I'm not sure video game players need more incentive to check out Assassin's Creed III. Between its setting during the American Revolution, delightful use of muskets and naval warfare, the action title from Ubisoft has made a strong impression thus far.
In case you need more convincing, the publisher has launched a fresh trailer taking viewers through the world of Assassin's Creed III and its AnvilNext technology.
The game launches Oct. 30 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Mon Aug 6, 2012 7:43pm EDT
n">(Reuters) - Leap Wireless International Inc's quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates as more customers defected and average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) at the low-cost mobile services provider fell for the first time in seven quarters.
Shares of the company, which focuses on cost-conscious customers and competes with MetroPCS Communications Inc, fell 15 percent in trading after the bell.
The company said customer retention programs did not work out as well as expected and came at a higher-than-anticipated cost.
Leap and some other low-cost carriers have been hurt by rising competition that has forced them to shift focus toward smartphones, but this has also lead to costly subsidies to boost subscriber growth.
"While we had substantial handset supply throughout the quarter, certain popular handsets were either not available for sale because of quality issues or did not meet changes in customer needs over time," CEO Doug Hutcheson said on a call with analysts.
"In some cases, this required the company to meet customer demand with more expensive devices, increasing our subsidy expense."
Leap said in May that it would sell the iPhone, joining much bigger national rivals Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp in selling the popular Apple Inc device.
The company will sell the 16 GB iPhone 4S for $499.99, compared with its rivals' $199.99 price tag. Leap customers, however, will pay smaller monthly service fees and will not need to sign long-term contracts.
Customer retention in the quarter was also hurt by reduced promotional activity, Chief Financial Officer Jerry Elliott told Reuters.
He sees some of these problems continuing into the third quarter, but said the retention programs have been stopped and expects ARPU to track back to higher levels.
FALLING NUMBERS
Leap reported a net subscriber loss of about 289,000 in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of about 103,000 customers a year earlier.
Analysts had expected its subscriber numbers to fall by 48,000 to 100,000, according to five analysts contacted by Reuters.
Average revenue per user fell for the first time since the third quarter of 2010 to $41.64, while churn — or customer defection rate — rose to 4.4 percent from 4.2 percent a year earlier.
Net loss attributable to common stockholders narrowed to $41.6 million, or 54 cents per share, for the second quarter from $65.2 million, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 3.5 percent to $786.8 million.
Analysts on average had expected a loss of 50 cents per share on revenue of $836.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
MetroPCS reported second-quarter earnings well above analysts' estimates last month as it cut costs by holding back on smartphone promotions.
Shares of the company, which closed up 6 percent at $5.52 on the Nasdaq on Monday, fell to $4.70 in trading after the bell.
The stock has fallen 10 percent since it said it would start selling the iPhone on concerns that margins would be hurt.
(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Anthony Kurian)
Want a taste of what the classic first-person shooter Doom 3 will look like with a high-definition makeover?
Publisher Bethesda Softworks has released some fresh images featuring Doom 3: BFG Edition, which launches Oct. 16 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Along with HD visuals, the re-release includes a "Lost Mission" consisting of seven levels, support for Achievements and Trophies as well as 3-D, plus the expansion Resurrection of Evil and original copies of Doom and Doom 2.
The PC version will sell for $29.99, while console copies go for $39.99.
Scroll down to check out some more images of the game.
LONDON | Tue Aug 7, 2012 11:19am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - Remote-controlled miniatures of Mini cars whizzing around the athletics stadium to shuttle javelins, discus and hammers back to the athletes have triggered branding questions at what are strictly ad-free Olympic venues at the London Games.
The International Olympic Committee ensures adverts or logos of products are not visible in the fields of play in line with its Olympic Charter despite sponsors paying hundreds of millions of dollars to be associated with the Games.
The Minis, made by German car manufacturer BMW who is also Games sponsors, may not carry visible logos but are instantly recognizable for what they are.
However, they are not the iconic British-owned Minis produced from 1959-2000 but the new type produced by BMW.
"There is no commercial reason (behind choosing Minis)," said Timo Lumme, the IOC's director of TV and marketing services on Tuesday when asked by reporters if branding rules were being broken.
He said the choice as transporters for the athletes' equipment was not dictated by a commercial decision.
Since the start of the athletics competitions last week, the Minis have instantly become a point of discussion with their use inside the stadium raising the questions of whether the IOC was indirectly relaxing its own strict ad rules.
He said the International Association of Athletics Federations, responsible for the track and field competitions at the Olympics, had cleared the use of the small vehicles.
"IAAF validates several different transporters. Yes, it happens to be the official partner of the London Games but there is no commercial delivery," he told a news conference.
"There is no link between the sponsorship and the coverage of the physical fact that these are mini Minis on the field of play," Lumme said.
The IOC's rule on advertising states that no form of advertising or other publicity shall be allowed in and above the stadia, venues and other competition areas which are considered as part of the Olympic sites.
Commercial installations and advertising signs are not be allowed in the stadia, venues or other sports grounds.
There are three of these vehicles in total. Each puts in four-hour shifts across nine days of athletics competition, covering six kilometers per day.
The Mini also featured in the Games opening ceremony but again it was the new version and not the one symbolizing iconic British post-war design.
"The bottom line is that the producer showed an individual quirkiness, a fantastically entertaining take on British history," said Lumme of the car's presence in the opening ceremony.
"The Mini is an incredibly known globally, British icon. Again Rule 50 compliant. No logos," he said.
The London Games have received some 700 million pounds ($1.09 billion) from sponsors wishing to be associated with the 2012 Olympics.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
Members of Free Syrian Army, who defected from the regular army, are seen in Kafranbel, near Idlib Syria July 28, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Shaam News Network/HandoutBy Peter Apps, Political Risk CorrespondentLONDON | Tue Aug 7, 2012 2:11pm EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - On Sunday, it was a hijacked Reuters Twitter feed trying to create the impression of a rebel collapse in Aleppo. On Monday, it was another account purporting to be a Russian diplomat announcing the death in Damascus of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
As the situation on the ground becomes ever more bloody, both sides in Syria are also waging what seems to be an intensifying conflict in cyberspace, often attempting to use misinformation and rumor to tilt the war in reality.
On Friday, Reuters was forced to temporarily shut down its system for posting blogs on www.Reuters.com after the appearance of a series of unauthorized, and inaccurate, reports citing opposition military reverses in Syria.
On Sunday, the company took similar action to suspend the @ReutersTech Twitter account after it appeared to have been seized, renamed and used to send a series of false tweets apparently designed to undermine the rebel Free Syrian Army. Both incidents remain under investigation.
The attacks were not the first time a major media or other organization had been targeted apparently by supporters of Assad. Some - including the defacement of a Harvard University website last year to post a picture of Assad in military uniform -- have been claimed by the "Syrian Electronic Army".
But Assad's government too have had their own embarrassments in cyberspace. Hacker group Anonymous claimed credit for stealing thousands of internal Syrian government e-mails including personal communications between Assad and his wife. The entire tranche was later published online by Wikileaks.
"It's not surprising that Syria has attempted to develop a cyber warfare capability. It's in line with their chemical and biological warfare programs and their aspirations as a regional power," said John Bassett, former senior official at British signals intelligence agency GCHQ and now a senior fellow at London's Royal United Services Institute.
"But the regime's technical capabilities look pretty basic, and the opposition hacking of the personal emails of Assad and his wife earlier this year show the regime's cyber defenses have serious weaknesses."
The opposition too, many suspect, have been doing what they can do to spread rumors about their opponents. On Monday afternoon, a Twitter account purporting to be that of a senior Russian official said Assad had been killed in Damascus, prompting a flurry of speculation and telephone calls by agencies such as Reuters before the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the news was fake.
"Cyber attacks are the new reality of modern warfare," said Hayat Alvi, lecturer in Middle Eastern studies at the US Naval War College. "We can expect more... from all directions. In war, the greatest casualty is the truth. Each side will try to manipulate information to make their own side look like it is gaining while the other is losing."
With Assad's opponents desperate to attract defectors - such as Prime Minister Riyad Hijab who fled on Monday - and the government keen to avoid further foreign support for rebels already backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the stakes are undoubtedly high. The Alawite-dominated government needs to demonstrate it can survive, while the rebels must present themselves as a coherent government in waiting and keep down talk of potential Al Qaeda infiltration.
In recent months, the "Syrian Electronic Army" (SEA) in particular looks to have adopted a strategy to target media outlets to spread disinformation helpful to the Damascus government or harmful to its foes.
In April, Saudi-based broadcaster Al Arabiya briefly lost control of one of its twitter accounts, which was then used to spread a string of stories suggesting a political crisis in Qatar. Tweets included claims that the Qatari prime minister had been sacked, his daughter arrested in London and that a coup orchestrated by the army chief was underway.
In July, Al Jazeera suffered a similar attack, with one of its Twitter feeds used to send a series of pro-Assad messages including accusing the Qatar-based channel of fabricating evidence of civilian casualties in Syria.
Such exchanges, experts say, are increasingly becoming part of any conflict. During the 2008 Georgia war, Russian and Georgian hackers - either state-backed or operating independently - each mounted a range of attacks on each other's official websites.
STRICTLY LIMITED EFFECT
In reality, however, there seems little sign such incidents made a significant difference either on the ground in Syria or to the wider geopolitical picture.
The assorted Reuters blog postings on Friday published through a now closed vulnerability in the WordPress software used to manage the site, bore a superficially convincing resemblance to other genuine entries.
But the written style - as well as some of the grammar and style - were notably different to real Reuters reports, which continued to be posted without difficulty and disseminated to Reuters media, financial and other clients.
While some of the false blog posts were at least briefly shared via social media by readers who believed they were honest reports from Aleppo, it is far from clear whether anyone in the embattled city itself ever saw them.
A Reuters reporter on the ground quickly confirmed the reported rebel collapse in several key named suburbs appeared to be false, and postings themselves were quickly removed - although occasional screenshots remain on the Internet.
Nor does it appear that anyone was particularly convinced by the Sunday flurry of tweets from the captured @ReutersTech Twitter account, hastily renamed @ReutersME in an apparent attempt to present itself as a Middle East-based feed.
Again, there was a series of messages detailing a supposed rebel defeat in Aleppo, where heavy fighting continued on Monday with opposition forces still in control of much of the city. The account said rebel forces were out of ammunition and in "a sad situation" while the Syrian army boasted the fight was like "shooting fish in a barrel".
It then went on to claim that the White House had confirmed it was arming Al Qaeda militants within Syria as part of its support for the fight against Assad. In the final handful of tweets before access was cut, the user said Washington had always funded Al Qaeda even in the decade since the September 11, 2001 attacks and then accused Reuters itself of being in the "iron grip" of the Rothschild banking dynasty.
"The problem with these attacks is that they are always quickly noticed and even if they are successful in grabbing headlines and fooling people for a short period of time, they have very limited effect," said Tal Be'ery, web security research team leader at IT security firm Imperva.
"They are not that technically sophisticated, and my assessment is that they would most likely be from amateurs rather than the regime itself. That tells us that Assad still has some support amongst people able to do this both inside and outside the country, but that is about it."
TRACKING OPPOSITION REAL PRIORITY
Monday's Twitter-fuelled rumors of Assad's demise, knocked down within minutes, could conceivably have shaken some of his supporters but are unlikely to have lasted long.
The true priority for the real computer experts of both the government and opposition, most believe, will be the cat and mouse game between government surveillance systems and the opposition networks they are trying to track.
For Assad's opponents, evading government detection has long been a matter of life and death. Autocratic governments around the world, specialists say, have put considerable effort into tightening their Internet surveillance on potential dissidents since last year's "Arab spring" ousted rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
"The primary target of SEA is certainly their own citizens," said Alexander Klimburg, cyber security expert and fellow at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.
"It is hard to estimate how successful they are tracking the protesters, but it seems they are much better at it than the former Tunisian or Egyptian secret police, and seem just as good as the Iranian security forces in this regard."
Some believe Assad may be getting technical support from his long-term allies in Tehran, who successfully crushed their own post-election protests that were in part organized over the Internet. China and Russia too are has amongst the world leaders in managing online political activism and dissent, with the latter at least also seen likely helping out in Syria.
"We know that they have been having a lot of success with fake online Facebook profiles, ssl certificates and other methods to break into the opposition," said Imperva's Be'ery. "We know that Russia was very involved in setting up the Syrian signals intelligence system and it is possible they still have access to Russian expertise and even experts."
The opposition too may also have foreign support. Some suspect the hand of a western signals intelligence agency in the Assad e-mail leak, while the U.S. State Department says it has given them technical advice and equipment to help stay one step ahead of government monitoring.
But Syria's Assad, experts say, has long taken an interest in the Internet and its potential uses. Before taking the presidency, he was president of the "Syrian Computer Society", a group now widely believed to have been something of a precursor to the "Syrian Electronic Army".
"It is probably not officially integrated into the security services," Klimburg said. "As such, it performs similar tasks to the "Shabbiha" militias - intimidation of local anti-government forces and direct operations that the Assad regime thinks are best not associated with it."
(Reporting By Jon Hemming)
(This story has been refiled to fix garble)
Video game players have heard plenty about the single-player campaign for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, but what most fans of the first-person shooter really care about is the popular multiplayer mode.
Activision and studio Treyarch have released a video with the first glimpse at multiplayer, which features a host of fresh pieces of gear.
Among some of the new items we spotted:
-- The "Guardian Suppress," a turret that seems to emit heat to slow enemies down.
-- The Dragonfly, a four-propeller flying device players can use to hover around the battlefield and pick apart enemies.
-- Riot shields players can plant in the ground and shoot through using an opening near the top of the item.
-- An A.G.R. mech that marches through maps and mows down opponents with powerful guns mounted on its sides.
Black Ops II arrives Nov. 13 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
A photo of the Google Inc. logo is shown on a computer screen in San Francisco, California July 16, 2009.
Credit: Reuters/Robert GalbraithBy Alexei OreskovicSAN FRANCISCO | Wed Aug 8, 2012 12:38am EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc and Oracle Corp's copyright and patent battle took a strange twist on Tuesday, after a judge ordered the companies to disclose the names of journalists, bloggers and other commentators on their payrolls.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup said he was concerned that Google and Oracle and/or their counsel may have retained or paid people who may have published comment on the case.
The order, several months after a jury found that Google did not infringe on Oracle's patents, hints at the possibility of a hidden world of for-pay press coverage and injects uncertainty into the widely-followed case.
Alsup issued a one page order but did not go into full details of the court's concerns.
"The court is concerned that the parties and/or counsel herein may have retained or paid print or internet authors, journalists, commentators or bloggers who have and/or may publish comments on the issues in the case," Alsup wrote in Tuesday's order.
He said the information "would be of use on appeal" and could "make clear whether any treatise, article, commentary or analysis on the issues posed by this case are possibly influenced by financial relationships to the parties or counsel."
The companies must submit the information by noon August 17.
Oracle sued Google in federal court, claiming the search engine giant's Android mobile platform violated its patents and copyright to Java, seeking roughly $1 billion on its copyright claims.
But the jury ruled in Google's favor and the judge decided Oracle could not claim copyright protection on most of the Java material that Oracle took to trial.
Oracle has said it will appeal.
The trial, which featured testimony from high-profile technology executives including Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison and Google CEO Larry Page, attracted heavy media coverage from the mainstream press and technology-focused blogs.
One of the more well-known bloggers on intellectual property matters and on the Oracle vs Google case, Florian Mueller, revealed three days into the trial that Oracle had recently become a consulting client of his. People who followed the case said they weren't aware of any other similar examples.
An Oracle spokeswoman said in a statement that the company has "always disclosed all of its financial relationships in this matter, and it is time for Google do to the same. We read this order to also include indirect payments to entities who, in turn, made comments on behalf of Google."
Google said the company would comply with the order.
What impact the order could have on the case remains unclear, legal experts said.
"I haven't seen anything quite like this before. I think the judge is in uncharted territory with this order," said Eric Goldman, a professor of Internet law at Santa Clara University School of Law.
Goldman said two potential reasons for the order would be if there were evidence that the jury had been swayed by extensive press coverage of the case or if the jury had relied on evidence not properly labeled as unbiased, such as a for-pay news article offered as an exhibit in the trial.
Goldman, who blogged about the case, said that he might likely appear on the list, since his website features ads distributed by Google's online advertising network.
"The court has really wide discretion in granting a remedy to fix any kind of wrongdoing," said Julie Samuels, an intellectual property attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Samuels said the judge could order a retrial, but stressed that would be a highly extreme and unlikely scenario.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc, 10-3561.
(Editing by Michael Perry)
Tue Aug 7, 2012 5:46pm EDT
n">(Reuters) - EBay Inc, once a scrappy auction site for mom and pop sellers, is enticing some of the world's largest retailers by arguing it can help them compete better against e-commerce leader Amazon.com Inc.
EBay Chief Executive John Donahoe and other executives have been telling retailers that Amazon is their enemy, while eBay is a friend because, unlike Amazon, it holds no inventory.
Amazon buys products wholesale, stores them in inventory and sells them to consumers at higher prices - like all retailers. EBay says it just matches buyers and sellers.
That message is sinking in, especially among brick and mortar retailers that are losing market share to Amazon.
"As retailers look for new vehicles for growth eBay becomes a natural partner - a better partner than Amazon," said Sucharita Mulpuru, an e-commerce analyst at Forrester Research.
When RadioShack Corp reported a surprise quarterly loss last month, Chief Executive Jim Gooch told analysts that the electronics retailer had set up an eBay storefront to help the company reach new customers online.
Barnes & Noble, Toys "R" Us, GNC Holdings, Aeropostale and Neiman Marcus are among other big retailers that now have storefronts on eBay. Best Buy Co Inc sells mobile phones and wireless plans on eBay.
On Monday, eBay said it was testing a same-day delivery service called eBay Now with Target Corp, the second-largest U.S. retailer, and other big retailers including Macy's Inc, Nordstrom Inc and Walgreen Co. Amazon offers same-day delivery in some areas already.
The foundations of eBay Now rest on Milo, a start-up eBay acquired in late 2010 which lets merchants upload in-store inventory onto eBay's online marketplace. When shoppers search on eBay now, they see what online sellers are offering, but also which nearby physical stores carry the product.
More than 50,000 stores in the United States have uploaded inventory to eBay, via Milo, including major retailers Home Depot Inc, Ikea, Lowe's Companies Inc, Sears Holdings Corp and J.C. Penney Company Inc.
"It's simple: location, location, location," said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie. "Sellers have to go to where the buyers are."
EBay has more than 100 million active shoppers on its online marketplace, he noted.
"Retailers don't have those kinds of numbers coming to their sites and buying," Schachter said. "They would love to only sell through their own site, but they have to go where the buyers are, and many are on eBay."
'WORST-KEPT SECRET'
Amazon has a lot more active customers - about 180 million - but some retailers steer clear still.
Barnes & Noble, which has been hammered by Amazon, has had an eBay storefront since late 2010 and mostly uses it to sell refurbished Nook gadgets. Toys and books were added in May 2011.
"EBay has been an exceptional partner, working with Barnes & Noble to effectively promote Nook to its massive user base," said Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating. "Amazon is a competitor. We don't sell on Amazon and have no plans to do so."
Toys "R" Us does not sell on Amazon either. More than a decade ago, the largest toy retailer had exclusive rights to supply some toys on Amazon's website. That partnership ended in litigation and Amazon is now a leading toy retailer in its own right.
"It's the worst-kept secret in the retail industry," said Mulpuru. "When you partner with Amazon, they are looking at your data, learning your business and have ambition to get into every category."
Among the 100 largest retailers in the United States, most are choosing eBay over Amazon, according to Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell on both online marketplaces.
An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.
Amazon's marketplace for third-party sellers is growing rapidly and Wingo said that would not be happening if all retailers thought Amazon was the enemy.
The lure of Amazon's massive customer base is still powerful for many.
"We take any chance of getting new eyeballs and Amazon is just so large in the world of e-commerce," said Jerry Deboer, senior vice president of marketing at Jos. A. Bank, which has Amazon and eBay stores.
RadioShack also has both, and big retailers including Office Max and Sephora run Amazon stores.
Adding large sellers to eBay's marketplace helps the company in several ways.
EBay takes a cut of sales, so higher-volume sellers may help the company generate more revenue and profit.
EBay and retailers declined to discuss fees. However, eBay charges less for top sellers and negotiates individual deals with the biggest and best, according to Wingo.
EBay has struggled in the past because some of the products on its site were listed poorly or of questionable quality, and customer service from small sellers is not always what it could be. Big retailers are more likely to sell higher-quality products, categorize them more and provide better service.
DIFFERENT SHOPPERS
Retailers say eBay storefronts attract different shoppers than the ones who come to their own websites and physical stores.
EBay shoppers often search for deals, so some retailers use eBay to sell end-of-season or outlet products at lower prices.
Neiman Marcus' eBay storefront sells apparel, shoes and accessories under the Last Call brand, its outlet business.
EBay provides data to retailers to help them check if the shoppers who come to their eBay storefronts overlap with their existing customer base, according to Michael Jones, vice president of merchant development at eBay.
"By and large, people see this as a very significant incremental channel for them," Jones said.
In early 2010, eBay started including storefront inventory in results when shoppers searched on the website's front page. That has helped retailers place their products in front of more consumers, according to Jones.
(Reporting by Alistair Barr and Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Jonathan Weber, Edwin Chan and Matthew Lewis)
The hit mobile game Temple Run has reached another huge milestone: 100 million downloads.
In a statement released Thursday, Imangi Studios revealed the game has hosted over 10 billion sessions since it arrived in Apple's App Store a year ago today.
"We never imagined that the game we were making and loved would be so well received around the world," said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios, in a statement.
More than 68 million downloads have been logged on Apple devices, with another 32 million on Android smartphones and tablets.
Temple Run's rise to popularity has been extraordinary. Only four months ago, Imangi revealed the game had topped 50 million downloads.
Last month, the studio launched a Disney-themed version of the game called Temple Run: Brave, linked to the Disney Pixar film.
In this photo illustration, a Facebook logo on a computer screen is seen through a magnifying glass held by a woman in Bern May 19, 2012. Picture taken May 19, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Thomas HodelBy Alexei OreskovicSAN FRANCISCO | Tue Aug 7, 2012 2:40pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will allow users in Britain to wager real money on its service, opening its doors to gambling for the first time as revenue growth slows at the world's No. 1 social network.
On Tuesday, Gamesys, an independent gaming company, launched a version of online Bingo for Facebook users in Britain who are at least 18, and which the company said will pay winners real money. Gamesys also announced plans to offer virtual slots gambling on Facebook.
Facebook confirmed that it is partnering with Gamesys to allow gambling on its service.
"Real money gaming is a popular and well-regulated activity in the UK and we are allowing a partner to offer their games to adult users on the Facebook platform in a safe and controlled manner," Facebook said in a statement.
Facebook spokeswoman Linda Griffin said there are no current plans to offer gambling in any other countries or with any other partners besides Gamesys.
She declined to disclose what portion of the revenue Facebook would take from the gambling on the Gamesys games, but acknowledged that there was a revenue sharing agreement between Facebook and Gamesys.
Facebook takes a 30 percent share of revenue for transactions on non-gambling games on its service, such as when users purchase virtual tractors and seeds in Zynga Inc's popular Farmville game.
Facebook, which makes the majority of its money from online advertising, has seen its revenue growth slow sharply during the past year. In the second quarter, Facebook reported revenue growth of 32 percent, down sharply from more than 100 percent growth it delivered at the same time last year.
Shares of Facebook were down 3 percent at $21.26 on Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
The adorable burlap star of the PlayStation 3 series LittleBigPlanet will kick off his first driving adventure this November.
Sony says the upcoming racing title LittleBigPlanet Karting will launch on the console Nov. 6.
The game will feature all the elements of previous LittleBigPlanet titles, most notably the ability to create and share levels. However, as the name suggests, it will have a stronger racing focus.
Sony announced the game in March, adding ModNation Racers studio United Front Games -- with insight from LittleBigPlanet creators Media Molecule -- will lead development.
"We're huge fans of the franchise," says Scott Nielsen, executive producer at United Front. "Once we got an understanding of how (Media Molecule) went about creating the world and why they made decisions, the creative juices started flowing (as) to how we could break down that quirky nature and charming element of Sackboy ... and tie it into the karting genre."
A man's hand is seen on an Acer logo as he pastes a poster below at a computer mart in Taipei April 23, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Nicky LohLONDON | Mon Aug 6, 2012 7:46pm EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - Taiwanese computer maker Acer has urged Microsoft Corp to reconsider its planned venture into the tablet market, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Acer Chairman and Chief Executive J.T. Wang, said Microsoft's plans to launch its own "Surface" tablet in October would be "negative for the worldwide ecosystem" in computing.
Microsoft's "Surface" tablet would enter the market in direct competition with Acer's "Iconia" or Hewlett-Packard Co's "TouchPad" tablets.
"We have said think it over. Think twice. It will create a huge negative impact for the ecosystem and other brands may take a negative reaction. It is not something you are good at so please think twice," Wang is quoted as saying.
For the past two decades, Microsoft and personal computer makers have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship.
Campbell Kan, Acer's president for personal computer global operations, said the company was debating internally how to respond to the Surface.
"If Microsoft is going to do hardware business, what should we do? Should we still rely on Microsoft, or should we find other alternatives?," he is quoted as saying.
(Reporting by Stephen Mangan; Editing by Richard Chang)
Kodak World Headquarters is pictured in Rochester, New York January 19, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Adam Fenster
A customer looks at the screen of an iPad in an Apple store in central Prague, October 6, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Petr JosekBy Edwin ChanSAN JOSE, California | Tue Aug 7, 2012 6:30pm EDT
SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - The focus of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics courtroom battle shifted to the iPhone's iconic display on Tuesday, as the U.S. company called on a former employee and award-winning graphic designer to back up claims that Samsung gadgets look "confusingly similar."
Susan Kare, who from 1982 to 1986 had a hand in designing icons for the original Macintosh computers, scrutinized 11 of the Korean firm's phones - including the Galaxy S and Epic 4G - and found icons and layouts on screens to be very similar.
Apple is contending that buyers may confuse Samsung devices with the iPhone, and accuses the Asian firm of copying designs and features. Samsung, in turn, has accused Apple of violating Samsung wireless technology patents.
Kare - who is also credited for Microsoft Corp icons such as the "Notepad" and for its deck of "Solitaire" game cards - testified that even she was fooled by a Samsung gadget at a pre-trial meeting.
"There was a big conference table with many phones on it, and some of them were on," said Kare, who followed the late Steve Jobs to his NeXt computer startup in 1986 before starting her own firm. "I could see the screen. I went to pick up the iPhone to make a point about the user interface, and I was holding a Samsung.
"I think of myself as someone who's pretty granular about looking at graphics, and I mistook one for the other."
When it was Samsung's turn to cross-examine Kare, lead attorney Charles Verhoeven switched on a Samsung phone and asked Kare to tell the jury what she saw: a bright white Samsung logo.
In response to Kare's testimony that the icons looked largely similar, Verhoeven shot back: "Have you ever seen triangular icons?"
In an echo of Monday's testimony - when both sides laboriously noted similarities and differences between devices - Verhoeven painstakingly called attention to visual differences between common icons on the iPhone and Samsung's gadgets. They included the short-messaging and calendar buttons.
Apple and Samsung are going toe-to-toe in a high-wattage patent dispute, mirroring a fierce battle for industry supremacy between two rivals that control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales.
The trial playing out in downtown San Jose is one of many disputes between the two around the world that analysts see as partly aimed at curbing the spread of Google Inc's Android, the world's most used mobile software.
Tuesday's testimony focused on the iPhone's familiar front face, with its outsized square icons, switching tack from Monday's meticulous review of uniform displays and bezels.
Kare pointed to numerous similarities on Samsung phones, including rounded corners, a range of icon styles from retro-plain to stylized, and an evenly spaced grid.
"It is my opinion that the overall collection of graphic features that makes the overall visual impression could be confusing to a consumer," Kare told the packed courtroom.
Research in Motion Ltd's Blackberry Torch was held up as an example of how smartphone displays might be differentiated.
"You can do a design without having it be confusingly similar," she said.
APPLE TAPS EXPERT TO TALK BRAND VALUE
The trial has granted Silicon Valley an unprecedented peek behind the curtain of Apple's famously secretive design and marketing machine, and unearthed internal Samsung documents in which the Korean company saw the iPhone as a competitive threat and sought to match it.
Apple's lawyers on Tuesday brought on marketing expert and New York University lecturer Russell Winer to discuss the value of Apple's brand as embodied in the iPhone and iPad, which reinvigorated a then-moribund tablet computer market in 2010.
Samsung "viewed the iPad as a target, one to be emulated, and one to be studied carefully for future refinement," he said. Winer then read from an internal Samsung document - one of many Apple's camp has produced in past days.
"People don't think (the industrial design) of Samsung touchphones are ground breaking," according to the document. "Nothing stands out as something consumers have never seen," Winer recited. He stopped short of saying Samsung might have actually intended to copy Apple products.
Samsung strategy chief Justin Denison has said executives sometimes resort to hyperbole internally to motivate and energize their troops, and that any comments upholding the Apple model might be construed as such.
Apple has ceded pole position in smartphones but remains the leader in tablets, holding fast to its lead as rival products from Motorola, Research in Motion, Hewlett Packard and others have fizzled out. But Samsung is gaining ground.
Speculation has mounted that Apple plans to make a mini-iPad to take on cheaper gadgets from its Korean rival, as well as from Google and Amazon.
On Friday, lawyers showed Apple Vice President Eddy Cue, in a January 2011 email, urging then-Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook to build a mini-iPad because he believed there was a market for a seven-inch tablet. Late co-founder Steve Jobs was receptive to the idea, according to Cue's email.
(Reporting By Edwin Chan; editing by John Wallace and Bernard Orr)
Maybe it's not one of those blockbuster weeks video game players are used to witnessing, but at least it's something.
Choices are few, but there are some intriguing options on the digital space.
Here's a look at what's new in video games this week.
Retail games launching Aug. 7
Persona 4 Arena
Publisher: Atlus
Platform(s): PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Details: Fighting game based on the series of role-playing titles features key characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4.
Digital downloads
Hybrid
Publisher: 5th Cell
Platform(s): Xbox 360
Release Date: Aug. 8
Details: The next endeavor from the makers of clever puzzle series Scribblenauts is an online multiplayer shooter, in which two factions wrestle over dark matter.
Sound Shapes
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s): PS3, PlayStation Vita
Release Date: Aug. 7
Details: Featuring tunes from artists such as Beck, this side-scrolling platformer turns player actions into music. Plus, players will be able to create and share their own levels.
Attendees sit in front of an Apple logo during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2012 in San Francisco, California June 11, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Stephen LamBy Alexei OreskovicSAN FRANCISCO | Tue Aug 7, 2012 12:59pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's new version of its iPhone and iPad software will not include a pre-loaded app for Google Inc's popular video website, YouTube, Apple said on Monday.
It was the latest sign of the growing rivalry between the technology companies the once were closely aligned but now are vying for supremacy in the fast-growing mobile computing market.
Earlier this year, Apple said it would dump Google's mapping software from its mobile devices.
"Apple and Google are the mobile operating systems for the future and this is where the battleground is going to lie," said Needham & Co analyst Kerry Rice.
"If it's going to be a two-horse race, you certainly don't want to give the other horse any kind of lead," he said.
Google, the world's No.1 Web search engine, is also the maker of the most popular smartphone software with its Android operating system. In May, Google closed the $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, setting the stage for Google to more tightly integrate its smartphone software and hardware and mount a more direct challenge to Apple's iPhone.
Apple said in a statement on Monday that its license to include the YouTube app in the iOS operating system "has ended." Apple noted that "customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the app store."
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the company's YouTube license included any financial terms, or on whether Apple planned to replace YouTube with another pre-installed online video app from a different company.
YouTube has been among a handful of apps that come pre-loaded onto the screens of Apple's mobile devices since the original iPhone was introduced in 2007.
But the app, which was actually built by Apple using YouTube's standards, did not appear to be as full-featured as YouTube's own website: the YouTube app does not appear to feature any advertising, and the catalog of available music videos lacks many of the titles found on the website.
Analysts said Google was unlikely to take much of a financial hit from the move, though it could complicate Google's efforts to expand online services to the growing ranks of mobile users.
"It's a risk to Google's overall mobile approach and strategy, in that their services are not going to be as easy to find as they used to be," said ThinkEquity analyst Ronald Josey. "They need to be everywhere that users are."
More worrisome, said Josey, is what the move could mean for Google's deal with Apple to be the default search engine on the iPhone.
"The writing's on the wall that when search is up for renewal, there's a significant chance that Google may not be the default," said Josey.
Analysts believe Google generates a significant portion of mobile advertising revenue from iPhone users.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt once sat on Apple's board of directors, but the relationship between the two companies has frayed. Apple's co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, was quoted as saying he was willing to go "thermonuclear" on the search leader, after it decided to position Android against the iPhone.
News of YouTube's disappearance from Apple's mobile software came as Apple released a new test version on Monday of the iOS 6 software, which for the first time did not include the YouTube app. The final version of iOS 6 is due for release sometime in the Fall.
YouTube is one of the most popular destinations on the Internet, with more than 800 million unique monthly visitors who stream 4 billion videos a day.
Google said in a statement that it was working with Apple to ensure that it has "the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users."
Shares of Google finished Monday's regular session up 1 percent at $622.19. Apple shares were up 1.1 percent at $622.55.
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic with additional reporting by Gerry Shih; editing by Kenneth Barry and David Gregorio)
It appears video game players will have a fourth character to blast zombies with in the upcoming action title Resident Evil 6.
A video released by publisher Capcom features Ada Wong, who has made appearances in Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4 and Operation Raccoon City.
Wong's adventure is available once players complete the campaigns starring Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy and Jake Muller. Among the new gadgets players will use include a crossbow and grappling hook for traversing platforms.
For more details on how Resident Evil 6's campaign breaks down, check out our preview. The game launches this October.
BioWare will launch an expansion later this summer of the single-player campaign featured in its outer space epic Mass Effect 3.
The download, Leviathan, will be available for $10 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
According to a post on BioWare's blog, Commander Shepard and his squad search for the Leviathan, a mysterious being rumored to have the power to destroy the Reapers, an alien machine race invading Earth.
The expansion will open up new areas of the Citadel, and unlock some additional weapons.
BioWare will also release a weapons pack for the single-player campaign featuring seven new weapons for player arsenals. It will cost $2.
Sony has introduced a pair of collections launching later this month based on the PlayStation franchises God of War and inFamous.
Both packages will launch for $29.99 on Aug. 28, the same day as a previously announced compilation based on the action series Ratchet & Clank.
The God of War Saga will feature all three console titles, two more titles originally launched on PlayStation Portable, extra bonus content and a one-month voucher for PlayStation Plus.
The inFamous Collection features the first two PS3 titles, the downloadable expansion Festival of Blood and bonus content
Electronic Arts is suing Zynga citing copyright infringement, claiming the social gaming giant copied one of their games.
According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in California, EA alleges Zynga's new Facebook game The Ville is an "unmistakable copy" of The Sims Social.
"The similarities go well beyond any superficial resemblance," says Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of EA's Maxis label, the creators of The Sims Social. "Zynga's design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social. The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observer, largely indistinguishable."
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Zynga general counsel Reggie Davis says the company plans to "defend our rights to the fullest extent possible."
"It's unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles," says Davis. "It's also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga's CityVille game.
Unveiled in June, The Ville allows players to create avatars and "build the home of their dreams," designing the interior and creating avatars that socialize with friends.
The Sims Social, launched last August on Facebook, lets players create their own Sim and start virtual lives on the social network.
The lawsuit underscores broader accusations that Zynga rips off other games. For example, in January, Tiny Tower creators NimbleBit called out Zynga for its title Dream Heights, Joystiq reported.
"Good luck with your game, we are looking forward to inspiring you with our future games," said NimbleBit.
EA's Bradshaw says the publisher is "taking a stand" against Zynga and the allegations of copying.
"By calling Zynga out on this illegal practice, we hope to have a secondary effect of protecting the rights of other creative studios who don't have the resources to protect themselves."
NEW YORK | Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:16pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most people have been there, trapped on an awkward date that is going nowhere. But relief could be on the way with a new app that provides an incoming rescue call.
The Bad Date Rescue app, which was launched by the dating website eHarmony.com this week, lets users arrange for a call to appear on their iPhone to graciously allow them to bow out if a date isn't going well.
"There are all sorts of reasons for why people would want to get out of a date," said Arvind Mishra, director of product management at eHarmony. "We can all sympathize because we have all been on bad dates in our lifetime."
The free app includes several ways to set up a rescue. Users can pick a number from their address book for the call, for example from their mother or a friend. It the person's picture is stored on the app it will appear on the screen when the call comes through.
Scripts are available giving the reason for the call, such as a neighbor calling about a leaky pipe; a mother informing that a sister just had a baby; or a boss saying he needs help immediately.
"It graciously allows you to play along and to get out of that situation," Mishra explained.
The free app can be pre-set before the date to call at a specific time and there is a quick rescue that can be triggered on the spot to ring in a few seconds or minutes.
"There are all sorts of reasons for why people want to get out of a date. We are helping them do it in a way that is fun and light and not abrupt," he added.
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Christine Kearney and Leslie Gevirtz)
1 of 14. Research In Motion Limited (RIM) President and CEO Thorsten Heins speaks during the annual general meeting of shareholders in Waterloo July 10, 2012. Research In Motion Ltd's slate of directors was re-elected at the BlackBerry maker's annual general meeting on Tuesday, Chairwoman Barbara Stymiest said.
Credit: Reuters/Mike CasseseBy Alastair SharpWATERLOO, Ontario | Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:10pm EDT
WATERLOO, Ontario (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd's new CEO vowed on Tuesday to turn around the embattled company with the new generation of BlackBerry devices coming next year, saying he would transform RIM into a "lean, mean, hunting machine."
But Thorsten Heins, presiding over his first annual meeting since taking the helm, offered little to disgruntled shareholders beyond his faith in the power of the BlackBerry 10 line to reverse RIM's fortunes. Its battered stock fell another 5 percent after he spoke.
"There was no mention of a sale of the company, no mention of a breakup of the company, and again, our big, big concern is if the BB10s are a dud," said Vic Alboini, chief executive of Jaguar Financial and a long-time RIM critic. "Where are we then?"
After a year that wiped out nearly 80 percent of RIM's value, Heins acknowledged the frustration of shareholders with his decision to delay the launch of the new phones until after the crucial holiday shopping season.
"I am not satisfied with the performance of the company over the past year," Heins told the mostly subdued audience. "Many of you are frustrated with the time it has taken us to make our way through the transition."
But Heins, who joined RIM from electronics giant Siemens AG four year ago and took over as CEO in January, expressed confidence that RIM was heading in the right direction.
"I have assembled a leadership team for RIM that's truly capable of taking us into future," he told shareholders.
RIM virtually invented mobile email with its first BlackBerry devices more than a decade ago, but its market share has evaporated as consumers flock to Apple Inc's iPhone and devices based on Google Inc's Android system.
RIM last month posted its first operating loss in eight years, and it was much deeper than expected. The company also said it was cutting 5,000 jobs, almost a third of its workforce, as it struggles win back its reputation as an industry innovator.
At the same time the company pushed back the launch of the BlackBerry 10 devices to next year from the final quarter of this year. Heins said the delay reflected RIM's determination to make sure that the devices were ready for the big time.
"We're working day and night to bring it out and prove the point that it is what we say it is," he told reporters after the meeting.
RIM plans to prune down its extensive array of BlackBerry models to focus on high-end and mid-range devices that will come with either touchscreen or physical keyboards, Heins said.
But things will probably get worse before they get better. Heins conceded that RIM would likely suffer lower average selling prices and declining service revenue this year as it pushes to sell existing BlackBerry devices.
TAME AUDIENCE
Despite the deep problems, investors who attended the meeting in a university lecture hall in RIM's hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, avoided many of the tougher questions that analysts have thrown at the BlackBerry maker.
One shareholder blasted earlier versions of the board which he said had failed to keep management accountable, while another poked around the details of the CEO's compensation package.
Throughout the session Heins was adamant that RIM's best path forward was the BlackBerry 10, even if the strategic review now underway concludes that a sale of the company makes the most sense. RIM has said it is examining all options, including partnerships, joint ventures or a break-up of the company.
RIM might be able to provide more about on the outcome of the strategic review in a few months, Heins told a handful of reporters after the meeting.
"There is a lot of action going on, looking at very different options for what the company could do," he said. "When it's time to go public with it, we'll go public with it."
KEEPING FAITH
The stock, which slipped 5 percent to $7.29 on Nasdaq, once traded as high as $148.13, and several small investors told Reuters they were confident RIM could regain at least some of its past glory in the next two or three years.
"They're in survival mode, but if they survive their business will go right back to, in my view, the levels above $60," said Ted Cross, a retired 76-year-old who bought his shares in the high $20 range. "I'm confident the company will survive and thrive."
One of the few dissenting voices in the hall came from Jaguar Financial's Alboini, who says he speaks for an informal alliance of disgruntled RIM investors. He asked what steps RIM was taking to attract more new board members with technology and financial industry experience.
Chairwoman Barbara Stymiest said the company aimed to add several new members to the board this year and hired an external firm to assess candidates. She pointed out that four of the board's 10 members have joined in the last year.
Despite RIM's recent performance, the company's slate of directors was elected at the meeting with token opposition, although preliminary results showed some shareholders withheld their votes, including 19 percent for former co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.
John Richardson had 30 percent of votes withheld, following the recommendation of proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis. It said Richardson, as lead director, had failed to properly oversee the provision of stock options to RIM employees, which were erroneously back-dated over an eight-year period.
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Writing by Frank McGurty and Euan Rocha; Editing by Peter Galloway and Janet Guttsman)
Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:48am EDT
n">(Reuters) - Hopes are evaporating that leading technology companies will offer a safe harbor this year from the economic storms swirling across Europe, Asia and the United States.
Investors should brace for some of the biggest names in U.S. software and hardware -- from Microsoft Corp and IBM to Intel Corp -- to disappoint when Big Tech begins reporting quarterly earnings next week, analysts said.
The trio's shares are all in the red for July, in the wake of earnings warnings over the past week from smaller peers, including Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Applied Materials Inc and Informatica Corp.
Corporate IT budgets have historically proved more resilient to worsening macroeconomic conditions than other kinds of spending, because businesses invest on the assumption that technology boosts productivity and helps save them costs over the long term.
But investors may have misjudged the depth of the European crisis, and with once-reliable-as-clockwork Chinese growth waning, demand in other emerging markets has not picked up enough of the slack.
The profit warnings could signal a broader pullback in orders, which means that Wall Street's earnings projections now appear over-optimistic to some outside experts.
"I don't think the companies or the market anticipated the kind of slowdown like the one we are going to see in the second half," said Fred Hickey, editor of the High-Tech Strategist Newsletter for investors. "Companies haven't had a chance to adjust estimates yet and they will. That's coming," said Hickey, who has been following the tech industry since the 1980s.
ASIA BEATEN DOWN, TOO
The sense of impending gloom is not confined to the United States.
Samsung Electronics, Asia's top-earning tech company and the world's leading maker of smartphones, TVs and memory chips, has predicted record quarterly profit of $5.9 billion for April-June -- but its stock has slumped more than a fifth since May on concerns about the broader outlook for chip demand and the impact of the euro zone crisis on sales of its TVs and home appliances.
Since mid-June, analysts have cut by more than a quarter their earnings forecasts for LG Electronics, South Korea's other tech heavyweight, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine SmartEstimates, which accords higher weight to the timeliest forecasts from historically more accurate analysts.
Shares of China's Lenovo, the world's No.2 PC maker behind Hewlett Packard, have retreated to 5-month lows with brokers downgrading their outlooks for the company as global economic weakness damps demand for personal computers.
In Japan, a fast fading powerhouse in consumer electronics and technological innovation, shares in Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp are mired near more than three-decade lows as investors fret over their ability to regain profitability in today's hostile macro environment and against tough competition from nimbler rivals in South Korea and Taiwan.
SHINY APPLE
The one bright spot is Apple Inc, which still has many fans on Wall Street. The iPhone and iPad maker is one of the few major tech stocks to have gained in July, up 4 percent.
Apple has beaten analysts' earnings forecasts in seven of the past eight quarters by at least 12 percent. Last quarter, it reported earnings 22.5 percent above Wall Street estimates. Its performance has propped up the entire sector and analysts expect a new iPhone this year to keep that up.
Apple is likely to report earnings of more than 1 percent above the Street's average forecast, according to StarMine SmartEstimates. In contrast, Microsoft, which is preparing to launch the Windows 8 operating system and its first tablet computers, may report earnings 0.7 percent below the average.
"Guidance could turn out to be very conservative given momentum with new Macs, a potential iPad mini and ongoing success with the new iPad," Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said in a research note. Apple said the latest iPad will hit Chinese store shelves on July 20.
Apple aside, market watchers expect the economic malaise will broadly hit technology companies in the second half of the year, even at firms that managed to squeak by in the second quarter and avoid issuing preliminary earnings warnings.
Over the past three months, analysts have largely held on to their second-quarter earnings forecasts for technology and telecommunications companies, while cutting estimates in other sectors. Now many may have to make up for that oversight.
An IDC survey of chief information officers (CIOs) at about 250 U.S. companies conducted two weeks ago found, on average, that they expected their budgets to decrease for the first time since early 2009.
"There is this sense among CIOs that things have slowed down and they are going to have to think about ways of cutting back," said IDC analyst Stephen Minton.
Analysts currently forecast companies in the S&P 500 Index will report profit growth of 5.8 percent in the second quarter, with technology earnings growing at 7.9 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
They are more optimistic about prospects for the second half and that's where some expect cuts to come.
Analysts forecast third-quarter earnings growth of 12.9 percent for the S&P 500's technology index and fourth-quarter growth of 14.9 percent.
SHIFTING SENTIMENT
Companies at risk in the second half include services giant IBM, No. 1 chipmaker Intel, as well as software makers including Microsoft and VMware Inc, analysts said.
It's not a surprise to some that sentiment has shifted so quickly.
Historically when businesses have frozen or cut technology budgets, they have sometimes done so suddenly, taking tech companies and Wall Street by surprise. That process appears to have begun.
"Sentiment is turning into reality," said Cliff Waldman, senior economist with the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. "Negative sentiment is truly starting to affect investment spending."
When it issued its warning last week, Informatica said business conditions "dramatically" worsened in June with customers scrutinizing deals more closely.. Applied Materials warned on Tuesday that it expected weak demand from chipmakers to put a damper on sales through at least the third quarter.
"Demand is weaker than expected in Europe and China, and this makes chipmakers delay or cancel equipment orders," said James Song, analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities in Seoul. "They are slowing investment in capacity expansion or technology migration."
Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, which manages about $54 billion, blames the tech turmoil on Europe, a strengthening U.S. dollar, which reduces the revenue contribution from overseas sales, and concerns about a U.S. tax increase.
"If there is no improvement on domestic data points, or news from Europe that the saga has ended, why should there be a change?" Luschini said.
(Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta, Editing by Edwin Chan, Tiffany Wu and Ian Geoghegan)
Federal Judge Richard Posner poses in his Chambers in Chicago July 2, 2012. The U.S. judge who tossed out one of the biggest court cases in Apple Inc's smartphone technology battle thinks policymakers should examine whether patents should cover software at all. Picture taken July 2, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/John GressBy Dan LevineCHICAGO | Thu Jul 5, 2012 8:42am EDT
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. judge who tossed out one of the biggest court cases in Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) smartphone technology battle is questioning whether patents should cover software or most other industries at all.
Richard Posner, a prolific jurist who sits on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, told Reuters this week that the technology industry's high profits and volatility made patent litigation attractive for companies looking to wound competitors.
"It's a constant struggle for survival," he said in his courthouse chambers, which have a sparkling view of Monroe Harbor on Lake Michigan. "As in any jungle, the animals will use all the means at their disposal, all their teeth and claws that are permitted by the ecosystem."
Posner, 73, was appointed as a federal appeals court judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and has written dozens of books, including one about economics and intellectual property law.
Posner, who teaches at the University of Chicago, effectively ended Apple's lawsuit against Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Motorola Mobility unit last month. He canceled a closely anticipated trial between the two and rejected the iPhone maker's request for an injunction barring the sale of Motorola products using Apple's patented technology.
Apple is in a pitched battle with its competitors over patents, as technology companies joust globally for consumers in the fast-growing markets for smartphones and tablet computers.
Posner said some industries, like pharmaceuticals, had a better claim to intellectual property protection because of the enormous investment it takes to create a successful drug.
Advances in software and other industries cost much less, he said, and the companies benefit tremendously from being first in the market with gadgets - a benefit they would still get if there were no software patents.
"It's not clear that we really need patents in most industries," he said.
Also, devices like smartphones have thousands of component features, and they all receive legal protection.
"You just have this proliferation of patents," Posner said. "It's a problem."
GENERATION SMARTPHONE
The Apple/Motorola case did not land in front of Posner by accident. He volunteered to oversee it.
Federal appellate judges occasionally offer to preside over district court cases. Posner had alerted the district judges of his interest in patents, so after part of the smartphone battle landed in Wisconsin federal court, the judge there transferred the case to him.
When Posner began working on the smartphone case, he told the litigants he was "really neutral" because he used a court-issued BlackBerry made by Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO). He soon accepted an upgrade to an iPhone, but only uses it to check email and call his wife, he said.
"I'm not actually that interested in becoming part of the smartphone generation," he said.
Posner's corner office is filled with the requisite library of law tomes, and a row of books he wrote sits alongside his family photographs. He also has a signed photograph from the late Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., for whom he clerked in the early 1960s.
Judges rarely speak openly to the press, but Posner is outspoken on a range of topics. Last week in online magazine Slate, he penned a withering critique of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's recent dissent in the Arizona immigration case.
"It wouldn't surprise me if Justice Scalia's opinion were quoted in campaign ads," Posner wrote.
MOTOROLA V. APPLE
Motorola sued Apple in October 2010, a move that was widely seen as a pre-emptive strike. Apple filed its own claims against Motorola the same month.
In canceling the trial, Posner said an injunction barring the sale of Motorola phones would harm consumers. He also rejected the idea of trying to ban an entire phone based on patents that cover individual features like the smooth operation of streaming video.
Apple's patent, Posner wrote in his June 22 order, "is not a claim to a monopoly of streaming video!"
Not all judges in the patent wars share Posner's skepticism of injunctions. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, granted Apple two critical pretrial injunctions against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) last week: one against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the other against the Galaxy Nexus phone.
In Friday's 101-page ruling barring the Galaxy Nexus, Koh cited the harms to Apple due to competition from phones that infringe its patent on the Siri search feature. Samsung is appealing both injunctions.
Posner said he had not read Koh's orders.
In his own ruling, Posner also barred Motorola from seeking an injunction against the iPhone because the company had pledged to license its patent on fair and reasonable terms to other companies - in exchange for having the technology adopted as an industry standard.
Posner's idea of examining whether industries like software should receive patent protection is a mainstream one, especially in the computer industry, said John Allison, a professor at University of Texas at Austin who studies intellectual property rights.
However, recent patent law reforms passed by the U.S. Congress did not directly address the issue, and Allison said classifying industries for the purposes of intellectual property protection - as Posner suggests - was "completely impractical" because talented lawyers could game the system.
When it comes to the smartphone litigation wars, Posner said tech companies should not be blamed for jumping into court since they are merely taking the opportunities that the legal system offers.
Given the large cash reserves in Silicon Valley, high legal fees are not a deterrent. Apple, for instance, had $110 billion in cash and securities as of March 31.
"It's a small expense for them," Posner said.
Posner said he had been looking forward to presiding over a trial between Motorola and Apple, but had no other choice than to toss the case.
"I didn't think I could have a trial just for fun," he said.
(Editing by Martha Graybow and Lisa Von Ahn)
HERZLIYA, Israel | Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:18am EDT
HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Israel-based online games developer Plarium, whose multi-player game Total Domination has attracted 20 million users in just a year, expects revenue to double annually in coming years as it launches new games and enters new markets such as the United States.
"We are growing very fast," Plarium CEO Avi Shalel told Reuters. "Since the beginning we have doubled revenue every year and we expect this pace to continue."
The private company, which has so far focused largely on Russia and eastern Europe, does not disclose financial data but Shalel said revenue had reached tens of millions of dollars a year and the company is profitable.
Plarium has six new games in the pipeline, including two that will be launched in coming weeks, and is entering new platforms such as Facebook (FB.O) and mobile devices, as well as starting its own standalone website.
Plarium, which was founded three years ago and employs 250 staff, has over 70 million users, mostly in Russia and eastern Europe, including 3 million active daily users.
It started out by developing applications such as a social poker platform for Russia and eastern Europe, initially focusing on the social network VKontakte and then expanding to other sites such as Mail.Ru (MAILRq.L).
"There was no Farmville, no poker, there was a tremendous need for it but no one was developing it," Shalel said.
Plarium has become the leading developer of online games in Russia and eastern Europe in terms of revenue, though Social Quantum, which focuses on casual games, or non-hardcore games played once in a while, has more users.
GOING GLOBAL
"We realized that if we want to go global we must be able to develop original content. We decided to start developing for the hardcore and midcore game audiences with the aim of going international," the 26-year-old CEO said.
Plarium's first original online game Total Domination was launched a year ago and has 20 million users, while its second, Pirates, is approaching 10 million after six months. They are known as "massively multiplayer online" (MMO) games, capable of supporting thousands of players simultaneously.
Plarium has five animation studios - one in Israel, one in Russia and three in Ukraine - and is seeking to open one in the United States.
While users can play the games for free, they must pay for special content and benefits. Plarium is also experimenting with carrying advertising in eastern Europe.
"We don't see it being a main business model in the near future. We want to make sure we don't spoil the user experience with advertisements," Shalel said.
Plarium has two main competitors, Kixeye and Kabam, in the hardcore gaming market. Shalel believes Zynga (ZNGA.O), the world's largest social game publisher whose games include Farmville, will eventually enter the hardcore market.
"They will need ... to enter new genres and hardcore games will be on their radar. By that time we hope to establish ourselves as the dominant player," he said
Born in Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union, Shalel is a native Russian speaker who moved to Israel as a teenager. After attending university in the United States he founded Plarium with six partners, who used their own money to start the company and did not have to seek out venture capital.
"We are building the company to go public," Shalel said. "We are not looking for an early exit or to sell the company."
(Editing by David Holmes)
The company logo is shown at the headquarters of Oracle Corporation in Redwood City, California February 2, 2010. Picture taken February 2, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Robert GalbraithBy Gerry ShihSAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:54pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle Corp said Tuesday it had acquired social marketing firm Involver, notching the third deal in as many months in a red-hot area for enterprise software makers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
San Francisco-based Involver, founded in 2007, provides tools for developers to create advertising campaigns on social media networks such as Facebook.
"Companies are looking to harness the full potential of social media to increase brand loyalty, connect with potential customers and anticipate buyers' needs," Oracle said in a statement.
Oracle, the world's No. 3 enterprise software provider, has aggressively fleshed out its social media capabilities in recent months, beginning in May with a deal for Vitrue, a social media engagement service. The following month, Oracle acquired Collective Intellect, a social media analytics company.
Even though Facebook's troubled IPO in May cast some doubt over consumer social media, deals in the enterprise sector have continued at a scorching pace.
Salesforce.com Inc snapped up social media advertising firm Buddy Media in a $689 million tie-up in June, while Microsoft Corp acquired workplace collaboration software maker Yammer for $1.2 billion in July. (Reporting by Gerry Shih)
PARIS | Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:30am EDT
PARIS (Reuters) - France's data protection watchdog said it will likely wrap up the inquiry of Google's new privacy policy, which it is conducting on behalf of European regulators, in September.
France's Commission Nationale de l'Informatique (CNIL) had expected to decide in June whether Google's new approach to privacy that took effect in March conforms with European law, but the process has been slowed as the company provided more information to the regulator.
"We just received answers to questions we put to the company in May, and we are studying them closely," said Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, the director of the CNIL, at a press conference on Tuesday.
The CNIL will then draw its conclusions and present them to the wider group of data protection regulators of the 27 European Union member states, known as the G29.
Under its new approach, Google consolidated 60 privacy policies into one and completed its ability to pool the data collected on users across its services, including YouTube, Gmail and its social network Google+
The Mountain View, California-based search giant says this allows it to better tailor search results and improve services for consumers. Users are not allowed to opt out.
The CNIL review could lead to financial penalties of up to 300,000 euros or administrative sanctions for the U.S. search giant, but it is not clear whether they would be imposed collectively or if individual states would seek their own fines.
The Wall Street Journal reported late on Monday that Google is close to paying $22.5 million to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple's Safari browser.
The fine would be the largest penalty ever levied on a single company by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Journal said citing officials briefed on the settlement terms.
(Reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic; Writing by Leila Abboud; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
n">(Reuters) - Canadian network equipment maker Sandvine Corp posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss as revenue fell 24 percent.
Second-quarter net loss was $4.2 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a net income of $1.7 million, or 1.2 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell to $18.6 million from $24.5 million.
Analysts had expected a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $18.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sandvine last month warned of smaller-than-expected revenue for the second quarter due to delays in closing several projects with Spanish telecom company Telefonica SA.
Separately, Sandvine said on Friday it received over $2 million worth orders from one of the top 10 telecom providers in the United States.
Shares of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company closed at C$1.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.
(Reporting by Megha Mandavia in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
People visit Google's stand at the National Retail Federation Annual Convention and Expo in New York January 16, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/ Kena Betancur
SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:54pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Canadian Solar Inc (CSIQ.O) is expected to decide within months whether to build a factory that could produce 700 megawatts per year of new, more efficient solar cells, the firm's head said on Tuesday, with any facility likely to be in China.
Chief Executive Shawn Qu said at a conference in San Francisco that there was a good chance the company, which already carries out most of its production in China, would take the step despite oversupply in the solar equipment market. He declined to comment on the potential cost.
Solar equipment manufacturers have struggled to reduce production costs as prices for panels that convert sunlight into electricity have plummeted by more than half in the past year on a supply glut.
That has forced several companies in China, Europe and the United States to shutter operations, and many more are expected to merge or shut down as the fledgling industry undergoes a shakeout.
The factory touted by Canadian Solar would produce cells which the Ontario-based firm says can achieve efficiency of 19.5 percent, compared with about 17 percent for many rivals. Solar cell efficiency refers to the ratio of electrical output to the amount of sunlight.
Mark Kingsley, chief commercial officer of China-based competitor Trina Solar Ltd (TSL.N), said he expected to see solar companies start competing more on efficiency and less on price, as costs have come down far enough for most buyers.
Trina earlier on Tuesday said it had expanded into Canada by striking a deal with module maker Silfab Ontario, a unit of Italy's Silfab SpA, as it finds a way around recently set U.S. tariffs on Chinese modules.
(Reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco; Editing by Carol Bishopric and Joseph Radford)
The corporate logo of Zynga Inc, the social network game development company, is shown at its headquarters in San Francisco, California April 26, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Robert GalbraithBy Gerry ShihSAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:10pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc CEO Mark Pincus said Tuesday he remains wary of investing as heavily in mobile games as he has in proven Web-based titles like FarmVille despite an industrywide push toward catering to mobile devices.
Game industry observers in recent months have stressed that developers must adapt as Internet users worldwide shift toward spending time on smartphones and tablets rather than desktop computers.
Concerns that Zynga continues to rely too heavily on its Web titles built on top of Facebook's platform have weighed on the stock, which has fallen roughly 50 percent from its $10 IPO price in December.
Speaking at an industry conference in San Francisco, Pincus said it was "obvious" that game companies should be investing heavily in mobile games — Zynga itself splashed $183 million to acquire New York-based game studio OMGPOP in March — but added the company's emphasis remained on Web games, given uncertainties about how the mobile platform will mature.
"We invest north of $10 million in a potential franchise game like the Ville," Pincus said. "We can't make that investment yet confidently in mobile. And I'm confident in the next couple of years we'll get to the point where we can. But it's not there yet and I think it's a little chicken or egg."
Pincus said he was held back by some unresolved questions over the still-maturing mobile platform, such as whether the Adobe Air and HTML5 technologies will become accepted standards.
"We've made a huge investment in mobile, organically building up teams and products and with one large acquisition," Pincus said. "We're at the point where it's obvious that we all should be investing heavily. But I don't think we have that all-in confident moment. The flywheel isn't there in an obvious way."
Pincus's hesitation in the mobile market stands in contrast to Zynga's all-out approach to its Web hits, which feature sophisticated social mechanics that are constantly analyzed and refined by dozens of Zynga engineers even years after they are first released.
Titles like CityVille and FarmVille, built off Facebook's platform, have helped Zynga squeeze $1.1 billion in revenue in 2011 out of an average 223 million monthly active players in 2011.
In a move to wean itself off of Facebook, Zynga announced in June that it would open its platform to encourage independent developers to build games on top of Zynga's own network.
Zynga also unveiled a new slate of games. For its latest offerings, Zynga has poured 100 developers who have worked "well over a year and a half" to ship its new titles "The Ville," a Sims-like social game, and "ChefVille," a kitchen management game, Pincus said.
But any efforts to roll out these games across multiple platforms will prove difficult, if the past were any indication, Pincus acknowledged.
"We were too ambitious at first with FarmVille," Pincus said. "We spent a huge amount of engineering to build a totally synchronous game experience."
(Reporting By Gerry Shih,; additional reporting by Malathi Nayak; editing by M.D. Golan)
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom talks to members of the media as he leaves the High Court in Auckland February 29, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Simon WattsWELLINGTON | Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:15pm EDT
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Kim Dotcom, the Internet tycoon at the centre of a U.S. investigation into online piracy and fraud, said on Wednesday he was willing to go to the United States to clear his name, offering to forego a pending extradition hearing in New Zealand.
Dotcom, the founder of the Megaupload file-sharing site, challenged the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to a fair trial, and said he was willing to face them in court in the United States if they agreed to certain conditions.
"Hey DOJ (Department of Justice), we will go to the US. No need for extradition," Dotcom, the 38-year-old German national, who also goes by Kim Schmitz, posted on Twitter.
"We want bail, funds unfrozen for lawyers & living expenses," he added, referring to himself and three others facing the U.S. charges.
In its highest-profile investigation into online piracy, the FBI alleges that Dotcom led a group that has netted $175 million since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorization.
His lawyers say the company simply offered online storage.
Dotcom's offer comes a day after a New Zealand court delayed a hearing into the U.S. extradition request until March next year because of ongoing legal hearings related to the search and seizure of evidence by the United States.
The New Zealand High Court in June ruled that search warrants used by police to search the flamboyant Dotcom's mansion to collect the evidence were illegal. The court also ruled that the FBI's copying of evidence and sending it to the United States was also unlawful.
Acting on a request from the FBI, New Zealand armed police, backed by helicopters, swept into Dotcom's rented estate outside Auckland in January, confiscating computers and hard drives.
Dotcom and the three others were arrested, and Dotcom was kept in custody for a month before being granted bail.
New Zealand courts have progressively eased restrictions on him, allowing him back into his mansion, giving him access to hundreds of thousands of dollars for living and legal expenses, and removing some travel and meeting restrictions.
Dotcom told a local paper that U.S. authorities already know they cannot win the case against him, but his legal bills are mounting up into "millions of dollars", which he cannot pay because of a freeze on much of his fortune and assets.
"I have accumulated millions of dollars in legal bills and I haven't been able to pay a single cent," he told the New Zealand Herald on Wednesday.
"They just want to hang me out to dry and wait until there is no support left."
He is increasingly using Twitter to keep his followers abreast of every twist and turn in his complicated case, while also posting photos of family birthdays and praising his legal team.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
