Microsoft News Tracker

Associated Press:

Facebook, an Internet-based social networking site, is in “serious” talks to sell itself to Yahoo Inc. for a pricetag that could approach $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook had separate discussions with suitors Microsoft Corp. and Viacom Inc. in the past year as well, the newspaper said.

Even if Microsoft isn’t currently in the running, a Yahoo acquisition will clearly put a damper on Microsoft’s big Facebook ad deal announced at the end of August. However, Michael Arrington at Techcrunch casts a jaundiced eye on the report:

We’ve been through all of this before with Facebook, back in March. There isn’t much in the WSJ article to suggest that the talks are serious other than the unnamed source they cite.

Some eccentricities of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are also revealed.

TheStreet.com:

Nokia struck a deal with Microsoft that will enable consumers to access Live Search directly from their Nokia Nseries multimedia computers and other compatible S60 devices.

I wouldn’t get too excited though, since Nokia traditionally has a big tent and as Reuters notes, had earlier done a similar deal with Yahoo.

Reuters:

Two U.S. software firms are asking the European Commission to take action against Microsoft’s new Vista operating system, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Adobe Systems has told EU regulators that Microsoft should be banned from incorporating free competing software for reading and creating electronic documents with Vista, the paper said, quoting people familiar with the situation.

Anti-virus software maker Symantec will send officials to Brussels next week to brief journalists about features of Vista that it has told EU regulators will undercut rival makers of computer security software, the paper said.

Symantec confirms that two executives will be in Brussels next week to discuss Vista and security with the press and since you don’t need to go to Brussels to have a news conference, presumably there’s something there. Adobe representatives weren’t available to comment, but they have a long running antitrust beef with both Office 2007 and Vista.