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Even as he denies it himself, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook has often been billed as Steve Jobs eventual successor.  When Jobs was recuperating from pancreatic cancer in 2004, Cook ably took the helm.  Now, it seems, on another interim basis (albeit without a change of title) he’s being tasked to try on the role again.

Today, in a surprise announcement delivered by email to Apple staff (full text of the message along with Jobs 2004 treatment related email are reprinted below), Jobs said he is taking a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

While Jobs’ health is a personal matter, it has been the subject of recurring rumor and speculation since a June conference where he appeared noticeably gaunt and underweight.  Initially, the intensely private executive deferred most questions saying his health was a not a public concern.   That sparked many debates over the ethics and disclosure obligations that go with his obvious, and substantial, contribution to the company’s fortunes.

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The presidential inauguration is scheduled for January 20th.   Yahoo anointed its own new leader a week earlier. Confirming earlier reports, the company announced Tuesday that Carol Bartz, the former CEO of Autodesk, accepted an offer for the position.

Bartz emerged in recent weeks as a surprise front runner for the slot abdicated by Jerry Yang in November.  Beating out established insiders, and a host of high profile names linked to the position, she’s expected to bring a deft hand; one many hope capable of restoring the company’s luster (historical stock charts show running the company was a difficult task for her predecessors).  The expectations, and challenges, she’ll face will both be significant.

In a statement, Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock expressed the company’s excitement over completing the process.  “[Carol Bartz] is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader the Board was looking for and we are thrilled to have attracted such a world class talent,” he said.

Since 2006, Bartz has been Executive Chairman of Autodesk.  Prior to that, she led the company as its CEO for fourteen years.  Revenues during that period grew by a factor of more than five times to a result of $1.523 billion in Fiscal 2006.  Before Autodesk Bartz held a number of positions at Sun Microsystems over a ten year period, finishing as VP of Worldwide Field Operations.  She’s also worked at Digital Equipment Corp. and 3M.  Among her professional accolades, she’s been named to such esteemed lists as Barron’s 30 Most Respected CEO’s (2005) and Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business (2005).

 Coinciding with Bartz hiring, Sue Decker, Yahoo’s current president, tendered her resignation.  Passed over for the leadership opportunity, Decker’s  apparently decided to seek new challenges and the prospect of the top executive position elsewhere.  She will stay on for a transition period.

Sentiment about the choices, both Bartz hiring and Decker’s departure seems to be mixed.  Click to Read More

A year ago, Bill Gates took the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show to deliver his final keynote address.  As always, he talked about Microsoft’s achievements and he spoke of his vision for the future. One of the touch-points emphasized was changes to user interfaces on the horizon.  Building on the “Surface” initiative Microsoft launched months earlier, Gates said we were overdue for evolution in computer controls.  In the future, he said, we’ll migrate away from solitary dependence on keyboards and mice.  Whether in kitchen electronics (talked about a year ago and now becoming available), or traditional computing environments, touch, voice and more “natural” interfaces, he predicted, would become more common; not replacements, per say, but alternate choices suited for some applications.  The increasing ubiquity of computing – whether through the “cloud” or converging devices – would pave the way.

2008 rolled forward with steps taken in that direction.  Touch enabled cell phones crossed unquestionably to the mainstream. The Wii, in gaming, continued to dominate competition thanks to its inventive motion controls.  Multiple touch and gesture controls appeared around the computing industries.   The table, it seemed, was being set.

Starting off 2009, Microsoft is making another push in the direction of Gates’ vision.  At the Consumer Electronics Show this past week, the company demonstrated an early version of the next Windows O.S. (Windows 7). In the trade show booth, as seen in the Metue.com video footage at the end of this article (also available here), the touch controls were featured prominently.  Today, adding to that, the company confirmed more investment into the space.

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A year and a half ago, Palm bet its future on its new operating system and the phones that go with it.  After an extended development period, today in Vegas, the company finally, showed its hand.

To a boisterous CES crowd mixed with people harboring both high expectations and some, expectations of failure, the company revealed webOS and the Pré handset.

The 8GB phone comes loaded with GPS and WiFi.  It has 3.1inch screen and a 3 megapixel camera  The user interface is fully touch enabled, working with gestures and point contact. It also hosts a slide out QWERTY keyboard.

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Mark Twain famously quipped,”The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Executives at Yahoo may be ready to say the same thing about their company. No matter how much time passes, takeover rumors just won’t seem to go away; even ideas conceived way outside the box seem fair game.

Last month it was Velocity Interactive dubbed the suitor.  The VC firm’s internal fundraising efforts were incorrectly re-imagined as a search for financiers to back a Yahoo buyout.  This month, according to a new Tech Crunch report, it’s a group of unnamed Silicon Valley executives and bankers circling.

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Just in time for the New Year, Midway Games got a stay of execution.  SEC filings discovered this week indicate the company was able to extend its rapidly approaching debt redemption obligations in order to buy more time for renegotiation.

According to the filing, an agreement signed December 30th gives the company until February 19th before some of its noteholders can exercise redemption rights.

These rights stem from an early December transaction.   Sumner Redstone, the company’s majority shareholder at the time, liquidated his 87% stake for pennies on the dollar. His massive sale triggered clauses in the company’s debt agreements which provided redemption rights in the event of a material change in control. Subject to these rights, the noteholders can seek repayment of all outstanding principal.

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In October of 2007, Netflix CEO Reed Hasting spoke to analysts about convergence and digital movie distribution.   In the remarks, he defined three long term goals for the company: “to expand the content [Netflix] offers online.”  “To make it inexpensive and easy for consumers to view that content on the television,” and lastly, “to understand what the financial model for the hybrid service will be in the long term.”  Throughout 2008, the company made progress on all three, especially one and two.  Heading into 2009, the company looks poised to keep pushing forward.

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