Microchip advance from Intel, AMD

Intel is set to capitalize on a new breakthrough in microchip technology more quickly than rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), but analysts say the advantage will be temporary.

Intel and IBM both said Friday they had solved a vexing electricity-leakage problem in microchips. AMD is a research partner of IBM.

The two chip makers plan to replace silicon with hafnium in parts of the semiconductor. The metal, used in the nuclear industry, will create an insulator thicker than silicon, reducing leakage.

While hailed as the biggest breakthrough in transistor design in four decades, the advances do not alter the product roadmaps for the two companies, which call for their chips to shrink every two years.

Intel said the advances will be used later this year when it shrinks existing chip designs to smaller dimensions, meaning they will run faster and use less power.

AMD is not expected to include the technology in its processors until 2008, coinciding with its next product shrink.

Verizon Wireless

Distribution offer for iPhone spurned

Verizon Wireless passed on the chance to be the exclusive distributor of the iPhone almost two years ago, balking at Apple's demands.

Apple had wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, a say over how and where iPhones could be sold, and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president.

Verizon's decision to pull the plug on talks sent Apple to Cingular, which will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone. The multifunction device is expected to ship in June and cost about $500.

Apple and Cingular (now solely owned by AT&T and adopting that name) have declined to discuss terms, but two people with direct knowledge of the deal say it's a five-year contract. The exclusive is U.S.-only, leaving Apple free to market its iPhone globally.

Equity Office

Proxy adviser says Blackstone bid OK

Institutional Shareholder Services on Sunday recommended investors in Equity Office Properties Trust accept Blackstone Group's $38.3 billion cash offer, the world's biggest leveraged buyout.

Investors, offered $54 a share for the largest U.S. office landlord, are to vote Feb. 5, the company said. If approved, the deal would close about Feb. 8.

Shares Friday closed at $55.22, on speculation Vornado Realty Trust might top Blackstone's bid. The two sides are vying for a real-estate investment trust that owns or has stakes in 543 office buildings in the U.S., including Seattle's Columbia Center.

Last week, Blackstone increased its offer from $48.50 a share to thwart Vornado. Equity Office has opened its books for Vornado and given it a Wednesday deadline for offering a competing bid.

Equity Office will file a proxy today with details of Blackstone's new offer, which was made before Vornado could formalize its bid of $52.

Deutsche Telekom

Profit warning issued for year

Deutsche Telekom issued a profit warning Sunday for this year, cutting its earnings outlook as it faces fierce competition in Germany and absorbs the impact of a strong euro.

The Bonn-based company said it expects 2007 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $24.6 billion, down from a previous forecast of $25.5 billion to $26.1 billion.

Deutsche Telekom's mobile business includes Bellevue-based T-Mobile USA, which saw customer numbers rise 15.4 percent last year.

YouTube

Site plans to share revenue with users

Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube, said Saturday his wildly successful site will start sharing revenue with its millions of users.

Hurley said one of the major proposed innovations is a way to allow users to be paid for content. He gave no details.

YouTube, which was sold to Google for $1.65 billion in November, has become an Internet phenomenon since it began to catch on in late 2005. Some 70 million videos are viewed on the site each day.

Sony

PlayStation 3 going worldwide

Sony's new PlayStation 3 video-game machines will go on sale in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia on March 23, company officials said Friday.

The 60-gigabyte model of PS3 will be priced at about $770 to $840 in different currencies, spokesman Nanako Kato said.

Initially, only the 60GB model will be available, with the lower-end 20GB version to follow later this year depending on demand, the company said.

The much-anticipated debut of the high-end version of the PlayStation comes as Sony, locked in a race with Nintendo and Microsoft for the market for next-generation video consoles, has been plagued with production problems.

Sony said it shipped 2 million PS3 machines worldwide by mid-January, falling about two weeks behind its initial shipment targets in Japan. The machine's launch in Europe was delayed until this year.

Lenovo

China PC maker looks to U.S. market

Lenovo Group, China's biggest personal-computer maker, plans to enter the consumer market in the U.S. within the next two years, CEO William Amelio said.

Lenovo became the world's third-biggest personal-computer maker when it bought the PC unit of IBM in May 2005. The company then moved its headquarters to Raleigh, N.C.

Compiled from Reuters, USA Today, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News