Microsoft announces Halo 4, coming this November

Microsoft on Wednesday announced the return of Master Chief and the Halo franchise with the release of “Halo 4″ on November 6th. The franchise was originally imagined as a trilogy, with the game’s third installment becoming the biggest consumer product launch of all time when it was released in 2007. Many questions were left unanswered, however, and fans of the series wanted more. The game is set four years after the events of Halo 3, as Master Chief returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens to destroy the entire universe. “We are beginning a new saga with ‘Halo 4′ and embarking on a journey that will encompass the next decade of ‘Halo’ games and experiences,” said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios. “Millions of fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to step back into the boots of Master Chief, and, with ‘Halo 4′ leading the charge, we’re confident 2012 will be the most successful year in Xbox history.” Additional details surrounding the game will be announced on CONAN Wednesday night on TBS at 11:00 p.m. EST. Microsoft’s press release follows below.

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Intel 1Q earnings fall 13 percent, revenue steady

NEW YORK (AP) — First-quarter earnings at Intel Corp. fell 13 percent as spending on research and marketing rose while revenue was flat, the world's largest chipmaker said Tuesday.

The results beat analyst expectations, but failed to sustain Intel's stock, which hit a seven-year high of $28.78 in regular trading. In extended trading, after the release of the results, the shares fell 68 cents, or 2.4 percent from the close to $27.79.

Intel's first-quarter net income was $2.74 billion, or 53 cents per share, down from $3.16 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of 50 cents per share.

Revenue was flat at $12.9 billion. Analysts were expecting $12.8 billion.

Intel bought computer security company McAfee Inc. and a unit of Infineon AG last year, but the added revenue from those deals was offset by the fact that this year's quarter was one week shorter than last year's.

The first quarter saw the launch of a new generation of chips for server computers, but more important developments lie ahead, accounting for some of the increase in expenses. Intel is set to launch new PC chips soon, and the first smartphone with an Intel chip is also on tap this week from an unnamed manufacturer.

Intel is also going to ramp up its largest marketing campaign in many years, to support "ultrabooks," which are thin, light laptops in the vein of Apple's Macbook Air. All the large PC makers have responded to Intel's promptings to make such laptops.

Intel is dominant in the market for PC processors, supplying the main computing chip for four out of five PCs sold in the world. But it's facing a new challenge in the form of cheap phone-style chips, which have graduated from smartphones to powering tablet computers such as the iPad. There are signs that tablet sales are cutting into PC sales, at least in the U.S.

On a call with analysts Tuesday, CEO Paul Otellini said ultrabooks combine the attractive features of a tablet, like thinness, touch screens and instant start-up, with the keyboard and convenience of a PC. A number of ultrabooks that unite those features will be hitting stores in the holiday season, he said.

In the long term, the future of the PC is probably something in between the tablet and the laptop, he said.

Microsoft Corp. is launching a new touch-oriented version of Windows late this year, meshing with Otellini's vision. But it will also support non-Intel, phone-style chips — a first for Windows.

Results were held back by a shortage of hard drives, which meant that PC makers had to curb production and needed fewer Intel chips. The scarcity started with flooding of hard-drive factories in Thailand last year and affected Intel's results in the fourth quarter as well.

Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said hard-drive supplies improved during the quarter and the shortage is now over.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company said it expects $13.1 billion to $14.1 billion in second-quarter revenue, with a midpoint of $13.6 billion, above the analyst forecast of $13.4 billion.

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The Wall Street heretic who called Apple's swoon

NEW YORK (AP) — He calls himself an "Apple fanboy," owns four iPads and two iPhones, follows the company obsessively and predicts it will keep turning blockbuster profits. But whether you should own the stock is another matter.

He says it's just not worth it.

No one is sure why Apple's stock finally stopped rising last week, but you might point a finger at Walter Piecyk, a veteran analyst who apparently has uncanny timing when it comes to issuing critical reports on hot companies.

After Piecyk published a bold attack on Apple last week, the stock fell five days in a row, wiping out 10 percent of the company's market value, or $53 billion — about what the most optimistic projections say Facebook is worth.

As if anticipating the drop, and perhaps the hate mail, Piecyk listed a dozen Apple products he owns, and why his family loves them, in his report April 9. He titled the section: "Am I an Apple Hater?"

"It's not about the products," Piecyk said in an interview Tuesday, as the stock finally broke its losing streak. "It's whether the stock discounts all the risks."

Piecyk thinks one big risk is that Apple could have a harder time selling iPhones if phone companies stop subsidizing most of the $600 purchase price for customers who trade in old models, as they have in the past.

He noted that AT&T has stopped paying for upgrades of iPhones for customers in two-year contracts. Piecyk expects Apple to sell 27.5 million iPhones this quarter, down from 33 million the three months before.

But the details of his argument seemed to matter less than his decision to remove Apple from his list of "buy" stocks.

In the heavily bullish analyst community, it was a heretical move. When Piecyk published the report, titled "Downgrading Apple to Neutral," trader blogs lit up with criticism — and some praise, as much for his courage as for his views.

Of the 48 analysts who cover Apple, eight have a "hold" on the stock, according to FactSet, a provider of financial data. No one rates it "sell."

Whether everyday investors were even aware of Piecyk's report is unclear, and how much it had to do with the sell-off is impossible to determine.

Others have pointed to a federal investigation into how Apple and publishers set the prices for e-books, and rumors that the company will launch a smaller version of the iPad that might hurt sales of higher-priced models.

Then there is the easiest, perhaps best, explanation.

"I think it was due for profit-taking," said Shaw Wu, an analyst at brokerage Sterne Agee. "The stock has gone vertical."

Apple traded at about $100 in March 2009. It climbed steadily for three years and reached $405 at the end of 2011. Then it really took off — a gain of more than 50 percent in three months.

Apple closed at an all-time high of $636.23 on April 9, the same day Piecyk issued his report. By Monday, it had fallen to about $580.

Piecyk, 40, has been calling stocks for more than a decade. He was an analyst at Paine Webber before jumping to several small brokers. He said he likes that his current employer, BTIG, a broker for institutional investors, doesn't help companies bring stocks and bonds to the market, which otherwise could present a conflict of interest.

Critics of Wall Street analysts say fear of losing that lucrative business, known as underwriting, explains why many analysts tend to be bullish on the companies they cover.

Piecyk said he believes that phone carriers are tired of seeing their profit eroded by the subsidies they pay to keep iPhone customers on their networks. He noted that AT&T's subsidies explain why its own profit margins in its wireless business have fallen from 44 percent to below 30 percent in just two years.

Wu, the Sterne Agee analyst, said he doesn't think subsidies will be cut because the iPhone attracts customers, helping subscriber growth, and those customers spend more on data.

Wu predicted that Apple will hit $750 within a year and has a "buy" rating on the stock.

Among other criticisms, Piecyk thinks investors may have overestimated the willingness of customers in China, Brazil and other developing countries — big targets for Apple — to shell out $600 for an iPhone.

And he thinks investors are too confident that the company, after its success with the iPhone and iPad, will come up with next must-have product. That has been a losing bet in the past.

"There is this expectation that there will be this revolutionary new product," Piecyk said. "But what if it doesn't turn out quite as revolutionary?"
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Apple iPad arriving in SKorea, 11 more countries

Apple said Monday it would start marketing its new iPad on Friday in South Korea and 11 other countries, and the hot-selling tablet would be available in more than 50 countries by the end of the month.

The April 20 launch of the third-generation iPad will be in South Korea, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela.

By April 27, the new tablet will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

Apple launched the device last month and sold three million over the course of its first weekend on the market.

China has been noticeably absent from an iPad release schedule, and some analysts said it may be the result of a nettlesome trademark battle with Chinese computer firm Proview Technology.

Debt-laden Proview is suing Apple in China for trademark violation for calling its tablet computer "iPad."

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Google’s Sergey Brin: Apple and Facebook pose huge threat to Internet freedom

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said during an interview published on Sunday that Apple and Facebook pose serious threats to Internet freedom because of their closed approaches to software. While speaking with The Guardian, Brin said there are ”very powerful forces that have lined up against the open Internet on all sides and around the world. I am more worried than I have been in the past. It’s scary.” The executive pointed to the “walled-garden” philosophy that sees companies like Apple and Facebook maintain tight control over third-party software on their respective platforms as the cause for his concerns. Read on for more.
Brin voiced concerns that this closed approach prevents companies like Google from accessing the information stored on the companies’ networks, possibly revealing one of the main causes for his position. ”There’s a lot to be lost,” Brin said. “For example, all the information in apps, that data is not crawlable by web crawlers. You can’t search it.”

The Google co-founder acknowledged that there are much more serious threats to freedom on the Web than his company’s two nearest rivals, however — namely the efforts of countries like China, Saudi Arabia and Iran to censor and restrict access to the Internet. Brin also noted that the entertainment industry’s anti-piracy efforts stand to impede Internet freedom.

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Virus found in fake Android version of 'Angry Birds: Space'

Android users beware. Download the wrong version of your favorite pig-killing game and the birds won't be the only ones who are angry.

"Angry Birds: Space," the latest installment of the insanely popular mobile game, is being used to mask some fairly nasty malware, according to security experts and Rovio, the maker of "Angry Birds."

Graham Cluley, an analyst with Web security firm Sophos, wrote on the company's blog Thursday that they had discovered fake versions of the game on unofficial app stores. The fake games contain a "Trojan horse" virus.

A post on Rovio's blog on Thursday also warned fans to watch out for fake versions of the game, urging them to download the new title from their official store.

According to Sophos, the Trojan horse, which it identified in a file called Andr/KongFu-L, appears to be a fully functional version of the game, but instead installs a virus on the user's smartphone or tablet.

From there, the code tries to install more malware that essentially puts the phone or tablet computer under the control of the cybercriminals behind it, Cluley wrote.

"It feels like we have to keep reminding Android users to be on their guard against malware risks, and to be very careful, especially when downloading applications from unofficial Android markets," he said.

Unlike Apple, which screens all its apps and requires iPhone and iPad owners to download software from its official App Store, Google maintains less control over what people can install on devices that run its Android operating system. The company allows Android owners to download programs from official and unofficial sources.

Security experts say Android device owners should use the official Android Market if they want to avoid downloading fake apps and potentially harmful programs, although there have been instances of malicious software showing up in that official venue, too.

From Harry Potter to Ana Kournikova, it's not unusual for malicious hackers to use popular topics, often from the entertainment and celebrity world, to lure potential victims.

"Angry Birds: Space" was released March 22 for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, as well as Macs and PCs. It soared to a mind-blowing 10 million downloads in just three days, three times faster than the franchise's last outing, "Angry Birds: Rio."

Released in 2009, "Angry Birds" is the No.1 paid mobile app of all time, crossing 300 million downloads, across multiple platforms, last year.

Based in Finland, Rovio parlayed the game's success into a virtual empire, offering everything from comic books and animated videos to plush do

lls and cookbooks based on the game.

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