Nothing wrong with Sony which publishes abyssal loss

Sony, the time for assessment sounded and the figures are disastrous, the company posting the biggest loss in its history.

Sony has published figures for the last quarter of fiscal 2012 and thus also those of its full exercise and, to say the least, is that they are not good. Indeed, the 2.5 billion euro of losses of the last quarter are climbing the score rises to 4.4 billion euros of losses on the full year. This is the biggest loss in the history of the group, which last year already lost EUR 2.51 billion.

For the CEO Kaz Hirai, not easy to swallow the pill, but it is obviously several explanations for this. First, it cannot exclude a comprehensive and proven demand decline, but it also blames him unfavorable exchange rate and the impact of the catastrophe that was the terrible tsunami for the Japanese economy. With this balance could not be more morose, Kaz Hirai has what explain its recent decision to delete in total 10,000 positions at Sony (or 6% of the workforce). A comprehensive restructuring that is expected to cost EUR 750 million over three years to bring Sony profitability.

1.8 million PS Vita sold end of March in the world. It is little, but Sony does not fall
the arms and account on his laptop to help it regain profitability...

With a turnover annual down 9.6% to $ 69.5 billion, it will also know revive sales, which seems difficult in view of the current situation. Bravia televisions which allowed Sony to inflate its CA in recent years are only available as well, and its activity on the video game is in decline. Indeed, the PlayStation 3 is the end of its cycle and the consoles is changing overall downward, as evidenced by the sales of the all-new PlayStation Vita are not good, even if Sony hopes to sell 16 million on the new fiscal year. It is the only product in the division Consumer Products & Services - which depends on the PlayStation brand - for which forecasts are on the rise. A division which, she alone, lose Sony 2.2 billion euros.

The results of its branch cameras & video cameras are not good, down 11.7%. The Xperia smartphones of the mark, the purchase of the shares in Ericsson should allow Sony to try to innovate in this area to boost sales. But in the end, the only division that really earns money from Sony, is that of financial services through which the brand sells insurance. An increase of 10.6%, this service reported to Sony 1.3 billion euros. That is a bit dramatic, recall some, for a company that sells the high-tech at the base.

Read More

MegaUpload: 25 petabytes of data which are expensive to maintain

One of the providers who rented the MegaUpload server would like to find a solution to get rid of the 25 petabytes of data which immobilize its servers 1000...

Carpathia Hosting, one of host MegaUpload data providers, calls for support to continue to maintain 25 petabytes of files from the activity of the service closed by the FBI on its servers. A conservation which deals with 1103 servers and cost it about 9000 dollars a day he said.

Waiting for a legal decision, these data obviously cannot be deleted, or be displaced. And we know that having been seized MegaUpload accounts, Kim Dotcom company can no longer pay the Bills that make it achieve its providers. Result of the races is to justice that Carpathia Hosting turns to try to find a solution.

The hoster proposes that the conservation of these 25 petabytes of data be given to other organizations or the Government, or why not the MegaUpload company. The situation is urgent for Carpathia Hosting, which would like to use its servers immobilized for more profitable purposes.

Virginia Federal Court will therefore have to meet this demand quickly enough. It could request the complainants to participate financially in the conservation of these data that may play a role in the trial of MegaUpload. Unless justice does finally the temporary re-opening of the service to allow for MegaUpload users to recover their data, before allowing their removal. However, this latter scenario is that largely hypothetical...

Read More

Very good results for Free which prepares the arrival of Free Mobile and attack Numericable

Small point encrypted on the progress made by Free on the past semester. If the ISP who recruits the most, Free account not stop in so good way...

After bad LICO figures yesterday, it is the turn for Free to the point on his first six months of activity. And in the troublemaker of the Internet, all is well. Indeed, the ISP displays a record recruitment rate, far exceeding that of its competitors. If SFR attirué 96 000 new clients for its offers Web, that Orange has drawn 164 000 and Bouygues Telecom has 215,000 new entrants, Free parade with 231 000 new subscribers on the first six months of the year. Which still represents 36% of its sales. For sure, its Revolution offer attracts surfers, allowing Free to count a total of 4,245 million customers (and 4.7 million with Alice subscribers), 4.9 million SFR. The gap is reduced more and more. What "credible" the ambition of Free of "double in size by 2015", explains Thomas Raynaud, Chief Financial Officer, to the Reuters news agency. Of course, in the meantime, Free Mobile will was launched.

Free Mobile that the Iliad group obviously has the means to finance, despite its reluctance to pay with a 4 G licence. Indeed, semi-annual turnover was 2.6% at 1.04 billion, when the benefit net is of EUR 145 million, up 8% on a year. In addition, Free took advantage of the presentation of its results to let know that 3.6 million taken very high speed (understanding optical fiber, FTTH) are deployed or being deployed. About Free Mobile, the project today is 3 500 people mobilized, Free as in more than 100 corporate partners, including suppliers and subcontractors. And to those who think that Free Mobile will not be able to decide prices also strongly than expected, since competitors took the measure of his arrival by lowering overall tariffs, the Financial Director responded that according to Free, the France mobile market is always the same, "prices are still high".

Finally, let's finish by sliding a little word on the dispute between Free and Numericable around the term "Revolution". Remember no doubt that a few months ago, a mysterious operator promised "The Mobile revolution" and that it is ultimately of Numericable who had launched an "unlimited" offer. And although Free believes to be owner of the term "Revolution" he largely tied to its brand, as well to the public for the press. Thus, PCInpact says that the Iliad group was assigned to justice Numericable and claimed 10 million euros in damages and compensation for damage to its image and reputation. And for the relief of harm "constituted by the diversion of its image and the weakening of his own advertising and commercial efforts". Confusion with Numericable voluntarily played as Free, which probably exaggerates a little by explaining that "38 million of advertising investments were thrown at the window".

Read More

M - Disc: DVD which resists time

LG promises us an optical medium resistant to everything and even time.

You probably already know, optical media have a limited life which does not exceed a few tens of years, or even a few years if the media is of poor quality and stored in a location not adapted. In March 2010, the "Longevity of digital information" report produced by the Academy of sciences and the Academy of technology drew the alarm. The study showed that the length of life of the CD - R and DVD-R does not exceed fifteen to twenty years in the best of cases, and that the worst media degrade after only one year. The BD - R, with yet more fine grooves, have an even shorter life expectancy. The problem is in part of different set comprising optical disks, they tend to dissociate making it unreadable disk.

The LG constructor and the start-up Millenniata seem to have found the solution. Named M-Disc, this new optical uses fewer layers than a conventional disk, but especially the main layer on which the information is stored is manufactured with a material as hard as stone. The two companies that have not communicated on the exact nature of this new material. One thing is certain, M-Disc has passed the tests of the US Department of defence in contrast to other media. M-Disc misunderstands including su the most sensitive reflective layer conventional optical disk. The lifetime of the M-Disc would be unlimited...

The advantage of M-Disc, is that it is compatible with all existing DVD players via a simple internal firmware update. However, for engraving, need to upgrade to a new burner. The LG constructor should commercialize the first models to burn the Disc M during the month of October. The speed will be limited to 4 x, but engineers are on track to move quickly to 8 x.

Read More

A Tablet PC which is resistant to any

The Japanese manufacturer Panasonic presents a new Tablet PC in his famous Toughbook range...

Panasonic has just announced a new Tablet PC (pending his future Tablet under Google Android). The Toughbook CF - H2 of the Japanese manufacturer is designed around a touch screen (with a non-glare treatment) 10.1 inch, 1024 x 768 pixels resolution. There is now a Core i5-2557M 1.7 GHz in the heart of the beast, accompanied by the QM67 Express chipset and DDR3 2 GB (the maximum supported being 8 GB). The display is driven by the integrated Intel HD 3000 solution, while storage is entrusted to a 160 GB HDD or a 128 GB flash drive. FC - H2 connectivity includes Gigabit LAN, WiFi 802 .11n, Bluetooth 2.1 ready, and 3 G (HSPA + to 21 Mb/s) optional. This Tablet PC can also have a fingerprint reader, of a flea (NFC/RFID) card reader, of a barcode reader, a 2 megapixel sensor (with autofocus and flash), and GPS.

It integrates two (hot swappable) 3400 mAh batteries that give maximum autonomy of 6.5 hours. This solution 274 x 268 mm x 58 mm and weighs 1.58 kg. It architecture around a polycarbonate covered with magnesium alloy chassis, and is completely fanless. The Toughbook endure vibration and shock (MIL - STD 810 G) standard, as well as water and dust (IP65 standard). For example, it can be dropped from a height of 185 cm without fear! This machine has a screen of high-quality, offering up to 500 cd/m² of brightness transmissive and 6500 cd/m² of brightness transflective. It can operate at temperatures ranging from-28,8 to 60 degrees Celsius. Panasonic will propose its FC - H2 in the weeks ahead, $ 3449 (€2949 TTC).

Read More