Mittal, Arcelor campaign to woo shareholders
Brussels: Mittal Steel Co and Arcelor SA have intensified their campaign to win over shareholders.
Arcelor is resisting Mittal's euro 25.8 billion ($26 billion) hostile bid, which would unite the world's two largest steel companies and wants to link up with OAO Severstal. That deal will be put to vote at a June 30 shareholders' meeting.

In a statement late Monday, Mittal confirmed discussions were continuing with Arcelor but acknowledged "the outcome of these discussions remains uncertain at this stage."

The Wall Street Journal published an interview with Lakshmi Mittal chairman and CEO of Mittal Steel expressing increasing confidence that the deal would go through. Analysts say Mittal is making progress and say Arcelor's decision to cancel a shareholder meeting scheduled for this week was due to shareholder concern over the company's tactics.
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Microsoft to enter robotics business
Mumbai: The $40-billion software giant Microsoft is all set to enter the robotics business with with its first-ever software. The company has set up a Microsoft Robotics Studio — a Windows-based software development toolkit for developers to create intelligent applications for a range of products — details of which are now available on the low-key Microsoft (robotics) website http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics/).

Robotics has gained prominence through outfits like iRobot — a commercial maker of smart floor-cleaners — and Sony's robots — especially the robotic dog (Aibo) which was put to sleep late last year.

Microsoft also has several academic and commercial partners that plan to support its robotics software. These include CMU, Lego, CoroWare, KUKA Robot Group, Robosoft and MobileRobots.

Microsoft is also funding a new research lab, called the Center for Innovative Robotics, at the Carnegie Mellon University, a pioneer in robotics research. Microsoft is also participating in a big way in the two-day RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition to be held in Pittsburgh this month. It will deliver a conference session outlining its perspective of the robotics market and will host a technical seminar for hobbyist and commercial and academic robotic developers.
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