They’re grinning like shot fox up at Microsoft today, now that the company’s advertising partnership with Yahoo has been cleared by antitrust regulators in Australia and Canada as well. Read More »

Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell is leaving the software giant at the end of the year, and will be replaced by longtime Microsoft finance exec Peter Klein. A Microsoft spokesman said Liddell wanted to pursue jobs beyond his finance role outside the company. BoomTown always enjoyed his adorkable New Zealand accent, even when it was talking econalypse 24/7. I have no idea what Klein sounds like, but he currently serves as CFO of its Business Division, which is one of the company’s largest units. Read More »

With Twitter exploding–and the focus on real time data exploding along with it–there are a number of new companies that are seeking to develop more specific applications of this technology. Read More »

This year, Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, will put on some 22,000 live shows–each one attended by carping about the asinine “convenience” and “courtesy” charges the company likes to tack on to ticket purchases. But much as concertgoers might loathe the idea of giving Live Nation even more of their money, they may soon do so. Because beginning today, the company is offering exclusive audio and video recordings of some of its events through iTunes. Read More »

Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt said during a trip to Baghdad this week that Iraq’s stabilization could lead to business opportunities in the country. Mr. Schmidt was part of a delegation, led by Peter Pace, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to encourage business development in Iraq. Read More »

Yet another goofy Silicon Valley name did not prevent Asana–the productivity software start-up founded by former Facebookers Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein–from nabbing $9 million in funding from Benchmark Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The round, which was announced today, will be used to turbocharge Asana and its small team, who are aiming at the very dull and unexciting but very large and problematic workplace collaboration and communications market. In Sanskrit, “asana” means “sitting down” and refers to strong but relaxed postures in yoga–so presumably, Moskovitz and Rosenstein are trying to help frustrated workers achieve a digital form of nirvana. Read More »

Will Brocade be tech’s next big buyout? Evidently not. During a post-earnings conference call Monday, Brocade CEO Michael Klayko said the company has not “quietly put itself up for sale.” Read More »

What if somebody made a version of “Mad Men,” but replaced the nostalgia and sex appeal with timeliness and accuracy? It would be sort of amusing, in small doses. Like this clip Yahoo made with other pitchmen in mind. Read More »

QOTD

“After this tremendous investment in Iraq, we see business recovery finally happening. The creation of a new Iraqi state ultimately means business opportunities for global firms. Google’s interested in making sure that Iraq ends up being an open and transparent democracy–after all, information makes a big difference in everybody’s lives.”

– Google CEO Eric Schmidt

Nokia is taking the ax to its research and development group. Again. This morning the company said it would cut around 220 R&D jobs in Japan. This, just four days after announcing plans to eliminate 330 jobs in Finland and Denmark. Read More »

Madison Avenue has joined forces with Internet companies in a last-ditch attempt to stop privacy regulations over the $29 billion online-ad industry. The industry is finalizing an ad campaign to educate consumers about how digital advertising works, creating an icon that would appear on Web pages or ads alerting consumers if their activity is being tracked and deploying new technologies to police the Web for illegal activities. Read More »

Here’s a data point to consider amid the tech sector’s continuing job cuts. According to a new study by Cyber-Ark, many employees leaving their jobs aren’t above adding a little something to their separation packages: Confidential corporate data. Read More »

The tale of Joost, the would-be online video heavyweight, is almost at an end. Most of the company’s remaining assets have been sold off to Adconion Media Group, the two companies announced today. Read More »

Consumers are generally cautious heading into the critical holiday shopping season, with preseason trends suggesting that electronics sales may be solid while sales of apparel, particularly women’s styles, could get pummeled. Spurred by the release of a hot videogame and earlier-than-usual promotions on televisions, U.S. shoppers spent 6.1 percent more on electronics in the first half of November the month, through Nov. 14, than a year ago. Read More »

So that 11.9 percent decline in PC shipments that was supposed to occur this year? Not gonna happen, says Gartner. Neither is the two percent decline the research outfit projected in September. Nope. Turns out that 2009 PC shipments, which were once thought to be headed for certain disaster, aren’t going to decline at all. They’re going to grow. Read More »