The second week of the News That Matters and a big week it is too.

Main stream media this week covered a lot of technology stories, but I will take it one step further.

As always, as well as giving you the stories, I will tell you how they will affect you, now and in the future.

Microsoft still interested in buying Yahoo!

Yahoo! still playing coy with Microsoft

UK internet ads soon worth more than TV ads

OPEL might be down, but it's not out

Europeans soon to be on the phone on the plane

HP selling viruses

Windows Vista fault fixed

Digital TV not making headway

Videos now on photo site

Faster internet now in more homes

Ebay gets safer soon

Yahoo! up for grabs

Yahoo! teams up with Google, again

Microsoft not happy with Yahoo! and Google double team

Telstra tells farmers to get their broadband from Vodafone

Monday 7 April 2008 - 11 April 2008

Microsoft still interested in buying Yahoo!

Over the weekend Microsoft once again told Yahoo! they were looking at adding them to their group of companies.

On Saturday, Australia time, Steve Balmer Microsoft Chief Executive and co founder wrote, "If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo board," in a letter to Yahoo! directors.

This comes 4 weeks after Microsoft first announced they were interested in buying out the search and online advertising company.

Source ZDNet.com.au  

Comment

Microsoft has been eying off Yahoo! for quiet some time. Their last offer was higher than the actual value of the slow growing website.

Although Microsoft has it's own online search and advertising businesses, Yahoo! has a lot of companies it has bought over the years that will allow Microsoft to have their fingers in every pie online, including website hosting.  

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Yahoo! still playing coy with Microsoft

Only days after Steve Balmer issued the ultimatum to the Yahoo! directors, Yahoo! has already replied.

The reply was the same as their previous reply to the earlier take over. Thanks but no thanks.

Yahoo! directors and analysts have said the new offer even further understates the value of Yahoo!. The further under value is due to Microsoft offering the same conditions as before while the vaule on the stock exchange of both companies has dropped.

Yahoo still has 2 weeks to approve the Microsoft offer before the software giant starts aggressively taking over Yahoo!.

Source Reuters

Comment

With the massive money stockpiles Microsoft has the only thing that can save Yahoo! from itself is the regulators in the US not approving the takeover.

While it understanding that the Yahoo! board doesn't want the Redmond software company buying them, they should understand if Microsoft wants to buy them and they can get the approval from the regulators, there will be no stopping them. 

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UK internet ads soon worth more than TV ads

By as early as next yea, in the UK the advertising revenue from internet ads will be larger than the advertising on TV.

A report by the Internet Advertising Bureau, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Advertising Research Centre found last year alone the advertising market in the UK was worth almost AUS$6 billion.

The dramatic rise in value is being blamed on the large amount of new cheap laptops on the market, the dramatic increase in the number of homes with broadband access and the ability to watch a lot of popular TV shows on the internet.

Source Reuters

Comment

The growth of online advertising is no surprise. With companies like Google adding new ways to advertise all the time, and many websites trying to find ways to get some value out of their investment.

Luckily there is a way to get rid of most advertising. Internet Explorer 7 from Microsoft, Safari from Apple, Opera and Firefox from the Mozilla Foundation all have the ability to block many of those annoying pop up advertisements. Firefox can go one step further and block just about every kind of ad on the internet using an extension call Ad Block Pro.

Ads can be annoying and distracting, but if we all stopped clicking on them, companies wouldn't buy them any  more. 

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OPEL might be down, but it's not out

Last week the federal government announced they were canceling the contract with the OPEL group for their rural wireless broadband plans. This week a new company has stepped up to the plate with plans to offer the same service to rural families.

Unwired, the wireless internet provider in capital cities which is owned by Channel 7 and Austar, has announced plans to look into extending their coverage to rural areas.

The Cheif Executive of Austar, John Porter, said "We haven't had a chance to have specific discussions with them but we're certainly very open to the idea,".

Source The Australian

Comment

While any company that wants to take its broadband service into the bush is a good thing, I doubt very much there will be any chance of this plan happening. 

Even though a wireless network is cheaper to maintain than a wired broadband network, it has higher setup costs and without government support I doubt this plan will get off the ground. 

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Europeans soon to be on the phone on the plane

When flying in Europe you can now legally use your mobile phone while the plane is in the air.

This week the European regulators announced they will allow people to make phone calls and send text messages while the plane is in flight.

Currently only some Air France planes are being used in the test, so if the flight crew instructs you to turn off your phone, you are still required to do so.

"In-flight mobile phone services can be a very interesting new service especially for those business travelers who need to be ready to communicate wherever they are, wherever they go," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

"However, if consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take-off. I also call on airlines and operators to create the right conditions on board aircraft to ensure that those who want to use in-flight communication services do not disturb other passengers," she added due to the extra costs people will have to pay for the ability to make phone calls while flying.

Source The Australian

Comment 

It's bad enough on a train, bus or in a shop when someone takes out their mobile phone and starts talking into it. Now they will be able to talk on their phone while you're stuck in the air for a few hours.

While it's good that the flight crew can still tell you to turn off your phone, will people that believe their life is so important they can't go a couple of hours without their phone actually listen when they have the ability to use their precious phone? 

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HP selling viruses

A USB stick sold by HP to help install a floppy disk in one of their computers is being shipped with a virus.

The virus infects any version of Windows up to XP and is transfered by plugging the thumb drive into the computer.

A HP spokesperson told ZDNet that due to the thumb drive only being used to install a floppy drive in one of their computers it should not become a wide spread problem and so far no customers have been affected.

If you have purchased a Proliant Server from HP including a floppy drive you should make sure your anti virus is up to date before you install the thumb drive into your computer.

Source ZDNet.com.au

Comment 

As is always the case, everything you buy and has to go into your computer should be checked for viruses.

This is prof that even the largest companies somethings send out products that can infect and cause problems for your computer. 

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Windows Vista fault fixed

The recent release of Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista caused a few problems for some peoples computer, sending them into an infinite loop of rebooting the system due to the update thinking it had to reboot the computer as part of its installation.

This week Microsoft release a patch for the fault on their Windows update service.

The new patch will install prior to the faulty patch.

Source ZDNet.com.au

Comment

Although you should always install all updates to your software when they are made available, sometimes doing so can cause extra problems while solving others.

In this case, while the first update is needed to fix some security issues, it can cause the computer to stop working properly. It is a problem that always has to be faced, and at times put up with. 

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Digital TV not making headway

Australians, known for jumping on the bandwagon for any new technology, appear to not want to jump on the digital TV band wagon.

Research by ACMA, the Australian Communication and Media Association has found more than 50% of Australian have no interest in getting or using a digital set top box to receive free to air digital TV signals.

While than number does shrink for those that have current pay TV set top boxes it is still of concern for the industry regulator which has already pushed back the shutting down of the old analog system until 2013.

From 2013 all old TV's without a digital set top box will not receive a TV signal, prior to then both analog and digital signals will be offered.

Source The Australian

Comment 

This is not a major surprise. The main reason for a digital set top box is to give you access to new content currently, however you can only get new content on high definition set top boxes which are quiet expensive.

The cheaper set top boxes only give you the basic digital channels which only, if you don't have pay TV, gives you 2 new channels, ABC2 and SBS World News Channel.

While you will get a better picture with a set top box as opposed to your normal TV turner, if the reception you get is poor, you might not get any TV pictures at all due to the way digital TV works.

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Videos now on photo site

In a bid to add value to it's flagging online photo website, Flickr, Yahoo! this week announced it will be allowing users to upload 90 second videos to the site.

While the 90 second limit is no match for the 10 minute limit Google's YouTube offers its users, Yahoo! feels this will get more people to share videos they make and share with their friends and family.

Like YouTube and Flickr's current photo sharing ability, users will be able to put the videos they upload on their own site.

Source ZDNet.com.au

Comment

While it is a case of making it easier for people to store all their cameras output on the one site, it might be too little too late.

A lot of people already upload just their photos to Flickr and then upload their videos else where.

With websites like Revver, Daily Motion and YouTube already having millions of users that are used to the websites Yahoo! and Flickr will have to push the new features hard to get people to change their habits.

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Faster internet now in more homes

After more than 2 months, this week marks more than 2.4 million extra homes in Australia that can get access to the internet at 20Mbs speeds.

For more than 60 days Telstra has been turning on ADSL 2+ services in 907 telephone exchanges.

After Telstra was given assurances it would not have to resell it's ADSL 2+ services to its competitors it started turning on the new services around the country. 

Source ZDNet.com.au

Comment 

While it is good to see more exchanges getting the faster internet speeds, it would also be good to see Telstra have to resell access to the higher speeds at wholesale costs.

With Telstra Bigpond now easily the largest ADSL 2+ provider they can charge even more inflated prices to get access to the internet until their competitors install their own ADSL 2+ technology in the telephone exchanges. 

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Ebay gets safer soon

In a move that will no doubt annoy Ebay.com.au sellers more than they already were, the auction website this week announced from the 17th of June this year they will make their own Pay Pal payment method manditory.

While buys could still pay using COD or credit cards, those transactions would also be conducted by the Pay Pal service.

When the new system comes into affect Ebay will also increase the $3,000 buyer protection scheme to $20,000 giving buys more security when they make large purchases on the website.

Source The Australian

Comment

Having bought items on Ebay I know it can be worrying that your money is going off into the wide blue unknown.

I have used both Pay Pal and direct bank deposits in the past, but with the listing price Ebay charges and the Pay Pal charges this could be a little bit unfair on Ebay sellers, and might end up lowering the number of bargains you will be able to get from the online auction site. 

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Yahoo! up for grabs

With Yahoo! still saying no deal to Microsoft, the software giant is reportedly looking for a partner to help purchase the online company.

The speculation will see News Limited up the price per share Microsoft has offered and then allow both companies to jointly buy Yahoo!.

This comes at the same time Time Warner's AOL and Yahoo! are looking to join forces putting all the AOL properties into Yahoo!.

Even if the plan from Yahoo and AOL goes through, Microsoft will continue pushing to purchase Yahoo! with or without News Limited's support.

Source The Australian

Comment 

This can only lead to regulatory disaster.

If Yahoo! takes control of AOL's online businesses that will make Yahoo! close to a market leading business in terms of reach and size with bot Yahoo! and AOL both having fingers in the same pies.

If you then add News Limited and Microsoft to that collection you will then be looking at most large websites in the world under the same banner.

If all mergers go ahead I can see regulators in the US agreeing that competition will not shrink.

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Yahoo! teams up with Google, again

Many years ago Yahoo! used Google search to give results when people searched for websites.

When Yahoo! made their own search software it ended a deal that had been in operation for years.

Now after a few years of working on their own, Yahoo! is once again planning on working with Google, this time for advertising.

The 2 week trail will see Yahoo! using Google's ad service to provide targeted ads on some web searches to see if they are more effective than Yahoo!'s own ad system.

Source Reuters 

Comment

This is without a doubt Yahoo! trying everything it can to increase it's value and get as many other businesses on side to help fight off the impeding Microsoft buy out. 

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Microsoft not happy with Yahoo! and Google double team

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said this week that the joining forces again of Yahoo! and Google is going to create a search facility that is 90% of the market making it an anti competitive agreement.

Source Reuters

Comment 

I do have some concern with all these deals going on. If all these businesses join forces the amount of competition will go down and that might lead to advancements and corrections being less forthcoming. 

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Telstra tells farmers to get their broadband from Vodafone

With the OPEL deal falling through Telstra's group Marketing Director of Public Policy and Communications Phil Burgess said farmers should just use Vodafones 3G mobile broadband service to get high speed internet access.

With Vodafone looking to extend it's coverage to 95% of the population it is going fast enough to meet the demand of many people.

Mr Burgess said rural people are better off with Telstra and Vodafone instead of the cancelled OPEN plan.

Source ZDNet.com.au  

Comment

While I am a fan of WiMax wireless internet connections I am currently planning on usning Vodafone for my web needs while I'm on the road. Though I wouldn't use or recommend Telstra to anyone.

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