Take-Two shares boosted by 1Q results, outlook (tech)
NEW YORK – Shares of Take-Two Interactive Inc. got a boost Thursday after the video game publisher posted first-quarter results and a profit forecast for the current period that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Take-Two, best known for the ” Grand Theft Auto ” franchise, said sales of “NBA 2K10″ and “Borderlands,” along with older “Grand Theft Auto” games, drove the quarter’s results. Digital sales were also strong, as sales of such add-on content to packaged video games were 12 percent of overall sales. This is up from 3 percent a year earlier. The company said Wednesday it expects to post adjusted earnings of 20 cents to 30 cents per share on sales of $250 million to $300 million for the second quarter. Analysts expect a profit of 7 cents per share on sales of $267.4 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. For the full year, however, the company still expects to report a loss, as it has long struggled to report a profit in years when it does not release a new “Grand Theft Auto” title. Broadpoint.AmTech analyst Benjamin Schachter said the first quarter was “solid” relative to expectations, helped by better than expected sales of older, “catalog” titles and the company’s move to contain operating costs . But noting that Take-Two is still unprofitable for the year, the analyst said “we continue to recommend that investors stay on the sidelines until we get more visibility around potential profitability.” He kept his rating at “Neutral” and raised his target price to $9 from $8. Michael Pachter at Wedbush Morgan also kept a “Neutral” rating on Take-Two, saying a strong 2010 product lineup and strength in catalog and digital sales is “overshadowed by recurring product delays.” The company, he noted, moved “Red Dead Redemption” to the third quarter from the second, and “Mafia II” to the fourth quarter from the third. It also said one of its big releases scheduled for the fourth quarter may get pushed into the first quarter of 2011. “Once the company can demonstrate a path to consistent profitability, we will become more constructive,” Pachter wrote. Take-Two, he added, “must focus on streamlining its development process, and provide better visibility on future game releases .” The average Take-Two game, the analyst said, takes much longer to develop than the industry average of two years, which drives up costs and makes it difficult to make a profit. Shares of the New York-based company rose 77 cents, or 8.5 percent, to $9.80 in midday trading. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $5.63 and $12.57.
It’s Conclusive, Claims Professor, Violent Video Games Make Us Aggressive (tech)
An Iowa State psychology professor is claiming–not for the first time–that his latest published study offers irrefutable evidence that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior . And a Texas A&M psychology professor has responded–in the same publication–claiming that the Iowa State study is methodologically flawed. Published in the March 2010 issue of APA journal Psychological Bulletin , the study by Iowa State professor Craig Anderson , director of Iowa State’s Center for the Study of Violence, concludes that exposure to violent video games leads to an increase in aggressive thoughts and behavior, as well as decreased empathy and favorable social behavior in children. “We can now say with utmost confidence that regardless of research method–that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal–and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects,” said Anderson . “And the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in both short-term and long-term contexts. Such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases prosocial [sic] behavior.” Also published in the March 2010 issue of Psychological Bulletin, a response by Texas A&M professors Christopher Ferguson and John Kilburn entitled ” Much Ado About Nothing: The Misestimation and Overinterpretation of Violent Video Game Effects in Eastern and Western Nations” stipulates that Anderson’s study has serious flaws. Ferguson and Kilburn allege that Anderson’s meta-analysis included several studies that don’t relate well to “serious aggression,” several “apparently biased” unpublished studies, and a “best practices” analysis they say “appears unreliable.” “Despite a number of methodological flaws that all appear likely to inflate effect size estimates, the final estimate…is still indicative of only weak effects,” conclude Ferguson and Kilburn, “effects” referring to the strength of the causal relationship between stimuli (violent video games) and response (increased aggressive behavior). More on this shortly, once I’ve had a chance to read through both publications in full myself. I’ll admit, based on the perceived scientific merit of prior studies out of the Iowa State aggression research department , that I’m not sure much of anything’s actually changed in terms of actionable evidence in this latest study. As any statistician has to admit, you can find relationships between all kinds of things…it’s the strength of the relationship that matters. Follow us on Twitter ( @game_on )
techple sues HTC over phones with Google software (Reuters)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc sued Taiwan’s HTC Corp, which makes touchscreen smartphones using Google software, accusing it of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone. Even though the suit did not name Google Inc as a defendant, Apple’s move was viewed by many analysts as proxy for an attack on the Internet company, whose Nexus One smartphone is manufactured by HTC. “I think this is kind of an indirect lawsuit against Google,” said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu. Apple’s suit was filed with both the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court in Delaware on Tuesday, and seeks to prohibit HTC from selling, marketing or distributing infringing products in the United States. The complaint filed with the ITC cited Google’s Nexus One, which was launched in January, and other HTC phones such as the Hero, Dream and myTouch — which run on Google’s Android mobile operating system — as infringing products. In a statement, a Google spokeswoman said: “We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it.” HTC said in an emailed statement that it was looking at the filings. “HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations,” spokesman Keith Nowak said. Apple’s move comes amid fierce competition in the smartphone market, as new players angle for a piece of the fast-growing segment. Mark Simpson, a patent attorney with law firm Saul Ewing in Philadelphia, said HTC made for an easier target than Google. “It’s probably simpler for them to go after the company making the infringing goods, which is HTC. It’s easier to prove at this point,” he said. MKM Partners analyst Tero Kuittinen agreed. “HTC is an optimal target for Apple — it’s a relatively small vendor with a weak brand. It may be easier to push around than Samsung (which also makes Android smartphones). One question here is whether Apple can intimidate operators to back away from new HTC products by flashing the possibility of litigation trouble.” SMARTPHONE WARS Apple said HTC “knowingly induce(s) users of accused HTC Android products” to infringe on a number of Apple’s patents, some dating back to the mid-1990s. They cover user interface processes and other software and hardware components . “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours,” Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a news release. An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond the complaints. The iPhone held a 14.4 percent smartphone market share in 2009, according to research group Gartner. Phones running Android comprised only 3.9 percent of the market, but were growing fast. Apple lost some share to Android phones in the fourth quarter. “This move could be a sign Apple is getting rattled by Google’s recent momentum in the mobile space — notably the avalanche of Android products unveiled at Mobile World Congress ,” said Ben Wood from CCS Insight. Apple’s lawsuit is the latest scrape over ownership of the underlying technology for smartphones — handsets that play video and music, take pictures and send e-mail. Eastman Kodak Co in January filed a complaint with the ITC, saying Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd ’s BlackBerry camera phones infringe the photography company’s patents. Nokia , the world’s top mobile phone maker , has also sued Apple over patents. Apple has countersued. That dispute, potentially involving hundreds of millions of dollars in annual royalties, reflects the shifting balance of power in the mobile industry as cellphones morph into handheld computers that can play video games and surf the Web. In its ITC filing against HTC, Apple noted that some of the patents at issue are at the center of its legal fight with Nokia. Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple fell 14 cents to close at $208.85 on Nasdaq . (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew and Franklin Paul in New York, and Tarmo Virki in Helsinki; Editing by Derek Caney, Tiffany Wu, Gary Hill and Richard Chang)
techple sues HTC over iPhone patents (Reuters)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc accused HTC Corp, which makes touchscreen smartphones using Google Inc’s software, of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday. The suit, filed at the same time with the International Trade Commission and the District Court in Delaware, was viewed by some analysts as proxy for an attack on Google. “I think this is kind of an indirect lawsuit against Google,” said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu. He said the timing of the suit is curious given that Google just launched the Nexus One smartphone, which is manufactured by HTC. Apple’s suit did not name Google as a defendant. Some of the patents cited dated back to the mid 1990s. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours,” Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a news release. The move is the latest scrape over ownership of the underlying technology for smartphones — handsets that play video and music, take pictures and send e-mail — which are increasing in popularity. Eastman Kodak Co in January filed a complaint with the ITC, saying Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd ’s BlackBerry camera phones infringe the photography company’s patents. Nokia , the world’s top mobile phone maker , also sued Apple in January over patents. The dispute, potentially involving hundreds of millions of dollars in annual royalties, reflects the shifting balance of power in the mobile industry as cellphones morph into handheld computers that can play video games and surf the Web. (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew and Franklin Paul; Editing by Derek Caney and Tiffany Wu)
techple claims HTC infringed iPhone patents (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc said on Tuesday it filed a lawsuit against HTC Corp, saying that the maker of the Hero phone infringed on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface and hardware. Apple, which popularized touchscreen phones when it launched iPhone in 2007, said it filed the suit at the same time with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court in Delaware. The suit also claims HTC, which makes touchscreen phones — many of which are based on Google Inc Android operating system — infringed patents related to the iPhone. The claim is the latest scrape over ownership of the underlying technology for smartphones — handsets that play video and music, take pictures and send e-mail — which are increasing in popularity among consumers. For example, Eastman Kodak Co in January filed a complaint with the ITC Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd ’s BlackBerry camera phones infringe the photography company’s patents. Nokia , the world’s top mobile phone maker , also sued Apple in January for alleged patent violations. The dispute, potentially involving hundreds of millions of dollars in annual royalties, reflects the shifting balance of power in the mobile industry as cellphones morph into handheld computers that can play video games and surf the Web. (Reporting by Sinead Carew and Franklin Paul; Editing by Derek Caney)
Breakthrough in All-Optical Processing Could Bring Terabit Data Speeds
Do you think your connection speed is fast? Do you tout your torrent bit rate? Perhaps your rig is swift, but there’s no reason it couldn’t be many times faster. The only thing standing in the way is some creative materials science, and researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology may have just found the key to converting everything from individual computers to data networks into blazing-fast, all-optical transmission devices. The problem with current telecommunications speeds is that no matter how fast we beam information around the globe, time is lost while photonic signals are converted into electronic signals and vice versa. But with the right materials, low-power high-speed all-optical signal processing is possible, cutting out that intermediary step. We just haven’t arrived at the right materials to get the job done in a feasible manner. But researchers funded by the National Science Foundation and DARPA have developed polymethine organic dye materials that mesh three necessary attributes — large nonlinear properties, low nonlinear optical losses, and low linear losses — into a single package, opening the door for a new generation of all-optical devices that work at telecom wavelengths. That means large files — like that ripped HD torrent of Valentine’s Day that still hasn’t finished downloading to your hard drive — could move across networks far more quickly, facilitating everything from advanced telepresence apps to the rapid sharing of detailed medical images to better Web TV. Of course, identifying the molecular structure of these materials is a tremendous step, but it’s only the first. While the research team has figured out how to optimize the molecules for all-optical switching, they did so in a laboratory setting and with the molecules in solution. To get to practical devices that could be implemented in telecom infrastructure, they’ll have to get the molecules working reliably in a denser state. But it’s a goal worth pursuing; the team estimates that current infrastructure could be pushed to transmission speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second (Google is currently looking to test a network a fraction of that speed), but all-optical processing could, in theory, blow conventional switching out of the water with searing 2,000 gigabit-per-second speeds, making even the fastest of current connections look downright pitiful by comparison. [ Newswise ]
Bang and Olufsen’s 55-inch BeoVision 7 collects a review, much love
55.5 inches of 1080p goodness would draw attention in any case, but when they’re supplemented with local dimming of an LED-backlit display, 6ms response time, a stonking 4,000:1 static contrast ratio, and an integrated Blu-ray player… well, our cup runneth over with interest. The BeoVision 7-55 is just such a monstrous, no-compromise display, and it’s recently undergone a review over at Flatpanels HD . The reviewers were giddy with the versatile motorized stand and the Blu-ray player (which opens by you waving a hand in front of it), while describing the design and execution as “truly beautiful.” Picture quality is no worse, mind you, and epithets like “extraordinary” and “fantastic” were used to describe the experience of watching HD content on this panel. The same words can also be applied to the $18,700 MSRP, but at least the review is free and can be found at the source link below.
Microsoft confirms rootkit caused Windows XP blue screens
When malware writers fail to generate clean, reliable code, just who can you trust? On the heels of many Windows XP 32-bit users facing blue screen of death errors and unwanted reboots, Microsoft is now confirming that there’s a little bit of malicious code sitting at the root of it all. A rootkit, to be specific, one called Alureon that compromises the atapi.sys file and others. This rootkit makes a system call via an address that, after the update, no longer corresponds to the particular call Alureon is trying to make. This is apparently the cause of the BSODs, not the update itself, and so those suffering from similar issues can resolve them by simply replacing corrupted system files via the recovery console. It won’t be as much fun as using Microsoft’s more popular console, but should at least cure what ails you.
MIT’s Flyfire paints images in the sky using micro helicopters, is apparently top-secret
Micro helicopters, the kind that fit in the palm of your hand (and sometimes spread holiday cheer) are huge fun — and hugely frustrating. Have you ever tried to get one to hover in place next to another? Impossible! MIT thinks it can do that, not with just two but thousands of the little beggars all hovering in harmony as part of a project called Flyfire. By using LED-equipped drones the project pledges to build free-floating 3D displays, endowing them with enough smarts and positional awareness to organize themselves into an airborne canvas. It sounds deliciously exciting and challenging, yet for some reason the school has decided you aren’t to know about it, pulling its concept video and website offline. We can only imagine there’s a government agency involved here, possibly trying to stem the virulent spread of robo-socialism, but we invite you to leave your own conspiracy theories in comments.
Novatel shows off next-gen GPS-enabled MiFi, integrated ‘apps’ (video)
If you haven’t freaked out and given up on MiFi after they were shown to be, well, a little bit vulnerable, good for you, because there’s good things in store. Novatel is working on a new revision of its routers with integrated GPS, USB charging, and what’s pledged to be better battery life. Perhaps most interesting among the revisions is firmware able to run Linux “apps” that display content within the MiFi’s admin webpage. Current apps are things like data usage and weather but the possibilities are endless — or slightly broader than weather and usage, at least. It’s unclear which (if any) of the current MiFi models will be also be blessed with this firmware update and its resplendent selection of homebrew widgets, but we do know that the new MiFi model will be hitting carriers sometime toward the middle of 2010 and will be selling unlocked around the end of the year.
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