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Apple and Microsoft to team up for Kodak's patents?

Apple and Microsoft could once again join forces to bid on a collection of patents from a beleaguered technology giant, says a new report.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the two companies -- along with Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures -- plan to band together to snatch up some or all of Kodak's patent portfolio. Initial bids for that collection of 1,100 patents are due at the beginning of next week.

The companies could face an opposing team made up of other rivals including Google, Samsung, HTC, and LG, along with San Francisco-based patent buyer and licensor … Read more

The 404 1,096: Where we try this again (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- 'People' defend Chic-fil-A on Facebook.

- Chick-fil-A cashier fired for racist receipts.

- Old records outsell new ones for the first time.

- Circuit City's in-home TV calibration is a total scam.… Read more

A miss: Apple sells 26 million iPhones in third quarter

Update: 3:10 p.m. PT.

Apple sold 26 million iPhones in its third quarter, the company announced today, coming in slightly below what analysts had expected.

The number of iPhones sold grew 28 percent year-over-year. The company's other revenue came from 17 million iPads -- an 84 percent increase -- and 4 million Macs, a 2 percent increase. All sales amount to $35 billion in revenue total.

Apple is clearly celebrating the incredible growth in iPad sales and not highlighting its iPhone sales. Analysts predicted that Apple would sell 29 million iPhones, down from its numbers for the … Read more

Apple Q3 earnings: $35B in revenue, 26M iPhones, 17M iPads

iPhones and iPads once again led the way in a record quarter for Apple, but the results were less than what Wall Street expected.

During its third fiscal quarter, which ran through June 30, Apple reported revenue of $35 billion and earnings of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per share. That was up from the $28.57 billion in revenue and profits of $7.31 billion, or $7.79 per share, the company reported for the same quarter a year ago.

Wall Street was expecting Apple to pull in earnings of $10.35 a share on revenue of $37.… Read more

Steam summer sale starts now

In the PC-gaming world, one sale each year electrifies the community to spend, spend, and spend some more: the Steam summer sale.

Aside from thousands of discounted games, some interesting bundles and featured offers appear right up a spendthrift's alley. The summer sale offers daily deals, multiple random flash sales, and a unique community choice vote where voters choose on the next heavily discounted game (which revolves every eight hours). … Read more

Apple shipped record-breaking 20 million iPads last quarter, analyst says

There's no slowing Apple's iPad shipments, according to one analyst.

Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company, wrote to investors today that Apple shipped 20 million iPads during the three-month period ended June, according to AppleInsider, which obtained a copy of his comments. Wolf initially said that Apple would ship 13 million iPads during the quarter.

If Apple actually shipped that many iPads last quarter, it would set a new record for the company. During the same period last year, Apple sold 9.25 million iPads. During the first quarter of the year, iPad sales hit 11.8 million. … Read more

Android rules U.S. and Europe smartphone sales

For the first time ever, Android has dominated smartphone sales in several major markets, including the U.S., Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia, according to data released today by market analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

In all of these countries, Google's mobile OS has taken at least half of smartphone sales, with the lowest being in Italy at 49.6 percent and highest in Spain with 84.1 percent. The data is from sales recorded over the last 12 weeks ending on June 10.

"We are seeing much of the Android sales growth being driven … Read more

New MacBook Pro, Air prices get slash treatment at Best Buy

Best Buy was quick to discount the newest MacBooks, offering savings up to $140 over the weekend.

The biggest discount is on the $2,799.99 Retina Pro with 8GB of memory and a 512GB solid-state drive (Model: MC976LL/A). That is off $140 to $2,659.99.

The least expensive Retina Pro dropped to $2,089.99 (Model: MC975LL/A), shaving $110 off the regular price (see image below).

New MacBook Airs got cut too. The $999.99 Air (Model: MD223LL/A) fell to $949.99, off $50.

The latest MacBooks feature Intel's new "Ivy Bridge" … Read more

Retail sales of pricey ultrabooks up, vie with MacBook

Sales of pricey ultrabooks are up at retailers, a market research firm said, indicating that skinny laptops may be competing directly with Apple's MacBook line.

First, the bad news: the overall Windows market for notebook PC sales at retail fell by 17 percent in the first five months of the year, according to Stephen Baker, an NPD Group analyst, who published a research note Thursday.

The good news: sales of ultrabooks -- thin, light laptops that compete with the MacBook Air -- are up in the premium market segment. Those priced at more than $900 jumped 39 percent compared … Read more

Microsoft says slate sales to trump desktops in 2013

Microsoft seemingly believes tablet sales will outpace sales of desktops next year. But that might not actually be the case.

Speaking today at the TechEd Europe conference in Amsterdam, Antoine LeBlond, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Web Services, said that "next year, tablets will outsell desktop PCs," according to PC Pro, which was in attendance at the event. LeBlond reportedly didn't provide the margin of victory tablets should score next year, but he did say that "touch" functionality will dramatically change the PC market "just like the mouse did."

It's no … Read more