Samsung managed to top its pre-announced earnings when it reported results for the first calendar quarter of 2012 on Friday morning. The company reported a record operating profit of 5.85 trillion Korean won, up 98%, and a consolidated net profit of $5.05 trillion won, up 82% over the same quarter last year. Revenue came in at 45.27 trillion won, beating expectations. TV and semiconductor sales were down in the quarter, but any potential impact was offset by strong sales of high-margin display panels and mobile phones. Samsung’s mobile sales grew 86% over the year-ago quarter to 18.9 trillion won, and the company’s combined operating profit margin climbed 1.7 points to 12.9%. Samsung’s full press release follows below.
Read more on Samsung’s Q1 profit balloons 82% on strong smartphone sales…
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is scheduled to take place in San Francisco from June 11th to June 15th. Tickets for the event sold out in less than two hours, leaving many West Coast developers in the dark, and the Cupertino-based company is enforcing restrictions this year that prevent tickets from being transferred. For developers who aren’t interested in legally changing their name to get past Apple’s restrictions, there is an alternative — Indie Developer Labs. “Indie Developer Labs is an open area where developers are provided with space to work, free Wi-Fi, and an open environment to connect with other developers. Our mission is to help foster the collaborative spirit of the Apple developer community,” the organizers said, adding that a hackathon event is being planned as well. The event is being organized by Kyle Kinkade, Craig Fox and Nate True, who are looking to “help the developer community have a place to collaborate during WWDC.” IDL will take place from June 12th to June 15th in San Francisco, just blocks away from where Apple’s event will be held at the Moscone Center.
Read more on iOS developers plan an alternative to WWDC after sell out…
A new study from Parks Associates found that two-thirds of U.S. consumers are unwilling to spend more than $50 per month on mobile data plans, while almost half of smartphone users were unsure how much data they consumed each month. The report highlights the risks carriers face as they try to shift consumers from unlimited data plans to usage-based ones. “Moving mobile users to usage-based plans will be difficult and painful, but changes are necessary for operators to maintain revenues,” said Harry Wang, Director of Mobile Research at Parks Associates. “Operators would benefit by recasting mobile data services as experience-driven in order to reduce price sensitivity, fend off competition, and keep their mobile data revenue engine humming.” The firm believes that in order for carriers to maximize their revenues, they should tie in their offerings to popular apps and services, including TV, music, books, newspapers, games, location-based services, and social activities, rather than charging consumers per megabyte. Read on for Parks Associates’s press release.
Read more on Two-thirds of Americans unwilling to spend over $50 on mobile data…
According to the largest review of its kind, the British Health Protection Agency says there is no clear evidence that radiation from mobile phones poses a health threat, The Guardian reported on Thursday. Scientists found no convincing proof that radio waves from mobile phones cause brain tumors or any other type of cancer. They did caution that it was “important” to watch for signs of rising cancer cases, however, because they had too little information to assess the risk beyond 15 years of mobile usage. The study was conducted by the Health Protection Agency’s independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR).
Read more on No clear evidence that mobile phone’s increase risk of cancer…
Since Microsoft released its Windows 8 Consumer Preview in February, millions of users have downloaded the software giant’s latest operating system, which looks to carefully blend its existing mobile and desktop experiences into one. According to research from ad network Chitika, the Windows 8 CP adoption rate in the U.S. and Canada has doubled that of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple’s upcoming operating system. Of course Microsoft’s Windows 8 preview is publicly available for free while Apple’s Mountain Lion preview is available only to those with paid developer accounts. Chitika’s research was conducted from April 13th to April 19th and it analyzed hundreds of millions of impressions across the Chitika ad network. The Consumer Preview makes up .1% of all Windows traffic and exhibits traffic levels more than three times the peak level that the Windows 8 Developer Preview produced. The increased level of activity is a good sign for Microsoft, which will reportedly complete work on Windows 8 this summer. According to rumors, the first wave of PCs and tablets powered by the new platform are slated to launch in October.
Read more on Pre-launch Windows 8 usage doubles that of OS X Mountain Lion…
Electronic Arts and Crytek last week announced the highly anticipated next installment of the Crysis franchise, Crysis 3, alongside a 19-second teaser trailer. On Tuesday, the two companies issued the official gameplay trailer that showcases the game’s stunning graphics. The third installment of Crysis is set in 2047, and users control protagonist “Prophet” as he returns to New York only to discover that the city is covered by a giant Nanodome created by the evil Cell Corporation. This dangerous new world demands advanced weapons and tactics, such as a lethal composite bow, an enhanced Nanosuit and devastating alien technology that will turn Prophet into the deadliest hunter on the planet. The game, which is built using the latest CryENGINE technology, will be released in Spring 2013 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and is now available for pre-order. The full Crysis 3 gameplay trailer follows below.
Sprint, the nation’s third largest wireless carrier, is the only major wireless provider that continues to offer unlimited smartphone data plans. When its network finally landed Apple’s iPhone, many people feared unlimited data would be heading out the door. Sprint continued to offer the plans, however, and will continue to do so even after its 4G LTE network goes live later this year and once it launches Apple’s next-generation iPhone. ”I’m not anticipating the unlimited plan would change by that point,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told CNET. “That’s our distinctive differentiator.” The CEO believes the decision to stick with unlimited data for the iPhone has proved helpful in the company’s mission to appeal to new customers. “Frankly, it’s a marriage made in heaven,” he said about the combination of unlimited and the iPhone. “We’re clearly attracting customers from our competitors.” Hesse stressed, however, that he didn’t know when Apple would release the next iPhone, or whether it would even have LTE. “Our expectation is that we will all get the same device at the same time,” he said.
Read more on Sprint confirms unlimited data plan for next iPhone…
The International Trade Commission on Tuesday ruled in favor of Motorola Mobility in its patent infringement claim against Apple. The Cupertino-based company’s iPhone and iPad were found to be in violation of Motorola’s Wi-Fi technology patent, however they did not infringe on three other patents that Motorola asserted against the iPhone-maker. “We are pleased that the ALJ’s initial determination finds Apple to be in violation of Motorola Mobility’s intellectual property, and look forward to the full commission’s ruling in August,” Motorola told CNET in a statement. The ruling is preliminary and still must be approved by the ITC’s six-member commission.
Read more on Apple’s iPhone and iPad violate one Motorola patent, ITC rules…
Netflix posted its financial results for the first quarter of 2012 after the bell on Monday. The company reported a loss of $0.08 per share, or$5 million, on $870 million in revenue, beating analysts’ consensus. Netflix posted a profit of $1.11 per share on $719 million in revenue in the first quarter last year, and Wall Street was expecting a loss of $0.27 per share on $866 million in sales this past quarter. All eyes were on Netflix’s subscriber additions this quarter, and the company said it added nearly 3 million streaming customers in the first quarter, including 1.21 million international streaming subscribers. The company shed more than one million DVD rental subscribers in the U.S. after losing 2.76 million DVD subscribers in the fourth quarter. Netflix’s global streaming subscriber count now sits at more than 26 million, up from 24.4 million at the end of the fourth quarter. In the second quarter, Netflix expects a net loss of between $6 million and $8 million as domestic streaming subscriber totals reach between 23.6 million and 24.2 million, below the Street’s estimates of 24.5 million. Shares of Netflix stock tumbled nearly 15% in after-hours trading on Monday following the release of the company’s earnings report.
Read more on Netflix beats estimates in Q1; posts narrower loss on $870 million in sales…
As previously reported, Nokia on Monday held a groundbreaking ceremony that kicked-off development of the company’s first manufacturing facility in Vietnam. The new plant is located in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Bac Ninh province and is beng developed on 42 acres of land. Nokia plans to open the factory in early 2013 and create as many as 10,000 new jobs while producing 45 million handsets by the end of 2014. “Thanks to the valued support from the Vietnamese government, our manufacturing program in Vietnam has been progressing well,” said Mary McDowell, Nokia’s Executive Vice President of Mobile Phones. “The new Nokia manufacturing plant will produce and provide new devices for compelling and affordable, localized mobile experiences, particularly in the growth markets.” Nokia’s press release follows below.
Read more on Nokia breaks ground on new manufacturing facility in Vietnam…
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