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The Yahoo! and Microsoft acquisition talks have finally come to an end  - and Google seem to have come out of it as the clear winner.

After a long-running discussion, Yahoo! have decided to partner with Google, building on their recent ad partnership. Yahoo! will now display Google ads next to its search results in the US and Canada from September. Google and Yahoo! also plan to make their instant messaging tools compatible. In total, Yahoo! are expected to gain $800m in additional annual revenues from the deal.

Part of the big overhaul coming to Facebook is going to see a wealth of new functionality. Some of this is already trickling through - you may have noticed the very basic chat function on there.

Now you can also have your music added to your message signatures so everyone can see what you are listening too - and even click through to listen themselves. It’s a nice interaction with FoxyTunes - which is one of the best Firefox extensions ever. Not tested if it ties in with Last FM. I love it when technology starts to ‘connect the dots’ like this as it enriches dialog between consumers and makes a richer environment for digital marketing at large.

- Loving the tune? Facebook message with song signature

While on the subject of Firefox, why not help them set a new world record for most software downloads in a day. At the time of writing this, there are still 11 hours to go and currently the UK is third in the world, just behind Canada and way off the US (of course). Interestingly, the UK has delivered more downloads than Russia, Brazil and China!

- Firefox download day world record attempt

Firefox’s true aim is to step up from number two to number one in the browser market, but their current 10-15% of market share is dwarfed by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer at 80-85%. Slowly people are seeing the light and making the switch but Microsoft’s monopoly deal with PC manufacturers means that a huge percentage of users still us the browser that came with their PC. Which sucks for us digital marketing people as Internet Explorer, particularly IE7 is a pile of horse sh*t and requires additional resources to deliver the same display as Firefox.

Microsoft have developed a new technology that can rapidly extract forensic data from laptops, phones, cameras and other electronical devices. Great for helping border control agents in identifying incriminating material - and hopefully preventing the need for them and other law enforcement agencies to seize innocent computers!

The technology is called COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), and is software built into a USB drive.  Although it’s only just coming to light, it has been in use since last June, having been distributed to 350 different law enforcement agencies. Microsoft have said that they developed the device after an attack of conscience, and not as a way of making even more money.

For more details on how it works, visit http://mashable.com/2008/04/29/microsoft-cofe/

Ahead of the upcoming Social Media Influence conference (to be held on 4th June in London) the following YouTube Corporate Top 10 list has been compiled - comprising of videos which appear within the first 10 results in a search of the company name. Each one has been viewed over 1 million times and generated hundreds of comments.

Over 80 million YouTube videos are watched every day, making YouTube one of the most influential forms of media today. We can’t understand why some brands don’t value YouTube’s power and recognise the potential threat that it could have to their reputation - take the Disney porn for example.

Visit Social Media Influence if you want to view the videos. They suggest that while you’re watching, “ask yourself this question - do you know how your company looks on YouTube?”

Here’s their top 10 (in descending order):

As Microsoft and Yahoo! look to merge, this is turning in to a real soap opera…

Microsoft & Google actually fancy each other; Microsoft loves Googles youthful energy and dynamic rise to wealth and Google loves the established, ‘old school’ power of Microsoft… but it’s a forbidden love. They can never be together, which drives them crazy and makes them want to constantly hurt and out do each other.

In the latest ’series’ of their forbidden love, they pull Yahoo! in to their destructive love-hate relationship…

Microsoft has a one night stand with Yahoo! and then proposes, though not because Microsoft actually fancies Yahoo! - it’s more to get Google’s attention! Something about hurting the ones you love.

Ironically, Yahoo! doesn’t want to marry Microsoft either, but she realises that she’s at a stage in her life where her looks have long faded and her living expenses are a bit higher than her income. Whilst popular, she may not get the chance to bag another rich suitor like Microsoft… but she could hold out to find someone who loves her for who she is. Dilemma.

Yahoo! is unsure about Microsoft’s proposal and decides to think about it, but Microsoft is used to getting any girl he wants and this ‘playing hard to get act’ is something he’s seen many times before. Normally Microsoft would just flash some more bling and the girl would get in the car, but this time, Microsoft feels he’s already flashed enough to Yahoo! so he just goes for the affirmative act of ordering Yahoo! to get in the car. Yahoo! runs crying in to the night…

Confused and upset, Yahoo! seeks solace in the arms of other men. The first to hear about her vulnerability is MySpace who decides to take the opportunity to have a quickie with her (because he’s that kind of guy), but in the morning Yahoo! is back out in the cold. Now she’s feeling really dirty, who should come along but Google. Google knows the situation and wants to get back at Microsoft for hurting him with the initial Yahoo! proposal. Google tells Yahoo! what she wants to hear. Google will love her for who she is and promises to share everything with her - unlike Microsoft. But Google wants to take things slowly, one step at a time. This way Google can really get back at Microsoft without never really needing to commit to Yahoo! (as soon as Microsoft has had enough and the proposal is withdrawn, Google will drop Yahoo! like a sack of potatoes).

Poor Yahoo!. She may be desperate but she’s not stupid. She knows she can’t marry Microsoft or Google as her parents would never approve. So Yahoo! agrees to Google’s ’slowly, slowly’ relationship as rumours surface of stolen kisses with other lovers, notably AOL…

Will Yahoo! actually marry anyone?
Will Yahoo! come home from work early to find Microsoft and Google in bed together?
Does anyone still care who AOL sleeps with?
Will MySpace ever clean up it’s act?

Tune in next week (at this rate) for the next thrilling installment of the MicroHoo! soap opera.

According to WSJ, Adobe are going to develop Flash for the iPhone. And they’re not just going to use the existing Flash Lite - they’re going to develop a new version (or tweak the existing one) especially for the iPhone.

Adobe’s CEO, Shantanu Narayen had said: “We believe Flash is synonymous with the Internet experience, and we are committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone…We have evaluated (the software developer tools) and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves.”

It seems Adobe’s on a roll. First, they signed a deal with Microsoft, who licensed Flash for Windows Mobile-sporting phones. Then, they posted fantastic financial results for the year. And now, they’re probably going to conquer this last, crucially significant, corner of the smartphone market.

Microsoft Chief Executive, Eric Schmidt,  has stated that any deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! could be “bad for the Internet”.  Google have already made it clear that they believe that such a deal could have implications for the openness of the Internet, and exert an “inappropriate…influence” over the Internet.

When Microsoft proposed a buyout of Yahoo for $44.6bn last month (which was rejected by Yahoo’s board), experts said that the buyout was an attempt by Microsoft to challenge Google’s dominance. And Eric Schmidt admitted that he would be concerned by any kind of acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft.

However, earlier this month, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has said that they will gain market share against Google in search and advertising, even if led to his “last breath” at the firm.

As we told you last week, Yahoo have put back their decision to at least April, and now Microsoft have threatened to oust Yahoo’s 10 directors if it can’t broker an amicable takeover.

An anonymous source has told CNET that Microsoft and Yahoo! are at least talking about a merger on friendly terms. According to the report:

“Microsoft and Yahoo! are holding informal merger discussions, marking a shift from the “radio silence” that previously existed between the two companies, according to a source familiar with the talks.”

This follows the news last week that Yahoo! would be extending the deadline for nominating new members to its board of directors, which we thought might be a signal that they were at least willing to consider negotiating with Microsoft . Microsoft has made it fairly clear that they will initiate a hostile takeover of Yahoo! if they can’t reach an amicable deal. Yahoo currently sits at more than 10 percent below Microsoft’s initital offer price of $31 per share, first announced back on February 1st.

Does anyone else think that this story is just dragging on like an Eastenders crappy plotline involving a ‘will they? won’t they?’ scenario… just get together already!

Microsoft Office Live Workspace has just announced the worldwide launch of its public beta (in English). Previously available by invitation only, anyone can now sign up for the service which allows Microsoft Office users to access and share their documents online. Microsoft is also rolling out several new features to Live Workspace. Here are some of the highlights:

Activity panel: A new activity panel shows all the activity in a workspace at a glance.

Notifications: People can now receive e-mail notifications about changes made to their workspaces or documents.

Direct links: People can now bookmark their workspace or a workspace item via a unique URL in a browser window.

Multi-file upload: People can now upload several files simultaneously by simply dragging and dropping from their desktop.

Improved sharing: New sharing functionality includes an easier user interface and auto-completion of e-mail addresses.

For those of you who haven’t yet seen Office Live Workspace, the basic premise is that once you’ve installed the Office Add-In, all of your Office programs (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.) have a built-in connection to your Live Workspaces account. So you can save files directly to the Web, and then use your Live Workspace account to access them from anywhere and share them with others. It’s a similar concept to Google Docs, but with the huge advantage of being integrated directly into Microsoft Office’s dominant desktop applications.

Microsoft does have a platform strategy that will allow for integration with third-party services, though I certainly wouldn’t expect them to be in any kind of hurry to allow Google Docs to offer a similar integration into Office. But the platform strategy for Live Workspace will be interesting to watch in light of Microsoft’s announcements around more open business practices.

In addition to launching publicly and offering the service for free, Microsoft is putting some serious marketing money behind the product. The company is offering more than 30,000 prizes, including free Microsoft wares like Xbox 360’s, Zune’s, and software, plus $100,000 in college education funds for a grand prize winner.

Microsoft’s free email service Hotmail is currently suffering from a bug that logs off users and prevents them from logging into the service again. Currently, this behavior is affecting only a fraction of the userbase, but the bug has not been fixed yet.

Microsoft spokeswoman Samantha McManus said the following in a statement: “The issue is purely impacting the login process for customers and largely does not impact customers who were already logged in. We have made significant progress in decreasing the number of customers currently affected since initial reports, but the issue has not yet been completely resolved.”

As a consolation, McManus added that Hotmail should be fully operational “shortly,” whatever that means.

Reminds me of a comment I heard earlier online; someone was discussing problems with their Yahoo! email account to which another user quipped “they must be getting ready for the merge with Hotmail!” lol.