Netflix is up for the quarter, but streaming costs shot through the roof
DVD rental and streaming video provider Netflix has posted its third quarter 2011 earnings, and though the company's revenues are higher than they were last year, decreasing subscriber acquisition and increasing costs of content licensing will have a significant impact on the company's bottom line next year.
If we were to go strictly by Netflix's earnings data, it would look like the company is continuing to do well: $822 million in revenue (49% higher than 2010,) $62 million in net income (63% higher than 2010,) and earnings per share exceeded Wall Street expectations by more than 20%.
WinZip 16 goes 64-bit
It’s hard to believe that WinZip, the stalwart archive program, has reached its sixteenth release with the latest update, which picks up a range of new features. The ZIP format is getting pretty elderly now and other more efficient compression standards have overtaken it, but it’s still a popular choice. WinZip 16 adds a few more carrots to tempt users by making full use of today’s 64-bit processors and adding the ability to zip directly to Blu-ray disc amongst other new features.
Also new is the ability to avoid email size limits and send files of up to 2GB directly. There’s no need to worry about the limits set by your email provider as the program integrates fully with ZipSend, a web based delivery service that stores your file and shares a direct download link with your email contact. All this is done seamlessly so there’s no need to interrupt your work and switch to a different program. It’s also possible to share Zip files on Facebook directly from the WinZip window.
Give your photos new dimensions with Picture Resizer 5
Resizing multiple images manually is a tedious business. You must open an image, choose the resize option, configure it appropriately, save the image, close it, then start all over again. While there are plenty of batch image resizing tools around, they also require at least some significant configuration before you can get started.
Picture Resizer, though, takes a very different approach, which can at least let you carry out simple resizing operations without ever seeing a single dialog.
Happy Birthday! Windows XP turns 10
Ninth in a series. Few products have impacted more people than Windows XP. Microsoft officially launched the operating system -- the first for consumers based on the NT kernel -- on Oct. 25, 2001. That's right, 10 years ago today. But PC manufacturers started offering XP systems in early September 2001, a week before terrorist attacks against New York City and Northern Virginia. XP is the most popular Windows version ever released. Even today, depending on the analyst crunching numbers, more people use Windows XP than any other PC operating system (although Windows 7 is nearly tied).
Windows XP is a workhorse. Microsoft kept it in market longer than any other Windows version, allowing a very stable ecosystem of third-party applications and products to evolve around it. The operating system fulfilled the vision set for Windows 95 six years earlier -- release of stable, 32-bit code suitable for businesses and consumers. Microsoft's biggest development challenge: Providing compatibility with games and supporting hardware drivers that wanted access to the kernel, which NT blocked for security reasons.
Sssh, Apple silently upgrades MacBook Pros ahead of Intel's Ivy Bridge
Facing increasing competitive pressure, Apple silently pushed performance enhancements to the MacBook Pro line of laptops. The changes include better processors and additional storage, and on higher-end models better graphics cards.
The base level 13-inch MacBook Pro now sports a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor with a 500GB hard drive, but remains at $1,199. The faster $1,499 13-inch model now includes a 2.8GHz i7 dual-core CPU with a 750GB HDD.
Dell's latest XPS notebook puts 14-inch display on a 13-inch chassis
Texas PC maker Dell on Monday took the wraps off of the newest in its 18-year old line of XPS laptops, the 13-inch XPS 14z. Like it has done with all the products in its "Z-series," Dell is billing the 14z as the thinnest fully-featured laptop in its size class.
It falls in line as the higher-end cousin to the Inspiron 14z that Dell released just shy of two months ago, and smaller counterpart to the XPS 15z that was released earlier this year.
First Look: Nitro PDF Professional 7
Think Portable Document Format, and you might be forgiven for thinking it’s a closed standard that requires you to install software from Adobe to both create and view PDFs. You’d be missing a trick if you did restrict yourself to Adobe software though, because there are many other PDF tools out there equally as capable, often cheaper and sometimes offer unique features of their own.
Take Nitro PDF Professional, for example. About to be released in its seventh major incarnation, the rebranded Nitro Pro offers professionals all the tools they need for creating, editing and collaborating on PDFs for a significantly smaller outlay than Adobe’s own Acrobat range. With prices starting from $99 -- a saving of $200 over Adobe Acrobat Standard -- you’d be crazy not to take a closer look.
Use Paragon Virtualization Manager to run a Mac within a Mac
Virtual environments on a Mac are often used for running alternative operating systems like Windows or Linux. Most often this is to run software that simply won’t work under OS X no matter how hard you try to persuade it.
Sometimes, however, it’s desirable to run a Mac inside a Mac, which is where free Paragon Virtualization Manager for Mac OS X comes in. This may be handy for testing new software in an isolated environment to avoid damaging your Mac or you might want to clone your system to a removable disk for backup purposes.
Tablets and laptops are on a 'collision course'
But you knew that already, right?
Today, DisplaySearch issued the most unusual of tablet forecasts -- one that looks at the totality of the market and takes Windows into consideration. Gartner and IDC use a separate "media tablet" category for Android tablets and iPad, based on the operating system, choosing to classify "Tablet PCs" running Windows as personal computers. DisplaySearch has more sensibly made the designation around processors -- ARM and x86 -- which better defines the market for the future, and isn't the future what a forecast is all about?
Oracle spends $1.5 Billion on public cloud CRM company RightNow
Leading enterprise IT company Oracle announced on Monday that it will be acquiring cloud customer service company RightNow for approximately $1.5 billion.
Since CRM is a major aspect of Oracle's business, RightNow's cloud-based customer experience suite, RightNow CX will make an attractive addition to Oracle's cloud CRM platforms. RightNow CX is already used by almost 2,000 companies internationally, by companies such as NASA, eHarmony, Yahoo, Reuters, Overstock, The U.S. Army, and Nikon to name just a few.
MAGIX Movie Edit Pro MX Plus review
Opting for a consumer video editor doesn’t necessarily mean going short on features, especially if you choose MAGIX Movie Edit Pro MX Plus.
The program comes packed with high-end functionality, from the full HD support, to the 99 editing tracks, the multicam and 3D editing options, powerful sound editing tools, and wide range of output options: file, DVD, Blu-ray, YouTube, Facebook and more.
Need to lock down Firefox? Try Dell KACE Secure Browser
One way to stay safer online is to run your browser in a sandbox, where it’s isolated from your main PC: even if you’re infected by something unpleasant, this greatly limits the damage that malware can do.
You don’t have a sandbox? Then one simple alternative is to download and install Dell KACE’s free Secure Browser, which essentially provides a virtualized version of Firefox 3.6.13.
Unlock Windows 8 hidden features with BluePoison 2.1
Many Windows users are keen on tweaking their operating system and this is even truer when a big interface change is made. The public release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview means more people than usual are getting sneak peek at the upcoming version of Microsoft’s operating system, during its earlier stages of development. Windows 8 BluePoison is a free tool that unlocks a number of hidden features.
Moving through the options in the application, you can opt to revert to the old style Start menu and access the Applications folder, which are normally hidden as well as enabling the snap feature on small displays.
Celebrate XP's 10th anniversary -- switch to Windows 7
Eighth in a series. This week, the most successful personal computer operating system ever turns 10. Microsoft officially launched Windows XP on Oct. 25, 2001, with a muted New York gala. The Redmond, Wash.-based company tempered planned festivities. The collective American psyche wasn't ready to celebrate much of anything following terrorist attacks the previous month against the World Trade Center and US Pentagon. This week at BetaNews we'll give Windows XP a bit of the festivity it deserved and didn't get a decade ago.
But we'll temper this celebration, too. For all Windows XP's successes, it has been too long in market. Too many of you still use this venerable workhorse, which is testimony to its compatibility, familiarity and utility. But XP is showing its age. In August, F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen wrote for BetaNews: "Do a good deed today, uninstall Windows XP". That's good advice. He observes that the operating system's security simply isn't as good as Windows 7, or even Mac OS X. "Ten years is an eternity in this business. So it's no wonder XP's security architecture is not up to date".
15 downloads you shouldn't miss this week
It has been another busy week in the world of software releases, so we wouldn’t be at all surprised if some titles escaped you attention. Some of the highlights from the last seven days include WebSite X5 Free, which is a surprisingly effective free template-based web editor that has been designed for beginners looking to create their first site. With a huge range of stylish templates to choose from and a built-in FTP client, there’s everything you need to start and finish your perfect site.
If looking after your computer is more up your street OSForensics 1.0.1001 may well be of interest. This powerful tool can be used to unearth a wealth of information about your system including details of hardware that is or has been connected, and while there are limitations in the free-for-personal-use version it could still furnish you with the information you need to help overcome all manner of problems.
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