Facebook to get a new Scrabble

As Facebook has blossomed into a hot Internet hangout, its users have passed countless hours playing Scrabble with friends — or at least, an unauthorized version of the word game that Scrabble’s owners have tried to shut down.

Now a video game maker will try to legitimize the activity.

Electronic Arts Inc. said Monday that this month it will release a Scrabble application, a Web program that Facebook members can plug into their profile pages.

LOS ANGELES

Switch to digital threatens profits

A Lehman Brothers analyst downgraded the entertainment industry Monday and slashed forecasts for its five major companies, saying digital downloads of movies and TV shows posed a huge threat to profits from DVD sales that the companies rely on.

“Shifts from physical to digital will disrupt the marginal economics of the TV and movie businesses, just as it did for music,” analyst Anthony DiClemente said during a conference call.

SAN FRANCISCO

Microsoft backs Yahoo ouster

Microsoft Corp. threw its weight behind investor Carl Icahn’s effort to dump Yahoo Inc.’s board, saying Monday that a successful shareholder rebellion would encourage the software maker to renew its bid to buy Yahoo’s Internet search engine or possibly the entire company.

The unexpected endorsement gives Icahn a carrot to dangle before Yahoo shareholders as he wages an acrimonious campaign to replace Yahoo’s nine directors at the company’s annual meeting Aug. 1.

SEATTLE

Alaska joins with regional carrier

Alaska Airlines is entering into a partnership with the regional carrier Frontier Alaska.

Starting this fall Frontier Alaska passengers will be able to book through Alaska Airlines and redeem miles in its mileage plan.

Frontier Alaska serves 92 destinations, from commuter and postal service operations for Fairbanks and Anchorage to the state’s bush communities.

From wire reports