Technology Report: Olympus execs quit before showdown with ex-CEO

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	11/24/2011
Good afternoon Bit The chances of AT&T's bid for T-Mobile USA succeeding rapidly diminshed after AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in case its takeover fails. The telecommunications group and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom, said they would continue to pursue anti-trust approval for the $39 billion takeover from the Department of Justice, but withdrew for now applications to the industry regulator. Both the DOJ and the FCC oppose the deal. FCC approval would be meaningless if the DOJ blocked the transaction, and AT&T and Deutsche Telekom said they would return to the FCC process if they secured approval from the DOJ. Analysts said the merger, badly needed by sub-scale T-Mobile USA , looked less likely than ever to succeed. Microsoft is planning the first beta of its Office 15 software in January, techblog WinRumors writes. Microsoft will provide a Technology Preview of the software initially, expected at CES 2012 alongside the Windows 8 beta. Office 15 will be designed with touch at the heart of the applications. Microsoft has redesigned the general look and feel of its popular Outlook email client to make it usable by touch, pen and mouse. Internet service providers cannot be forced to block their users from downloading songs illegally, as such an order would breach EU rules, Europe's highest court said. The Luxembourg-based EU Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its verdict in a case involving Belgian music royalty collecting society SABAM and Belgian telecom operator Belgacom unit Scarlet. European consumer organization BEUC said the ruling should get authorities and companies thinking about a fairer way to provide easily accessible legal digital content for consumers. Alibaba.com, China's largest e-commerce firm, posted an 11.9 percent rise in quarterly net profit, its slowest growth in nearly two years, with the company raising concerns due to a weak trade outlook stemming from debt woes in the U.S. and Europe. The third-quarter results missed analyst forecasts and were attributed to a weak macroeconomic climate that led to a slower pace of customer additions. LATEST NEWS Olympus execs quit before showdown with ex-CEO November 24, 2011 09:39 AM ET TOKYO (Reuters) - Three executives of Japan's Olympus Corp resigned on Thursday ahead of a boardroom showdown with ousted CEO Michael Woodford, as the British whistleblower said he would not be surprised if "some criminality" were involved in the scandal engulfing the once-venerable firm. | Full Article Thailand's surreal industrial park: crocodiles but no chips November 24, 2011 05:51 AM ET AYUTTHAYA, Thailand (Reuters) - Knee-deep in foul-smelling water, workers are piling office equipment, documents and food onto fiber boats that ferry them from one building on Hana Microelectronics' 12-acre company site to another with more space on higher floors. | Full Article Most Britons oppose children having mobile phones, poll finds November 24, 2011 08:52 AM ET (Reuters) - Nearly three-quarters of Britons think it is inappropriate for children under 12 to own a mobile phone, despite the fact that most kids already have them, according to a poll on Thursday. | Full Article HTC cuts Q4 revenue growth forecast; shares tumble November 23, 2011 08:37 PM ET TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's HTC Corp cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter to no growth over the same period a year earlier from around 20 percent to 30 percent year on year growth previously, surprising the market and sending its shares tumbling 7 percent. | Full Article UK broadband providers told to come clean on speed November 24, 2011 10:28 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - British telecoms regulator Ofcom said on Thursday broadband suppliers should be clearer about how they manage traffic on their networks and the speeds users can expect to achieve. | Full Article BUSINESS NEWS Sarkozy, Merkel agree to stop sniping on ECB crisis November 24, 2011 03:55 PM ET STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - France and Germany agreed on Thursday to stop arguing in public over whether the European Central Bank should do more to rescue the euro zone from a deepening sovereign debt crisis. | Full Article European shares fall on Merkel comments November 24, 2011 02:49 PM ET LONDON (Reuters) - European shares fell for the sixth consecutive session in low volume on Thursday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel restated her position against changing the role of the European Central Bank to ease the euro zone debt crisis. | Full Article Fitch cuts Portugal rating on high debts, worse outlook November 24, 2011 11:32 AM ET LISBON (Reuters) - Fitch downgraded Portugal's credit rating to junk status on Thursday, citing large fiscal imbalances, high debts and the risks to its EU-mandated austerity program from a worsening economic outlook. | Full Article Quebec hearing lifts Maple's hopes on TMX takeover November 24, 2011 03:59 PM ET MONTREAL (Reuters) - A Canadian consortium aiming to buy the operator of the country's largest exchanges said the C$3.8 billion deal would likely win regulatory approval, its hopes boosted by a first day of hearings on Thursday. | Full Article Thanksgiving kicks off fight for holiday sales November 24, 2011 04:10 PM ET (Reuters) - The holiday shopping season is in full swing on Thursday, with retailers hoping consumers will spend big despite worries about the fragile economy and their own precarious finances. | Full Article U.S. TOP NEWS Arabs give Syria one day to agree monitors or face sanctions Egypt army picks new PM, protesters plan mass rally German bonds fall; stocks, euro vulnerable James Turley to retire as Ernst & Young CEO Russian anchor off air for finger gesture in Obama story RELATED VIDEO South Africa's waste powers homes Black Friday goes mobile Magnetic therapy helps stroke patients regain speech A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. 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