In the hardware universe, you can begin with a variety of companies. We will not go there.

When it comes to software, it’s probably a tie between Yahoo! and AOL Inc. The latter is comfortably snugged in a losing culture/low morale outlook established since arguably the worst corporation merger in American history, and Yahoo! has had a ‘can’t keep up’ culture established since it rejected a Microsoft takeover offer a few years ago.

This year, AOL looks as hopeless as ever. So does Yahoo!. The difference between the two, however, is that those in the know will tell you that there is plenty of hope on the horizon for Yahoo! with former Google exec Marissa Mayer.

In terms of embarrassment, ignominy and defeat, AOL is now only competing with themselves.

Of course many people will argue that AOL’s execs really have no right to complain. Tim Armstrong has done very well for himself recently: his compensation package definitely puts him alongside other CEO figures in the same field. But at least the other figures actually have something to show for their paychecks.

In the case of Yahoo!, at least Mayer is making things interesting by offering competitive deals while transitioning the company into multimedia platform-sphere. While the legendary string of futility that plagued the company throughout the past few years is well-documented, many seem to feel that Mayer has a plan in place for a partnership of some sort with a higher media company (NBCUniversal, perhaps?).

Thoughts steer away from lost opportunities in deals “we could have made” and focus instead on whether a Hulu acquisition is a legitimate cause for the resurrection. Like Odysseus, the Ancient Mariner and Flying Dutchman before them, did Yahoo! commit some offense to the gods to forever sail the non-winning sea? Or does the losing culture spring from a diabolical curse?

When that day comes, the tide will finally start to turn.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “HuffPost Live on AXS TV” will air live five days a week, for six hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET) starting May 13. HuffPost Live will continue to also be available free online at live.huffingtonpost.com, while the feed for AXS TV will be enhanced with multiple different visual and social elements. Partners plan to debut an app for the programming block that will let AXS TV viewers join the real-time conversation happening on HuffPost Live.

“Live TV drives social media, and real-time social media drives live TV,” said Cuban, founder, president and chairman of AXS TV. “While other networks are happy to run repeats ad nauseam, we’re going to drive live conversations and new ways to connect with audiences.”

AXS TV currently airs repeats of live concerts and shows during weekdays. Cabler, available to 41 million U.S. homes, is backed by Cuban, AEG, CAA, CBS and Ryan Seacrest Media.

HuffPost Live prexy Roy Sekoff said company had been in discussions with multiple cable networks about a pact. “They said, ‘We love what you’re doing but we’re trying to figure out what we would do with it.’ When we spoke to Mark, he said, ‘Can you test the feed tomorrow?’”

HuffPost Live, broadcast from New York and L.A. studios, debuted Aug. 13, 2012. Internet network streams 12 hours per day (10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET). Talkshow-format program, which covers current events, pop culture and lifestyle topics, invites viewers to join via webcam, with more than 8,000 people have joined on-air.

“We’ve had people join us live from 80 countries,” Sekoff said.

During AOL’s Digital Content NewFronts presentation Tuesday in New York, Arianna Huffington, Sekoff and Cuban are skedded to tout partnership in front of audience of media buyers.

Cuban said live programming has been the entire focus for AXS TV as the TV biz changes. Net premiered last June, after Cuban converted HDNet to AXS TV, which focuses on live concerts.

“It’s not going to work to try to come up with the next hit show. It drives costs up too high to be a hit-driven business,” he said. “Live [programming] creates uncertainty, and unique engagement because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

On AXS TV, HuffPost Live will carry same ad load (12 minutes per hour). Cuban declined to discuss details of how ad sales will work but said “there is upside for both of us.” HuffPost Live also features some integrated programming with sponsors’ brands.

Companies also see opportunities to feature performers and talent from AXS TV’s programming on HuffPost Live. For example, “before Carrie Underwood appears live on AXS TV, she can talk to her fans on HuffPost Live,” Sekoff said.

HuffPost Live has a staff of about 100, including producers, on-air talent, and crew.

While exact financial terms weren’t disclosed, insiders say the deal was inked Wednesday night and that it doesn’t require CBS to pay any cash for its equity stake in AXS.

Instead, CBS has agreed to promote AXS in yet-to-be determined ways for several years, plus provide access to live events, such as the Grammys, Tonys, Kennedy Center Honors and ACM Awards so that AXS can create “shoulder” programming around them. CBS might also let AXS show reruns of the live-entertainment events that it airs.

The deal calls for Cuban, the billionaire owner of Landmark Theatres, Magnolia Pictures and the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, to continue running AXS TV as its president and CEO.

CBS chief executive Les Moonves has been on record saying he is interested in buying cable channels, though he has also complained that there aren’t many available at what he would consider a fair price.

Cuban wouldn’t divulge any specific programming plans, but he said the ultimate goal is to get younger audiences to look away from the Internet and toward the TV set when they want the most up-to-date and relevant entertainment.

“Basically, to make it so they perceive everything online as being old and already over, but there in case you need to catch up, and TV as a connection to everything they are passionate about,” he said.

“This is an innovative way to use our tentpole programming to gain more ownership in the cable network business,” Moonves said.

Here’s the big problem with this theory: luring viewers AWAY from their mobile devices (that provide them with real-time news, scores, entertainment scoop, & rumblings) to the TV set (that doesn’t provide them with real-time anything) will be the equivalent to luring suburban residents from their SUV’s and spacy vehicles to a horse and wagon.

Ask CBS corporate cousin-in-law MTV how the process has fared them over the past 5-7 years (not well). While ‘Big Les’ still operates in the stone age when it comes to the multimedia stratosphere, the reality is that if he will not give up his limo service to work in exchange for a train ride on the 7th Ave local subway, then why on earth he feels today’s population will ditch their mobile technology for the dinosaur boob tube is beyond any of us.

NBC Universal execs plan to create an “upscale Bravo for men,” per NBCU cable chairman Bonnie Hammer. On April 22, the Esquire Network will replace the seldom-watched video gaming stall worth G4 Channel, and many industry suits within the lifestyle, arts, and leisure world are keeping a very close eye for very good reasons. That means shows about things like cars, politics, world affairs, travel, fashion and cooking. It’s easy to make the comparisons to Viacom’s Spike network, but that testosterone-fueled net’s target is frat guys, pawn show lovers, and Mixed Martial Arts.

To start off the re-branding, series debuts will include a cooking competition called Knife Fight and a travel show called The Getaway. As Hammer astutely observed, “guys who are into gaming are not necessarily watching television.”

The remade Esquire Network will emphasize programming aimed at upscale urban men. It will feature the aforementioned two original unscripted skeins and a host of acquired series, including reruns of NBC heavyweight “Parks and Recreation” and Starz’ cult-fave comedy “Party Down.”

This completely opens up the door for many options and creative ideas across the board, but think of this: not everyone in America has an interest in Trash TV, primarily presented by networks such as VH1 (Viacom) and TruTV (Turner/Time Warner). This brings a refreshing display of content to 62 million households that may not want to see the likes of x________ (insert urban celebrity) throwing food and water glasses at others in arguments over money someone else earned that they like to spend.

And, as we were abruptly reminded February 5, the man has plenty of money.

The streaming service magically seized the moment, by reaching an agreement with multi-media conglomerate Flavor Unit Entertainment (headed by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere) on a multiyear licensing deal that will give Netflix a first opportunity to stream movies from the Flavor Unit collection after they are released in theaters.

Netflix has been on a content-buying binge in recent years, singing up studio libraries as well as new releases. The service also has launched an aggressive push into original series, with its first home-grown effort, House of Cards, debuting on Feb.1 to strong reviews.

In the first-look deal, Netflix will have its pick of movies that will debut on the world’s leading Internet television subscription service shortly after their theatrical release from the company that produced box office hits like “Bringing Down the House” and “Beauty Shop”. Beginning in Spring 2013, Netflix members can exclusively enjoy Flavor Unit titles including the thriller, “House of Bodies”, starring Terrence Howard and Peter Fonda and “Percentage” starring Ving Rhames, Cam’ron and Macy Gray.

If production companies can spend a trillion dollars and get the entire big and small screen market to fawn all over them, the streaming giant can spend a billion bucks and steal their thunder.

Certainly, a rival like Hulu were nauseated and quite peeved. They were willing to give the entertainment company a licensing deal for a fraction of what was offered from Netflix. Maybe they would have given them a content production deal if pushed.

It’s a turning-of-the-tide like deal for the entertainment company, perhaps appropriate considering the way the media industry is changing. The premium subscription giants like HBO (Time Warner), Showtime Networks (CBS Corporation), and possibly the Sundance Channel (AMC Networks/Cablevision) were favorites to win this deal, as they usually do with theatrical releases. That’s why your cable bill is in the hundreds while flooded with the 40+ channels devoted alone to HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Cinemax, and Starz, right? The fact that a credible company such as Flavor Unit has sidestepped this longtime industry standard for better penetration into homes and mobile devices says everything there is to say about the changing digital-focused times.

Over the years, Rapper/Actor 50 Cent has become known for his business savvy more than his tales of violence and pouring champagne on scantily clad women in his rap songs, and it looks like the G-Unit head honcho is not going at his next venture alone.

Numerous sources have reported that Music Mega-Producer Timbaland will be joining 50′s SMS Audio company as not only an investor partner, but also as a member of the company’s board of directors.

Timbaland will also have some creative input with the brand as well with “substantial involvement in the design and audio engineering process for new SMS Audio products.”

The rapper pointed out that his headphones have some features that differentiate them from Dr. Dre’s Beats by Dre line including wireless connectivity which 50 says makes his headphones the best wireless headset on the market and noted that he was inspired by Dre to branch out.

Let me start by saying the verdict is still out on urban artists headlining premium products that are outside of their primary interests within their audience. Being that the urban music industry (mainly hip-hop) has experienced such a sharp decline in sales and black radio stations have also seen a dramatic drop in their ratings under the PPM system, one cannot assume that sticking any rapper to a product (whether he/she owns it or not) means a recipe for success, especially to a culture where downloading bootlegged albums for free — then laughing at said artist for not moving any units of the bootlegged album released — is a daily routine of life. Urban consumers scoff at any idea of paying $1 (one dollar) for mobile apps on their mobile devices, so the idea of purchasing $300 headphones might be a stretch.

50 Cent might have completely missed the metrics of the new music climate, but did so in such a professional manner that you really need to sit back and marvel.

Mr. Kilar’s announcement did not come as a complete surprise. At times during his tenure he has clashed with the owners on Hulu, exemplifying the divide between new, disruptive modes of distribution like the Internet and the more traditional operations at major media companies. As the owners pulled back on the amount of ABC, Fox and NBC programming it provided to Hulu, the Web site invested in original, made-for-the-Web programming to fill the gaps and attract attention.

If Yahoo is the most Hollywood of Silicon Valley companies, with a major presence in L.A., then Hulu is one of the most Silicon Valley of Hollywood undertakings.

But Kilar said he didn’t want the Yahoo job. Google’s Marissa Mayer wound up with it, in the most high-profile Silicon Valley hire of 2012.

But Kilar did find himself precisely at the intersection of the battle for the future of entertainment that’s being fought by Hollywood and Silicon Valley — Big Content and Big Tech. California’s two marquee industries are having a lot of trouble getting along. Which is understandable, given that they have incompatible business models.

Hollywood wants people to pay for content. Silicon Valley wants content to be as close to free as possible, so that it can fill the platforms it creates with as much high-quality entertainment as possible…without actually having it affect the bottom line. Silicon Valley is all about funding rapid growth. And nothing cuts into rapid growth quite like copyright.

Hulu is based in Los Angeles and owned by NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney. (A private equity firm, Providence Equity Partners, holds a 10 percent stake.) It’s one of the best examples of Hollywood trying to develop a way to adapt its business model to Silicon Valley’s.

But if Kilar’s struggles are any indication of how that adaptation will go in the future, anyone who tries to manage the transition from the old way of distributing entertainment content to the new one is in for a bumpy ride.

That fat deal he recently accepted — one reportedly worth a $6 million signing bonus of “compensation for lost income from his prior employer” — won’t be nearly as capable of insulating his pride from all the abuse he’ll be taking publicly. The consumers also won’t be embracing him like they have in previous years when having more than 3 mobile ecosystems was acceptable. Before you know it, that constant arrogance that has become Elop’s trademark will be harder and harder to find.

Regardless of how optimistic some Elop supporters may be about this news, the man is going to fail in the mobile device stratosphere. He’s already been scrutinized for going ‘against’ the grain in regards to traditional mobile carrier strategy, which is all you really need to know. Never mind that Samsung has taken over as the premier device manufacturer in the world — the philosophy of staying exclusive to one carrier per device (which Samsung does NOT do) is Elop’s game — Nokia says “it got this” despite sales and figures plunging faster than Lindsay Lohan’s nostrils at a Hollywood ‘candy’ party.

Although Elop deserves credit for securing a nice paycheck in this move, there’s little else about the decision that makes sense. It’s as if Elop dismissed all the recent struggles of other mobile company bosses who jumped from making TV’s and PC’s to the mobile device squared circle. HP couldn’t last more than two years with Palm’s “stuff” before fleeing back to grandma printers. RIM didn’t even finish a full year of decline before racing off it’s chairmen altogether.

Elop might think he’s got something more to offer than those situations. In fact, he’s exactly like his peers. He’s let his ego swell to the point that he can’t see his limitations anymore. Being a free falling manufacturer in the mobile game only made Nokia hunger for the best possible chance to return to king of the mountain someday. The consumers didn’t merely see a sleek new ecosystem in Windows Phone. They saw a quickly-announced-but-slowly-released product with no popular apps, which is the last thing any mobile ecosystem can afford to have.

This is why Elop’s latest gig puts him in a tricky situation. If he comes at consumers with the same obnoxious approach that defined Nokia’s plunge before the Microsoft alliance, they’re going to push him to the side like they did the Microsoft Kin devices. If he tries to harden his personality to be tougher with them, that would be a bigger mistake. If there’s one thing that consumers can sniff out more than a product that has no value, it’s one that has no future.

About the only thing Elop has going for him is time. Given how much money Microsoft is going to pay Nokia to sit at the party table exclusively with them, Elop will have ample opportunity to make his mark. That may be an ironic thing to say about a company that just canned its Zune product line after a few years, but Microsoft clearly believes in Elop’s potential. They’ve bought into the hype that a big name with extensive history in the mobile stratosphere can create those same results with a nice mobile OS and a few bucks thrown around at consumers TELLIMG THEM to purchase the product.

Now that he’s in the mobile device wars, Elop will eventually discover that plenty has changed since the Microsoft Kin flop more than a couple of years ago. The phones have gotten bigger, faster, stronger and, yes, smarter. The consumers are probably better at recognizing what’s bound to guide them through their daily routines for the next 2-3 years than a bunch of grown men who make tons of money. And what Elop hasn’t realized yet is that he’s still the type of guy who falls into that category.

Heins is likely grateful to see what the embattled company said were dozens of carriers on board for device and OS testing for it’s new platform, roughly four times the amount from the amount ready to embrace it’s incredibly flawed Blackberry 5/6 OS software, but the CEO probably didn’t really care. They had the luxury of not really caring, because they, after all, are still the third-place OS on the market as of Q3 2012, something Microsoft can’t claim despite paying everyone not named The Illuminati since Fall 2010 to shove its Windows Phone OS Software down the consumers throats.

We saw many things this year that will stick in the memory for a long time. We saw Microsoft come tantalizingly close to joining the big boys club, buying the Skype and GroupMe applications but failing in the clutch to get the marquee brands such as Instagram and Square to develop for its platform. We saw Apple put out a device for the ages, the iPhone 5, and we may yet see Apple begin it’s roll down the hill from being king of the mobile mountain. We saw Google pump out it’s Android 4.0 edition to great fanfare, and it is as close to being a thorn in Apple’s side there is.

We even saw the launch of the Windows Phone 8 platform by Microsoft, who feels like this is the one that will finally put them in the ‘cool kids’ seat alongside Apple, Google, and… RIM.

Yes, RIM.

Love them or hate them (and if you are a consumer, you not only loved them and hated them, but also dumped them for touchscreen pastures), Blackberry is still a marquee platform that is performing AHEAD of Windows Phone 7/8. And as the Waterloo Crew is set to unleash it’s brand new Blackberry 10 platform in January 2013, there is quietly a notion that while Blackberry 10 might not wow back consumers who are fixated in their iPhone and Android devices, they may have the swagger to return to glory with it’s business consumer base, which cannot enjoy the still-superb email features that are absent from Apple and Google devices.

RIM probably will not stray too far from their basic philosophies. They’ll still stress the importance of communication within their devices regularly, release date permitting. But on the surface, they still are Blackberry. Reputation for superior business communication intact. Email functionality always on point.

Microsoft, unfortunately, cannot buy that.

Regardless, Microsoft is in a far better position to win a war of attrition where profitability could still be years away: at last tally, Ballmer’s war chest included some $63 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments — a far cry from RIM’s $1.9 billion — and there’s no sign that the company has any intention of giving up on mobile (look no further than Surface, Windows RT, and Windows Phone 8 for evidence of that).

But can the United States support four mobile ecosystems? We may know in the coming years, but as long as Blackberry understands where it needs to focus it’s attention towards, it might return to some form of glory.

IVillage was housed at the Digital Networks group run by Lauren Zalaznick. She continues to oversee NBCU’s digital properties Fandango and Daily Candy, and the move will not impact her title of Chairman, Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media, NBCUniversal.