The stocks of major U.S. media and entertainment companies dropped during the first quarter, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The Hollywood Reporter Showbiz 50 stock index experienced 17.8 percent drop in value in the first quarter of the year, compared with the 2007 closing price. At the end of Monday, the final trading day of the first quarter stood at $1,082.73, much lower than a high of $1,375.53 in early November 2007. By comparison, the broad-based S&P 500 stock index ended the first quarter at $1,322.70, reporting a 9.9 percent decline.

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Microsoft announced Tuesday that it would offer full Web browsing for mobile phones this year, following the steps of Apple's iPhone, Reuters reported.

Microsoft promised at the annual U.S. mobile show that it will make Internet Explorer Mobile available to phone manufacturers in the third quarter, and put the first phones on the market by the end of this year.

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Indian publishing group Amar Ujala has announced the relaunch of its Hindi business daily by the end of 2008.

“We will relaunch our business daily in Hindi with a new name and style. It will be a breed apart from others and will be launched by the end of this year,” said Sunil Mutreja, President of Marketing at Amar Ujala.

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U.S. total advertising spending was up 0.6 percent in 2007, according to new data from Nielsen.

The data showed that ad spending in local papers declined 7.5 percent, while national papers spending dropped 7.7 percent, which are two of the biggest declines of all.

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