Microsoft Corp is considering a bid for Yahoo Inc, resurfacing as a potential buyer after a bitter and unsuccessful fight to take over the Internet company in 2008, sources close to the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.Microsoft joins a host of other companies looking at Yahoo, which has a market value of about $18 billion and is readying financial pitch books for potential buyers, they said. Those companies include buyout shops Providence Equity Partners, Hellman & Friedman and Silver Lake Partners, as well as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Russian technology investment firm DST Global, the sources said.Rival smartphone makers could exploit a rare letdown by Apple in the launch of its new iPhone 4S model, which failed to wow fans, and grab a bigger share of the most lucrative part of the phone market.In a sign that even Facebook is not immune to market volatility, the WSJ reports that the price of shares for the social network has slowed on secondary markets, falling 8 percent since July.India launched what it dubbed the world's cheapest tablet computer Wednesday, to be sold to students at the subsidized price of $35 and later in shops for about $60.Reuters blogger Felix Salmon, who has had an ongoing spat with Business Insider founder Henry Blodget, had this to say about Blodget ringing the opening bell at the NYSE: "Blodget’s VIP status on the floor of the NYSE today shows how far he’s come from the dot-bust days of his disgrace."
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