| AMD reports Q2 earnings: continues to see revenues drop, $37 million net income Jul 19th 2012, 21:12  Well, things are looking slightly better for AMD this quarter. While revenues continued to decline the company actually posted a profit of $37 million, a stark contrast to $590 million net loss from last quarter. Still, with revenues down 11 percent sequentially and 10 percent year-over-year to just $1.41 billion the company isn't meeting expectations. Earnings per share were aticipated to hit $0.07, but the Sunnyvale crew only managed an EPS of $0.05. The company blames the softening PC market for its continued struggles, especially in the desktop space where it has traditionally enjoyed more success. It continues to plug away with its A and E series APUs, but it's still struggling to make much of a dent in a world increasingly dominated by Intel. The Computing Solutions division saw its revenues decrease 13 percent both sequentially and year-over-year, while the GPU department was down five percent for the quarter, but steady compared to the same time last year. For more detail hit up the source link. Filed under: Misc. Gadgets AMD reports Q2 earnings: continues to see revenues drop, $37 million net income originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  AMD | Email this | Comments |  | Pair of Apple patent applications set the stage for hearing aid-based social network Jul 19th 2012, 21:04  If ever there were a purgatory for ideas, it'd be the USPTO's patent application database. That land of legal limbo plays host to a multitude of tech entries both bizarre and straightforward, much of which will never see the light of day. So, it's with a keen eye for the curious that we've stumbled upon this pair of filings submitted by Apple back in January of 2011 outlining a new social network specifically for hearing aids. Yes, you read that right, but its function isn't actually as obvious as you'd imagine. According to the claims, hearing aids worn by at least two users will work in tandem with a personal computing device to identify user identities, establish a communication link and then swap profiles -- not a list of likes and dislikes, but dynamic audio settings. It appears users will be able to update the sound processing on their respective devices to adjust for ambient noise and hone in on a specific sources. So, basically, it's the Cupertino version of Superhuman hearing. It certainly lends a whole new meaning to, "Can you hear me now?" Eh? Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables, Software Pair of Apple patent applications set the stage for hearing aid-based social network originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | USPTO, (2) | Email this | Comments |    | Microsoft announces record Q4, $18.06 billion in revenue Jul 19th 2012, 20:05  Microsoft has just dropped its Q4 2012 earnings report and things are looking pretty darn good... depending on your angle. The company reported a record fourth quarter revenue of $18.06 billion, but did suffer a net loss over the last three months of $492 million. While the net loss was in stark contrast the net profit of $5.87 billion from the same time last year, Microsoft is still optimistic heading towards the launch of Windows 8 and its sibling mobile platform. And who can blame them, the new OS is sure to drive plenty of consumers to their local Best Buy with fists full of cash. And, it's easy to paint a rosy picture as long as revenues continue to grow, as they did by roughly $700 million compared to Q4 2011, and roughly $600 million sequentially. It's also important to realize that that loss is due to a one-time "goodwill impairment charge" associated with the collapsed aQuantive deal that set Redmond back $6.2 billion. A good chunk of the revenue increase is thanks to the company's Business and Server divisions, which saw growths of seven and 13 percent, respectively. Income from the Entertainment and Devices division, which makes up a much smaller chunk of revenue over all at just $1.78 billion, also grew dramatically year-over-year, largely because of the inclusion of Skype. Alongside Q4's results, Microsoft also released its year-end financials and, while that $6.2 billion lump drove profits down, revenues were up by $3.76 billion from 2011. Even with the aQuantive related hit, Redmond still managed to post a net income of $16.98 billion for the year. For all the finer financial details hit up the source link. Filed under: Misc. Gadgets Microsoft announces record Q4, $18.06 billion in revenue originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Microsoft | Email this | Comments |  | Google hits $12.21 billion in revenue for Q2 2012 (update: Motorola figures) Jul 19th 2012, 20:02  Google just defied expectations again -- it mustered a full $12.21 billion in revenue and generated an ample $2.79 billion in profit for its second quarter of 2012. The growth in revenue was a heady 21 percent over what the search leader saw a year ago (about 15 percent sequentially), even with a recently-swallowed Motorola now factoring (however slightly) into its results. About $10.96 billion of revenue comes from advertising and other close-to-the-vest businesses, $7.54 billion of which was from sites directly owned by Google. Unlike this winter, Google doesn't have any wildcards in store for share splits or other saucy details. Of course, we may learn more when executives hit the phones for a results call -- at present, the company is just happy to look forward to a summer of Nexus 7 sales and Jelly Beans. Update: Drilling down into Motorola's separate results, Google said its new acquisition generated $1.25 billion by itself, about $843 million of which was after the acquisition was completed. If Motorola had stood on its own, it would have lost $38 million: success with the Droid RAZR MAXX in the US were offset by the continued decline of basic cellphones elsewhere in the world. Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Internet Google hits $12.21 billion in revenue for Q2 2012 (update: Motorola figures) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Google | Email this | Comments |    |
