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In June, in the wake of Microsoft’s bid for the company, Yahoo’s management team stepped into the lion’s den and made an alternate deal with Google.   The agreement, which focused on the lucrative search advertising market that Google dominates but both Microsoft and Yahoo participate in, provided terms for the placement of Google-sold advertisements next to Yahoo’s search results.

Yahoo’s president Sue Decker said at the time that the non-exclusive “agreement [would provide] a source of funds to both deliver financial value to stockholders from search monetization and to invest in our broader strategy.”  Based on then current monetization rates, Yahoo expected the partnership could mean near $800m in annual revenue opportunity or incremental cash flow in the range of $250m to $400m.

The one obstacle was the approval of anti-trust regulators.  It turned out to be too big a mountain to climb.

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Last week, Google announced they’d reached agreement with publishers and authors to settle a three year old copyright battle over their book scanning practices.  Both sides expressed great satisfaction with the result.  In public statements the deal, which still must be approved by the court, was lauded as a “landmark” and “a win for everyone.”  Turns out, however, not everyone affected by the deal was that pleased.

The Harvard University newspaper, the Crimson, reported a few days after the announcement that the University will not, at this time, participate fully in Google Book Search.   Copyrighted works in the Harvard collection will be sequestered from Google scanners.

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Fresh off recent upgrades to Macbooks last month and with no iTunes chatter to replicate Harmonix’ Beatles’ conquest, the Applevine  (aka Apple Rumors and Speculation) surprisingly came to life to start this week with a couple new speculative suggestions.

On the Mac front: Apple watching website MacNN is reporting their sources say upgrades to the Mac Mini and iMac computers could be announced on November 10th.  

Given the timing would create an opportunity to capitalize on holiday sales, the rumor falls into the category of plausible but clouding the prospect of its accuracy: Click to Read More

It’s been the ungettable get, the top of the wish list, the digital archive that every vendor has wanted but nobody could have.  iTunes was rumored close, more than once.  Members of the band suggested it would happen this year (it hasn’t).   Activision’s Guitar Hero was the subject of more whispers but nobody could seem to get the complex mix of license holders to reach a joint agreement.  Somehow, over the course of seventeen months, Viacom’s Harmonix found a way.   Ahead of Apple and Activision, the pioneers behind Rock Band and Guitar Hero, will launch a video game built entirely around the catalog of The Beatles.

Because the game is in development, details have largely been held back but here’s what we know:

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In relationships, timing is everything.  No matter how appropriate a pairing, both parties need to be ready. The stars need to align.    Four years ago, Tivo and Netflix ambitiously tried to hook up to deliver an internet video distribution service.   Unfortunately, the companies weren’t mature enough. Moreover, the marketplace (e.g. movie rightsholders) were not comfortable endorsing such a forward looking union with a license.   Today, things are different.

Rekindling the old flame, Netlfix and Tivo announced Thursday that the’ve joined in partnership. Click to Read More

Since the beginning of August, the Japanese Yen has risen almost 35% against the Euro and about ten percent against the dollar.  For Japanese businesses that rely heavily on overseas sales, companies like Sony and Canon, these fluctuations are wreaking havoc on net income as they convert revenues across to their native Yen.  The pain was obvious in Sony’s earnings announcement yesterday.  Today, Nintendo, though on much stronger footing, showed a hint of the same ailment.

In earnings news, Nintendo raised sales targets for the Wii console heading into the holiday period  but simultaneously lowered net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending in March by 16% (about 65,000m Yen).  

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Sony warned of financial trouble last week.  Now it’s official.  Hit with the triple whammy of a unexpected currency fluctuation, weakening consumer spending and mounting losses at the music division, the company reported a 72% drop (y/y) in net income for the fiscal second quarter ended September 30th.

By the numbers, for the 2nd quarter, total revenue was ¥2,072b.  At Sept. 30th exchange rates of ¥104 to $1 that translated to about $19.93b.  (At Wednesday’s intraday rate of about 97 Yen to the dollar it’s equivalent to near $21.4b).  Net income was ¥20.8b or ¥19.83 per diluted share. 

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