Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom released on bail (AP)
[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content] AP – The founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload was released on bail Wednesday after a New Zealand judge decided Kim Dotcom lacked means to flee because his funds had been seized. Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Script | Android Forums | WordPress Tutorials
Company sues Apple over iPad name in Shanghai (AP)
[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content] AP – Apple defended its right to use the iPad trademark in China in a heated court hearing Wednesday that pitted the electronics giant against a struggling company that denies it sold the mainland China rights to the tablet’s name. Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Script | Android Forums | WordPress Tutorials
Colorado woman must turn over computer hard drive (AP)
[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content] AP – Readily available, easy-to-use software can encrypt a computer hard drive so thoroughly it would take years for a hacker to break in. But that seems to be no impediment for government prosecutors, who have obtained an order compelling the disclosure of a computer’s contents in one Colorado case. Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Script | Android Forums | WordPress Tutorials
Ultrabooks with hybrid drives could start at $600
The new devices could appear later this year, with hybrid disk drives helping keep costs low, according to a report.
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Ultrabooks with hybrid drives could start at $600
Alibaba.com shares surge on privatization bid (AP)
[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content] AP – Shares of Alibaba.com rocketed on Wednesday after the Chinese e-commerce site said its parent company made a $2.5 billion privatization bid as part of a shift in business strategy that also includes plans to buy back a stake from Yahoo Inc. Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Script | Android Forums | WordPress Tutorials
Apple shareholders to meet as stock at record high
By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:41pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook is in an enviable position – market leading products, a $98 billion warchest and a seemingly gravity-defying stock price. But as he gears up for the annual face-to-face meeting with shareholders, a few issues may be causing him angst. Chief among them are in China, where poor labor conditions are in the spotlight and Apple’s iPad trademark is under attack. The meeting this Thursday comes days after Apple touched a new lifetime high of $526.29 before receding slightly. The stock may get a boost next month, when Apple is expected to unveil a new version of its best-selling iPad. Apple shares have seen a blistering rally in the past seven weeks, gaining $100 and making Apple the most valuable U.S. company, with $468 billion in market capitalization. But as much as Apple’s shares rally, working conditions at the company’s manufacturing contractors in China have also attracted attention this year. Recently, Apple has been trying to redirect the spotlight on its efforts to force its partners to treat their employees better and the iPhone and iPad maker may use Thursday’s meeting to repeat it commitment to improve labor conditions in its supply chain. “The Fair Labor Association and the audit they are doing of all their (supply) firms is a corporate governance issue that will probably be a reasonably active discussion at the shareholder meeting,” said Tim Lesko, portfolio manager at Granite investment Advisors. Apple share account for about 3 percent of Granite’s equity assets. The U.S. non-profit labor group Fair Labor Association has begun a study of the working conditions at Apple’s main contract manufacturers, including supplier Foxconn Technology Group’s plants in China, which has been in the news for worker suicides, a plant explosion and poor working conditions. Another thorny issue that has now started attracting attention from shareholders is the trademark battle moves in China where troubled technology company Proview is seeking to halt the sale of iPad tablets, claiming it owns the iPad trademark in china. Connor Browne, portfolio manger of Thornburg Value Fund — another Apple investor — wants to see the trademark case settled. “Apple has positioned itself well in China,” he said. “I would hate to slow the momentum there because of court issues.” CASH TO COME UP AGAIN A perennial issue that shareholders zoom in on is Apple’s enormous cash pile. The company now boasts of over $100 a share in cash and securities. Cook said earlier this month that the company is in very active discussions at the board level about what to do with its cash, asking shareholders to be patient as Apple decides the way forward, stoking speculation that Apple may return some of that money to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks – even if it is only a one-time deal. Apple’s cash balance is the largest among U.S. technology companies, and many analysts think the company should put at least some of the money to work. The company last bought back shares in 2001 and scrapped its dividend in the mid 1990s. A dividend could give Apple stock a short-term boost as institutional investors – who typically own only stocks that pay dividends – may buy it. “It certainly would increase the potential owners for the stock,” Lesko said. Apple’s annual meeting rarely yields any financial forecasts or product-related news but corporate governance could be part of the discussion. Last year, in a rare show of strength, Apple shareholders voted for a non-binding proposal to require board directors be elected with a majority vote but Calpers, which put it forward, is reintroducing the measure as Apple has not acted on it. The largest U.S. pension fund says that policy would better protects investors’ interests but Apple had urged shareholders to vote against the proposal. The company’s board has long been criticized for its lack of disclosure, particularly about leadership succession while Steve Jobs battled illnesses whose details were not made public. (Reporting By Poornima Gupta; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Store | Android Game | WordPress Tutorials
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Apple shareholders to meet as stock at record high
AT&T CEO takes $2M pay cut over T-Mobile deal (AP)
[WizardRSS: unable to retrieve full-text content] AP – AT&T Inc.’s board cut CEO Randall Stephenson’s 2011 pay by $2.08 million because he engineered the failed deal to buy T-Mobile USA, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Store | Android Game | WordPress Tutorials
Dell shares fall on earnings miss, outlook
By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:10pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Dell Inc forecast fiscal first-quarter revenue below Wall Street’s expectations, stoking fears the PC industry has not fully emerged from its downturn and sending the company’s shares more than 4 percent lower. The world’s No. 3 personal computer maker projected sales would be down 7 percent this quarter from the previous quarter, when it posted revenue of $16 billion. That translates into about $14.9 billion, below the average forecast for roughly $15.2 billion. Dell’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings also came in below Wall Street’s view as strength in its corporate business unit was offset by weakness in the division that caters to public businesses. Investors were disappointed by the “lack of the upside in the quarter as well,” ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall said. “It’s going to take a little bit of time for Dell to turn around the tanker ship.” “They have $65 billion revenue and it takes a long time to move the needle to more strategically relevant revenue sources and we are just not seeing signs of progress yet,” he said. PC makers have grappled with slackening demand as mobile devices such as Apple Inc’s iPad erode market share, while a shortage of hard drives after flooding in Thailand crimped supply. Revenue in Dell’s fiscal fourth quarter was up 2 percent at $16 billion, in line with the average analyst estimate of $15.96 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company posted a net income slide of 18 percent to $764 million, or 43 cents a share, for the period, down from $927 million, or 48 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned 51 cents a share, a penny below the 52 cents expected. ENTERPRISE BUSINESS SHINES For fiscal 2013, the company said it expects non-GAAP earnings per share to exceed $2.13. Dell’s large-enterprise business held up well, increasing sales 5 percent in the quarter to $4.9 billion, as corporations continued to upgrade aging hardware. Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden told Reuters that he expects business spending in Dell’s enterprise unit to continue to be strong this quarter. Dell’s public business generated revenue of $3.9 billion, which was down 1 percent from a year ago due to weakness in the United States and Western Europe while Dell’s sales to consumers fell 2 percent over the same period. Dell’s gross margin rose to 21.1 percent from 20 percent a year earlier. The shares of Dell, which vies with market-leading Hewlett Packard Co, slid to $17.34 in extended trading after closing on Nasdaq at $18.21. (Reporting By Poornima Gupta; editing by Richard Chang and Andre Grenon ) Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Store | Android Game | WordPress Tutorials
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Dell shares fall on earnings miss, outlook
Dell’s fourth quarter just misses
For fiscal 2013, the company says that non-GAAP earnings will top the $2.13 a share mark posted in fiscal 2012.
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