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By Ed Wray (AP)

Microsoft Corp. will focus on growing its own advertising and Internet search business after it withdrew its takeover offer for Yahoo Inc., Chairman Bill Gates said Friday.

Microsoft has not presented an alternative strategy to compete with its dominant rival in the Internet business, Google Inc., since withdrawing a $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo Inc. last weekend.

Analysts have been left wondering how the world's largest software maker will get a larger piece of that multibillion dollar market without a major tie-up.

"We have always felt we could do very well on our own...

By Paul Sakuma (AP)

Google Inc.'s top executives on Thursday expressed hope that the Internet search leader will be able to form a potentially lucrative advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc. _ a deal that would lower the odds of Microsoft Corp. renewing its attempts to buy Yahoo.

"We have been talking to Yahoo and we are very excited to be working with them," Google co-founder Sergey Brin told reporters before the company's annual shareholders meeting. "We share a lot of values with them."

Neither Brin nor Google Chairman Eric Schmidt would indicate how far along the two sides are in their ...

By Ng Han Guan (AP)

Without the influx of Web traffic that Microsoft bet would quickly follow a Yahoo buyout, the software maker is facing a long slog if it wants to turn its money-losing online services business into a Google-killer.

Since it withdrew a $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo Inc. after talks collapsed, Microsoft Corp. has offered little insight into what "Plan C" will entail. In that vacuum, experts are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, with many concluding that they actually don't know what could get Microsoft out of its pickle.

It is not clear Microsoft can do this alone _ an...

By Bob Child (AP)

Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking Web site, will add more than 40 new safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, attorneys general from several states said Thursday.

The changes include banning convicted sex offenders from the site, limiting older users' ability to search online for subscribers under 18 and building a task force seeking ways to better verify users' ages and identities.

"The agreement marks another watershed step toward social networking safety, protecting kids from online predators and inappropriate content...

By Patti Longmire (AP)

Sometimes during peak hours, the phones are silent in Andy Freitas' pizza restaurants, yet the cooks are busy keeping pace with hungry customers.

That's because orders are rolling in through the Internet.

"It's pretty amazing not to hear a phone ring on a busy night," said Freitas, an operating partner with the largest Papa John's franchisee in the Washington, D.C., market.

In the past seven years, Louisville-based Papa John's International Inc. has made a lot of dough from online ordering _ more than $1 billion to be exact.

The nation's third-largest pizza d...

By Shizuo Kambayashi (AP)

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the company isn't pursuing any other major deals immediately following the withdrawal of its $47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo.

He said in Tokyo that the company put "a lot of effort" in the talks with Yahoo and has decided the two should pursue "independent paths."

Over the weekend, Microsoft withdrew its three-month-old unsolicited bid for Yahoo Inc. after seeing the impasse with Yahoo's board over a mutually acceptable sales price.

"Now at this point Microsoft is focused on its independent strategy," Gates told rep...

By Paul Sakuma (AP)

It's hard to believe Google Inc. actually looked vulnerable just two months ago. The Internet search leader's stock had plummeted 45 percent from its peak. And its two biggest rivals, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., appeared poised to combine forces and launch a double-barreled attack.

But on the eve of Google's annual shareholders meeting Thursday, the company looks stronger than ever. Its stock is hot again and Microsoft has scrapped its plans to buy Yahoo, with Google playing the spoiler's role.

"Google is winning again. What a surprise," said Canaccord Adams analyst Co...

By Ric Francis (AP)

Satellite television company DirecTV Group Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings rose 10.4 percent after acquiring a surprising number of new U.S. subscribers amid a major housing meltdown.

The El Segundo, Calif.-based company said net income climbed to $371 million, or 32 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31 from $336 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.

It added 275,000 net U.S. subscribers, well above analyst expectations of about 180,000, and increased its domestic subscriber base by 5.2 percent to 17.1 million.

"The overarching...

By (AP)

Confession: I've never balanced a checkbook or devised a realistic budget. I'm too impatient to follow through with manual record-keeping when all the transactions are digital.

So while I always had a general sense of my bank balance, I didn't actually know if I was spending more than I made in a month. And that made me nervous.

A few months ago, I started using Mint.com, a free Web site that tracks what I spend and where, so I don't have to scribble a note or remember to file the receipt. It categorizes my transactions and spits out candy-colored pie charts that help me to ...

By AKIRA SUEMORI (AP)

Emotion-detecting robot cars will face off against eavesdropping flying saucers in the English countryside when scientists, academics and schoolchildren compete later this year to design the next generation of military equipment.

The British Ministry of Defense's first ever "Grand Challenge" intends to encourage participants to turn their ideas into prototypes for machines the army can use in urban environments.

The six finalists, who each received $600,000 to build such contraptions as a disc-shaped remote-controlled flying robots fitted with heat and motion sensors, were in...

By Paul Sakuma (AP)

"Grand Theft Auto IV" raked in more than $500 million in its first week in stores, selling more than 6 million units worldwide, the video game's publisher said Wednesday.

The highly anticipated title from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. has received stellar ratings along with criticism for its violent content. The game follows Eastern European immigrant-turned gangster on crime missions around a fictional Liberty City.

The title sold about 3.6 million units on April 29, its opening day, bringing in roughly $310 million. This is $10 million more than what Microsoft Corp.'s...

By Shizuo Kambayashi (AP)

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the company isn't pursuing other deals following the withdrawal of its $47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo.

He said in Tokyo that the company put "a lot of effort" in the talks with Yahoo and has decided the two should pursue "independent paths."

Over the weekend, Microsoft withdrew its 3-month-old unsolicited bid for Yahoo Inc. after seeing the impasse with Yahoo's board over a mutually acceptable sales price.

"Now at this point Microsoft is focused on its independent strategy," Gates told reporters at a news conferenc...

By (AP)

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates says the company isn't pursuing other deals following the withdrawal of its $47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo.

He said Wednesday in Tokyo that the company put "a lot of effort" in the talks with Yahoo Inc., and has decided they should pursue "our independent paths."

Over the weekend, Microsoft withdrew its 3-month-old unsolicited bid for Yahoo after seeing the impasse with Yahoo's board over a mutually acceptable sales price.

"Now at this point Microsoft is focused on its independent strategy," he told reporters.

By Mark Lennihan (AP)

Just how serious was Microsoft Corp. about raising its bid to $47.5 billion for slumping Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc.?

The answer is taking on greater importance as more outraged Yahoo shareholders threaten to sue the company's board _ or try replacing the 10 directors _ for the way they responded to Microsoft's sweetened offer.

With shareholders up in arms, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has been trying to raise doubts about the legitimacy of Microsoft's last bid of $33 a share by pointing out that it wasn't submitted in writing.

There is even a theory circulating that Microsof...

By Paul Sakuma (AP)

After seeing Cisco Systems Inc.'s market value plunge $50 billion over the past six months, investors were relieved that the networking equipment maker managed to weather U.S. economic turbulence better than expected in its fiscal third quarter.

The company reported third-quarter profit Tuesday that beat analyst forecasts by 2 cents per share, and it offered fourth-quarter sales guidance in line with Wall Street's projections.

Cisco shares rose 29 cents in after-hours trading after the results were reported. The stock had gained 5 cents to close at $26.33 during the regular...

By Paul Sakuma (AP)

Cisco Systems Inc.'s profit fell 5 percent in its fiscal third quarter but beat Wall Street's expectations, a sign the turbulent U.S. economy didn't rattle the world's largest networking equipment maker as hard as expected.

The San Jose-based company earned $1.77 billion, or 29 cents per share, during the three months ended April 26. That represents a drop of 5.4 percent from the $1.87 billion, or 30 cents per share, that Cisco earned during the same period a year ago.

Stripping out 9 cents per share in one-time charges for acquisition and employee stock-based compensation, ...

By Jung Yeon-je (AP)

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, traveling through Asia, met Tuesday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and championed his vision of the future of high tech and the Internet.

"We're approaching the second decade of (the) digital age," Gates told Lee at the start of their meeting at the presidential Blue House, according to a media pool report.

South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor Inc. and affiliate Kia Motors Corp. announced with Microsoft Tuesday that they will use Microsoft's in-car software for controlling personal music players and telephones with voice comma...

By Paul Sakuma (AP)

Rocker Neil Young plans to release his entire music archive on Blu-ray discs, a sign that the discs' capabilities are building appeal among musicians as well as movie studios.

Blu-ray discs hold much more data than DVDs, are easily updated over the Internet and offer better picture and sound quality.

Young revealed his plans Tuesday at a Sun Microsystems Inc. conference in San Francisco. Santa Clara-based Sun makes the Java technology that gives Blu-ray discs their interactive menus and ability to accept updates over an Internet connection.

The first installment of...

By Jason DeCrow (AP)

Stephen Colbert's use of the Internet to connect with fans earned the Comedy Central host special recognition as recipients of the annual Webby awards for Web sites and online achievements were announced Tuesday.

A special achievement award also went to will.i.am, the Black Eyed Peas frontman behind the popular "Yes We Can" video supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama. And movie director Michel Gondry won a special mention for encouraging filmmakers around the world to recreate their favorite movies _ the concept behind his film "Be Kind Rewind" _ and share them online.