Google Makes a Profit, But Growth Slows

(AP) - Microsoft Corp. said today its profit in the last quarter plunged 29% because of weak computer sales, ending a fiscal year in which the software maker's revenue fell for the first time since the company went public in 1986. The results reflect how Microsoft's fortunes are tied to the PC industry, which is expected to sell fewer computers this year than last—the first such decline since 2001. More»

IBM had a good Q4 and says its business services and software sales are solid

(NEWSER) - Strong software and business-services sales—including outsourcing services, a cash cow in the current economy—pushed IBM’s profits up 12% in the fourth quarter and prompted a recession-busting forecast of continued growth for 2009, reports the Wall Street Journal. Although Big Blue's revenue fell in the quarter, its margins continued to grow. More»

Data out tomorrow expected to be in line with analysts' expectations

(NEWSER) - All eyes will be on Yahoo's first-quarter earnings report tomorrow; the company hopes to use solid results to pressure Microsoft into sweetening its takeover bid, the Wall Street Journal reports. The report comes just 2 days before Microsoft's own and 4 days before the deadline the latter set for a deal to avoid a hostile takeover. Yahoo is expected to meet modest projections for first-quarter growth. More»

Not-so-green tech giants show insatiable appetite for power

(NEWSER) - No industrial smokestacks rise from that cute Google logo, but each click of the search button takes an environmental toll, Harper's reports. Google and its competitors are guzzling electricity to power ever-larger server complexes, and a renewable-energy initiative is more about making amends than benevolence. A new taxpayer-subsidized Google center along Oregon’s Columbia River will likely use a Tacoma-sized chunk of power. More»

Ducked Safari's default block on user tracking

(NEWSER) - Google has been quietly using computer code to get around default privacy settings on Apple's Safari browser—both on iPhones and computers. Safari automatically prevents tracking techniques that other browsers allow, including the use of cookies. But Google coding "tricks" Safari into allowing the tracking, the Wall Street Journal reports. Here's how: Safari OKs tracking in one case—when a person needs to interact with a site to, for instance, submit a form. Google placed code in some of its ads that fooled Safari into thinking the user was submitting a form to Google—an invisible one. And, ta-da, Google would get the OK to install a cookie. More»