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Yahoo Still Yanging Onto Microsoft Deal
Posted by Wilson Rothman at 11:35 PM on May 6, 2008
Yahoo founder and beleaguered CEO Jerry Yang decided yesterday that it was Microsoft's fault that the merger talks fell apart, even though Microsoft upped its bid from US$31 to US$33 in order to keep negotiations going. Yang wanted US$37 per share—a far cry from the US$24.37 it dropped to when Microsoft walked. Bottom line: Jerry finally figured out everyone hates him for screwing up a good thing, and now he's sitting there calling Microsoft's number over and over, bottle of Beam by his side, hoping beyond hope that Microsoft, and not Microsoft's angry mum, picks up. Actually, Jerry, from what we've read, we're not sure anyone's gonna pick up. [Reuters]
While NBC decided that Apple's US$1.99/episode mandate was not for them, the company has opted to give Microsoft's Zune store a shot to host their content. Apparently the decision comes because Microsoft is more flexible in their pricing. And while Microsoft still retains the right to set a show's ultimate price, they claim to be "open to understanding which episodes can be priced lower and how we may introduce premium content which may be priced higher than $1.99," according to Zune Social general manager Julio Estrada. But something tells me that NBC is more interested in that "premium content" than the lower priced stuff. [
While most of us enjoyed yesterday's 
We came, we saw, we blogged, or 
So, this is the Touch Diamond. It's small, slim, "a holistic experience," according to Horace Luke, HTC's Chief Innovations Officer, and "just like your life." Out in Europe and Asia next month, we should get our hands on it later on this year, and it's the closest thing so far to an iPhone that hasn't come out of Cupertino. Not surprising, since Luke and his team wanted the design to be worthy of MoMA. I'm just not sure about the diamond design on the back. Here is a gallery, the specs and some of the choice quotes from the presentation:
"The only way you can become a legend is in your coffin," said Bette Davis. Perhaps Bill Bramanti has heard this, perhaps not— one thing's for sure, his coffin may be his mark on history. He loves Pabst Blue Ribbon beer so much that he's going to be buried in a coffin labelled just like a can of it. In fact, Bill's already had the casket made and has even tried it out for size. Until he's permanently resident though, it's serving as a beer cooler for... Pabst Blue Ribbon beer of course. A coffin shaped like your favourite beverage? That's consumer-brand dedication, right there folks. So, tell us in the comments: what novelty coffin would you choose? [
Steampunk modding, love it or hate it, has caught on and led to everything from 
Well, we're here. This is the Soho Hotel in, er, Soho, where HTC is launching something (although I think we all know it's going to be the 
HTC's Census device first hit the FCC over a year ago, but it's just appeared there for approval again. The data-only device, complete with touchscreen and fingerprint reader, but lacking voice-calling capabilities and a camera was going to be used in the 2010 census before technical issues led to it being ditched. But here it is again, with a prominent Harris branding and what looks like a hand strap across the back. What's going on? Is it back on the cards to aid Census Bureau staff, or is it getting a new lease of life targeted at other industrial users? Pretty confusing, especially since there's no info on the release date yet. [
We've had 
At some date in the not too far future, HP's MediaSmart TVs and its soon-to-be- released MediaSmart Connect receiver will get the ability to play YouTube videos stretched to full-screen HD. We've 
The Zune 2.5 Spring update launches tomorrow, and with it comes purchasable TV shows and even more social networking functions. The big part is more tightly-integrated social stuff—like being able to see your friends' Zune cards inside of the Zune software instead of heading to your browser—the upside of which is automatically getting the full tracks that your friends have recently listened to if you're a Zune Pass subscriber. This takes up about 100 megs per friend card. There's also improvement in the player itself, like the return of auto playlists and the introduction of gapless playback. Wee!
Here's a old but good idea in honour of Fuzzywuzzymodo: power a toy car by hamster. The Flintstones would approve. I personally think its a better use of hamster power to rig a traditional gerbil wheel with a generator capable of charging a battery which in turn can charge a USB device. I mean, how else are the vermin going to pay their rent? Vid after the jump. [
Remember those 
To be honest, I can't say that I am surprised to hear that the government has allocated US$1.5 billion to inform 17 million citizens about the digital TV transition. After all, those uninformed few would undoubtedly take up arms if they missed out on sports broadcasts and NBC's Thursday lineup. However, I was a little surprised to hear that the total proposed budged for literacy education in 2009 stands at a paltry US$574.6 million. Once again it seems that our government does not have its priorities in order. That having been said, does this represent a proper allocation of taxpayer money in your opinion? How does broadband access fit into the mix?
If you're anything like us, your zipper always has a hard time staying in the up position. Button fly jeans are a horrible solution, because you end up peeing all over yourself in an emergency. Enter the ZipHolder. It's a little elastic loop that attaches to the top of your zipper and hooks to your button. No more embarrassing exposure incidents during movies, job interviews and jury selection. How could we say no? [
Having been in the business of making incredibly safe vehicles for decades, Volvo is going one step further and making a "virtually" injury-proof car by the year 2020. "Virtually," because it will ensure all occupents survive all but the craziest wrecks. Not only is Volvo making the car more resistant to crashes, but they're putting stuff like radar and sonar in order to automatically force the car to brake when a collision is imminent, lowering death rates by half with just a 16 kph decrease in smash speed.
It's been a few months since CES, so Gateway is rightly updating its FX budget gaming desktops with some fresher chips. Most notably, the FX7026 (more budget-y) and FX541 (more performance-y) are picking up Intel's mid-range Q9300 Core 2 Quad processor (which 
Your goldfish may never truly be free, but if you had one of these infinity 
At long last 
The most impressive thing about the 
I've always teased friends at CNet about their rating system, which appears to always rate products between 7 and 8, meaning everything is more or less "very good" in score. Ecoustics has done the job of analysing 1,325 reviews from 2007 (all of them?) and figured out the exact math: 96% of all ratings from last year fell between 5.0 and 8.9; about 70% fall between 6 and 7.9. Maybe CNet should make anything a "CNet 6 or below" a "1", and anything that scores a "CNet 10" a "5". After all, anything below a 6 means DO NOT BUY to me.
Those small camera stores in NY are notoriously shady, shipping broken parts, ripping people off and being all-in-all unresponsive to complaints. What's interesting about this case of a customer being unsatisfied with their service is the fact that the company emailed the customer and offered a US$75 credit in order for him to take down the negative review he posted on Amazon. "If you do decide to remove the feedback left in exchange for the refund please follow the instructions below." Stay away from Cameta Camera or any company that offers to pay to get rid of negative feedback. [
This is Jessica, a hippo that was found abandoned as a baby but is now the pet of the Joubert family in South Africa. It thinks it's people! There's no gadget connection here, but when