Acer arm to manufacture Xbox

Wistron, Acer`s manufacturing arm, is to be the second manufacturer of the Microsoft Xbox console. Microsoft says Acer is already a "valued" OEM partner and the appointment to manufacture the console will "further enhance the competitive position of Xbox in the market". Flextronics is the other manufacturing partner, and has been since the announcement of the gaming console. The Wistron facility in China will provide manufacturing services from parts procurement through to a fully built-up product.

German media giant Bertelsmann is reported to be looking to sell its online book business and possibly end the funding it gives to peer-to-peer music swapping application Napster. The company is reportedly looking to Amazon to buy BOL.com, its online book retailer originally set up to compete with Amazon. The company is also apparently looking to sell off its Barnesandnoble.com operations. The high profile Napster application could also lose its money in the growing rift between Bertelsmann and the Internet. The company originally bailed Napster out in May but is now widely reported to be looking to end its involvement. [More at TheRegister]

The fourth most visited site on the Internet behind AOL, MSN and Yahoo, Google looks as if it may be readying to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. Computer Business Review reports that the company has this week appointed a CFO, filling a three-year gap in the company`s senior management. The new appointee, George Reyes, was formerly financial officer at Sun Microsystems and worked closely with Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who was then Sun`s CTO. An IPO for Google could make a lot of sense because, while most of its competitors have fallen by the wayside, the company is one of the few to show a quick profit and the company claims profitability for the last six quarters. [More at CBR]

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