EU to approve Yahoo/Microsoft search deal

Posted by Harshad

EU to approve Yahoo/Microsoft search deal

EU to approve Yahoo/Microsoft search deal
Thailand to add second iPhone carrier
TiVo adds captions to DVRs
Samsung's first Bada OS smartphone leaked

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 08:41 PM PST

The EU is expected to approve the search deal between Yahoo and Microsoft, says Reuters, with the 10-year partnership going into effect soon after approval.

The European Commission has until February 19th to approve or block the deal.

"I expect clearance without any concessions next Friday," says the insider source.

The partnership is expected to help both Bing and Yahoo take some market share from Google in the search engine market, although Google has an estimated 90 percent of global share compared to 7.4 percent for Bing and Yahoo combined.

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Thailand to add second iPhone carrier

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 08:19 PM PST

True Move, the current exclusive Thai iPhone carrier should have some competition coming its way soon, with an industry source telling Reuters that Total Access Communications will soon begin selling the phone, starting in March.

TAC is owned by Telenor of Norway, which sells the iPhone in a few countries.

True Move has had its monopoly since January 2009, with 100,000 sold in the time frame. The carrier says it hopes to sell another 120,000 in 2010.

Thailand is one of a few Asian nations that have over 90 percent mobile phone saturation rate.

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TiVo adds captions to DVRs

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 08:00 PM PST

TiVo has started the process to bring closed captions to DVR boxes, filing a patent this month with the USPTO.

Enhanced Television (ETV) and other closed captioning technology will be used to deliver the data.

ETV metadata has been recently integrated into most cable broadcasts, and the new patent will give TiVo a way to deliver the data in a "more interactive method," says Electronista. The interactive menu will include the text, sound effects and a digital video.

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Samsung's first Bada OS smartphone leaked

Posted: 13 Feb 2010 07:30 PM PST

Samsung's first Bada OS phone has been leaked today, dubbed the Wave, and featuring 720p video recording among other notable features.

The touchscreen device has a 3.3-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1GHz processor, 5MP camera, 2GB internal memory, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. The display is said to be "incredibly" vibrant and removes all outdoor visibility issues.

Bada has the apps menu, contacts, and calling always pinned on the homescreen, and widgets are available for news, weather and more. Multi-touch is standard.

The phone should ship in April.