Microsoft

Yahoo drew up a plan to reject a Microsoft takeover bid months before the software company went public with its US$45 billion offer, according to newly released court documents. The documents also include a reference to Yahoo board minutes indicating that in January 2007 Microsoft offered to buy the company for about US$40 a share, almost 30 percent higher than the level at which Microsoft actually launched a bid earlier this year.
 

Microsoft has unveiled its Connected Services Accelerator programme at this week's GSMA Mobile Innovation Marketplace in Atlanta. The programme is a series of projects designed to commercialise new types of mobile services through collaboration with independent software vendors, developers and operators. Microsoft will team with mobile operator SingTel to launch the programme's first project.

Days before the unveiling of Apple's new 3G iPhone - expected Monday - Microsoft has announced its intention to focus on improving music in future versions of its Windows Mobile software, reports Reuters.

Only days after Apple announced the new 3G iPhone, Microsoft has unveiled its new mobile phone operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1.

A US District Court judge in Los Angeles has ruled that Microsoft will have to pay Alcatel-Lucent more than US$500 million for infringing on two patents. The patents cover how software users fill out forms, and use of a stylus on tablet computers.
 

Microsoft has agreed to buy Portuguese mobile application developer MobiComp for an undisclosed sum, marking its latest push into the mobile software industry.

Microsoft has held talks with Time Warner, News Corp and others about a possible joint takeover of Yahoo, according to Bloomberg, citing a Wall Street Journal report. Microsoft's proposition would see the company buy Yahoo's search business, while a Web media firm such as News Corp's MySpace or Time Warner's AOL would merge with the rest of Yahoo.