For the first time ever, Apple beats Microsoft in quarterly profit

Today Microsoft announced its net profit for the first calendar quarter of 2011. That net profit was $5.23 billion, or $760 million dollars less than Apple's $5.99 billion net profit over the same period. For those keeping track, first Apple surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization, next they surpassed Microsoft in quarterly revenue, and now Apple has surpassed Microsoft in quarterly profits. Surpassing Microsoft's net profit is quite an accomplishment given the typical high-margin sales of Microsoft's software and the lower-margin sales of Apple's hardware.

Matter of fact, by every standard financial measure, Apple has now surpassed Microsoft to be the most profitable and valuable tech company on the planet. No wonder some people think Apple is headed to be the first trillion dollar company.

[via MacRumors]

For the first time ever, Apple beats Microsoft in quarterly profit originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HBO Go hits iOS and Android, free for subscribers

Don't ditch that premium cable subscription just yet. The long-anticipated HBO Go app just hit the iOS App Store and Android Market, bringing original HBO series and a variety of blockbuster films to your mobile device. You'll need an HBO subscription with your cable provider to get past the login screen, but unlocking all that the service has to offer using our Verizon FiOS account took just a second, and we were off and running with Avatar less than a minute after launching the app. We'll have a full hands-on later today, but if you're an HBO subscriber with an iOS or Android slab, head over to your device's respective store to download the free app.

[Thanks, Jason]

HBO Go hits iOS and Android, free for subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why You Should Think Twice About Opting-In to the Delicious-AVOS Transfer (Violet Blue/Pulp Tech Blog)

Violet Blue / Pulp Tech Blog:
Why You Should Think Twice About Opting-In to the Delicious-AVOS Transfer  —  It takes “only 30 seconds” to transfer your Delicious bookmarks to its new owner AVOS, though few are aware that Delicious users are signing up to a vastly different set of terms.  —  Most people are unaware of what they just agreed to.

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Thought Groupon covered it all? Well you were wrong. There is a coupon aggregator out there for every necessary - and unnecessary - demographic.

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Square to add encryption to mobile card reader, skimmers put on notice

It's only been a couple days since we first heard about Visa's involvement with Square, but the credit card giant is already making its mark on the mobile payment startup. At the Visa Global Security Summit on Wednesday, Square Security Lead Sam Quigley revealed that the company will distribute an encrypted card reader this summer, which will work exclusively with its mobile payment app. The current reader theoretically scans credit card data to any app, but the encrypted version will only work with Square, which should alleviate VeriFone's concern that the company was essentially distributing "card skimmers" to anyone with a social security number. Luckily, the new encrypted reader will remain free, giving Square a colossal advantage over VeriFone's Payware Mobile product, which carries a $49 activation fee, in addition to standard merchant fees. Not to mention, it isn't available in white.

Square to add encryption to mobile card reader, skimmers put on notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft beats estimates, but not Apple in third quarter earnings

Microsoft today posted its earnings results for the third quarter of financial year 2011. It was a strong quarter, with revenue of $16.43 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year; operating income of $5.71 billion, up 10 percent year on year; and net income of $5.2 billion, up 31 percent over the same period last year. Earnings per share were 61�, an increase of 36 percent.

The big success story of the quarter was Entertainment and Devices Division, the group that includes Xbox 360, Xbox Live, and Windows Phone. Continued voracious demand for the Kinect controller saw that division boost its revenue by 60 percent year on year. Though the division was keen to boast of selling 2.4 million Kinects during the period, it was silent on the matter of Windows Phone sales. 

Microsoft Business Division was another strong performer, seeing revenue growth of 21 percent year-over-year driven by Office 2010, the fastest-selling version of Office of all time, and its SharePoint, Exchange, Lync, and Dynamics CRM products.

Server and Tools had a successful quarter too, with revenue up 11 percent, on the back of significant business adoption of Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2, and Systems Center. Online Services increased revenue by 14 percent, and increased losses by 2 percent.

In spite of Windows 7's continued strong sales, the Windows and Windows Live division's revenue dropped by 4 percent, with the company citing prevailing PC trends as the reason for this decrease.

The company's guidance for next quarter is that Windows and Windows Live and Online Services will increase revenue in-line with growth in the PC and advertising markets, respectively, with Business Division, Server and Tools, and Entertainment and Devices expected to increase revenue by mid-to-high single-digit, low double-digit, and 25 percent, respectively.

Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company, beating analyst estimates for both revenue (estimated at $16.2 billion), and earnings per share (estimated at 56�). Strong results, but not as strong as Apple, which posted a net income of $5.99 billion for the quarter.

These results mean that Apple has at last bested Microsoft not merely in terms of market capitalization, but also in terms of profitability—a result unimaginable a decade ago. This quarter's figures are testament both to Apple's substantial success in conquering new markets—media players, smartphones, and tablets—and, in parallel, Microsoft's consistent inability to match its rival in those same markets.

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Source: http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/index/~3/xkQv8Xi_EI4/microsoft-beats-estimates-but-not-apple-in-third-quarter-earnings.ars

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Sequoia-Backed Milanoo Appears To Be Gaming Search Results With Link Spam

As we saw from retailer JC Penney's recent downfall in search rankings, using 'black hat' SEO tactics and gaming search is considered deceptive and 'tantamount to cheating' by Google. J.C. Penney said that it had no idea that this was happening and fired its SEM agency right away. But the retailer's search ranking had already been "adjusted" by Google, and the damage was done. These sort of situations are considered deceitful by many in the search industry (including Google) and generally cast a malevolent cloud over a company's search tactics. So, it's surprising to find that a Sequoia Capital -backed Chinese startup, called Milanoo, appears to be gaming Google search results with these same black hat links spam tactics. Milanoo, a China-based online retailer and wholesaler with a ?passion for fashion,? is an ecommerce company serves customers with fashion apparel and related products in over 180 countries around the world, in seven languages (including English, Spanish and French). Launched in 2008, the startup just raised "millions of dollars" from Sequoia. According Digital Due Diligence, a small agency that provides in-depth investment research into online assets of companies; Milanoo has been caught using similar tactics as J.C. Penney.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GhiQCfH8o4U/

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How will Sony make amends to gamers?

As Sony continues to try to restore its PlayStation Network, it is trying to appease gamers through updates and the promise of ways to "show appreciation" for those who have been hardest hit by the almost-10-day outage that compromised their personal information and eroded their trust in the company.

Source: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/29/6555602-how-will-sony-make-amends-to-gamers

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We So Excited: Katy Perry Covers ?Friday?

Friday at a concert in Melbourne, pop star Katy Perry broke into a chorus of Rebecca Black’s “Friday”, much to the delight of fans…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/Mashable/%7E3/2ClpQMAehpE/

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Telus recruits Leonard Nimoy to vet your Facebook status updates

Have you ever thought your Facebook status updates lacked finesse? Ever regretted saying that to the whole of Facebook about 30 seconds after hitting send? Ever wished you had your own personal Leonard Nimoy to proof read your mind-dumps before you make a fool of yourself? Yes, me too, and now you can!

Brought to you by Telus, What Would Leonard Nimoy Say (WWLNS) is a Facebook app, which allows you to run your status updates past the legendary sci-fi actor before slapping them up on Facebook. To use the app you must 'Like' it, and sacrifice your https connection if you happen to have it enabled, but that's the price you pay to have Spock proof read your inane musings.

Check out Telus on Facebook to take the app for a whirl, and jump on over to Engadget to see more Nimoy-Telus combinations.

Telus recruits Leonard Nimoy to vet your Facebook status updates originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/telus-recruits-leonard-nimoy-to-vet-your-facebook-status-updates/

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Iran Officially Worst Online Oppressor

A new report from Freedom House has ranked Iran the world's worst abuser of online freedoms.

"Freedom on the Net 2011" determined that the five worst countries for online freedom - based on obstacles to access, limits on content and violations of user rights - are Iran, followed by Burma, China, Cuba and Tunisia. (The last entry is certainly changed somewhat by the uprising earlier this year.)

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The authors explain the situation in Iran.

"Since the protests that followed disputed presidential elections in June 2009, the Iranian authorities have waged an active campaign against internet freedom, employing extensive and sophisticated methods of control that go well beyond simple content filtering, though this too has become more severe since the election. Tactics employed include deliberately slowing internet speeds at critical times to make basic online activities difficult and ordering blogging service providers inside Iran to remove 'offensive' posts. The regime has also sought to counter critical content and online organizing efforts by extending state propaganda into the digital sphere: over 400 news websites are either directly or indirectly supported by the state.

"Since June 2009, an increasing number of bloggers have been threatened, arrested, tortured, and kept in solitary confinement, and at least one blogger died in custody. Over 50 bloggers and online activists have been arrested, and a dozen remained in detention at the end of 2010. The Iranian authorities have taken a range of measures to monitor online communications, and a number of protesters who were put on trial after the election were indicted for their activities on Facebook and Balatarin, a Persian site that allows users to share links and news. A group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army, later found to be associated with the Iranian authorities, also managed to hack a number of opposition and news sites with a mix of technical methods and forgery."

In contrast, the five freest countries are Estonia, the United States, Germany, Australia and the U.K.

But here's arguably the worst indicator of the health of free speech online.

"Even in more democratic countries--such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Kingdom--internet freedom is increasingly undermined by legal harassment, opaque censorship procedures, or expanding surveillance."

We expect repressive countries to repress. We expect democratic countries to exert forces against that tendency. Of course they do, but when you see this sort of trend, you're seeing a speech ecosystem under serious threat. Transparency is growing more opaque even as it becomes the motif du jour. Is it time for those in democratic countries to spend at least as much time at the sickbeds of their own freedoms as the graves of others'? (That was a rhetorical question. It's time.)

Other sources: OpenNet Initiative

Discuss

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/readwriteweb/%7E3/mvtqEB-uQr4/iran_officially_worst_online_oppressor.php

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How Zynga Is Playing to Win With Wonderland

Zynga has been on a tear recently, buying 12 smaller games studios in the past year. But its latest purchase, British mobile development outfit Wonderland, gives a strong indication of what the red-hot company intends all of its spending to achieve.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/2DatD4BUYEk/

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VMware disrupts with open source PaaS play

Yesterday I attended VMware’s Cloud Foundry announcements. More on those announcements over at Techmeme. If you’re a developer it’ll be hard to miss what VMware’s doing here. It’s very significant and means a lot to a group of companies, from Amazon, Google, Microsoft on one side and Rackspace and Salesforce on another. We’re all trying [...]

Source: http://scobleizer.com/2011/04/13/vmware-disrupts-with-open-source-paas-play/

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Outlook 2011: How to Resend a Message

Initially, the Mac version of Outlook didn’t have the ability to resend a message that a recipient didn’t receive or accidentally deleted. Thankfully, SP1 for Office 2011 includes this functionality.
(...)Read the rest of Outlook 2011: How to Resend a Message

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Microsoft profits up, though now lower than Apple?s

Microsoft has reported a profit jump of 31%, although for the first time in 20 years Apple profits are higher.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/digitaltrends/%7E3/S90JB28Pd6M/

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Juniper changes name: say hi to the Radeon HD 6770, 6750

If you were shopping for a pre-built PC recently, you might have noticed some machines shipping with Radeon HD 6770 and 6750 graphics cards. For a while, AMD's official line was that those products were simply re-branded versions of the Radeon HD 5770 and 5750 aimed strictly at PC makers....

Source: http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20850

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Buffy, Freddy, and Romero star in grindhouse-style Black Ops DLC

The "Escalation" content pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops is almost ready for release and, unsurprisingly, it contains a zombie-themed level. But "Call of the Dead" isn't just your standard zombie soldier set-up. With heavy George A. Romero and grindhouse influences, not to mention an aptly star-studded line-up of characters, it's sort of like Black Ops and House of the Dead: Overkill had a baby. Which can only be a good thing.

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Source: http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/index/~3/E_xb0fH0Frc/buffy-freddy-kruger-and-george-romero-star-in-grindhouse-style-black-ops-dlc.ars

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