New York, Jan. 15 : Apple founder and chief executive Steve Jobs is to step down from his front-line role at the consumer technology giant for five months because of health-related problems.

According to the Telegraph, Jobs, 53, fought off pancreatic cancer five years ago.

His decision to lay himself off for five months is likely to rekindle speculation about his likely successor, the paper added.

According to people familiar with the company’s plans, Software giant
Microsoft is mulling over major job cuts across its various sections.

But,
plans for job cuts have not yet been announced, and the company
(Microsoft) could end up discovering suitable methods in order to cover
up costs.

A Microsoft representative declined to comment on hearsays related to job cuts.

During
recent weeks, it had also been rumored that the figure of potential job
cuts is expected to be far less than the 15,000 positions.

By the end of this month, Shortcovers hopes to be turning iPhones into electronic books, which would be done via the launch of a mini-application that allows the users to read books, short stories or other written works on Apple-made smart phones in a direct challenge to electronic book devices sold by Amazon and Sony.

Following when Shortcovers clears Apple's vetting process and makes it to the virtual shelves of iTunes online App Store, Shortcovers software will be available for free download.

The third quarter of 2008 saw worldwide mobile WiMAX infrastructure revenues ramping up as compared to the same quarter the previous year.

The news has been backed up by analyst firm the Dell'Oro Group.  Scott Siegler, senior analyst of mobile infrastructure research at Dell'Oro Group reported, “With LTE still a couple of years away, WiMAX has become the first next-generation technology with commercial service. Mobile WiMAX revenues were very strong in the third quarter of last year, and we anticipate revenue for the fourth quarter to set another record.”

In the late afternoon on Tuesday, Carol Bartz, executive chairman of the board of Autodesk Inc. was confirmed as the new CEO of Yahoo! Inc. by the online company itself.

It has been learnt that Bartz will immediately start with the new role as CEO and a member of Yahoo!'s board of directors.

Via a statement, Roy Bostock, Chairman of Yahoo!'s board informed, “We are very excited to have Carol Bartz leading Yahoo! into its next era of growth. She is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that the board was looking for.”

One of the new directors of Satyam Computer appointed by the government, Kiran Karnik has expressed concerns over actual financial liability of beleaguered IT giant.

He said that it is difficult to arrange loans under current scenario and it will be difficult for the company to manage the expenses.

While speaking to NDTV, he said that the company has great talent pool which is able to restore its position in the market. The board of directors is working on various measures to get financial aid and to re-build confidence of investors and employees.