Recently Microsoft offered $44.6 billion for Yahoo. After that price of yahoo shares jumped for 50%. But yesterday Yahoo rejected Microsoft proposal. Actually Yahoo rejected price of Microsoft's offer. So now it seems it's not the end if story. To be continued...
by Steve Goldstein
LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Yahoo shares rallied 14% in overseas trading on Friday after a newspaper report that Microsoft may try to buy the Internet search firm after being beaten to other deals by Google Inc.
Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) jumped 14% to $32.22 in Frankfurt on volume of over 110,000, which by German standards is extremely high for a U.S. stock.
The gains came after The New York Post reported that Microsoft (MSFT) may want to buy the firm in what could be a $50 billion deal.
Citing anonymous sources, The Post said Microsoft is intensifying its pursuit of Yahoo and has requested formal talks. In recent weeks, Google bought DoubleClick for $3.1 billion and in 2005 renewed a key search-advertising pact with AOL.
The Post also reported that Yahoo two months ago spurned a bid from the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant.
According to the report, a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo would lift their combined share of the search advertising market to 27% against Google's (GOOG) 65%.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-04-07 0556ET
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
by Tuan Nguyen
Both companies will use the "iPhone" trademark
Under the agreement, Cisco will allow Apple to freely use the "iPhone" trademark globally. Cisco will also be able to use the same trademark name on its own products. In a statement, Cisco said that each company will dismiss any pending actions regarding the 
Under the agreement, both companies are free to use the "iPhone" trademark on their products throughout the world. Both companies acknowledge the trademark ownership rights that have been granted, and each side will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark. In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications. Other terms of the agreement are confidential.
Cisco's consumer division Linksys has a line of Skype VoIP phones using the "iPhone" trademark, which launched late last year. Apple later made a gamble with its mobile phone and also called it the "iPhone" -- even though Apple knew at that time that the trademark rightfully belonged to Cisco.
by Grace Wong
CES, the year's biggest gadget show, kicks off this weekend in Las Vegas; Disney, CBS chiefs among key speakers.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For the digerati, the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas is about to begin.
Monday marks the official start of the Consumer Electronics Show, the week-long extravaganza that is the tech industry's biggest blowout of the year.
Thousands of technophiles from Wall Street to Hollywood will flock to Sin City to hobnob and hear the latest product launches. Some 2,700 companies have signed up to exhibit their digital wares, while industry luminaries from Bill Gates to Bob Iger are scheduled to speak.
This year's focus won't be on radical new technologies, industry analysts predicted. Instead the emphasis will be about making existing products and services more user-friendly.
A key topic will be the digital home living room. Tech enthusiasts have long touted the day when consumers can access all of their entertainment - from music to movies to photos to the Web - from their TV. Today the focus isn't on a distant dream but on practical solutions that will make setting up home networks easier.
"Each year, more of the [digital living room] puzzle is filled in," said Roger Kay, president of consulting firm Endpoint Technologies Associates. "Instead of companies selling piece parts, we're starting to see them embrace total solutions that make the whole process simpler."
A big part of making technology user-friendly: offering services people want to use.
"It's not about technology for technology's sake. It's about giving consumers a reason for wanting the technology," said Michael Goodman, a digital entertainment analyst with Yankee Group, a tech research firm.
To that end, expect major content providers in the keynote lineup, including Disney (Charts) CEO Iger and CBS (Charts) CEO Leslie Moonves, to make a splash.
"We're going to hear more detente between the entertainment content industry and consumer electronics manufacturers who want to give consumers what they want - which is entertainment where they want it, when they want it," said Richard Doherty, an analyst with research firm Envisioneering Group.
Motorola (Charts) CEO Ed Zander also is on tap to deliver a keynote. As consumers increasingly use cell phones as their primary communication device, mobile applications - such as GPS location and navigation, and media offerings like video - are likely to generate a lot of attention, analysts added.
While the bigwigs from the media and entertainment industry will inject fresh blood into the show - which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year - don't expect old-timers to sit back quietly.
Gates will get things started as usual with a pre-show keynote Sunday night. While exhibitors last year obsessed on ways to ride the iPod gravy train, this year the Vista effect is expected to take center stage as exhibitors find ways to tie their products into the latest update of Microsoft's (Charts) Windows operating system.
Dell (Charts) founder Michael Dell also is on tap to speak at the event. The troubled PC maker hasn't had much success in the consumer field, but it's an important industry leader and has been quiet in the last six months, which may be a sign that it's gearing up to make a big announcement, Doherty said.
One major tech heavyweight that won't be present at CES is Apple (Charts), which will be hosting its own mega-event, known as MacWorld. Apple CEO Steve Jobs kicks off that gathering with a keynote in San Francisco Tuesday.
MacWorld overlaps with CES this year, but Jobs is expected to make another blockbuster announcement. Not wanting to miss out, some CES attendees are planning to shuttle back and forth between the two events.
An iPhone has been widely rumored to be in the offing this year, but some analysts predict Apple won't debut it at MacWorld since the company may still be in negotiations with carrier partners.
iPhone or not, Jobs isn't likely to disappoint Apple fans. Last year he announced the widely anticipated Intel-based Macs. In 2005, he rolled out the hugely-popular iPod shuffle.
(c) money.cnn.com
by Stanley Holmes
Boeing (BA) surpassed even its own expectations and reported a record 1,044 commercial airplane orders for 2006, eclipsing its former mark, set in 2005, by 42 planes and wresting leadership of the industry from its struggling European rival, Airbus.
The aerospace goliath regained the leadership in the all-important sales category after getting clobbered by Airbus for four years. The key to Boeing's continued resurgence? Strong demand for twin-engine widebody airplanes such as its all-new, fuel-sipping 787 Dreamliner and its long-range 777 models, surging cargo aircraft sales, and its single-aisle workhorse 737 series.
Boeing fell behind Airbus for a fourth straight year in aircraft deliveries, which officially determines the world's No. 1 plane manufacturer. It reported 398 deliveries, up 37% but less than the 425 projected by Airbus, which announces yearend totals on Jan. 17. But Boeing's sales momentum should return it to the top of the jet-making business by 2008, analysts say.
Boeing executives were celebrating over the combination of a sound product strategy that saw strong sales across the company's entire product line. But Chicago-based Boeing also was helped by Airbus production struggles and management discord, as well as higher fuel prices that made its large, fuel-efficient, twin-engine airplanes more attractive.
Still, Boeing executives are cautioning against a repeat performance in 2007. True, British Airways (BAB) and the big U.S. carriers have yet to join the sales party and are expected to purchase new aircraft this year. Still, it appears that 2006 could mark the peak of the airplane buying cycle. "I do not expect that in 2007 we will be able to sell airplanes like we did in the two previous years," said Larry Dickensen, Boeing's vice-president of sales. "That was an extraordinary experience and one that will never happen again—at least not in my lifetime."
Boeing exceeded its previous year's total of 1,002 net orders and fell short of Airbus' all-time industry record of 1,055 last year. Boeing's gross orders, which do not account for cancellations and conversions, totaled 1,050. Airbus has been losing market share to Boeing, reporting 635 orders as of Nov. 30. The European plane maker has been known for announcing big orders at the end of the year in its effort to surpass Boeing. But despite the recent AirAsia order for 100 A320 airplanes, it looks as if Airbus will have to settle for second place in orders when it announces 2006 totals.
Simply put, 2006 was not a good year for Airbus. It announced several production delays for its flagship A380 superjumbo that has pushed the first delivery back two years. Airbus and parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space have lost three chief executives, one A380 customer, possibly others, and $6.4 billion in forecast profits (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/10/06, "Airbus: The Ride Just Got Bumpier").
Boeing, on the other hand, has been turning on the afterburners. It received orders from 76 different customers last year. In the last 10 days of December, Boeing execs were able to finalize orders for a total of more than 100 planes from Korean Air, India's Jet Airways, Air Berlin, Delta Air Lines (DALRQ), and others. "We are very pleased that all of our products have done well," Boeing's Dickensen said. "We think we've got a very good product strategy."
Scott Carson, chief executive officer for Boeing's Commercial Airplane unit, said the airplane division has built a well-balanced backlog of orders after initially struggling as airlines were slow to recover from a deep slump. "The strong orders for the past two years are a validation of our strategy of focusing on our customers, simplifying our product and services offerings, and transforming our production system," Carson said in a statement. He succeeded Alan Mulally, who left to become CEO at Ford Motor (F).
One pleasant surprise for Boeing: the demand for new freighter airplanes (see BusinessWeek, 1/8/07, "The Secret Weapon for Boeing"). A total of 81 freighters were sold and that accounted for 18.1% of the total sales and a list value of about $20.7 billion—a record for Boeing.
The company also recorded 157 orders last year for the 787, which is due to enter service in mid-2008 after test flights beginning later this year. It tallied a record 729 orders for its popular 737. It also had 76 orders for 777s, 10 for 767s, and 72 for 747s—the highest total for the latter program since 1990.
by Keith Regan
Hoping to clear the way for its US$85 billion takeover of BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) before the calendar turns to 2007, AT&T (NYSE: T) has offered additional concessions, including some limited network neutrality guarantees to win Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blessing for the delayed deal.
AT&T had balked at requests by the Democratic members of the FCC to put guarantees in place that third-party Internet traffic would not be relegated to second-class status on the sprawling network that will be created when AT&T and the former Baby Bell combine assets.
Additional Options
The Democratic votes became essential, however, after Robert McDowell, one of the three Republican members of the FCC, announced last week he would abstain from voting on the deal, citing his past work as a consultant to a telecom industry group that has opposed the merger on the grounds it would harm smaller telecom concerns.
In a 19-page letter delivered to the FCC late Thursday, AT&T pledged to make high-speed Internet service available in 100 percent of the regions its high-speed network will cover, and to provide free DSL modems to subscribers who sign up for broadband service within 18 months of the merger date. It also agreed to make a $10 per month high-speed option available.
AT&T also said it would guarantee some net neutrality for two years or until Congress addresses the issue with new legislation, and offered to divest itself of some BellSouth wireless spectrum assets.
It also agreed to bring back 3,000 jobs that BellSouth had outsourced in recent years to offshore locations -- a nod to labor interests favored by the Democratic commissioners. At least 200 of those jobs will be based in and around New Orleans.
The possibility remained that the FCC could meet sometime Friday to vote on the deal, but as of midday on the East Coast, no such meeting had been officially scheduled or posed, a spokesperson in the commission's Washington, D.C., office said. FCC rules allow it to vote without a scheduled, public meeting, however, and a decision can be announced at any time.
AT&T is hoping to close the BellSouth purchase -- which would mark the largest merger in telecom industry history -- early in 2007 and begin the extensive work of combining two networks and two corporate cultures.
Above and Beyond
In the letter to the FCC, AT&T Vice President Robert Quinn Jr. said the additional concessions were being made even though AT&T's takeover had been approved by the Department of Justice and numerous state agencies.
He also said that two earlier mergers -- the AT&T and SBC link-up that formed the current AT&T and Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) purchase of MCI -- had more "competitive overlap" and yet were approved "with fewer, less extensive commitments than we offered."
"Merger opponents continue to demand even more concessions, including those they were unable to obtain from Congress, or that are being considered in pending, industry-wide rulemaking proceedings," Quinn wrote.
In the document, AT&T agreed to meet an FCC policy statement on net neutrality adopted in 2005 and went slightly further, saying it would not segregate Internet traffic from the point where it reaches the approximately 25 regional hubs around the country that process Web traffic. From there until it enters customer homes, all traffic will be treated equally, AT&T said. That condition also expires in two years.
The net neutrality concessions could resonate with the rest of the industry and become a model for the new, Democrat-controlled Congress to emulate in the form of legislation when it convenes early in the new year.
The most recent Congress held extensive hearings on net neutrality, with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and other Internet companies pushing hard for guaranteed access to broadband networks, but stopped short of adding the requirement to a telecom bill passed late in the year.
Another key concession came in the form of price caps on corporate data traffic, which had been in place previously under an FCC rule that has since expired. That concession is key because the ability to derive more revenue from business customers is one of the main reasons for the merger.
Time Flies
AT&T shares were up 1.2 percent in midday trading Friday to $35.91.
In the end, the concessions were more than AT&T wanted to give, but getting the deal done became more important.
"AT&T didn't want this dragging on into 2007," telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan told the E-Commerce Times. The prospect of a new, Democrat-led Congress taking office may have been one motivating factor that helped spur AT&T to negotiate with the FCC through the holidays.
"They no doubt have a timeline for the merger, tasks to get to work on that start to get pushed around if they held their ground for too long," Kagan said. "The most important thing for the company and its shareholders is to get the merger completed."
