OK, obviously Microsoft has to counter Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick by buying aQuantive, but man, $6 billion?

Check out the Reuters story. Here’s an excerpt:

NEW YORK–Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it would buy aQuantive Inc. for about $6 billion, or $66.50 a share, an 85 percent premium to the online advertising company’s closing price on Thursday.

Shares of aQuantive shot to $63.95 in pre-opening trade, following news of the deal.

The all-cash deal tops a dramatic one-month consolidation spree across the online advertising market sparked when Google Inc. agreed to buy DoubleClick for $3.1 billion.

HMM, does this mean Microsoft software is one of the reasons for the delay in the National Movement for Free Elections quick count, heh

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Go said Namfrel volunteers “had to modify the program” on Tuesday morning. But aside from the software problem, he also admitted an apparent lack of training of volunteers.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

OK, talks seem to have fizzled out, but if it had pushed through, or, heck, if it will eventually push through, would a Microsoft-Yahoo! megamerger have made sense? Would it have worked?

Some analysts say it’s a question of if, not when.

Others have pointed out that it wouldn’t make much sense.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

LET’S see: Adobe has launched its own video player that will allow you to play Flash-based video offline on your PC or portable devices, while Microsoft wants to give Adobe’s Flash and Apple’s QuickTime a run for their money with Silverlight, a.k.a. TSTFKAWPF/E or The Software Thankfully Formerly Known As Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere.

Boy, things sure are heating up, huh?

So is it another case of Microsoft wanting to be cool by copying, er, I mean, embracing and extending a rival’s product?

[Read the rest of this entry »]

I GOT to meet a lot of people in Clark, Pampanga when I attended and blogged about Media Nation, and one of the coolest journalists is Joe B. Javier, director for Allied Businesses and Special Projects of broadcast network ABC-5.

Joe and I had an interesting discussion about technology, online journalism and games at our breakfast table, which also included Isagani Yambot, publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer; my college orgmate Dodge Dillague, who directs shows for ABC-5; our INQUIRER.net reporter Thea Alberto; and PDI reporter Alcuin Papa, who was also my UP Tinta college orgmate.

It was great to find out that Joe is really into technology — he loves gadgets and is an avid gamer, and you’ll find out more about that soon. He’s also a big believer in the power of online journalism and tech-enabled news delivery.

[Read the rest of this entry »]