Sponsoer by :

Friday, July 22, 2011

AP source: Apple considering Hulu bid (AP) : Technet

Sponsored

AP source: Apple considering Hulu bid (AP) : Technet

AP source: Apple considering Hulu bid (AP)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 12:57 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Fri Jul 22, 3:57 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. is in talks to potentially bid for video-streaming service Hulu, a person close to the situation said Friday.

The person, who said Apple is among several companies interested in Hulu, spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the matter. In early July, search giant Google Inc. was said to be among about a dozen companies in talks to potentially buy Hulu. Yahoo Inc. is also believed to be interested.

Hulu, which is owned by Disney, News Corp., Comcast Corp. and Providence Equity Partners, started presenting its financial information to interested bidders late last month, after an unsolicited offer prompted its board to look for other offers.

The online video service streams movies and TV shows from broadcasters ABC, Fox and NBC to computers and — for a monthly fee — to a number of Web-connected mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It expects its paid service, Hulu Plus, to have over a million subscribers by the end of the summer and its CEO, Jason Kilar, has said it is profitable.

For Apple, an acquisition of Hulu could bolster its iTunes store, which provides videos users can rent or buy, but does not currently stream content or offer a subscription streaming service. It could also help the Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad maker as it spars with competitors such as online video pioneer Netflix Inc., which offers both a DVD-by-mail and video streaming service, and Google Inc.'s popular YouTube video streaming site, which streams free, ad-supported videos and rents movies from several major studios.

Apple has plenty of available cash for making a deal. At the end of the last quarter, its horde of cash and securities totaled $76.2 billion.

And Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who is currently on medical leave, already has a connection with one of Hulu's owners: He's The Walt Disney Co.'s largest shareholder and a member of its board.

However, if Apple — or any other company — were to buy Hulu, there's no guarantee it would be able to continue streaming content from the company's current owners. A buyer may have to reach a new deal in order to license the content.

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said key to any deal involving Hulu would be an agreement for the continued streaming of its current video content. And if, as many analysts expect, Apple is developing its own TV set, the addition of Hulu would put the company in an "amazingly powerful position," he said.

Hulu isn't interested in just exploring possible offers. Earlier this month Disney CEO Bob Iger told reporters that Hulu's owners are "committed to selling." He spoke on the sidelines of an annual gathering of top media executives hosted by investment bank Allen & Co. in Sun Valley, Idaho. Iger's comments were reported by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal.

BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said it makes sense that Apple would take a meeting with Hulu, but since part of Hulu's business is ad-supported it's contrary to Apple's current model of buying or renting videos. It makes more sense for Google or Yahoo Inc. to buy Hulu, he said.

"They're not the most logical buyers," Gillis said of Apple. "Maybe peeling off a couple bills to keep it out of the hands of Google makes some sense."

Still, as with any deal, he noted that whether or not it makes sense depends on the purchase price.

Apple's interest in Hulu was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

Verizon pulls in subscribers with iPhone; new CEO (AP)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 08:15 AM PDT

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Fri Jul 22, 11:15 am ET

NEW YORK – Verizon Communications Inc. is seeing a big boost from the iPhone, adding more new subscribers on contracts in the second quarter than it has in two and half years.

Yet AT&T Inc., which has been the exclusive seller of Apple Inc.'s iconic phone in the U.S. until February, still activates three iPhones for every two Verizon does.

When posting a profit for the second quarter on Friday, Verizon also said Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdam will take over from long-time CEO Ivan Seidenberg, 64, on Aug. 1. The company has signaled the succession for the past year. McAdam, 57, is the former head of Verizon Wireless.

Seidenberg will remain chairman of the company. He became the CEO of Bell Atlantic in 1998. It changed its named to Verizon in 2000 after a major acquisition.

Verizon added 1.26 million wireless subscribers under contract in the April to June period, a result that flies in the face of the slowdown in new subscribers across the industry in the last two years. Since nearly everyone already has a cellphone, gaining new subscribers is chiefly a matter of luring them over from other carriers. A year ago, Verizon added just 665,000 subscribers under contract.

Verizon activated 2.3 million iPhones, well below the 3.6 million AT&T reported for the same period. Verizon sells only the iPhone 4, starting at $200, while AT&T also sells the older iPhone 3GS for $49.

McAdam said iPhone sales haven't quite been as good as the company expected, chiefly because it believed a new iPhone model would arrive this summer, as it usually does. Apple hasn't said why there's no new phone yet.

"We expect it probably sometime in the fall. I think you'll see a significant jump there," McAdam told analysts on a conference call.

Analyst Michael McCormack at Nomura Securities said he was expecting Verizon's wireless revenue to grow even faster, and the fact that the average monthly fees per user hardly budged even as Verizon added high-paying iPhone subscribers was a major disappointment. Wall Street "will have to rethink the longer-term wireless revenue growth opportunity," he said.

Verizon shares fell $1.01, or 2.7 percent, to $36.56 in late morning trading.

Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo defended the results in an interview, saying average monthly fees are being held back because many of the new devices being added to the network aren't phones but tablets or Internet modems, with lower monthly fees. But these are very profitable devices and show the way to industry growth beyond phones, he said.

"We're expanding the market," Shammo said.

Even with relatively slow iPhone sales, Verizon is handily outdoing AT&T, which recruited only 331,000 new contract subscribers in the quarter. The iPhone is AT&T's chief draw, while Verizon has other advantages on its side, like a broader "3G" data network and new, ultra-fast "4G" network in many cities. In the quarter, Verizon sold 1.2 million devices that use the 4G network, including laptop modems and the HTC Thunderbolt smartphone.

Verizon ended the quarter with 106.3 million devices connected to its wireless network, making it the largest carrier in the country. No. 2 and chief rival AT&T is trying to leapfrog Verizon in size by buying No. 4 T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.

Verizon said its net income was $1.61 billion, or 57 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30. A year ago, it posted a loss of $1.19 billion, or 42 cents per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings for 55 cents per share, on average.

Revenue rose 2.8 percent to $27.5 billion from $26.77 billion and in line with analysts' expectations.

Excluding the sale of phone lines in 14 states at the end of last year's second quarter, Verizon's revenue grew 6.3 percent on the back of its thriving wireless operations.

However, only 55 percent of Verizon Wireless' profits flow to Verizon Communication's bottom line, because British carrier Vodafone Group PLC owns 45 percent of the cellular carrier.

"In terms of earnings growth and the acceleration of revenue growth, this has been one of Verizon's best quarters since the 2008 economic downturn," CEO Seidenberg said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez governs homeland using Twitter (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 05:47 PM PDT

TechLife on OS X Lion, invisible art, the internet making us cuddly, and more! (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 05:41 PM PDT

Apple to Buy Hulu? [REPORT] (Mashable)

Posted: 21 Jul 2011 04:13 PM PDT

Charlie White Charlie White – Thu Jul 21, 7:13 pm ET

Apple could be considering a purchase of popular online video service Hulu, according to "two people who weren't authorized to speak publicly." The two sources spoke with Bloomberg, calling the negotiations "early talks that may lead to an offer for Hulu."

[More from Mashable: View From Above: First Space View of Shuttle Reentry [PICS]]

The Hulu rumor mill was already heating up over the past few days -- we reported about a bidding war for Hulu, which is shopping itself around to potential acquirers after deciding not to go through with a $2 billion IPO.

Sweetening the deal is a promise of five years of programming for Hulu's highest bidder, including two years of exclusivity for the programming on Hulu, consisting of content from the Walt Disney Company, News Corp. and Comcast's NBC Universal.

[More from Mashable: Skype CEO Teases In-Call Ads]

While Microsoft is reportedly not interested in a second round of bidding for the online video company, Yahoo is still in play. Business Insider reported on Tuesday that the price for the premium online service could reach $2 billion.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Judge cuts damages in Minn. music downloading case (AP)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 05:51 PM PDT

– Fri Jul 22, 8:51 pm ET

MINNEAPOLIS – A federal judge has again reduced the penalty imposed on a Minnesota woman for illegally sharing 24 songs online, this time from $1.5 million to $54,000.

U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis said in a ruling Friday that the penalty of $62,500 per song imposed by a jury last year in the long-running case was unreasonable. He reduced that to $2,250 per song.

Attorneys for Jammie (JAY'-mee) Thomas-Rasset argued the $1.5 million judgment violated the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution because the penalty had no reasonable relationship to the damage caused.

The recording industry sued Thomas-Rasset in 2006 for illegally sharing music on the file-sharing site Kazaa. Three juries have ruled against her, but the case has seen multiple appeals.

Thomas-Rasset's attorney did not immediately return a call.

Oracle to question Larry Page in Google patent lawsuit (AFP)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 03:25 PM PDT

– Fri Jul 22, 6:25 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Oracle will get to question Google co-founder Larry Page under terms set by a US judge presiding over a patent suit pitting the business software titan against the Internet giant.

Oracle can depose Page "for a maximum of two hours, excluding breaks" regarding the value of Android and whether Google intentionally infringed on patents at issue, Judge Donna Ryu said in a written decision on Thursday.

"(Page) reportedly made the decision to acquire Android Inc., and thereby develop and launch the platform that Oracle now contends infringes its patents and copyrights," Oracle lawyers argued in their request to the court.

"Oracle believes that Mr. Page's testimony will likely be relevant with respect to a number of other key issues in this case as well, including the value of the infringement to Google," the letter continued.

Google has asked to depose its chief executive, Larry Ellison, in the case.

Oracle is accusing Google's Android software of infringing on Java computer programming language patents held by Oracle stemming from its recent purchase of Java inventor Sun Microsystems.

Google has denied the patent infringement claims and said it believes mobile phone makers and other users of its open-source Android operating system are entitled to use the Java technology in dispute.

Google opposed the bid to question Page and three other current or former executives in the final weeks of the discovery process, arguing that Oracle was "gnashing its teeth with an eleventh-hour attempt to cram" in more depositions.

Ryu is also allowing Oracle to depose two of its other targets, Bob Lee and Tim Lindholm.

Oracle this week complained to Ryu that Google is not providing answers to questions about the Mountain View, California-based company's non-mobile businesses.

Oracle wants Google to reveal details such as total search volume broken down by keywords and the Web content it indexes.

Google has resisted with the reasoning that those facts are not relevant to the case because Android powers smartphones and tablet computers, according to Oracle.

Google has maintained that Sun, before it was acquired by Oracle, had declared that Java would be open-source, allowing any software developer to use it, and released some of its source code in 2006 and 2007.

Oracle completed its acquisition of Sun, a one-time Silicon Valley star, in January of 2010 and subsequently filed suit against Google.

Google-backed Android software is used in an array of devices that have been gaining ground in the hotly competitive global smartphone and tablet markets.

White iPod Touch images surface (Digital Trends)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 05:31 PM PDT

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Fri Jul 22, 8:31 pm ET

white ipod touchNothing can quite rival the hysteria surrounding the White iPhone. The thing rose to epic proportions and became the apple (pun intended) of every fanboy's eye. Now another iOS device could possibly get the white treatment: The iPod Touch.

9to5 Mac reports that parts for the white Touch have surfaced and that the leaked photos show hardware that could have been for a "scrapped" iPod Touch 4, or possibly the coming next-gen model. The photos are unconfirmed and could be nothing more than an in-house experiment, but something tells us that the success of the first White iPhone means it could become a staple of the iOS line. The units are rumored to be extremely similar with the iPod Touch 5, mostly sporting internal upgrades.

The PMP isn't going to be even nearly as hyped or desired, but Apple clearly knows how to milk a color scheme. Given how consumers reacted to the White iPhone 4–a phone that had been available for the better part of a year–a new anything from Apple in the coveted color will at least be mildly profitable. If anything, it could find some new revenue for the iPod, whose sales have been steadily plummeting since 2008.

white ipod touch full

RIM's QNX-Based PlayBook Will Get Android App Player (NewsFactor)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 02:12 PM PDT

Mark Long, newsfactor.com Mark Long, newsfactor.com – Fri Jul 22, 5:12 pm ET

Research In Motion is developing an Android App Player for its QNX-based PlayBook tablet, and it's expected to be available before the end of summer. A beta version of the player was inadvertently posted on the company's BlackBerry site and has since been removed, RIM confirmed Friday.

However, the 143.28MB sys.android.bar player file was uploaded to several mirror sites around the world. RIM is advising PlayBook users to not download the file.

"We recommend that users refrain from downloading and installing this software since it is outdated and nonfunctional in many respects," a RIM spokesperson said. "The official beta release of the Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook is on track for release later this summer."

Open To Alternatives

RIM's goal is to enable PlayBook users to graze the 250,000 apps at the Android Marketplace. RIM's BlackBerry World is sparsely populated by comparison.

"Supporting the Android ecosystem is an interesting move because it can be interpreted as giving up on building its own ecosystem," noted Al Hilwa, director of applications development software at IDC. "But in reality, using Android as a middle layer shows that they are open for alternative approaches and run an open and welcoming platform."

Still, running Android has to be implemented properly so apps are attractive and usable, Hilwa observed. "I don't believe we have seen exactly how this is going to happen yet," Hilwa said. "If RIM moves ahead with supporting Android apps, it will be one of many things that RIM is doing to improve the PlayBook -- all of which would also pay dividends with its crucial phone OS transition."

RIM is doing the right thing in pushing the developer story even as it tries out new things, Hilwa observed. "RIM has to develop an ecosystem which can generate a critical mass of apps [for] the Playbook as well as their future phones based on the QNX system," Hilwa explained. The problem for RIM is that all the developer oxygen is currently "being sucked up by Apple and Android, with Microsoft tapping its existing .NET base to generate some activity around Windows Phone," Hilwa added.

JayCut Acquisition

RIM acquired JayCut this week to bring the Sweden-based company's online video editor and cloud-based services to the PlayBook, which features dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing, HDMI output, and high-resolution video playback, RIM CTO David Yach observed.

"By working with JayCut to add video-editing capabilities to the BlackBerry platform, we can further enrich our customers' multimedia experience with BlackBerry," Yach wrote in a blog.

However, internal dissension within RIM's employee ranks continues to roil the company. The senior product manager for RIM's PlayBook effort, Ryan Bidan, is reportedly leaving to join the North America division of Samsung Electronics.

RIM's Android App Player may give the BlackBerry maker breathing room as it works to move its entire device line to the QNX mobile OS it acquired last year. Among other things, it may help to temporarily assuage growing investor concerns about RIM's strategy.

But RIM's BlackBerry brand is bound to face higher competitive pressure in western Europe and elsewhere once Apple rolls out its latest mobile-device refresh in September. "Apple's new devices will play an important role in its strategy to tackle the midtier price bands that are currently dominated by Android, BlackBerry and Symbian devices," said IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo.

Calif. man gets 4 years for stalking on Facebook (AP)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 04:47 PM PDT

By JUDY LIN, Associated Press Judy Lin, Associated Press – Fri Jul 22, 7:47 pm ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A California man who trolled women's Facebook pages searching for clues that allowed him to take over their email accounts was sentenced Friday to more than four years in state prison after a judge rejected a plea for a lighter sentence and likened the man to a peeping Tom.

Once he took over women's email accounts, George Bronk searched their folders for nude or semi-nude photographs or videos sent to their husbands or boyfriends and distributed the images to their contact list, prosecutors said.

The emails went to families, friends and co-workers. Women in 17 states, the District of Columbia and England were victimized.

"This case serves as a stark example of what occurs in so-called cyberspace. It has very real consequences," Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown said. "The intrusion of one's profile is no different than intruding one's home."

Bronk, 24, pleaded guilty in January to charges that included computer intrusion, false impersonation and possession of child pornography.

Brown sentenced him to four years in state prison for the charges related to the Facebook and email offenses, and added eight more months for charges related to child pornography.

Bronk's attorney, Monica Lynch, said her client took responsibility for his actions and showed remorse. She had sought a sentence of one year in local jail with probation afterward, or two years in state prison with no probation.

Brown based his decision on a sentencing recommendation by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The evaluation stated that Bronk demonstrated remorse and quoted the self-identified alcoholic as saying, "If I could go back with the knowledge that I have now, I would not have done any of the things I did."

But the state expressed concern about his lack of understanding about the severity of his crime and noted Bronk had demonstrated "a high degree of callousness." The evaluation said he used the child pornographic videos and images "as an instrument designed to inflict pain and humiliation on the very people he stole the images from."

Bronk was living in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights taking care of his ailing parents in December 2009 when he began scanning Facebook with the intent of taking over email accounts. The practice continued until last September.

He looked for email accounts on Facebook pages then gleaned enough personal information from postings to answer basic security questions, such as the name of an elementary school or favorite color.

After he changed passwords and took over accounts, Bronk would search folders for compromising photos and distribute them publicly, prosecutors said.

He even taunted some of the women in online exchanges and coerced at least one into sending him more explicit photographs by threatening to distribute the pictures he already had.

Danielle Piscak, 22, of Parkland, Wash., told The Associated Press earlier this year that she was able to contact the person who had hacked into her email account and ask why he was doing it. She said Bronk's reply was, "Because it's funny."

The case illustrates the vulnerability of all Internet users, said prosecuting attorney Robert Morgester of the state attorney general's office.

"The victims we went to said `I had very robust passwords.' But it didn't matter how robust the password was if the recovery question is easy," he said. "Lost your password? What's your favorite color or what high school did you go to? Or what's your dog's name? And he was able to glean that information from social media."

Investigators used information from Bronk's confiscated computer to email questionnaires to 3,200 of his Internet contacts, asking if they had been victimized. Forty-six women said they had.

Investigators also said they found 172 email files with explicit photographs on Bronk's computer.

Lynch has said her client was immature, unemployed and bored while he cared for his parents.

His parents declined comment after the sentencing.

At a hearing earlier this year, his mother, Joyce Bronk, said her son told them he needed help for a drinking problem then began attending Alcoholics Anonymous and taking classes to be trained as an emergency medical technician.

"This was an Internet persona he created when he was a drunk," she said at the time as a way to explain his actions.

In seeking a lighter sentence, his parents offered in a letter to take away Internet access as a condition of releasing him back to their custody.

Authorities started investigating after one victim called Connecticut State Police, which referred the complaint to the California Highway Patrol.

Victims turned up in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Bronk was arrest in October.

He had hoped to become a paramedic but will not be able to because he will have to register as a sex offender as a result of his crimes, his attorney said.

Bullseye iPhone app targets integration of games and music videos (Appolicious)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT

Verizon beats Q2 EPS views (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 03:35 PM PDT

– Fri Jul 22, 6:35 pm ET

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - News) earned 57 cents a share, 2% below a year earlier but 2 cents above forecasts. Revenue edged up 2.8% to $27.53 bil, ahead of views. While Verizon Wireless, its joint venture with Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD - News), added 3 times more subscribers overall than AT&T (NYSE:T - News), Verizon only activated 2.3 mil Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) iPhones vs. 3.6 mil iPhone activations by its rival. COO Lowell McAdam will step up to the CEO spot Aug. 1. Shares fell 2.2%.

Rumor: Spotify has 70,000 paid US users one week after launch (Digital Trends)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 06:01 PM PDT

Mike Dunn Mike Dunn – 2 hrs 43 mins ago

Spotify launched in the United States a week ago on an invite-only basis, and has been getting a lot of coverage recently, including some rave reviews. The streaming music service can be used for free with ads, but also offers two paid subscription options that start at $4.99. Despite hurdles to sign up, in the time Spotify has been available in the United States, Billboard now claims that 70,000 users have signed up for a paid subscription.

The main draws to having a paid subscription would be the removal of ads between songs, unlimited play time, and the ability to listen to the service on your mobile device.

It's hard to judge just how successful of a launch Spotify is experiencing since all of its closest competitors have been on the market for years. For example, Rhapsody has around 800,000 paid users, but it launched in 2001. Napster was reported to have 761,000 subscribers before it was bought by Best Buy in 2008. Fellow newcomer Rdio is reported to have fewer than 100,000 paid users , so Spotify did a great job of playing catch up in a single week.

In a recent comparison conducted by Digital Trends, we found Spotify to be the most well-rounded service out of Pandora, Spotify, and Grooveshark.  Even with a bug, Spotify was able to barely pass Grooveshark in our comparison, winning three of the six categories.  The bug has to do with users losing their "starred" songs, which is annoying but is not a game breaking bug.  The overall product is still very solid, and it is easy to see why the service has become so popular so quickly.

Macbook battery firmware vulnerable to hijacking or worse (Digital Trends)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 06:52 PM PDT

Jeff Hughes Jeff Hughes – 1 hr 53 mins ago

macbook battery indicators by William Hook Via FlickrWell-known Mac security gnat Charlie Miller, a researcher at Accuvant consultancy and co-author of The Mac Hacker's Handbook, says he's found a hole in MackBook security through a little-studied area—the battery.

According to a Forbes article, Miller says the easily overlooked weak point in an Apple Laptop's security—be it Macbook, Macbook Air or Macbook Pro—is the firmware in a chip that controls the batteries. The microcontroller is what monitors power levels in a modern laptop, it allows the OS to check on the battery's charge. The chip regulates heat and stops charging when the computer is off.

Miller's Macbook vulnerability comes from the fact that these chips are shipped with default passwords. If these passwords are found, the firmware can be hijacked and controlled completely. The Accuvant security researcher says he found the two passwords while looking through a software update in 2009 that was intended to fix a problem with Macbook batteries.

With these keys to the firmware, he gained the ability to tell the OS and charger whatever he wanted. Miller ended up bricking seven batteries laptop batteries miller bricked via Forbeswhile messing around, and he believes that with malicious intent, criminals could install persistent malware on the chip which would steal data, or cause the computer to crash.

"You could put a whole hard drive in, reinstall the software, flash the BIOS, and every time it would reattack and screw you over. There would be no way to eradicate or detect it other than removing the battery," he says.

Though there may be potential for the batteries to catch fire and even explode, the researcher says that the batteries he’s gone through have safeguards in place that should stop any serious damage from happening. Miller is planning to expose and provide a fix for the vulnerability at the August Black Hat security conference. He says he plans on releasing a tool called the “Caulkgunâ€

Windows Sales Fail To Keep Up with Microsoft's Growth (NewsFactor)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 01:48 PM PDT

Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com – Fri Jul 22, 4:48 pm ET

Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $17.37 billion, up eight percent over the same period last year, is good news for the world's biggest software maker and its investors -- except when you consider the decline in its signature product.

Business Is Booming

Microsoft's Business Division revenue grew seven percent in the quarter and 16 percent for the full year. Office 2010 -- the most successful version of the productivity suite, with more than 100 million licenses sold -- helped the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant finish the fiscal year with record revenue of $69.94 billion, a 12 percent increase from the prior year.

"Throughout fiscal 2011, we delivered to market a strong lineup of products and services, which translated into double-digit revenue growth and operating margin expansion," said Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer. "Our platform and cloud investments position us for long-term growth."

But the Windows and Windows Live division couldn't keep up with that growth: Revenue there declined in the quarter, and revenue for the full year fell two percent. It's the third straight quarter of decline for Windows as tablet computers, powered by mobile operating systems like Google's Android and Apple's iOS, take an increasing bite out of the PC market.

Although the PC market grew about 2.5 percent, according to industry estimates, Microsoft attributed Windows' decline largely to the surge from last year's launch of Windows 7, noting that 400 million licenses have been sold and business deployments are increasing. The company previewed a new user interface for Windows 8 and a Windows 8-powered tablet is expected, but no release date was announced.

According to an analysis by Infoworld, the sale of non-Mac computers has outpaced the spread of Windows, based on Microsoft's figures on Windows licenses. For instance, 50 million Windows 7 retail and volume licenses were sold in the second quarter, while an estimated 83.3 million new PCs shipped. "Bottom line is that, this past quarter, Microsoft sold about six Windows 7 licenses for every 10 new PCs," wrote Infoworld's Woody Leonhard.

But technology consultant Rob Enderle said that, with no formidable operating-system rival for Microsoft, any large discrepancy in computers shipped and Windows sales is likely due to grandfathered licenses by businesses, multiple site licenses, or computers counted as shipped that haven't yet had Windows installed.

"There are not enough Chrome books out there," he said. "And Linux isn't ramping by anyone's measure."

But he said it's indisputable that tablets -- primarily Apple's iPad -- are cutting into PC sales. "Even [chipmaker] Intel's outlook has been moderated," he said. "But the only tablet doing well is the iPad, so this is largely an Apple event. It's unclear how long that will sustain itself."

Other Microsoft divisions earned bragging rights. Server and tools revenue saw double-digit growth for the fifth consecutive quarter to 12 percent, with an 11 percent spike for the year, driven by Windows Server, System Center, and SQL Server.

Bing and Kinect Scoring Points

Search revenue is also booming, with Microsoft's Bing engine increasing 340 basis points year over year in the U.S. to 14.4 percent, driving online-services revenue up 17 percent for the fourth quarter and 15 percent for the full year.

The Kinect motion-sensing control for Microsoft's Xbox 360 video-game platform and new Xbox Live content partnerships contributed to a 30 percent rise in revenue for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, with a 45 percent rise for the full year.

"We continue to see strong business demand across all of our products, from small businesses all the way up to the largest global enterprises," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft.

Enterprises Favor iPhone, iPad Over Android Devices (NewsFactor)

Posted: 22 Jul 2011 10:26 AM PDT

Mark Long, newsfactor.com Mark Long, newsfactor.com – Fri Jul 22, 1:26 pm ET

Apple's iOS devices continued to be the principal driving force behind the rising adoption of smartphones and tablets in the enterprise space during the second quarter, according to a new report from Good Technology. Significantly more iPad and iPad 2 activations took place in the three months through June than for Google Android-based smartphones and tablets, according to the mobile-device management and security provider.

Apple's iPad and iPad 2 activations (27.2 percent) exceeded Android smartphone and tablet activations (24 percent) for the first time ever. And when smartphones as well as tablets are included in the mix, Apple's iOS drove 75 percent of all enterprise activation activity -- with Android accounting for the remaining 25 percent in the second quarter. (Good Technology does not currently track BlackBerry or Windows Phone 7 activations).

"While Android may be gaining smartphone market share with consumers, our business users are clearly gravitating to the iPad and doing so in large numbers," said Good Technology Senior Vice President John Herrema.

"With new devices from Apple expected in the third quarter, we expect iOS to finish the year as strong as it started," the firm's report added.

Apple's Enterprise Dominance

Apple told investors Tuesday that 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies are deploying or testing iPad -- up from 75 percent in the prior quarter. "To be this far into the enterprise with a product that's only been shipping for 15 months in the case of iPad is absolutely incredible, because the enterprise is typically much more conservative and takes a long time to evaluate products," Apple COO Timothy Cook said.

The device maker sold more than 33 million iOS devices in the second quarter and now has more than 100,000 iPad-specific apps in its App Store. Moreover, Good Technology reports that the iPhone accounted for 66 percent of all activations in the second quarter, with Android smartphones representing nearly 33 percent.

Android accounted for 30.1 percent of all tablet shipments in the second quarter, according to Strategy Analytics. However, Good Technology pointed out that 95 percent of tablet activations in the enterprise space were iOS devices. Additionally, financial services accounted for 46 percent of net iPad activations among the top 10 industry verticals.

Due to perceived security issues among some IT administrators and corporate users, Android has gained relatively little traction in the enterprise space. And this is likely to remain a niche market for Android tablet vendors in the second half of this year, according to Strategy Analytics Director Neil Mawston.

Android's Consumer Opportunities

The consumer space is where the Android platform is poised to make the most gains in the second half of this year with the launch of new tablets from familiar vendors such as Lenovo and Sony. Amazon.com is also rumored to be interested in entering the Android tablet race later this year, which would "bring fresh excitement and buzz" to the Android community, Mawston noted.

"But Amazon will need to deliver a truly standout offering if it really wants to make headway against the popular iPad," Mawston said.

Barnes & Noble is another possible Android tablet player. "If B&N sticks with e-book readers, then it risks lagging behind Amazon -- or being consumed by the surging tablet market," Mawston said.

Mawston thinks Barnes & Noble will eventually have to "bite the bullet" and formally enter the tablet market while hoping that its products can be differentiated enough to stand out from the crowd. "However, B&N is relatively U.S.-centric, and it remains to be seen whether it can generate the scale or brand equity arguably needed to compete with the larger global players like Apple in the long term," he added.
at 9:32 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

My Blog List