Techland

Wall Street looks for a signal from Sprint

By Michal Lev-Ram

When Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse joined the wireless company last December, he inherited a backlog of problems. Among them: The logistical nightmare of managing two different networks formed by Sprint's merger with Nextel, a high rate of subscriber defections and a bad (okay, horrible) reputation for customer service.

At his first conference call with analysts in February after Sprint (S) announced disappointing fourth-quarter earnings, Hesse MORE

Yahoo discord heats up

By Scott Moritz

Yahoo (YHOO) chief Jerry Yang has lost a deal and gained some enemies.

Yes, Microsoft (MSFT) walked away from the proposed blockbuster merger - but no, the new enemy is not Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Instead, it's Gordon Crawford of Capital Research Global Investors, a holder of 6% of Yahoo's shares.

Crawford voiced his extreme disappointment in Yang in press reports, including a piece in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal taking direct MORE

Sprint shares rise on takeover rumors

By Michal Lev-Ram

Just as one high-profile buyout bid is wrapping up, another may be beginning.

Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), the parent company of T-Mobile, is considering a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel (S), according to news reports Monday.

Shares of Sprint were up nearly 6% on the news, while Deutsche Telekom was down about 1.4%.

While Germany-based Deutsche Telekom has nearly 120 million customers worldwide, T-Mobile is the smallest of the top four MORE

Verizon to hike TV prices

By Scott Moritz, writer

Seeing no signs that the slowing economy is crimping consumer spending, Verizon (VZ) plans to raise prices on its nascent TV service.

The New York phone giant reported first quarter earnings that met Thomson Financial's analyst estimate but missed the Bloomberg consensus by a penny Monday. On a conference call following the release, the company blamed the loss of a large former MCI business customer for some of the profit weakness.

The most MORE

Yang's power play

By Scott Moritz, writer

There may be more than money to consider in the Microsoft-Yahoo standoff.

Microsoft (MSFT) has given Yahoo a deadline of Saturday to accept its buyout offer (or, presumably, at least at start serious talks) or risk triggering a hostile takeover battle. Yahoo wants a higher offer -- a demand that Microsoft has so far rebuffed.

But the focus on price may be missing a key subtlety behind the impasse.

One possible stumbling MORE

Web 2.0: Finding a business model that pays

By Michael Copeland

It's not your 15-year-old daughter's Internet anymore. On the first full day of the Web 2.0 Expo, that more than anything seemed to be the message from the conference room floor.

Tech stalwarts like Oracle (ORCL), IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT) were showing off technologies that bring elements of the consumer Internet to the workplace. Startups that last year might have been flogging a consumer video service or photo sharing MORE

Justice probes Yahoo-Google deal

Microsoft (MSFT) signaled its ready to play hardball with Yahoo (YHOO) in its bid to acquire the Internet giant, and antitrust regulators are scrutinizing a trial advertising partnership that Google (GOOG) and Yahoo recently struck.

Microsoft put some substance behind its threat to take its three-month-old buyout offer to Yahoo shareholders by naming 13 people as potential candidates to the company's board, according to Thursday's The Wall Street Journal.

The list includes former Nextel Partners CEO John Chapple; Edward Meyer, former MORE

Microsoft and Yahoo have common foe

By Scott Moritz, writer

The yelling phase of the proposed Microsoft/Yahoo merger got a bit louder as Yahoo (YHOO) turned in good numbers ahead of the deal negotiation deadline.

In the wake of a solid first quarter performance from Yahoo Tuesday, Microsoft (MSFT) chief Steve Ballmer said his company was standing pat on its original $31 a share unsolicited takeover offer. Microsoft has given Yahoo until Saturday to come to the table with MORE

Web 2.0 goes to work

By Michael Copeland

On the eve of the latest and largest Internet gathering this year, O'Reilly's Web 2.0 Conference and Expo, Forrester Research dropped a report that concludes that companies will spend $4.6 billion on Web2-related technologies by 2013. What that means for you, fellow office dweller, is that Forrester believes the world of wikis, widgets, blogs, mashups and social networks will increasingly find a way into your work life.

The emphasis MORE

EBay looks for Skype payoff

By Scott Moritz, writer

Ebay (EBAY) rolled out Skype's unlimited calling plan in a bid to keep up with rivals and - let's face it - to finally land some paying customers.

For $2.95 a month. U.S. Skype customers can make unlimited calls anywhere in the United States. Calling plans from the United States to Europe cost $9.95 a month.

The move comes amid speculation that eBay might be considering a carve-out option for the MORE