Citing sources familiar with "AOL's strategy," it appears that Microsoft is ready to purchase the popular web portal, which would then be used to outsource web search to the Bing search engine.

Shares of AOL rose 1.3 percent despite a massive sell-off in the broader indexes.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong recently noted that the company was exploring new web search deals with "more than two potential partners." AOL currently outsources its web search to Google, the clear market leader.

While those discussions are still ongoing, the conclusion could be an outright sale of the company to Microsoft, which has over $37 billion in cash on hand.

AOL is valued at about $2.3 billion.

Both companies declined comment on the matter.

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According to Yusuf Mehdi, Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Online Audience Business Group, the company is ending the Bing Cashback program that has been offering users of the Bing search engine a way to make back some money on their purchases from certain retailers.

Mehdi says Bing Cashback was a "test-and-learn" program and after over a year, they will be retiring the feature.

The last day for Cashback purchases is July 30th, 2010.

Why is Microsoft ending the program? "When we originally began to offer the cashback feature, it was designed to help advertisers reach you with compelling offers, and to provide a new type of shopping experience that would change user behavior and attract a bunch of new users to Bing. In lots of ways, this was a great feature – we had over a thousand merchant partners delivering great offers to customers and seeing great ROI on their campaigns, and we were taking some of the advertising revenue and giving it back to customers. But after a couple of years of trying, we did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for."

Additionally, the company says they will give 12 months of support after the July 30th deadline, with users able to redeem any cashback they have in their accounts for that 12 month period as well.

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Warner Bros. has announced that its hit MMO Lord of the Rings Online will move to free-to-play starting in September.

The publisher tried a similar strategy last year with Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, and says revenue exploded 500 percent after they made the game free-to-play.

"Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited was the world's first truly premium free-to-play online game that ushered in a new era of choice for online gamers seeking quality entertainment," says Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine (via GI). "The popularity of DDO validated the extraordinary demand by gamers for quality entertainment they can experience at their own pace and within their budget. Extending free-to-play to Lord of the Rings Online will offer another premium game to a broad spectrum of fans."

Warner will make money off the game by charging for expansions, quest packs, items, weapons and account services. The company is also starting a VIP program that will give gamers unlimited access to all content for a certain price.

A beta of the VIP service and the LOTRO store selling the DLC starts on June 16th.

David Solari, general manager of Codemasters Online,(which runs the game in Europe) says: "Having successfully taken two titles free-to-play in the past we are very pleased to be doing the same with The Lord of the Rings Online in Europe. It's a fantastic, award-winning game with a wonderfully realised world and this step will only broaden its appeal and increase its player base."

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Research firm NPD has noted today that they have been forced to delay the video game industry sales report for May as the company is upgrading its IT architecture.

The report was expected, as it is every month, to be released in the second week of the month. The delay could be as long as three weeks, which would call for the report to hit at the very end of June or even first week of July.

What the benefits are of the IT upgrade are still unclear but appear significant.

May is generally a slow month for the industry, but a few blockbuster games, including Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption and THQ's UFC Undisputed 2010 are expected to boost the results.

April saw sales fall off a cliff, with hardwar falling 37 percent year-on-year and software falling 22 percent. The overall 26 percent decline was the fourth largest such collapse since the turn of the century.

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Boost Mobile, the American prepaid cell carrier has announced today the launch of the Motorola i1, the world's first Android touchscreen device with "push-to-talk" walkie-talkie features.

The smartphone will be available through Boost, Best Buy, and Best Buy Mobile stores.

Says Neil Lindsay, CMO of Boost Mobile: "Last year Boost disrupted the wireless marketplace with the $50 Monthly Unlimited offer, and we are doing it again with the launch of the Motorola i1. Together with Motorola, we are able to offer the Android experience to those customers who enjoy the walkie-talkie feature. And with 1,100 Best Buy locations, 80 Best Buy Mobile stores and exclusive Boost Mobile stores nationwide, customers will not have to search far to find this hot handset."

The i1 runs some variant of Android 2.1, has a 3.1-inch HVGA display, an optimized Opera Mini 5 browser, Wi-Fi and 3G support, pre-installed SWYPE for quicker messaging and a 5MP camera with autofocus, flash and video.

Boost offers unlimited calls, texts, walkie-talkie and data for $50 a month, by far the best deal of any carrier although Boost may not have the best service in your area. You can check that here: Boost Coverage Map

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