Yahoo seems to be moving forward in any direction which can scare the bejeezus out of Microsoft. This move, however, I actually adore and think is wonderful. Search Monkey especially is a great idea.

Quoted: Yahoo's CTO Ari Balogh and Chief Architect (Platforms) Neal Sample filled in a few more details today around their new Yahoo Open Strategy ...

Let me translate the letter Ballmer just sent to the Yahoo Board of Directors:

"Bitches. I've given you two months. Step up or prepare to be DOOMED."

Quoted: Microsoft (MSFT) struck while yesterday's propaganda campaign was hot, issuing a direct ultimatum to Yahoo (YHOO): The ultimatum came in the form of a letter from Steve Ballmer to Yahoo's board, and the message was this: Sign merger agreement in three weeks, or we will cut bid and go directly to shareholders.

redotting: Matt.

Some really great demos of Microsoft products.

I agree with Mark Cuban on this one. Yahoo needs to sell to Microsoft to make the most of its promise to employees and investors. The buyout offer is really strong.

Office 2008 for Mac will have iPhone sync capabilities built in. I am looking forward to when Apple actually announces their licensing of the Microsoft AppleSync protocol (mentioned at the bottom of this story post).

Quoted: Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley's blog covers the products, people and strategies that make Microsoft tick.

A great profile in the NYT about Andy Rubin, head of the gPhone initiative at Google.

Quoted: With battle lines being drawn for dominance in the smartphone market, Google is placing its mobile bets in the hands of Andy Rubin.

Ars Technica exhibits its excellence once again and posts a wonderfully detailed look at the new Leopard OS for Mac. I picked up my family pack license but havevn't performed the install yet. That's my big plan for tonight, getting it installed on both my machines and seeing if the "Back to my Mac" feature works well enough to stream all my music from my home machine, wherever I'm at. We'll see!

30 Gig Zunes on Woot today for $99.99. iPod fan or not, that's a great price on a nice video and MP3 player.

Speculation about the forthcoming Google phone. I'm excited to see what they do, especially with HTC as a partner. Google has the oomph to really change things in this industry. It might make sense to strike while all the iPhoners are pissed about the lack of hackability.

Quoted: Quiet Taiwanese company could become Google phone partner.