Microsoft nears Skype takeover bid

Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype in what could be the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history, according to a published report, writes the Associated Press.

If Microsoft does buy Skype, The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal could be valued at $8.5 billion, including assumed debt.

At that price, a Skype takeover would top Microsoft's biggest previous acquisition - a $6 billion purchase of the online ad service aQuantive in 2007. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Journal said Microsoft could reveal an agreement with Skype as early as Tuesday.

Sony execs are mulling the possibility of offering bounties for any information that leads to the arrests of hackers who breached its network, according to The Register.

The unspecified reward might be only offered by Sony through the FBI in a bid to tease out information on a security breach that affected as many as 100 million customers, All Things Digital says.

No firm decision has been taken on the Wild West-style bounty idea, it adds. The entertainment giant is slowly restoring its PlayStation Network and Online Entertainment service in the aftermath of high-profile hack attacks which spilled personal details of 77 million PlayStation Network gamers and 25 million users of its Online Entertainment services.

YouTube is beefing up its roster of movies for “rent” online in the US to woo viewers away from television and take on booming Internet service Netflix, reports AFP.

“You're spending just 15 minutes a day on YouTube, and spending five hours a day watching TV,” YouTube head Salar Kamangar said on Monday, in a post at the Google-owned video-sharing Web site.

“As the lines between online and offline continue to blur, we think that's going to change.” In addition to expanding its online movie roster, YouTube was increasing support for “partners” who create amateur clips that are attracting 'TV-sized' audiences at the Web site, according to Kamangar.

Huawei is planning to unveil a range of high-end smartphones under its own brand in the next 12 months, as the Chinese firm seeks to carve out a name in the handset market, reports V3.co.uk.

Huawei has previously made devices for other brands to customise, and concentrates mainly on the feature phone market. But it will now unveil a range of high-end devices during 2011 and early 2012.

Richard Brennan, Huawei's vice-director for industry standards, says the company is keen to improve awareness of its brand among mobile users in the consumer and business markets.