Disney to buy "Star Wars" producer for $4.05 billion

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co agreed to buy filmmaker George Lucas's Lucasfilm Ltd and its "Star Wars" franchise for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, a blockbuster deal that includes the surprise promise of a new film in the series in 2015.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger told analysts on Tuesday that the plan is to release a new movie in the series every two to three years thereafter. The last "Star Wars" picture was "Revenge of the Sith" in 2005, and Lucas has in the past denied any plans for more.

Lucas, a Hollywood icon known for exercising control over the most minute details of the fictional universe he created, will remain as a creative consultant on the new films.

"It's now time for me to pass 'Star Wars' on to a new generation of filmmakers," he said in a statement. Lucas will become the second-largest individual holder of Disney shares, with a 2.2 percent stake.

Disney will pay about half the purchase price in cash and issue about 40 million shares at closing.

"This is one of the greatest entertainment properties of all time," Iger said. Like Disney's purchases of Marvel Entertainment and Pixar studio, LucasFilm will "drive long-term value to our shareholders," he said.

Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said the deal would lower Disney's earnings per share by a low single-digits percentage in fiscal 2013 and 2014. He also said Disney would repurchase all of the issued shares on the open market within the next two years, on top of planned buybacks.

This agreement marks the third time in less than seven years that Disney has signed a massive deal to take over a beloved studio or character portfolio, part of its strategy to acquire brands that can be stretched across TV, movies, theme parks and the Internet.

In early 2006, Disney struck a deal to acquire "Toy Story" creator Pixar, and in the summer of 2009 it bought the comic book powerhouse Marvel.

"Disney already has a great portfolio and this adds one more," said Morningstar analyst Michael Corty. "They don't have any holes, but their past deals have been additive."

Iger said he and Lucas first discussed a possible sale about 18 months ago. Lucas was pondering his retirement, and Iger was looking to add another well-known brand to the Disney empire. The two signed the deal at Disney's Burbank, California, headquarters on Tuesday.

"Everywhere I went, 'Star Wars' was already there, and sometimes they got there ahead of us," said Iger in an interview. "I kept seeing that brand and decided maybe we should buy it."

He told analysts he believed there was "substantial pent-up demand" for new "Star Wars" movies. Each of the last three films in the series would have grossed $1.5 billion in today's dollars at the box office, CFO Rasulo estimated.

The film's iconic characters also will boost Disney's sales of toys and other consumer products, particularly overseas, executives said. Sales of "Star Wars" items such as Darth Vader and Yoda action figures total roughly $215 million a year, Rasulo said.

In 2005, the year the last "Star Wars" film was released, LucasFilm generated $550 million in operating income, Rasulo said.

Disney also will be able to extend the presence of the franchise at its theme parks around the globe, Iger said. The company's parks already feature rides based on "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones," another Lucas property.

"Star Wars" characters also are likely to find a home on the Disney XD cable channel, which is aimed at young boys, Iger said.

Iger wouldn't commit to keeping the "Star Wars" operation separate from Disney, as he did with Pixar and Marvel.

And Lucas won't sit on the Disney board despite his 2.2 percent stake in the company, Iger said. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who held a large stake in Disney after it bought his Pixar studio, had a seat on the Disney board.

From a fan's perspective, critics said there was sure to be at least some excitement at the prospect of episode seven in the saga of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

"Do I want to see more Star Wars movies? Not really, but they're not making these movies for me," the film writer "Mr. Beaks" wrote on the well-regarded industry site Ain't It Cool News. "There's a whole new generation of Star Wars fans, and they worship the prequels like folks my age worshipped the original trilogy."

Besides "Star Wars," the Lucasfilm deal also includes rights to the "Indiana Jones" franchise, though Disney did not elaborate on any plans for that series.

(Additional reporting by Michael Erman in New York and Himank Sharma in Bangalore; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Ciro Scotti)

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Hurricane Sandy disrupts Northeast U.S. telecom networks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Power outages and flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy disrupted telecommunications services in Northeastern states on Tuesday, resulting in spotty coverage for cellphones, television, home telephones and Internet services.

While all the region's telecom service providers were having problems, Verizon Communications, which serves many of the states in the hurricane's path, may have suffered some of the worst damage from the storm to its wireline network.

About 25 percent of the region's wireless cell towers were out of action after the storm and some 911 emergency call centers were not working, according to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

"Our assumption is that communications outages could get worse before they get better," Genachowski told reporters on a conference call, noting that the storm had not ended.

Also power outages could disrupt more cell sites if they run out of back-up power before commercial electricity services are up and running again.

People lined up at pay-phones in at least one New York neighborhood, the Lower East Side, today as their phones had either lost coverage or they had run out of battery power because there was nowhere to charge their phones in the neighborhood which had lost commercial power.

New York-based Verizon said the storm caused flooding at three Verizon central offices that hold telecom equipment in Lower Manhattan as well as sites in Queens and Long Island.

Its downtown headquarters, which was put out of action 11 years ago by the September 11 attacks, had three feet of water in the lobby at one point. Because of flooding, all its telecom equipment at that office, which serves much of Wall Street and downtown consumers, was knocked out of service.

The company said it was working on pumping out the water in the hope that it could restart its back-up power generators in the facility as commercial power services were not yet restored the morning after the big storm hit.

"The bullseye of the impact is the metro area," said spokesman William Kula, adding that restoring service for the city's financial district was a top priority for Verizon.

Telecom disruptions affect electronic trading as well as corporate operators. The chief operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange, which is expected to open Wednesday, said "lots of telecom infrastructure is down" and that the NYSE was working with big firms to ensure they were doing testing of their systems.

Verizon did not give an estimate as to how many businesses and consumers were affected. Two of three Manhattan central offices were partially flooded and operating minimal services.

Customers served by the damaged central offices will experience "a loss of all services" including TV, Internet, and traditional telephone services, Kula said. Some customers may experience intermittent busy signals for non-emergency calls.

Verizon said its engineers were working on assessing the damage from the early hours. Outside of New York, the company warned that it was also having some trouble.

"Verizon is discovering that many poles and power lines/Verizon cables are down throughout the region due to heavy winds and falling trees," the company said in a statement.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA said they were dealing with wireless service problems in the hurricane region. Cable operators Cablevision Systems Corp, Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable also said they were having service problems.

"I think everybody's equipment's going to be damaged, including cellphone towers," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher King said from his Verizon Wireless cellphone in Baltimore.

"Particularly for Verizon, they're clearly going to have the most damage on the wireline side because its pretty much all of their territory (where the storm hit)," King said.

Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider said it was seeing outages at some cell sites because of the power outages across all the states in Sandy's path including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maryland, North Virginia and New England.

"(Repair crews) have started on some critical areas but they haven't been able to get to everywhere they need to be," spokeswoman Crystal Davis said. She noted that 80 of the company's stores would reopen at noon. Sprint had closed about 180 stores ahead of the storm.

T-Mobile USA said that "customers may be experiencing service disruptions or an inability to access service in some areas, especially those that were hardest hit by the storm."

People complained of outages to their cable telephone, Internet and television services from providers including Comcast, Cablevision and Verizon in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York.

Cablevision said it was experiencing widespread service interruptions primarily related to loss of power. The company said it is working to restore services.

Comcast, whose headquarters is in Philadelphia and serves East Coast states, said that for the majority of customers, "Comcast service should be restored as power comes back on to their homes."

Cellphone service was spotty for top wireless providers Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, according to some customers.

Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, said on Tuesday afternoon that customers may be experiencing service issues and that about 94 percent of its cell sites were up and running.

AT&T said it was experiencing some issues in areas heavily affected by the storm. By Tuesday morning, spokesman Mark Siegel said AT&T was in the initial stages of on-the-ground assessment and that it expected "crews will be working around the clock to restore service."

Several Time Warner Cable customers in Brooklyn said that their Internet, television and phone services stopped working Monday night but were back again by Tuesday morning.

Time Warner Cable said that while it has not seen any major damage to its infrastructure, its customers who do not have electricity do not have cable services.

Millions of people in the eastern United States awoke on Tuesday to flooded homes, fallen trees and widespread power outages caused by Sandy, which swamped New York City's subway system and submerged streets in Manhattan's financial district.

At least 30 people were reported killed in the United States by one of the biggest storms to ever hit the country. Sandy dropped just below hurricane status before making landfall on Monday night in New Jersey.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba, Liana Baker, Katya Wachtel in New York, Dian Bartz in Washington DC and many other Reuters reporters around the hurricane region; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)

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10 Out of This World Star Wars-Disney Mashups

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Flooding at the second-largest refinery on the U.S. East Coast plus power glitches at two other plants and a key New Jersey terminal hub slowed the recovery in fuel supplies disrupted by Hurricane Sandy. While the region's biggest plant, in Philadelphia, and several others were ramping up operations after escaping damage, other facilities, pipelines and terminals were struggling to restore the flow of supplies that had slowed to a trickle. Several operators cited power outages around the Linden, New Jersey, hub near the key New York harbor trading area. ...

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Apple's iPad mini packs full-sized punch but screen inferior: reviews

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc's entry in the accelerating mobile tablet race squeezes about 35 percent more viewing space onto a lighter package than rival devices from Google or Amazon.com Inc, but it sports inferior resolution and a lofty price tag, two influential reviewers wrote on Tuesday.

The iPad mini, which starts at $329 versus the $199 for Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, is easy to hold with one hand, eliminating a drawback of the 10-inch iPad, Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg wrote in one of the first major reviews of a gadget introduced last week.

Both Mossberg and New York Times columnist David Pogue offered kudos for cramming most of its full-sized cousin's functions onto a smaller device, as advertised.

But the iPad mini's 1024 x 768 resolution was a big step backwards from the iPad's much-touted Retina display, and underperformed the rival Kindle and Nexus, the two reviewers agreed.

Mossberg said Apple chose to go with a lower-quality display because the existing 250,000-plus iPad applications could only run unmodified in two resolutions - and the higher level would have sapped too much power.

"The lack of true HD gives the Nexus and Fire HD an advantage for video fans. In my tests, video looked just fine, but not as good as on the regular iPad," Mossberg wrote.

The original iPad was launched in 2010 and went on to upend the personal computer industry, spawning a raft of similar devices. The iPad mini marks Apple's first foray into a smaller 7-inch segment that Amazon's Kindle Fire now dominates, demonstrating demand exists for such a device.

Apple, making its boldest consumer hardware move since Tim Cook took the helm from late co-founder Steve Jobs, hopes the smaller tablet can beat back incursions onto its home turf of consumer electronics.

"In shrinking the iconic iPad, Apple has pulled off an impressive feat," Mossberg wrote. "It has managed to create a tablet that's notably thinner and lighter than the leading small competitors with 7-inch screens, while squeezing in a significantly roomier 7.9-inch display.

"And it has shunned the plastic construction used in its smaller rivals to retain the iPad's sturdier aluminum and glass body."

Mossberg, whose reviews are followed closely by consumers and tech companies alike, wrote that the iPad mini did as advertised by bringing the full-sized iPad experience onto a smaller screen.

He noted, however, that the device was too large to fit easily into pockets. It exhibited battery life of about 10 hours and 27 minutes, an hour more than the Kindle Fire at the same settings, but about 17 minutes less than the Nexus 7.

"By pricing the Mini so high, Apple allows the $200 class of seven-inch Android tablets and readers to live," Pogue wrote.

"But the iPad Mini is a far classier, more attractive, thinner machine. It has two cameras instead of one. Its fit and finish are far more refined. And above all, it offers that colossal app catalog, which Android tablet owners can only dream about."

(Reporting By Edwin Chan; Editing by Ken Wills)

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Google unveils first 10-inch Nexus tablet

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc unveiled a larger version of its Nexus-branded tablet computer on Monday, and updated its mobile gadget and online content offerings as competition with Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp heats up ahead of the holiday sales season.

The device follows a spate of new product launches by the technology leaders in recent weeks, including Apple's iPad Mini last week and software-maker Microsoft's first-ever home-built tablet, the Surface.

Google, the world's No.1 Internet search engine, has pushed deeper into the hardware business at a time when consumers are increasingly accessing the Web on mobile devices.

Google's new Nexus 10, made in partnership with consumer electronics company Samsung Electronics Co, is the first 10-inch tablet to come to market under Google's Nexus brand. The device, with prices starting at $299, will be available on November 13 in the United States and seven other countries, Google said in its official blog on Monday.

Google was scheduled to introduce the device at a media event in New York on Monday, but was forced to cancel because of Hurricane Sandy.

Google also said it was expanding its online movie and music retail businesses to several countries in Europe.

And the company introduced an improvement to its online-music storage service. The new "matching" feature scans songs in a consumer's music collection and automatically creates an online or "cloud-based" library of the same tracks which consumers can access from any device or computer.

Google said the music matching feature, which only works with tracks that are part of the Google Play store's music catalog, will be available in Europe on November 13 and in the United States soon after.

Google also updated its smaller, Nexus 7 tablet released earlier this year. It increased the storage on the $199 version of the device to 16GB from 8GB, and introduced a new $299 version of the Nexus 7 with a cellular data service option. Google also unveiled a new Nexus 4 smartphone, made in partnership with LG Electronics, that features a quad-core processor and a 4.7-inch display.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Microsoft CEO says Windows 8 sales rate higher than Windows 7

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Monday sales of the company's new Windows 8 operating system, released to the public on Friday, were running at a higher rate than its last release, Windows 7.

"We're above where we were with Windows 7," Ballmer told the audience at an event launching new phones running Microsoft's phone software called Windows Phone 8.

Windows 7 is the best-selling version of Windows so far, selling more than 670 million licenses in three years since release in 2009.

(Reporting By Malathi Nayak; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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NYC Goes Dark: 10 Eerie Photos of the Hurricane Blackout

Via Alana Newhouse

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Exterior of NYC Building Torn Off by Superstorm Sandy [VIDEO]]

The city that's known for its bright lights went dark Monday night, leaving the Manhattan skyline an eerie shadow.

Electric company Con Edison experienced a major plant explosion, which shut off power in several areas, including Lower and Mid-Manhattan. The company also chose to shut others' power, in order to prevent further damage from superstorm Sandy. The company is tweeting its plans to shut down more surrounding areas.

[More from Mashable: Hurricane Sandy Pics Get Photoshop Treatment]

New Yorkers are sharing pics of the creepy, dark skyline online. For for more images of Hurricane Sandy, check out the gallery below.

[wp_scm_hurricane_sandy]

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Apple software, retail chiefs out in overhaul

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook on Monday replaced the heads of its software and retail units in the company's biggest executive shake-up in a decade following embarrassing problems with its new mapping program and unpopular store-related decisions.

Software chief Scott Forstall, who oversaw the launch of the flawed mapping software and much criticized Siri voice-enabled assistant, will leave Apple next year.

Forstall, seen as a polarizing figure inside Apple, had been billed as one of the future candidates to take the top job at Apple. He was the executive behind the panned Apple Maps app that the company announced with much fanfare in summer.

Apple said in a statement that retail chief John Browett "is leaving," without elaborating; that a search for his replacement is underway; and the retail team would report directly to Cook. Browett had riled up the retail store staff when he reduced the number of employees in his unit.

The departures come a little more than a year into Cook's tenure as chief executive. Cook replaced the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, considered one of the best executives of all times by many analysts and investors.

"These changes show that Tim Cook is stamping his authority on the business," Ben Wood, analyst with CCS Insight, said. "Perhaps disappointed with the Maps issues, Forstall became the scapegoat."

Apple upended the tech industry with the release of its iPhone smartphone in 2007. But the company is facing increasing competition from search giant Google, whose Android has become the world's most popular mobile software, as well as from Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft and Samsung.

"Competition is moving much faster to be more Apple-like," said Tim Bajarin, president of technology research and consulting firm Creative Strategies. "They're finding they need to streamline the management team in order to get things going faster."

Apple's launch of its own mapping service in September, when it began selling the iPhone 5 and rolled out its updated iOS 6 software, led to widespread user complaints, particularly since it replaced the popular Google Inc Maps.

Apple's Siri personal assistant software also came under a lot of criticism, including for not providing information on business location, when it was launched last year.

Both the services were introduced with much fanfare by Forstall, who had supervised their development as senior vice president of iOS software.

The executive changes hand over substantially more responsibility to Eddy Cue, the head of Internet Software and Services who helped create the iTunes music store and App Store. The 23-year Apple veteran already is in charge of Cloud services and will take on Apple Maps and Siri. Craig Federighi will oversee Apple's mobile iOS software as well as its OS X Mac software, Apple said.

Putting the mobile and personal computer software teams under the same manager could improve operations within the company, particularly as the capabilities and features of smartphones and PCs increasingly converge, said analysts.

"If you have two different heads, you have two different fiefdoms," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

Another executive who will get extra responsibility under the shake-up is Jonathan Ive, Apple's head of industrial design, who has played a key role in Apple's success by imbuing its gadgets with a distinct look and feel.

That magic touch could help reinvigorate the look of Apple's software, which has been criticized by some technology observers, Gillis said.

RETAIL SWITCH

Shares of Apple, the world's largest publicly traded company by market value, have declined 14 percent in the past month since reaching a 52-week high of $705.07 in September.

Browett, former CEO of British electronics retailer Dixons, took over as senior vice president of Apple's retail stores earlier this year, replacing Ron Johnson, who went on to become the CEO of JCPenney.

"I think ultimately they probably discovered that his experience with Dixons didn't translate that well to the Apple stores and he just probably wasn't the right fit," Bajarin of Creative Strategies said.

Apple, which described Monday's moves as a way to increase "collaboration" across its hardware, software and services business, said Forstall will serve as an advisor to Cook until his departure.

Last week Apple delivered a second straight quarter of disappointing financial results, and iPad sales fell short of Wall Street's targets, marring its record of consistently blowing past investors' expectations.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Star Silicon Valley analyst felled by Facebook IPO fallout

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The firing of Citigroup stock analyst Mark Mahaney on Friday in the regulatory fallout from Facebook Inc's initial public offering was greeted with shock and dismay in Silicon Valley, where Mahaney was a well-known and well-liked figure.

"Pretty shocked," was the reaction of Jacob Funds Chief Executive Ryan Jacob, who described Mahaney as one of the most respected financial analysts covering the Internet industry.

"I'd put him at the top. If not at the top, then near the top," said Jacob. "He really knew what to look for."

In addition to firing Mahaney, Citigroup paid a $2 million fine to Massachusetts regulators to settle charges that the bank improperly disclosed research on Facebook ahead of its $16 billion IPO in May.

The settlement agreement said Mahaney failed to supervise a junior analyst who improperly shared Facebook research with the TechCrunch news website. (Settlement agreement: http://r.reuters.com/pyj63t)

The settlement agreement also outlined an incident in which Mahaney failed to get approval before responding to a journalist's questions about Google Inc -- and told a Citigroup compliance staffer that the conversation had not occurred -- even after being warned about unauthorized conversations with the media.

Mahaney declined to comment.

Mahaney got his start in the late 1990s, during the first dot-com boom where he worked at Morgan Stanley for Mary Meeker, one of the star analysts of the time. He went on to work at hedge fund Galleon Group before moving to Citigroup in 2005. Unlike most of his New York-based peers in the analyst world, Mahaney worked in San Francisco's financial district, close to the companies and personalities at the heart of the tech industry.

Earlier this month, Mahaney was named the top Internet analyst for the fifth straight year by Institutional Investor. The review cited fans of Mahaney who praised a "systematic" investment approach that allows him to avoid the "waffling" often evidenced by other analysts.

Mahaney's Buy rating on IAC/InteractiveCorp in April 2011, when the stock traded at $33.32, allowed investors to lock in a 51 percent gain before he downgraded the stock to a Hold at $50.31 a few months later, according to Institutional Investor.

But it wasn't only his stock picks that put him in good stead. He earned kudos for simply being a nice guy.

"He's a kind and thoughtful person and that's evident in the way he deals with people," said Jason Jones of Internet investment firm HighStep Capital. "He's very well liked on Wall Street because of that."

A CAUTIOUS VIEW ON FACEBOOK

Mahaney was only indirectly involved in the incident involving the Facebook research, according to the settlement agreement by Massachusetts regulators released on Friday. But the actions of the junior analyst who worked for him provide an unusual glimpse into the type of behind-the-scenes information trading that regulators are attempting to rein in.

While the Massachusetts regulators did not identify any of the individuals by name, Reuters has learned that the incident involved TechCrunch reporters Josh Constine and Kim-Mai Cutler as well as Citi junior analyst Eric Jacobs.

Jacobs, Constine and Cutler all did not respond to requests for comments.

In early May, shortly before Facebook's IPO, Jacobs sent an email to Cutler and Constine. Constine attended Stanford University at the same time as Jacobs.

Constine, who studied social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for his 2009 Master's degree in cybersociology at Stanford, had a close friendship with Jacobs, according to the settlement agreement.

"I am ramping up coverage on FB and thought you guys might like to see how the street is thinking about it (and our estimates)," Jacobs wrote in the email. The email included an "outline" that Jacobs said would eventually become the firm's 30-40 page initiation report on Facebook.

He also included a "Facebook One Pager" document, which contained confidential, non-public information that Citigroup obtained in order to help begin covering Facebook after the IPO.

Asked by Constine if the information could be published and attributed to an anonymous source, Jacobs responded that "my boss would eat me alive," the agreement said.

A spokeswoman for AOL Inc, which owns TechCrunch, declined to answer questions on the matter, saying only that "We are looking into the matter and have no comment at this time."

Ironically, Mahaney was one of a small group of analysts at the many banks underwriting Facebook's IPO who had cautious views of the richly valued offering. Mahaney initiated coverage of the company with a neutral rating.

Analysts at the top three underwriters on Facebook's IPO - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan - started the stock with overweight or buy recommendations.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Facebook had pre-briefed analysts for its underwriters ahead of its IPO, advising them to reduce their profit and revenue forecasts.

Facebook, whose stock was priced at $38 a share in the IPO, closed Friday's regular session at $21.94 and has traded as low as $17.55.

"There were tens of billions of dollars in losses based on hyping the name, a lack of skeptical information and misunderstanding the company," said Max Wolff, chief economist and senior analyst at research firm GreenCrest Capital.

"It's highly unfortunate and darkly ironic that one of the signature regulatory actions from this IPO so far involves punishing analysts for disseminating cautious information about Facebook," he added.

(Editing by Jonathan Weber, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)

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Taxpayer data exposed in cyber attack on South Carolina agency

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - As many as 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers used by state taxpayers could have been exposed to a hacker in recent cyber attacks on the state Department of Revenue's computers, officials said on Friday.

The vast majority of the credit card numbers used by South Carolina taxpayers were encrypted, but about 16,000 were not, meaning the data was fully exposed, state police said.

None of the Social Security numbers were encrypted, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry.

Berry said the hacker used a foreign Internet Protocol (IP) address to gain access to the data.

"This is not a good day for South Carolina," Governor Nikki Haley said at a news conference in the state capital of Columbia. "I want this person slammed against the wall," she said of the hacker.

"I want to get this person and make sure he can never do this to anybody or any state again," Haley said "I want that man just brutalized."

Officials said no public funds were accessed or put at risk. An investigation into the security breach is ongoing.

Investigators this month discovered two attempts to probe the Department of Revenue's system in early September, and later learned of an attempt made in late August, state officials said.

Two other intrusions occurred in mid-September, and the department determined the hacker had obtained data for the first time, according to a statement from the state.

Officials said the vulnerability in the system was closed on October 20 and the system is now believed to be secure.

Anyone who filed a South Carolina tax return since 1998 is being urged to find out whether their information was affected. The state will provide those affected with one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

Earlier this year, police arrested a South Carolina state health agency employee they said had made off with almost 230,000 Medicaid recipients' personal information.

Also, the University of South Carolina said in August that a hacker had breached the personal information of as many as 34,000 people connected to its College of Education.

(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Todd Eastham)

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SAP eyes "long" period of high sales growth: report

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's SAP may be able to sustain high sales from software and related services for a "very long time," co-chief executive Bill McDermott told a German newspaper.

"It's our ambition to grow with double-digit numbers for a very long time to come," Euro am Sonntag quoted McDermott as saying in an interview published on Sunday.

"I believe that's possible."

The newspaper also cited the co-CEO as saying SAP currently has no plans for further acquisitions following the purchases of cloud-computing company Ariba and Success Factors.

(Reporting By Andreas Cremer; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

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Top 3 Reasons Why You Need to Attend the Mashable Media Summit

The Mashable Media Summit is a rare and unique opportunity to be in the company of leaders from all areas of the industry. In less than one week, you'll hear from new media companies like Facebook, Tumblr and Reddit, as well as more traditional staples in media including The New York Times, Hearst and NPR. You'll hear the full story from every angle this Nov. 2 at the TimesCenter in New York City.

[More from Mashable: Only One Week Left to Score Your Media Summit Tickets]

Tickets are on the brink of selling out, so get yours now.

The Mashable Media Summit is a one-day conference that explores how new forms of technology are redefining media. Industry leaders will speak at the TimesCenter in New York City to explore the latest innovations in the space and the future of journalism. Tickets include all conference sessions, breakfast, lunch and a networking reception.

[More from Mashable: 45+ Social Media and Digital Marketing Events]

Here are the top three reasons why attending the 2012 Mashable Media Summit is a valuable investment for you and your organization.

1. Hearing from industry leaders: Experts from Hearst Corp., Google, Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, NPR, AKQA, DKNY, The New York Times and others will speak about the latest trends and innovations in media and advertising.
2. Networking with industry professionals: This one-day conference brings together a wide range of professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile and publishing. This is a perfect opportunity to network and form new business relationships.
3. Learning new information: With topics like "Politics Transformed," "Thinking Outside the App" and "Are Social Media Networks the Publishers of the Future?" you will learn actionable takeaways you can bring back to the office.

You can view the agenda online, and in the gallery below, get an inside look at some of the speakers who will appear on stage at the Media Summit. You don't want to miss out on this year's summit, get your tickets now before it's too late!

1. Alexis Ohanian

Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of popular social news site Reddit, also founded the social enterprise Breadpig, which publishes books featuring popular webcomics like XKCD. Fun fact: Ohanian helped launch Hipmunk, a travel site increasingly becoming a favorite booking choice among travelers.

Click here to view this gallery.

Mashable Media Summit Information

Date: Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 Time: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Location: The TimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street, New York, NY 10036 Tickets: Purchase tickets on Eventbrite.

A Look Back at Last Year's Mashable Media Summit

Media Summit 2011

The Mashable Media Summit on Nov. 4 at the Times Center in New York City attracted professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile and publishing from all over the world.

Click here to view this gallery.

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Sponsorship Opportunities

A limited number of sponsor opportunities are available for the Mashable Media Summit. This is an excellent opportunity to get in front of Mashable's passionate and influential audience. Contact sponsorships@mashable.com for opportunities.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Star Silicon Valley analyst felled by Facebook IPO fallout

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The firing of Citigroup stock analyst Mark Mahaney on Friday in the regulatory fallout from Facebook Inc's initial public offering was greeted with shock and dismay in Silicon Valley, where Mahaney was a well-known and well-liked figure.

"Pretty shocked," was the reaction of Jacob Funds Chief Executive Ryan Jacob, who described Mahaney as one of the most respected financial analysts covering the Internet industry.

"I'd put him at the top. If not at the top, then near the top," said Jacob. "He really knew what to look for."

In addition to firing Mahaney, Citigroup paid a $2 million fine to Massachusetts regulators to settle charges that the bank improperly disclosed research on Facebook ahead of its $16 billion IPO in May.

The settlement agreement said Mahaney failed to supervise a junior analyst who improperly shared Facebook research with the TechCrunch news website. (Settlement agreement: http://r.reuters.com/pyj63t)

The settlement agreement also outlined an incident in which Mahaney failed to get approval before responding to a journalist's questions about Google Inc -- and told a Citigroup compliance staffer that the conversation had not occurred -- even after being warned about unauthorized conversations with the media.

Mahaney declined to comment.

Mahaney got his start in the late 1990s, during the first dot-com boom where he worked at Morgan Stanley for Mary Meeker, one of the star analysts of the time. He went on to work at hedge fund Galleon Group before moving to Citigroup in 2005. Unlike most of his New York-based peers in the analyst world, Mahaney worked in San Francisco's financial district, close to the companies and personalities at the heart of the tech industry.

Earlier this month, Mahaney was named the top Internet analyst for the fifth straight year by Institutional Investor. The review cited fans of Mahaney who praised a "systematic" investment approach that allows him to avoid the "waffling" often evidenced by other analysts.

Mahaney's Buy rating on IAC/InteractiveCorp in April 2011, when the stock traded at $33.32, allowed investors to lock in a 51 percent gain before he downgraded the stock to a Hold at $50.31 a few months later, according to Institutional Investor.

But it wasn't only his stock picks that put him in good stead. He earned kudos for simply being a nice guy.

"He's a kind and thoughtful person and that's evident in the way he deals with people," said Jason Jones of Internet investment firm HighStep Capital. "He's very well liked on Wall Street because of that."

A CAUTIOUS VIEW ON FACEBOOK

Mahaney was only indirectly involved in the incident involving the Facebook research, according to the settlement agreement by Massachusetts regulators released on Friday. But the actions of the junior analyst who worked for him provide an unusual glimpse into the type of behind-the-scenes information trading that regulators are attempting to rein in.

While the Massachusetts regulators did not identify any of the individuals by name, Reuters has learned that the incident involved TechCrunch reporters Josh Constine and Kim-Mai Cutler as well as Citi junior analyst Eric Jacobs.

Jacobs, Constine and Cutler all did not respond to requests for comments.

In early May, shortly before Facebook's IPO, Jacobs sent an email to Cutler and Constine. Constine attended Stanford University at the same time as Jacobs.

Constine, who studied social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for his 2009 Master's degree in cybersociology at Stanford, had a close friendship with Jacobs, according to the settlement agreement.

"I am ramping up coverage on FB and thought you guys might like to see how the street is thinking about it (and our estimates)," Jacobs wrote in the email. The email included an "outline" that Jacobs said would eventually become the firm's 30-40 page initiation report on Facebook.

He also included a "Facebook One Pager" document, which contained confidential, non-public information that Citigroup obtained in order to help begin covering Facebook after the IPO.

Asked by Constine if the information could be published and attributed to an anonymous source, Jacobs responded that "my boss would eat me alive," the agreement said.

A spokeswoman for AOL Inc, which owns TechCrunch, declined to answer questions on the matter, saying only that "We are looking into the matter and have no comment at this time."

Ironically, Mahaney was one of a small group of analysts at the many banks underwriting Facebook's IPO who had cautious views of the richly valued offering. Mahaney initiated coverage of the company with a neutral rating.

Analysts at the top three underwriters on Facebook's IPO - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan - started the stock with overweight or buy recommendations.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Facebook had pre-briefed analysts for its underwriters ahead of its IPO, advising them to reduce their profit and revenue forecasts.

Facebook, whose stock was priced at $38 a share in the IPO, closed Friday's regular session at $21.94 and has traded as low as $17.55.

"There were tens of billions of dollars in losses based on hyping the name, a lack of skeptical information and misunderstanding the company," said Max Wolff, chief economist and senior analyst at research firm GreenCrest Capital.

"It's highly unfortunate and darkly ironic that one of the signature regulatory actions from this IPO so far involves punishing analysts for disseminating cautious information about Facebook," he added.

(Editing by Jonathan Weber, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tech CEOs trade barbs, warm up for holiday tablet wars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The biggest names in consumer technology, stung by a string of disappointing quarterly results this month, are suiting up for what's shaping to be the fiercest holiday battle in years.

Investors and consumers have already largely written off flaccid quarterly numbers from tech behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. What counts is the next 60 days, when the biggest names in technology do battle at a near-unprecedented scale and pace.

Just on Thursday, Amazon compared its Kindle Fire with Apple's new iPad mini, point by point, in its earnings release, an unusual forum to name rivals. Apple CEO Tim Cook compared Microsoft's Surface tablet to an over-engineered car that can fly and float. And Microsoft went for the iPad, saying its Surface boasted twice its storage.

All three tablets will vie for the shrinking consumer dollar these holidays. By tech standards, it's getting ugly.

"The tablet space is where the growth is. That's why they are all fighting over it. PC shipments are down and some tablet buyers may never buy another PC," said Michael Allenson, strategic consulting director in the Technology and Telecom Research Group at Maritz Research.

"Last holiday season, we saw a lot of buying of tablets in the $200 to $300 price range. This year, the iPad mini and Amazon's Kindle Fires are targeted as large gifts. They are trying to ride that wave and win as much as they can."

The impending clash is far from decided.

Odds-on favorite Apple has lost some of its aura of invincibility, with Google's Android and Samsung making inroads into its reign in smartphones, Microsoft's quickening marketing blitz, and Amazon's Kindle nipping at its heels as the No. 2 tablet in the United States market.

That competition has weighed on Apple's share price, which is at three-month lows after it reported a second straight quarter of disappointing results, sullying its reputation for blowing away Wall Street estimates.

Google is struggling to figure out the dollars and cents of the mobile market and Microsoft is facing witheringly unimpressed reviews for its new Windows 8 platform and Surface tablet.

Meanwhile, Amazon's outlook for the holiday season is being taken as a disappointment, and Best Buy warned late Wednesday that sales and margins are falling.

CLAWS COME OUT

Tech companies hope lackluster calendar third-quarter results mean consumers have held off from buying gadgets so they can save up for something new and shiny this Christmas -- from the lowest-end Fire at $159 to a Surface around $499 or the biggest, fastest, newest iPad at $829.

The technology industry is grappling with a fundamental shift from deskbound computers or heavy laptops to sleek mobile devices like tablets, which are upending the traditional PC model and prompting companies like Google and Microsoft to invest deeply in hardware manufacturing.

Their entry however is raising the competitive stakes. Companies like Apple usually spend most of their time talking about how great their own products are, but with the competition more intense than ever, Apple CEO Cook spared a not-so-kind thought for Microsoft on Thursday.

"I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it, is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product," he said, later adding "I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do all of those things very well."

Cook may have been going for levity, but the Twitterati booed his joke, since after all most gadget-heads would be very content with a flying, floating car.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, for his part, was pretty impressed with the company's handiwork, notwithstanding reviews that used words like "disappointing" and "undercooked."

"We have a device that's uniquely good at being a tablet and a PC (with) no compromise on either one," Ballmer told Reuters Television ahead of the Windows 8 launch event in New York on Thursday. "Work. Play. Tablet. PC. Boom! One product."

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, in a talk this month, took a shot at Apple, which has faced a barrage of complaints about glitches in its mapping software since dumping Google's service from its iPhone.

"What Apple has learned is that maps are really hard. They really are hard," he said. "Apple should have kept with our maps."

Not to be outdone in the sniping, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos took a subtle swipe at Apple's high prices in the Internet retailer's quarterly results statement Thursday, saying "our approach is to work hard to charge less."

Right below those comments, Amazon listed head-to-head comparisons between its $299 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet, its $199 7-inch Kindle Fire HD device and Apple's iPad mini, which was unveiled on Tuesday.

Analysts were taken aback by how brazen Amazon was being in taking shots at peers.

"I have never seen them directly compare products in a results release like this, and in so much detail clearly calling out their competitors," said RJ Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This shows they are taking the tablet wars very seriously."

(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; editing by Edwin Chan and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

Surface tablet buzz starts, but Windows 8 excitement muted

SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers woke up with mild Surface fever on Friday, lining up in moderate numbers to buy Microsoft's groundbreaking tablet computer designed to challenge Apple's iPad.

The global debut of the Windows 8 operating system was greeted with pockets of enthusiasm, but not the mania reserved for some previous Apple Inc launches.

Microsoft is positioning the slick new computing device, which runs a limited version of Windows and Office with a thin, click-on keyboard cover, as a perfect combination of PC and tablet that is good for work as well as entertainment.

"I like the flexibility of having the keyboard and the touch capability," said Mike Gipe, 50, who works in sales for bank Barclays, and was planning to buy a Surface tablet at Microsoft's pop-up store in Times Square in New York.

"It's the combination of having the consumer stuff and the work stuff," he said, looking forward to using Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations on the new device.

The Times Square store was the first to sell the Surface -- Microsoft's first ever own-brand computer -- and other Windows 8 devices late on Thursday and will be open through the holiday shopping season. On Friday morning it was crowded with a mix of tourists and local office workers, but the cash tills were not jammed.

"With the other tablets you're a consumer. With this you can have input," said Peter Townsend, on vacation in New York from Australia with his wife, who bought a Surface tablet because he liked the keyboard.

Mark Pauluch, 28, who works for a New York private equity firm, said he would like a Surface because he does not want to take a laptop on a plane, but was disappointed when the sales representative told him the wifi-only Surface would not work with Cisco VPN networking.

"I can't use this to replace my work laptop unless it supports VPN," he said.

MIDWEST, WEST COAST

Elsewhere in the United States, there was solid but not overwhelming interest for the Surface.

"It's a good tablet. I am not a huge i-anything fan, I like Windows," said Matt Shanahan, a software developer who drove four hours to the tiny Michigan Avenue pop-up store in Chicago from Grand Rapids, Michigan to buy a Surface. "My friend and I are software developers and this gives us an opportunity to develop new apps," he said.

In a pop-up store at the San Francisco Centre mall about 50 people lined up to buy the new Surface.

"On an iPad you have to use half the screen for a keyboard, or buy an accessory. I love that the Surface is so integrated, that you can type and use Word and all my other programs," said Malte von Sehested, a textbook creator who bought a Surface.

"With the Surface you get a steeper learning curve -- I had to get someone to show me how to side-swipe, swipe out to get the menus for instance," he said. "It may take a week, before it all becomes natural. That could be a problem for Microsoft. My old dad, he would get hit by that steeper learning curve."

ANALYSTS PATIENT

Wall Street and tech industry experts failed to show great enthusiasm for Windows 8, but were prepared to give Microsoft time to succeed.

"Microsoft did not come out with Windows 8 thinking it will be an overnight success," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "But there's hope that this could be the silver bullet of growth (for Microsoft) as well as giving the PC industry some optimism that there's better days ahead."

The next six to 12 months is a "crucial period" for Microsoft to get traction with consumers, added Ives.

Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at tech research firm Forrester, said consumers may be best served waiting for tablets running the full Windows 8 Pro and Intel Corp chips, which are due out early next year.

"Windows 8 has a lot of great features, but RT has a long way to go," she said, citing a lack of apps and poor video performance on the Surface.

"It's not really a PC. RT is too restricted. Some people will be happier with the full Windows 8," she said.

Microsoft shares were up 33 cents at $28.21 on Nasdaq on Friday. Apple shares were down slightly after disappointing earnings on Thursday.

(Reporting By Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Chicago, Sinead Carew and Nicola Leske in New York, Edwin Chan in San Francisco; Editing by Alden Bentley)

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

Headphone Round Up: Our Top Picks [PICS]

Tinkering in his kitchen, electrical engineer Nathaniel Baldwin created the first set of headphones more than a century ago and sold them to the U.S. Navy. Since that time headphones have evolved from a military tool to a consumer product. By 2016, the headphone manufacturing industry is expected to increase by $1.18 billion, according to market research firm IBISWorld.

Headphones are for more than just hearing your music or taking a call on your mobile -- these days, they're a fashion statement. And there's no lack of options when it comes to color, size and design. Of course, sound quality and price are key factors, too. Whether you're looking for a top-notch set (there are a lot of good ones in this gallery) or something that makes a statement (we listed colorful and bling-y ones, too), we've got you covered.

[More from Mashable: Parrot Zik Bluetooth Headphones: High End and High Comfort]

Check out our photo gallery of headphones (12 in total) and tell us, which ones are your favorite?

Ematic's Mint II Designer headphones ($14.99)

These candy-colored headphones have an adjustable headband and cushion-y ear pads.

[More from Mashable: 5 Volume-Limiting Headphones Designed for Children]

Click here to view this gallery.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, ShaneKato

This story originally published on Mashable here.

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tech CEOs trade barbs, warm up for holiday tablet wars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The biggest names in consumer technology, stung by a string of disappointing quarterly results this month, are suiting up for what's shaping to be the fiercest holiday battle in years.

Investors and consumers have already largely written off flaccid quarterly numbers from tech behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. What counts is the next 60 days, when the biggest names in technology do battle at a near-unprecedented scale and pace.

Just on Thursday, Amazon compared its Kindle Fire with Apple's new iPad mini, point by point, in its earnings release, an unusual forum to name rivals. Apple CEO Tim Cook compared Microsoft's Surface tablet to an over-engineered car that can fly and float. And Microsoft went for the iPad, saying its Surface boasted twice its storage.

All three tablets will vie for the shrinking consumer dollar these holidays. By tech standards, it's getting ugly.

"The tablet space is where the growth is. That's why they are all fighting over it. PC shipments are down and some tablet buyers may never buy another PC," said Michael Allenson, strategic consulting director in the Technology and Telecom Research Group at Maritz Research.

"Last holiday season, we saw a lot of buying of tablets in the $200 to $300 price range. This year, the iPad mini and Amazon's Kindle Fires are targeted as large gifts. They are trying to ride that wave and win as much as they can."

The impending clash is far from decided.

Odds-on favorite Apple has lost some of its aura of invincibility, with Google's Android and Samsung making inroads into its reign in smartphones, Microsoft's quickening marketing blitz, and Amazon's Kindle nipping at its heels as the No. 2 tablet in the United States market.

That competition has weighed on Apple's share price, which is at three-month lows after it reported a second straight quarter of disappointing results, sullying its reputation for blowing away Wall Street estimates.

Google is struggling to figure out the dollars and cents of the mobile market and Microsoft is facing witheringly unimpressed reviews for its new Windows 8 platform and Surface tablet.

Meanwhile, Amazon's outlook for the holiday season is being taken as a disappointment, and Best Buy warned late Wednesday that sales and margins are falling.

CLAWS COME OUT

Tech companies hope lackluster calendar third-quarter results mean consumers have held off from buying gadgets so they can save up for something new and shiny this Christmas -- from the lowest-end Fire at $159 to a Surface around $499 or the biggest, fastest, newest iPad at $829.

The technology industry is grappling with a fundamental shift from deskbound computers or heavy laptops to sleek mobile devices like tablets, which are upending the traditional PC model and prompting companies like Google and Microsoft to invest deeply in hardware manufacturing.

Their entry however is raising the competitive stakes. Companies like Apple usually spend most of their time talking about how great their own products are, but with the competition more intense than ever, Apple CEO Cook spared a not-so-kind thought for Microsoft on Thursday.

"I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it, is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product," he said, later adding "I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do all of those things very well."

Cook may have been going for levity, but the Twitterati booed his joke, since after all most gadget-heads would be very content with a flying, floating car.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, for his part, was pretty impressed with the company's handiwork, notwithstanding reviews that used words like "disappointing" and "undercooked."

"We have a device that's uniquely good at being a tablet and a PC (with) no compromise on either one," Ballmer told Reuters Television ahead of the Windows 8 launch event in New York on Thursday. "Work. Play. Tablet. PC. Boom! One product."

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, in a talk this month, took a shot at Apple, which has faced a barrage of complaints about glitches in its mapping software since dumping Google's service from its iPhone.

"What Apple has learned is that maps are really hard. They really are hard," he said. "Apple should have kept with our maps."

Not to be outdone in the sniping, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos took a subtle swipe at Apple's high prices in the Internet retailer's quarterly results statement Thursday, saying "our approach is to work hard to charge less."

Right below those comments, Amazon listed head-to-head comparisons between its $299 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet, its $199 7-inch Kindle Fire HD device and Apple's iPad mini, which was unveiled on Tuesday.

Analysts were taken aback by how brazen Amazon was being in taking shots at peers.

"I have never seen them directly compare products in a results release like this, and in so much detail clearly calling out their competitors," said RJ Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This shows they are taking the tablet wars very seriously."

(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; editing by Edwin Chan and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

How to Get Windows 8 Now

Microsoft officially launched its Windows 8 operating system Friday, but you will only find the software on brand new computer systems.

[More from Mashable: Windows 8 Users, Google Wants You Back [VIDEO]]

The good news, however, is that you can now upgrade existing systems to Windows 8 Pro via digital download or through various retailers.

Understanding the Different Windows 8 Retail Options

In the past, Microsoft has offered Windows in lots of different flavors. For instance, Windows 7 was available in six different varieties -- something we found just a little bit insane. Fortunately, Microsoft has cut down its Windows 8 offerings quite a bit.

[More from Mashable: Bing Releases 'One-Stop-Shop' for Election 2012 Info]

For home users, the only version of Windows 8 you can buy in stores as either an upgrade or new software package is Windows 8 Pro. There is a more basic version of Windows 8 (dubbed simply, "Windows 8"), but it's only available pre-installed on select tablets and PCs. OEMs and system builders can purchase standalone versions of Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro from retailers such as Newegg and Amazon.com. Windows 8 Enterprise is available via Microsoft's Software Assurance program and to MSDN and TechNet Professional subscribers.

Windows 8 was designed to work natively with touch screens and to bridge the usability gap between traditional PC computers and tablets. In addition to Windows 8 for consumers, Windows 8 Pro for enthusiasts or businesses, there is also Windows 8 Enterprise for large organizations (think Pfizer).

Upgrade Quickly and Cheaply

Upgrading your existing PC is the easiest way to get your hands on Windows 8 Pro. The company is offering users of Windows 7, XP SP3 and Windows Vista a device upgrade for $39.99 until January 31, 2013. To make sure your system can handle it, check the requirements here.

Meanwhile, customers who buy a Windows 7 PC now -- or did so after June 2, 2012 -- can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for even less -- $14.99 via its Windows Upgrade Offer.

Although Windows 8 Pro is already downloadable by a click of a button online, it can also be purchased boxed software too. Windows 8 Pro is available via various retailers, such as Amazon ($68.88), Best Buy ($69.99) and Microsoft's store ($69.99). You can get a copy of the software on DVD or just get an activation code.

And of course, if you've been relying on an old PC for too long, manufacturers have already added Windows 8 to its systems. From the Acer Aspire S7-391 to the Dell XPS 13, there are a slew of options available with Windows 8. For a full list, click here.

Microsoft is also offering a free Media Pack add-on for Windows 8 Pro, which turns your machine into a Media Center PC, so you can watch and record live TV. Those who purchase Windows 8 Pro can request a coupon code for the upgrade, which is good until January 31, 2012.

How are you going to get Windows 8? Let us know in the comments.

Toshiba

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

Surface tablet buzz starts, but Windows 8 excitement muted

SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers woke up with mild Surface fever on Friday, lining up in moderate numbers to buy Microsoft's groundbreaking tablet computer designed to challenge Apple's iPad.

The global debut of the Windows 8 operating system was greeted with pockets of enthusiasm, but not the mania reserved for some previous Apple Inc launches.

Microsoft is positioning the slick new computing device, which runs a limited version of Windows and Office with a thin, click-on keyboard cover, as a perfect combination of PC and tablet that is good for work as well as entertainment.

"I like the flexibility of having the keyboard and the touch capability," said Mike Gipe, 50, who works in sales for bank Barclays, and was planning to buy a Surface tablet at Microsoft's pop-up store in Times Square in New York.

"It's the combination of having the consumer stuff and the work stuff," he said, looking forward to using Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations on the new device.

The Times Square store was the first to sell the Surface -- Microsoft's first ever own-brand computer -- and other Windows 8 devices late on Thursday and will be open through the holiday shopping season. On Friday morning it was crowded with a mix of tourists and local office workers, but the cash tills were not jammed.

"With the other tablets you're a consumer. With this you can have input," said Peter Townsend, on vacation in New York from Australia with his wife, who bought a Surface tablet because he liked the keyboard.

Mark Pauluch, 28, who works for a New York private equity firm, said he would like a Surface because he does not want to take a laptop on a plane, but was disappointed when the sales representative told him the wifi-only Surface would not work with Cisco VPN networking.

"I can't use this to replace my work laptop unless it supports VPN," he said.

MIDWEST, WEST COAST

Elsewhere in the United States, there was solid but not overwhelming interest for the Surface.

"It's a good tablet. I am not a huge i-anything fan, I like Windows," said Matt Shanahan, a software developer who drove four hours to the tiny Michigan Avenue pop-up store in Chicago from Grand Rapids, Michigan to buy a Surface. "My friend and I are software developers and this gives us an opportunity to develop new apps," he said.

In a pop-up store at the San Francisco Centre mall about 50 people lined up to buy the new Surface.

"On an iPad you have to use half the screen for a keyboard, or buy an accessory. I love that the Surface is so integrated, that you can type and use Word and all my other programs," said Malte von Sehested, a textbook creator who bought a Surface.

"With the Surface you get a steeper learning curve -- I had to get someone to show me how to side-swipe, swipe out to get the menus for instance," he said. "It may take a week, before it all becomes natural. That could be a problem for Microsoft. My old dad, he would get hit by that steeper learning curve."

ANALYSTS PATIENT

Wall Street and tech industry experts failed to show great enthusiasm for Windows 8, but were prepared to give Microsoft time to succeed.

"Microsoft did not come out with Windows 8 thinking it will be an overnight success," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "But there's hope that this could be the silver bullet of growth (for Microsoft) as well as giving the PC industry some optimism that there's better days ahead."

The next six to 12 months is a "crucial period" for Microsoft to get traction with consumers, added Ives.

Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at tech research firm Forrester, said consumers may be best served waiting for tablets running the full Windows 8 Pro and Intel Corp chips, which are due out early next year.

"Windows 8 has a lot of great features, but RT has a long way to go," she said, citing a lack of apps and poor video performance on the Surface.

"It's not really a PC. RT is too restricted. Some people will be happier with the full Windows 8," she said.

Microsoft shares were up 33 cents at $28.21 on Nasdaq on Friday. Apple shares were down slightly after disappointing earnings on Thursday.

(Reporting By Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Chicago, Sinead Carew and Nicola Leske in New York, Edwin Chan in San Francisco; Editing by Alden Bentley)

11.36 | 0 komentar | Read More

Star Silicon Valley analyst felled by Facebook IPO fallout

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The firing of Citigroup stock analyst Mark Mahaney on Friday in the regulatory fallout from Facebook Inc's initial public offering was greeted with shock and dismay in Silicon Valley, where Mahaney was a well-known and well-liked figure.

"Pretty shocked," was the reaction of Jacob Funds Chief Executive Ryan Jacob, who described Mahaney as one of the most respected financial analysts covering the Internet industry.

"I'd put him at the top. If not at the top, then near the top," said Jacob. "He really knew what to look for."

In addition to firing Mahaney, Citigroup paid a $2 million fine to Massachusetts regulators to settle charges that the bank improperly disclosed research on Facebook ahead of its $16 billion IPO in May.

The settlement agreement said Mahaney failed to supervise a junior analyst who improperly shared Facebook research with the TechCrunch news website. (Settlement agreement: http://r.reuters.com/pyj63t)

The settlement agreement also outlined an incident in which Mahaney failed to get approval before responding to a journalist's questions about Google Inc -- and told a Citigroup compliance staffer that the conversation had not occurred -- even after being warned about unauthorized conversations with the media.

Mahaney declined to comment.

Mahaney got his start in the late 1990s, during the first dot-com boom where he worked at Morgan Stanley for Mary Meeker, one of the star analysts of the time. He went on to work at hedge fund Galleon Group before moving to Citigroup in 2005. Unlike most of his New York-based peers in the analyst world, Mahaney worked in San Francisco's financial district, close to the companies and personalities at the heart of the tech industry.

Earlier this month, Mahaney was named the top Internet analyst for the fifth straight year by Institutional Investor. The review cited fans of Mahaney who praised a "systematic" investment approach that allows him to avoid the "waffling" often evidenced by other analysts.

Mahaney's Buy rating on IAC/InteractiveCorp in April 2011, when the stock traded at $33.32, allowed investors to lock in a 51 percent gain before he downgraded the stock to a Hold at $50.31 a few months later, according to Institutional Investor.

But it wasn't only his stock picks that put him in good stead. He earned kudos for simply being a nice guy.

"He's a kind and thoughtful person and that's evident in the way he deals with people," said Jason Jones of Internet investment firm HighStep Capital. "He's very well liked on Wall Street because of that."

A CAUTIOUS VIEW ON FACEBOOK

Mahaney was only indirectly involved in the incident involving the Facebook research, according to the settlement agreement by Massachusetts regulators released on Friday. But the actions of the junior analyst who worked for him provide an unusual glimpse into the type of behind-the-scenes information trading that regulators are attempting to rein in.

While the Massachusetts regulators did not identify any of the individuals by name, Reuters has learned that the incident involved TechCrunch reporters Josh Constine and Kim-Mai Cutler as well as Citi junior analyst Eric Jacobs.

Jacobs, Constine and Cutler all did not respond to requests for comments.

In early May, shortly before Facebook's IPO, Jacobs sent an email to Cutler and Constine. Constine attended Stanford University at the same time as Jacobs.

Constine, who studied social networks such as Facebook and Twitter for his 2009 Master's degree in cybersociology at Stanford, had a close friendship with Jacobs, according to the settlement agreement.

"I am ramping up coverage on FB and thought you guys might like to see how the street is thinking about it (and our estimates)," Jacobs wrote in the email. The email included an "outline" that Jacobs said would eventually become the firm's 30-40 page initiation report on Facebook.

He also included a "Facebook One Pager" document, which contained confidential, non-public information that Citigroup obtained in order to help begin covering Facebook after the IPO.

Asked by Constine if the information could be published and attributed to an anonymous source, Jacobs responded that "my boss would eat me alive," the agreement said.

A spokeswoman for AOL Inc, which owns TechCrunch, declined to answer questions on the matter, saying only that "We are looking into the matter and have no comment at this time."

Ironically, Mahaney was one of a small group of analysts at the many banks underwriting Facebook's IPO who had cautious views of the richly valued offering. Mahaney initiated coverage of the company with a neutral rating.

Analysts at the top three underwriters on Facebook's IPO - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan - started the stock with overweight or buy recommendations.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Facebook had pre-briefed analysts for its underwriters ahead of its IPO, advising them to reduce their profit and revenue forecasts.

Facebook, whose stock was priced at $38 a share in the IPO, closed Friday's regular session at $21.94 and has traded as low as $17.55.

"There were tens of billions of dollars in losses based on hyping the name, a lack of skeptical information and misunderstanding the company," said Max Wolff, chief economist and senior analyst at research firm GreenCrest Capital.

"It's highly unfortunate and darkly ironic that one of the signature regulatory actions from this IPO so far involves punishing analysts for disseminating cautious information about Facebook," he added.

(Editing by Jonathan Weber, Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker)

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Is This the Slimmest iPhone Case Ever?

Though iPhones may be beautiful just the way they are, you'll still need a case to protect them. But how minimalist can an iPhone case get?

[More from Mashable: Which Blends Better: iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy SIII? [VIDEO]]

Enter Slimline. Stanley Prato and Gaetan Policard are Miami-based entrepreneurs wanted to create a case that would simplify protection. Slimline was their answer. Raising your iPhone just enough off the any surface to keep it protected are two flexible polyurethane strips. The shell of the case is made of polycarbonate.

[More from Mashable: Watch SNL Hilariously Spoof iPhone 5 Critics, Factory Workers]

With the iPhone 5 being the slimmest and lightest iphone yet, the Slimline was designed to seamlessly protect your phone without looking like an ad-on.

Production is set for the end of the year, a deadline the two friends hope to meet with their Kickstarter fund. They have received $12,280 of the pledged $25,000 goal.

1. Case Zero 5

At just 0.5 mm, the Zero 5 is seriously slim. Made of durable "TR90" material, it comes in a clear matte, clear gloss or a range of colors. For: iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5, Cost: $19.90

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Tech CEOs trade barbs, warm up for holiday tablet wars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The biggest names in consumer technology, stung by a string of disappointing quarterly results this month, are suiting up for what's shaping to be the fiercest holiday battle in years.

Investors and consumers have already largely written off flaccid quarterly numbers from tech behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. What counts is the next 60 days, when the biggest names in technology do battle at a near-unprecedented scale and pace.

Just on Thursday, Amazon compared its Kindle Fire with Apple's new iPad mini, point by point, in its earnings release, an unusual forum to name rivals. Apple CEO Tim Cook compared Microsoft's Surface tablet to an over-engineered car that can fly and float. And Microsoft went for the iPad, saying its Surface boasted twice its storage.

All three tablets will vie for the shrinking consumer dollar these holidays. By tech standards, it's getting ugly.

"The tablet space is where the growth is. That's why they are all fighting over it. PC shipments are down and some tablet buyers may never buy another PC," said Michael Allenson, strategic consulting director in the Technology and Telecom Research Group at Maritz Research.

"Last holiday season, we saw a lot of buying of tablets in the $200 to $300 price range. This year, the iPad mini and Amazon's Kindle Fires are targeted as large gifts. They are trying to ride that wave and win as much as they can."

The impending clash is far from decided.

Odds-on favorite Apple has lost some of its aura of invincibility, with Google's Android and Samsung making inroads into its reign in smartphones, Microsoft's quickening marketing blitz, and Amazon's Kindle nipping at its heels as the No. 2 tablet in the United States market.

That competition has weighed on Apple's share price, which is at three-month lows after it reported a second straight quarter of disappointing results, sullying its reputation for blowing away Wall Street estimates.

Google is struggling to figure out the dollars and cents of the mobile market and Microsoft is facing witheringly unimpressed reviews for its new Windows 8 platform and Surface tablet.

Meanwhile, Amazon's outlook for the holiday season is being taken as a disappointment, and Best Buy warned late Wednesday that sales and margins are falling.

CLAWS COME OUT

Tech companies hope lackluster calendar third-quarter results mean consumers have held off from buying gadgets so they can save up for something new and shiny this Christmas -- from the lowest-end Fire at $159 to a Surface around $499 or the biggest, fastest, newest iPad at $829.

The technology industry is grappling with a fundamental shift from deskbound computers or heavy laptops to sleek mobile devices like tablets, which are upending the traditional PC model and prompting companies like Google and Microsoft to invest deeply in hardware manufacturing.

Their entry however is raising the competitive stakes. Companies like Apple usually spend most of their time talking about how great their own products are, but with the competition more intense than ever, Apple CEO Cook spared a not-so-kind thought for Microsoft on Thursday.

"I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it, is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product," he said, later adding "I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do all of those things very well."

Cook may have been going for levity, but the Twitterati booed his joke, since after all most gadget-heads would be very content with a flying, floating car.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, for his part, was pretty impressed with the company's handiwork, notwithstanding reviews that used words like "disappointing" and "undercooked."

"We have a device that's uniquely good at being a tablet and a PC (with) no compromise on either one," Ballmer told Reuters Television ahead of the Windows 8 launch event in New York on Thursday. "Work. Play. Tablet. PC. Boom! One product."

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, in a talk this month, took a shot at Apple, which has faced a barrage of complaints about glitches in its mapping software since dumping Google's service from its iPhone.

"What Apple has learned is that maps are really hard. They really are hard," he said. "Apple should have kept with our maps."

Not to be outdone in the sniping, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos took a subtle swipe at Apple's high prices in the Internet retailer's quarterly results statement Thursday, saying "our approach is to work hard to charge less."

Right below those comments, Amazon listed head-to-head comparisons between its $299 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet, its $199 7-inch Kindle Fire HD device and Apple's iPad mini, which was unveiled on Tuesday.

Analysts were taken aback by how brazen Amazon was being in taking shots at peers.

"I have never seen them directly compare products in a results release like this, and in so much detail clearly calling out their competitors," said RJ Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This shows they are taking the tablet wars very seriously."

(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; editing by Edwin Chan and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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Apple iPad sales disappoint, Street eyes the holidays

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc delivered a second straight quarter of disappointing results and iPad sales fell well short of Wall Street's targets, marring its record of consistently blowing past investors' expectations.

Shares in the world's most valuable technology company briefly dipped to levels not seen since the start of August, after it delivered a 27 percent rise in revenue for its fourth quarter while earnings rose 24 percent.

The numbers, while in line with expectations, lacked the positive surprises that investors had grown used to and came after Apple undershot revenue targets in the previous quarter. Its shares bounced back, however, after CEO Tim Cook told analysts on a conference call that the latest iPhone 5 was heavily backlogged but the company had mostly worked out kinks in its iPhone supply chain.

Apple shipped 26.9 million iPhones in the last quarter, somewhat higher than the 25 million to 26 million that Wall Street analysts had predicted. But sales of the iPad came in at 14 million, well below lowered forecasts for the tablet as the economy remained weak and consumers awaited the iPad mini, which will hit store shelves next month.

Analysts say the real test for the company will come during the crucial holiday shopping season, when competition will reach fever-pitch with Apple, Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp all fielding new gadgets.

"Going into earnings we were wondering if the slowing economy will catch up with Wall Street and it has," said Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund.

"Apple is very well-positioned with the iPad and now the iPad mini. It has a great smartphone and we expect the iPhone 5 to sell very well. The outlook is conservative but that's not surprising. Err on the side of caution is a proven formula."

Just hours after Apple's results, its main smartphone rival Samsung Electronics Co reported a near doubling in quarterly earnings, and while it did not detail smartphone shipments, they are estimated to have surged to 58 million.

Apple heads into the current quarter after refreshing almost all of its product lines, including introducing an upgraded, fourth-generation full-sized iPad. The December quarter will show how well consumers respond to Apple's latest gamble - the iPad mini that will go on sale on November 2.

CAR THAT FLIES AND FLOATS

For the December quarter, Apple forecast revenue of $52 billion, below the average estimate of $55 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It is expecting margins to come in at 36 percent, far lower than analysts' expected 43 percent.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer mostly attributed the lower margin and conservative guidance to a combination of a stronger dollar, higher costs associated with new products, and the fact that Apple's next fiscal quarter has one less week than the same period a year ago.

Apple's stock was holding steady at $609.40 in extended trade after flirting with the $600 level. The shares had ended regular trade at $609.54.

Supply constraints holding up sales of the iPad and iPhone dominated discussions between analysts and Apple executives during the post-results conference call. Apple had struggled to deliver large quantities of the iPhone 5 since its launch in late September, with the waitlist for the device at one point stretching to three weeks in some regions.

"Our supply output is significantly higher than it was earlier in October," Cook said, referring to the iPhone 5. "And I'm confident that we'll be able to supply quite a few during the quarter."

Cook also opined on Microsoft's new Windows 8-based Surface tablet that will hit stores in the wee hours of Friday.

"I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it, is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product," he said. "I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do all of those things very well."

Despite the lackluster fourth quarter, Apple put up big numbers for the year. It ended its fiscal 2012 with a 45 percent increase in revenue to $156.5 billion, while net income was up 61 percent at $41.7 billion.

For the final fiscal quarter, it posted net income of $8.2 billion or $8.67 a diluted share in the fiscal fourth quarter on revenue of $35.96 billion, versus $6.6 billion or $7.05 a share a year earlier. Analysts had expected on average that Apple would earn $8.75 per share.

Apple ended the quarter with $121.3 billion in cash and securities, of which $83 billion was offshore.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Richard Chang and Edmund Klamann)

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Samsung says to book patent provisions after U.S. ruling

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will book patent-related provisions once a U.S. court makes a ruling on its over $1 billion litigation with Apple Inc, it said on Friday.

"The amount of provisioning will be fixed according to U.S. court ruling, and the costs will be set aside this quarter only if there's a ruling within the current quarter," Robert Yi, head of Samsung investor relations, told analysts.

A U.S. federal jury said in late August that Samsung had copied key features of Apple's iPhone, and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

Apple has since asked for additional damages of $707 million, and the California court is set to rule on the case in early December.

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

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U.S. ITC judge says Samsung infringed Apple patents

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of smartphones, infringed Apple patents to make its smartphones and tablets, a U.S. trade panel judge said in a preliminary decision issued on Wednesday.

Apple had filed a complaint in mid-2011, accusing Samsung of infringing its patents in making its Captivate, Transform and Fascinate smartphones, as well as the Galaxy Tablet.

Judge Thomas Pender said that Samsung infringed four Apple patents but did not violate two others listed in the complaint. There had been seven listed initially, but one was dropped during litigation.

The full International Trade Commission will decide in February whether to uphold or reject the judge's decision.

Samsung was found to infringe an Apple patent that helps the touchscreen interpret whether the user wants, for example, to scroll up and down or switch between applications. It was also found to have infringed a patent that allows the device to show an image on a screen with a second, translucent image over it.

Apple is waging war on several fronts against Google, whose Android software powers many of Samsung's devices. The battles between Apple and Samsung have taken place in some 10 countries as they vie for market share in the booming mobile industry.

Apple has asked a federal court in California and the ITC to permanently ban Samsung products that infringe Apple patents. Neither the judge nor the ITC has ruled on the issue.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Dutch court ruled that Samsung did not infringe Apple patents by using certain multi-touch techniques on some of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers.

Apple scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung in August when a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages. Samsung has appealed that verdict.

Google's Android software, which Apple's late founder Steve Jobs denounced as a "stolen product," has become the world's No.1 smartphone operating system. Apple's legal battle against it has dragged in hardware vendors who use it, including Samsung and HTC.

Samsung is also a parts supplier to Apple, producing micro processors, flat screens and memory chips - both dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips and NAND memory chips - for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Apple has reduced orders from Samsung for chips and screens.

The case at the International Trade Commission is No. 337-796.

(Reporting By Diane Bartz; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Dan Grebler)

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Tech focus now on Microsoft Windows 8, Surface tablet

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Firm sales numbers for Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 and its new Surface tablet will not be available for three months, but it may be clear long before then if it has a hit on its hands.

"We can definitely gauge it by chatter," said Emily Chan, an analyst at Bernstein Research. "There is a slight learning curve, so I don't think we will see that big pop that iPad saw."

Microsoft is desperate for the new-look, touch-friendly Windows 8 to grip customers' imaginations, as it looks to regain ground lost to Apple Inc and Google Inc in mobile computing and shake up the moribund PC market.

Perhaps more important is its new own-brand tablet called the Surface, available only through its own stores and website, which will challenge Apple's iPad head on.

"I'd want to know the sales - and return rate - of the Surface," said Sarah Rotman Epps at tech research firm Forrester. "But those numbers will be hard to get since Microsoft is the only retailer."

Early reviews of the Surface have been mixed, generally praising the slick hardware, but faulting battery life and the limited software and applications available.

Some worry that the first Surface model, which runs on a stripped-down version of Windows 8 called RT that is not compatible with old Windows programs, will cause some confusion and dissatisfaction among customers.

The three models for sale on Microsoft's U.S. website are already on back order, suggesting strong demand, but it is not known how many Surfaces Microsoft has manufactured.

"The fact it's back ordered is indicative that there's consumer interest," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at tech research firm Gartner. "How Microsoft introduces it, evangelizes it and explains it will determine long term success."

BALLMER NOISE

Microsoft has not said if it will reveal sales figures for Windows 8 or of the Surface before its next scheduled earnings on January 24. The company tends to trumpet good news and stay silent otherwise.

After the launch of Windows 7 three years ago, CEO Steve Ballmer waited only a month to announce strong sales. A year later, he waited only 10 days to report record-breaking sales of the Kinect, the motion-sensing add-on for the Xbox. But Microsoft has never shared the sales of Windows-powered phones, which have a lowly 3 percent of the market.

If Ballmer stays silent about Windows 8 sales, it might indicate a less than stellar performance.

"I would definitely take it a sign that it's not super, super strong, but I won't take it as something negative," said Chan at Bernstein, who is expecting 8.3 million Surface sales by the middle of next year.

That averages out at about 1 million a month, a third the rate of the iPad, which notched up its first million sales in 28 days and has now sold more than 100 million units, averaging about 3.2 million a month.

Gartner forecasts that Surface and other tablets running Windows RT will sell about 2.3 million units this year and 9.3 million next year, grabbing about 2 percent and 5 percent of the worldwide tablet market, respectively.

DOOR-BUSTERS

Retail activity will be closely watched. Microsoft will have more than 60 brick and mortar stores open for the release of Windows 8 on Friday, half of them 'pop-up' stores that will stay open for the holiday shopping season.

Third-party retailers are cautiously optimistic.

"We have seen pretty good response to our pre-orders for Windows 8," said Best Buy Co Inc spokesman Jeff Haydock. "Quite honestly, I don't know what to expect from Friday. I don't know if there will be lines or not. My sense is it will take some time for people to kind of come into the stores and check it out."

Best Buy may give some color on how PC sales are going when it reports earnings on November 20.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the No. 1 U.S. retailer, said U.S. pre-orders for Windows 8 PCs "have been better than expected."

Online retailers Amazon.com Inc, Newegg Inc and TigerDirect Inc have been silent on Windows 8 pre-orders.

The full impact of PC sales on retailers will not be evident until chains report same-store sales for November.

QUICK REACTION

One early indicator of Windows 8's success will be the contents of the online Windows Store. Microsoft has had a harder time drumming up interest among developers for Windows 8, given the risk that there will be fewer users than competing platforms.

Microsoft will not disclose numbers, but there are expected to be 5,000 or so third-party apps available to U.S. users, in comparison with the iPad's 275,000. Some big names such as Facebook Inc will be missing.

In social media, the tenor of comments on the Twitter hashtags #Windows8 and #Surface will give an indication of their reception after Ballmer unveils them both on Thursday.

Many users likely will be shocked by the new design, which dispenses with the Start button and features square tiles for apps.

"Public reaction to the new UI will depend how well Microsoft explains why 'different' is better and teaches how the new experience works," said Gartenberg. "That all starts on Thursday."

BY THE NUMBERS

The ultimate test for Windows 8 will be PC sales.

Industry trackers are expecting a bump for PC sales in the last two months of the year, but not enough to rescue the whole year, which is forecast to dip for the first time since 2001.

Some analysts had expected an uptick in production of laptops ahead of the Windows 8 launch, but PC makers facing an uncertain global economy have been wary about committing.

Chip maker Intel Corp, which is a good gauge of future PC demand due to its position early in the production process, expects the PC business to grow at only half the normal seasonal rate in the fourth quarter.

Chief Executive Paul Otellini recently told analysts he expects to have a better understanding of the success of Windows 8 in 90 days.

Stephen Baker, an analyst at retail research firm NPD Group, is expecting a 10 percent jump in PC sales for November and December over last year, but said comparisons will be difficult given a profusion of new devices and the volatility of year-ago data.

Fourth-quarter PC shipment numbers from research firms Gartner and IDC will not be published until early January, although analysts say PC makers might start to drop hints about demand before then.

"There will likely be many milestones, but very few will ultimately be decisive. The key point is will PC sales continue to shrink or will they experience a boost," said Al Hilwa at research firm IDC. "We can probably begin to properly judge that with some ambiguity in January."

(Additional reporting By Dhanya Skariachan in New York, Jessica Wohl in Chicago and Noel Randewich in San Francisco. Editing by Andre Grenon)

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The Philosophy Behind Windows 8, From One of Its Creators

Microsoft will officially release Windows 8 to the public on Friday, and although company executives would never say so, they must be at least a little bit nervous about it. After all, the user interface (formerly known as Metro) is the most radical redesign of the operating system since Windows 95.

[More from Mashable: The History of Windows in Startup Sounds]

The risk, of course, is that customers will respond with confusion, or worse: outright terror. The new Start screen looks entirely different from the traditional desktop (though that interface still exists), with floating, blocky tiles instead of files and folders. And it's almost entirely chrome-less -- even basic things like the battery indicator and clock are hidden from view until you touch a button or the screen.

Believe it or not, Microsoft doesn't delight in freaking out its customers, and there is a reason it went with an interface that's so different and mind-bogglingly Spartan. This is Windows designed for the connected user, from the ground up.

[More from Mashable: Surface Is a Tablet Windows Users Will Love [REVIEW]]

"We started looking at big trends in the industry and asked, 'How does Windows fit in?'" says Sam Moreau, director of design and research for Windows. "Most of the Windows metaphors -- the desktop, the taskbar, the control panels, the start menu -- all those things were invented in the Windows 95 era. Windows 95 didn't even have a browser."

As computing evolved over the last two decades, the Internet and shared media played a larger and larger role, elevating the browser from a mere app to the centerpiece of the connected experience. However, the system it was running on stayed stubbornly the same.

"All the things since then that you care about -- like a browser, like an MP3 file, the PC as a communications device --- none of those things were native to the UI of windows," Moreau points out. "An application created a file, and you could put a file in a folder. That was basically what the operating system did."

Microsoft set out to modernize the PC experience with Windows 8. Instead of static icons, apps now have animated "live tiles" on the Start screen that serve up fresh information at regular intervals. It's a far cry from when the only thing connected to the Internet in a dynamic way was the browser.

"There's tons of stuff on the Internet," says Moreau, "And your PC basically has this little straw -- Internet Explorer -- to see all this. We didn't think that should be the case. The whole PC should be about that. Part of what the Start screen is really about is making all this activity -- these people that you care about, and all this information -- sort of explode so you're immersed in it."

That immersion comes at a cost, however, and there are few clear signposts on how to do things, such as how to call up your tabs, change your PC setting, or just shut the darn thing off. Moreau explains why Microsoft would choose to leave new users with few visual clues about the capabilities of the UI.

"We have a design philosophy, and one of the aspects of it is putting the information that you care about at your fingertips. Everything else we want to recede. It should be the best presentation of the thing the person cares about. It's their photos -- it's not wrapping it in big buttons that say it's a photo. You don't need that," he says.

"[Visual cues] are good for one-time discoverability. But then that's always there -- it's kind of always barking at you, in your periphery, that [the UI] can do these things."

What do you think of user interface design in Windows 8, and the philosophy behind it? Share your thoughts in the comments.

New Start Screen

The Windows 8 Release Preview has many more dynamic live tiles, with new apps like News, Sports and Travel adding images and headlines to the mix.

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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