to be acquired by Verizon, even though it offered less money, because Verizon was financially stronger than Qwest and provided better long-term prospects for growth in a rapidly consolidating telecommunications industry, industry analysts say.

The New York Times Co. has agreed to acquire About Inc. from Primedia Inc. for $410 million in cash. The acquisition of About.com is expected to be completed early in the second quarter, pending customary regulatory approvals. Internet news reports About.com offers expert advice on topics ranging from personal finance and home repair to consumer electronics and geography, the site reaches an audience of 22 million unique visitors each month compared to 13 million users The Times Co.'s websites reach. About.com will operate as its own distinct business division, with the media company marketing Times products through the website.

About.com adds cost-per-click advertising to the Times's online advertising base, which currently offers impression-based display advertising. Cost-per-click through sponsored links is the fastest-growing form of online advertising today, accounting for much of the success of search giant Google Inc. About.com's user base combined with the Times Co.'s 13 million users will make the media company the 12 largest entity on the Internet

"We are very excited about this acquisition, which furthers our strategy of delivering news and information to local and national audiences with multiple media products," Janet Robinson, president and chief executive of the Times Co., said.

A poll by Forbes.com asking 'What will be Hp's fate?' shows 49% of people looking for HP to Revamp Its strategy. Interim Chief Executive Robert Wayman speaking yesterday on news of a small bump in first-quarter earnings for Hewlett-Packard said "There is work to be done, our management team is focused on driving improved execution to serve our customers, strengthen our competitiveness and improve shareholder value."

A week after the exit of celebrity CEO Carly Fiorina, HP posted earnings of $932 million, or 32 cents per share, edging year-earlier figures of $936 million or 30 cents per share. Revenue grew 10% to $21.45 billion from $19.51 billion a year ago reports Forbes Magazine.

Back to Poll Results - Its no surprise a HP revamp is desired, since the ouster of Carly most media outlets have said one of the main reasons for Carly's ouster was failure to execute her Strategy.

Results 3:48pm - 02.17
Break up into small entities (15%)
Spin off its imaging business (17%)
Purchased by a competitor (6%)
Sell PC business to Dell (11%)
Revamp its strategy (49%)
I don't know (0%)
None of the above (0%)

Hewlett Packard Co Wednesday reported flat quarterly earnings. The company's profits for the three months ended January 31 increased to $943 million or $0.32 per share, from $936 million or $0.30 per share in the year-ago quarter. Hewlett-Packard reported a 10% increase in its F1Q05 revenues to $21.5 billion. The sales growth was driven by the company's printer, personal computer and service businesses. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to earn on average 36 cents a share, within a range of 32 cents to 39 cents, on revenue of $20.96 billion. This good news comes a week after the company's board members ousted Chairman and Chief Executive, Carly Fiorina, following increasing criticism of her management style. The company's interim chief executive, Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman, said that the company still had much to do. "While we continue to make progress, there is work to be done to improve our profitability," he said. The company's share price appreciated $0.70 to $21.77 in after-hours trade following the result announcement reports newsrating.com

Technology hardware giant Hewlett-Packard offered investors some positive news today, following its ouster of CEO Carly Fiorina last week, the company posted first-quarter results above Wall Street expectations. The result guided revenue higher as Traders responded after hours, bidding the stock up 2.1% to $21.50 after shares finished the regular session down 0.3% to $21.06 reports thestreet.com. Hewlett-Packard reported net income of $943 million, or 32 cents a share, on sales of $21.5 billion for the quarter ending Jan. 31. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $936 million, or 30 cents a share, on sales of $19.5 billion. According to Thomson First Call. H-P earned 37 cents a share compared with analysts' expectations for earnings of 34 cents a share on sales of $20.96 billion, on average. According to thestreet Wednesday's report marks the beginning of a new era for HP, which removed Fiorina on Feb. 9 following growing criticism of her management style and her lack of momentum in business areas outside of printing.

Circuit City revealed plans Wednesday to slash a part of its operations, one day after Boston hedge fund Highfields Capital Management offered to acquire the company in a $3.2 billion buyout. Circuit City saw its shares jump more than 16 percent on Tuesday after receiving the acquisition offer. The cuts are part of an effort to improve Circuit City's overall financial performance, the company said. The electronics chain will shut 19 underperforming stores, five regional offices and a Virginia distribution center by the end of February. Circuit City also said it sold a building that's part of its corporate headquarters reports thestreet. The 19 stores accounted for revenue of $170 million for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, Circuit City said. Circuit City said the sale of the corporate building will yield an after-tax gain of about $1.8 million and will eliminate $12.6 million in long-term debt.

The consumer electronics retailer Circuit City says it has received an acquisition proposal from Highfields Capital Management, offering to pay $17 a share for the company's outstanding stock. Highfields Capital Management LP, a Boston hedge fund who controls about 8 percent of Circuit City's stock, offered $3.3 billion for the chain. According to nwherald.com some analysts think the $3.25 billion cash offer is too low and that the retailer can work its way out of a financial slump. Investors on the other hand appear to like the idea, Circuit City's stock jumped 16 percent, or $2.30, to close at $16.53 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange amid speculation there will be a higher bid. Circuit City says its board plans to evaluate Highfields' proposal and other alternatives. Circuit City also said the retailer could better execute a business plan as a private company that does not have to disclose its strategy.

According to Bloomberg News, Qwest Communications International Inc. has increased it's bid from 6.3 billion to more than $7 billion for MCI Inc. The increase tops an earlier bid by Verizon Communications Inc. Qwest made the offer to MCI on Friday, Bloomberg said in a report on its Web site. Verizon had matched a $6.3 billion takeover offer by Quest earlier in the week. Shares of MCI closed up 1.42 percent at $20.75 in Friday trading on Nasdaq. Meanwhile, Verizon shares gained 0.75 percent to close at $36.31 and Quest closed at $4.15 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

If you are now returning from vacation, and somehow missed the big news in business this week, Carly Fiorina Hewlett-Packard's Chairman and CEO, considered one of the most powerful women in corporate America announced her resignation after pressure from Hewlett-Packard's board of directors on Feb. 9. 2005.

Possible reasons for Carly's ouster - failure to execute her ambitious plan for HP, the boards' inability to work constructively with her, oh and that Compaq deal still looms

BusinessWeek has a special Insider story on the road Carly went down at HP which ultimately lead to her being kicked out, one very interesting piece from the story is that Fiorina held separate meetings with at least four high profile CEOs on how to make a 'graceful exit' from HP in December 2004 according to Industry sources. The CEOs included Cisco Chief Executive John T Chambers and Intel President Paul S. Otellini. Fiorina apparently told the CEOs she was feeling some pressure from HP's board and inquired about ways to save face. * not confirmed.

Now Carly is out, Patricia C. Dunn, is the new chairwoman - New York Times has a great profile on Patricia C. Dunn, who has shunned the role of celebrity as much as Ms. Fiorina sought it out

Carly Fiorina Hewlett-Packard's Chairman and CEO, considered one of the most powerful women in corporate America announced her resignation yesterday after pressure from Hewlett-Packard's board of directors.

SfGate reports Fiorina's reign at Hewlett-Packard Co. ended Wednesday as the company's board forced her out as chief executive, disappointed by her efforts to make the technology giant whose strongest business is printers more innovative.

InfoWorld reports Fiorina's move caught industry observers off guard, but was not a complete surprise, as stories have circulated about Hp's board considering splitting up some of her day-to-day responsibilities among other HP executives.

Chief Financial Officer Robert Wayman is serving as the interim CEO until a successor is named. Now Fiorina is out the question on everyone's lips - will Hewlett-Packard's next CEO stick to the Carly Fiorina strategy or will HP break itself apart into separate businesses that can focus their employees, management and research resources on specific markets? - kesq

Microsoft Corp. said today, it would buy Anti-virus software maker Sybari Software Inc. in a direct challenge to Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. Analysts expect security software makers to feel the pressure if the world's largest software maker aka Microsoft, bundles Anti-virus features into its Windows operating system. "Microsoft's acquisition of Sybari will get them into the (business) Anti-virus market specializing in e-mail protection, a negative for Symantec and McAfee," said Sterling Auty, an analyst with JP Morgan.

Japanese electronics giants Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Panasonic) and Hitachi have agreed to band together in the plasma display panel business to combat increased competition and lower prices. Japan's No. 1 and No. 2 plasma-display panel makers will establish a joint patent management firm while promoting cooperation in the development of electronic parts and in the procurement of raw materials reports JapanToday. Forbes reports a full announcement will come later today. The alliance between Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. will make them a dominant force in plasma display panels. Fujitsu Limited and Hitachi, Ltd last week reached a basic agreement regarding Fujitsu's transfer to Hitachi of 30.1% of the issued shares in their joint venture company, Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Limited (FHP), along with related plasma display panel (PDP) intellectual property rights.