Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft just announced it’s had itself a solid second quarter, posting an $6.63 billion profit on record revenues of $19.95 billion. That’s more or less about the same as last year, when it racked up a $6.66 billion profit on $19 billion in revenue — and while the numbers look stable and Redmond managed to slightly beat estimates, things are changing fast underneath the bottom line: strong Kinect and Xbox 360 sales drove Entertainment and Devices Division revenue up 55 percent to $3.6 billion, but Windows and Windows Live revenue fell nearly 30 percent to $5.05 billion. That means the revenue gap between Microsoft’s consumer device business and the Windows business is now just some $1.3 billion, compared to $4.8 billion this time last year — and it undoubtedly explains why Xbox got top billing at Ballmer’s CES keynote this year, after traditionally being ignored, and why Microsoft is moving Windows to ARM as the mobile and tablet spaces heat up.

As for Windows Phone 7, there’s nary a peep, even though Microsoft was just crowing about moving 2 million licenses yesterday — we’re taking that to mean the infant OS hasn’t had any meaningful impact on revenue yet. We’re going to jump on the call at 5:30PM ET, we’ll let you know if anything good happens.

Update: Corrected the profit numbers: it’s a $6.63b profit and a $8.17b operating income, not a $8.17b profit.

Update 2: As noted by our friend Michael Gartenberg, Microsoft’s Q210 Windows division revenue was boosted by the inclusion of $1.71 billion in deferred Windows 7 upgrade sales and OEM pre-sales, so if you take those out, the gap between Windows and Xbox went from 3.1 billion in Q210 to 1.3 billion this quarter, and Windows sales are down 8 percent. It’s not a huge change for the big picture, but it’s worth noting the revenue deferral in context — Microsoft moved cash around so it would have a huge launch quarter for Windows 7, and now things are evening out.

Microsoft announces Q2 earnings: $6.63b profit, Xbox revenue up 55%, Windows down 29% originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on June 26, 2007 by CyberNet.

Back in May we did a comparison of DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 to show graphically what the differences are. The reason why it is important is because Microsoft didn’t make a DirectX 10 that works with Windows XP, so you would have to upgrade to Vista to benefit from it. Microsoft claimed that it is impossible to implement DirectX 10 in XP because it uses many Vista-specific features to bring more realistic graphics to your computer.

Also in that article we discussed a project called Alky that started in hopes of developing their own version of DirectX 10 that does work with Windows XP. The project merged with another project to form Falling Leaf Systems, and now expects to have a working application towards the end of July. Here’s what Falling Leaf says about their move:

Microsoft has, in typical Microsoft fashion, decided to launch their forced migration onslaught in full force with the release of two games that will only run on Windows Vista. First they claim that it was impossible to implement DirectX 10 compatibility atop Windows XP, and now they also want us to believe that they couldn’t successfully launch two DirectX 9 based titles on XP either. We plan to expose both theories as patently false.

When they do launch their program it will let users play Halo 2 and Shadowrun, two "Vista-only" titles, on Windows XP. I’m still a bit skeptical on this whole project, because the site says that anyone who purchases a preorder of either game through their site, which actually goes through Amazon, will get a free copy of their software when it is released. This is a little weird because they aren’t very upfront about how this works. From what it looks like they are just trying to earn money through a referral program on Amazon by pointing people to the site and having them preorder the games. Amazon is the one shipping them, which means that Falling Leaf actually has no idea who purchased the preorder. This leads me to believe that the compatibility update will be offered to everyone at no cost when if it is released. They are apparently just trying to earn some extra cash on the side, and there is nothing wrong with that if they were upfront about it.

In my opinion this sounds too good to be true, and you should hold out on purchasing any of the games until you read some reviews on how well this actually works when it is released. After all, you wouldn’t want to preorder the game now and have it sit on the shelf for several months while Falling Leaf is working on their software…especially if it turns out to be vaporware.

Source: Next Generation [via Slashdot]

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Excuse the stormy portmanteau, but last night’s snowbotomy has left Jeff stranded in New Jersey, so Joseph Kaminski from CNET’s Digital City Podcast takes his spot and lugs in a 21-inch Apple iMac to show his dedication to desktop computers, and Wilson ain’t complaining.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about today’s show title, it’s a reference to Joey’s nickname “Turbo Thundersnow,” which stems from his undisputed breakdancing skills and the winter phenomenon in which precipitation takes the form of snow instead of rain.

At a live event in Tokyo today, Sony revealed its next-generation portable gaming device that many thought would be called the PSP2, but the official name is actually the Sony Next Generation Portable, or NGP. Rolls off the tongue, right? Tongue-twisting names notwithstanding, the portable device features a 5-inch high-resolution OLED display that’s four times the resolution of the current model and equivalent to the graphics on the PlayStation 3.

The portable device also has a touch screen, but Sony encourages players to use the rear-mounted touch pad to control gameplay without obstructing the display, although it’s going to look weird when you see people fondling their NGPs on the subway.

Sony also unveiled a new platform called the PlayStation Suite that will allow first-gen PlayStation games to run on a variety of Android-enabled smartphones and tablet PCs. Sony hopes this will reinvigorate its portable gaming market, especially in the wake of last week’s Nintendo 3DS announcement.

Enough about gaming, check out this Chicago-based start-up called Grubwithus that introduces strangers to the world of “social dining.”

The service helps strangers meet potential friends by taking care of all the restaurant busywork: the Grubwithus team makes the reservation, sets the menu, introduces the diners to one another, and even calculates the tip prior to the meeting–Grubbers just have to show up, eat, and socialize.

Grubwithus founders Daishin Sugano and Eddy Lu may have accidentally stumbled upon a new way to meet new partners, based on a new study that claims couples end up in bed quicker as a result of “digital intimacy.”

The study interviewed a sample set in which 38 percent of women believe texting, Facebook, and other social networking tools break the awkward communication barrier earlier than meeting IRL, and thus help to quicken the many steps to intimacy.

Joey and I work together in the lab and I’ve observed his interactions with the gentler sex, so Wilson and I pick his brain for tips on how to segue from an online chat to in-person meetups. It’s not as easy as you think!

Episode 745

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Originally posted at The 404 Podcast

Consisting of 13,000 individual antennas, the new Long Wavelength Array will scan the skies for black holes, dying stars, and even possible signals from alien civilizations.

Originally posted at News – Cutting Edge

Called Interhome, the energy-efficient system in the UK is designed to learn from its inhabitants, text if security is breached, and now even monitor its occupants’ health.

Originally posted at News – Health Tech