Redmond security guru explains IE vuln miss

A Microsoft insider has posted an explanation for the firm's failure to spot a critical flaw in Internet Explorer that obliged the firm to publish an out-of-sequence patch earlier this month.

Michael Howard, a principal security program manager with the software giant, explains that the flaw cropped up in a blind-spot developers weren't trained to scour for potential flaws. Human error is always a factor in developing secure code and sometimes fuzzing tools can help unearth error. Unfortunately, in this case, testing tools weren't up to the job either.

Howard explained that the flaw involved a "time-of-check-time-of-use" bug in how Internet Explorer handles data binding objects. "Memory-related [time-of-check-time-of-use, or TOCTOU] bugs are hard to find through code review," Howard writes in a post to Microsoft's Security Development Lifecycle blog. "We teach TOCTOU issues, and we teach memory corruption issues, and issues with using freed memory blocks; but we do not teach memory-related TOCTOU issues."

Automated tools that throw a range of tests data at applications in order to look for problems also came unstuck, he adds.

"In theory, fuzz testing could find this bug, but today there is no fuzz test case for this code. Triggering the bug would require a fuzzing tool that builds data streams with multiple data binding constructs with the same identifier. Random (or dumb) fuzzing payloads of this data type would probably not trigger the bug, however."

Microsoft's security testers plan to update their testing methodology in order to look more closely for the class of vulnerability exploited by the recent IE flaw. Howard's technically literate post goes on to explain how defences built into Vista and Server 2008 mitigated against the bug. The post, which provides coding examples, illustrates the inherent problems of security testing, an issue developers well away from Redmond are obliged to grapple with every day

Need a Ride? Check Your iPhone

SOON you may no longer need to stick out your thumb to catch a ride. Instead, you may get one by tapping your fingers on your iPhone.

Avego, based in Kinsale, Ireland (www.avego.com), is demonstrating an iPhone application intended to let drivers and prospective passengers connect and share rides.

When the program is available, drivers who want to offer rides will first download the app, then record their preferred route, said Sean O’Sullivan, managing director of Avego and executive chairman of Mapflow, Avego’s parent company, based in Dublin.

“You put the iPhone on the dashboard, and it records the entire trip and sends the route to our network,” he said. The system stores the route, adding it to its menu of paths and pick-up points and offering them automatically to interested riders.

Drivers must have an iPhone in order to use the service, but if passengers don’t, they will be able to look for a ride on the Avego Web site or call or send a text message, Mr. O’Sullivan said. Drivers and riders can identify one another by photographs displayed on their iPhones, as well as by PINs that verify identities and authorize the transaction.

Avego will charge 30 cents a mile, he said, with 85 percent going to the driver to recover some of the commuting costs and 15 percent to the company. All payments will be handled by automated online accounting.

It will take a while to establish a critical mass of drivers and passengers, Mr. O’Sullivan acknowledged. But he hopes that the chance to defray expenses will change the entrenched habits of many drivers who treasure their solitude. “It will require behavior changes on the part of drivers and riders,” he said.

Although there is anecdotal data that carpooling rose during the recent spike in gasoline prices, American drivers have historically preferred solo trips. About three-quarters of workers in the United States drive alone, said Dr. Mark Mather, associate vice president for domestic programs at the Population Reference Bureau, a research organization in Washington.

From 1980 to 2007, workers were carpooling in decreasing numbers, he added. About 20 percent of workers carpooled in 1980, versus just 10 percent last year. “Trip chaining — running errands on the way to and from work,” was part of the reason, he said. “You can’t do that if you are with five other people.” Dr. Mather’s figures are based on the 2007 American Community Survey of the Census Bureau.

But systems like Avego’s might work for people who don’t want to commit to a daily carpool, yet at the last moment decide that they are willing to share on a particular day, said Susan Heinrich, the 511 ride-share and bicycling coordinator at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in Oakland, Calif. (The service, which uses the 511 phone listing, offers transportation information and ride-sharing resources for nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.)

Ms. Heinrich particularly likes Avego’s combination of text messages and colorful mapping. “I also like it that passengers do not need to have an iPhone to use this system,” she said. “I would love to incorporate this technology somehow within our services in the Bay Area.”

At University College Cork in Ireland, Stephan Koch, commuter plan manager, is giving Avego a trial early next year. The university has about 17,000 students and 2,600 staff members, he said; about 70 percent of the staff members use a car to get to the campus, as do about 36 percent of the students. “But the road capacity simply isn’t there,” he said of the often clogged, tortuous commute.

Mr. Koch hopes that Avego’s system, which he calls “computer-driven hitchhiking,” will help, in conjunction with bicycling facilities, improved public transportation and other initiatives.

“This is another option for staff and students other than a single-occupancy car on their daily commute,” he said. “The second person won’t need to bring a car, and there’s one less car in the carpark and on the road.”

A FREE ride-sharing application for the iPhone, Carticipate (www.carticipate.com), was released in October, and already has had more than 10,000 downloads, said Steffen Frost, chief executive of Carticipate in San Francisco.

After you register with Carticipate and set up a profile, he said, “other people with iPhones that have the application can search for you and find you.”

A prospective passenger will see, for instance, that someone is going to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., he said, and read the profile. “If they are comfortable with that and want a ride, they can organize from there,” he said. “We are a matching service.”

Hendrik J. Hilbolling, who lives in The Hague in the Netherlands, uses Carticipate regularly. “My lover lives in France and I go there frequently,” he said. Through Carticipate, he shared one of his recent trips to Paris, as well as the expenses for the journey, with a teacher and a film director.

“Trains are expensive,” he said. “This is a nice ride, we can talk, and this way is much cheaper.”

A Gift for Your Computer

At this time of year, many people ask about the right computer to buy — the Consumer Electronics Association reports that laptops are at the top of the wish list for electronics aficionados this holiday season. But, assuming you’re gifting yourself and not another, sometimes the right answer is not to buy a new computer.

If your Toyota’s running sluggish, a tune-up might be in order. Same with a sluggish PC. Of course, there are old computers, and then there are old computers. The best maintenance can’t fix a dated processor, limited memory or inadequate storage capacity. But for computers that ran well a year or six months ago and have since bogged down, a spring (or in this case, winter) cleaning may speed up the machine.

One option I’ve come across (there are many available) is from Symantec, the PC security people, who sell Norton branded products. To promote its paid services, the company is offering a free “NortonLive PC Checkup” for Windows computers that assesses basics like the processor’s speed and performance and notes any issues, including those involving security.

Of course, that’s a teaser, but Symantec will sell PC owners a full tune-up for about $40 — which they say is close to half off the usual price — in which a technician will reach into the machine (remotely) and analyze and repair problems. The deal is good until Jan. 4. Granted, there’s not much sex appeal in that gift, but it might save you enough money for a mini-spree at Saks.

Nokia expending its device range

Nokia Saturday announced that it is expanding its device range which enables Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to all Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices.

An announcement here said that 43 Nokia devices will now feature the Mail for Exchange mobile email application, making Nokia's device range the largest ever to enable the solution chosen by more businesses than any other messaging solution.

It said that Nokia also announced Saturday that Mail for Exchange will be available out-of-the-box in future releases of Nokia Eseries and Nokia Nseries devices.


With this announcement, Nokia is enabling about 80 million mobile phone users which is the number of Nokia S60 3rd Edition converged devices shipped globally to date to connect to their email accounts on the Exchange Server.

Exchange Server 2007 provides customers with anywhere access to information, advanced built-in protection and greater operational efficiency.

`The Nokia-Microsoft collaboration to bring corporate mobile email to businesses and mobile professionals is truly unbeatable. No other device manufacturer provides the wide range of devices that we have, which immediately mobilize the hundreds of millions of email accounts from Microsoft Exchange', said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, and Nokia.

`The costs of mobility are contained as companies are able to utilize existing Microsoft Exchange infrastructure, and there is also the strong possibility that a large number of employees already have one or more of the 43 Nokia devices that enable Exchange ActiveSync'.

`Nokia is a valued partner and we are pleased they are making it easier for their approximately 80 million S60 3rd Edition customers to realize the benefits of Exchange Server', said Terry Myerson, Corporate Vice President, Exchange Server, Microsoft Corp.

`This announcement with Nokia further demonstrates the importance consumers and businesses place on accessing Exchange Server data from mobile devices in addition to traditional desktop clients. Nokia's announcement today will help give its users that access and help make them more productive'.

`We take corporate and IT security policies seriously, and a comparison study showed that the device management and security policies for devices such as the Nokia Eseries are robust', added Vanjoki.

`This should give business heads and IT managers greater confidence when choosing between device brands to mobilize their workforce'.

By connecting to the Exchange Server 2007, Mail for Exchange enables features such as Autodiscover, which drastically simplifies the set-up process by requiring the email account holder to only enter their email address, password, domain and usernames; Out of Office messaging, enabling busy professionals to set their out-of-office messages directly from their Nokia device; synchronization when roaming, a must-have feature for travelling businesspeople; and also Flag status for follow-ups.

While the Exchange ActiveSync protocol is compatible with many types of devices, Nokia device users will have access to features that are currently not available in other Exchange ActiveSync licensees' devices. Setting email priorities, alerts for meeting request conflicts, a standalone global address list application to search for a colleague's contact details quickly, downloading and editing all types of attachments, not just image files, are must-have factors that users will expect from their mobile email application.

Nokia unveils touch screen N97

Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker, has unveiled the N97; a new flagship model with a large touch screen which it hopes will bolster its smartphone offering.

The Finnish handset giant hopes the new model will inject new life into its line-up of N-series multimedia phones, a former trademark of cutting edge technology that has seen few innovations lately.


"This is really the start of the new N-series ... really kicking off the next wave," Jonas Geust, vice president of Nokia's Devices unit, told Reuters in an interview, adding touch screens and full-qwerty keyboards will be key features in the new wave of products.

"What would there be these days without touch ... Touch for this category of devices is going to be important. Qwerty is also going to be important," he said.

The battle for a bigger share of the smartphone business has heated up since Apple introduced its iPhone last year, and all vendors are seeking a bigger slice of the market, which is set to continue growing despite gloom in the wider markets.

Nokia was the last major handset maker to introduce touch screen phones following the runaway success of iPhone. Last month Nokia started to sell its first such model and it has promised to introduce touch screen models across its portfolio.

Nokia continues to dominate the global market for smartphones -- handsets with computer-like features like e-mail -- but it sold less of them in the third quarter than a year ago, losing market share to Apple and Blackberry-maker RIM.

Nokia's ailing position in the high end of the cellphone market worries investors and analysts as this is expected to weigh on the Finnish group's profit margins.

Nokia warns of falling mobile phone demand

Despite efforts on both sides of the Atlantic to kick-start consumer spending, shoppers are holding off on non-essential purchases such as new phones, Nokia has warned.

Pointing to data that showed sales of mobile phones are shrinking faster than expected as consumers are cutting spending, Nokia issued its second warning in three weeks on the state of the market for new handsets.

"Consumers are continuing dramatically to cut back their spending," Nokia chief financial officer Rick Simonson said at the company's investor day in New York, adding that he was under "no illusions" that the market would recover any time soon. " We're facing it across the world. What's recently accelerated is the slowdown in emerging markets," he said.

Nokia said handset market volumes are expected to fall by at least five per cent next year, something many analysts were already expecting. But it sees its market share rising, helping to lift its stock four percent to €11.02 (£9.58) in Europe and $13.84 (£9.43) in the US.

Some analysts are worried, however, that handset sales could fall a lot further next year, as even Nokia acknowledged that it does not have a good view of the market for 2009. Nokia's comments echo a similar warning from Samsung.

"We're surprised they didn't cut (its forecast) more for 2009," said Charter Equity Research analyst Ed Snyder. "I don't think we'll see February 1 without another cut."

In addition to ailing consumer demand, operator and retail distributors will go through a period of destocking, resulting in lower sales volumes of manufacturers than purchase volumes by consumers in the first half of 2009, Nokia said.

The mobile phone market has grown at well over 10 per cent for years, having dipped only in 2001, amid that year's economic downturn; but it will face a new challenge next year.

"Next year will be the most challenging year the mobile industry has ever faced," said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight.

But Nokia said it was in a good position to weather the downturn because of the large scale of its global business.

"2009 will be challenging for our industry; however we have a strong, enviable base to build on, and I believe we will continue to strengthen our position on many fronts," Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a statement.

"Building on our operational flexibility, Nokia is acting to reduce costs appropriately in the current slowing environment," he said.

But the company said that in the meantime fourth quarter earnings will suffer, as it has not been able to cut costs quickly enough in response to the rapid deterioration of the handset market in the last few weeks.

Analysts expect Nokia to fare better than its smaller rivals in the downturn.

"Despite the challenging environment, Nokia remains best positioned ... thanks to their economies of scale and channel strategy," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Nokia cut its forecast a day after the world's fifth and sixth largest handset makers, LG and RIM, warned on sales and profit growth. Motorola and Sony Ericsson are already struggling to make a profit.

Nokia said it expects also to win back market share in smartphones, where it has lost ground to RIM and Apple. Simonson said that the smartphone market should grow in 2009, but he did not give a specific estimate.

Say goodbye to the computer mouse

It's nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered. A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years. Taking over will be so called gestural computer mechanisms like touch screens and facial recognition devices.. "The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it's over," declared analyst Steve Prentice He told BBC News that his prediction is driven by the efforts of consumer electronics firm which are making products with new interactive interfaces inspired by the world of gaming . "You've got Panasonic showing forward facing video in the home entertainment environment. Instead of using a conventional remote control you hold up your hand and it recognises you have done that," he said. "It also recognises your face and that you are you and it will display on your TV screen your menu. You can move your hand to move around and select what you want," he added.

"Sony and Canon and other video and photographic manufacturers are using face recognition that recognises your face in real time," he said. "And it recognises even when you smile." "You even have emotive systems where you can wear a headset and control a computer by simply thinking and that's a device set to hit the market in September." "This" Mr Prentice said, "is all about using computer power to do things smarter."

Greatly exaggerated:

Naturally enough those in the business of making mice are not wholly in agreement that the end is nigh. "The death of the mouse is greatly exaggerated," said Rory Dooley senior vice president and general manager of Logitech's control devices unit. Logitech is the world's biggest manufacturer of mice and keyboards and has sold more than 500 million mice over the last 20 years. "This just proves how important a device the mouse is," said Mr Dooley. But he also agreed that the number of ways people can interact with a computers were rising and that his own company was manufacturing many of them. "People have been talking about convergence for years," he said. "Today's TV works as a computer and today's computer works as a TV. "The devices we use have been modified for our changing lifestyles but it doesn't negate the value of the mouse," Mr Dooley explained.

Popularity:

The mouse was invented by Dr Douglas Engelbart while working for the Stanford Research Institute. He never received any royalties for the invention partly because his patent ran out in 1987 before the PC revolution made the mouse indispensible. With a 40 year anniversary planned for later in the year, Mr Dooley said Gartner's prediction for the mouse was too gloomy given that the developing world has still to get online. "The mouse will be even more popular than it is today as a result," he suggested. "Bringing technology, education and information to these parts of the world will be done by accessing web browsers and doing that in the ways that we are familiar with today and that is using a mouse. "There are around one billion people online but the world's population is over five billion," he said.

Gesturing

So just how ready are people to wave their hands in the air or make faces at devices with embedded video readers? Gartner's Mr Prentice says millions are already doing it thanks to machines like Nintendo's Wii and smartphones like the iPhone. "With the Wii you point and shake and it vibrates back at you so you have a two-way relationship there. "The new generation of smart phones like the iPhone all now have tilting mechanisms or you can shake the device to do one or more things. "Even the multi-touch interface is so much more powerful and flexible than in the past allowing you to zoom in, scroll quickly or contract images." For those who lament the demise of such tried and tested pieces of hardware, Mr Prentice did concede that the keyboard was here to stay for the foreseeable future. "For all its faults, the keyboard will remain the primary text input device," he said. "Nothing is easily going to replace it. But the idea of a keyboard with a mouse as a control interface is the paradigm that I am talking about breaking down."

Nokia expending its device range

Nokia Saturday announced that it is expanding its device range which enables Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to all Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices.An announcement here said that 43 Nokia devices will now feature the Mail for Exchange mobile email application, making Nokia's device range the largest ever to enable the solution chosen by more businesses than any other messaging solution.It said that Nokia also announced Saturday that Mail for Exchange will be available out-of-the-box in future releases of Nokia Eseries and Nokia Nseries devices.
With this announcement, Nokia is enabling about 80 million mobile phone users which is the number of Nokia S60 3rd Edition converged devices shipped globally to date to connect to their email accounts on the Exchange Server.Exchange Server 2007 provides customers with anywhere access to information, advanced built-in protection and greater operational efficiency.`The Nokia-Microsoft collaboration to bring corporate mobile email to businesses and mobile professionals is truly unbeatable. No other device manufacturer provides the wide range of devices that we have, which immediately mobilize the hundreds of millions of email accounts from Microsoft Exchange', said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Markets, and Nokia.`The costs of mobility are contained as companies are able to utilize existing Microsoft Exchange infrastructure, and there is also the strong possibility that a large number of employees already have one or more of the 43 Nokia devices that enable Exchange ActiveSync'.`Nokia is a valued partner and we are pleased they are making it easier for their approximately 80 million S60 3rd Edition customers to realize the benefits of Exchange Server', said Terry Myerson, Corporate Vice President, Exchange Server, Microsoft Corp.`This announcement with Nokia further demonstrates the importance consumers and businesses place on accessing Exchange Server data from mobile devices in addition to traditional desktop clients. Nokia's announcement today will help give its users that access and help make them more productive'.`We take corporate and IT security policies seriously, and a comparison study showed that the device management and security policies for devices such as the Nokia Eseries are robust', added Vanjoki.`This should give business heads and IT managers greater confidence when choosing between device brands to mobilize their workforce'.By connecting to the Exchange Server 2007, Mail for Exchange enables features such as Autodiscover, which drastically simplifies the set-up process by requiring the email account holder to only enter their email address, password, domain and usernames; Out of Office messaging, enabling busy professionals to set their out-of-office messages directly from their Nokia device; synchronization when roaming, a must-have feature for travelling businesspeople; and also Flag status for follow-ups.While the Exchange ActiveSync protocol is compatible with many types of devices, Nokia device users will have access to features that are currently not available in other Exchange ActiveSync licensees' devices. Setting email priorities, alerts for meeting request conflicts, a standalone global address list application to search for a colleague's contact details quickly, downloading and editing all types of attachments, not just image files, are must-have factors that users will expect from their mobile email application.

Wireless overtakes wired LAN in the enterprise

Corporate adoption of Wi-Fi is growing at such a rate that is now outstripping sales of wired Ethernet installations, according to research released today.

The study of 400 European IT directors, commissioned by Motorola, revealed that in 54 per cent of the enterprises surveyed, spending on wireless infrastructure now outstrips wired LAN investment.

"With budgets being squeezed, companies in every industry sector are looking for ways to become more efficient. It is therefore no surprise that the trend is towards all wireless networks," said Marco Landi, acting vice president and general manager of Motorola’s enterprise mobility business in Europe.

The growth in wireless LAN investment in the enterprise can be attributed to a number of reasons. Confidence in the technology is increasing thanks to faster standards such as draft n and better wireless security, companies also like the ease of deployment, as installing wireless access points does not require the installation of cable trunking or pulling up floors. Finally, wireless offers more flexibility – temporary networks and extensions can be created quickly and easily by existing IT staff.

IT directors in the UK consider wireless LAN deployment to be primarily strategic, with 72 per cent of them highlighting strategic issues as their main reason for deploying.

The research also revealed that 88 per cent of companies expect all their networked equipment to be wireless, or at least wireless-enabled, within three years.

IT directors were also surveyed on the concerns and issues associated with having a fully wireless network.

Security was cited by 63 per cent as the prime concern, followed by network performance by 43 per cent. Ensuring that all data passing over the network is handled efficiently and reliability is a major concern, especially as video and Voice over IP (VoIP) becomes more widespread in the enterprise.

Nokia N96

They say that all good things come to those who wait. And, nothing drums up a bit of excitement than the build up that comes with the so-called next big thing.

We’ve been itching to get our hands on the N96 since its Finnish parent Nokia first uttered its moniker way back in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We adored the N95 8GB both as a work tool and in our out-of-hours guises as consumers, so the expectations as to what the N96 would behold were incredibly high.

We’re pleased to say Nokia hasn’t disappointed. Granted, the handset is not perfect; there are a few quirks and gripes we have with it, but in the main, it’s a well constructed piece of hardware that has the kind of software and feature set that will keep business people happy and – more importantly connected to the office and associated documents – and provide that all important entertainment factor at the same time.

Let’s take a top level drill down of what there is to like and dislike about the N96 before dissecting the latest N-Series in more detail.

The five megapixel camera, ample storage, BBC iPlayer, a nice to use user interface and other multimedia features all sit firmly on the hit list. The phone’s bulk, slightly chunky retro looks, lack of camera lens cover and the current situation with the mobile TV standard DVB-H all get the thumbs down in our opinion.

Since the big but beautiful – and wonderful – iPhone 3G came along, mobile users have been forgiving when it comes to a bit of excess baggage on devices. In the business space at least, functionality remains king but style is also a deal breaker – there’s nothing so bad as pulling out a brick-like museum piece in front of business prospects or co-workers when they’ve got something futuristic.

Ozone pollution more dangerous

It’s not just the elderly who are vulnerable to the ill effects of air pollution, new research suggests.

In a study of 2.7 million deaths across 48 US cities, researchers found that death rates tended to rise on days when ozone pollution increased — with the older adults being most at risk. However, while age was the strongest risk factor, there was also evidence that older women were more vulnerable to ozone pollution than older men were, and blacks were more vulnerable than other racial groups.


People with atrial fibrillation — a heart rhythm disturbance common in older adults — were also at increased risk of dying on days with poor air quality.The study, conducted by Mercedes Medina-Ramon and Joel Schwartz of the Harvard School of Public Health, adds to evidence linking daily ozone increases to spikes in death rates.

It also suggests that even moderately elevated levels of ozone may be hazardous for certain vulnerable people. The difference in pollution-related death rates between the elderly and young, for example, was much greater in cities that typically had relatively low ozone levels than in cities with generally high ozone concentrations.

This suggests that at high levels, ozone has a more uniform effect on death rates, the researchers explain in the journal ‘Epidemiology’. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with pollutants from cars, factories and other sources, and is the main component of smog. Ozone levels are typically highest in the summer.

Ozone pollution can cause inflammation in the airways and exacerbate respiratory ills like asthma and emphysema or other chronic diseases like heart disease. Because the elderly are more likely to have pre-existing medical conditions, they are also more vulnerable to the dangers of poor air quality.

In this study, each ozone increase of 10 parts per billion was linked to a 0.65 percent increase in the overall death rate. Among adults older than 65, that figure was 1.1 percent. The reasons for the disparities between races and sexes are not clear, according to the researchers. They note, however, that one study of young adults found that black volunteers tended to have more breathing problems in response to ozone exposure. The current findings, according to the researchers, may help lay the groundwork for air quality standards that better protect vulnerable people.

Google Earth for iPhone

Google on Monday brought the popular Google Earth application to Apple's iPhone, allowing users to fly around the globe with just a touch of the screen.

Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod Touch is available for free in 18 languages and 22 countries through the iTunes App Store, Google said in a posting on the official blog of the Mountain View, California-based company.

"With just a swipe of your finger you can fly from Peoria to Paris to Papua New Guinea, or anywhere in between," the posting said.


"It may be small, but it brings all the power of Google Earth to the palm of your hand, including all of the same global imagery and 3D terrain," it added.

Just by touching the screen, a user can move from point to point around the world, zooming in or out by pinching the screen and tilting the device to get a 3D view of mountainous terrain.

The "My Location" feature instantly shows a user's real world location while Google Local Search helps locate nearby places, businesses and landmarks.

More than eight million photos pictures of landmarks and scenery are integrated into the phone allowing users to take a "virtual tour" of the world.

The Google Earth application also includes links to Wikipedia articles.

Yahoo tells Microsoft: 'Buy us'

Yahoo said the "For Sale" sign is still on its front lawn and that Microsoft should buy the company.

The internet portal's co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang made the comment despite the fact Yahoo rejected a $33 (£21) a share offer from Microsoft back in May.

Mr Yang's suggestion also came hours after Google pulled out of an internet advertising partnership with Yahoo. "To this day the best thing for Microsoft to do is buy Yahoo," said Mr Yang.


"I don't think that is a bad idea at all, at the right price whatever that price is. We're willing to sell the company," he told a packed ballroom at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.

During the on stage conversation in front of a standing-room only crowd, Mr Yang was asked why the company did not take the $33 a share offered back in the summer. The company's share price closed Wednesday below $14 (£8.80) a share.

"They walked away from a public offering and we were ready to negotiate. We wanted to negotiate a deal. We felt we weren't that far apart.

"At the end of the day, they withdrew and they have since been clear about not wanting to buy the company," explained Mr Yang in a rare public appearance.

Microsoft did however come back and offer to buy the search part of Yahoo, but a deal was never struck.

Again Mr Yang said the offer then was not good enough but he still remained open to persuasion.

"As far as a search deal goes, we are open-minded about it. The last time we felt the deal was not a good one for the company but that doesn't mean we won't do one."

When asked if any negotiations were pending with the software giant, Mr Yang said "There is no new news."

Microsoft declined to comment.

And when quizzed about a possible deal with AOL, Mr Yang played coy with his host John Battelle.

"Buying AOL? I can't talk about that, John. If I told you I would have to kill you."

'Disappointed'

While Yahoo is still holding the door open to Microsoft, Google closed one earlier in the day on a deal the two companies had struck up over search advertising.

After four months of scrutiny from the Department of Justice, Google decided to back out of the agreement it had made to provide advertising around the internet portal's search results.
jerry yang

It had been estimated that the venture would have been worth around $800m (£500m) a year to Yahoo.

"Pressing ahead risked not only a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners," said Google's chief counsel David Drummond.

Mr Yang said he was "disappointed that they [Google] didn't want to defend this deal."

But he felt that in his mind, the government scuppered it.

"I really thought the government in this case does not understand our industry. They have a market definition that I think is too narrow and I think things like this tend to have unintended consequences for our entire industry.

"So I clearly don't agree with what the viewpoint is, but they are the government and they can decide on these things."

Mr Yang pointed out that the Google partnership was not crucial to its bottom line and that it was "incremental" to its overall growth plans.

Jerry Yang to quit as Yahoo boss

Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo, is to stand down as the internet portal's chief executive officer. His departure follows lengthy criticism of his stewardship of the company, which has seen its share price collapse to about $10. Earlier in the year he fought off a hostile takeover bid from Microsoft which offered $33 a share. Mr Yang also told the workforce that he would be participating in the search for his successor.

"I will always do what is right for this great company," Mr Yang wrote in an e-mail to employees. The BBC was told that Mr Yang made the decision to leave as chief executive officer last month. No names were given as to who will succeed him.

	The company, based in Sunnyvale, California, said it is interviewing candidates inside and outside Yahoo in a search led by chairman Roy Bostock. "Jerry and the board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level," said Mr Bostock.
Low shares

Earlier this month at the recent Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Mr Yang surprised the industry when he told conference attendees that Microsoft should still buy the company. "I don't think it's a bad idea at all, at the right price whatever that price is. We're willing to sell the company," he told a packed audience.
The declaration came hours after Google had pulled out of an internet advertising deal with Yahoo amid increasing scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

	Mr Yang said he was "disappointed" Google had pulled out of the partnership. Mr Yang's e-mail to employees ended with the words: "All of you know that I have always and will always bleed purple" - in reference to the predominant colour on the company's logo.
Yahoo's shares closed on Monday at $10.63, giving the company a valuation of only $14.7bn.

NASA mission to study of Jupiter

On Monday, NASA announced that it is planning to launch a mission, titled Juno, to conduct a large-scale survey of our solar system's biggest planet.

According to NASA, the new mission will involve an unmanned spacecraft that is planned for an August 2011 launch onboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

It is expected that the rocket will reach its destination, orbit around Jupiter, in 2016.


Once there, the plan is for the spacecraft to orbit Jupiter 32 times over the course of a year at a distance of around 3,000 miles above the planet's cloud tops.

NASA said this would be the first solar-powered spacecraft expected to be able to perform its duties so far from the sun. Jupiter is more than four times farther away from the sun as Earth, a total of around 400 million miles.

The spacecraft would feature an advanced camera as well as a series of scientific instruments designed to inspect Jupiter's surface. Among the things NASA hopes the mission will discover or explore are the existence of an ice-rock core, the planet's strong magnetic field, and its aurora borealis.

NASA did not say how much the Juno mission is expected to cost, nor whether the project is already fully funded, and a call for comment wasn't immediately returned.