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Apple is selling more Macintosh computers than ever before — and that's having unexpected benefits for Microsoft. Sales of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac are triple the volume for the previous 2004 version of the productivity software and are the highest in the product's history, Microsoft announced Tuesday.

“The response has been amazing — since we launched in January, the velocity of sales for Office 2008 is nearly three times what we saw after the launch of Office 2004,” said Craig Eisler, general manager of the Mac business unit at Microsoft. The 2008 version launched at the MacWorld show this year.

“As we set our course for future versions, we are working closely with customers and will also expand our staff to ensure that Office for Mac remains the most powerful and compatible productivity suite for Mac customers,” Eisler said.

SP1 Released

Microsoft also released Service Pack 1 for the Mac Office suite, featuring “suitewide updates for increased stability, increased security and overall performance improvements.”

SP1 addresses compatibility issues between the Mac and Windows versions of Excel; improves Entourage support for Exchange Server, including the ability to remove attachments from Exchange messages and synchronizing to the server; and provides minor improvements for Word and PowerPoint.

Bloggers said the most notable addition in SP1 is support for Excel chart-formatting options that were available in previous versions of Office.

VBA Support To Return

Microsoft also said it will bring back Visual Basic for Applications support to the Mac in the next version of Office for Mac. A press release said Microsoft “recognizes that VBA language support is important to a select group of customers who rely on sharing macros across platforms.” The prior version supported AppleScript and the Automator scripting tool.

The removal of VB was not due to any of the “conspiracy theories” floated around, such as that Microsoft was trying to “slowly kill the Mac” or drive users to Windows versions of the software, Erik Schwiebert, a software design lead in Microsoft's Mac business unit, wrote on his blog. The decision was driven by the technical difficulties of including VB for the latest version of Apple's operating system, he wrote.

While technical challenges remain, “for a while now I and several others have been working with a group of people who know a heck of a lot about the internals of VB,” Schwiebert wrote, “and once we determined that we could achieve the revival of VB in the new schedule for the next version of Mac Office, we locked it into place on the feature list.”

The high volume of sales for the current version indicates that a lack of VBA support isn't a big deal for most Mac users, Schwiebert said. As to when the next version will be released, the developer assured readers it will be less that four years.

SAN FRANCISCO - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn reportedly is snapping up Yahoo stock in preparation for a possible attempt to replace the Internet company’s board after the directors turned down Microsoft’s $47.5 billion takeover offer.

Icahn has bought as many as 50 million Yahoo shares, both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. That would give Icahn a 3.6 percent stake in the Internet pioneer.

The financier, who didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment, is known for shaking up slumping companies. He could spearhead a campaign to oust Yahoo’s 10 directors for not accepting Microsoft Corp.’s final offer of $33 per share.

The deadline for nominating an alternate slate of directors to Yahoo’s board is Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Amateur astronomers Tuesday got Internet access to imagery from the best telescopes on earth and in space with a new service launched by Microsoft.

The US software giant's new Worldwide Telescope (www.worldwidetelescope.org) merges cosmic images from some of the world's most advanced telescopes into an online version of the universe available for anyone to explore.

“Users can see the X-ray view of the sky, zoom into bright radiation clouds, and then cross-fade into the visible light view and discover the cloud remnants of a supernova explosion from a thousand years ago,” said Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics researcher Roy Gould said of the new service.

Worldwide Telescope competes with the Sky feature in Google Earth star-gazing service launched last year by Google.

Worldwide Telescope combines “terabytes of incredible imagery” with simple software to enable Internet users to study stars, planets and other aspects of the cosmos through lenses of the best telescopes currently in use, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said in a written release.

“The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,” Gates said.

“Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe,” he said.

“I believe this new creation from Microsoft will have a profound impact on the way we view the universe.”

I'm a confirmed Ubuntu fan, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the release of Fedora 9 this morning. Fedora is the community-maintained Linux distribution that's the foundation for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the leading commercial version of the open source OS. No surprise, then, that it has a tremendous following.

You can think of Fedora as a testing-ground for RHEL; it's where you can find the latest cutting-edge features before they make their way out to the officially-supported distribution. That means it's really best suited for hobbyists, but it's also a good way to get the jump on the best that Linux has to offer.

The biggest change for this release is the inclusion of KDE 4, the most recent edition of the desktop software that powers Fedora. (Ubuntu, on the other hand, uses the competing Gnome by default.) KDE 4 brings new icons and changes under the hood that should make Fedora run faster and use less memory than earlier versions.

Fedora also now joins Ubuntu in shipping Firefox 3, which is still currently in beta– so be prepared for some plug-in difficulties until third-party developers get their add-ons up to speed.

Other changes include support for the new ext4 filesystem, the ability to resize Linux and Windows partitions at install time, built-in support for encrypted filesystems, and improvements to how Fedora handles Xen virtual machines– not to mention the usual host of bugfixes. For a visual tour of the new release, check out the official slideshows.

You can download Fedora 9 from one of the official servers now. Torrent files are available in addition to the regular disc images; or– in another change for this release– you can use Jigdo, a distribution system that helps speed up large downloads by breaking them into smaller chunks (somewhat like BitTorrent).

Building on the success of its Wii game console, Nintendo has launched WiiWare, a software service for games. Wii owners who have their machines hooked up to an Internet connection will be able to download games from both large developers and small shops. As a game service, WiiWare competes with services on other consoles, such as Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and Sony's PlayStation Store.

“By reducing the barriers that make console game development prohibitively expensive,” the company said, “WiiWare showcases original ideas in the most democratic environment in industry history.”

Like Independents to Hollywood

Nintendo Executive Vice President Cammie Dunaway told news media, “WiiWare is to the game industry what independent films are to Hollywood.”

To download WiiWare games, users go to the WiiWare section of the Wii Shop channel, pick the game, redeem Wii Points, and begin to download. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop channel or at stores. Parental controls are available. New games are added weekly, and users can see videos of WiiWare games on the Nintendo Channel.

The launch of WiiWare will be accompanied by an inaugural lineup of six games, including Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, LostWinds, Defend Your Castle, Pop, V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, and TV Show King. Prices are $15 for Crystal Chronicles, $10 for Lost Winds and TV Show King, $7 for Pop and Casino, and $5 for Defend Your Castle.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles from Square Enix draws on an established franchise to create a simulation game in which players must rebuild a kingdom and lead a king on a path of discovery.

Frontier Development's LostWinds gives the player the power of a weather god. The user can control winds ranging from tornadoes to breezes, all the while maneuvering through jumps, enemies, friends and puzzles.

More 'Shovelware'?

Your castle is being attacked by invaders in Defend Your Castle, in which you throw your enemies far away and add spells to increase your power. In Pop, you get points for popping bubbles, with more advanced players needing speed, accuracy and dexterity.

In V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, animated players and a realistic dealer help create the casino experience, with multiple players competing in a tournament. And, in TV Show King, family and friends compete in a TV quiz show, with more than 3,000 questions across six different categories.

According to news reports, Nintendo has as many as 100 games in development for WiiWare. But Mike Goodman, an analyst with industry research firm Yankee Group, noted that while smaller developers are empowered through WiiWare, it could potentially exacerbate Nintendo's ongoing problem of too much “shovelware.”

He added that, even before WiiWare starts flowing game titles from many developers, a number of the games “look like they were thrown together.”

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. has scooped up Time Warner Inc.’s HBO to feed television shows to its online iTunes store, reeling in one of the last holdouts among major channels and agreeing to a rare pricing concession to land hit shows like “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “The Wire.”

The Cupertino, California-based company said HBO programming began appearing on iTunes Tuesday and the shows cost either $1.99 or $2.99 per episode, making HBO the only channel allowed to charge above the standard $1.99 for their episodes on iTunes.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, said the higher prices for some of HBO’s shows — in particular “Deadwood,” “Rome” and “The Sopranos” — are still cheaper than buying the DVD sets of the full seasons of those shows, which translates into prices two or three times higher per episode.

“I don’t think it’s a shift in strategy — I view this as an extension of the strategy we’ve had,” Cue said in an interview.

HBO is also trying out a service of its own that allows cable customers with HBO subscriptions and high-speed Internet connections to download shows and movies and play them on personal computers, but it’s not widely available.

Apple splits the revenues from iTunes sales with content providers, with most of the money going back to the movie studios, television channels and record labels whose work is sold through the Web site.

That’s made iTunes a favorite of independent musicians and other artists whose works wouldn’t be distributed as broadly without the service, but has rankled some big-media companies because of Apple’s tight control over the pricing.

In a high-profile rejection of Apple’s pricing tactics, NBCUniversal stopped offering TV shows on iTunes last fall after a spat over its inability to set different prices for certain shows. NBC then defected over to Microsoft Corp.’s camp, offering its TV shows on Microsoft’s rival service, Zune Marketplace, where the network was given more flexibility over pricing.

Cue said NBC is the only major channel currently not offering its shows through iTunes. The store currently carries 800 different shows and has sold more than 150 million episodes.

The iTunes store isn’t a big cash cow for Apple, making up less than 10 percent of Apple’s $24 billion in sales last year, but is a big driver of iPod and Macintosh computer sales.

RICHMOND, Va. - Federal regulators should throw out fines imposed against Circuit City Stores Inc. for violating rules regarding next year’s switch from analog to digital television, the consumer electronics retailer said in a filing Tuesday.

The Federal Communications Commission last month fined Circuit City, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co., and other retailers a combined $3.9 million for failing to properly label that analog-only televisions will need to be retrofitted after the switch to digital TV.

In a filing to the FCC, the Richmond based company said its $712,000 in fines should be eliminated or reduced to nothing because the FCC lacks jurisdiction to enforce the rule to keep consumers from buying TV equipment that won’t work without a converter box after the digital switch by Feb. 17, 2009.

Circuit City also said public comment was never heard on the FCC regulation that requires retailers to display or affix “consumer alert” labels to analog-only TV equipment — including TVs, DVDs, videocassette recorders and digital video recorders — that says it will not receive signals after the nationwide digital transition without a special converter box.

The company said that it tried to comply with the rule and its questioned actions were never “willful or repeated.”

“Circuit City made extensive and good faith efforts to comply with this unprecedented regulation despite lack of notice or baseline for compliance,” it said in the filing.

The FCC, which conducted numerous inspections last June, said it initially issued warnings to companies, whose stores and Web sites across the country were in violation of the rule. The agency said it gave each company “a reasonable opportunity” to respond.

After inspecting 2,272 retail stores and 36 Web sites, thee FCC said that it issued 349 citations, or warnings, to retailers for failing to comply with the labeling requirement.

Circuit City said in its filing that it also found errors in the work done by inspectors and the citations issued by the FCC.

The FCC also handed down $2.7 million in fines to other companies for violating other digital TV rules that involve shipping analog equipment and blocking technologies such as the V-chip.

The Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group whose members include Circuit City and Best Buy, said late last year that more than 50 percent of U.S. households now own a digital TV and expect nearly 32 million digital TVs will be shipped this year.

The federal government this year launched a $1.5 billion coupon program to help defray cost of converter boxes for viewers of analog sets that rely on antennas to watch TV. Each U.S. household is entitled to get two $40 coupons.

Circuit City shares fell 13 cents to $5.12 in afternoon trading.

___

On the Net:

FCC: http://www.fcc.gov

Circuit City: http://www.circuitcity.com

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online classifieds leader Craigslist.com on Monday filed a countersuit against business rival eBay Inc, alleging eBay had used its minority stake in Craigslist to steal corporate trade secrets.

In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco on Tuesday, Craigslist challenged allegations in an eBay suit filed in Delaware state court in April that accused Craigslist of discriminating against eBay as a shareholder.

Craigslist's complaint alleges a plan by eBay to use its position as a minority shareholder in Craigslist and its position on the Craigslist board to gather competitive information that led to the launch of eBay's rival classifieds business. The suit claims eBay code-named Kijiji its “Craigslist killer” in internal strategy discussions.

“In the months leading up to the launch of its competing Kijiji site … eBay used its shareholder status to plant on Craigslist's board of directors the individual responsible for launching and/or operating Kijiji,” the latest suit alleges.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by Gary Hill)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O) posted a bigger quarterly net loss on Tuesday due to restructuring costs, but net revenue beat Wall Street expectations, driven by titles such as “Rock Band” and “Army of Two.”

The world's largest video game publisher also said it expected a net profit of between 25 cents and 52 cents per share on net revenue of between $4.9 billion and $5.15 billion for its 2009 fiscal year.

Electronic Arts said its net loss for its fourth fiscal quarter was $94 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a loss of $25 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net revenue was $1.13 billion, up 84 percent from $613 million a year earlier.

EA did not mention its $2 billion bid for Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O). Take-Two, publisher of blockbuster game “Grand Theft Auto 4,” has rejected the $25.74-per-share tender offer as too low.

(Reporting by Scott Hillis; Editing by Braden Reddall)

Business travelers and consumers who subscribe to iPass will be able to get on Aircell's upcoming U.S. in-flight Wi-Fi service without debating whether the per-flight charge is worth it.

The mobile service consolidator will include Aircell in the services available to subscribers after the in-flight service debuts later this year, the companies said Tuesday. It's the first roaming agreement for Aircell and adds a critical component to iPass for people who want Internet access wherever they are.

An iPass account gives people access to a wide variety of Internet access services with a single login and monthly subscription fee. The service covers Wi-Fi hotspots and hotel Ethernet in more than 100,000 locations around the world, as well as 3G services in many areas and dial-up Internet access in 160 countries.

Aircell's GoGo service will turn planes on some domestic flights into Wi-Fi hotspots, with cellular backhaul to the ground. Laptops and smartphones with IEEE 802.11a/b/g will be able to connect. Aircell won't allow either cellular or VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) voice calls. GoGo is expected to go live on American Airlines, Virgin America and other airlines later this year. American's service will cost about US$10 for short-haul flights and $12.95 for longer trips. The service will include access to the online Wall Street Journal.

Subscribers to iPass will be able to sign on to GoGo using their iPass accounts, and at least initially, the full cost will be covered under the monthly iPass charge. The service consolidator has a variety of plans for enterprises and earlier this year introduced a service for individual travelers, priced starting at $29.99 per month. There are about 1 million iPass users at more than 3,500 companies around the world, according to iPass.

In-flight broadband has had a rocky history, partly because some service providers haven't been able to make money from it. The Connexion by Boeing service was shut down in 2006 and left aircraft maker Boeing with a $320 million write-off. Connexion by Boeing used satellites for backhaul and cost passengers as much as $30 per flight.