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Sun Microsystems Inc.  today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire open-source software maker MySQL AB for $1 billion, beefing up the server maker’s database offerings with a company whose technology is used by some of the world’s biggest Web sites.

With millions of global deployments including Facebook, Google, Nokia, Baidu and China Mobile, MySQL will bring synergies to Sun that will change the landscape of the software industry by driving new adoption of MySQL’s open source database in more traditional applications and enterprises. The integration with Sun will greatly extend the commercial appeal of MySQL’s offerings and improve its value proposition with the addition of Sun’s global services organization. MySQL will also gain new distribution through Sun’s channels including its OEM relationships with Intel, IBM and Dell.

Who said the free software was not profitable?

In late 2005 eBay acquired Skype, the number one internet-calling company, for $2.6 billion. Today Skype’s price is half that one.

Yesterday, eBay confirmed that it overpaid for Skype showing once more that value never is equal to price. About half billion of the charge were to pay Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, Skype’s founders, and other early Skype’s investors. Although it looks like big money, they could have earnt up to $1.7 billion if Skype would have met targets for users.

At the same time, eBay announced that Zennström and Friis will leave the company but while the former is leaving CEO post for a nonexecutive chairman post in board of directors, the latter will no longer play a role in the company. This situation leave both them more time to spend on Joost!

First, Google purchased DoubleClick, next it was Microsoft that bought aQuantive and now it’s Yahoo’s time to get its own online advertising company.

Yahoo has just acquired BlueLithium, the #6 ad network in the US, for $300 million, far from $3.1 billion Google paid for DoubleClick and just 5% of the amount of money Microsoft spent on aQuantive.

Microsoft’s top technical executive, Ray Ozzie, has recently said that Google success in finding in advertising revenue “was a wake-up call within Microsoft”. But he said Microsoft plans to do more than simply mimic Google by rolling out Web-based versions of desktop programs or following its particular search and advertising model.

Instead of jumping belatedly into the fray with Web-only programs, he said Microsoft will pursue a mix of software loaded on PCs and Internet services that also work with the growing array of mobile devices, a strategy he called ‘’software-plus-service'’.

He said he sees free, Web-based, ad-supported software as a way to extend Microsoft Office’s reach, but gave no specifics. ‘’Advertisers do want a targeted audience,'’ he said. If Microsoft can deliver it, ‘’I don’t see a reason why advertisers won’t move'’. What comes next? Only time will tell.

BitTorrent is planning to use its widely used file-sharing software to launch a legal download site, called the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, that will distribute more than 5,000 titles including digital movies, TV shows, games and other media.

Considering that BitTorrent have got a well-deserved reputation for quickly file distribuition and an existing user based of 135 million, they could be a serious competitor for the increasing online video market, which current heavy players as YouTube, Joost, Babelgum, Brightcove among others.

The battle’s just begun and another important issue is to reach agreements with content owners. Joost has just partnered with Viacom so has BitTorrent with Hollywood studios like 20th Century Fox, Lions Gate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. What comes next? Only time will tell.

Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are the creators of Skype and Kazaa, two of the most important (both but particularly the former one) Internet initiatives of the last years. Both products were a combination of new technologies and new defined protocols plus the needed new applications that together are part of new revolutionary services. Well, they did it again.

Joost, formerly Venice Project, is now a reality. It is also a new software application plus its relevant technology wrapping it that makes a new service but that’s from the technical boring side. Joost is, as said in its site:

A new way of watching TV that provides the best of both, the Internet and TV worlds.

They are still in beta phase looking for beta testers under application (and approval). You could also get into Joost by invitation. Look forward to watching it. What comes next? Only time will tell.

It’s well known that there is a lot of copyrighted material from Hollywood Studios available for free on YouTube. It’s also well known that the Studios also have taken advantage of YouTube in order to get their films more popular at low cost.

But the real challenge has arrived and Hollywood is wondering whether YouTube is friend or foe. Being aware of the potencial benefits they could get, all of the major studios are negotiating licensing agreements with YouTube, but in the meantime they are also pressing YouTube to adopt filtering mechanisms faster to keep unlawful material from even showing up. Even more, some people think that Studios will sue if they don’t get the licensing deal they want.

On the other hand, Google’s is being pressed by their own investors who are willing to see whether YouTube is worth the $1,65 billion they paid for it or not. What comes next? Only time will tell.

The British Broadcasting Corporation plans to develop its online presence by providing social networking sites based on its most popular brands such as Top Gear.

BBC is thinking of following the success of such sites as MySpace or YouTube in which users contribute comments and video footage to share with other users.

Looks like the biggest traditional media corporations are starting to realize of the influence and power of social networks. This kind of corporations were thought to be the losers with this trend, but in fact, according to a Deloitte’s report, can be ideally suited for benefit as this trend develops consumer loyalty. What comes next? Only time will tell.

Two days ago I went through the idea that Apple’s phone wouldn’t be named ‘iPhone’ as it is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems. Yesterday I had to admit that I was wrong as Steve Jobs surprisingly announced Apple’s new iPhone.

Well, today we’ve known that both companies were negotiating to use the same mark. Finally, on monday evening there was no agreement but Apple’s arrogance let Jobs announce the iPhone without permission.

One of the possibilities I pointed out yesterday was that this story would end up in court and so it will be. Cisco sues Apple over use of iPhone trademark. What comes next? Only time will tell.

Looks like the mergers & acquisitions market is really hot these days. Following yesterday’s MyBlogLog acquisition by Yahoo! and StudiVZ a few days ago, today we find that eBay has agreed to buy StubHub, an online ticket reseller, for $310 million in cash.

StubHub was founded in 2000 and made more than $400 million in gross ticket sales last year. It offers a secure way for buyers and sellers to exchange tickets as StubHub acts as a middleman and includes money-back guarantee. According to Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America Marketplaces, it’s a perfect complement to eBay’s tickets business. What comes next? Only time will tell.