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What's to become of Bill, was the question on everybody's mind this week as Microsoft's bid to conquer the world of video gaming started to go wrong. Only a month after the launch of the Xbox, Microsoft has slashed the price of the console by £100.

Of course, anyone could have told Mr Gates the Xbox was overpriced, but it was the piles of unsold boxes that maybe drove the message home.

It this had been an end of boss level, Bill and his friends would now be hitting the "try again?" button convinced that they have the moves to defeat the cunning opposition.

MmO2, BT's former mobile phone business, confirmed that, from August this year, its O2 unit will become the official Arsenal football club sponsor in the biggest sponsorship deal in the club's history.

Although no financial details were disclosed, reports suggest the deal is worth about £10m. In addition to the sponsorship fee, Arsenal will also receive a share of revenue generated from a jointly branded, high-speed and interactive mobile data and audio services designed to provide Arsenal's fan base with "real-time" information. Oh to be a Gooner.

Learndirect, the government's online education service, walked into a storm of controversy as teachers' unions criticised the decision to spend £1m on sponsoring 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'.

The Daily Mail led the chorus of protests, pointing out that the money could have been spent on 60 new teachers or 1,000 computers. The University for Industry, which is paying the £1m, defended the decision, saying that 'Millionaire' "regularly demonstrates to more than 8m viewers across the country the line between knowledge and the potential for wealth".

Talking of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?', it emerges that phone a friend could in fact be renamed "phone an absolute stranger who you never met in your life before". Contestants have been offering brainy strangers cash for answers. A spokesman for Celador said there was nothing in the rules that said your friend had to be known to you.

Diageo suffered a bit of a blow following chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to tax alcopops -- you know those vodka etcetera flavoured drinks that seem to be favoured by a certain type of young female drinker -- at a higher rate, having previously been taxed as low-alcohol wines, which must have been a nice whiz.

Elizabeth Emanuel, the former fashion designer to the stars and dead princesses, is trying to get her name back. Emanuel, who sold her name to the man behind jeans store Joe Bloggs, Shami Ahmed, when she went bankrupt. Ms Emanuel says it's "heart-breaking" not to be able to use her own name.

Gold rebranded! Well, not exactly, but the World Gold Council is looking at how it can make gold more relevant. At its annual meeting, the council was told "new products need to be developed and designed to meet today's rapidly changing marketplace". Solid gold yacht, anyone?

Small Scottish brand on the acquisition trail... Baxters, the canned soup company, is setting aside an acquisition fund as it seeks to branch out into chilled products and contract catering. It may be a small, family-run business, but Baxters was acting in a big business fashion this week, cutting five directors from the company. Its soups are nice though.

Tour companies were under scrutiny this week as it was claimed that brochure prices are artificially inflated to make discounts seem more generous. Airtours was one of the companies named, as holidays it offered at a "discount" were available from other operators for a lower price, without a discount being offered.

The allegations were made by Coop-owned Travelcare, which also said that agents were increasingly pushing holidays offered by the tour operator that also happens to own them, and that customers were not being offered the full range. Holiday makers beware.

Boots the Chemist is set to demerge its Halfords car-parts retailing subsidiary. The chain could be worth up to £450m and is the latest retail flotation to be mooted. Last week, EMI announced that HMV would be floated this summer.

And finally, a small US firm made headlines this week, as it released a range of Action Man-like figures, including the "leader of the free world" George W Bush, armed with a gun and a knife. Our very own Tony Blair has got the Action Man treatment, being dubbed "The Ally" and decked out in fetching khakis. And knee-high socks. Apparently he's the one that accepts the dangerous mission before going down in some friendly fire incident. There's a phrase that needs rebranding. When has fire ever been friendly?

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