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Hot Off the Wire – Google tweaks its Buzz feature; Microsoft revamps its phone software; JDS buys Aligent network unit; Teradata boosts earnings

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A roundup of the latest high-tech news from The Associated Press:

• Google tweaks Buzz after privacy concerns

NEW YORK - In response to privacy concerns, Google says it has tweaked Buzz, the social hub it added to its e-mail service this week.

Users worried that Buzz made their frequent e-mail contacts visible to others. And it did so by automatically making these contacts their followers and followees on Buzz, and making these lists public.

On Facebook, that would be like having the people you e-mail with most often automatically become "friends." But those people may instead be your boss or ex-lover, and you wouldn't necessarily want to share everything with them.

So Google Inc. said Thursday it made it easier to hide the lists of followers and followees. It also made it easier to block specific people from following your Buzz updates.

• Microsoft to revamp its phone software

NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp. is expected to announce a major revamp of its phone software Monday, in an attempt to regain momentum in a crucial market where it's been overshadowed.

CEO Steve Ballmer will be speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the world's largest cell phone trade show, and analysts expect him to reveal Windows Mobile 7. The software could be in phones by late this year.

The new software comes as Microsoft, dominant when smart phones were young, has taken a back seat to Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys among corporate users and Apple Inc.'s iPhone among consumers.

"They seem to have lost the world's attention in smart phones," said Dan Hays, who specializes in telecommunications at management consulting firm PRTM.

The new software is expected to be more consumer-focused than previous versions, with a simplified user interface, which could be borrowed in part from Microsoft's well-reviewed - but low-selling - Zune HD media player.

"If that thing had a phone in it ... that would be a pretty darn good device," said Charles Golvin, analyst with Forrester Research.
"But my own judgment is that this is kind of their last chance," Golvin said. "If Windows Mobile doesn't get it right this time around, they're probably toast."

• Agilent sells network solutions unit to JDS

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Scientific instrument maker Agilent Technologies Inc. said Thursday it will sell its network solutions business to JDS Uniphase Corp. for $165 million in cash.

The unit, which monitors, tests and troubleshoots communications networks, recorded revenue of $162 million for 2009 and employs 700. It has operations in Colorado, the U.K., Singapore and China. The deal is expected to close in the second calendar quarter.

A spokeswoman for Agilent said the sale is not connected to its pending purchase of rival Varian Inc. for $1.5 billion in cash.

• Teradata 4Q earnings rise 6 percent

DAYTON, Ohio — Database manager Teradata said Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings rose by 6 percent as an increase in services revenue more than offset weak sales.

The company earned $84 million, or 48 cents per share, in the quarter compared with a profit of $79 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue rose by 1 percent to $496 million from $493 million, lifted by a weak dollar. Excluding the effects of foreign currency translation, revenue fell 3 percent.

For the year, Teradata earned $254 million, or $1.46 per share, compared with $250 million, or $1.39 per share. Revenue fell 3 percent to $1.71 billion from $1.76 billion.

For 2010, Teradata is projecting earnings of $1.54 per share to $1.64 per share. That's higher than the $1.48 per share analysts are expecting.

The company said revenue should be 7 percent to 9 percent higher than 2009's level — or $1.83 billion to $1.92 billion — including a 1 percentage point to 2 percentage point lift from foreign exchange. Analysts were expecting $1.81 billion.

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