Microsoft and Yahoo are reportedly close to a search and advertising deal that could be announced next week. Microsoft executives are said to be in Silicon Valley for final talks, and CEO Steve Ballmer is reportedly monitoring their efforts.

The blog said the deal would involve "Microsoft paying Yahoo several billion dollars upfront to take over its search advertising business and guarantee certain payments back to Yahoo." That would be in line with Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz's comments in May that Yahoo was talking with Microsoft and any deal for Yahoo's search assets would require "boatloads of money."

When Om Malik of GigaOM said he was breaking up with his iPhone 5 months ago because of the failures of AT&T, I must admit, I thought he was overreacting. I was wrong.

Since I switched to AT&T from Verizon just over 2 years ago to get the iPhone (which, of course, AT&T has exclusively in the U.S.), there have been no shortage of shortcomings by AT&T. But as of late, I’ve been noticing things getting much, much worse. And I’m hardly the only one. And so it’s time to call out AT&T on those failures. And plead with Apple not to renew its exclusive contract with AT&T when it expires next year.

Verizon, as the nation’s largest carrier, is likely to give it the most resistance. But that resistance is futile. The iPhone will eventually be on Verizon, on Apple’s terms. It’s just a question of when.

Here’s why Verizon Wireless may not be so enamored with Apple:

* Verizon Wireless hasn’t been crippled even though it would happily take the iPhone. The iPhone only has meant that AT&T can sorta, kinda almost tie Verizon. AT&T ended the first quarter with 78.2 million subscribers. Verizon Wireless had 86.6 million, inflated by 13.2 million from the Alltel purchase. AT&T’s retail churn rate has improved to 1.2 percent, still behind Verizon’s 1.14 percent. The mass exodus from Verizon to AT&T just isn’t happening.
* The Apple-AT&T partnership is great marketing—for Verizon. Verizon is smiling every time one of these AT&T sucks tales emerges. Verizon Wireless can mock AT&T as long as the iPhone fans jeer.
* Verizon Wireless already has a bevy of devices that seem to be working. Granted, these devices aren’t the iPhone, but a look at the financials and churn rate indicate that Verizon Wireless can do fine without Apple.
* Perhaps the iPhone is just a network killer. RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie revealed the company’s secret sauce a few quarters back: BlackBerries are easier on wireless networks. Is Verizon Wireless really in a rush to see if the iPhone will kill its network too? Probably not when you can just mock AT&T all day.

said by sonicmerlin :

No one cares about Belgium. They're a worthless country that very few people would be sad to see broken up.