Treplo.com - Economics & Finance World Blog

Apple updates Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.3; AirPort and QuickTime

Jonny Evans

Apple has released security updates for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.9 systems running on Intel or PowerPC-based Macs.

The company has also released software updates for QuickTime and for its recently-introduced AirPort Extreme Base Station.

The 15.7MB Security Update 2007-004 v1.1 (Universal) is recommended for all users and improves security across many system components, the company has confirmed. The release is for client and for server Macs and secures 18 areas of the OS, including Help Viewer, Video Conference and the Login WIndow.

The same update has also been made available for PowerPC-based Macs. This 9.1MB download is identical in function to the Intel Mac-focused software update, addressing the same vulnerabilities in the system

Finally, Apple has also shipped a version of the update for Mac users running Mac OS X 10.3.9. This addresses 16 system areas and is a 36.7MB download.

The updates are available using Software Update or for direct download form the Apple Support website.

Yahoo announced that it has purchased the 80 percent interest in ad exchange firm Right Media that it did not already own. Though the move could be seen as a response to rival Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick, it isn’t likely because the expansion has been in the works for the past year, said Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Charlene Li.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO)  said Monday it is buying the remaining 80 percent interest in online advertising  exchange Right Media that it does not already own for approximately US$680 million in a move aimed at boosting the reach of Yahoo’s advertising to social networking sites.

In October, the search giant purchased a 20 percent stake in the privately held, New York-based ad exchange firm. More than 19,000 advertisers, publishers and networks buy and sell advertising on Right Media’s auction-based exchange.

Media Exchange

Right Media runs an exchange in which advertisers and publishers buy and sell online ad placements in real time through an auction system.

Yahoo is banking on grabbing the lead over Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)  in the niche ad market, where sellers gain greater access to a larger pool of advertisers.

Unlike an ad network, an ad exchange is a marketplace where publishers and advertisers can execute advertising transactions. Ad networks aggregate inventory from publishers and resell it to advertisers.

“The acquisition of Right Media will further Yahoo’s goal to create the industry’s most open, accessible and vibrant advertising marketplace,” said Yahoo chairman and chief executive Terry Semel.

The Evolving Market

Although Yahoo is the market leader in display advertising used by large, brand-name marketers, the Right Media acquisition signals it is seeking to grow its presence in the micro-targeted audience  such as individual social network profiles, Yahoo said.

Yahoo still remains a distant second behind Google in terms of online search market share and advertising revenue. Google’s acquisition of premium ad network DoubleClick (Nasdaq: DCLK)  for $3.1 billion last week may have put Yahoo at even more distance.

Playing Catch-Up?

Although on the surface the move looks like a defensive response to Google’s DoubleClick acquisition, it isn’t likely because the expansion has been in the works for the past year, said Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Charlene Li.

“I think it’s actually an offensive strategy  for Yahoo to build on its dominance in the graphical ad marketplace,” Li told the E-Commerce Times. “Yahoo is putting a stake in the ground that the future for online display advertising lays in efficient, easy-to-use marketplaces, and it wants to be the trusted intermediary for that future.”

Yahoo’s move should make it difficult for Google to start its own ad exchange, which DoubleClick announced earlier this month. Right Media has been operating an ad exchange for over two years, giving it a management and technical experience edge over its rival, Li said.

The sponsor of this category is TrustStorePills.com - Online Pharmacy

Microsoft Corp. posted a 65 percent rise in quarterly profit Thursday, topping Wall Street estimates thanks to better than expected demand for its new Windows Vista operating system.

Shares of Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500) rose 5 percent after the announcement, in which the world’s biggest software company also forecast 2008 profit at the midpoint of a range of analyst estimates.

“The strength of Vista is really driving this,” said Kim Caughey, analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. She added that the company had set “manageable expectations for the full year 2008, which generally allows them some headroom.”

Microsoft posted a net profit of $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal third quarter ended March 31 versus a profit of $2.98 billion, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding tax benefits and a legal charge, Microsoft earned 49 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 46 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 32 percent to $14.4 billion. Analysts, on average, had forecast revenue of $13.89 billion, with estimates ranging from $13.73 billion to $14.09 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Microsoft, which competes with Google (Charts, Fortune 500), Oracle (Charts, Fortune 500) and Apple (Charts, Fortune 500), deferred about $1.7 billion in revenue from its second quarter to its third quarter to account for upgrade coupons given to customers prior to the January launch of Vista and Office 2007.

Microsoft expects the latest versions of its two flagship products to underpin profit growth over the next few years. Those two product lines alone account for more than half of Microsoft’s total revenue and a majority of its profits.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said consumer sales of Vista surpassed the company’s own expectations by $300 million to $400 million.

"There is very good acceptance from a launch perspective for the product. It’s early days, but we’re encouraged by it," Liddell said in an interview with Reuters.

The company’s 2008 business year, which starts in July, will be the first full year of earnings to benefit from consumers buying new computers loaded with Vista and Office 2007 or from companies upgrading computer systems.

Microsoft forecast diluted earnings per share of between $1.68 and $1.72 for the coming business year, on revenue of $56.5 billion to $57.5 billion.

Analysts had forecast earnings of $1.69 a share on sales of $56.34 billion, with sales estimates ranging from $55.3 billion to $59.6 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

"There was a lot of concern in the marketplace over Microsoft’s 2008 outlook. We think this forecast should allay these concerns," said Andy Miedler, technology analyst at Edward Jones.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer gave investors a reason to pause in February when he said that some analysts’ Vista sales estimates in fiscal 2008 were "overly aggressive."

For the current quarter, Microsoft said it expects to earn between 37 cents and 39 cents a share on revenue of $13.1 billion to $13.4 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 41 cents a share and revenue of $13.31 billion.

Liddell said the shortfall in fourth-quarter forecasts was attributable to marketing expenses shifted to the current period but emphasized that the company will meet its full-year estimates for expenses.

Microsoft shares rose to $30.48 in extended trading. In regular Nasdaq trade, the stock closed up 11 cents at $29.10.

UK-based consultancy Millward Brown on Monday announced Google is the most popular brand in the world, eclipsing Microsoft and General Electric. Google’s ranking is based on the annual “Top 100 Brandz” survey that looks at the strength of a firm’s name and image rather than weighing its size or stock market value.

You can’t eat it, drink it, drive it or wear it. Ten years ago the name didn’t exist, but on Monday Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) was named the top brand in the world.

The Internet search engine has overtaken some of the biggest names of the past 100 years, including General Electric, Marlboro, Coca-Cola, Toyota and McDonald’s.

The rankings, produced by international brand consultants Millward Brown, also highlight UK-based retailer Marks & Spencer as the fastest-growing brand in the world — in percentage terms at least.

The British store chain has entered the list of the world’s 100 biggest brands for the first time at number 68, after a 192 percent leap in its brand value to pounds 4.75 billion (US$9.51 billion).

Highest Rankings

In absolute terms, however, this is dwarfed by Google’s pounds 14 billion ($28 billion) leap in value, from last year’s pounds 18.7 billion ($37.4 billion) to this year’s pounds 33 billion ($66 billion).

Its ranking as the most powerful brand on the planet is based on an annual survey that looks at the strength of a firm’s name and image rather than simply weighing up its size or stock market value.

The Google brand was registered in September 1997 by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and was ranked seventh in last year’s table.

Last year’s top brand, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is now valued at pounds 27.5 billion ($55 billion), putting it this year in third place, with General Electric second with a value at almost pounds 31 billion ($62 billion).

The highest ranked non-U.S. company, China Mobile, is fifth on the list at pounds 20.6 billion ($41.2 billion).

Most Improved Brands

The combined value of the “Top 100 Brandz,” as they are termed by Millward Brown, has risen 10.6 percent in the past year to pounds 800 billion ($1.6 trillion).

The UK’s most powerful brand is Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), worth pounds 10 billion ($20 billion), followed by HSBC at pounds 8.7 billion ($17.4 billion) and Tesco (Nasdaq: TESOF) at pounds 8.3 billion ($16.6 billion). Royal Bank is Scotland’s biggest brand, valued at pounds 3.6 billion ($7.2 billion) and ranked 82nd.

The research found that the most improved brands were those which appealed to the world’s fastest developing economies, such as China, Brazil, India and Russia.

Looking at BRICs

A spokesperson for Millward Brown said: “Consumers in emerging markets, especially the ones known as the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), have more disposable income than ever. In order to succeed in the BRICs, Western brands must offer products or services that are relevant to local consumers.

“Fast food brands such as KFC and McDonald’s appeal to BRIC consumers looking for a Western dining experience,” he added.

Also in with the BRICs are clothing brands such as Nike, Levi’s and Zara, which fill the gap between local brands and imported luxury brands by providing affordable fashion to young consumers.

The spokesperson added: “Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Rolex are also seeing significant growth in these markets, as wealthy consumers look for brands that represent their status.”

The values are calculated from Millward Brown’s “Brandz Database,” which includes interviews with more than one million consumers worldwide, financial data and brand performance over the past year.

Google’s Rise

Marketing expert Mark Gorman, owner of the ThinkHard agency, said Google’s ascendancy demonstrated the extent to which the world had gone digital, and the media revolution that has taken place.

“When you consider that it was built in non-traditional ways, it has been a phenomenal success. Since they floated it, the share price has gone very well.

“Social media such as YouTube and MySpace will come through on the back of it. People are looking at more interesting ways of reaching an audience. … Information is power, and Google is the world’s most information-heavy product.

“What is surprising is how they have turned something so intangible into the world’s leading brand,” Gorman noted.

By Alan MacDermid
Newsquest Media Group
04/24/07

© 2007 ECT News Network.

Ahead of its NYC launch event/webcast on Tuesday, Adobe today formally announced Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended, two new editions of the professional industry standard for digital imaging. Photoshop CS3 software is called a “major upgrade,” offering new innovations in editing power and productivity for designers and photographers as well as an entirely new version, Photoshop CS3 Extended that brings tools for 3-D, motion graphics, image measurement and analysis for professionals in architecture, engineering, medicine, and science. Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended will be available as stand-alone applications or key components of Adobe’s expanded Creative Suite 3 family. The software will be available as a Universal application for both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. Photoshop CS3 brings new features for advanced compositing, including the ability to automatically align multiple Photoshop layers or images based on similar content, while the new Auto-blend Layers command blends the color and the shading to create a smooth, editable result.Photoshop CS3 Extended software includes everything in Photoshop CS3 plus additional specialized features such as support for 3-D and video workflows, animation and in-depth image analysis. With support for popular 3-D formats, users can render and incorporate rich 3-D content into their 2-D compositions, including texture editing on 3-D models. Using the Enhanced Vanishing Point, designers can measure in perspective and also export from Enhanced Vanishing Point to a 3-D model. For video post-production, Photoshop CS3 Extended now includes video-format and layer support to edit video files frame by frame. The resulting video can then be exported to a variety of formats including Flash.

Developed for manufacturing and medicine fields, the Measurement Log palette calculates a range of values within an image, the Scale Marker easily adds a scale graphic to any image, and the new Count tool tallies features in an image simply by clicking on them.

“We estimate that 98 percent of all video games on the shelf were created with Photoshop,” said Michael Casalino, senior environment artist for Electronic Arts Sports. “The enhancements in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended will make the software even more indispensable to us, with functionality like the new 3D editing tools allowing users to seamlessly incorporate 3D content into the image-editing workflow.”

New to Photoshop CS3 and the Adobe Creative Suite 3 family, Adobe Device Central boosts the productivity of creative professionals who develop content for mobile handsets, the company said.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended will begin shipping in April 2007 to customers in the United States and Canada. The estimated street price for Adobe Photoshop CS3 is $650 (upgrades are $200) and $1000 (upgrades start at $350) for Photoshop CS3 Extended.

Article Source: macnn