Microsoft Acknowledges Yahoo! Merger Issues

Noting that Microsoft and Yahoo! have two very different cultures and internal technologies, Microsoftis Ray Ozzie said that Microsoft would not rush the consolidation process, according to the Financial Times on Monday. “Technology companies, if they dive in and just smash things together for smashing them togetheris sake, itis reckless, itis just simply reckless,” said…

Sun VP: Java for iPhone Coming

Mr. Klein commented “Weire going to make sure that the JVM offers the Java applications as much access to the native functionality of the iPhone as possible.” He also expects that a large number of Java-based applications will be able to run on Appleis handhelds once the JVM is available. The company plans to distribute…

Jobs: Apple to Stick with 10M iPhone Goal

Apple confirmed during its share holder meeting on Tuesday that it is still on track to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. COO Tim Cook also confirmed that the company plans on taking its combination iPod and smart phone into China and India. CEO Steve Jobs commented “There are plans in place…

Jobs's Drive Put Apple, Investors at Risk

Sources close to Mr. Jobs claim that after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2003, he chose not to pursue surgery because of his skepticism of mainstream medical science. Instead, he employed alternative treatment methods — including a special diet — for nine months before agreeing to undergo surgery to remove the tumor.…

AAPL Shareholders Pass Exec Pay Measure Request

The measure is little more than a request, and is effectively non-binding. It follows more direct efforts from some activist shareholders in the past to limit or otherwise give shareholders more direct say in the way the company pays its top execs. In response to the vote, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told shareholders on hand…

CW: Vista Price Cut a Puzzle, Can't Compare to Mac OS X

Microsoft cut its prices for Vista across all versions, but the cuts donit seem to make any competitive sense, and the price still pales compared to Mac OS X, according to ComputerWorld on Tuesday. “In the United States, Microsoft will make price cuts that are largely symbolic gestures. It will cut the price of the…

Steve Jobs Names Possible Successors

At Appleis annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, Steve Jobs was asked about possible successors. He said that candidates include Apple COO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppeheimer. Mr. Jobs said that he sees many potential successors. “Weive got great talent, and I think the board would have a few really good choices,” Mr. Jobs said.…

Open Sesame (Street)

One of the things I love about creative conferences is that there are so many really creative people around. You never know where you’re going to find something interesting that totally captivates you, like maybe someone from Sesame Workshop. Nancy Stevenson from the Sesame Street Sesame Workshop spent a morning showing off how her crew…

No remote; no big deal

Appl e came out with new MacBooks and MacBook Pros yesterday. Aside from the new additional features announced, there was one subtraction: The laptops no longer ship with a remote control. It’s now a $19 option. I imagine there will be some grousing about this among users, complaining that Apple is increasingly “nickel-and-diming” us, removing…

BW: Apple Should Buy Back Some Stock

Noting Appleis $18 billion in cash, Business Weekis Arik Hesseldahl believes that itis time for Apple to buy back some of its 879 million shares. “Eighteen-and-a-half billion dollars is a lot of money,” Mr. Hesseldahl opened. “Itis more than the estimated 2007 gross domestic product of Nicaragua. Itis bigger than the estimated 2005 expenditures of…

Playing the Conference Game from the Other Side

Oddly enough, I packed as if I was presenting at the event. All of my usual presentation gear including video adapters, backups of important files, and printouts with critical data about the venues I’ll be at is safely tucked away in my carry on bag. Really. Some habits are hard to break. For all of…

Unsanity strikes back!

Coincidence can be a funny thing. Just last week, I emailed the folks at Unsanity software, requesting an interview. In case you don’t know, Unsanity makes about a dozen popular utilities for Mac OS X. By far, my favorite is WindowShade X. It has long been (together with LaunchBar) one of the first two third-party…

Microsoft Publishes Open Letter to Employees (and Yahoo!)

Microsoft has not yet acquired Yahoo!, but Kevin Johnson, Microsoftis president of the Microsoft Platforms & Services Division has published an open letter that aims to put concerns at ease, including the fact that Yahoo! is a non-Windows company. “We believe our proposal is a compelling one and that the combination of Yahoo! and Microsoft…

Services: Cleaning Up Ugly Text with WordService

Iim talking about WordService from Devon Technologies. Youill need to download and install this free Service yourself before you can take advantage of its reformatting and editing goodness. Hereis how: Download WordService from the Devon Technologies Web site. Expand the WordService archive and install the Service file. It goes in /Library/Services. Log out and re-login…

CNN Money Makes Much Ado About MacBook Air Batteries

"A business user would find that completely unacceptable," longtime Apple analyst Roger Kay told the media outlet. "Most of the people I know who travel a lot carry multiple batteries." He also acknowledged, though, that the Air, "is a great design statement. Itis very elegant." Apple has stressed from the beginning that it was design…

IW: Time to Dump Windows?

InfoWorldis Galen Gruman asked the questions on Sunday: Can it be done? Is this the right time? He explored what it would take to make the switch to Mac OS X or Linux. For those who donit savor the switch from XP to Vista, many InfoWorld readers are talking about switching to Mac OS X…

Takahashi: Apple Keeps Moving Forward, Microsoft Backward

The new MacBook Air emphasizes the important fact that Apple keeps moving forward. However, Microsoft took a step backward with Vista, according to Dean Takahashi at the Mercury News on Monday. Mr. Takahashi hasnit been a consistent Mac user. Heis a game player, and that required him to use PCs for decades. Neither has he…

MCE Unveils QuickStream Portable DV Hard Drive

The QuickStream is available in 6 hour/80GB and 9 hour/120GB configurations, can play back footage to through the camerais built-in display, includes a hot shoe mount, 4-pin to 6-pin and 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cables, and an AC power adapter. The QuickStream DV/HDV is priced at US$799 for the 6 hour model, and $999 for…