Weekly Buggles

Yahoo beats forecast, Bartz is not for selling | Eircom on the lookout for new CEO | Job site hit by Monster attack | Ireland escapes worst of tech giants’ cuts | National Broadband scheme: will it hit the spot? | Mobile phone market dazed by slowing economy

Yahoo beats forecast, Bartz is not for selling

New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz presided over her first results conference call on Tuesday as the search firm released better-than-expected fourth-quarter figures. Although the troubled search firm posted a net loss of USD303.4 million compared with net income of USD205.7 million a year earlier, its earnings per share figures, excluding items, came in at USD0.18 per share, better than the USD0.13 expected by Reuters Estimates. Revenue for the fourth quarter was USD1.81 billion, down 1.4 percent from the same period the previous year; however if fees passed on to partner sites are excluded the sales figure of USD1.38 billion meets projections. All in all it was a relatively okay showing from Yahoo, with its share price surging by as much as 6.7 percent in after-hours trading. For her part, Bartz reaffirmed her no-nonsense attitude, saying she didn’t join Yahoo to simply sell all or parts of the company, a move some Yahoo investors have actively encouraged. “Did I come to Yahoo to sell the company? The answer is no,” said Bartz during the conference call. “This is not a company that needs to be pulled apart and left for the chickens.” Indeed. As for the year ahead, Yahoo is being extremely cautious. It said it expects income from operations of USD75 million to USD85 million in the first quarter, about half the average analyst forecast of USD165 million, according to Reuters Estimates. The firm isn’t comfortable giving any indication of expected results down the line in 2009, due to the general market uncertainty, it said. One thing’s for sure though: there’s a lot of work to be done to turn Yahoo around.

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Obama reboots the White House | Tech giants under antitrust microscope | IBM and Apple improve Wall Street’s mood | Second Life: a viable alternative to real life? | Year of the netbook: Deloitte

Obama reboots the White House

In keeping with Barack Obama‘s web-savvy presidential campaign and his clever use of technology, www.whitehouse.gov was re-launched on Tuesday as Obama was being sworn into office. The new-look White House website is slick and includes several interactive features, including the ability to get e-mail updates, and a White House blog. The site’s “briefing room” also includes slots for a weekly video address, slide shows, proclamations, and executive orders as well as news about nominations and appointments. In addition, all non-emergency legislation will be published to the website for five days, and the public will be able to review and comment before the President signs it. “Millions of Americans have powered President Obama’s journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country’s future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration’s efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement,” wrote Macon Phillips, director of new media for the White House, in the site’s first blog. And it’s not just President Obama’s use of the internet to communicate openly with citizens that’s exciting Americans. It’s also the promise he issued in his inauguration speech to “restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders”. While the Bush administration had a tension-filled relationship with scientists, President Obama appears to recognise and understand the vital role science and technology play in future developments. “We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together,” vowed President Obama. “We will harness the Sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” Sounds like there are some exciting times ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

• The data processing departments of Satyam embark Thursday obtained three additional members – Mr. Tarun Das, M.T.N. Manoharan and Mr. Suryakant Balkrishna Mainak – catch of the total staff complement with six.
• While Mr. Tarun Das is the mentor as a chief of the confederation of Indian industry, Mr. Manoharan is the last president of the institute of the accounts privileged of India. Mr. Balkrishna is of Corp. life insurance of India, which is a large investor in Satyam.
• Nortel Networks Corp, classified for the protection of creditor Wednesday. The quantity of interest to pay immediately is approximately $107 million, and its deficit of pension is more than $3 billion. All the debt at the end of 2008 was more than $4 billion. Nortel had seen lower sales on its important markets, particularly the USA, which intensified because of total economic agitation.

• One expects that Nortel indicated its affliliates through Asia, including India, are not prone to the classifications in North America and Europe and continuous to function as a normal.

• Defying the economic deceleration, Infosys announced the growth better-than-expected incomes for the quarter of December facilitated by one rupee lower and improved of the operational effectiveness, but missed its forecast in terms of the dollar wounded by volatile currencies. Infosys brought back a rise in 33.3 percent of the clear benefits to the crore of Rs 1.641 for the quarter of December, compared with the crore of Rs 1.231 in the quarter year ago. The incomes rose 35.5 percent to the crore of Rs 5.786 against the crore of Rs 4.271.

• The services of consultation of Touched brought back its third consecutive quarter of deadened growth while it met a decline in HIM spends by customers in some of its principal verticals of operation. IT exporting recorded a rise in 2.68 percent of clear benefit consolidated for the quarter of December, with the crore of Rs 1.362 against the crore of Rs 1.326 in the same quarter one year ago. The incomes for the quarter were to the top of 24.13 percent, with the crore of Rs 7.277, against the crore of Rs 5.863.

• In another retreat with the Indian IT sector, the World Bank made public that it prevented technologies of Wipro and Megasoft Ltd since 2007 to receive the direct contracts within the framework of his programme of acquisition of corporation.

• The bank indicated that Wipro ‘offers f the American shares of deposit (ADS) to its personnel as an element of the public call to the saving in 2000 were against its policy and it prohibited the supplier up to 2011.
• It prohibited Megasoft Ltd during four years as from December 2007 to take part in a joint undertaking with the personnel of bank while working with the bank.
• The industrial growth rebounded again at the positive zone in November 2008 with the index of the industrial production recording a growth of 2.4 percent during the month compared to a negative growth of 0.4 percent in October 2008. However, growth rate still lower is compared with 4.9 percent recorded in November 2007.
• For the eight April period November 2008, the IIP recorded a growth of 3.9 percent, drops much compared with 9.2 percent during the same period of the tax precedent.
• The housing of important finances HDFC cut interest rates by approximately 50 basic points on new real loans of undulation for one limited period. The customers can now make use of the loans below the lac Rs 30 to 9.75 percent per annum and the loans above lac Rs 30 to 10.75 percent per annum. The offer would be available until the end of February.

Now that India did not make any climbing and the armed forces made only owe them, minister of defense which one K Antony indicated that there is no change apparent attitude of Pakistan and the Indian forces will have to remain alert.

I do not think that there is any apparent change of the attitude of Pakistan. The reports/ratios are not important. The actions are important. They must prove by their action, journalists called by Antony minister of defense AK in the slides of a function of ministry of defense.

Plus of 30 equipment of terrorist always functions in Pakistan, it does not have there no improvement or any change of, of attitude Antony indicated the answer to the questions of the journalists.

To a question about Pakistan the ‘suggestion of S which India should withdraw from the ground troops and put air bases forwards, it said that Islamabad does not have any right to give such councils.Nobody will say to us, after 26/11 must be to us prepared to meet any possibility. It is our, of owe it affirmed.