Forget the video-game console -- your TV could already have the brains to play those games. A coy Bill Gates hinted that his company might license the software underlying the Xbox to a variety of outside companies in a bid to expand its market share.
The arrangements being considered are similar to those that Microsoft has employed in the past by working with other companies, including Japanese electronics makers, to install its Windows operating system.
Microsoft plans to start selling its next-generation game machine Xbox 360 later this year while Sony plans to introduce the PlayStation 3 next spring.
Microsoft hopes the head start will cut into Sony's lead in the market, and has been trying to appeal to Japanese consumers by attracting top Japanese designers to create games for Xbox 360.
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Let's all sing together: A European Union initiative to foster EU-wide licensing of online music businesses and royalty collection is about to be released, a source close to the situation said.
At present, anyone who wants to open an online store for music has to run it country by country by approaching the royalty collector in each member state. This complexity can put people off launching new online services because of the bureaucratic maze they must navigate.
The initiative favors allowing organizations to offer a royalty collection service across the 25 member states. The paper also favors giving commercial users of music a one-stop-shop option of buying a single license that would be valid across the EU.
The Commission is expected to start a public consultation later this month with a formal proposal likely in the fall.
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Litigation: Advanced Micro Devices said it had filed two suits against Intel in Japan, seeking $55 million in damages for alleged violations of the country's antitrust laws.
The suits, filed at two courts in Tokyo, are the latest shot in a two-decade battle between Intel and AMD, which has accused its larger rival of using everything from threats to kickbacks in illegally building the world's top computer-chip business.
The latest action in Japan follows a ruling by Japan's Fair Trade Commission that Intel had violated antitrust laws by offering rebates to five PC makers that agreed either not to buy or to limit their purchases of chips made by AMD or other rivals.
AMD has accused Intel of various wrongdoings in Japan including pressuring a company not to attend a product launch for AMD products.
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Chatter: Vodafone and Microsoft's MSN unit plan to launch an instant messaging service that will allow communication between mobile phone users and computers, the companies said.
Users will be able to see the presence of their contacts and exchange instant messages between MSN Messenger on a computer and Vodafone Messenger on mobile phones and vice versa.
The service will bring together more then 165 MSN Messenger users with nearly 155 million Vodafone customers around the world, and increase traffic on their networks.
Vodafone said the service will be charged on the commonly-used mobile commercial model of "calling party pays" and contract customers would be able to pay for the service through their mobile bills.
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Compiled by David Cohn. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
