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Thursday, October 28, 2010

APNewsBreak: University posts info of 40K students (AP) : Technet

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APNewsBreak: University posts info of 40K students (AP) : Technet

APNewsBreak: University posts info of 40K students (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 08:27 PM PDT

Microsoft's Ballmer hypes smart phone, browser (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 10:57 AM PDT

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer Jessica Mintz, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Oct 28, 1:57 pm ET

REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer pumped up unique features in the company's new Web browser and smart phone software at a software developer conference Thursday, the company's annual pep rally for people who will build programs for the Web, Windows computers and phones.

Ballmer is known for his onstage enthusiasm. This year, he joked with the crowd that he wouldn't repeat the memorable "developer prance" of years past, when he loped around hollering, "Developers! Developers!"

Dean Hachamovitch, a top executive in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer division, showed off how developers can program websites to take advantage of new features. Internet Explorer 9, which is in beta test form, uses more of a PC's hardware to make pages load and run faster. A new version of the underlying code is being released for developers Thursday.

IE9, which is only available for computers running Windows Vista and Windows 7, lets computer users "pin" websites to the task bar at the bottom of the screen, creating a permanent shortcut that makes the site feel more like a desktop program.

Microsoft also unveiled some new apps — add-on programs that can be downloaded — for Windows Phone 7, its new smart phone software. One was a version of Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-book reader software. Microsoft's app marketplace now has 1,000 approved programs and games; the first Windows Phone 7 devices go on sale in the U.S. in early November.

Most of the keynote presentations centered on what software programmers can build with Microsoft's tools. Microsoft is far behind Apple Inc. with its iPhone and Google Inc. with its Android smart phone software; tens of thousands of apps are already available for those phones and have been critical to their success.

But one of Microsoft's greatest strengths is its relationship with developers. The company's tools, which it is updating, will be familiar for developers who already make programs for Windows PCs, and Microsoft is hoping that will encourage them to build apps even though the popularity of the phone is unproven.

"We need your best work," Ballmer said to developers. "Make no mistake about it, when it comes to Windows Phone, we're all in."

Ballmer said Microsoft will give all developers who attend the conference at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters a Windows Phone 7 smart phone — more than a week before it goes on sale.

Microsoft also updated developers on its Azure system, which it describes as an operating system for "the cloud" — in other words, technology that allows programs to run not on a single computer or server, but across thousands of machines in data centers scattered around the world.

Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar Animation Studios demonstrated a real-world example of how Azure works. The maker of the "Toy Story" movies is also responsible for the visual-effects rendering software used by many other movie studios. Rendering effects is computing-power intensive, and in the past it required studios to invest in massive data centers to crunch files.

Pixar built a version of the rendering software so it runs on Azure. It lets movie studios upload their raw files to the cloud. The studio can decide how fast it wants the computing done, and the service ramps up the right number of machines to complete the work. The studio pays based on how much computing resources it uses, but doesn't have to buy a huge server farm.

Verizon Wireless to pay $25M for spurious fees (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 02:27 PM PDT

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Oct 28, 5:27 pm ET

NEW YORK – Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $25 million to the U.S. government and at least $52.8 million in refunds to customers who inadvertently racked up data charges on their phones over the last three years, federal regulators said Thursday.

The Federal Communications Commission said the settlement is the largest in its history.

To forestall action by the FCC, Verizon Wireless said earlier this month that it would issue refunds, mostly of $2 to $6, to about 15 million subscribers. It didn't give a total value for the refunds.

The FCC started asking Verizon Wireless last year about $1.99-a-megabyte data access fees that appeared on the bills of customers who didn't have data plans but who accidentally initiated data or Web access by pressing a button on their phones.

The FCC said it would check to see that Verizon paid out the agreed-to refunds.

After the Cleveland Plain Dealer raised awareness of the spurious fees, Verizon Wireless said last year that it would take steps to prevent the charges from appearing and that it would issue refunds to customers who complained.

In a statement Thursday, Verizon Wireless said the charges were inadvertent and its software is being changed to prevent such charges in the future.

Verizon Wireless, the largest cell phone carrier in the U.S., is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Britain's Vodafone Group PLC.

Redbox to start streaming in 2011, with a partner (to be named later) (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 03:39 PM PDT

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Thu Oct 28, 6:39 pm ET

After months of speculation, executives for Redbox owner Coinstar have confirmed that the wildly popular DVD kiosk company will, indeed, be going into the streaming business next year — and that it'll do so with the help of a partner, although no deals have been struck yet.

During the company's quarterly earnings call Thursday, Coinstar CEO Paul Davis said that Redbox is in "detailed negotiations with a number of highly interested parties" looking to join forces on movie streaming, and that the company hopes to launch a "Redbox-branded" online service sometime in 2011.

Digital streaming represents a "significant opportunity" for Redbox, Davis said during the call, although he also added he sees a "long, profitable life ahead" for Redbox's physical DVD kiosk business.

Speculation about Redbox getting into the online streaming business has been building for months now, especially in the wake of a Redbox survey last April that asked customers how they'd feel about a $3.95-a-month plan that would include unlimited video streaming plus four free DVD rentals.

That's an enticing idea, given that the four free DVD rentals included in the proposed plan would cost $4 anyway, meaning that anyone who rents at least four titles a month from Redbox would essentially get to stream movies for free.

But Coinstar CEO Davis cautioned Thursday that it's "a bit premature" to speculate about whether Redbox would end up offering an all-you-can-eat streaming on a subscription basis, similar to Netflix, or a la carte rentals, like iTunes and Amazon on Demand.

Many had hoped that Coinstar would go ahead and name a streaming video partner for Redbox during Thursday's earnings call, but alas, no dice.

Among the names that have been bandied about include Sonic Solutions (the company that powers the streaming videos for Blockbuster and Best Buy), Amazon (which has its Amazon on Demand streaming service) and Wal-Mart-owned Vudu (which offers an embedded streaming player for various HDTVs and Blu-ray decks, not to mention the upcoming Boxee Box).

So yes — Redbox's digital strategy is pretty vague, but at least that leaves us free to speculate and cast our votes for what kind of streaming service with which we'd like Redbox to end up.

Personally, I thought the subscription plan floated in the Redbox survey from April sounded pretty good — four bucks a month for all the streaming you could ask for, plus four free DVD rentals a month, which nets out to about ... well, free.

Of course, such an all-you-can-eat subscription deal typically doesn't include the latest releases (as any Netflix subscriber will tell you). Given the bargain appeal of Redbox's buck-a-night DVD kiosks, though, I'd think that the company would be wise to go for value rather than pricey first-day releases.

Or, how about this: Instead of a subscription plan, how about catalog (read: older) streaming movies for a buck a piece, which would fit in with Redbox's whole "buck a night" theme? No, I wouldn't be that interested in streaming "Plan 9 from Outer Space" for a buck, but how about "Shawshank Redemption," the first "Iron Man" epic, or something along those lines? Hmmm.

Got streaming suggestions for Redbox? Now's the time, so fire away below.

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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Sony exec: PSP with Wi-Fi is good, but ‘always-connected’ device would be better (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 10:01 AM PDT

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Thu Oct 28, 1:01 pm ET

As rumors of an Android-powered PlayStation phone continue to mount, a top Sony exec hinted that the existing PlayStation Portable handheld "does sort of limit people" because it only has Wi-Fi rather than an "always-connected" data connection—similar, of course, to what a cell phone has.

At a "fireside chat" during a San Francisco tech conference Wednesday, Sony Computer Entertainment of America SVP Peter Dille fended off questions about those leaked snapshots of a purported PlayStation phone published on Engadget from earlier this week, CNN reports.

But while Dille refused to confirm the rumors, he didn't deny them either, according to  CNN. The Sony exec also launched into a curious discussion about the wireless capabilities of the PSP 3000 and the smaller PSP Go, both of which boast built-in Wi-Fi but not embedded 3G support.

First, Dille defended the aging PSP, arguing that it has a leg up on up-and-coming gaming platforms like Apple's iOS and Android because PSP games aren't just short-term "time-killers" for your morning commute, offering instead (as CNN puts it) "long, immersive entertainment" that caters to hard-core gamers.

On the other hand, Dille continued, today's mobile users are "used to having always-connected devices," and for now, the Wi-Fi-only PSP is dependent on having an available hotspot nearby for online access.

"I don't think we fully realize that vision with a Wi-Fi device," says Dille in the CNN article. "If it's not connected [to a cell network] then it does sort of limit people."

That's a telling comment from Dille, especially in the context of all the rumors flying about a possible PlayStation phone. The spy shots on Engadget from earlier this week show what appears to be a Sony Ericsson handset with slide-out PlayStation gaming controls, including a touchpad for virtual analog joysticks, a 4-inch (or so) touchscreen display and an Android interface.

Engadget also claims that Sony might get its own dedicated PlayStation aisle in the Android Market.

While Dille wouldn't confirm whether there's an Android-powered PlayStation Phone in the works, a Sony spokesperson told CNN that Sony does indeed "have relationships with Google."

Nintendo has also raised the possibility of a 3G-embedded gaming handheld, with the Wall Street Journal reporting back in July that the maker of the DS was "in talks" with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo about a possible 3G-ready device.

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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Microsoft beats Street, knocks down Apple worry (Reuters)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 06:01 PM PDT

By Bill Rigby Bill Rigby – Thu Oct 28, 9:01 pm ET

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp beat Wall Street's expectations with a 51 percent jump in quarterly profit, as higher sales of its flagship Windows and Office software knocked down fears Apple Inc's iPad would take a bite out of its main business.

Its shares, down 14 percent this year, rose 3 percent in after-hours trading. Despite doubling sales and profit in the last eight years, Microsoft's stock has largely languished at the same level, as investors worry about its ability to counter new rivals such as Google Inc or adapt to new ways of computing.

The quarterly profit growth was helped by the launch of the latest blockbuster Halo video game, but exaggerated by the deferral of some Windows revenue in the year-ago quarter and flattered by comparison to last year, when the economy was only just emerging from the downturn.

Microsoft's Windows 7 has sold a record-breaking 240 million copies since its launch a year ago and its Office suite of applications, which debuted this spring, is off to a strong start.

"The reports of the death of Windows and Office are premature -- the company is still a cash flow machine," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial. "People are buying about $10 billion worth of Windows and Office this quarter. The twin engines of Microsoft are still firing."

Between them, the Windows and Office units accounted for more than 60 percent of sales and more than 80 percent of profit, factoring out nonoperating losses.

Wall Street generally expects Windows and Office sales to track sales of PCs, suggesting growth of about 7 percent in the current quarter.

ONLINE LOSSES

Microsoft's online services division, which contains the Bing search engine and MSN portal, was the weakest point in the company's quarter, with its loss widening 17 percent to $560 million. The unit, which is investing heavily in an attempt to catch up with search advertising leader Google and now powers Yahoo Inc Web searches, has lost $6 billion in the last five years.

"I hate to nit-pick too much, but we'd always like to see the online services business do even more than it does," said Andrew Miedler, an analyst at Edward Jones, pointing out that revenue growth at the unit was slow despite a broad-based recovery in ad spending.

"We'd like to see even more great things out of the online division because Microsoft needs another pillar down the road, and online ads is a market that's big enough."

Microsoft was overtaken by archrival Apple as the most valuable tech company in May, and Apple hasn't looked back since as customers flock to buy its polished phones and tablets.

But the company had not seen any adverse effect on sales of computers running Windows due to Apple's popular iPad tablet device, which is close to selling 8 million units, said Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein.

"We haven't seen that at all," said Klein. "Analysts who have done research on it, largely think this (the tablet market) is additive to PC markets as opposed to instead of PCs."

BEATS THE STREET

The world's largest software company posted a fiscal first-quarter profit of $5.4 billion, or 62 cents per share, up from $3.6 billion, or 40 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. That beat Wall Street's average forecast of 55 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 25 percent to $16.2 billion, ahead of analysts' $15.8 billion average forecast.

Klein said companies were continuing to buy new computers, maintaining the recovery in tech spending, but consumers were not so strong.

"We feel very good about the business refresh," said Klein. "On the consumer side, it probably was a little bit less than people had anticipated, but it was still growth."

In the latest quarter, Microsoft's Office unit was the biggest engine, contributing $3.4 billion of profit. The Windows unit was the next most profitable with $3.3 billion.

The server and tools unit, which sells the software and services behind Internet-based computing and data storage -- so-called "cloud computing" -- contributed $1.6 billion in profit.

Microsoft's entertainment and devices unit, which sells the popular Xbox and less successful phone software, reported $382 million in profit, helped by Halo game sales. Figures from this unit are expected to improve this quarter, as Microsoft's new phone software and its Kinect motion-controller for Xbox go on sale in the United States next month.

As it accepts that it will likely not recapture its go-go growth of the 1990s, Microsoft has recently adopted a keen focus on cost control and profit margins. It cut 5,800 jobs last year and recently told its remaining 89,000 employees they will have to contribute to their healthcare costs for the first time in 2013.

Microsoft stuck to its forecast of $26.9 billion to $27.3 billion in operating expenses this fiscal year.

"The company is sticking to its new-found religion on expenses," said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital. "It used to be 'Let's throw everything at it and not care how much it costs.' That's great if you're growing gangbusters, but now we're seeing growth with margins and that's what we want to see as investors."

(Additional reporting by Liana Baker in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon)

Without driver or map, vans go from Italy to China (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 04:45 AM PDT

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach, Ap Business Writer – Thu Oct 28, 7:45 am ET

SHANGHAI – Across Eastern Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Gobi Desert — it certainly was a long way to go without getting lost.

Four driverless electric vans successfully ended an 8,000-mile (13,000-kilometer) test drive from Italy to China — a modern-day version of Marco Polo's journey around the world — with their arrival at the Shanghai Expo on Thursday.

The vehicles, equipped with four solar-powered laser scanners and seven video cameras that work together to detect and avoid obstacles, are part of an experiment aimed at improving road safety and advancing automotive technology.

The sensors on the vehicles enabled them to navigate through wide extremes in road, traffic and weather conditions, while collecting data to be analyzed for further research, in a study sponsored by the European Research Council.

"We didn't know the route, I mean what the roads would have been and if we would have found nice roads, traffic, lots of traffic, medium traffic, crazy drivers or regular drivers, so we encountered the lot," said Isabella Fredriga, a research engineer for the project.

Though the vans were driverless and mapless, they did carry researchers as passengers just in case of emergencies. The experimenters did have to intervene a few times — when the vehicles got snarled in a Moscow traffic jam and to handle toll stations.

The project used no maps, often traveling through remote regions of Siberia and China. At one point, a van stopped to give a hitchhiker a lift.

A computerized artificial vision system dubbed GOLD, for Generic Obstacle and Lane Detector, analyzed the information from the sensors and automatically adjusted the vehicles' speed and direction.

"This steering wheel is controlled by the PC. So the PC sends a command and the steering wheel moves and turns and we can follow the road, follow the curves and avoid obstacles with this," said Alberto Broggi of Vislab at the University of Parma in Italy, the lead researcher for the project.

"The idea here was to travel on a long route, on two different continents, in different states, different weather, different traffic conditions, different infrastructure. Then we can have some huge number of situations to test the system on," he said.

The technology will be used to study ways to complement drivers' abilities. It also could have applications in farming, mining and construction, the researchers said.

The vehicles ran at maximum speeds of 38 miles per hour (60 kilometers per hour) and had to be recharged for eight hours after every two to three hours of driving. At times, it was monotonous and occasionally nerve-racking, inevitably due to human error, Fredriga said.

"There were a few scary moments. Like when the following vehicle bumped into the leading one and that was just because we forgot, we stopped and we forgot to turn the system off," Fredriga said.

Get classic Mario Bros. games on the Wii (Digital Trends)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 07:08 PM PDT

Laura Khalil Laura Khalil – 2 hrs 8 mins ago

Super_Mario_Bros._box

Starting Dec. 12, the Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition will be available for purchase while supplies last. This collectible package features four classic Mario games playable on the Wii system, a soundtrack CD and an illustrated commemorative booklet. Sure to be a sought-after item among holiday gift-seekers, Super Mario All-Stars will be available for $29.99.

The games included in the Super Mario All-Stars collection are Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. Each game features the enhanced graphics and updated sound from the Super NES Super Mario All-Stars collection, and all four can be played on the Wii system using one of several controllers: the Wii Remote controller, Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro or the Nintendo GameCube controller. Also included is a Super Mario History soundtrack CD, a compilation of memorable music from the Mario franchise.

Rounding out the Super Mario All-Stars collection is a 32-page Super Mario History booklet featuring interviews, behind-the-scenes details and rare concept art. Fans from every generation can enjoy firsthand insights into the beginnings of Mario, illustrated with candid photos and never-before-seen design sketches. Together with the game software and soundtrack, it’s the ultimate tribute to a unique game series.

Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985 on the Nintendo platform and remained of the most popular video games of all time until being surpassed by Wii Sports in 2009. Over 40 million copies of the game have been sold to date. Super Mario Bros. increased the popularity of side scrolling video games and that idea was continued in many of the sequels. The game was the successor to the arcade game Mario Bros., released in 1983.

Samsung's 3rd-quarter net profit rises 17 percent (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 07:52 PM PDT

By KELLY OLSEN, AP Business Writer Kelly Olsen, Ap Business Writer – 1 hr 24 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – Samsung Electronics Co. said net profit rose 17 percent in the third quarter to a record high amid strength in its semiconductor and mobile phone businesses.

Samsung, the world's largest manufacture of computer memory chips and flat screen TVs, earned 4.46 trillion won ($3.97 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, the company said Friday in a regulatory filing and statement. It had net profit of 3.81 trillion won the year before.

The result was Samsung's third straight record net profit performance. The company said in the statement that its semiconductor business recorded record sales of 10.66 trillion won during the quarter.

Sales of mobile phone handsets rose 19 percent from the same period last year to 71.4 million units, Samsung said. The company attributed the performance to the launch of the Galaxy S and Wave smartphones.

Samsung said overall third-quarter sales rose 12 percent to 40.23 trillion won, also a record and the first time the company has seen revenues surpass the 40 trillion won mark. The result compares with sales of 35.89 trillion won last year.

"In the third quarter, Samsung faced a challenging business environment including declining demand for PCs and TVs, along with a continued economic slowdown in developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe," Robert Yi, vice president and head of investor relations, said in a statement.

"Despite this, we achieved strong revenue growth and profitability, which was built upon our cost competitiveness in memory semiconductors and increased sales of cutting-edge products such as our latest smartphones," Yi added.

On the operating level — seen as a direct indicator of business performance before taxes, dividends, asset sales and other items figured into net profit or loss — Samsung reported a profit of 4.86 trillion won in the third quarter, or 15 percent higher than the year before.

Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung is a major force in the global electronics industry. Besides dominating in memory chips and TVs, the company is also the world's largest manufacturer of large-sized liquid crystal displays and ranks No. 2 in mobile phones behind Nokia Corp. of Finland.

Shares in Samsung, which released earnings about 25 minutes after the start of trading, fell 1.8 percent to 750,000 won approximately an hour later. The stock price surged 77 percent in 2009.

Facebook, Twitter say social is the new normal (Reuters)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 02:07 PM PDT

Dazzboard takes music collections to Facebook (AFP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 01:09 PM PDT

– Thu Oct 28, 4:09 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Digital media sharing star Dazzboard on Thursday began letting Facebook users show their tastes in music, complete with samples and an easy way to buy tunes at the social networking service.

Dazzplay software available on line at apps.facebook.com/dazzplay lets members of the world's top online community store and synchronize music collections from all their gadgets and computers.

"We truly believe the launch of the Dazzplay Facebook app will be a game-changing moment in how people listen to music and share it with their friends," said Dazzboard chief executive Tero Salonen.

"A fully shareable platform for broadcasting your playlists to friends expresses the culmination of your musical attitude into a virtual personality, all managed through Dazzplay."

Dazzplay allows users to create custom playlists of music from their collections at iTunes, MP3 players, smartphones, or other sources and share them with Facebook friends.

Music aficionados can vie for the title of top DJ by creating playlists that win fans at Facebook.

Facebook members in North America or Europe can sample friends' music and then buy tracks from an online shop run by 7digital at us.7digital.com.

Dazzplay users are able to listen to short clips of songs, then buy and download tunes they want from 7digital's catalogue of over 11 million tracks in North America and Europe online at us.7digital.com.

Dazzboard has offices in California and Finland.

Mozilla Gives Firefox a New Add-On for Audio and Video Recording (Mashable)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 02:11 PM PDT

Jolie O'Dell Jolie O'dell – Thu Oct 28, 5:11 pm ET

Mozilla Labs has been working hard on browser-based audio and video -- not just for playback, but also for recording. Labs' newest creation, called Rainbow, lets developers access your hardware's video and audio recording capabilities with a few lines of JavaScript.

The files created are all in open-source formats, including Theora, Vorbis and Ogg (support for WebM and other formats are planned in the product's roadmap). Once media is captured, files can be accessed via the DOM with HTML5 File APIs.

Mozilla also wants to enable live streaming video capabilities for the add-on.

Mozilla Labs employee Anant Narayanan wrote in a blog post today that the Labs team had "experimented with audio recording in the browser as part of the Jetpack prototype." This development, however, is still a pre-alpha prototype at the moment. As such, it only works with Firefox nightly builds on Mac devices.

Another Mozilla experiment we've liked a lot lately is Chromeless, a DIY tool for developers who want to create their own web browser UIs.

In general, multimedia as part of the web browser experience is becoming increasingly experimental and interactive; we're excited to see where Mozilla and developers take Rainbow in the near future. If you want to give it a whirl, you can check out the source on Github.

PayPal and other top Android apps of the week (Appolicious)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 11:18 AM PDT

Microsoft earnings rise with business spending (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 05:57 PM PDT

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer Jessica Mintz, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Oct 28, 8:57 pm ET

SEATTLE – A swell of spending by businesses on new computers, software and servers helped push Microsoft Corp.'s earnings for the most recent quarter past Wall Street's expectations.

Business spending on technology slowed to a trickle during the economic downturn. Microsoft's report, released after the market closed Thursday, is the most recent evidence that corporate spending is back in full swing.

Microsoft said the increase in sales to businesses of the newest versions of its Windows operating system, Office programs and server software made up for softer-than-expected revenue from sales of consumer PCs in the quarter.

"We ended up in this great sweet spot in business spending that was re-emerging after the downturn," Microsoft's general manager of investor relations, Bill Koefoed, said in an interview. The pickup "aligned just perfectly with our product launches."

Koefoed said he expects the spending to continue for some time, noting that companies are using more than 400 million PCs that are more than four years old.

For the fiscal first quarter, which ended in September, Microsoft's net income rose 51 percent to $5.4 billion, or 62 cents per share, from $3.6 billion, or 40 cents per share, in the same period last year.

In last year's quarter, Microsoft deferred some revenue from Windows sales. Had it not done so, net income would have been only 16 percent higher this year in comparison.

Revenue increased 25 percent to $16.2 billion, from $12.9 billion a year ago.

Microsoft beat Wall Street's expectations on both counts. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast net income of 55 cents per share on $15.8 billion in revenue.

The Windows division's revenue rose 66 percent to $4.8 billion. Office and other business software brought in $5.1 billion, a 14 percent jump. The group that makes server software reported a 12 percent increase in revenue to $4 billion.

Microsoft's online revenue, which comes primarily from search advertising, edged up 8 percent to $527 million. That segment widened its operating loss in the quarter to $560 million, however, as the company continued to spend money on chasing Google Inc., the No. 1 search provider.

The software maker's results tracked with those from other technology heavyweights. The two main chipmakers, Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., have been milking stronger sales to corporations to make up for weakness in consumer demand for PCs.

The consumer PC news wasn't all bad, however. Microsoft said that people shifted to low-end laptops from netbooks, the laptop's smaller but weaker cousin. Apple Inc.'s iPad, which some analysts say may have given possible PC shoppers pause, didn't seem to be cutting into Microsoft's sales.

"We have not seen a material shift away from low-end PCs due to tablets in the market," said Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein said during a conference call. "Instead, we've predominantly seen consumers increase their number of devices."

Intel also reported last week that consumers did start buying computers again in September and predicted demand would hold up through the holiday season.

Besides PCs, Microsoft's other consumer products should be more prominent factors in the holiday quarter. The company will soon start selling Kinect, an add-on for the Xbox 360 game console that can read body movements so players don't need to hold a controller.

Microsoft said it expects the division that makes Xbox 360 increase revenue by 30 percent in the holiday quarter, compared with a year ago, largely due to Kinect's launch.

The company also recently launched a new smart phone system. Earlier Thursday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hyped Windows Phone 7 at a conference for software developers. The company needs developers to take a leap of faith and build phone apps for its unproven devices if it hopes to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Google's Android system.

Shares of Microsoft, which is based on Redmond, rose 92 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $27.20 in extended trading Thursday after the release of results. Earlier, the stock added 23 cents to close at $26.28.

___

AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson in San Francisco contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS year-ago earnings number in 6th paragraph to $3.6 billion)

On the Call: Microsoft CFO Peter Klein (AP)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 04:30 PM PDT

By The Associated Press The Associated Press – Thu Oct 28, 7:30 pm ET

Business spending on new computers, servers and software boosted Microsoft Corp.'s fiscal first-quarter results above Wall Street's expectations.

Companies had clamped down on budgets for technology during the economic downturn; as they began opening their wallets a couple of quarters ago, Microsoft's new product cycle was in full swing with new versions of Windows, Office and various server products.

During a conference call after the results were made public, analysts pressed Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein for more details about the company's sales agreements with business customers.

QUESTION: It seems like Microsoft is starting to see normal buying behavior from customers, even though many have laid off workers and thus require fewer Windows licenses. What's driving the higher spending by those big-business customers now?

RESPONSE: "I think you're seeing the confluence of several things. Obviously, one is just macroeconomics and businesses investing in IT (information technology) again. And I think the other is our product portfolio. And so it's a combination of those two things has gotten enterprises really wanting to invest both in their IT infrastructure and in our portfolio products. So as we had hoped, over the course of the last year, we thought those two things might come together. The last thing I'll say is the accelerated interest in the cloud. And so when you add on top of it where we've come in terms of our cloud offerings and what that means for enterprises, as they think about investing for the long-term, they want to invest with somebody who can make the transition from their on-premise infrastructure to the cloud as smooth as possible."

Bredolab-infected PCs Downloading Fake Antivirus Software (PC World)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 06:40 AM PDT

Jeremy Kirk Jeremy Kirk – Thu Oct 28, 9:40 am ET

A massive takedown operation conducted by Dutch police and security experts earlier this week does not appear to have completely dissolved the Bredolab botnet, but it is unlikely to recover.

The latest look at the botnet by FireEye's Malware Intelligence Lab shows that two domains are being used to issue instructions to infected computers. PCs that are infected with Bredolab are programmed check in with certain domains in order to receive new commands, wrote Atif Mushtaq, of FireEye.

One domain, which is on an IP (Internet protocol) address registered with a collocation facility in Kazakhstan, is telling infected computers to download a fake antivirus program called Antivirusplus, Mushtaq said. Cybercriminals have found that fake antivirus programs can be a thriving business. If infected, users are badgered to buy the programs, which offer little or no actual protection from threats on the Internet.

The other domain is instructing computers compromised with Bredolab to send spam. That domain is hosted on an IP address assigned to a collocation facility in Russia.

The infected computers that are communicating with domains appear to have a variant of Bredolab installed, Mushtaq wrote. Malware authors frequently have to modify the code in order to avoid detection by antivirus software.

Mushtaq submitted the Bredolab variant to VirusTotal, an online service that accepts malware samples and checks to see whether 42 different security software suites detect it. VirusTotal includes some of the most widely sold products from vendors such as Symantec, Trend Micro and McAfee.

As of Wednesday, only one product detected it, Mushtaq wrote. The results, however, are not surprising: much new malware remains undetected for a short time. When a vendor discovers it, the sample is shared throughout the security community, increasing the chances that other security software will pick it up.

The main Bredolab botnet appears to have been taken out after Dutch police seized control of 143 command-and-control servers on Monday and shut down their communication with infected PCs. Police uploaded their own code to those infected computers -- estimated to number as many as 29

million -- warning that the computer was infected.

Working with Dutch police, Armenian authorities arrested a 27-year-old man on Tuesday for allegedly controlling Bredolab. If he is extradited to the Netherlands, he could face between four and six years in prison.

The Bredolab variant that is still working may have come from the original Bredolab code, which may have been leaked and used by someone other than its author, Mushtaq wrote.

"This is not so unusual," Mushtaq wrote. "According to some confirmed sources, Cutwail (a famous spam botnet) code was leaked when one of the developers left the original bot herder's team and started building his own botnet."

It's also possible that a portion of the Bredolab botnet was rented to some other gang, Mushtaq wrote. Security experts have said that Bredolab was rented out to other cybercriminals, who could then upload their own specific code to infected machines or use the computers for spamming.

Authorities have shut down most of Bredolab's command-and-control servers, so Mushtaq wrote on Tuesday that "a big portion of this botnet has been dismantled and is never going to recover."

Still, cybercriminals who are involved with Bredolab are taking a higher risk: Dutch prosecutors said on Wednesday they are still investigating could make more arrests.

"No doubt some of the bot herders are still untouched and committed enough to continue their operations even under this extra scrutiny," Mushtaq wrote.

Online Masters Program Focuses on Free Software (PC World)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 03:00 PM PDT

Katherine Noyes Katherine Noyes – Thu Oct 28, 6:00 pm ET

Given the expanding strategic role of Linux in businesses and governments around the world, it's not surprising that organizations are scrambling to find employees with the Linux skills they need. More than a third of the respondents to a recent Linux Foundation study, in fact, indicated that they're worried about finding people with the skills to support their increasing reliance on the free and open source operating system.

Demand far outstrips supply, in other words, when it comes to professionals skilled in Linux and other free technologies. Not only does that represent a great opportunity for those in IT, but it also means the time has never been better for the growing number of businesses using Linux and other free software to bolster their in-house skills.

Free Software and Free Standards

As if on cue, the Free Technology Academy (FTA) and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) just announced this week that they've teamed up on an online Master's Program in Free Software and Free Standards, for example.

The Amsterdam-based FTA's virtual campus offers a variety of accredited professional education modules that can be followed entirely online, with emphases including advanced GNU/Linux, public sector applications, and economic and legal aspects. All learning materials are published under a free license and can be accessed by anyone, but learners who are formally enrolled will be guided by professional teaching staff from one of the program's participating universities.

"The FTA course materials teach people to use GNU/Linux; more than that, it teaches them to recognize why this is important," said Richard Stallman, leader of the free software movement and president of the Free Software Foundation.

The FSF's participation in the Master's Program will include special video guest lectures and collaboration in the maintenance of existing materials and the production of new courses. The FTA will also provide the FSF Associate Membership with 30 discount vouchers for FTA courses each trimester.

Enrollment for 2011 courses is now open, and students can register online at the FTA site. Per-course tuition is now 10 percent off the normal price of EUR 380.

Other Online Opportunities

The FTA-FSF Master's Program is an exciting new addition to the world of Linux and free software education, but there are myriad other sources of such education as well. For example:

The Linux Foundation offers a broad array of courses both online and in a classroom setting. Topics include open source compliance, Linux performance tuning and Linux app development, among many others.

Linux Online offers beginning, intermediate and advanced courses on Linux as well as short lessons on specific Linux-related topics and materials offering a variety of tips and tricks. A certificate program is also in the works.

Novell's OpenCourseWare project offers a variety of free training courses on various Linux topics.

The Virtual Training Company offers a series of free Linux tutorials online, viewable with either Flash or QuickTime.

The Linux Tutorial delivers a free, online introduction to Linux, with chapters ranging all the way from Introduction to Operating Systems to Networking to Linux and Windows, including specifics on dual-booting and virtualization.

This is just a small sampling of what's out there, of course. The bottom line, however, is that a lack of skills and training shouldn't prevent any smart business from taking advantage of the many benefits of Linux and free software.

Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk.

IT Worker Gets Prison After Stealing Data for Online Surveys (PC World)

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 05:30 PM PDT

Robert McMillan Robert Mcmillan – Thu Oct 28, 8:30 pm ET

A former IT staffer has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for stealing sensitive information belonging to his co-workers and using the data to make money filling out online health surveys.

Cam Giang, 31, was fired from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center earlier this year after investigators discovered that he'd been using the names, birthdays and Social Security numbers of other UCSF employees to fill out hundreds of online surveys. The point was to collect online vouchers, worth US$100 each.

He had worked at the medical center's IT department for five years and had access to the sensitive information through his job, according to court records.

Between January and April of this year, Giang filled out 382 surveys before the company that was paying for them, StayWell, figured out what was going on. StayWell had been offering UC employees the gift vouchers as incentives to fill out health surveys, but it grew wise to the scam.

The company received complaints from employees who couldn't fill out the survey. When StayWell investigated, it turned out that Giang had already filled out surveys in their names.

In court filings, Giang's attorney said he received 218 vouchers (total value $21,800) but never managed to cash them in. Giang only used part of the Social Security numbers of his co-workers while filling out the survey, his lawyer states in a sentencing memorandum. "Mr Giang never intended to steal their identity, and other than losing the opportunity to participate in StayWell's marketing surveys, the victims did not lose anything," says the Oct. 20 memorandum asking the judge for probation instead of jail time.

Giang has been "despondent since his arrest and attempted to commit suicide," the memorandum states.

Giang pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft charges on July 22. He was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

In early May, the UCSF warned 486 people that their information had been accessed.

Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert's e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com
at 9:28 PM

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