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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Regulators dig deeper into Google's Admeld deal (AP) : Technet

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Regulators dig deeper into Google's Admeld deal (AP) : Technet

Regulators dig deeper into Google's Admeld deal (AP)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:19 PM PDT

– Wed Jul 27, 8:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are seeking more information about Internet search leader Google's proposed purchase of digital advertising company Admeld.

The request, disclosed late Wednesday, is the latest sign of the intensifying government scrutiny on Google as the company tries to expand its Internet empire.

The U.S. Justice Department's review of the Admeld deal marks the fourth time in the last three years that the government has taken a closer look at a Google acquisition to determine if it would drive up prices or stifle competition. After lengthy inquiries, Google won approval of a $3.2 billion purchase of online ad service DoubleClick, a $681 million acquisition of mobile ad service AdMob and a $676 million purchase of airline fare tracker ITA Software.

Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., hasn't disclosed Admeld's selling price since the deal was announced last month.

Admeld, headquartered in New York, works with websites to help them figure out how to make the most money from the amount of space they have available for display ads. Although short marketing messages tied to search results still account for the largest slice of Google's revenue, the company's display advertising has blossomed into a major moneymaker since the company snapped up DoubleClick.

Despite its recent inroads, Google still has a smaller share of the Internet display ad market than rivals Facebook and Yahoo Inc., according to research firm eMarketer Inc. Google's lower ranking in the display ad market could help the company persuade regulators there is enough competition to persuade them to approve the Admeld deal.

Complaints that Google has been abusing its dominance of Internet search to steer traffic to its own services and drive up online advertising prices prompted antitrust regulator in the U.S. and Europe to open wide-ranging investigations into the company's business practices.

Cable companies to give clues on Internet impact (AP)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 01:55 PM PDT

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Wed Jul 27, 4:55 pm ET

NEW YORK – Are people really cancelling cable to watch TV and movies from the Internet instead?

It's a question that has dogged the pay-TV industry for a year, and a spate of quarterly reports over the next few weeks, starting with Time Warner Cable Inc. on Thursday, could provide important clues.

Much lies in the balance. If online video really is taking TV service subscribers from cable, satellite and phone providers, it's not just bad news for those companies. Analysts also see it leading to more restrictions and higher prices for online video and broadband access, a trend that has already started.

This month, Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service went from being a freebie thrown in with its DVD-by-mail service to something the company charges for separately.

On Tuesday, News Corp.'s Fox broadcasting company said that only paying subscribers of Hulu.com or satellite-TV company Dish Network Corp. will be able to watch new episodes of its shows, which include "Glee" and "Family Guy," online the day after they air. Non-paying viewers can catch them online eight days later.

Hollywood studios and other content producers have so far seen online video as an addition to the revenue they get from cable and satellite companies, and they've charged less for it. Consumer surveys showed that people didn't watch less TV just because they went to Hulu.com or Youtube.com sometimes.

But in June, The Nielsen Co. said it found that Americans who watch the most video online tend to watch less TV. The ratings agency said it started noticing last fall that a segment of consumers were starting to make a trade-off between online video and regular TV. The activity was more pronounced among people ages 18-34, a slice of the population advertisers are particularly eager to target.

That doesn't necessarily mean that people are starting to think they can get by without conventional pay-TV. While sitcoms and movies are easy to get through online services, sports aren't. But if studios and TV networks start seeing online video as something that's siphoning off their flow of cash, then it's in their interest to further restrict online viewing, like Fox did, or start charging for it.

"It appears that Fox isn't waiting for second quarter Pay TV subscriber numbers to disappoint," wrote Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.

Cable companies have their own way of replacing lost revenue: charging more for broadband Internet access, which is essential to online video. Internet service providers are starting to charge extra when subscribers go above a certain monthly traffic allotment. These charges that will hit households that guzzle online video before they hit people who use mainly the Web and email.

The pay-TV industry first lost paying subscribers in last year's second quarter. The industry and most analysts concluded that the "cord cutting" was due to the poor economy, which forced people to cut back on spending and combine households. The second quarter is also the year's weakest quarter, because college students often cancel their service at the end of the semester.

The third quarter also showed a loss of subscribers. But then the seasonally strong fourth and first quarters showed growth, and fears subsided. Now, analysts believe the second quarter will show another decline. Cable companies lose subscribers every quarter, so the real question is whether satellite companies Dish and DirecTV Group Inc. and phone companies AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. will make up for those losses. Thomas Eagan at Collins Stewart expects the industry as whole to show a loss of 31,000 subscribers, compared to an estimated of loss of 173,000 last year.

Time Warner Cable might give an early read on the trend Thursday. Analysts expect a loss of only slightly more than the 111,000 it lost in the same period last year.

Most analysts still think the economy and ever-increasing monthly programming fees are to blame for last year's subscriber losses. A survey this spring by Leichtman Research Group Inc. found that of the 13 percent of U.S. households that don't subscribe to some form of pay-TV service, about 60 percent have broadband. But very few of them cite online video as the reason for not subscribing to pay-TV. The households were much more likely to say the cable was just too expensive or that they just don't watch much TV. These households tend to watch online video about as much as households that do pay for TV, and they tend to earn less, Leichtman reported.

"It is erroneous to think of this group as making decisions driven by online video," said Bruce Leichtman, president of the research firm. "These decisions tend to be more based on economics."

The firm called 1,500 households for the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent.

Research firm SNL Kagan is on the other side of the debate, estimating that 2.5 million households had already given up their pay-TV subscriptions in favor of online video at the start of this year. It thinks 2 million more will do so this year. By 2015, it sees 10 percent of households as online-only. That would be a big enough number to force big changes in the pay-TV industry.

Scotland Yard: We've arrested LulzSec spokesman (AP)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 02:27 PM PDT

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press – Wed Jul 27, 5:27 pm ET

LONDON – Scotland Yard's cybercrime unit has arrested a teenager it suspects of working as the spokesman for the Lulz Security hacking collective, officials said Wednesday.

The Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit arrested a 18-year-old at an address in Scotland's remote Shetland Islands, the force said in a statement. His name wasn't released, but police said he was believed to be "Topiary," one of LulzSec's most prominent members.

Police originally gave his age as 19 but later issued a correction.

LulzSec shot to prominence in May with attacks on the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service — whose website it defaced by posting a bogus story claiming that the late rapper Tupac Shakur had been discovered alive in New Zealand.

The group is a spin-off of Anonymous, an amorphous collection of Internet enthusiasts, pranksters and activists whose targets have included the Church of Scientology, the music industry, and financial companies including Visa and MasterCard.

Topiary was linked to both groups, serving as the on-again, off-again media liaison for the publicity-hungry hackers.

In his only known television interview, on the "David Pakman Show" earlier this year, Topiary phoned in via Skype to feud with Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas-based group notorious for picketing the funerals of slain American soldiers.

Anonymous vandalized the church's website live over the course of the interview.

In conversations with The Associated Press, Topiary said he controlled LulzSec's Twitter feed, which garnered some 300,000 followers over the course of its six-week-long Internet rampage.

LulzSec has claimed responsibility for breaches at pornography websites, gaming companies, and law enforcement organizations. It's also claimed credit for harassing seemingly random targets including an obscure New Jersey-based magnet manufacturer.

One its most spectacular hacks was against Sony Pictures Entertainment. The group posted the usernames, passwords, email addresses and phone numbers of tens of thousands of people, many of whom had given Sony their information for sweepstakes draws. Another stinging series of breaches last month targeted Arizona's police force in protest against its contentious immigration law. Officers had to scramble to change their numbers because their phones were being jammed with calls.

Shortly thereafter the group abruptly announced it was disbanding, although Topiary said at the time that the group wasn't bowing to police pressure.

"We're not quitting because we're afraid of law enforcement," he said in a Skype call. "The press are getting bored of us, and we're getting bored of us."

Attempts to reach Topiary since then have been unsuccessful, although his group recently re-emerged from retirement, defacing The Sun newspaper's website with a fake story claiming that media tycoon Rupert Murdoch had died. In one of its last messages, LulzSec said it was working with unnamed media outlets on a WikiLeaks-style release of emails it claimed to have stolen from the tabloid.

Topiary's once-plentiful Twitter feed was practically wiped clean Wednesday. The only remaining post, from nearly a week ago, read: "You cannot arrest an idea."

The latest arrest is one of an increasing number claimed by law enforcement in Britain and the United States in connection to their investigations into Anonymous and its offshoots. Last week, the FBI, British and Dutch officials carried out 21 arrests, many of them related to the group's attacks on Internet payment provider PayPal Inc., which has been targeted over its refusal to process donations to WikiLeaks.

Last month another 19-year-old, Ryan Cleary, was charged with attacks on Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency and various U.K.-based music sites. Although at least one of the attacks he was charged with seemed linked to LulzSec, Topiary claimed at the time that Cleary was at most only tangentially involved with the group.

Scotland Yard said Wednesday it was also searching a residential address in Lincolnshire, in central England, and interviewing an unnamed 17-year-old in connection with the investigation. The second teen has not been arrested.

___

Raphael G. Satter can be reached at: http://twitter.com/razhael

Facebook expands into the womb: New ‘expecting’ status lets you broadcast pregnancy (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 06:01 PM PDT

Massive ads on Earth can be seen from space (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:56 PM PDT

Which Tech Giants Birth The Most Successful Startup Founders? [INFOGRAPHIC] (Mashable)

Posted: 26 Jul 2011 07:05 PM PDT

Jennifer Van Grove Jennifer Van Grove – Tue Jul 26, 10:05 pm ET

Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook all compete for top talent. In doing so, they lure and acqui-hire the brightest minds in tech -- who, unfortunately for them, later go on to trade these cushy jobs for the rough-and-tumble life of a startup founder. Which of these four mega powers in tech (at one point or another) has produced, and hence pushed out, the top talent in the industry? A little analysis of the startups that have come from the former employees of these tech heavy-hitters, and a look at the funding these startups have raised, might shed some light on the answer.

[More from Mashable: 10 Sleek Google+ Icons for Your Website or Blog]

TopProspect to the rescue. The startup, a site that helps you get hired through your social network friends, fashioned the infographic below after analyzing data, dating back to 2006, from its users and their social connections -- that pool includes more than 3 million folks mostly in the Silicon Valley area.

"We only focused on companies founded in the last 5 years," the startup explains of its data analysis. "Second, we made sure that the companies had at least 10 employees in our network (a pretty good sign that they're legit, and well-connected). Finally, we only included companies with publicly available funding information."

[More from Mashable: Facebook for Business Launches to Help Companies Market Themselves]

Google is birthing the most successful founders, if you measure success by funds raised (which isn't always the best measurement of success). The search powerhouse-turned-social-media company has spawned 13 qualified founders in five years -- who've started companies including Foursquare, Color and Qwiki. Together, these startups have raised a whopping $309 million in funding.

Lowest on the totem pole, at least for now, is Facebook. Its offspring includes seven founders -- altogether raising more than $65 million -- who have gone on to found startups such as Quora, Path and Asana.

Surprised by the results? Check out the full infographic below and share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, satanslaundromat

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Google says DoJ asked for more information on AdMeld (Reuters)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 07:42 PM PDT

– 1 hr 18 mins ago

(Reuters) – Google Inc said the Department of Justice has asked for more information regarding its acquisition of online advertising company AdMeld.

The DoJ request does not come as a surprise as today's display advertising industry is very new and highly complex, Google said on its Public Policy blog.

The company will work to enable this review to be concluded as quickly as possible, Google said.

On June 13, Google said it would buy AdMeld to grab a larger slice of the market for graphical display ads.

Pressure is mounting on Google as antitrust regulators have started taking a harder look at its acquisitions, such as last year's AdMob and travel software company ITA Software.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a probe into business practices at Google last month.

Google's shares closed at $607.22 on Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Divya Sharma in Bangalore)

Sundance Institute aggressively expands streaming deals (Reuters)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 02:44 PM PDT

By Steve Pond Steve Pond – Wed Jul 27, 5:44 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The Sundance Institute is moving aggressively to help its filmmakers with independent online distribution, expanding its Artist Services Initiative to include partnerships with iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, Netflix, SundanceNOW and YouTube.

The expansion was announced on Wednesday by the non-profit Sundance Institute. For the past six months, it has collaborated with Kickstarter on the first phase of the Artist Services Initiative, which has helped Sundance-associated filmmakers use the crowd-funding service to raise money for pre-production, production, post-production, marketing and distribution.

The new services, Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam announced on Wednesday, will now give indie filmmakers the additional opportunity to access an array of prominent companies in the streaming and online distribution field.

Filmmakers whose work has been aided by any Sundance program or has shown at the Sundance Film Festival can use the initiative to put their films on any or all of the affiliated sites, while retaining complete ownership.

Until now, Sundance filmmakers have been able to put their films on iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and the like if they made their own deals. Now, the Sundance Institute will facilitate that move, and allow its filmmakers to pick and choose exactly which of the prominent platforms they want to use.

"We wanted to make sure that the movies that we love will be available where people are already watching movies," said Putnam at a press conference announcing the expansion.

Putnam repeatedly emphasized that Sundance Institute was not getting into the distribution business, but was simply providing its filmmakers with a way to access alternative means of distribution, and then supporting them with marketing muscle, education and other resources.

New Video will be the aggregator for all the films taking advantage of the initiative, while Topspin Media will provide marketing tools.

The program will be open to any film that has shown at the Sundance Film Festival, and any that has been through any of the many Sundance Institute programs that support independent filmmaking.

"It's such an incredibly exciting time with the technological advances that allow us to make films," said Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, whose film "Under the Ice" will be one of the first to take advantage of the initiative. "But we've been hitting this bottleneck for years -- once you've made the film, how can you get it seen? This is the first time I've heard a solution that really sounds exciting."

On Wednesday, Sundance also launched a special Artists Services website, which is open to the 6,000 alumni of various Sundance programs and contains extensive educational tools and advice on all facets of indie filmmaking.

"When I founded the Institute in 1981, it was at a time when a few studios ran the industry and an artist's biggest concern was whether their film would get made," said Sundance founder Robert Redford in a press release announcing the expanded initiative.

"Technology has lessened that burden, but the big challenge today is how the audiences can see these films. The Artist Services program is a direct response to that need. We're not in the distribution business; we're in the business of helping independent voices be heard."

The first phase of the Artist Services Initiative began in January when Sundance partnered with Kickstarter and created its own page on that crowd-funding site. Since then, 21 Sundance projects have raised more than $650,000 on the site.

Galaxy Phone May Rocket Samsung To No. 1 Globally (NewsFactor)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 02:04 PM PDT

Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com Adam Dickter, newsfactor.com – Wed Jul 27, 5:04 pm ET

Fueled by the overseas success of its newest Android smartphone, the Galaxy S II, South Korean handset maker Samsung Electronics may be on its way to the top slot in global smartphone sales, a researcher estimates.

Neil Mawson of Strategy Analytics suggested Samsung sold between 18 million and 21 million smartphones in the second quarter, compared with 20.3 million iPhones sold by U.S.-based Apple and 16.7 million devices by Finland's Nokia.

Three-Way Battle

"Apple, Samsung and Nokia are in a close, three-way battle," Mawson told Bloomberg news. "Samsung's Android portfolio is selling strongly in most regions. Samsung and Apple will be at similar levels in smartphones by the end of the year."

The data show a boost for Samsung, who was locked behind its rivals in the first quarter, having sold just 10.8 million devices, Mawson told the news agency. It was in fourth place behind Nokia, Apple and Research In Motion. When factoring in all phone devices, the analyst said, Samsung could have a 20 percent share of global shipments this year compared with Nokia, which is looking to boost its sales with help from Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system.

The Galaxy S II, successor to the popular device that has variants on all four major U.S. wireless carriers, sold about three million units in the first 55 days, according to reports not confirmed by the company. CNET UK reported the sales may be as high as five million. The phone was due to be released this month in the U.S., but no dates have been announced.

The first dual-core smartphone from Samsung, with a 1.2-gigahertz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, the smartphone has a 4.27-inch Super AMOLED display with one gigabyte of RAM and an eight-megapixel camera. It runs Android 2.3, Gingerbread. The Sprint Nextel version will be called the Samsung Within, while AT&T's model will be called the Attain, and on Verizon Wireless the Galaxy S II will be called the Function.

Big Plans Ahead

Samsung's sleek Galaxy phones are styled similar to Apple's iPhone with a large multi-touch display and no keyboard -- so similar, in fact, that the companies have been locked in litigation over patent infringement.

Considering the wide range of products produced by Samsung Electronics, from TVs, computers and semiconductors to appliances, its competitive edge in the smartphone arena against companies like Nokia that only make phones is impressive, observers say.

"Samsung is active in many different sectors, and in 2007 the South Korean vendor became the second-largest handset vendor in the world," analyst Alex Spektor of Strategy Analytics told us. "However, Samsung long lagged behind smartphone giants like Nokia, RIM and Apple."

That all changed in 2010 with the release of the Galaxy S "superphones," he said. "Samsung has leveraged its global distribution network and carrier relationships to drive huge volumes from consumers looking for an iPhone-like experience on an alternative platform."

Nielsen: Netflix still king of the living room, Hulu users prefer PCs (Digital Trends)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:06 PM PDT

Caleb Garling Caleb Garling – Wed Jul 27, 8:06 pm ET

 

netflix-streaming-1

A newly released study by Nielsen has shown some interesting data about the nature of consumption for digital content giants Netflix and Hulu, especially the devices people use: Less than 3 percent of subscribers use their mobile phone or iPad to access their movies and shows.

That's a fairly unexpected number considering Netflix has recently reported that 75 percent of its new subscribers are opting for their digital-only package. Also consider that YouTube is responsible for roughly 22 percent of total global mobile bandwidth. These numbers seem to prove we watch YouTube for very different reasons and in different environments than Netflix or Hulu.

Netflix viewers also claim to watch the majority of their content via a television screen, whether the data is coming via computer, Wii, PS3, Xbox , Roku or Internet-enabled television. Only 42 percent of Netflix users cite using the service directly on a computer. Hulu also claims a lower percentage on television screens, but a whopping 89 percent of users access Hulu through their computers directly.

Also interesting is the distribution of content users watch when on either Netflix or Hulu — a very clear indication of where either company's strengths lie. Fifty-three percent of Netflix subscribers watch movies, while a measly 9 percent of Hulu users do the same. Conversely, only 11 percent of Netflix subscribers watch television shows, as compared to 73 percent of Hulu users.

It is worth noting that all of Nielsen's data was captured over about 12,000 interviews in March of 2011. In today's fast-changing digital environment, these percentages have likely already shifted.

Conde Nast signs on to branded advertising deal with social reading app Flipboard (Appolicious)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Easter 3D for Nintendo 3DS delayed until 2012 (Digital Trends)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 01:03 PM PDT

Adam Rosenberg Adam Rosenberg – Wed Jul 27, 4:03 pm ET

metal-gear-snake-eater-3d

There are two schools of thought on Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D for Nintendo 3DS. One group believe that the PlayStation 2 game was never meant to be played on a handheld device, and that the evidence so far suggests that too little has been done to make the 3D update more friendly to those on the go. The other group can't wait to have a portable version of the classic title, even if that means spending the entire length of one commute or another watching a single cutscene. It's the second group that isn't going to like today's news: the release of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D has been delayed until 2012.

The news comes from Konami (confirmed by Kotaku), though that's all the information we've got to go on right now. Other than knowing it's coming at some point next year, there's no indication of when that will be. Not even a window. You could argue that there's a time limit on this release too; Kotaku correctly notes that an HD version of the game is coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The 3D presentation of the portable version might not be enough to sway fans away from playing instead on a console (especially with Achievements/Trophies in the mix) if the two re-releases come out too close together.

Fortunately for 3DS owners, there's a solid lineup of games coming to the new platform this fall. First-party offerings like Super Mario and Kid Icarus: Uprising as well as third-party releases like Shinobi and Cave Story 3D. Lots to look forward to for the little handheld… just no Metal Gear yet.

Endure long car rides with these Android apps (Appolicious)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT

Louisiana regulator votes in favor of AT&T/T-Mobile merger (Reuters)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 12:48 PM PDT

– Wed Jul 27, 3:48 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted on Wednesday in favor of AT&T Inc's (T.N) $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA.

The commission, which regulates utility and transportation companies in Louisiana, said it voted 4 to 1 to recommend the merger be approved.

Louisiana is the second state to conclude a review of the deal and opt not to oppose AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE). Arizona also approved the transaction, while California, West Virginia and Hawaii continue their reviews.

"Support for our merger is broad, it is deep and it continues to grow," an AT&T spokesman said of Louisiana's decision.

The deal ultimately requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department.

(Reporting by Jasmin Melvin; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Accused AT&T-iPad hacker Andrew Auernheimer in plea talks (Reuters)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 07:43 PM PDT

By Jonathan Stempel Jonathan Stempel – 1 hr 17 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Andrew Auernheimer, accused of hacking into AT&T Inc servers and stealing the personal data of 120,000 Apple Inc iPad users, is in talks to plead guilty after his co-defendant did the same last month.

Auernheimer was indicted on July 6 by a Newark, New Jersey federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers and one count of identity theft. His co-defendant Daniel Spitler pleaded guilty on June 23 to the same charges.

In an order on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton put Auernheimer's case on hold, saying "plea negotiations are currently in progress and both the United States and the defendant desire additional time to finalize a plea agreement, which would render trial of this matter unnecessary."

Auernheimer is a resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and has been free on bail.

Candace Hom, a federal public defender who represents him, did not immediately return requests for comment. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman declined to comment.

Prosecutors said Auernheimer and Spitler were both affiliated with Goatse Security, a group of "Internet trolls" that tries to disrupt online content and services.

The government said both men last June used an "account slurper" designed to match email addresses with so-called "integrated circuit card identifiers" for iPad users.

Once deployed, the slurper conducted a "brute force" attack to extract data about those users, who accessed the Internet through AT&T's network, the government said.

AT&T partners with Apple in the United States to provide wireless service on the iPad. After the hacking, it shut off the feature that allowed email addresses to be obtained.

Spitler could face a 12- to 18-month prison term at his sentencing, scheduled for September 28.

The case is U.S. v. Auernheimer, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 11-00470.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; editing by Andre Grenon)

Symantec profit beats Street view (Reuters)

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 02:52 PM PDT

By Jim Finkle Jim Finkle – Wed Jul 27, 5:52 pm ET

BOSTON (Reuters) – Symantec Corp, the top maker of computer security software, beat Wall Street's profit estimates for a fourth consecutive quarter, saying it is benefiting from a surge in hacking activity.

"The current threat landscape continues to be toxic and targeted," Symantec Chief Executive Enrique Salem said in a statement.

After seeing Symantec beat forecasts for a full year, investors can have confidence in the company's ability to meet or beat expectations, said Daniel Ives, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets.

Symantec was known for posting earnings that were either sharply above or below investors' expectations, making some cautious about investing in the stock, Ives said.

"Consistency has been the company's Achilles heel. It looks like it is back in the story," Ives said.

Chief Financial Officer James Beer said he was pleased with the performance of most of the company's divisions, including ones that sell security software to consumers and large corporations as well as its backup software unit.

He singled out the company's products for small- and mid-sized businesses as underperformers.

"We'd like to be doing better," he said in an interview, adding that the company recently restructured that division to improve its performance.

Symantec has named group President Rowan Trollope to oversee that business unit. He is also responsible for the company's cloud-based services.

The company reported profit, excluding items, of 40 cents per share, during the first quarter ended July 1, beating the average analyst forecast of 37 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It posted revenue of $1.65 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.59 billion.

The Mountain View, California-based software maker also forecast second-quarter per-share profit, excluding items, of 38 to 39 cents, in line with the average analyst forecast of 38 cents.

The company projected quarterly revenue of $1.66 billion to $1.68 billion, ahead of the average analyst forecast of $1.62 billion.

Symantec shares were little changed in extended trade from their Nasdaq close of $18.41.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Richard Chang)
at 9:25 PM

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