yang

Yahoo still mulling strategic options, report says

Yahoo's board of directors is considering a number of strategic options beyond selling the company, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang said today at a conference in Hong Kong.

"The intent going in is not to put ourselves for sale," Yang said at the AsiaD conference, according to an AllThingsD report. "The intent is to look at all the options."

Yang noted that while selling the company intact is an option, Yahoo is made up of three units (its core search and content business, as well as stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba). "They are looking … Read more

The 404 922: Where Wilson is the 1 percent (podcast)

Our guest today is Robin Yang of Toy Studio, one of Barnes & Noble's premier gaming publishers for the Nook Color tablet. She'll help us out with the rundown that includes stories about the real 53 percent, the long-awaited Facebook app for the iPad, MacBook Air competitor Ultrabooks from Asus, and how to run Android apps on a PC.… Read more

Jerry Yang eyeing buyout of Yahoo, report says

One certainty about Yahoo these days is uncertainty, especially when it comes to who might take control of the company in the coming weeks and months.

The latest surmise, via the Reuters news agency, citing people familiar with the situation, is that Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang is looking to take the company private.

Yang, Reuters says, is interested in a deal with private equity firms in which Yang would roll over his approximately 3.6 percent stake in Yahoo. Fellow co-founder David Filo might also chip in his roughly 5.9 percent stake, according to the news agency, citing other … Read more

Yahoo could be for sale, Jerry Yang indicates in leaked memo

A leaked e-mail from Jerry Yang appears to confirm what many people have been reporting for a while: Yahoo is not above selling itself in whole or in parts.

The e-mail, obtained by Silicon Alley Insider, is largely a long, rah-rah memo for the troops. But it does have this interesting tidbit:

Our advisers are working with us to develop ideas that we will pursue proactively. At the same time, they are fielding inquiries from multiple parties that have already expressed interest in a number of potential options. We will take the time we need to select and structure the … Read more

Yahoo's trials and tribulations since 2008 (timeline)

After 30 months as Yahoo's CEO, Carol Bartz has been ousted from the company. Her interim replacement is former Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse, who joined the company in 2009.

Bartz's appointment as Yahoo CEO was meant to help turn the company around, a task she took on by reorganizing and whittling away under performing products and services. Nonetheless, the company has struggled to produce major new Web properties or regain lost ground on its stock price.

But even before Bartz got there, it's been a rough ride for the Web pioneer. Let's take a look at some of the ups and downs for the company since the original deal from Microsoft in 2008.

2008

January 29, 2008: Yahoo announces a layoff of about 1,000 employees while reporting fourth-quarter earnings. "We're making good progress executing on this strategy, and I'm confident we're heading in the right direction," then CEO Jerry Yang says. "This sort of transformation takes time, but we have the talent and the strong cash flow to succeed."

February 1, 2008: Microsoft publicly announces its $44.6 billion cash-and-stock offer to acquire Yahoo. "Microsoft's consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says in a letter to Yang and Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock. Yahoo's stock surges from a close of $19.18 the day before the offer was made public to close at $28.38.

February 4, 2008: Yahoo axes its music service to coincide with a deal made with Rhapsody.

February 11, 2008: Yahoo rejects Microsoft's offer, saying "Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo." The company would repeat this rationale several times in coming negotiations.

February 12, 2008: Yahoo's layoffs begin. … Read more

Stanford researchers invent transparent li ion battery

Like the idea of a fully transparent cell phone, e-reader, or other device?

Stanford University graduate student Yuan Yang has come up with a way to make a see-through lithium ion battery, and it could pave the way for completely see-through flexible electronics (some partially transparent gadgets already exist). Developed in conjunction with Yi Cui, a professor of photon science at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the battery would cost nearly the same as a regular battery if produced on a mass scale, the creators say.

So how does one make a see-through power source? According to Stanford News, "Yang and Cui devised a mesh-like framework for the battery electrodes, with each 'line' in the grid being approximately 35 microns wide. Light passes through the transparent gaps between the gridlines; because the individual lines are so thin, the entire meshwork area appears transparent." … Read more

The 404 808: Where we now have your credit card number (podcast)

Today we're joined by Robin Yang, a gamer that made her first CNET appearance on PreGame last year and will soon move to Seattle to work for PopCap Games, the creator of online casual games like Plants vs. Zombies, Bewjeweled, and Peggle. But before she heads out west, she's guest hosting today's show about the PlayStation hack fallout, a man arrested for singing Kung Fu fighting, the next "Terminator" film, and a Google survey about smartphones in the bathroom.

The 404 Digest for Episode 808

In the world of online gaming, the man without a credit card is king. Man arrested for singing "Kung Fu Fighting." Terminator is back, Justin Lin to direct. Google says 39% of smartphone owners use them in the bathroom. Follow Robin Yang on Twitter and Friendfeed.

Episode 808

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preGAME 09: iPad gaming roundup

This week on preGAME, we welcome special guest Robin Yang from Candystand.com to the show. Robin tells us about the highly addictive games at Candystand and walks us through one of the new titles, UMAG.

Robin is also here today to help us check out a handful of iPad games! That's right, on today's episode we're only looking at iPad video games. We demo N.O.V.A. HD, Resident Evil 4, Metal Gear Solid Touch, and Mirror's Edge. If you're thinking about getting an iPad for gaming, this is definitely the video to watch; we break down the highs and lows of iPad gaming and debate whether the system has legs as a portable console.

Also on today's show we'll chat about the new Xbox 360 memory card update that allows users to use USB cards to save games and media. Next we'll show you a new accessory from Japan that will turn your PS3 Slim into a portable system!

Ever wonder whatever happened to Duke Nukem Forever? We'll find out as we get our hands on some leaked footage of everyone's favorite game that never was. Finally, we'll look at what's possibly the most poorly conceived Sonic the Hedgehog level ever constructed. Let's hope this one doesn't make it to the final game due out this summer.… Read more

Reporters' Roundtable: Buzz vs. privacy (podcast)

Last week, Google launched Buzz, a status update tool that has elements of Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed. Google launched it inside the Gmail app, giving it an instant installed base of millions of people. More importantly, Google gave Buzz access to your Gmail contacts.

When the app first launched, it's fair to say that the Buzz app was a little too eager to use and share the details of users' personal networks. Furthermore, privacy controls for Buzz were spread over multiple configuration screens. Some necessary controls, like the off switch, were just flat-out missing.

To Google's credit, within days, the company corrected the major privacy failings of Buzz. More than once, in fact: Google tweaks Buzz privacy settings Google changes Buzz privacy settings--again

But the question remains: what was Google thinking? How did this giant search company, with more lawyers than most Web companies have engineers, get itself into a situation that required it to revise the product almost immediately after it launched? And what does the Buzz experience say about social networks and privacy on the larger scale?

That's what we're going to discuss today, and we have two great guests to do it. First, we have a taped interview with Mike Yang, senior product counsel for Google. I taped this interview earlier. Then I have a discussion with Jared Kaprove, a fellow at EPIC, The Electronic Privacy Information Center.

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