WRAL Tech Wire

Hot Off the Wire – Cloud computing demand boosts Salesforce.com; Cablevision lets users “see” PC on TV; Nintendo set for handheld rollout in March; Lack of EMC demand hurts storage device maker

Hot Off the Wire

Related Blog Posts

• Hot Off the Wire – Google faces European inquiry; Experts want more Net security; Intel faced a hack attack like Google; Wireless providers explain termination fees; IBM adds Dow Chemical CEO to board
• Hot Off the Wire – Merck is back in the black; Wal-Mart buys digital movie provider; SanDisk ships 64 gig memory card
• Hot Off the Wire – PayPal to become gateway for Facebook ads; FBI probes school webcam spying; Google wraps up $125M On2 buy
• Hot Off the Wire – ‘Botnet’ infiltrates Merck, Cardinal Health, other networks; Yahoo-Microsoft deal wins approval; Judge questions Google digital book deal
• Hot Off the Wire – Google gives $2M to Wikipedia; Kodak’s patent complaint against Apple, RIM advances; DVD rental chain Redbox to delay Warner Bros. releases

On The Web

• Local Tech Wire at Twitter - sign up today for latest news alerts

Site Search

Get the latest news alerts: {{a href=”external_link-1”}}Follow LTW{{/a}} at Twitter.

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

• Salesforce.com 4Q profit soars on big sales jump

SAN FRANCISCO — Salesforce.com on Wednesday posted a 48 percent jump in fiscal fourth-quarter profit, on strong sales growth for its online business software applications.

For the three months ended Jan. 31, Salesforce.com said profit jumped to $20.4 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with $13.8 million, or 11 cents per share, in last year's fourth quarter.

Revenue shot up 22 percent to $354 million, from $289.6 million a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected profit of 15 cents per share, on revenue of $342.3 million.

Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff said the company is benefiting from the move to cloud computing.

Cloud computing lets companies collaborate online and store data on outside servers, lowering the cost of maintaining their own computer systems.

The company said it added more than 17,000 new customers during the fiscal year, to about 72,500.

• Cablevision service lets customers see PCs on TV

NEW YORK — Watching online video and other content on a television screen typically means buying a special device such as an Apple TV, or plugging lots of wires into the right holes on the PCs and TVs. Cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. is testing a service that promises to eliminate that hassle.

It would let you watch movies, view photos or even read your e-mail from the TV screen. The television is essentially a mirror display of the computer monitor.

You begin by downloading and installing Cablevision's software on your computer. Although Cablevision won't provide details on it, the software works much like remote-access programs already available for troubleshooters to diagnose your PC from elsewhere.

Then, whatever you activate on your computer screen, whether it's Internet video on YouTube or photos from an attached camera, will appear on your TV. It gets sent from your computer back over Cablevision's cable lines to its network, which then sends the image back in real-time to your TV screen as a cable channel that only you can watch.

Cablevision, which serves more than 3 million households in the New York City area, isn't saying much about when its customers will get this service, or whether there will be an extra cost. It's only announcing a limited trial for now, to begin by June. And it'll only be available to customers who have both Internet and digital cable services through Cablevision.

The service, known as PC to TV Media Relay, does have some limitations.

You won't be able to control your PC with your TV remote, meaning you'd have to get up to switch video or pause it.

And the software is designed to capture whatever is on the screen, including e-mails you may have open in a background window. Cablevision insists that its system is secure, but you'd have to trust the setup given that the signal does leave your household before returning.

• Nintendo DSi XL to launch March 28

NEW YORK  — Nintendo plans to launch the latest version of its popular handheld video game system, the DSi XL, on March 28 in North America.

The XL will cost $190. It will have two screens like its predecessors, but as the name suggests, the device and screens will be much larger than the currently available versions. The XL is already available in Japan.

Nintendo Co. also says it's launching "Super Mario Galaxy 2" for the Wii console on May 23 and "Metroid: Other M" on June 27.

In addition, Nintendo will sell e-books, namely "100 Classic Books," for the DS portable devices for $20. The 100 works will include pieces from such authors as William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, Jane Austen and Mark Twain. "100 Classic Books" launches June 14.

• Stec shares plunge on dismal 1Q revenue outlook

PHILADELPHIA — Shares of Stec Inc. plunged Wednesday after the maker of data storage devices said first-quarter revenue would be as much as 53 percent lower than what Wall Street expected.

Stec, based in Santa Ana, Calif., was downgraded by JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz to "Neutral" from "Overweight."

"We had been too optimistic," he said in a research note. "The disappearance of sustainable revenue momentum up-ended our prior view that Stec was the high-growth story" in small to mid-cap stocks.

He slashed his 2010 revenue forecast by 67 percent to $153.7 million and his earnings forecast fell by 88 percent to 26 cents per share. His price target is now $12.50, down from $42.

Late Tuesday, Stec forecast first quarter 2010 revenue of $33 million to $35 million and an adjusted loss of 11 cents a share to 13 cents per share. Analysts expected revenue of $70 million and an adjusted profit of 20 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Stec said an inventory carry-over at its largest customer, EMC Corp., will hurt sales in the first half of 2010. The company does not expect "any meaningful production orders" from the client during this time.

Moskowitz said the outlook shows that the troubles with EMC isn't a one-quarter problem.

He also said Stec's first quarter outlook will bring out fears of coming competition, although not in the near term in the enterprise solid state drive market.
 

Editor's Blog

The latest blog posts from our WRAL Tech Wire and WRAL editors. Read more articles…