Intel Corp. on Tuesday reported third-quarter profits that tumbled 77 percent as it struggled with slowing economies and weak personal computer sales, prompting it to forecast sluggish sales in the fourth quarter, typically the industry's strongest. Intel INTC.O, the No. 1 chipmaker, said that net income before acquisition-related costs fell to $655 million, or 10 cents a share, from $2.89 billion, or 41 cents, a year ago, before 5 cents a share in acquisition-related costs. Sales fell 25 percent to $6.55 billion from $8.73 billion. The Santa Clara, California-based company had been forecast to report a per-share profit, excluding the costs, of 10 cents a share, within a range of 8 cents to 11 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Sales were forecast on average at $6.38 billion. Intel, which has been buffeted this year by weak demand and competitive pressure from rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
News source: Reuters
News source: Reuters
When a customer buys a prereleased CD, that person is sent an encrypted URL, which links to Speedera's streaming area, Smith said. The buyer can then listen to the music featured on the CD as often as desired. But once the CD is released to the public and presumably delivered to the customer, Speedera will block the Web address.
This also serves to protect the property of the music industry. After Napster, music companies grew hypersensitive to any offering that distributed copyrighted materials to a mass audience. They worried that the technology could be cracked and thereby allow the music to be copied, pirated and spread over the Web.
With Speedera's technology, listeners are kept from copying or recording the streamed music. Smith said there is a secret key embedded into the encryption that prevents anyone but the buyer to access the URL. He declined to offer specifics on how that is done.
"You can't record the music; nor can you e-mail to a friend. And it can't be accessed if someone posts it on a Web site," Smith said.
The technology is easily accessible for other kinds of media, such as video, and through different software, such as Microsoft's Windows Media and RealNetworks' RealMedia.
Sources close to Amazon said that if offering prereleased music over the Web proves successful, the e-tailer will likely extend the feature into other digital content.
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