Opera Software has released a beta of version 4 of its popular Opera Mini browser for mobile phones, which integrates features the company designed for its Nintendo Wii browser. Now, users can see an entire Web page in "overview mode" and zoom in to specific parts.

When zooming, Opera Mini snaps to content so scrolling is smooth. A virtual mouse cursor aids users in moving down a page and selecting links, although the software resizes text and images to reduce the amount of scrolling required.

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After what may have been the weakest show of support for the company's executive team in last week's shareholders' meeting, Terry Semel has resigned the post of CEO of Yahoo this afternoon, as has accepted the post of non-executive chairman of the company's board of directors. The company's co-founder and "co-chief Yahoo," Jerry Yang will take Semel's place, in a move apparently intended to return the company to its roots as a pioneer of Internet technologies.

Semel's departure marks another failure for former media executives at the helm of Internet companies, having spent nearly a quarter-century prior to Yahoo at Warner Bros., most recently as co-CEO.

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It has been a very long road for the development of a wireless device connectivity standard that could go global - that would let, for instance, a Bluetooth device in one continent pair with the same computer over the same frequency, when it travels to another continent.

Four years ago, the electronics industry standards body IEEE first convened a task group to develop a worldwide standard for ultra wideband (UWB) wireless devices. A year and a half ago, the group literally gave up trying, and its various members went three separate ways.

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Don't expect a patent deal between Microsoft and Ubuntu Linux distributor Canonical anytime soon.

The company's CEO said in a post on his personal Web log over the weekend that despite the rumors, there are no negotiations with the Redmond company. Furthermore, he took issue with Microsoft's threats of patent lawsuits for unspecified patents.

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Apple said Monday that the estimated battery life of the iPhone will be about two hours longer than initially anticipated, along with its plastic face being upgraded to optical-quality glass.

Battery life is a common complaint when it comes to smartphones, and often heavy users of the devices need to carry a second battery to make it through a complete day's work. With the upgrade, its phone supports eight hours of talk time, and six hours worth of data, Apple said.

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Video over the Internet is one more major market where Microsoft finds itself a major player but not the only player, and certainly where the entrenched players are very wary about its capability to muscle in and potentially control key segments. But Microsoft's recent successes in the IPTV field have thus far failed to guarantee its seat in that market, especially in Europe where digital video is far more widely deployed.

So this morning's announcement of Microsoft's new brand for IPTV services - now called Mediaroom, its fourth sixth brand to date after "WebTV," "UltimateTV", "Microsoft TV," "TV2," and "Microsoft IPTV" - is undoubtedly being dissected in Europe, with every sentence being re-examined to glean any hint of the company's long-term plans.

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Sprint on Monday introduced the Mogul, the company's first Windows Mobile 6 device that will support its enhanced EV-DO Revision A network.

Out of the box, the phone will support the current network, although Sprint said it would enable the faster Revision A through a software upgrade. The Mogul -- built by manufacturer HTC -- replaces the PPC-6700, its bulkier predecessor.

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Microsoft launched its redesigned mobile portal on Monday, which adds some new functionality in an effort to get ahead of its competitors in a growing market. The new portal automatically shows the best version of the site based on the type of browser and device accessing it, and includes links to sports, news, and entertainment features as well as links to Windows Live services such as e-mail, search, maps, and IM.

While the initial version of MSN Mobile does not include advertising, consumers can expect to see text and banner ads in the future, the company said. In addition, the new version of MSN Mobile also includes technology that automatically renders standard pages in formats suitable for mobile phones.

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Yahoo's Japanese arm said Monday that it had entered into an agreement with Apple to direct searchers for music at the search company's Japanese portal to tracks on iTunes Japan. In addition, the two companies are working on bringing exclusive content from artists featured on Apple's music store to Yahoo's web properties.

While Yahoo does operate its own music service in the US, Y! Music Unlimited, it is not available in Japan. By tapping into the popular iTunes music service, Yahoo is aiming to draw more users to its service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Sony has decided to give up on the music and video download business, choosing to focus on its struggling PlayStation group instead. The closing of Connect would also mean the loss of at least 20 jobs, paidcontent.org reported over the weekend.

Only the eBooks division of the service will remain, with any employees left over from the transition being reassigned to work on the PlayStation. The change also reflects the climate of the digital music industry, where Apple has a near stranglehold on the market.

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For over a year now, the retail high-definition market has been looking for a signal from places on high of any tipping of the scales, any crack in the dam that will help consumers make the ultimate choice in high-definition movie format investment: Should they invest in Blu-ray or HD DVD? This morning, such a signal may have finally come: US movie rental giant Blockbuster announced that 18% of its retail outlets will expand their offerings to include Blu-ray titles only, at least for now.

For retailers like Blockbuster, the problem has been one of real estate. Blockbuster and its online competitor Netflix can continue to expand their virtual storefront to include as many Blu-ray and HD DVD titles as studios decide to produce.

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Apple's next moves may be into the on-board automobile computer segment, German magazine Focus reported on Sunday. The system combines communications, maintenance, and navagation functionality into a single unit and will initially be offered in select Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The first of these Apple-equipped vehicles will likely come in 2009, and Mercedes will have a six-month period of exclusivity. Although firm details on exactly what the system includes were not divulged, the article says the mapping functionality will likely be powered by Google Maps.

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Certainly no one likes spyware -- perhaps not even its creators, if they also happen to be its victims -- so since mid-May, a trio of bills have been introduced. All three will face the Senate next week, including two competing versions passed by the House, and an entirely new Senate bill whose ink isn't even dry enough for its prototype language to enter the Congressional Record.

With Americans' approval levels of Congress' job performance at 23% and plummeting, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this week, both houses are looking to assume a leadership role on smaller, easier to swallow issues than funding the war in Iraq and heading off inflation at home.

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Saying the functionality within the application is now available through other programs and within Windows Vista, Microsoft has decided to discontinue its Digital Image Suite Product, a notice on its Web site reads. Remaining products will be sold through retail outlets while supplies last, and the company will support users of the applications for up to three years from date of purchase or April 30, 2010, whichever is first.

Microsoft's application was a competitor of Adobe Photoshop Elements, a much-trimmed down version of its flagship Photoshop product. The company also recently has launched Expression Studio, which includes Expression Design, a professional illustration and graphic design tool. Windows Vista offers similar functionality to Digital Image, however with far fewer options.

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Microsoft fired back at Google's attempts to have antitrust regulators take a second look at Vista's search capabilities, calling the search giant's claims "baseless." Google has issues with a feature in the next generation operating system that allows users to search their hard drives. The company claims it does not allow for competition from other search providers.

In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stressed that the company continues to comply with all restrictions handed down by the US government regarding Windows. "We think all claims to the contrary are baseless," he was reported by Reuters in response to a question on the matter.

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