Margins Check: Microsoft moves, tech wars

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.
–Microsoft Corp. stunned many last week when it announced a $44.6 billion, unsolicited offer for Yahoo Inc. The deal was seen by many as an attempt to compete more directly with Internet giant Google Inc. in the increasingly competitive online advertising space. While Yahoo this week spurned the offer, both Microsoft and Yahoo are heavy players in mobile and the proposed deal could highlight a big shift in how the traditional computing and Internet players view wireless.
–The ongoing standards battle between Blue-ray and HD-DVD in the next-generation DVD space, which appears to be coming down on the side of the Blue-ray camp, could be a harbinger for the expected battle among 4G wireless technologies. While both sides in the Blue-ray/HD-DVD case had their pros and cons, all the supporting parties involved knew only one could survive. Backers of LTE, WiMAX and UMB should heed the model and be prepared for the industry-defining battle.