Friday, August 18, 2006

Lionsgate Confirms iTunes Movie Store By End Of This Year. Jon Feltheimer, Chief Financial Officer of Lionsgate Films has confirmed that the company has reached a deal with Apple to distribute full-length feature films via iTunes, most likely by the end of the year. [digg / Technology] comment []9:20:19 PM

Elgato equips Macs with digital, analogue USB TV tuner. DVR-on-a-dongle Mac-friendly TV tuner maker Elgato has announced EyeTV Hybrid, a twin-tuner - digital and analogue - dongle that pops into a USB port to deliver television programmes straight to your Mac's display.âo[oe] [The Register] comment []2:02:31 PM

Update: Dell reveals SEC investigation, profit drops 51 percent. (InfoWorld) - Dell blamed its strategy of cutting prices in a slow market for a profit of just $502 million in the second quarter, 51 percent below the same period last year. The company also revealed it is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for issues of revenue recognition and financial reporting in certain periods prior to fiscal year 2006. Dell had earned $1.02 billion in the second quarter of 2005, leading to earnings per share of $0.41. This year the company earned only $0.22 per share on revenue of $14.1 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected more for the quarter ending Aug. 4, forecasting $0.25 earnings per share on revenue of 14.0 billion. Dell also announced it is extending its relationship with Advanced Micro Devices, which was first announced in the first quarter. Dell will launch Dimension desktop computers with AMD processors in September and will introduce a two-socket and multiprocessor server using AMD Opteron processors by the end of the year, Dell said. Until now, Dell has looked solely to Intel to supply its chips. The company surprised the industry in May by revealing it would begin selling two-processor servers with AMD chips by the end of 2006. Now Dell will extend that product family to include four-processor servers and Dimension desktop PCs. "Customers want certain price, performance and heating characteristics that aren’t possible with the Intel chips. Dell has always been very customer-responsive and sometimes that goes beyond exclusivity," said Rick Doherty, an analyst with The Envisioneering Group. The move to AMD could have drawbacks, too, analysts warned. Accustomed to Intel, Dell will have to hire or train its engineers to design PCs with the new chip technology, and that could cause a "hiccup" in some product development plans, Doherty said. Even if Dell’s foray into AMD-powered servers is successful, it would have a limited effect on the company’s earnings. Server sales accounted for just 9 percent of Dell’s revenue this quarter, compared to 35 percent for desktops and 26 percent for laptops. The remaining revenue came from software (16 percent), services (10 percent) and storage (4 percent). In the face of these results, Dell executives promised change for the next quarter. "We are clearly disappointed with our results; we will continue to balance growth and profit without giving up share. We can do better, we know that," said Kevin Rollins, Dell’s chief executive officer. "In the future we will be more circumspect about pricing. However, we are not backing off into margin-harvesting and loss of share." Company chairman Michael Dell went even further, saying, "We are exploring all sorts of ways to accelerate new releases and cost improvements." Neither man would add any details about the SEC investigation. The news of Dell’s embrace of AMD would usually attract flocks of happy investors to the company. But Dell, of Round Rock, Texas, has had an epically bad quarter. After missing its earnings target in May, Dell hustled to turn its results around by spending $100 million to improve customer service by hiring new call center employees, beefing up service packages, and simplifying cost structures. But in July, Dell offered a rebate to customers in China who had received the wrong processor in their laptops, a cheaper version of Intel’s Core Duo chip than they had been promised. Then on Wednesday, PC-selling rival Hewlett-Packard announced strong earnings, casting doubt on Dell’s excuse of a soft market. The results could also push HP to draw even closer to Dell’s number-one position in the market. And on Monday, Dell announced it would recall 4.1 million laptop batteries after a series of failures led to the lithium ion cells overheating and even catching fire. By Ben_Ames@idg.com (Ben Ames). [InfoWorld: Top News] comment []1:53:11 PM

Apple finds few violations at Chinese iPod factory. (InfoWorld) - An investigation by Apple Computer into the manufacture of iPods in China has unearthed several violations of the company's supplier code of conduct. But the factory was found to be in compliance with the majority of Apple's requirements. In June, a U.K. newspaper, the Mail On Sunday, reported that workers at a Chinese factory owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. worked long hours under difficult conditions for little pay to manufacture Apple's iPod. In response, Apple sent an audit team comprised of human resources, operations and legal executives to the factory in southern China. The investigation found the factory complied with the majority of the areas covered by Apple's supplier code of conduct. It also found that all employees received the legal minimum wage or more and had the opportunity to earn bonuses. But there were several violations uncovered that Apple and the factory are working to address, the report said. The full report is available online here. A Hon Hai spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment on the report's findings. Among the violations uncovered by Apple were three off-site dormitories found to offer unsatisfactory living conditions. "Two of the dormitories, originally built as factories, now contain a large number of beds and lockers in an open space, and from our perspective, felt too impersonal. The third contained triple-bunks, which in our opinion didn’t provide reasonable personal space," Apple said. The factory owner is now building new dormitories to replace these, Apple said, noting this construction effort was underway before it conducted its investigation. "A majority of employees interviewed were pleased with the work environment and specifically noted the opportunity for advancement, widespread year-end bonuses, and the reputation of the supplier in the industry," Apple said in the report. "Additionally, employees consistently mentioned that they felt safe and secure in both the workplace and the dormitories." However, factory employees expressed dissatisfaction in some areas, including a lack of overtime during non-peak periods and inadequate transportation between the factory and off-site dormitories outside working hours. The transportation schedule is now being reviewed, Apple said. The investigation also uncovered two instances where employees had been made to stand at attention as a disciplinary measure. The practice does not appear to be widespread and training has been implemented to make sure this does not happen again, Apple said. Apple plans to conduct similar audits at all of its Mac and iPod suppliers by the end of this year, the company said. By Sumner_Lemon@idg.com (Sumner Lemon). [InfoWorld: Top News] comment []1:52:38 PM

© Copyright 2006 William T Goodall.