Corporate and legal

The meaning of Google

As new competitors aim to reshape the Web and new products change its focus, what does it mean to be Google?

The question of meaning has been an easy one to answer for most of Google's history. Google meant search: Google's own dictionary application defines "Google" as a verb meaning "to search." (The folks at Merriam-Webster concurred.) And Google's brand reached those heights through a very conscious decision to forgo the traditional brand advertising that competitors like Yahoo, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, Microsoft, and others embraced.

Clearly, that worked. But Google is entering a … Read more

Strong PC sales boost Microsoft's bottom line

Microsoft is getting a strong boost from an improving PC market as the economy continues to move toward steadier ground.

The software maker said on Thursday that it earned $4.01 billion, or 45 cents per share for the quarter, on revenue of $14.5 billion for the three months ended March 31. That revenue figure excludes $305 million in Office sales that Microsoft is deferring because of a technology guarantee program that guarantees those now buying Office a free upgrade to Office 2010 when it ships in June.

Both revenue and earnings came in ahead of what analysts had … Read more

School days for Bill Gates (Q&A)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Bill Gates didn't leave Harvard on Wednesday with a degree, but the Microsoft chairman said he did leave feeling that the top colleges are paying more attention to the needs of the developing world.

"Schools are really doing more," Gates told CNET in an interview, as he headed to the airport following his three-day college tour. "These leading institutions are out in front... Certainly versus when you go back all the way to when I was here, there were no poverty classes."

At MIT, for example, Gates met with students working on projects … Read more

Nokia earnings rise but miss estimates

Nokia saw its earnings and sales grow in the first quarter, though the results didn't meet analysts' expectations.

On Thursday, the Finland-based mobile phone maker reported earnings of 349 million euros ($465 million), or 9 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, a healthy boost from the 122 million euros it earned in 2009's first quarter.

Sales inched up 3 percent to 9.52 billion euros, showing growth for the first time in two years. But analysts as a whole were looking for earnings of 15 cents a share and sales of 9.69 billion euros.… Read more

Verizon profits dip, subscriber growth slows

Verizon Communications saw its first-quarter 2010 earnings fall 29 percent as the company was hit with one-time charges and saw slower subscriber growth.

Profits plunged to $2.28 billion, or 14 cents per share, from $3.21 billion, or 58 cents per share, during the same quarter a year ago, the company reported Thursday. Results for the three-month period included a $970 million charge related to U.S. health care reform.

Verizon previously received a tax-free benefit from the government to subsidize health care costs for retirees, who would otherwise be on a Medicare Part D plan. Under the new … Read more

CenturyTel makes $22.4 billion bid for Qwest

CenturyTel agreed to buy Qwest Communications International in a $10.6 billion all-stock deal, the companies announced Thursday. CenturyTel will also assume $11.8 billion of Qwest debt, making the merger worth about $22.4 billion, one of the biggest in telecom history.

Qwest and CenturyTel are two of the biggest landline phone companies in the country, with combined network assets in about 40 states. The deal comes as Qwest, which abandoned its wireless efforts years ago, has struggled to keep up competitively with other former Baby Bell companies AT&T and Verizon Communications. While these companies do not … Read more

Netflix: More than half of subscribers tap streaming video

Netflix's transition from a DVD distributor to a streaming content provider hit a notable milestone in the first quarter--55 percent of its nearly 14 million subscribers are now watching movies and TV via the Internet.

To put that streaming media figure into perspective, Netflix said that in the fourth quarter 48 percent of its subscribers watched more than 15 minutes of content. A year ago, 36 percent of subscribers watched streaming movies or TV episodes.

The company delivered the typically strong quarter as it finished the three months ended March 31 with 13,967,000 total subscribers, up 35 … Read more

CIA-backed group investing in lens start-up

LensVector, a Silicon Valley start-up working on new lens technology that rids mobile phones of moving parts, has secured new funding to tailor its products for a group with a particular interest in tiny cameras: the United States intelligence community.

Specifically, In-Q-Tel, the CIA-based organization that invests in technology companies, has funded the Mountain View, Calif.-based start-up, said LensVector Chief Executive Derek Proudian. In addition, LensVector also is being paid to develop specific products through the deal with IQT.

Proudian declined to reveal exactly how much money is involved in the new investment and development contract. However, he did … Read more

Gray Powell's father: 'He was devastated'

The father of Gray Powell, the Apple engineer who reportedly lost a prototype of the iPhone 4G, says his son was reeling following the incident.

"Of course he was devastated," Robert Powell told CNET in a phone interview Wednesday. "He loves the company."

Gray Powell, 27, finds himself in the middle of media frenzy after losing a handset that appears to be a next-generation iPhone, a device that has yet to be released or even acknowledged by Apple. We've been trying to reach the younger Powell directly and passed along an interview request through his … Read more

Bluetooth 4.0 spec gets finalized

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has completed its promising specification for Bluetooth 4.0, though we'll have to wait until the end of the year to buy devices that use the new technology.

Announcing the completion of Bluetooth 4.0 at its all-hands meeting in Seattle on Tuesday, the Bluetooth SIG is touting the spec for its ability to work with low-energy devices, such as watches and health sensors. But Bluetooth 4.0 will also provide higher speeds for peripherals to communicate with mobile phones, computers, and other gadgets.

First unveiled last December, Bluetooth 4.0 actually offers … Read more