Microsoft aided by Windows, awaits business revival
February 3, 2010
Source: REUTERS

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp is expected to report a strong jump in quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by the successful launch of Windows 7, but it may not be enough to satisfy demanding investors and push its stock higher. 

IBM, Google Inc and Apple Inc have all beaten average Wall Street estimates this quarter, but saw their stocks fall or gain only slightly afterward as investors looked for more indications of strength. 

For Microsoft, that could mean showing evidence that companies are starting to -- or getting ready to -- buy personal computers after holding off on technology spending in the turbulent economy. 

"I think Microsoft probably did OK, but I want to hear the commentary looking forward on that area," said Kim Caughey, analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Microsoft shares. 

The so-called "refresh cycle", where Microsoft's major customers get around to buying new hardware and upgrading software, is "at the very beginning," said Caughey. "The second half of this year -- that's when we'll see a meaningful uptick in businesses buying new hardware." 

Wall Street is expecting Microsoft to report profit of 59 cents per share for its fiscal second quarter, up from 47 cents per share a year earlier, and revenue to rise 7 percent to $17.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. 

Sales will be boosted by the Windows 7 operating system, which was launched last October, and the one-time deferral of some Windows revenue from last quarter related to Microsoft's free upgrade program. 

Data from Thomson Reuters StarMine, which places more weight on recent forecasts by top-rated analysts, is almost identical to the Wall Street average, suggesting a surprise is unlikely. 

Except for last quarter, when Microsoft smashed the average EPS estimate by 8 cents, analysts have been quite accurate in predicting its results with average forecasts within 2 cents of the reported number for five of the last six quarters. 

Google's 'older sister' in China urges it to stay
February 3, 2010
Source: ET AGENCIES

BEIJING: Imitation websites of both Google and YouTube have emerged in China as the country faces off against the real Google over its local operations. 

YouTubecn offers videos from the real YouTube, which is owned by Google and blocked in China. The Google imitation is called Goojje and includes a plea for the US-based company not to leave China, after it threatened this month to do so in a dispute over Web censorship and cyber attacks. 

The separate projects went up within a day of each other in mid-January, just after Google's threat to leave. 

"What's the reaction in these cases? In the US, you have a lawsuit. In China, it's just 'eh,' unless they're really doing damage to the brand," said TR Harrington, CEO of China-based Darwin Marketing. 

Both knockoff sites were still working today. It wasn't clear what Chinese authorities would do with them, if anything. 

China's National Copyright Administration has been cracking down on illegally run websites and this month issued a code of ethics, but no statement was posted on its site today about the new imitations. 

Google had little comment. "The only comment I can give you right now is just to confirm that we're not affiliated," spokeswoman Jessica Powell said in an e-mail. 

Canada investigates Facebook again over privacy
February 3, 2010
SOURCE: REUTERS

OTTAWA: Canada's privacy czar, who got Facebook to agree last year to better protect users' personal information, will launch a new investigation over complaints that the changes sometimes make things worse. 

The office of Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said on Wednesday the investigation would focus on a tool introduced by the social networking website last month that requires users to review their privacy settings. 

It will look at a complaint from one person, echoed by others who contacted the privacy commissioner, that new default settings would make his information more readily available than the settings he had previously put in place. 

"Some Facebook users are disappointed by certain changes being made to the site -- changes that were supposed to strengthen their privacy and the protection of their personal information," stated Elizabeth Denham, the assistant privacy commissioner who spearheaded last year's investigation. 

Facebook said it was confident the changes it introduced were transparent and within the law, adding its education campaign around the changes was unprecedented in its scope. 

"Any recommended changes to a user's privacy settings were clearly shown to the user repeatedly and were not implemented until the user accepted these changes," Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said. 

"In addition, users were required to review the final settings after any changes and pointed to where they could reverse or further customize their settings." 

Stoddart's office said the changes have sparked criticism from users who feel personal information is sometimes "even more exposed now than before." 

Facebook claims 350 million users globally and the changes were made worldwide. The company agreed last August to resolve all of the concerns raised in the first Canadian investigation within a year.