IBM misses revenue expectations again

IBM has reported second quarter revenues of $24.9bn, missing market estimates of $25.39bn but earning per share of $3.91, which is 14 cents better than analysts forecast.

Profit was also down at $3.23bn, a drop of 17% compared with the same period in 2012.

Last quarter, IBM's revenues and profit fell short of analysts' forecasts for the first time in eight years.
IBM raised its full-year earnings per share by 20 cents to at least $16.90. This excludes the $1bn in charges for its "workforce rebalancing", which includes layoffs.

In the first half of the year, software revenue was up 4%; services revenue down 4%; systems and technology revenue down 12%; business analytics revenue up 11%; and cloud revenue was up 70%.
As a result of the poor first quarter, the company cut jobs and focused on data analysis and cloud computing in an effort to stabilise its business.

More than 3,300 jobs were lost. IBM expects the savings in wages to start taking effect in the third quarter.
Although many technology companies have been hit by the global decline in PC sales, IBM insulated itself from the trend by selling its PC division to Lenovo for $1.75bn in 2005.

Intel misses estimates as it shifts toward ultra-mobiles

Intel missed analyst estimates for the second fiscal quarter, reporting slightly lower profits, plus revenue that climbed just 2 percent versus a year ago.

Intel reported profits of $2.0 billion, down 2 percent from a year ago, on second-quarter revenue of $12.8 billion, up 2 percent from the same period.

Intel’s Brian Krzanich
Newly-appointed chief executive Brian Krzanich said that the company would continue to develop microprocessors and other products for all segments of the market, with a special emphasis on low-power, ultra-mobile computers. But the company has suffered as customers increasingly turn to mobile phones and tablets for their computing needs, and away from the personal computers that Intel has long powered.
Intel’s revenue in the PC Client Group fell 7.5 percent year over year, a victim of the continuing slide in the PC market. The division’s revenue climbed 1.4 percent sequentially, however. Even revenue within the Data Center Group, which includes Intel’s high-margin Xeon processors, was flat versus last year, although it grew sequentially by 8.1 percent.

Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance expected Intel to report earnings of 40 cents per share, down from 54 cents a year ago, on revenue of $12.9 billion.

“In the second quarter, we delivered on our quarterly outlook and made several key product announcements,” said Krzanich said in a statement. “In my first two months as CEO, I have listened to a wide variety of views about Intel and our industry from customers, employees and my leadership team and I am more confident than ever about our opportunity as a company.”

“Looking ahead, the market will continue buying a wide range of computing products,” Krzanich added. “Intel Atom and Core processors and increased SOC integration will be Intel’s future. We will leave no computing opportunity untapped. To embrace these opportunities, I’ve made it Intel’s highest priority to create the best products for the fast growing ultra-mobile market segment.”

As proof, Krzanich cited its design win into the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, where Intel will ship both an Intel Atom processor and Intel LTE solution to connect it to the Internet.

Intel’s outlook was strong, however, as the company predicted that third-quarter revenues would come in at $13.5 billion, plus or minus $500 million. The company will hold a conference call with analysts later on Wednesday. 

Jon Stewart Misses 'The Daily Show,' Says Directing Is 'Exciting but Weird as Hell'

Jon Stewart, currently on hiatus from The Daily Show while he directs his first movie, made an appearance on last night's show via Skype.

Substitute host John Oliver has been joking about Stewart's whereabouts since he took over on June 10. After Oliver offered tonight's explanation (Stewart's searching for treasure based on a map he found on the back of the Constitution, much like Nicolas Cage's character does with the Declaration of Independence in National Treasure), Stewart could be heard saying "That's not right" before he was shown on a split screen of him and Oliver.

Stewart, Skyping in from the Middle East, now has a beard.

"I didn't grow it," Stewart said. "When you get off the plane in the Middle East, they give it to you like the Hawaiians give you a lei."

VIDEO: 'Daily Show': Jon Stewart to Skype With John Oliver on Thursday Night

Stewart and Oliver then continued to joke about his whereabouts with Stewart insisting he was NOT "hanging out in an underground bunker with [NSA leaker] Edward Snowden."

Oliver and Stewart also mentioned how much they missed each other -- and the show, in Stewart's case.

"I miss you guys like crazy cakes," Stewart said. "I love you guys. I can't wait to see you. This has been exciting and invigorating, but weird as hell. And I just wanted to check in and tell you I was thinking about you guys and you're doing great."

VIDEO: 'Daily Show': John Oliver Gives Jon Stewart Unceremonious Sendoff

"You're doing a phenomenal job," he added. "I don't watch it all the time because it's too weird. It's like watching someone have sex with your wife's desk."

Oliver said they haven't changed much except that they now play softball against Stewart's beloved Mets on Mondays and Bruce Springsteen (his favorite musician) performs on Tuesdays.

After hearing about this, Stewart began to wail, "I wanna come home!"

Follow me on Twitter  @sajilpl

Microsoft misses the mark as its Build 2013 keynote muddles the Windows 8.1 message

All eyes in the technology world turned towards Microsoft’s Build 2013 conference in San Francisco Wednesday, where the company’s biggest guns gathered to convince a vast horde of developers (and journalists) that yes, Windows 8.1 is the key to finally fulfilling the company’s vision for its new-look operating system.

 

The keynote speeches at Build 2013 were Microsoft’s chance to sway people into buying what the company was selling—if its pitch was keen enough.

 

Was it?

 

No—but the problem wasn’t the message as much as the medium.

 

Steve Ballmer came out swinging, and he actually made a pretty convincing case for Microsoft’s overarching vision. Hearing him excitedly talk about it, the company’s sudden shift to rapid releases and multiple form factors becomes far more intriguing, especially since Windows 8.1 itself fixes many of the most glaring flaws plaguing the vanilla Windows 8 operating system.

 

Windows 8.1 was built for a world where Windows devices aren’t necessarily all PCs, Ballmer said. At one point, he snatched an Intel Core i7-powered Lenovo Helix hybrid from a stand onstage and espoused its all-day battery life.

 

“It’s touch, it’s pen, but it also has a keyboard with a built-in battery that literally makes it the most powerful PC and the most powerful, capable, lightweight tablet you can carry,” he said. “Should you call that a PC? Should we call it a tablet? What I call it is all Windows, all the time.”

 

Put it that way, and hybrids start to sound pretty gosh-darned good.

 

But at the same time, Ballmer stressed that Windows 8.1 was designed to more elegantly integrate the desktop experience into Microsoft’s modern-style vision.

 

“Suffice to say, we pushed boldly in Windows 8, and yet what we found was that we got feedback from users of those millions of desktop applications that said—if I were to put it in coffee terms—‘Why don’t you go refine the blend here?’” Ballmer said. “…So what we will show you today is a refined blend of our desktop experience and our modern interface and application experience.”

Windows 8.1 ‘refines the blend’ between the desktop and the modern Start screen.

And then he did. The ability to boot directly to the desktop and the return of the (repurposed) Start button truly enhance the base desktop experience on Windows 8.

 

Ballmer killed. Everything was going wonderfully, and I was falling under his spell. With Windows 8.1, maybe you can spend most of your time on the desktop, and if you decide to wade in the modern-style waters, you’ll find superb synergies and a refined interface waiting to greet you and make your life more seamless, more connected. Sounds nifty!

 

Ballmer said people with touchscreens love Windows 8 more than Windows 7 users enjoy that OS—and I found myself believing him.

 

Yes, despite my best attempts at journalistic objectivity, Ballmer’s smooth pitch had me on right the cusp of being sold… but then the rest of the show happened.

 

After Ballmer, the show collapsed. The message, or at least as the consumer message, became drowned out in a sea of in-the-weeds details showing off the most arcane aspects of the new operating system, from 3D-printing support to seriously nuts-and-bolts talk about the more under-the-hood aspects of the OS.

Companies like Google and Microsoft need to stop muddling their pitches by announcing their big products while talking directly to developers.
Momentum quickly faded away, replaced by grinding boredom.
The most extreme example: At one point, Windows co-chief showed off an alpha build of the new modern-style Office apps. Less than two minutes later, SVP Antoine Leblond discussed how to write native Windows 8 apps in XML and the 5,000 new APIs available in Windows 8.1.
Don’t get me wrong. Build 2013 is a developer conference, and the highly technical crowd appeared to lap it up. But should Microsoft really have launched Windows 8.1—a crucial ploy in the company’s bid to reignite the passion of consumers—at a dev conference?
Nope.
Microsoft needs Windows 8.1 to catch on. It needs to sell that vision. And while Ballmer strode boldly down the right path, the rest of the Build 2013 keynote severely diluted the Windows 8.1 message—which is far more compelling than what Windows 8 has offered up to this point.

Ballmer’s powerful case for Win 8.1 eroded as time went on.
Microsoft listened to the pleas of desktop diehards while simultaneously cleaning up niggling issues in the modern interface and pushing forward its cloud-connected vision of a web of Windows devices, all in a scant eight months. That’s seriously impressive! But alas, the focus on developers at Build took much of the steam away from Ballmer’s short, sweet knockout punch.
Unfortunately, the message made abundantly clear at the Build 2013 keynote today had nothing to do with Windows 8.1. Instead, the key takeaway is that companies like Google and Microsoft need to stop muddling their pitches by announcing their big products while talking directly to developers.
Sell the consumers, and sell the developers—but don’t sell the consumers AND the developers at the same time. KISS—Keep it simple, stupid. By killing two birds with one stone, Microsoft lost a valuable opportunity to crystallize the core Windows 8.1 experience in the eyes of users.