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A few days after the seeming culmination of its failed bid to acquire Yahoo for $47.5 billion, Microsoft appears to be contemplating an entirely new Web 2.0 strategy: a partner-free, organic approach to besting Google. The news was delivered by none other than Chairman Bill Gates: "Now at this point, Microsoft is focused on its independent strategy." Whether this is the definitive last word on the matter is debatable. On Tuesday, Gates said that the company would not rule out partnerships, and on Wednesday, reports surfaced that Redmond was sending out feelers to Facebook.

The collapse of this weekend's negotiations between Microsoft and Yahoo looked like game over. When the news first broke that Microsoft was walking away from its $44 billion bid, it seemed as though Redmond was the loser: It had tried a high-stakes, high-profile acquisition gambit and failed. Its defeat may have seemed the result of poor strategizing. It may have seemed that CEO Steve Ballmer just didn't have enough moxie to pull off a win.

The stock market is making its after-the-fact adjustment to the end of the Microsoft-Yahoo saga, which culminated this weekend. After last minute negotiations failed, Microsoft walked away from its bid to acquire Yahoo for slightly more than its original offer of $33 per share. To recap: Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang was adamant that the company was worth at least $35 to $37 per share. Microsoft indicated it might go a little higher than its original offer -- but not much. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was also just as adamant that Yahoo was not worth the premium.

Intel has signed a multiyear agreement with supercomputer vendor Cray. The deal gives microchips from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel an avenue into Cray supercomputer systems that serve some of the most highly advanced computing applications in the government, military and engineering sectors. The two companies will explore future supercomputer component designs, such as multi-core processing and advanced interconnects. Cray and Intel also plan to work together on the development of an array of HPC systems and technologies.

Sony BMG is joining Universal Music Group in allowing users of select Nokia mobile phones access to its entire music catalog later this year. Nokia's "Comes With Music" program will allow users who buy select cell phone models to download any song from Sony BMG's catalog onto their phone or their computers during the first 12 months of owning such a device. Nokia announced a partnership with Universal last fall, and now has brought Sony BMG aboard. Nokia said the phones should be available in the U.S. by the second half of this year.

Gawker Media, one of the most recognized blog networks, announced the sale of three properties -- including political blog Wonkette -- as Publisher Nick Denton tries to bolster the company in preparation for an online advertising slowdown. Throughout the past several years, Gawker Media has made waves with its aggressive move into niche publishing and a business model built upon multiple daily posts that chase traffic spikes from the fickle world of Web readers.

Navigation device maker TomTom reportedly hasn't offered any remedies to the European Commission's antitrust worries over its bid of more than $4 billion to take over the digital map firm Tele Atlas. The commission's deadline to rule on the deal is May 21. TomTom had until Thursday to present a solution to the group. The Dutch company still can submit another proposal, but the commission is not required to consider it before ruling on the acquisition.

MySpace on Thursday announced a new partnership with ShineReveille International under which original content developed for MySpaceTV will be distributed internationally. The information was revealed at the MIPTV conference in Cannes, France. Under the plan, online shows such as "Prom Queen," "Quarterlife" and "Roommates" will receive deluxe distribution treatment and make their way into overseas markets on international television and DVDs as well as merchandise.

Unwilling to believe that resistance to a Microsoft takeover is futile, Yahoo is throwing a lot of strategies at the wall to see what sticks. Its latest effort is a trial advertising partnership with Google -- a two-week test of its AdSense service. Yahoo plans to run Google ads alongside up to 3 percent of the search results generated on Yahoo Web properties in the U.S. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith immediately protested that a Yahoo and Google tie-up would create a competitive imbalance, and he reportedly said so with a straight face.

Brian Harrison needs to succeed where his counterparts at Intel and STMicroelectronics failed. As CEO of new chip company Numonyx, Harrison inherits two of those companies' worst-performing units -- and must make them pay off in a way they did not for their previous owners. Intel owns 45 percent of Numonyx, STMicro holds 49 percent, and private equity fund Francisco Partners owns 6 percent. Harrison's plan is to build a market for a new kind of memory chip that he hopes will refashion the market for memory chips used in wireless phones and consumer electronics.