Week in review: Netflix, Microsoft post solid earnings, but investors unimpressed

Investors are a hard bunch to please these days.
Netflix and Microsoft both posted largely stellar quarterly earnings results this week. But investors found things to nitpick about and sold off shares in the companies.
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

Microsoft is arming itself for battle in the mobile device space against Apple and Google through a licensing deal with ARM Holdings. (July 23, 2010)

Microsoft posts strong Q4 results. Investors unimpressed. Steve Ballmer must be pulling out what’s left of his hair. (July 22, 2010)

Netflix shares dive as some investors re-evaluate the company’s prospects. (July 22, 2010)

More Netflix subscribers are choosing the movie service’s cheaper plans, which helps profits, but hurts sales. (July 22, 2010)

Consumer Electronics Association ups its 2010 U.S. sales forecast to 3% growth, thanks to hot items like tablet computers and 3-D TVs. (July 22, 2010)

Video game players now can be like Mike. Gamers can relive basketball legend Michael Jordan’s greatest moments in “NBA 2K11” from Take-Two Interactive Software. (July 22, 2010)

Apple customers choosing higher-end iPads. (July 21, 2010)

Apple posts blow-out Q3, guides analysts higher on Q4 revenue. (July 20, 2010)

Netflix announces plan to offer streaming movies in Canada this fall. Details sketchy. (July 19, 2010)

Week in review: Apple’s Antennagate

Concerns about a faulty antenna design in Apple’s iPhone 4 dominated the tech headlines this week.
First, Consumer Reports on Monday (July 12) validated complaints that the iPhone 4 loses signal strength or drops calls if users touch a certain part of the exposed antenna.
Then, Apple held a hastily scheduled press conference on Friday (July 16) where it said all smart phones have similar antenna problems and that media reports about issues with the iPhone 4 were blown way out of proportion. Still, Apple offered a free insulating bumper to all iPhone 4 users.
The question facing Apple now is whether that’s enough to allay customer complaints and put the company’s so-called “antennagate” to rest.
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs calls iPhone 4 antenna issue overblown, but offers free bumpers to buyers anyway. (July 16, 2010)

Steve Jobs’ WTF moment at Apple iPhone 4 press conference. (July 16, 2010)

Take-Two’s “Red Dead Redemption” is the top-selling video game of the year so far. EA’s new “Tiger Woods” game flops. (July 16, 2010)

Apple seeks to do damage control at press conference about iPhone 4 problems. (July 15, 2010)

Luxury eyewear and sunglasses maker Marchon aims to make stylish 3-D movie glasses for consumers. (July 13, 2010)

DreamWorks Animation executive is bullish on 3-D TV. (July 13, 2010)

Profile of retailer Charles Tandy, the spark behind RadioShack. (July 13, 2010)

Apple shares dip on iPhone 4 antenna worries. (July 13, 2010)

Is Apple lying about iPhone 4 antenna problem? Consumer Reports questions Apple’s explanation of the issue. (July 12, 2010)

Someone thinks Microsoft is still relevant in consumer tech. Consumer Electronics Show organizers pick Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to be opening keynote speaker for 2011 show. (July 8, 2010)

Apple’s iPad no longer seen as just a fun consumer device. It’s a business tool, MicroStrategy shows. (July 6, 2010)

Photo: Hilarious mockup of iPhone 5 by Peter Morgan posted on Flickr. 

Week in review: Apple as advertising firm

Apple kicked off a new era in advertising July 1 when it began delivering interactive ads to its mobile devices, led by its iPhone smart phones.
Companies debuting ads on Apple’s iAd platform included Unilever and Nissan. Unilever’s iAd campaign for its Dove Men + Care products featured videos and interactive applications with baseball stars, including Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees. (See screenshot above.)
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

U.S. video game sales down despite big hit in Take-Two Interactive Software’s “Red Dead Redemption.” (July 2, 2010)

DirecTV joins the 3-D TV party with three new channels. Panasonic is the exclusive sponsor. (July 1, 2010)

Add “advertising company” to the list of descriptors for Apple (June 30, 2010)

Apple shares up on news the company sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in three days. Buyers shrug off reception concerns. (June 28, 2010)

Week in review: Apple controls the news

Apple has hypnotized the media into giving it millions of dollars in free advertising for its products.
Untold numbers of journalists spent last Thursday (June 24) covering the debut of Apple’s iPhone 4, its fourth-generation smart phone. Research In Motion, Nokia, Motorola and other smart phone makers can only dream about the blanket print, web and TV coverage Apple gets.
Fourteen reporters contributed to one story on the iPhone 4 by the Associated Press. Another 14 reporters helped write a story on it for Reuters.
Steve Jobs thanks you.
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

Institutions are dumping Apple shares. Is it profit-taking or a sign the stock has topped? (June 25, 2010)

Apple soon is expected to be cranking out way more iPhone 4s, which is another big hit for a hot company. (June 25, 2010)

Consumer electronics sales are off to a slow start in 2010, but motion-controlled video games, media tablets and 3-D TVs are all poised for strong growth. (June 23, 2010)

Monster Cable solves a big problem for 3-D TV adoption by developing universal active-shutter glasses. (June 22, 2010)

Photo: Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks at the company’s 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 7.

Week in review: E3 brings controller-free games

The annual E3 video game conference in Los Angeles this week generated a lot of interesting product news.
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

Internet-connected Blu-ray Disc players threaten pay TV business. (June 18, 2010)

“Dance Central” from Viacom’s Harmonix looks like the killer app for Microsoft’s Kinect video game system for the Xbox 360. It also could spark a wave of dance video games. (June 18, 2010)

Sony and Nintendo hope to rejuvenate their video game businesses with new hardware. (June 16, 2010)

Potential for Microsoft’s game player-tracking controller called “astounding” by one analyst. (June 15, 2010)

"Dance Central" game demonstrated at Microsoft's E3 press event.

Week in review: Apple iPhone 4, ESPN 3D

Apple’s unveiling of its fourth generation iPhone and ESPN’s launch of the first 3-D TV channel were notable personal tech events this week.
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

ESPN “throwing spaghetti on wall” with 3-D TV channel, which launched today with World Cup coverage. (June 11, 2010)

ESPN launches first-ever 3-D TV channel with start of World Cup. Milestone is a boon for 3-D TV makers and retailers. (June 11, 2010)

Look out, cheating spouses and workers playing hooky – Apple’s iPhone 4 soon might have your number. (June 8, 2010)

Apple distributes $1 billion in iPhone app revenue to developers in less than two years. (June 8, 2010)

Apple, with latest iPhone, hopes video calling is next killer app. (June 7, 2010)

Photo: ESPN camera crew shoots USC at Ohio State college football for 3-D telecast on Sept. 12, 2009.

Week in review: Microsoft, Apple and booth babes are in the news

Actually two weeks in review, so I’m playing catch-up.
The following is a roundup of my stories from Investor’s Business Daily at Investors.com and Click, IBD’s Tech Blog.

Can the iPad and online subscriptions save newspapers? (June 4, 2010)

Converting customers from free to fee. Best practices of Netflix, Ancestry.com and LogMeIn. (June 4, 2010)

Booth babes! Tech expos continue to use sexy ladies to attract visitors in the male-dominated industry. (June 4, 2010)

Most iPhone users won't pay more with the new AT&T data plans. (June 3, 2010)

Microsoft doesn’t see Google as a serious threat to its Office productivity suite. Microsoft has high hopes for Office 2010. (June 2, 2010)

Sonic Solutions places a big bet on online video with its purchase of DivX. (June 2, 2010)

Monotype Imaging wants to make the Web more attractive. The company is launching a cloud-based service to deliver fonts to websites. (June 1, 2010)

Microsoft’s Bing search engine turns 1 this week. So how's it doing? (June 1, 2010)

Apple sells 2 million iPads; P.T. Barnum would be proud. (June 1, 2010)

Apple is facing antitrust scrutiny for its music and mobile apps businesses. Analysts think Apple is in the clear. (May 26, 2010)

Another executive shakeup at Microsoft. CEO Steve Ballmer is most concerned about the company’s mobile device unit. (May 25, 2010)

Notebook PC sales are on fire. Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer benefit. (May 25, 2010)

Photo: Booth babes at the Computex trade show in Taipei from gallery by TechwareLabs.