Microsoft's Next Bet: Logitech?
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Mr. Softy may be eyeing the mass-market mouse maker.
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Mike Arrington is doing a great job of laying out the options for Yahoo wrt Microsoft's offer to buy them out. He's written two pieces that helped put it together for me. Mike clearly has great sources in the investment banking community and among potential buyers of Yahoo, and is actively talking with them. He's got a business lawyer's mind and, as you know I'm sure, he's spent the last few years immersed in web applications.  Bottom-line: Yahoo's three choices are: 1. Tough it out alone. 2. Sell advertising rights to Google. 3. Accept Microsoft's offer.  Mike argues that option 1 would result in shareholder lawsuits and in the end would get Yahoo nowhere because they'd end up selling to Microsoft eventually. Option 2 would enable them to pay a major cash dividend to their shareholders, making up for the lost windfall coming from Microsoft's offer. Options 2 and 3 have the risk of being rejected by government regulators.  Now, as a member of Yahoo's developer community, and generally a respector of Yahoo (is that a word) -- I say take the deal. I don't think Yahoo has ever had leadership that has been up to navigating the treacherous waters of tech industry economics and politics. At least with the Microsoft acquisition they would get one -- Ray Ozzie. He's a guy you can sit across the table from and plot something out and he can deliver. I've had many good meetings with Yahoo people, but rarely have they resulted in action. From my own selfish point of view, Microsoft owning Yahoo might mean that Ray makes more trips to the Bay Area (figuratively) and when he sits down, we can talk about new open interfaces and developer programs for Yahoo properties. I've read most of the commentary on the Yahoo deal, and the other piece that made an impression was Mark Cuban's. He says that Yahoo should accept the Microsoft deal because it would give them the breathing room they need re Wall Street. He argues that the market has always allowed Microsoft to sink resources into developing markets, and that's exactly what Yahoo needs to become the organization that it has been trying to be. Instead, the market treats Yahoo as a comp to Google, but Yahoo doesn't have the economics of Google, so that's, long-term, a losing battle.  There's one more reason I think Yahoo should sell to Microsoft -- the fatigue of the people. The company has been wobbly too long. If they don't take the Microsoft offer it's going to be a long wobbly decline and the shareholders will be right to be angry. Here's their chance to get out, it's time, so just do it.
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SAN JOSE, Calif.  -- Seeking to be more competitive with Microsoft Corp...
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Gabe: We did a really awesome project (can I say it"s awesome, is that okay?) for Wired magazine. You can either go pick up the most recent issue and read it there or check it out on their site. They asked us to do a piece for them handicapping all three of the next generation systems. We tried to be as fair as we could and hopefully you"ll get a kick out of it.
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Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new line of computer peripherals, including a $250 wireless keyboard and mouse that are compatible with its upcoming Windows Vista operating system.
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In an era when computers get ever smaller and more portable, it seems almost a throwback, but software giant Microsoft hopes a Â£5,000 coffee table bristling with technology could be the next big step forward.
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Google could help keep Yahoo away from Microsoft if it took over selling search ads for Yahoo in return for a very large check. That money could help finance all sorts of possible deals.
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Microsoft is, for once, trying to play nicely.  This is why it's failing.
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The laptop mouse for the connoisseur? Review If you're an avid laptop user, you'll know how clumsy most notebook touchpads and thumbsticks are and that you really can't go wrong with a good mouse. Enter the VX Revolution, Logitech's latest laptop-friendly input device. But this time there's more on off than just a fancy new design: specifically, the mouse maker's new MicroGear high-precision, low-resistance scrollwheel...â¦
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Shares in Swiss-based computer  peripherals maker Logitech International SA  rose over  12 percent on Thursday amid speculation Microsoft Corp   would launch a takeover bid, traders said.
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Logitech&#39;s new MX Air Mouse is designed to give users that Wii feeling. With a cool, space-age look, the Air Mouse lets users control their multimedia PCs just by moving the mouse around in the air. Combining hand gesture recognition with orange LED lights on the back of the device, users can control most multimedia functions like changing volume, advancing tracks, and fast-forwarding.
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(InfoWorld) - Logitech fused the old with the new on Thursday, launching a wireless laser mouse that doesn't need a surface to sit on, combining features of the traditional mouse and remote control. The MX Air Mouse works either on a surface or held in the air. In the air, users move the mouse up, down, sideways or in a circle to navigate, and they make selections by pressing buttons and touch-sensitive points on the mouse. In place of a scroll wheel, it has a touch-sensitive scroll panel. The MX Air Mouse is designed for people who use PCs for entertainment, said Andy Hengel, a product manager at Logitech. The mouse's features worked well with a Windows Media Center Edition PC in a product demonstration. A user navigated the PC's media content by moving the mouse in the air. Buttons and controls on top of the mouse were used to select music and movies to play, as with a remote control. Some functions can be controlled using "gesture-based commands," where users can move the mouse in the air to change volume or skip or repeat music tracks. After pressing the volume button, a user can move the mouse right to increase volume and left to turn it down. Pressing the play/pause button and moving the mouse clockwise or counterclockwise to move a song forward or backward. The MX Air Mouse performs well from any angle, Hengel said. It can ignore minor, unintentional hand movements to keep the mouse's movement smooth. The device can communicate with a PC from as far as 30 feet. It communicates with an RF receiver plugged in a PC's USB (Universal Serial Bus) port. The mouse also runs with Windows XP and Vista and will work with Mac OS X soon, Hengel said. The $149.99 mouse will ship in early August in the U.S. and Europe.
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After years of delays and billions in development and marketing efforts, it would seem that Microsoft Corp. would want anyone who possibly can to buy its new Windows Vista operating system. Yet Microsoft is making it hard for Mac owners and other potentially influential customers to adopt the software.
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By Jordan Robertson  Computer accessory maker Logitech International is introducing the Revolution mouse with a free-spinning motorized scroll wheel it believes will help people more efficiently race through pages on their computer screens.
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The next game controller could be your gray matter. Also: Online bells and whistles for the PS3.
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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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There&#39;s been a lot of gossip about the upcoming Google browser and its possible impact on Microsoft. It&#39;s hard to predict what will happen, but it won&#39;t surprise me if an all-out war between Google and Microsoft ensues.