January 16, 2009

Top 10: Bartz in at Yahoo, Apple's Jobs out until June

This week's roundup of the top tech news stories includes Yahoo's new chief, Steve Jobs taking a leave of absence, tech giant job cuts, Windows Azure tools updates, and more

Yahoo tapped Carol Bartz as its new CEO and in her first press conference she let it be known that the outside world is not calling the shots at her company. While she settled in to her new gig, Apple CEO Steve Jobs started a six-month medical leave, announcing that the health issues he publicly disclosed last week are more complicated than he thought they would be. Otherwise, the drumbeat of bad news related to the economy continued, with Nortel Networks going bankrupt, Google cutting services and jobs, and reports that Microsoft will announce big layoffs next week.

[ Video: Catch up on all the news from CES with the World Tech Update ]

1. Bartz won't rush into Microsoft deal: Former Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz was named Yahoo CEO Tuesday and in her first press conference in the new job she said that Yahoo needs to be allowed to set its own course. "More than anything, let's give this company some friggin' breathing room," she told reporters in a conference call. "It's been too crazy, everybody on the outside deciding what Yahoo should do, shouldn't do, what's best for them. That's gonna stop."

2. Jobs to take leave of absence until June: Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence until June, saying that "during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought." Jobs issued a rare public letter last week saying that the weight he lost over last year owed to a hormonal imbalance. His thin appearance has led to ongoing speculation about his health given that he had treatment for pancreatic cancer several years ago. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will take over day-to-day operations during Jobs' leave.

3. Microsoft-Nortel relationship again under the microscope: Financially ailing vendor Nortel Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leading to questions about the viability of the company long term and whether customers will stick by North America's largest telecommunications equipment vendor, which is based in Toronto. The filing also calls into question the stability of Nortel's four-year deal with Microsoft, which the companies signed in 2006.

4. Google prunes popular services from its portfolio and Google will lay off 100 recruiters, shift to fewer sites: Google is eliminating or ending support for a number of its less popular free Web-based services as it aims to redistribute engineering resources. The company is also laying off 100 recruiters and shutting engineering offices in Texas, Norway and Sweden to cope with the lousy economy.

Close

On Twitter now

Networking

Powered by Twitter

On Twitter now

additional resources
White Paper - How to Improve Delivery of Advanced Web Applications

White Paper

Virtual Workforce: The Key to Expanding The Business While Cutting Costs

Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.

Go inside:
The three-step approach to making a virtual workforce a reality.
The four flavors of client virtualization technologies.
The three key initiatives that solve IT challenges.
Download now »
White Paper: Successfully Secure Your Wireless LAN With Wi-Fi firewalls.

White Paper

Addressing Linux Threats Leveraging Fewer Resources

The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.

Download now »
White Paper - The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

White Paper

The 2009 Handbook of Application Delivery

Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.

Download now »
White Paper - Is Your Backup System Outdated?

White Paper

Mid-range Storage Considerations

A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.

Download now »

Sign up to receive Networking Resource Alerts

Subscribe to the Today's Headlines: First Look Newsletter

Find out what will be news for the day, with our first-thing-in-the-morning briefing.

©1994-2010 Infoworld, Inc.