Technology in your hands.

Microsoft withdrew its $42.3 billion bid to buy Yahoo on Saturday, scrapping an attempt to snap up the tarnished Internet icon in hopes of toppling online search and advertising leader Google.

The decision to walk away from the deal came after last-ditch efforts to negotiate a mutually acceptable sale price proved unsuccessful.

The talks reached a breaking point after Jerry Yang and David Filo, the co-founders of Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, flew to Seattle in the morning to meet personally with Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Kevin Johnson, who runs the software maker’s unprofitable online services division, according to someone familiar with the talks. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified.

“Clearly a deal is not to be,” Ballmer wrote to Yang in a letter sent late Saturday…

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Another peril can be added to the hazards of the innocent-looking computer keyboard. Not content with encouraging repetitive strain injury, the key pads sometimes harbour more filth than the average lavatory seat and house millions of bacteria which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting, a study has shown.

A microbiologist carrying out research published yesterday for the Which? Computing magazine examined samples from 33 keyboards and found a variety of bugs including E coli and S aureus, which can cause skin infections and make people ill.

The scientist swabbed a lavatory seat and a toilet door handle in a typical London office for comparison. One of the keyboards tested had to be removed from the office because it was five times dirtier than the lavatory seat and home to 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria…

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As predicted almost a year ago, Microsoft has begun offering a free, advertising supported version of Microsoft Works, its office application suite for people too cheap to spring for Office. But it doesn’t appear that there’s any way to download and install Microsoft Works SE (Sponsored Edition) yourself just yet. Rather, computer makers are starting to install the software on new PCs.

Basically the program works just as well (read that statement however you’d like) as the full version of MS Works, but users will see a small advertisement in the program window, whether they’re editing a spreadsheet or text document…

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Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers experience with the operating system…

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U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T has claimed that, without investment, the Internet’s current network architecture will reach the limits of its capacity by 2010.

Speaking at a Westminster eForum on Web 2.0 this week in London, Jim Cicconi, vice president of legislative affairs for AT&T, warned that the current systems that constitute the Internet will not be able to cope with the increasing amounts of video and user-generated content being uploaded.

“The surge in online content is at the center of the most dramatic changes affecting the Internet today,” he said. “In three years’ time, 20 typical households will generate more traffic than the entire Internet today.”

Cicconi, who was speaking at the event as part of a wider series of meetings with U.K. government officials, said that at least $55 billion worth of investment was needed in new infrastructure in the next three years in the U.S. alone, with the figure rising to $130 billion to improve the network worldwide. “We are going to be butting up against the physical capacity of the Internet by 2010,” he said…

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Outlook Express users who want to continue to access their Hotmail accounts offline after June 30 are being encouraged by Microsoft to download its free Windows Live Mail software.

Users will still be able to use Outlook, the big brother of Outlook Express, to read their Hotmail messages offline, but they may have to first upgrade their Outlook Connector synchronization software, according to information posted online today by Scott Hammer, a Microsoft e-mail support manager…

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Microsoft and India’s HCL Infosystems said they would work together to develop a Windows-based laptop PC that will be the cheapest available in any market worldwide.

The system, called the MiLeap H Series, will run Windows XP Home and will sell for 17,000 Indian rupees, or about $425 (U.S.). The MiLeap H features a 30-GB hard drive and is “broadband ready,” the companies said in a statement Friday.

Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner, at a launch event in Mumbai, said the offering is meant to “empower Indian consumers and businesses with the latest and best that technology has to offer.”

Microsoft, along with a number of other vendors, is eyeing the low-cost PC market as a major growth opportunity — particularly in emerging markets where average incomes pale compared with the West. The company recently announced that it would extend the life of its Windows XP operating system, but only for deployment on low-cost systems…

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Asustek Computer Inc. yesterday launched its biggest low-cost Eee laptop yet and, as expected, will offer it with either Linux or Microsoft Corp.’s Windows XP Home.

The Eee PC 900, which the Taipei-based computer maker unveiled Tuesday, packs an 8.9-in. display running at a native resolution of 1,024 by 600 pixels, a significantly higher resolution than the older, smaller Eee PC 701, which sports a 7-in. display running at 800 by 400 pixels.

Users can select either Windows XP Home or Linux as the 900’s operating system. This is the second line of ultralight notebooks from Asustek that offers XP as an option; it currently sells a pair of 7-in. Eee PC models running Microsoft’s operating system that it has dubbed the “Surf XP” and “4G XP.”

The Eee PC 900 is equipped with 1GB of system memory, a 1.3-megapixel camera, an Apple MacBook Air-esque multi-touch trackpad, and either a 12GB or 20GB solid-state drive (SSD) for storage. When XP is installed, the 900 comes with the smaller SSD…

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New security changes to auction website eBay Australia will affect the way buyers purchase goods, and funnel more funds into its coffers.

Under the changes, direct deposits, money orders and personal cheques will no longer be listed as a payment option after June 17.

As a result, buyers will have only two options with which to pay: either cash-on-delivery, or via the online commerce website PayPal, which is owned by eBay.

PayPal accepts direct deposit or credit card payment on behalf of eBay sellers at a fee of between 1.1 and 2.4 per cent.

EBay defended the change, saying buyers were more likely to have problems with ‘offline’ payment options such as direct deposit…

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The latest firmware for Sony’s Playstation 3 has added powerful audio features. In addition to an updated interface, the firmware 2.30 adds DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio features for Blu-ray movies.

“We are extremely pleased that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is adding the full spectrum premium DTS-HD Master Audio codec into the PS3 so that more than 10 million owners of one of the best selling computer entertainment systems can have the best sounding, most efficient and flexible audio technology available system as well. DTS-HD Master Audio is fast becoming the must-have feature for high definition entertainment enthusiasts,” said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS.

In late February, Sony announced two new BD-Live (Profile v2.0) ready Blu-ray players, priced at $400 and $500. The BDP-S350, which will ship sometime in the summer for $400, will feature 1080p24/60 output via HDMI, one Ethernet port and decoding of 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD…

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