Valuation of debt and equity investments and certain liabilities (Investments at fair value) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Short-term investments	$ 1,943,000,000	$ 1,753,000,000
Long-term investments	265,000,000	453,000,000
Amounts included in AOCI from available for sale securities: [Abstract]
Proceeds from sales, redemptions and maturities of short-term available-for-sale securities	3,550,000,000	2,560,000,000	2,030,000,000
Aggregate maturities of investments in money market funds and other debt securities classified as available for sale [Abstract]
One year or less	1,902,000,000
One to three years	568,000,000
Greater than three years (auction-rate securities)	41,000,000
Other than temporary declines and impairments in investments recognized in other income and expense	2,000,000	1,000,000	14,000,000
Cash and cash equivalent [Member]
Amounts included in AOCI from available for sale securities: [Abstract]
Unrealized gains (pre-tax)	0	0
Unrealized losses (pre-tax)	0	0
Short-term investments [Member]
Amounts included in AOCI from available for sale securities: [Abstract]
Unrealized gains (pre-tax)	0	1,000,000
Unrealized losses (pre-tax)	0	1,000,000
Long-term investments [Member]
Amounts included in AOCI from available for sale securities: [Abstract]
Unrealized gains (pre-tax)	0	0
Unrealized losses (pre-tax)	5,000,000	22,000,000
Measured at fair value [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	620,000,000	1,066,000,000
Short-term investments	1,943,000,000	1,753,000,000
Long-term investments	210,000,000	396,000,000
Measured at fair value [Member] \| Available-for-sale [Member] \| Money market funds [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	55,000,000	167,000,000
Short-term investments	0	0
Long-term investments	0	0
Measured at fair value [Member] \| Available-for-sale [Member] \| Corporate obligations [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	135,000,000	44,000,000
Short-term investments	159,000,000	649,000,000
Long-term investments	0	0
Measured at fair value [Member] \| Available-for-sale [Member] \| U.S. Government agency and Treasury securities [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	430,000,000	855,000,000
Short-term investments	1,691,000,000	1,081,000,000
Long-term investments	0	0
Measured at fair value [Member] \| Available-for-sale [Member] \| Auction-rate securities [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Short-term investments	0	23,000,000
Long-term investments	41,000,000	257,000,000
Measured at fair value [Member] \| Trading [Member] \| Auction-rate securities [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Short-term investments	93,000,000	0
Long-term investments	0	0
Measured at fair value [Member] \| Trading [Member] \| Mutual funds [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Long-term investments	169,000,000	139,000,000
Other measurement basis [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	992,000,000	1,319,000,000
Short-term investments	1,943,000,000	1,753,000,000
Long-term investments	265,000,000	453,000,000
Other measurement basis [Member] \| Equity-method investments [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Long-term investments	32,000,000	36,000,000
Other measurement basis [Member] \| Cost-method investments [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Short-term investments	0	0
Long-term investments	23,000,000	21,000,000
Other measurement basis [Member] \| Cash on hand [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	372,000,000	253,000,000
Short-term investments	0	0
Long-term investments	$ 0	$ 0

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- Definition

This item represents the fair value of debt securities which are expected to mature after one year and through three years from the balance sheet date and which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

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No definition available.

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The cash inflow associated with the sales, redemptions and maturities of debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale securities, excluding cash equivalents.

+ References

No definition available.

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This item represents the fair value of debt securities which are expected to mature within one year of the balance sheet date and which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

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- Definition

This item represents the gross unrealized gains for securities, at a point in time, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

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This item represents the gross unrealized losses for securities, at a point in time, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

This element represents the portion of the balance sheet assertion valued at fair value by the entity whether such amount is presented as a separate caption or as a parenthetical disclosure. Additionally, this element may be used in connection with the fair value disclosures required in the footnote disclosures to the financial statements. The element may be used in both the balance sheet and disclosure in the same submission. This item includes currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. It also includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits in that the Company may deposit additional funds at any time and also effectively may withdraw funds at any time without prior notice or penalty. Cash equivalents, excluding items classified as marketable securities, include short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash, and so near their maturity that they present minimal risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Generally, only investments with original maturities of three months or less qualify under that definition. Original maturity means original maturity to the entity holding the investment. For example, both a three-month US Treasury bill and a three-year Treasury note purchased three months from maturity qualify as cash equivalents. However, a Treasury note purchased three years ago does not become a cash equivalent when its remaining maturity is three months.

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- Definition

The total amount of investments that are intended to be held for an extended period of time (longer than one operating cycle).

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- Definition

This element represents the amount of loss recognized for other than temporary impairments (OTTI) of investments in debt and equity securities.

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- Definition

Investments which are intended to be sold in the short term (usually less than one year or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer) including trading securities, available-for-sale securities, held-to-maturity securities, and other short-term investments not otherwise listed in the existing taxonomy.

+ References

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