Friday, August 31, 2012

Facebook ad targeting to use e-mails, phone numbers

A new tool for advertisers lets them target ads to customers who have already used their services.

Facebook plans to roll out a new advertising tool that will let companies target their ads to existing customers based on their phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

The social network is launching the new tool next week and touts it as a way for businesses to reengage with customers who have already used their services, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

For those who may have privacy concerns over this exchange of personal information, the social network said the process is secure.

What this means is Facebook isn't giving any of your data away, it's taking existing numbers and addresses from businesses and letting those businesses use the information to target its ads.

On the flip side, Facebook won't be gaining any new data from businesses. When advertisers give Facebook your data, it is hashed -- a security technique that scrambles your data -- before it is fed into the advertising machine. Once the ads are placed, Facebook dumps the hashed data, so that if an advertiser wants to do another ad, the process starts over again.

The new method was available briefly in the Facebook Power Editor, a virtual toolbox used by advertisers to create ads, according to InsideFacebook.

Facebook continues to figure out how to improve its advertising service amid revenue reports and forecasts that have not been up to par.

Of course, it's not the only company expanding its targeted advertising efforts. Twitter launched a feature today that puts tweets in the streams of a broader audience than before.

Related stories




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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Are You Being Monitored At Work?



A 2011 survey found that over half of US employers are monitoring their employees' computer usage. How can you find out if you are one of them? And if you are, what should you do about it?


There are two main ways employers track computer usage - with monitoring software on your desktop, and by watching the traffic on the corporate network. Also, many companies have written guidelines about Internet usage and may indicate if they are monitoring you. HR departments should have these policies available for employee review.

Monitoring Software on Your Computer
Monitoring software tracks all your activity and sends logs to the boss or IT department. Without your knowledge, they may be receiving reports listing the websites you visit, time spent in specific software programs, or even how much you play solitaire. The programs that do this are myriad, but there are often signs that they're running.

On a Windows machine:

  • First, look in the system tray and start up folder. Do you see programs with names like VNC or LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, Shadow, SpyAgent, Web Sleuth and Silent Watch. An IT person can choose to hide these programs from the user so they are not in the Start Menu, but many assume the user won't look for them or know what these programs are.
  • The Windows taskbar often lists all the actively running programs. Check all the icons in the taskbar in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and make sure you know what each program is.
  • The Windows Firewall must give monitoring programs permission to send and receive information. Search 'firewall', open it, click 'exceptions' or 'add program'. Then look to see if any of the above-mentioned programs or any programs that are unknown to you have permission to pass through the ports.
On a Mac:

  • Open Finder and look under applications , click 'utilities' and launch 'activity monitor'. Search for unknown processes or any with VNC in the name.
If you see something in any of these places that you're unfamiliar with, search it online to see if it's a monitoring program.

(Sidenote- many of these monitoring programs can be purchased off the shelf and used to monitor home computers. These are also tools an ID thief could use on a public computer to collect data.)

If You Find Monitoring Software
If you do find any monitoring software on your work computer, do NOT try to remove it. Two reasons: first, doing so may make it look like you have something to hide, raising suspicions; second, your employer has a right to have this software installed on the computer. After all it's their machine.

Monitoring Through The Network
The second way employers can monitor what you do on your computer is a lot harder to detect, because there's no trace on your personal machine; it's all done through the network. Employers can track the files you access on the corporate drives, the email you send through the company system, and the websites you visit via your work machine. And unless you have an "in" with the IT department, there's virtually no way to know if your company is monitoring traffic this way.

So What If You Want A Little Privacy?
Since so many employers have the power to monitor their employees, it's safest to assume that you are being watched. But what if you really need to do something privately?

EMAIL: If you are hunting for a new job or your employer is strict about use of corporate accounts for personal email, use web-based email. Most of the major providers encrypt webmail (Yahoo is in the process of rolling out SSL encryption across its Mail network) so it can't be intercepted on the network.

SMARTPHONE: As long as you are connected over your cellular data connection (and not the company Wi-Fi), you can surf the web and send private email (on your non-corporate account) without detection.

ANONYMIZERS: There are services (usually for a fee - for example, anonymizer.com for $70) that will create a VPN or secure tunnel that hides all your traffic from the corporate network. These are handy tools to have if you need secure access to the Internet in unsecured locations like Wi-Fi cafes or public computers; they create a cloak around all IP addresses and data sent on the network. But an anonymizer may not hide your activity from a desktop monitoring program that grabs screen-shots, and many corporate IT departments forbid them and seek them out for removal from corporate machines.

Related: Is it Safe to Bank on Public Wi-Fi?

Samsung reveals new Galaxy Note II

NEW YORK (AP) - Fresh off a legal battle with Apple, Samsung is announcing a new version of the Galaxy Note, an offbeat, oversized smartphone that's become a surprise hit.

Samsung, the world's largest maker of phones, is revealing the Galaxy Note II at a trade show in Berlin. The 5.5-inch screen is narrower but longer than on the first version. The processor is faster, and the software has been further adapted for the included stylus - the phone's signature feature.

While Apple has been releasing a new smartphone model each year, Samsung makes several to target different types of customers. That includes low-end phones for price-conscious customers. As a result, Samsung has been selling more smartphones than Apple this year.

The Note runs on Google's Android operating system but isn't among the phones that Apple is asking a judge to ban from the U.S., after a jury in California ruled last week that some of Samsung's Android phones violated Apple patents. The jury awarded Apple $1 billion in damages in a high-profile case that could force Samsung and other Android phone makers to rethink their designs.

The Note is designed to work well with a stylus for jotting notes and drawing on a screen, while styluses for other devices tend to be an afterthought. The Note's large screen also makes the phone more like a tablet and more suitable for playing games and consuming content. Samsung started selling a tablet version of the Note this month.

Samsung Electronics Co. says it has shipped 10 million first-generation Galaxy Note smartphone in one year.

Samsung says the new phone will go on sale in Europe and Asia in October. It did not say when it would launch with a U.S. carrier.



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Cricket to offer Muve exclusively on Android plans

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mobile phone carrier Cricket is making its unlimited music service, Muve Music, an exclusive feature of its higher-end phones.

The change is a bid to encourage users of lower-end, basic cellphones to trade up to smartphones, which require more expensive plans. The company will stop offering the service on basic phones to new customers.

Muve Music allows users to download songs from a catalog of millions. The songs cannot be transferred off the phone, and access disappears if a subscriber cancels service. About 600,000 Cricket subscribers now pay an extra $10 a month to get the service.

Starting next month, Muve will be included in all plans for smartphones that use Google's Android operating system. The plans go from $50 a month including 1 gigabyte of data to $70 a month for 5 GB.

Previously, Android phones with unlimited data plans cost $55 a month, or $65 with Muve included. The least expensive non-smartphone plan with Muve cost $55 a month.

As Cricket adds new customers and others leave, the plan could help boost Muve Music's subscriber count.

Cricket, which offers lower-cost, contract-free plans to rival those of the bigger carriers, currently has 5.9 million customers, and 60 percent of them use Android phones.

If those numbers hold steady, subscribers to Muve Music could exceed 3 million in the two years that it generally takes for Cricket's customer base to change over completely. That would make it the largest music subscription plan in the nation.

Both Rhapsody and Spotify, the market leaders in the U.S., currently have about 1 million paying U.S. subscribers each.

The use of Muve does not count against one's data cap. The typical customer downloads about 300 songs and listens to more than 30 hours of music every month, the company said.

Cricket, the brand of Leap Wireless International Inc., saw its subscriber count drop to 5.9 million in the quarter through June, down from 6.2 million in the previous quarter. Leap executives blamed the dip on weak results from national retailers that carry the brand. Leap has its headquarters in San Diego.



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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

New mileage standards would double fuel efficiency

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration has finalized regulations that will force automakers to nearly double the average gas mileage of all new cars and trucks they sell by 2025.

The rules mean that all new vehicles would have to get an average of 54.5 miles per gallon in 13 years, up from 28.6 mpg at the end of last year. The requirements will be phased in gradually between now and then, and automakers could be fined if they don't comply.

The regulations, announced Tuesday, will change the cars and trucks sold in U.S. showrooms, with the goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. Automakers will need to improve gasoline-powered engines, and sell more alternative fuel vehicles. Critics say the rules will make cars unaffordable by adding thousands of dollars to the sticker price.

The 'Corporate Average Fuel Economy,' or CAFE standards, will vary by automaker depending on the mix of models they sell. The requirements will be lower for companies such as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, which offer more pickup trucks. The standards can be lowered by the government if people suddenly start buying less-efficient vehicles in the future, although few expect that to happen.

The administration says the latest changes will save families up to $7,400 on fuel over the life of a vehicle. The standards also are the biggest step the U.S. government has ever taken toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said. Tailpipe emissions from cars and light trucks will be halved by 2025.

President Barack Obama said the new fuel standards 'represent the single most important step' his administration has taken to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

But Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has opposed the standards, and his campaign on Tuesday said any savings at the pump would be wiped out by the rising cost of cars and trucks.

Already, automakers have committed to an average of 35.5 mpg by model year 2016 under a deal reached with the Obama administration three years ago.

In the arcane world of government regulations, the rules don't mean that each new car or truck will get 54.5 mpg. The average vehicle will get closer to 40 mpg in real-world driving. Automakers will be able to sell pickup trucks and less-efficient vehicles as long as that's offset somewhat by smaller vehicles that already can get upward of 40 mpg.

Automakers can reduce the mileage they're required to get with credits for selling natural gas and electric vehicles, changing air conditioning fluid to one that pollutes less, and adding stop-start circuits that temporarily shut off the engine at stop lights.

At showrooms, dealers are likely to offer more efficient gas-electric hybrids, natural gas vehicles and electric cars. There also will be smaller motors, lighter bodies and more devices to save fuel.

Automakers have already been adding technology to boost the efficiency of gasoline-powered engines, mainly because people want to spend less at the pump. Fuel economy is the top factor people consider when buying a car in the U.S., according to the research firm J.D. Power and Associates. The national average for gasoline hit $3.76 Tuesday, the highest price ever for this time of year.

Fuel efficiency has been rising for the past five years because government regulations and high gas prices have encouraged smaller vehicles and engines. The average new car now goes almost four miles farther on a gallon of gas than it did in October of 2007, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Market demand for more efficient vehicles already has pushed the auto industry to boost mileage with an array of technology, said Roland Hwang, transportation director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. 'We're pleasantly surprised to see how fast the industry is moving,' he said.

The administration estimates that the new rules, combined with those that began in 2011, will raise the cost of a new car about $2,800 by 2025. The estimates are based on 2010 dollars. But the government says the net savings from the requirements still will be $3,500 to $5,000 because people will spend less on gas.

The administration also predicts that the new regulations will cost the auto industry about $135 billion from 2017 to 2025.

The new rules were adopted after an agreement between the administration and 13 automakers last year. That's a change from the past, when automakers fought the regulations, saying they cost too much.

Industry leaders repeatedly told the Obama administration that they wanted one nationwide fuel standard, fearing separate mileage standards from California and other states.

'They wanted certainty so that as they invest in the future they will know what rules they are playing by,' the EPA's Jackson said.

Fuel economy standards were first imposed on U.S. automakers in the 1970s. The aim was to make cars more efficient and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil at time when the Arab oil embargo was creating gasoline shortages. The administration says this is the first update in decades.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will enforce the standards, calculating the average mileage of cars sold by each automaker. Automakers can be fined if they don't comply.

The requirements, which can be imposed without congressional approval, will be reviewed in 2018 and could be reduced if the technology isn't available to meet the standards.

The rules are tough, but General Motors, the largest U.S. car company, will roll out features to comply, spokesman Greg Martin said.

'Consumers want higher fuel efficiency in their cars and trucks, and GM is going to give it to them,' he said.

____

Krisher reported from Detroit.

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: (at)MatthewDalyWDC



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Apple's victory means soul-searching for Samsung

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A U.S. jury's $1 billion verdict against Samsung for what rival Apple claimed was the illegal copying of its iPhone and iPad designs signals a turning point for the South Korean electronics giant known for its prowess in adapting the innovations of others and nimbly executing production.

The verdict not only jolted the world of global gadgetry but also likely sparked some soul-searching in Suwon, South Korea, where the family-run Samsung conglomerate is based.

The world's top seller of smartphones finds itself in the post-iPhone reality, where the decades-long practice of industry mimicry now can mean a bruising legal challenge.

And so Samsung finds itself in a position of having to recreate itself as an innovator, not an imitator. But the switch, experts say, will be much more challenging and time-consuming than the shortcuts Samsung used to take.

'The case shows that Samsung is still inadequate in soft(ware) area, such as designs and patents,' M.S. Hwang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Samsung Securities, said in a commentary.

Samsung Electronics Co. has a top-heavy command structure that centers on the founding family. At the apex is 70-year-old Lee Kun-hee, who inherited the mantle from his father, Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, in 1987.

The strict hierarchy has enabled speedy and bold investment and swift execution. That, plus the ability to build on the innovations of others, like Sony Corp. - has helped Samsung become the world's largest maker of televisions, memory chips, liquid crystal display panels and now smartphones.

Its path is reminiscent of many Japanese companies, like Canon Inc. and Nikon Corp., which started out by copying European designs and then became innovators and pace-setters in the 1960s and 70s.

'It is impossible to be an innovator from the beginning,' said Chang Sea-jin, a professor at National University of Singapore. 'If you don't have a technology, imitating more advanced companies is the easiest way to catch up.'

Samsung has long been regarded as a 'fast follower' - imitating or licensing technologies and then competing by lowering costs, improving quality and adding functions.

It overcame its belated entry into the memory chip business in 1983 with efficient mass production and investments. Today, Samsung supplies about 30 percent of the chips that go into electronic gadgets.

In the early 2000s, Samsung claimed leadership in the global television industry.

But when Apple released its cutting-edge iPhone in 2007, Samsung employees were likely too pressed to catch up to scrutinize possible patent encroachments. South Korea's idea of intellectual property is also less strict than that in the U.S., Chang said, and speedy execution is highly valued at Samsung.

Still, Samsung outsold Apple this year in smartphones by offering more variety, including low-end phones for price-conscious consumers.

Last Friday, a jury in San Jose, California, ruled that Samsung went too far in copying the iPhone and the iPad. It awarded Apple $1.05 billion, while a judge considers whether to ban sales of eight Samsung products in the U.S. Samsung has vowed to appeal.

Samsung's stocks plunged 7.5 percent in Seoul on the first trading day after the verdict, costing $12 billion in market value. Samsung has vowed to appeal, but unsuccessful legal battles against Apple in a host of other countries means that Samsung has few choices other than to create its own design identity.

In the past few years, Samsung has been investing in design, not only in mobile phones, but also in televisions and home appliances. But the results were not near the level of revolutionizing the look and feel of a consumer electronics product or the way consumers interact with technology.

Bill Fischer, a professor at International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, says Samsung still has not breached the divide between itself and consumer electronics companies such as Apple and Sony.

'They tend to take bigger risks regarding products brought to market, and they try to become creators of revolutionary new technologies,' such as iPods, smartphones and Sony's Walkman music player, Fischer said in an email to The Associated Press. 'This is a different mentality.'

The choices that Samsung has made so far 'are not choices conducive to growing the sort of design and customer-centricity that has long made Apple unique,' he said.

That does not necessarily mean that Samsung must become another Apple. Samsung, which supplies mobile processors that work as a brain in the iPhone and the iPad, as well as displays and memory chips to Apple, reaches far and deep into the areas that Apple does not - especially in electronics hardware manufacturing.

'Innovation does not necessarily mean an entire change. Doing better than the present and doing better than others are also innovation,' said Lee Myoung-woo, who once led Samsung's consumer electronics businesses in the U.S. and is a professor at Hanyang University in Seoul.

'Even if other companies are not breaking away too far from the rules that Apple made with the iPhone, other companies can come up with product innovation in the areas that Apple didn't see,' Lee said.

He cited the Galaxy Note as an example, a smartphone with an overblown screen that became popular.



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Friday, August 24, 2012

The 6 sleekest gadgets of 2012

2012 has brought us some wild designs from both big-name brands and niche corners of the gadget and appliance market. Here are the six sleekest, most well-designed new pieces of tech we've seen this year, so get ready to drool, and keep your wallet handy!






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Microsoft spends 25 years designing a slightly less boring logo





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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

How to avoid expensive and unnecessary cell-phone charges

While many of us are now willing to pay upwards of $100 per month to connect our smartphones and tablets to cellular networks, there is still the potential for "bill shock" if we don't read the fine print.

From the man who was charged more than $62,000 for downloading "Wall-E" while traveling to Mexico to the two buddies in Philadelphia who were hit up for $26,300 after attempting to set a world record for text-messaging, there are many cellular horror stories that will motivate us to abide by even the most arcane rules and regulations. There are also more hidden and less outrageous charges found in practices like text-message "cramming" and in-app purchases that can add to your monthly bill.

Here are the five most common and potentially budget-breaking types of cell-phone charges, along with some best practices for avoiding them.

1) Roaming charges when traveling abroad
Even if you pay close to $200 for all the unlimited bells and whistles on your cell-phone plan, you can still incur additional and exorbitant fees if you travel outside of the country without first changing to an international plan. Most carriers will allow you to upgrade to international voice, data, and text plans for an extra $30 or $40 per month (and on a month-to-month basis). While those plans are annoying and inflexible, it is better to shell out $40 rather than $2,500 or even $200,000 in international roaming fees.

Last year, Florida resident Celina Aarons was hit with a $201,000 bill from T-Mobile when her brother - who is legally deaf and on her family plan - spent two weeks in Canada frequently texting and downloading videos from YouTube. Although Aarons did not have a legal case against T-Mobile, she shared her story with the local media. Subsequent public pressure helped motivate T-Mobile to lower the bill to "only" $2,500. Ouch.

Thankfully, the major cell-phone carriers are all pledging to send consumers alerts before they incur international roaming as well as other overage charges. This is scheduled to begin on October 17, and all carriers should be compliant by April 17, 2013. Still, it's better to get organized ahead of travel than to be notified while traveling (or worse, after the fact). 

Even if you never place a call, send a text, or download an app or game while out of the country, you could still be charged international roaming fees just for having your phone turned on. Your phone may have apps that consume data without you knowing it. You are also subject to extra fees for incoming calls and texts. So if you don't plan to use your phone at all, make sure to power it off completely. If you want the flexibility to make calls in the countries where you travel, another option is to purchase a prepaid SIM card that is connected to a local number.

2) Consuming extra minutes from checking voicemail
While the chances are extremely low that you will get hit with triple-digit or higher charges for checking your voicemail, you may be paying a few extra bucks per month than necessary for checking your messages. Every time you check your voicemail from your phone, you are using up precious minutes on your plan. A recent study from consumer research service BillShrink shows that Verizon customers on average pay $3.61 per month to get access their voicemail. It's not much better for AT&T customers, who pay about $2.44 each month to hear who called them.

If you have a plan with unlimited minutes, feel free to check your voicemail as often as you'd like. However, if you are on a plan with a predetermined number of minutes and want to save an extra $30 or $40 per year, than retrieve your messages for free from a landline whenever possible. To do this, simply power off your phone and then dial your number from a landline connection. Once you hear your outgoing message, you will be prompted to enter your password. From there, most carriers will let you retrieve, save, or delete messages from an old-school phone just as you would from your mobile device.

3) Falling prey to cramming scams
Have you ever inadvertently clicked on a spammy text message sent to your cell phone? If you have, you may want to double-check your cell-phone bill, as you might be a victim of a practice known as "cramming." Some nefarious outfits even cram services like ringtones, horoscope readers, or cheesy quiz games onto your phone by barraging you with text messages until you overtly text back "no" or stop." Making matters worse, many of these services appear as legitimate-looking names and acronyms on your cell-phone bill. So you can be incurring $10 per month (or more) for these scams and think they are just one added charge from your cell-phone carrier that you do not understand or notice.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that consumers are losing approximately $2 billion per year in cramming scams. While federal government agencies are paying closer attention and many states are introducing legislation designed to outlaw and eradicate cramming, it's never too early to investigate if this is already happening to you. The Federal Communications Commission offers tips on how to identify crammers. In addition to analyzing your phone bill for unrecognized charges, the FCC site outlines actions you can take from contacting your cellular carrier to issuing formal complaints against crammers. 

4) Not having control over in-app purchases

Just because there is no download charge for an iPhone or Android game doesn't mean it is necessarily free. Many smartphone games - among other applications - let users play a session or two for free before charging anything. And while most of us can budget whether or not we want to invest in an extra life or special power in that first-person shooter game, it's not as easy for younger children to make that determination. Up until last year, it was easy for young children to pay for in-app services without having access to a parental password for Apple's iTunes App Store. While Apple - responding to legal pressure - has tightened up its restrictions for in-app purchases, it is very possible that your kids know your password (and are paying for expensive games as you are reading this article).

The safer call is to disable in-app purchases altogether for Apple's iDevices. Here's how you do it. Just go to the "Settings: app on your home screen and once there scroll to "General." There you will see the option to enable or disable "Restrictions." To enable restrictions for in-app purchases, you can set up a separate passcode from your iTunes account that you can hopefully keep secret. 

5) Too much texting and data
The two texting buddies in Philadelphia we told you about not only set a record for the number of messages sent in a month, but also were able to get out of the $26,300 price tag after it was revealed they both had unlimited texting plans. Even if you text infrequently, it's worth it to invest in an unlimited domestic plan if you want to put a cap on the potential cost. And while most carriers offer unlimited texting plans (which are standalone or rolled into voice and texting plans), only Sprint offers unlimited data for surfing the Web, downloading videos, and running games and applications. The other major carriers - AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile - either charge overage fees once you go beyond your monthly data allocation or, more recently, throttle and slow down data speeds once you reach a certain threshold.

There are several ways to lower your data bill, including accessing wireless Internet connections whenever possible, turning off GPS tools and other apps while not using them, and downloading iPhone and Android applications that help you monitor data usage and consumption. Depending on what type of smartphone and operating system you use, there are also ways to monitor usage already available on your device. If you own an iPhone, tap the "Settings" icon, go to the "General" section, and scroll down to "Usage."

This will provide a stopwatch-like snapshot of how much data you use over the course of time. Newer Android devices that run on the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system also have this functionality. 

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Dell's slump worsens in fiscal 2Q; outlook weakens

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) - Dell Inc.'s slump deepened in its latest quarter as the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets undercut sales of its desktop and laptop computers.

The fiscal second-quarter results announced Tuesday served as the latest reminder of the challenges facing Dell and other personal computer makers as they scramble to adapt to the technological upheaval unleashed by Apple Inc.'s line of sleek devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

The shift to more mobile computing has established Apple as the most valuable company in U.S. history, while businesses that revolved around selling desktop and laptop computers have been struggling.

Dell Inc., the second largest U.S. maker of personal computers, is trying to adjust by expanding into software, technology consulting, data storage and computer servers - all of which produce higher profit margins than selling PCs and printers.

'We're transforming our business, not for a quarter or a fiscal year, but to deliver differentiated customer value for the long term,' Michael Dell, the company's CEO and founder, said in a statement Tuesday. 'We're clear on our strategy and we're building a leading portfolio of solutions to help our customers achieve their goals.'

As part of its makeover, Dell on Tuesday announced a new leader for its division that oversees many of its corporate products, including computer networking and data storage. Marius Haas is replacing Brad Anderson as president of Dell's enterprise solutions. Haas most recently worked at the investment firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. after previous stints at Dell rival Hewlett-Packard Co. and Intel Corp.

Even if Dell's strategy is successful, the company's evolution will take time. That reality has caused Dell's stock to fall this year while the overall market has been climbing.

In a sign of further weakness ahead, Dell lowered its earnings target by 20 percent for its fiscal year ending in January. Dell trimmed its full-year guidance, even though its adjusted earnings for the just-completed quarter topped analyst projections.

The company, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, tied it its bleaker forecast on 'the uncertain economic environment, competitive dynamics and soft consumer business.'

Dell shares shed 39 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $11.951 in Tuesday's extended trading following the release of the earnings report.

In its latest quarter ending in July, Dell earned $732 million, or 42 cents per share. That represented an 18 percent decline from net income of $890 million, or 48 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for costs unrelated to its ongoing business, Dell said it would have earned 50 cents per share. On that basis, Dell topped the average estimate of 45 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue for the period fell 8 percent from last year to $14.5 billion. That was nearly $200 million below analyst forecasts.

The weakest area was in Dell's mobility division, where revenue plunged 19 percent from last year. PC sales decreased 9 percent from last year.

Dell's lackluster performance is expected to be mirrored by HP Wednesday when the world's largest PC maker is scheduled to release its quarterly results. HP already has warned its quarterly loss will approach $9 billion because of an accounting charge to reflect the diminished value of a past acquisition.

Feds, university test cars that can communicate

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - In a few weeks, about 2,800 cars, trucks and buses will start talking to each other on the streets of Ann Arbor, Mich., in a giant experiment that government officials are hoping will lead to safer roads.

Wireless devices will allow the vehicles to send signals to each other, warning their drivers of potential dangers such as stopped traffic or cars that might be blowing through a red light. They can even get traffic lights to turn green if no cars are coming the other way.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the University of Michigan are hoping the year-long, $25 million project generates data that show the devices can cut down on traffic crashes. Officials say eventually this could lead to the devices going in every car. About 500 vehicles with the devices are now on the roads. That will rise to 2,800 in about six weeks, officials said Tuesday.

'This is a big day for safety,' Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said at an event at the university formally kicking off the experiment. 'We'll use this information to decide if vehicle technology can be applied to daily lives.'

More than 32,000 people died last year in U.S. traffic crashes, down 1.7 percent from 2010. The number of crashes has fallen in recent years as automakers added safety devices such as air bags, antilock brakes and stability control, which helps drivers keep cars under control in emergency situations.

But LaHood said Tuesday that 80 percent of crashes in which the drivers aren't impaired by drugs or alcohol could be prevented - or the severity reduced - if cars could talk to each other.

When the technology will make its way into cars and trucks everywhere is unclear. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has the authority to order the devices placed in all new cars, but LaHood said they'll have to study the data before making any decision. The data will be available in about a year.

In a demonstration at the Transportation Research Institute, a Volkswagen GTI equipped with a device got a signal that a car up ahead of it had braked. The warning allowed the GTI driver to slow down before seeing the brake lights on the car in front of him. The device also warned the GTI driver at a stop sign that another car was about to speed through the intersection.

Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai/Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen/Audi all are supplying vehicles and taking part in the test.

Peter Sweatman, director of the institute, said testers will look for data showing that the warnings prevented crashes. Previous tests, on a smaller scale, showed the devices can stop crashes, he said.

Technology is available so that connected cars could be on the road nationwide in under 10 years, Sweatman said.

'I think this is going to kick everything off,' he said. 'This is going to move everything forward.'

Automakers have been adding safety devices such blind-spot warning detectors that warn a driver if there's a car in an adjoining lane, and radar-activated cruise control that can slow cars down if they're approaching an object too fast. The experiment should help tie them together, officials said.

In February, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford called for just that in a speech to a mobile electronic device conference in Barcelona, Spain. He said the mobile device industry should join with automakers and governments to develop connected car technology to solve looming congestion and safety problems around the world.



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Monday, August 20, 2012

Apple sets record for company value at $624B

NEW YORK (AP) - Apple is Wall Street's all-time MVP -that's Most Valuable Property.

On Monday, Apple's surging stock propelled the company's value to $624 billion, the world's highest, ever. It beat the record for market capitalization set by Microsoft Corp. in the heady days of the Internet boom.

After a four-month dip, Apple's stock has hit new highs recently because of optimism around what is believed to be the impending launch of the iPhone 5, and possibly a smaller, cheaper iPad.

Apple Inc. has been the world's most valuable company since the end of last year. It's now worth 54 percent more than No. 2 Exxon Mobil Corp.

Apple's stock closed at $665.15. That was an all-time high, up $17.04, or 2.6 percent, from Friday's close.

Microsoft's 1999 peak was $620.58 billion, according to Standard & Poor's.

The comparison to Microsoft does not take inflation into account. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the software giant was worth about $850 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Microsoft is now worth $257 billion.

Analysts believe Apple's stock has room to grow. The average price target of 38 analysts polled by FactSet is $745.80.

Despite the surge, Apple's stock is not particularly expensive compared to its earnings for the last twelve months. The company's 'price-to-earnings ratio' is 15.6, compared with 16.1 for the S&P 500 overall. That suggests investors, unlike analysts, don't believe the company can grow its profits much from current levels.

Microsoft had a price-to-earnings ratio of 83 at the 1999 peak. The stock was caught up in the Internet mania of the time and investors believed it could boost its future earnings massively.

Analysts believe the launch of a new iPhone in a month or two will be Apple's biggest product introduction yet.

Scott Sutherland at Wedbush Morgan noted that some investors sold Apple shares last summer, when iPhone sales slowed down as consumers started holding off for the new model. Those investors missed out on a 50 percent jump in the stock price.

'This time around, investors are a little bit smarter across the board ... they don't want to be caught not involved in the stock on this next iPhone launch,' Sutherland said.

Analysts also speculate that a 'mini iPad,' could expand the number of people who can afford one of Apple's tablets. The cheapest iPad cost $399, compared to $199 for the latest Google and Amazon tablets.

Analysts are speculating -based on rumors- that Apple plans to make a TV set to complete its suite of consumer electronics products.

Apple usually doesn't comment on its future product plans until a few weeks or days before a launch.

Apple's stock surge has made it a major part of many investment portfolios, often without the investors realizing it. The company makes up 4.7 percent of the value of the S&P 500 index, which is used as the basis for many mutual funds.

Figures supplied by FactSet imply Microsoft's market capitalization record was $619.25 billion, somewhat lower than the $620.58 billion calculated by S&P. The difference lies in the number of outstanding shares the firms ascribe to Microsoft at the time.

China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than Apple's, because of the particularities of the Chinese stock market.

PetroChina was briefly worth $1 trillion after it listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2007, but only based on its price on that exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange. Based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500 billion.

By coincidence, the peak price for one Apple share is now less than $2 away from the retail price of the Apple I computer in 1976. It sold for $666.66.



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Apple sets record for company value at $623B

NEW YORK (AP) - Apple is the world's most valuable company, ever.

On Monday, its surging stock propelled the company's value to $623 billion, beating the record for market capitalization set by Microsoft Corp. in the heady days of the Internet boom.

After a four-month dip, Apple's stock has hit new highs recently because of optimism around what is believed to be the impending launch of the iPhone 5, and possibly a smaller, cheaper iPad.

Apple Inc. has been the world's most valuable company since the end of last year. It's now worth 53 percent more than No. 2 Exxon Mobil Corp.

Apple's stock hit $664.74 in midday trading before retreating slightly to $661.70. That was $13.42, or 2.1 percent, higher than Friday's close.

Microsoft's 1999 peak was $620.58 billion, according to Standard & Poor's.

The comparison to Microsoft does not take inflation into account. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the software giant was worth about $850 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Microsoft is now worth $257 billion.

Analysts believe Apple's stock has room to grow. The average price target of 38 analysts polled by FactSet is $745.80.

Despite the surge, Apple's stock is not particularly expensive compared to its earnings for the last twelve months. The company's 'price-to-earnings ratio' is 15.6, compared to 16.1 for the S&P 500 overall. That suggests investors, unlike analysts, don't believe the company can grow its sales much from current levels.

Apart from the iPhone and 'mini iPad,' analysts are speculating that Apple plans to make a TV set to complete its suite of consumer electronics products. Apple usually doesn't comment on its future product plans until a few weeks or days before a launch.

Apple's stock surge has made it a major part of many investment portfolios, often without the investors realizing it. The company makes up 4.7 percent of the value of the S&P 500 index, which is used as the basis for many mutual funds.

Figures supplied by FactSet imply Microsoft's market capitalization record was $619.25 billion, somewhat lower than the $620.58 billion calculated by S&P. The difference lies in the number of outstanding shares the firms ascribe to Microsoft at the time.

China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than Apple's, because of the particularities of the Chinese stock market.

PetroChina was briefly worth $1 trillion after it listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2007, but only based on its price on that exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment. PetroChina's shares also trade in Hong Kong and on the New York Stock Exchange, and based on prices there, its market capitalization never went as high as $500 billion.



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Facebook stock drops below $19, half of IPO price

NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook's beleaguered stock has lost more than half of its value since its initial public offering three months ago.

Facebook Inc. hit a new low of $18.75 before bouncing back to $19.01 - down 4 cents - in morning trading Monday. The social networking icon's much-anticipated IPO turned sour amid technical problems on the NASDAQ stock market and high expectations. The stock has not surpassed its $38 IPO price since its first trading day.

Investors are worried about Facebook's ability to grow revenue quickly, especially when it comes to garnering mobile advertising dollars as users flock to smartphones and tablet computers. There are also looming expirations of the IPO lockup periods. Lockups preventing many Facebook employees from selling stock expire this fall, potentially flooding the market with more shares.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Cisco's 4Q earnings rise 56 pct, raises dividend

NEW YORK (AP) - Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment, is seeing its ambitions cramped by the global economic turmoil, but results for its latest quarter were strong enough that it announced an increase to its dividend.

Cisco's sales in the latest quarter rose just 4.4 percent, as customers in Southern Europe were in the grips of a recession and government customers on both sides of the Atlantic held back.

The results beat Wall Street's muted expectations, and Cisco raised its dividend by 75 percent. The new quarterly dividend of 14 cents per share represents an annual yield of 3.2 percent of Cisco's stock price, a relatively high yield for a technology company. Cisco only started paying a dividend in April 2011.

The higher dividend doesn't necessarily mean Cisco will give shareholders more cash overall, as it has a buyback program as well and could reduce the pace of buybacks to free up cash for the dividend.

Cisco said it's committing to returning to shareholders at least 50 percent of its free cash flow, or the cash it pulls in after expenses and capital investment. In the fiscal year that just ended, it returned $5.9 billion to shareholders in buybacks and dividend, which was already more than 50 percent of free cash flow.

Cisco said it earned $1.9 billion, or 36 cents per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, which spanned May to July. That compares with income of $1.2 billion, or 22 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Excluding the cost of stock-based compensation, restructuring costs and other items, Cisco said it would have earned 47 cents per share, up from 40 cents per share earned last year.

On that basis, Cisco's earnings were 2 cents above the average analyst estimate, as polled by FactSet.

Revenue rose was $11.7 billion, beating estimates. The 4.4 percent growth rate is below Cisco's long-term goal of 5 percent to 7 percent growth.

Shares of the San Jose, Calif., company rose 77 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $18.11 in extended trading, after the release of the results. That's the highest level for the shares since May, when Cisco warned that economic weakness in Europe would hold it back.

Chief Financial Officer Frank Calderone said Cisco expects to earn 45 cents to 47 cents per share in the quarter that just started. That brackets the average analyst forecast, at 46 cents.

Cisco said it expects revenue of $11.5 billion to $11.9 billion in the new quarter, with the high end of the range achievable when including sales from NDS, a video-equipment company Cisco just bought. Analysts were expecting $11.7 billion in revenue, but not all of them are including the effect of the NDS acquisition in their estimates.

The acquisition will not affect earnings in the current quarter, Cisco said.



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Police: Burglar made off with Steve Jobs' wallet

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - The burglar who broke into Steve Jobs' house made off with the Apple Inc. co-founder's wallet with a dollar inside and his driver's license in addition to Apple gadgets and jewelry, according to a police report released Tuesday.

The details of the July 17 theft, and the suspect's alleged confession, were reported Tuesday by the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/OgMKB0 ).

The suspect, Kariem McFarlin, 35, targeted the unoccupied Palo Alto home because it was under renovation, authorities said. When construction crews left, he hopped a fence and found a spare key, according to the report. McFarlin apparently realized he was in Jobs' house when he saw a letter addressed to him.

Also taken in the 15-hour overnight heist were iPhones, iPads, iPods, Mac computers, Cristal Champagne and $60,000 worth of Tiffany & Co. jewelry. McFarlin sold the jewelry to a dealer online and gave the iPads to a daughter and a friend, according to the report.

'There's certain things you don't do, and burglary is one of them. But burglarizing an icon like that, that just puts yourself pretty much in the deep hole,' McFarlin's former boss, Ross Rankin, told the San Jose Mercury News.

McFarlin was arrested at his Alameda home earlier this month after Apple investigators identified him after he connected to the Internet on the stolen devices with his iTunes account, police said. McFarlin acknowledged to police that he broke into other homes and also wrote an apology letter to Jobs' widow, according to the police report.

He remains jailed on $500,000 bail and is expected to appear in court Monday. He faces almost eight years in prison if convicted. His public defender did not return a call for comment.



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Google upgrades Android maps as Apple battle looms

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google is upgrading the maps designed for mobile devices running on its Android software as it braces for new competition from Apple.

The improvements in the latest version of mobile maps for Android center on listings for public transportation options in nearly 500 cities around the world.

The update released Wednesday includes directions and departure times for more than 1 million stations worldwide for the first time.

New technology on the maps will allow users to focus exclusively on directions for specific transportation options, such as the subway, while excluding other alternatives such as the bus.

The changes come as Apple Inc. prepares to replace Google's maps as the automatic navigation service on the iPhone and iPad. Apple is casting aside Google for its own mobile mapping service.



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Retailers to launch mobile app for payments

NEW YORK (AP) - A bevy of big-name retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best-Buy Co. and Target Corp., are teaming up to create a company that will give customers another way to make purchases with their mobile devices.

The businesses said Wednesday that the new company, Merchant Customer Exchange, is developing a mobile application that will be available for nearly any smartphone. The app is expected to integrate a variety of consumer offers, promotions and retail programs.

The new system takes aim at Google's Wallet payment app and other efforts aimed at moving payment cards from wallets to smartphones.

Mike Cook, corporate vice president and assistant treasurer for Wal-Mart, said in a statement that using a mobile app will help to cut down costs and make shopping faster and more convenient.

'As merchants, no one understands our customers' shopping and payment experience better than we do, and we're confident that together we can develop a technology solution that makes that experience more engaging, convenient and efficient,' Mark Williams, president of financial services for Best Buy, said.

Other retailers included in Merchant Customer Exchange are 7-Eleven, Inc., Alon Brands, CVS/pharmacy, Darden Restaurants Inc., HMSHost, Hy-Vee Inc., Lowe's Cos., Publix Super Markets Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., Shell Oil Products US, and Sunoco Inc.

The initial retailers that are part of the new company account for about $1 trillion in annual sales. More retailers are expected to be announced as new members in the coming months, the group said.



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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Facebook insiders can sell stock as 'lock-up' ends

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) - Facebook's early investors and a handful of top executives become eligible on Thursday to sell stock they own in the social networking company. It marks the beginning of a time-honored process for public companies, which will culminate in the fall, when many Facebook employees receive the same right to sell their shares.

It's conceivable none of them will sell. But if they do, up to 1.91 billion more shares could flood the stock market, joining the 421 million that have been trading since Facebook's initial public offering in May. So-called 'lock-up' periods, which prevent insiders from unloading shares too close to an IPO, generally start to expire 90 days after a stock makes its public debut.

Lock-ups are designed to prevent a stock from experiencing the kind of volatility that might be caused if too many shareholders decide to sell a newly-traded stock all at once. The progressive phasing-in of various shareholders allows early owners to shed their stock and make way for new investors, says Peter Zaleski, a professor economics at the Villanova School of Business in Pennsylvania. But there's risk involved too. If too many people sell, Facebook's stock price could decline.

That's a problem the company can't afford. On Monday, the stock closed at $21.60, down 43 percent from its initial public offering price of $38.

This week, Facebook's operating chief and No. 2 executive Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's, as well as finance chief David Ebersman and firms ranging from Accel Partners to Goldman Sachs will be free to sell stock they own. In all, 271 million shares will become eligible this week, according to Facebook's regulatory filings. Microsoft Corp., another early Facebook investor, will be eligible to sell, too.

Facebook's 28-yearold chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg won't be able to sell his shares until mid-November. Facebook hasn't explained why Zuckerberg didn't become eligible with the other top executives this week. He controls about a third of the 1.22 billion shares and stock options that will become unlocked on Nov. 14

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter believes it's unlikely that top executives will sell their shares as soon as they can. It would look bad for the company, Pachter says. Zynga Inc., the online game maker behind 'FarmVille,' was sued last month for waiving lock-up restrictions for insiders, including CEO Mark Pincus, before the company's first-quarter results in April.

'The only people who would sell are people who need the money,' says Pachter. 'I would be very worried if Sheryl Sandberg or Ebersman sell, but they are not that dumb.'

Following this week's expiration date, about 243 million more Facebook shares and stock options will become eligible for sale into the public stock market between Oct. 15 and Nov. 13. Then there's the Nov. 14 expiration, and another a month later. Next May, a year after Facebook's IPO, the Russian Internet company Mail.ru Group and DST Global -both of which made early investments in Facebook- will be able to sell the shares.

The early investors who sold their stock to the public as part of Facebook's IPO did so at a price of $38 each. If they sell now, they will make far less money from each share than they did in the IPO. Facebook's stock has not hit its IPO price since its first day of trading. As a result, the company's market value has plummeted from $104 billion to $59.1 billion in roughly three months.

Goldman Sachs and a few other investors are in a unique position to profit if they sell Facebook's stock at its current price A January 2011 investment round from Goldman Sachs and others valued Facebook at $50 billion.

Even before the Facebook's disappointing IPO, Silicon Valley merchants -those who sell real estate, cars, and other luxury items- had been expecting a boost to the local economy from rank-and-file Facebook employees who received stock options as part of their compensation. Now, experts are cautioning those merchants to temper their expectations.

'In light of the company's market value being half of what was expected, and the fact that the big gainers are not in Silicon Valley year round, I would not expect a new boom in Silicon Valley resulting from this,' says Zaleski.

Jon Burgstone, professor at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, points out that many of Facebook's shareholders had already been able to sell their stock before the company's initial public offering, through secondary stock markets set up to allow trading in private businesses. In many ways, he added, 'Facebook's IPO was really a secondary public offering. A number of large shareholders and early employees have already been cashing out.'

As for flashy cars and fancy clothes?

'People here generally don't spend their money on expensive clothing, jewelry, etc.,' Burgstone says. 'The ethos of Silicon Valley remains - what have you done, and what can you do now? -not what label are you wearing.'



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Friday, August 10, 2012

Evolution of Olympics Tech: From Carrier Pigeons to Quantum Timers



A high priestess passes on the Olympic flame lit using a concave mirror to concentrate the sun's rays. AP

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FTC finalizes privacy settlement with Facebook

NEW YORK (AP) - The Federal Trade Commission voted Friday to finalize its settlement with Facebook, resolving charges that the social network exposed details about users' lives without getting the required legal consent.

Facebook Inc. didn't admit wrongdoing, but agreed to submit to government audits of its privacy practices every other year for the next two decades. The company also committed to getting explicit approval from users before changing the types of content it makes public.

The settlement, announced in November, is similar to agreements the FTC reached separately with Google Inc. and Myspace.

The FTC approved the settlement Friday after a public comment period. It came a day after the FTC fined Google $22.5 million to resolve allegations that Google didn't comply with the earlier settlement.

Both Facebook and Google have vast amounts of data on their users - Facebook through the things people share on the site, and Google through the searches and other things people do. Such information is valuable because it can be used to improve the lucrative targeted advertising pitches that both companies aim at users.

Over the years, Facebook has been pushing users to voluntary share more about themselves. That ultimately encourages users and their friends to spend more time on the site, which in turn allows Facebook to sell more ads. Although Facebook boasts that it gives users a variety of software settings so they can decide which photos, links and updates to share with whom, the company changes those options on a regular basis.

Much of the FTC's complaint against Facebook centers on a series of changes that the company made to its privacy controls in late 2009. The revisions automatically shared information and pictures about Facebook users, even if they previously programmed their privacy settings to shield the content. Among other things, people's profile pictures, lists of online friends and political views were suddenly available for the world to see, the FTC alleged.

The complaint also charges that Facebook shared its users' personal information with third-party advertisers from September 2008 through May 2010 despite several public assurances from company officials that it wasn't passing the data along for marketing purposes.

Facebook believes that happened only in limited instances, generally when users clicked on ads that appeared on their personal profile pages. Most of Facebook's users click on ads when they are on their 'Wall' - a section that highlights their friends' posts - or while visiting someone else's profile page.

Under the settlement, Facebook must get explicit consent - a process known as 'opting in' - before making changes that override existing privacy preferences. The company also may not make misrepresentations about the privacy or security of users' personal information - a broad clause that led to Google's fine on Thursday.

Violations will be subject to civil penalties of up to $16,000 per day for each infringement.

The FTC approved the settlement 3-1, with one commissioner not participating. Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch dissented, as he did with the Google deal on Thursday, partly because it didn't require an admission of wrongdoing. He also worried the settlement was too vague on whether it applied to Facebook apps written by outside parties. The three commissioners who approved the deal believe it covers apps.

Facebook had no comment beyond a statement that it is pleased the settlement received final approval.

Facebook's stock gained 52 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $21.53 in midday trading Friday. The company, based in Menlo Park, Calif., began trading publicly in mid-May, after the settlement with the FTC was reached.



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Thursday, August 9, 2012

Yahoo CEO mulling possible changes in strategy

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Yahoo says its new CEO, Marissa Mayer, may revise the Internet company's plan to pay shareholders billions of dollars from an anticipated windfall later this year.

The potential change disclosed Thursday caused Yahoo's stock to drop nearly 4 percent in extended trading.

Mayer is mulling a shift in direction as part of a sweeping review of the company. Yahoo Inc. lured Mayer away from rival Google Inc. three weeks ago to become its fifth CEO in the past five years.

As part of her evaluation, Mayer is scrutinizing Yahoo's agreement to sell half its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group Ltd. for $7.1 billion.

Yahoo had promised to reward shareholders with most of the Alibaba proceeds. Now, Yahoo says Mayer may have something different in mind.



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Fusion-io stock jumps after strong 4Q results

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Shares of Fusion-io Inc. jumped in after-hours trading Thursday after the maker of chip-based computer server memory drives reported fiscal fourth-quarter results well above Wall Street's expectations

Along with the release of its financial results, the company offered an upbeat outlook.

Fusion-io booked a loss of $2.4 million, or 3 cents per share, in the April-June period. That's down from earnings of $5.8 million, or 6 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Fusion-io went public last June.

Revenue rose 49 percent to $106.6 million from $71. 7 million.

Adjusted earnings, which excluded stock compensation expenses and other items, were $9.8 million, or 9 cents per share, in the latest quarter.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $96 million, according to a poll by FactSet.

Fusion-io makes flash memory products that allow companies to store lots of data and access it quickly.

For the current quarter, the company said it expects revenue to 'modestly increase' from the fourth quarter, but it did not give a number. Analysts are forecasting $104.4 million, a small decline from the fourth quarter.

The company's shares rose $5.18, or 24.6 percent, to $26.20 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down 44 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $21.02 in Thursday's regular trading session.



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Google agrees to record $22.5M fine on privacy

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google is paying a record $22.5 million fine to settle allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking millions of Web surfers who use Apple's Safari browser.

The penalty announced Thursday by the Federal Trade Commission matches the figure that The Associated Press and other media outlets had reported last month. It's the largest fine that the FTC has imposed against a company for violating a previous agreement with the agency.



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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Download these medal-worthy apps to your smartphone or tablet

When the Summer Olympics were held in Beijing four years ago, apps were just hitting the pop-cultural radar and there were a limited number of titles to download. Today we live in a world with more than 1.5 million apps available for smartphones and tablet devices.







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CEO says NBC set to 'break even' on Olympics

NEW YORK (AP) - NBC is set to 'break even' on its Olympics coverage, rather than lose money as previously expected, the head of NBCUniversal said Wednesday.

The company had expected at one point to take a $200 million loss on the London Olympics. NBC paid $1.2 billion for the rights to show the games on TV and online in the U.S. It has said that it sold more than $1 billion in ads, breaking the record of $850 million set during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

'We are way ahead of where we thought we'd be,' NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said Wednesday.

Burke said that because of the timing of events in London, he had expected ratings to be down 20 percent compared with the Beijing Olympics. But they are up 9 percent so far, five days into the event.

'We think that is because of the way we promoted the Olympics during the hundred days leading up to the Olympics,' Burke said.

Tuesday's Olympics telecast, featuring Michael Phelps' record-setting swim and the gold medal performance of the U.S. women's gymnastics team, had the highest rating of any night so far, according to Nielsen's overnight measurement of the nation's largest cities. An exact viewership estimate is expected later Wednesday.

The Olympics run through Aug. 12. The time difference with Europe doesn't allow for live events in primetime. In Beijing four years ago, NBC was able to show morning events live in the evening.

Burke made the comments on a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss the second-quarter earnings report of Comcast Corp., NBCUniversal's parent company.

Burke said he was speaking on a 'cash on cash' basis, which doesn't directly translate into a profit for the company.

From a formal accounting perspective, the treatment of the Olympics is more complicated, as NBC made the deal with the International Olympic Committee before the Comcast bought the controlling stake in NBCUniversal early last year. Some of the loss was eliminated through purchase accounting. Comcast Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis said on the call that the end result would be that the company will post a small gain from the event in the current quarter.

Last year, NBC outbid Fox and ESPN to gain the rights for four more Olympics, paying $4.38 billion through 2020.



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Twitter admits mistake in reporter case

LONDON (AP) - Twitter is acknowledging a mistake in how it handled a tweet by a Los Angeles-based journalist that included the email of the NBC Olympics president.

Alex Macgillivray, general counsel for the social media website, wrote in a blog post Tuesday that the company's team working with NBC for their Olympic partnership 'proactively' identified the tweet it said was in violation of its rules and encouraged the network to report it.

'This behavior is not acceptable and undermines the trust our users have in us,' Macgillivray wrote. 'We should not and cannot be in the business of proactively monitoring and flagging content, no matter who the user is - whether a business partner, celebrity or friend.'

Guy Adams, a correspondent for British newspaper The Independent, was upset with NBC's decision to broadcast the opening ceremony on tape delay when he sent his critical tweet Friday afternoon.

'The man responsible for NBC pretending the Olympics haven't started yet is Gary Zenkel. Tell him what u think!' it read, before going on to provide his corporate email listing.

Adams' account was suspended but he said Tuesday it had been reinstated - announcing his return on Twitter of course.

'Oh. My Twitter account appears to have been un-suspended. Did I miss much while I was away?' he posted.

Adams went on to include part of an email where Twitter said the network had retracted its original complaint, leading to the resumption of his account.

NBC Sports issued a statement saying it wanted to protect its executive, not get Adams suspended from Twitter.

'We didn't initially understand the repercussions of our complaint, but now that we do, we have rescinded it,' the statement read.

Macgillivray also blogged about Twitter's policies when it comes to complaints about private information. According to the post, the site's support team was unaware of how NBC was alerted to the tweet and 'acted on the report as they would any other,' he wrote.

___

Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap



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Panasonic returns to profit in 1Q on cost cutting

TOKYO (AP) - Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday it returned to the black in the April-June quarter, logging a net profit of 12.8 billion ($163 million) mainly on lower costs after cutting more than 38,000 jobs over the last year.

The consumer electronics giant had a net loss of 30.4 billion yen in the same quarter a year earlier.

The Osaka-based maker of Viera TVs and Lumix digital cameras said that it turned a profit despite a 6 percent decline in fiscal first quarter sales to 1.815 trillion yen amid weak demand in its Japanese home market.

The European financial crisis and the strong yen, which erodes overseas sales when repatriated to Japan, also weighed on the company's performance, it said in a release.

Panasonic kept its profit forecast for the full fiscal year through March 2013 unchanged at 50 billion yen ($638 million). Last fiscal year, it reported a record loss of 772.2 billion yen.

The company said it slashed its global workforce to about 327,500 as of the end of June from nearly 366,000 a year earlier.

Sales of its audio-visual products decreased 20 percent to 360 billion yen on poor demand for flat-panel TVs, but the division managed to swing to a profit of 7.4 billion yen after losing money a year earlier.

Profits in its home appliance segment - the biggest of eight business divisions - rose 7 percent on higher sales of refrigerators and washing machines.



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