Archive for April 17th, 2009
Nokia on Thursday reported its worst quarterly profit in more than a decade. Nevertheless, the cell-phone maker’s shares rallied in the wake of optimism expressed by CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.The Finnish company said its profit declined to 122 million euros (US$160.7 million), from 1.2 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) a year earlier. Sales fell 27 percent.
Nokia’s Devices & Services unit saw net sales decline 33 percent year-on-year to 6.2 billion euros (US$8.2 billion). Still, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, one of its flagship devices, sold 2.6 million units in the quarter and more than three million since it launched in late November. But its services division saw a five percent decline over the same period last year.
Nokia remains the largest mobile-device maker in the world with a market share of 37 percent in this year’s first quarter. However, that’s down from 39 percent in the year-ago period. Nokia expects industry sales to continue to decline this year, estimating a 10 percent overall slide from 2008.
Click here to read the rest of my story on TopTechNews.
April 17th, 2009
In what has emerged as Web 2.0′s latest phenom, Twitter’s membership is growing by leaps and bounds. According to comScore Media Metrix, Twitter saw 9.3 million visitors in March. That’s an increase of more than five million visitors, or 131 percent, from February.What’s causing Twitter’s exponential growth? Is it the media attention? The Google acquisition rumors? The viral nature of Web 2.0 technologies? All of the above?
“One interesting theory alluded to by several people in last week’s discussion was that the mainstream media attention on Twitter is really helping fuel its growth. And there may certainly be some merit to that,” said Andrew Lipsman, a senior industry analyst at comScore. “It seems you can’t get through a typical newscast anymore without some mention of Twitter.”
Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
April 17th, 2009
In the wake of a stalled IBM 
acquisition deal, Sun Microsystems on Tuesday unveiled new products and technologies in its Open Network Systems strategy. The products aim to maximize the economics of computing for data centers and clouds and include an advanced blades architecture, new networking technologies, and seven new systems based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series.As John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun’s Systems Group, said today’s IT customer is looking for three things — speed, simplicity and savings. He said Sun’s Open Network Systems approach offers all three: “Our new x64 systems with integrated networking technologies, advanced thermal management, open software, and (Sun) Open Storage enhancements will give the data center an extreme makeover, boosting efficiency and maximizing IT investment.”
Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.
April 17th, 2009
A week ahead of Earth Day, McAfee is offering insights into spam’s impact on the environment. McAfee’s research reveals that spam is not only a nuisance that hinders business productivity, it also damages the environment and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.On Tuesday, McAfee released a study, Carbon Footprint of Spam. The study spells out the findings of climate-change researchers and spam experts: Globally the annual energy used to transmit, process and filter spam totals 33 billion kilowatt-hours, or 33 terawatt hours. That’s equivalent to the electricity used in 2.4 million homes, with the same greenhouse gas emissions as 3.1 million passenger cars using two billion gallons of gasoline.
“As the world faces the growing problem of climate change, this study highlights that spam has an immense financial, personal and environmental impact on businesses and individuals,” said Jeff Green, senior vice president of product development and McAfee Avert Labs. “Stopping spam at its source, as well investing in state-of-the-art spam-filtering technology, will save time and money, and will pay dividends to the planet by reducing carbon emissions as well.”
Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.
April 17th, 2009
