Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories.
Verizon CEO Cancels Appearance at CES
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam won't be giving a keynote speech at this year's CES due to "scheduling conflicts," the company has announced.
Verizon declined to give any further details on what, exactly, its chief executive discovered in his schedule only days ahead of CES. A Verizon spokesman said the company will probably send another executive to replace McAdam at the event.
Google Buys 200+ IBM Patents
Google has acquired 217 patents from IBM, including one particularly interesting patent that might help the search giant leverage its social network, Google+, to create a network of experts on specific topics. The rest of the patents cover many different technologies, including data services such as online calendars and email management.
Yahoo to Name New CEO
Yahoo will name a new CEO as early as Wednesday, All Things Digital reports citing sources familiar with the matter.
Yahoo has fired its CEO Carol Bartz back in September 2011, and the company has since been run by interim CEO (and previous CFO of Yahoo) Tim Morse. ATD's sources claim the leading candidate for the spot is current PayPal President Scott Thompson.