Microsoft in talks to buy Tellme Networks: sources
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Microsoft Corp.  is in  talks to buy Tellme Networks Inc., the privately owned voice  recognition technology company, two sources familiar with the  situation said on Tuesday.
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NEW YORK/SEATTLE  - Microsoft Corp.  is in talks to buy Tellme Networks Inc., the privately owned voice recognition technology company, two sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
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Microsoft has offered to buy Norwegian Internet-search software firm Fast Search & Transfer for about $1.2 billion.
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NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp. , lagging behind Google Inc. in the online advertising market, is in talks to purchase a stake of as much as 5 percent in social-networking site Facebook Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Comcast Corp. CMCSA.O on Monday said  it is in talks with Time Warner Inc. TWX.N to explore a  possible deal to acquire bankrupt cable company Adelphia  Communications Corp.ADELQ.PK.
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The latest rumor to sweep the world of high tech claims that Microsoft has its eyes on eBay for a possible buyout. Last week, a report in the New York Post said that Microsoft has engaged in preliminary talks with eBay about acquiring the online auction company and merging it with MSN.
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Microsoft is close to a deal with Tellme Networks, a company that specializes in voice recognition technology. An acquisition would likely bring voice recognition to several of Microsoft's Web-based products.
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Comcast, the biggest U.S. cable operator, will join the investors working with Sony on the deal, a source close to the discussions said.
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Microsoft Corp is in talks to buy up to  5 percent of Facebook in a deal that could value the  fast-growing online social network company at $10 billion or  more, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
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Microsoft Corp.  is in talks  to buy privately-held Tellme Networks, a maker of Web-based  voice technology, for about $800 million, the Wall Street  Journal reported in its online edition on Monday.
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Comcast Corp. CMCSA.O on Monday said  it is in talks with Time Warner Inc. TWX.N to explore a  possible deal to acquire bankrupt cable company Adelphia  Communications Corp. ADELQ.PK
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft wants to play a bigger role in China's living rooms, and the company is willing to spend millions of dollars to get there. The company's latest home-entertainment moves in China include aÂ planned $12.3 million investmentÂ in Sichuan Changhong Electric. The deal, announced earlier this week, gives Microsoft a small stake in one of China's largest TV makers, which in turn agreed to develop TVs and other products able to link with the Internet. "Microsoft and Changhong have partnered in exploring the use of digital media technologies to benefit the consumers for a better in-home networked digital entertainment experience," Microsoft said Friday in an e-mail statement. Its investment is intended to build goodwill, rather than bring a specific product to market. "The investment is more like a gesture of saying, 'We're friends strategically,'" said Jason Yin, managing director at In-Stat China. Critics have compared the Changhong deal to Venus, an ill-fated project launched in 1999 to develop Windows CE set-top boxes for the Chinese market. But that's not an accurate comparison. "It's very different," Yin said. Unlike Venus, Microsoft isn't trying to bring a new piece of hardware to market. Current versions of Windows are capable of connecting a TV with the Internet, and these types of systems are already available in China. Changhong's own M10 Living Room Entertainment Center is an example. Based on Windows XP Media Center Edition, the M10 is designed to connect with a television and comes with a remote control and wireless keyboard, allowing users to access music, videos and the Internet from a couch instead of a desk. Changhong also offers other consumer products that connect to the Internet. For instance, it sells a 32-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) television with a camera that can be used for Internet video calls. And the company has worked with China Telecommunications Group Corp., one of the country's two major fixed-line operators, to sell IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) set-top boxes. Microsoft hopes closer ties with Changhong will strengthen the channel through which its home-entertainment software reaches Chinese consumers. Those products include Windows Media Center and Mediaroom, the company's IPTV software. "Microsoft now has a better understanding of the value of local partners in penetrating China's market," Yin said, citing the example of Xiamen Amoi Electronics, which develops and sells Windows Mobile smart phones in China. Whether Microsoft's small investment in Changhong yields the desired result remains to be seen. In past years, the company used investments to build closer relationships with Chinese partners to varying degrees of success. "The investment doesn't always mean they get what they want," Yin said. The Changhong investment is just one part of Microsoft's home-entertainment push in China, and the company continues to seek out new deals and alliances. On Thursday, Microsoft signed an agreement with Shanghai Media Group (SMG), the country's second-largest media company. Under the terms of that deal, SMG will use Microsoft products across its new-media division, which includes Internet video, IPTV and mobile television. The partners hope their combined strengths in software and content will convince more companies to join them. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Â
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US software giant Microsoft has agreed to buy a stake in major television maker Sichuan Changhong Electric for 94.1 million yuan (12.3 million dollars), the Chinese firm said Monday.
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OSLO/NEW YORK  - Microsoft Corp  made a  $1.2 billion offer to buy Norwegian Web search software company  Fast Search & Transfer  in a deal that would help the  world's largest software maker expand into the market for  business-oriented search.
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The software giant says it is buying Tellme Networks in a deal believed to be in the range of $800 million.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. will invest in Chinese electronics maker Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. Ltd. as part of a project to link televisions and consumer entertainment devices with the Internet. Microsoft China agreed to buy 15 million newly issued Changhong shares at a price of 6.27 renminbi per share, according to a Changhong filing (in Chinese) with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Microsoft's planned stake in the company is worth 94.1 million renminbi (US$12.3 million). Changhong's announcement follows an agreement between the two companies, signed Friday, to cooperate on a project called Media Galaxy. The goal is to develop, manufacture, and sell televisions, computers and digital entertainment products that connect to the Internet, Changhong said. It did not offer further details. Terms of the investment deal require Microsoft to hold on to its Changhong shares for at least three years.
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The parent company of Discovery Communications said yesterday that it was in preliminary talks to buy out shareholder Advance/Newhouse Communications, another step toward taking Discovery public.