News bites: Jobs threatened patent suit to enforce no-hire policy

A court filing reveals that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs threatened to file a patent suit against Palm if that company didn't stop poaching Apple employees, Reuters explains.

Microsoft is in talks to finance a takeover bid for Dell, according to The New York Times.

Google posted higher earnings in the fourth quarter than expected, despite losing money on its Motorola unit, The Associated Press reports.

IBM's profit is up 6.3 percent as software sales rise, The Wall Street Journal writes.  

Bidding has begun in the U.K. auction of 4G spectrum, TechCrunch reports.