As the mighty iTunes flicks another one of its competitors aside like a piece of lint on Steve Jobs’ mock turtle neck, Yahoo! Inc. announced yesterday that the Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscription service will cease operations and become a part of Real Networks Rhapsody in 2008.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Yahoo Inc. will cease operating its online music subscription service and switch its customers to RealNetworks Inc.’s Rhapsody music service as part of a new deal between the companies that calls for Yahoo to promote Rhapsody on its site.
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Under the Yahoo-RealNetworks partnership, subscribers to Yahoo Music Unlimited will be shifted to the Rhapsody service sometime in the first half of this year. Yahoo subscribers’ music library and payment plans will remain the same for a limited time after the switch, but those wishing to remain on Rhapsody eventually will be required to sign up at Rhapsody’s rates. [AP]

In an effort to shore up it’s world wide dominance and fight the unevil empire called Google, Microsoft has made an unsolicited takeover bid to acquire rival search engine/portal Yahoo.

Microsoft Corp. on Friday offered to buy search-engine operator Yahoo Inc. for $31 a share, or $44.6 billion, in an effort to better compete with online-advertising juggernaut Google Inc. [Marketwatch]