Hong  Kong  (CNN) – When Internet giant Yahoo bought a 40% piece of Chinese business-to-business online company Alibaba in 2005, the $1 billion deal was hailed as a unique coup for the U.S. web site – and a quick way to get a stronger toehold among China’s then-100 million online users.

What a difference seven years makes.

In recent months Yahoo has seen its CEO Carol Bartz and founder Jerry Yang shown the door, followed this week of four board members – including the chairman – departing, as shareholders lose patience with the firm’s performance.
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(CNN) - Facebook, which launched its blockbuster initial public offeringWednesday, is the undisputed social media king of the U.S. and Europe.

But as the West approaches saturation point with the site, Facebook is looking to emerging markets like Brazil and India to fuel its next stage of growth.

The company seeks to raise up to $5 billion, according to documents filed Wednesday. That represents the largest global IPO ever by an Internet-focused company, according to data from Dealogic. Google's $1.9 billion debut is currently the largest U.S. Internet IPO.
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UPDATE: It's official. Late Wednesday Facebook filed paperwork for a $5 billion IPO. And the company reveals for the first time how much cash its making. Read more here.

(CNN) – The Facebook IPO, or initial public offering, promises to be “the holy grail” of tech IPOs, possibly the biggest ever.

Reports in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times suggest the company is seeking to raise $5 billion – more than double Google’s $1.7 billion IPO in 2004, which remains the largest tech IPO in history, according to Renaissance Capital.

Facebook readies for blockbuster IPO

CNN’s Christine Romans explains IPOs, and what it means for Facebook.
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New York (CNN) – Wished you had paid a little more attention in computer class? Learned to do more than just surf Facebook? You are not alone.

While companies and governments have been shedding jobs and paring back benefits, tech job openings continue to soar. According to Fortune magazine, software developers who specialize in applications will rise by over 30% by 2018. Jobs for computer system analysts will jump 20%.

And the pay is good – average salaries are around $94,000 a year.
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London (CNN) – Who owns a Twitter name and the followers that go with it? Such an obvious question, but suddenly one that has companies and lawyers scratching around to reach an answer.

It seems obvious if it's just your own name and you use it for purely personal purposes but what about if the account is also used to help promote your employer’s business?

Noah Kravitz posted tweets under the name @phoneDog_Noah but changed when he left the employ of PhoneDog which is now suing him for damages for the 17,000 followers, claiming they belong to the company. They are claiming $2.50 per month for every follower.

This has every one of us who tweets as part of our personal and working life scratching our heads and thinking about it. Who does have the right to benefit from my Twitter followers' names?

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(CNN) – Given a choice between internet access or keys to a car, which would you choose?

According to new research, it’s more of a toss-up for young adults. That not only marks a generational divide between lifestyle choices for Generation X and Gen-Y, but could have a knock-on effect for how future cars are developed, the study author says.

It also speaks to a new study on why more traffic deaths in the U.S. are a result of using phones or portable electronic devices while driving.

When posed with the dilemma of choosing between access to your car and access to the Internet, 46% of all 18-to-24-year-old drivers in the U.S. surveyed said they would choose the Internet and give up their cars.
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Hong Kong (CNN) – China's mighty industrial machine is stalling. New figures today show something that will be worrying authorities.

First the broad numbers: An index put together by HSBC – with no government input - shows a reading in November of 48. Anything over 50 shows that factories are increasing production, under 50 they are cutting back.

The figure is perhaps not surprising given that China's two big export regions, Europe and the U.S., are in deep trouble. But it's not exports that are drying up, it is local demand. And that could be a problem.

Export orders actually grew in November, while domestic demand shrank as a result of all the moves taken by the Chinese authorities over the last 18 months to cool the overheating property market.

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Hong Kong (CNN) – China has surpassed the U.S. last quarter to become the world’s largest market for smartphones, according to a report by Strategy Analytics.

In the third quarter of this year, smartphone shipments were just shy of 24 million units, up 58%, according to the report released Wednesday. In the same quarter, smartphone units shipped in the U.S. fell 7% to 23.3 million units.

Nokia leads the smartphone market with a 28% share in China, followed by Samsung with a 17.6% share. HTC is the top maker in the U.S. with 24% market share, followed by Apple with just over 20%, according to the report. The U.S. still leads the world in smartphone sales by revenue, the authors of the report note.
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London, England (CNN) – Mobile phone giant Nokia unveiled two new smartphones in London Wednesday as it sought to boost its flagging fortunes in the booming market.

The Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 - Nokia's first handsets using the Windows Phone operating system - are the company's attempt to gain traction in the smartphone market, dominated by Apple's iPhones and Google's Android operating system.

As he revealed the Lumia 800 Nokia, Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the company was "signaling our intent right now here today to be today's leaders in smartphone design and craftsmanship."
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(CNN) – While it lacked the winding queues and applause normally associated with an Apple launch, the release of Steve Jobs' authorized biography still made a splash.

It hit stores earlier than planned, as publishers Simon & Schuster moved to meet the wave of public interest in Jobs following his death. Before it was even unveiled, the book was a blockbuster. FULL POST