VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Microsoft is writing off the $7.6 billion that it paid to buy Nokia's handset unit in 2014 and dropping some 7,800 jobs in its roll, most of them from the phone business. The reductions will take place over the next few months.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said on Monday it will hand over its display advertising business to AOL Inc and AppNexus Inc, and sell some map-generating technology to ride-hailing app company Uber, as it slims down its money-losing online operations.

Making iPad a more functional device for business productivity, Apple on Tuesday launched a split- screen real multitasking app that allows users to run two app side-by-side.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) currently is not weighing an offer for Salesforce.com Inc (CRM.N), two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, dampening speculation that Microsoft could be drawn into bidding for the cloud software company.

Shares of Salesforce.com Inc (CRM.N) jumped 6.2 percent in late afternoon trading on Tuesday, after Bloomberg reported that Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is evaluating a bid for the cloud software provider.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is making it easier for apps written for rival Google Inc's (GOOGL.O) Android and Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iOS systems to work on Windows phones, in a bid to attract users to its unpopular mobile devices, the company's operating systems chief said on Wednesday.

Finland's Nokia denied reports in Chinese media that it planned to return to manufacturing phones. "Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false," Nokia said in a statement posted on its website.

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 chalked up record high closes on Friday, propelled by strong results from tech behemoths Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc amended a 2009 search partnership, giving Yahoo more control over how search results are displayed on desktops and mobile devices.

The European Union accused Google Inc on Wednesday of cheating consumers and competitors by distorting Web search results to favor its own shopping service, after a five-year investigation that could change the rules for business online.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) slashed nearly $1 billion from its first-quarter revenue forecast as small businesses put off upgrading their personal computers, sending the chipmaker's shares down more than 5 percent.

With shallow pockets but a deep commitment to promote "living wages", women's advocacy group UltraViolet has peppered Target Corp (TGT.N) with cheap location-focused online ads, challenging it to match Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) promise of $10-an-hour base pay.

The best performing technology fund since the peak of the dot com boom did it all without owning Apple Inc (AAPL.O), whose soaring stock price has pushed the Nasdaq near a new record high.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the largest U.S. company by market value, will join the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI, replacing AT&T Inc (T.N), in a change that reflects the dominant position of the iPhone maker in the U.S. consumer economy.

As the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index closes in on the all-time high it reached in March 2000, investors are facing a market that barely resembles the go-go era of 15 years ago.