July 3 - 9:10am EDT   Yahoo is still entertaining the prospect of a full deal with AOL even in the wake of ending talks with Microsoft, alleged sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Those claimed to be aware of negotiations say AOL's parent company Time Warner is still interested in handing AOL to Yahoo in exchange for a minority stake in the search engine company. The talks aren't said to be as in-depth as when Yahoo still faced the threat of a hostile Microsoft takeover. [full story]

July 2 - 8:45am EDT   Microsoft is actively exploring bringing other companies into a deal that would dismantle Yahoo as it's known today, says the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cites anonymous sources aware of discussions who say Microsoft is still interested in buying just Yahoo's search business but has asked both News Corp. and Time Warner about merging what would be left of Yahoo into one of their respective properties, such as MySpace or AOL. A meeting between Microsoft and Yahoo was scheduled for Monday but canceled because Microsoft has so far been unsuccessful in lining up a partner, according to the report. [full story]

June 18 - 10:25am EDT   Verizon today it would upgrade all the speeds for its FIOS fiber-optic service nationwide, giving users in all 16 states the same speeds that were previously reserved only for the most competitive areas. All of FIOS' 16 states now have access to up to 50Mbps downloads with 20Mbps uploads at the highest-end, $140 monthly tier ($90 in New York state and Virginia) versus the 30/15 services that were used for most regions; the synchronous 15/15 service is also slightly faster at 20/20 across those areas without changing the $65 monthly rate. [full story]

June 11 - 3:40pm EDT   Nielsen Online has reported May 2008 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. Google tops the list with 127 million unique visitors. Microsoft is close behind with 123 million, while Yahoo! comes in third at 115 million. Time Warner pulled 107 million visitors, News Corp. Online 79 million, eBay 66 million and InterActiveCorp 64 million. Wikimedia Foundation, Amazon and New York Times round out the list with between 50 and 60 million unique visitors. The data indicate that, for example, that 51.1 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the New York Times Company-owned sites or launched a New York Times Company-owned application during ... [full story]

May 12 - 12:10pm EDT   Apple is on the verge of selling movies and TV shows from HBO, according to Portfolio. The publication cites HBO employees "involved in executing the agreement," who say that sales will be announced and launched at the same time, probably within one to two weeks. HBO is famous for a number of high-profile TV series, such as Deadwood, Flight of the Conchords and The Sopranos, as well as a number of first-run original films. [full story]

May 7 - 8:00am EDT   Sprint and Clearwire today announced the unification of their two WiMAX Internet services into a single company that they hope will drive the 4G wireless standard. Simply titled Clearwire, the business will share the services of both the old Clearwire and Sprint's Xohm network in a single national WiMAX provider and is said to help promote the concept of an open wireless standard that allows any device and software to run; the combined build-out of the two should cover between 120 and 140 million Americans by the end of 2010, the involved companies say. [full story]

May 6 - 6:25pm EDT   Sprint is nearing closure on a $12 billion joint venture with Clearwire, backed by industry giants such as Intel, Google, Time Warner, and Comcast, among others. The Wall Street Journal reveals that Sprint would merge its wireless broadband services with Clearwire, after raising a total of $3.2 billion from the aforementioned technology and wireless firms, of which the final approval was given Tuesday. The announcement could come as soon as Wednesday, according to insiders. [full story]

April 17 - 10:15am EDT   Yahoo is likely to expand its Google AdSense project after initially positive results, say sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal. Both of the involved firms say that early results for the new search ad approach are positive and may result in more outsourcing in the future. Anti-monopoly regulations are a concern given the relative statuses of Google and Yahoo in the web market but might be avoided by limiting the partnerships to certain areas or search types, according to the paper's contacts. [full story]

April 16 - 12:10am EDT   Yahoo and AOL are reportedly examining the potential combination of their respective internet operations, which would involve a 20-percent stake of the former company. According to Forbes Techland, the deal would fold AOL into Yahoo, who would then repurchase several billions of its shares at a mid $30 figure. Time Warner will make a large cash investment into Yahoo for this deal to occur. [full story]

April 1 - 4:10pm EDT   The CEO of Sprint has remained mute on the subject of a merged WiMAX network, despite expectations, Reuters notes. Some media outlets had speculated that Dan Hesse would use this week's CTIA Wireless conference to announce a completed deal with Clearwire, but no mention of this was made during a keynote speech. A few outlets had also proposed that Hesse would reveal funding deals with the likes of Intel, Google, Comcast and Time Warner. [full story]

March 26 - 10:20am EDT   Multiple cable providers as well as other key technology companies are helping fund Sprint's still young WiMAX-based Xohm network, according to tips provided to the Wall Street Journal. Those allegedly aware of the situation explain that the 4G, wide-area wireless network is slated to receive as much as $1 billion from cable giant Comcast to help expand the Sprint service beyond its three-city trial; opposing cable providers Time Warner and Bright House are also believed to have pledged support of up to $500 million and $200 million. [full story]

March 5 - 12:25pm EST   Yahoo is extending the deadline for nominations to its board of directors, Reuters reports. While nominations were to have ended by March 14th, they will now take place 10 days after the company announces a date for its shareholders' meeting. The move is openly admitted by CEO Jerry Yang to be a delay tactic, preventing Microsoft from subverting Yahoo in order to ease its hostile takeover attempt. "Microsoft, of course, could still choose to name directors," says Yang in a letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, "but our objective here is to enable our board to continue to explore all of its strategic alternatives for maximizing value for stockholders ... [full story]

February 11 - 11:30am EST   Yahoo is once again considering a merger with AOL in order to protect itself against a hostile bid from Microsoft, writes British newspaper The Times. Having formally rejected a bid worth nearly $45 billion, Yahoo is said to be in talks with advisers from Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, who have been helping the company search for a partnership that might block a Microsoft acquisition. One such partnership could be with the Time Warner-owned AOL, although Google -- which has a five-percent stake in AOL, and is Microsoft's main enemy -- has reportedly offered to support Yahoo. [full story]

January 21 - 11:45am EST   HBO on Monday said it would take tentative steps into online video with HBO on Broadband, a new service designed to help timeshift the company's TV programming. The feature will only be available for Time Warner Cable customers subscribed to the premium channel but will allow them to watch away from a TV without resorting to illegal copies or waiting for DVD releases. Users will both be able to download and watch roughly 400 hours' worth of HBO's monthly content for up to four weeks after the download takes place. In a unique approach, however, the service will stream shows live for those who want to catch a series as it appears. [full story]

January 18 - 4:05pm EST   Time Warner Cable's metered Internet experiment will have caps that may significantly curb increasingly common usage habits, a company spokesman has confirmed. The Beaumont, Texas trial will have 5GB, 10GB, 20GB, and 40GB limits depending on the service level; there will be no unlimited access option when it launches in the spring, Time Warner says. Subscribers who cross the limit for their plan will still have service but will be charged an unspecified amount for each gigabyte of data consumed past the cap. Only new customers in the area will use tiers, while legacy customers will still have unlimited access. [full story]