Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Digest

Microsoft says Look for Office Live on Nov. 15

By TIMES WIRES
Published November 1, 2006

Microsoft Corp. is preparing to officially release software that helps small companies do things like build a Web site and maintain business contacts, and plans to link the product to its platform for selling online advertising. Microsoft said it will officially release Office Live in the United States on Nov. 15 and simultaneously launch test versions of the software in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. A free, ad-supported version of Office Live will give very small businesses the tools to create a Web site with a company domain name, plus 25 company-branded e-mail accounts. Microsoft will charge $19.95 or $39.95 per month for versions with more options for managing contacts and other business tasks.

Lay policy pays Enron $250,000

Enron Corp. struck a deal to collect $250,000 on a life insurance policy covering its founder, Kenneth Lay, who died just weeks after he was convicted of fraud charges related to the company's collapse. According to court documents, a Texas partnership bearing the initials of Lay and his wife, Linda, got a life insurance policy for Lay. But under a deal with the company in 1996, the partnership granted Enron the right to a portion of the insurance proceeds in the event of Lay's death.

'And I'd like to thank ... the Web'

Do not be surprised if some of the winners at the next Academy Awards ceremony take time during their acceptance speeches to thank their Webmasters. Hollywood has been slow to shift advertising dollars to the Internet from the print media. But the Hollywood Reporter, owned by VNU, hopes to provide studios with an online alternative for those ads. The Reporter Web site will add an advertising portal called For Your Consideration Studio Showcase (hollywood reporter.com/fyc), named after the discreet advisory, "For your consideration," that typically appears atop Oscar-season ads.

Get your $79 Shuffle this week

Apple Computer Inc. plans to start selling the new version of the iPod Shuffle Friday after missing the October release for its lowest-priced music player. The smallest iPod at 1.62 inches long, the $79 Shuffle holds up to 240 songs.

Fortune magazine gets new boss

Andy Serwer, a longtime writer and editor at Fortune, has been named managing editor of the business magazine, replacing Eric Pooley. Serwer, 47, has been editor-at-large for the Time Inc.-owned title since 1998 and writes the Street Life column for the magazine.

[Last modified November 1, 2006, 01:13:47]