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Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock steps down

The changes keep coming at Yahoo , as Chairman Roy Bostock steps down; triggering a board overhaul at the beleaguered internet company. Yahoo Board Chairman Roy Bostock announced on Tuesday that he and three other directors – Vyomesh Joshi, Gary Wilson and Arthur Kern – will not stand for re-election this year to the company’s board of directors. The move comes just one month after Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down from the company to pursue interests outside of Yahoo . At the time, Mr Bostock announced the company was continuing to undergo a strategic review – striking the tinder of takeover rumours. Two private equity firms – Silver Lake and TPG Capital – made tentative offers on the company that shareholders rejected as too low. Microsoft offered $44.6 billion for Yahoo in 2008; however Mr Bostock reportedly helped Mr Yang reject that offer. Yahoo is now worth $19.75 billion

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Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock steps down

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Yahoo co-founder steps down

In the latest management shuffle, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang has stepped down from the board of executives and resigned his post as ‘Chief Yahoo .’ “The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo ,” Yang said in a statement . “As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as chief executive officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo leadership team, to guide Yahoo into an exciting and successful feature.” Yang served as chief executive at the flagging internet giant from June 2007 to January 2009 before being replaced by Carol Bartz. He is widely criticised for turning down a lucrative deal from Microsoft to purchase the company for $44.6 billion (

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Microsoft says Yahoo!

Reports that Microsoft may be eyeing a stake in Yahoo surfaced for a second time as rumours continue to circulate that several groups are preparing to bid for a minority stake to help return Yahoo to its halcyon days. According to CNET , Microsoft is just one of several high-profile investors teaming up in a venture led by equity firm Silver Lake to bid for a stake in the company. Though reports remain officially unconfirmed, sources close to deal are reporting that Yahoo’s financial advisors set a deadline for bids early this week, and the board of directors is expected to discuss potential deals immediately. Since the departure of Bartz in September, reports Yahoo was “open to selling itself to the right bidder” have circulated, with industry experts speculating a number of different options going forward – including sale and restructuring. “The question is whether Yahoo can be a growth company again,” said a source close to the situation . “And that is still unclear.” One of the most significant changes in the rumoured deal would see investor and Netscape co-founder Andreessen Horowitz – who already serves on the board of directors at Hewlett Packard – installed as chief executive.

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Microsoft says Yahoo!

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Bad Apples: Young biker gang arrested in Apple Store burglary

A gang of Bad Apples have been arrested in connection with a robbery at Covent Garden’s Apple Store. Just days after Mr Jobs’s sad passing, Covent Garden employees arrived at work on the morning of 9 October to find that their shop had been plundered overnight by a gang of bikers. Tributes and memorials have been placed at Apple Stores all over the world in honour of the man who changed the face of personal computing. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, kind words, flowers and photographs were not the only things that employees at the Covent Garden Apple Store found. According to reports, police officers were alerted to the fact that a gang of seven moped riders and motorcyclists – most carrying pillion passengers – had smashed the storefront glass and “made off with fondleslabs and other similar devices.” All is not bad news, however. According to Channel Register , two suspects were apprehended at the time and have subsequently been charged with the Apple Store burglary. Additionally, a Met spokesman said it is understood the pair is connected to a wider gang of young burglars between the ages of 16 and 26 who are suspected in a spate of robberies across London. “Between 13 and 25 October, officers from Westminster executed a number of search warrants in connection with 48 burglaries of retail premises in central London and the theft of 35 high-powered motorcycles,” he said

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Bad Apples: Young biker gang arrested in Apple Store burglary

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Yahoo snaps up interclick

The search industry’s perennial underdog, Yahoo , has acquired advertising and tech software company interclick for $270 million (

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Yahoo! hustles display ad deal to fend off Facebook

Carol Bartz may have just left the building , but Yahoo!’s newest CEO Tim Morse is already attempting to boost the portal’s performance and fill the firm’s coffers by flash-selling display adverts. According to The Financial Times , Yahoo!’s top brass are hustling to secure a mutual ad-selling arrangement with Microsoft and AOL in a bid to ramp up ad revenues and stop Facebook from toppling Yahoo! in the US display-advertising market. All three firms have remained tight-lipped on the issue, but industry sources let slip that the trio seem close to finalising a deal after making successful pitches to New York ad buyers earlier this week. Details are still thin on the ground but it’s thought that each of the firm’s mad men sold premium ad space on their own pages to Manhattan buyers, as well as second-tier slots on partner sites. The move could make buying display ads across Yahoo! , Microsoft and AOL as quick and easy as buying search-related ads on Google . However, critics have been quick to note that each firm can only guarantee premium space on its own network

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Yahoo! hustles display ad deal to fend off Facebook

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Twitter users can track their progress with new analytics tool

Web developers and social media junkies alike can rejoice at the release of Twitter’s Web Analytics service. Twitter’s Director of Web Business Development April Underwood announced the new service at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference. The service, made possible by Twitter’s acquisition of BackType in July , will show users the most shared and discussed stories, as well as which referring sites direct the most traffic . BackType founder turned Twitter product manager Christopher Golda took to the Twitter blog to discuss the analytics tool. He said: “People have struggled to accurately measure the amount of traffic Twitter is sending to their websites, in part because the web analytics software hasn’t evolved as quickly as online sharing and social signals. “We’re announcing Twitter Web Analytics, a tool that helps website owners understand how much traffic they receive from Twitter and the effectiveness of Twitter integrations on their sites.” Users engaging with the Web Analytics tool will have the opportunity to see the amount of traffic Twitter is sending to their site and measure the effectiveness of Tweet button integration. The feature also allows users to track how much of their website content gets shared across Twitter. Previously, Twitter offered the Tweet button to help publishers share their content, but without a way to track any traffic generated through its use. Until now, Twitter only provided analytics services for advertisers, and the new service will be a welcomed addition to web developers keen to track their progress on the microblogging site

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Twitter users can track their progress with new analytics tool

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Dolby drops patent lawsuit against Blackberry makers

Dolby has withdrawn its lawsuit against BlackBerry makers Research in Motion (RIM), after the two companies reached an agreement on the use of patent protected technologies in the phones and in PlayBook tablets. The lawsuit was launched earlier this year when Dolby decided to sue RIM for use of its audio compression technology without having it licensed first. “Litigation was regrettably our last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby’s technology,” said executive VP and general counsel, Andy Sherman, back in June. Dolby audio compression software, which greatly reduces file size, is used in a range of smartphones, tablets and music players, to allow for MP3 and AAC digital playback in such devices. During the ongoing patent infringement case, Dolby took steps to ensure that the Blackberry models and tablets that used their software were not sold in Germany and the United States. But now the suit has been dropped after the feuding companies managed to reach an undisclosed financial agreement, and RIM have sought licensing for the technology through Dolby subsidiary, Via Licensing Corporation

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Dolby drops patent lawsuit against Blackberry makers

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Twitter sues Twittad for rights to ‘tweet’ trademark

Twitter is suing online advertising service Twittad in an attempt to win trademark registration for the word ‘tweet’. Twitter already owns trademarks ‘retweet’ and ‘cotweet’, yet were beat to it by third-party developers Twittad, which filed its application for the ‘tweet’ trademark back in 2008 as part of its strapline, “let your ad meet tweets”. The microblogging site, with over 100 million active users across the globe, has a view to reclaiming the trademark and the lawsuit marks commencement of a fierce battle over who is the rightful owner of the term. Outlining its reasons for legal action, Twitter said in its lawsuit file that Twittad’s use “unfairly exploits the widespread association by the consuming public of the mark TWEET with Twitter, and threatens to block Twitter from its registration and legitimate uses of its own mark.” Third-party developers have long been a thorn in the side of Twitter, not only in terms of trademark issues but also through the development of unique tools that use the site to aid their businesses. Take, for example, Tweetdeck and the Tweetie iPhone app. Both monetised on the microblogging phenomenon, but also found themselves acquired by Twitter, who continue to snap up other third parties. Guardian tech blogger Jemima Kiss suggested the lawsuit is about far more than simple terminology for Twitter. “What this trademark battle is about, though, is not terminology, but about asserting control over interaction with users that ultimately leads to revenue. Would Twitter be using a lawsuit to aggressively pursue a trademark if it was being used by anything other than an advertising company?” In a direct move, Twitter has suspended Twittad’s account for the time being

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Twitter sues Twittad for rights to ‘tweet’ trademark