October 29, 2013 06:00 PDT | 09:00 EDT | 13:00 UTC
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>> APPLEFEST: Apple's Q4 '13 beats with $37.5B revenue, $7.5B profit and $8.26 EPS on strong iPhone sales, by TechCrunch: "That marks a year-over-year growth of 4.2 percent in revenue and 4.7 percent decline in EPS, with net profit down 8.6 percent year over year... iPhone sales grew 26 percent to hit another record number. iPad sales were relatively flat. Apple sold a total of 71 million iPads in fiscal 2013... Apple beat analyst expectations across the board for revenue, posting record Q4 numbers... Apple finished the quarter with $146.76 billion cash on hand. Apple's gross profits fell to 37 percent, the seventh quarter in a row for such a decline." [Blogosphere echo chamber: At least 90 tech pubs posted similar articles] TechCrunch
>>>> How Apple sold $14B more in 2013 than in 2012, but made $5B less profit VentureBeat
>>>> Future versions of OS X to be free; $900M increase in revenue deferral due to free software TechCrunch
>>>> Apple's education sales breached $1B for first time ever in Q3, iPad share at 94% Apple Insider
>>>> Apple completed 15 'strategic' acquisitions in Fiscal 2013 MacRumors
>>>> Apple's Greater China business bounces back, accounts for 15% of Q4 revenue TechCrunch
>> BAD TO WORSE: Adobe breach impacted at least 38 million users, by Brian Krebs: "The recent data breach at Adobe that exposed user account information and prompted a flurry of password reset emails impacted at least 38 million users, the company now says. It also appears that the already massive source code leak at Adobe is broadening to include the company's Photoshop family of graphical design products... this past weekend, AnonNews.org posted a huge file called 'users.tar.gz' that appears to include more than 150 million username and hashed password pairs taken from Adobe... Adobe has offered a year's worth of credit monitoring to customers whose encrypted credit card data was stolen in the breach... Adobe's offering comes through Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus and a company that is still reeling from a security breach in which the company was tricked into selling consumer records directly to an online identity theft service." Krebs on Security
>> WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: White House OK'd spying on allies, U.S. intelligence officials say, by Ken Dilanian, Janet Stobart: "The White House and State Department signed off on surveillance targeting phone conversations of friendly foreign leaders, current and former U.S. intelligence officials said Monday, pushing back against assertions that President Obama and his aides were unaware of the high-level eavesdropping." LA Times
>>>> Senator Feinstein changes tune, now is 'totally opposed' to foreign leader surveillance Ars Technica
>>>> Brazil to insist on local Internet data storage after U.S. spying Reuters
>> OPEN-SOURCE HARDWARE: Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara., by Paul Eremenko: "Over the last six months, our MAKEwithMOTO team took Sticky, a truck wrapped entirely in velcro and filled with rooted, hackable Motorola smartphones and high-end 3D printing equipment, across the country for a series of make-a-thons. On that trip we saw the first signs of a new, open hardware ecosystem made possible by advances in additive manufacturing and access to the powerful computational capabilities of modern smartphones. These included new devices and applications that we could never have imagined from inside our own labs. Open fuels innovation." The Official Motorola Blog
>> PAY TO PLAY: Google has gone 'dark': The search giant just ended a bunch of free data, and people are freaking out, by Jim Edwards: "The move came as Google seeks to reassure users following the NSA/PRISM domestic surveillance scandal. Now, all Google search is securely encrypted, and web site owners can no longer look at Google Analytics to see exactly which words people use when searching Google to find their sites. A lot of people who conduct marketing on the web are freaking out about it: Now, they complain they're basically flying blind. And they're angry, because the data that has been switched off is the 'organic' search data, not the paid search data generated when people click on search ads... the only data Google is now providing about exactly what words generate incoming traffic is for people who pay to advertise on Google." Business Insider
>> STAT DU JOUR: Samsung's share grows while Apple's declines in Q3 smartphone market, by John Ribeiro: "Samsung shipped over 88 million smartphones in the quarter, up 55 percent from the same quarter last year, to get a record 35 percent share, Strategy Analytics said Monday. Apple's market share, however, dipped to 13.4 percent from 15.6 percent in the same quarter a year ago. The iPhone maker said Monday it shipped 33.8 million iPhones worldwide in the third quarter, up from 26.9 million in the same quarter last year." InfoWorld
>>>> Samsung kicks off its first developers conference as it seeks an edge in software Forbes
>>>> Samsung is pulling another Amazon on Android, but this is even bigger GigaOM
>> MAY THE BETTER DOOP WIN: Microsoft makes available its Azure-based Hadoop service, by Mary Jo Foley: "Microsoft officials also are acknowledging publicly that Microsoft has dropped plans to deliver a Microsoft-Hortonworks developed implementation of Windows Server, which was known as HDInsight Server for Windows. Instead, Microsoft will be advising customers who want Hadoop on Windows Server to go with Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) for Windows. Windows Azure HDInsight is '100 percent Apache Hadoop' and builds on top of HDP. HDInsight includes full compatibility with Apache Hadoop, as well as integration with Microsoft's own business-intelligence tools, such as Excel, SQL Server and PowerBI." ZDNet
>>>> It's everywhere! The day Hadoop took over the cloud GigaOM
>> ALL YOUR BASE: PCs left unprotected as ZoneAlarm, Comcast's Norton struggle with Windows 8.1, by Mark Hachman: "When I visited the Check Point website, I discovered that 'Check Point was working hard' to develop a Windows 8.1 version of its ZoneAlarm app... Both Intel's McAfee division and the Symantec Norton security utilities also appear to have negotiated the Windows 8.1 transition without problems. That's not the case for those users who downloaded the software via Comcast. A thread on the Norton forums details some of the problems: after upgrading, users are informed that Norton Internet Security isn'ty available in compatibility mode. The problem, however, appears to be tied to Comcast." PCWorld
>> SERVER DEATH MATCH: Dell and HP are in a race to hurt Intel, by Julie Bort: "Both Dell and HP made announcements about ARM servers as part of the ARM TechCon show happening this week in Santa Clara, Calif. The idea isn't new. Dell has been working on ARM-based servers for years.... Dell demonstrated a 64-bit ARM server running a version of the Linux operating system.... HP today also (finally) released a new version of its low-power Moonshot servers using ARM chips from Calexda." Business Insider
>> GENUINELY ARTIFICIAL: CAPTCHA busted? AI company claims break of Internet's favorite protection system, by John Bohannon: "A software company called Vicarious claims to have created a computer algorithm that can solve CAPTCHA with greater than 90% accuracy.... Vicarious has credibility, given the scientists working there, but its current offer of proof is little more than a press release sent out to journalists and a video." Wired
>> Meet lesson.ly, a TaaS (Training-as-a-Service) startup that is clocking quick revenue growth: "Corporate training is a pain in the ass for the poor schmuck on the receiving end, as well as for those who have to get new recruits up to speed. Lesson.ly wants to change that by providing a flexible, online software solution to help businesses train new employees." TechCrunch
>> Salesforce.com's Dreamforce: What to expect InfoWorld
>> Cheapest 150Mbps broadband in big US cities costs 100% more than overseas Ars Technica
>> Coinfloor is a new UK-based Bitcoin exchange, backed by Passion Capital and Transferwise founder Taavet Hinrikus TechCrunch
>> Mirantis brings enterprise-ready OpenStack distribution to the cloud InfoWorld
>> For the Mac, like the PC, it's all downhill from here InfoWorld
>> Power loss: Reactions to the new iWork for OS X Macworld
>> Microsoft's Surface numbers don't add up InfoWorld
>> Google Glass Explorer program expands with invites and new hardware GigaOM
>> Shipshape or dead weight? Google's secret project sets sail InfoWorld
>> Motorola reveals ambitious plan to build modular smartphones The Verge
>> Jill Abramson: Politico piece was 'shoddy,' 'nutty' Poynter
>> Telegraph contributor says coding is for exceptionally dull weirdos I Programmer
>> Silicon Valley dreams of secession Salon
>> TWEET O' THE DAY: "If the people you work with have never talked to you about your coworker with the loud annoying laugh-you are that coworker." @mollymcnearney
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