FCC report says 19 million Americans still without broadband access

FCC's Broadband

The FCC believes that 19 million Americans don’t have access to broadband, defined as internet access at a speed of 4 megabits per second or more. Understandably, rural areas are the worst hit, with 14.5 million out in the sticks without access, with areas like West Virginia lacking coverage for 45.9 percent of its population. It’s not limited to the wide open spaces of states like Montana (16.7 percent) however, even tech-heavy states like California lack access for 35 percent of its denizens. The commission’s Connect America fund is charged with closing this gap, and has already awarded CenturyLink $35 million to connect 45,000 homes in under-served areas as part of a plan to help seven million more people get online by 2018.

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FCC report says 19 million Americans still without broadband access originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes and Noble sees quarterly sales surge, losses fall to $41 million

Barnes and Noble sees sales surge, losses fall as quarter ends in profit

Barnes & Noble has had a quarter worth remembering, bringing in $1.5 billion and reducing its losses to $41 million — down from $57 million last year. Retail business was up, thanks to the closure of Borders branches and blockbuster sales of Fifty Shades of Grey, while College sales increased quarterly losses by $2 million to $14 million. While online sales fell 7.6 percent and the Nook business remained flat, the company saw digital content purchases skyrocket by 46 percent — and the company couldn’t produce enough GlowLight devices to satisfy demand. Wondering about the company’s tie-up with Microsoft? There’s still no news beyond that it hopes the new partnership will be up and running by the fall.

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Barnes and Noble sees quarterly sales surge, losses fall to $41 million originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s Q1 shows ‘record high’ market share, profits up 30 percent to $141 million

DNP Lenovo Q3 results

After delivering an overachieving laptop, Lenovo has delivered financial results that also exceeded expectations, producing $8 billion in revenue and $141 million net profit. Those figures are up 35 and 30 percent respectively over last year, which the company has chalked up to a higher than ever market share of 15 percent. That growth came in part from a 59 percent sales bump in emerging markets like India and Brazil, on top of a 9 percent spurt in its home market — lifting the company 24 percent in world-wide PC shipments for the quarter. Lenovo has also become the second largest player in China’s smartphone market, after Samsung, now up to a 13 percent market share. CEO Yang Yuanqing also proclaimed that, unlike other Redmond partners, he wasn’t stressed about Microsoft’s Surface tablet — and that his company had “much better hardware” than the software giant.

Continue reading Lenovo’s Q1 shows ‘record high’ market share, profits up 30 percent to $141 million

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Lenovo’s Q1 shows ‘record high’ market share, profits up 30 percent to $141 million originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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