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4:20 PM ET, February 1, 2008

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Microsoft:
Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo! for $31 per Share  —  Transaction valued at approximately $44.6 billion in cash and stock; provides 62 percent premium to current trading price for Yahoo! shareholders; combined entity to create a more competitive company, providing superior value to shareholders …
RELATED:
Michael Liedtke / Associated Press:
Microsoft offers $44.6B for Yahoo  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
What Would a Combined Microsoft-Yahoo Look Like?  —  Microsoft's $31 a share offer for Yahoo is made possible by Yahoo's slumping shares (Yahoo's stock was trading at about $31 a year ago).  While Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's entreaties in the past, with Terry Semel stepping down as chairman …
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Microsoft to Yahoo: Two Days to Respond or Else!  —  Sources at Yahoo tell me that Microsoft made its most recent overtures right after Yahoo announced its earnings Tuesday and then told Yahoo execs they had two days to respond or Microsoft would go public with the offer.
Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider
Yahoo!:
Yahoo! Board of Directors to Evaluate Unsolicited Proposal From Microsoft  —  Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today said that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Microsoft to acquire the Company.  The Company said that its Board of Directors will evaluate …
Duncan Riley / TechCrunch:
WOW.  Microsoft Offers $44.6 Billion To Acquire Yahoo  —  Update: More on the deal here and here (email from Ballmer to all MS employees)  —  It's been rumored for a long time, but now it's reality.  —  Microsoft has made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo.
Miguel Helft / New York Times:
Microsoft Bids $44.6 Billion for Yahoo  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In a bold move to counter Google's online pre-eminence, Microsoft said Friday that it had made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo for about $44.6 billion in a mix of cash and stock.  —  If consummated, the deal would redraw …
Fred / A VC:
You Had To See This Coming - MSFT To Buy YHOO  —  I was going to buy Yahoo! the other day.  Mark and I were emailing.  I was asking how much Yahoo!'s core search business was worth if it was given over to Google.  He though maybe as much as $9/share.  I looked into the value of Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba.
Joseph Weisenthal / paidContent.org:
MSFT-YHOO: Analysts' First Take: Agreement Likely; Major Premium For Yahoo's Core Assets  —  Flash analyst commentary on the deal is starting to come in.  Expect a lot more discussion today and in the days ahead.  We'll update as we get more:  — Imran Khan, JP Morgan: Quick reactions …
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
MSFT + YHOO: What Would Microsoft Yahoo Look Like?  —  So the conference call has happened, and despite saying it has a plan to digest Yahoo, Microsoft didn't share that with the world.  Indeed, at one point it was said any plan depended on what Yahoo's leadership would suggest.  That means it's time for What If.
Long Zheng / istartedsomething:
Microsoft + Yahoo = Big Mess?  —  Everyone on the sideline seems to be very excited about possible Yahoo and Microsoft merger, but I'm not so sure it's going to turn out pretty.  Microsoft has a history of making acquisitions, and few comes to mind of anywhere close to a success.
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines:
Microsoft makes bid for Yahoo; May change the search game; Bid could rise  —  Microsoft said Friday that it is making an unsolicited offer of $31 a share, or $44.6 billion, to buy Yahoo in a move that would give the software giant more market share and become a significant threat to Google.
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Microsoft Makes $45 Billion Bid To Buy Yahoo  —  Microsoft is to bid $31 per share to Yahoo's board of directors to purchase the company, a deal potentially worth $45 billion.  Below, more details, some history and analysis.  We'll also keep updating this story, and we'll have a separate post linked …
Saul Hansell / Bits:
An Offer Yahoo Can't Refuse
Discussion: Identity Woman
Bill Tancer / Hitwise Intelligence:
Microsoft and Yahoo!: Putting the Offer in Perspective
Discussion: Between the Lines
Tim O'Reilly / O'Reilly Radar:   Microsoft's Bid for Yahoo!: The Long View
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Ballmer's Internal E-Mail to The Troops Explaining the Yahoo Acquisition
Charlene Li / Groundswell:
Microsoft's bid for Yahoo!: What it means
Discussion: AppScout and CNET News.com
Michael Krigsman / IT Project Failures:
Microsoft-Yahoo: Enterprise confusion
Discussion: WebProNews
Saul Hansell / Bits:
Microsoft Is Building a Spaceship Out of Spare Parts
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Microsoft to buy Yahoo: Ray Ozzie roars
Discussion: All about Microsoft
Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed:   Microsoft/Yahoo: Killing the Deal, 101
Elinor Mills / CNET News.com:
Google's rise key to potential Microsoft-Yahoo merger
Discussion: Forbes and Techdirt
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0:   Would a Microsoft/Yahoo! deal mean more junk and OS bloat? Probably
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:   YHOO/MSFT Bidding War? MSFT to Raise Offer? Doubtful
Jgovernor / James Governor's Monkchips:
A Memo That Clarifies the Microsoft Yahoo bid
Discussion: broadstuff
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Google Gathers Social Graph Information From The Web, Launches API  —  Tens of millions of people have been busy the last few years building Facebook's most valuable asset - their social graph.  As people add friends, and those people add friends, Facebook gets to understand exactly how its users know each other.
Discussion: Mashable!
RELATED:
Brad Fitzpatrick / Google Code Blog:
URLs are People, Too  —  So you've just built a totally sweet new social app and you can't wait for people to start using it, but there's a problem: when people join they don't have any friends on your site.  They're lonely, and the experience isn't good because they can't use the app with people they know.
Dan Farber / Between the Lines:
Google unleashes Social Graph API-indexes people connections
Discussion: bytes|genes
Joe Minihane / Gadget news and reviews:
New Playstation 3 this autumn?  —  Our man in the US has hunted down news of a size zero version of Sony's killer home hub.  —  Trawling the CES show last month, we happened across a rather juicy piece of gadget gossip.  —  According to a particularly well-informed insider …
Google Analytics Blog:
Urchin Software Beta Now Public  —  Today we're happy to announce that the Urchin Software from Google beta is now available for download at urchin.com.  Urchin Software from Google is a web analytics product similar in scope to Google Analytics, except you install and manage the software on your own servers.
 
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 More Items: 
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
Whoops—Italy inadvertently legalizes some P2P music
Discussion: Electronista
Ryan Block / Engadget:
Dell Latitude E-series leaked
Discussion: Crave
Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:
Hold Everything! We May Get Another YHOO Bidder!*
Gary Krakow / TheStreet.com:
Apple's iPod Classic Could Be Harmful to Your Headphones
Discussion: Gizmodo and CrunchGear
Paula Rooney / Open Source:
Yahoo! buy would give Microsoft ownership of open source e-mail, projects, code.
Enigmax / TorrentFreak:
Rambo's Armed Guard Anti-Piracy Measures Torn Apart By Industry Insider
Discussion: p2pnet
comScore:
comScore Releases Rankings of Top U.S. Internet Properties Based …
Discussion: LiveSide and Digital Daily
Joe Eitel / Inventor Spot:
Blinger is Like Having A Portable Handheld ATM
Discussion: Gizmodo and Engadget
 Earlier Items: 
Electronista:
Site sneaks in preview of Windows Mobile 6.1
Michael Masnick / Techdirt:
Forget Publicists, All The Cool Kids Have Online Reputation Managers
Donald Melanson / Engadget:
Jeff Bezos says Kindle is “outpacing our expectations”
Discussion: Podcasting News
Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:
Is this a ‘sign’ of things to come for Vista?
The Jeff Pulver Blog:
Announcing the launch of pulverTV: The First 100% “Indie Internet TV” Channel
Discussion: Podcasting News
Peter Kafka / Silicon Alley Insider:
Google: MySpace Deal Hurting Us (NWS)
Thomas Ricker / Engadget:
MacBook Air splayed — multi-touch trackpad controller chip same as iPhone
InfoWorld:
Flash price drop spurring innovation
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

 
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