Steve Jobs last war, the magazine argues, could do his company more harm than good.

SAP AG must pay US$1.3 billion to rival Oracle Corp. for copyright infringement, a federal jury ruled Tuesday, following a high-profile court battle between the business software makers.

Software giant Oracle is keen to make more acquisitions to bolster its technology and a microchip company could be a good fit, according to company CEO Larry Ellison.

Oracle has sued Micron Technology, alleging it overcharged Sun Microsystems, which Oracle acquired, by conspiring to fix prices for computer memory chips.

The European Union has approved Oracle's US$7.4 billion takeover of fellow computer firm Sun Microsystems. Oracle said it now expected to complete the deal shortly.

Sun Microsystems plans to eliminate up to 3,000 jobs, or 10% of its worldwide workforce, as it awaits a takeover by Oracle, a deal being held up by antitrust regulators in Europe. Sun said the job cuts will happen over 2010 and affect all of Sun's major regions, including North America, Europe, Asia and emerging markets.

Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner in charge of antitrust issues, would undoubtedly be most satisfied to see the Microsoft dossier closed before she goes.