Will Nintendo 3DS social features work in America?

  

     Nintendo's 3DS wowed audiences at its unveiling this summer.

But without an always-on internet connection, the hand-held gaming device -- which displays 3-D images without the help of glasses -- could be at a disadvantage in the face of smartphones equipped for gaming.

An important social feature of the 3DS, called SpotPass, lets players battle each other over the internet, comparing high scores and making the games more interactive. The problem? Players will need to be in the range of a Wi-Fi network. Otherwise, they only can use SpotPass with friends who are close by.

This may not sit well with U.S. consumers who are used to being able to play games with friends across town or on the other side of the world. Wi-Fi connections are not as common here as 3G networks, which many phones use to connect to the mobile Web.

Nintendo has traditionally been slow to adopt online gaming. In that area, its GameCube system lagged competitors at the time. But web features play a major role in how Wii owners use the system, and it has sold more units than any home console of the current generation.

Future of Windows Azure -- platform is the service

(Ars Technica) -- At PDC this week, Microsoft unveiled its roadmap for the Windows Azure cloud computing platform.

Moving beyond mere Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), the company is positioning Windows Azure as a Platform-as-a-Service offering: a comprehensive set of development tools, services, and management systems to allow developers to concentrate on creating available, scalable applications.

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley steps down as CEO

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Chad Hurley is relinquishing his post as CEO of YouTube, the company he co-founded five years ago that revolutionized video on the Internet.

Hurley said he'll remain an adviser and that Salar Kamangar, vice president of product management, will become CEO.

Google had spent $1.6B on 40 companies in 9 months

Google's 2010 acquisition-spending spree has so far involved 40 companies and a total of $1.6 billion, the company revealed today.

It's been a busy year for the men and women of Google's mergers-and-acquisitions team, closing an average of 4.4 deals a month, according to Google's quarterly report filed with the U.s. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The top three deals involved AdMob, at a final price of $681 million, Slide, at a final price of $179 million, and On2 Technologies, at a final price of $123 million.
But Google also completed 37 other deals by the end of September, spending a total of $626 million on those smaller deals. Google CEO Eric Schmidt wasn't kidding when he said Google was planning to open its checkbook in 2010.
This haul doesn't even include the travel software company ITA, which Google proposed acquiring for $700 million in July. That deal is expected to face a great deal of antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. government, and Google said in its filing that it doesn't expect the transaction to close until the first half of 2011.
With $33 billion in cash to close the third quarter, it's not like Google sweated the payments on any of these deals. And given the resurgence of the online-advertising market that fuels Google's profits, don't expect Google to take its foot off the gas anytime soon.

Nokia hits 1st rank of top five mobile phone vendors

White iPhone 4 delayed until spring

The white iPhone 4 is delayed.

For those keeping track, yes, that is the third time you've read that headline since June. Apple is saying today that the white version of the iPhone 4 now won't be for sale until spring 2011. And that's after telling us in June that it would be delayed until late July, then in July putting off the ship date until "later this year."

Apple's quote today is, "We're sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we've decided to delay its release until this spring."

It comes just shortly after news broke this morning that Apple had released an updated version of its App Store iPhone app with the option to reserve a white iPhone 4 in stores. Clicking "Reserve" didn't actually make a reservation, but it did get the rumor mill churning that a white iPhone 4 was soon to be released.

So what's up with the delays? Presumably the same "manufacturing challenges" Apple cited in previous delays concerning the white iPhone 4. A person spotted using one of the elusive white handsets last week, who had received it from a friend working at Apple, said he'd heard the problem was related to getting the white face plate of the phone to match the white home button.

Again, we don't know the specifics of the holdup because Apple is keeping silent about that. But it is looking increasingly likely that we'll hear about the Verizon iPhone from Apple before we actually see a white iPhone 4 in stores.

Microsoft sales had rise 25% to $16 billion

NEW YORK -- Microsoft's first-quarter sales of $16.2 billion rose 25% from last year, thanks to strong showings from Office 2010, Windows 7 and Xbox 360.

Microsoft's net income jumped 51% from last year, to $5.41 billion, or 62 cents per share. The company easily topped analyst estimates for both sales and earnings.

Some of the gain came from Microsoft's move to exclude sales of $1.5 billion from last year's results because of a Windows 7 upgrade program. The company waited until after Windows 7 shipped to recognize revenue from those sales. Still, factoring out the deferral's effects, Microsoft had double-digit sales and income growth.

All of Microsoft's business units reported year-over-year growth. However, its loss widened in its perennially money-losing online division, which lost $560 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Revenue from Microsoft Office rose more than 15% compared to last year, thanks to Microsoft Office 2010's first full quarter on the market. Sales of Xbox 360 video game consoles grew 38% and outsold every competing console in the U.S. for each of the past four months, Microsoft said.

PC sales were also strong, with revenue rising 10% from software sales through Microsoft's resellers.

Last week, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) reported an all-time sales record of $20 billion, on the back of its popular gadget lineup. It was the first time Apple's quarterly sales topped Microsoft's.

Windows Phone 7: In a conference call with analysts after the earnings release, Microsoft executives touted its new Windows 7 operating system for mobile phones. The OS is deeply integrated with social media and other Microsoft products ,including the Office suite.

"We've made really exciting progress with the Windows Phone 7 abroad, and we expect that to continue when we launch in the U.S. on Nov. 8," said Bill Koefoed, general manager of the company's investor relations.

Earlier this month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Windows Phone 7 smartphones would be available in the United States on AT&T's (T, Fortune 500) network. Microsoft also announced partnerships with Samsung, LG and HTC, which will make devices to run the new smartphone software. All three phones will cost $199.99.

The Windows Phone 7 lineup will eventually include nine phone models available in 30 countries.

0:00 /3:46Microsoft's mobile strategy

Online services: Revenue from Microsoft's online services business division, which includes MSN and its search engine Bing, rose 8%.

Microsoft's search deal with Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500), which aims to challenge Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) dominance in online search, launched earlier this year. Under the 10-year agreement, both search engines maintain their own branding but Yahoo is responsible for acquiring premium advertisers. In turn, Microsoft pays Yahoo 88% of the revenue it gets from searches on Yahoo's sites.

Earlier Thursday, Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) CEO Steve Ballmer delivered a keynote address at the company's Professional Developers Conference in Seattle. In his speech, Ballmer said Microsoft is developing an early foothold in the smartphone market, which he sees as still in its infancy.

Microsoft shares rose 2.6% in after-hours trading.