Deutsche Bank software software analyst Todd Raker today offers an update for Fortinet (FTNT), Check Point Software (CHKP) and other security software vendors, writing that the industry is seeing “stable” growth expectations, with “channel checks” indicating growth projections for 2011 remained in Q4 about what they were when he checked [...]

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DigiTimes might really be the only source you need to follow Apple (AAPL), given that they seem to publish news about the company by the cartload. (See the earlier item about stepped-up MacBook production, and an item on iPad production earlier in the week.)
Today the industry mag picks up an [...]

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Get ready for a price war in LCD televisions.
Across the industry, there are indications that soft demand is setting the stage for sharply lower TV prices in the coming holiday selling season. As Reuters notes this morning, Sony (SNE) today said it no longer expects to profitable in TVs in [...]

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The credit outlook for the U.S. newspaper sector is getting worse, Moody’s asserted today, as it revised its outlook for the industry to negative from stable. The bearish stance reflects “a waning of recent moderation in advertising revenue declines,” the rating agency said in a statement.
According to Moody’s, newspaper revenues [...]

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LCD panel prices are down sharply amid a disappointing back-to-school season in the U.S. and weak demand in Europe, the Wall Street Journal reports, noting that Asian LCD players expect further weakness ahead.
The Journal notes that the industry faces excess panel supplies as retail inventories rise as consumers slow purchases [...]

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Looking for a new gig (or a gig period)? Disheartened by the dearth of openings in the industry at the moment? Itching for the chance to get all up in UBS’s face? If you’re under 37, in “prime physical condition” and can shoot a gun, the IRS wants you for its Criminal Investigation Divsion, which is now hiring. [FINS]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

“The first academic research project into lap dancing has found that, rather than being uneducated young women who have been coerced into the industry, one in four dancers has a degree and has been attracted by the money…. The researchers found no evidence of trafficking in the industry, and concluded that career and economic choices were motivations for dancing rather than drug use or coercion.” [Awl]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Dell (DELL) is holding talks with Google (GOOG) on using the Chrome OS on laptops, a Dell exec told Reuters.
“We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with Google on this,” [...]

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Microsoft (MSFT) CFO Peter Klein today said the company is unlikely to do any large acquisitions in the near-term, although he did say that the tech sector is likely to see further consolidation as the industry recovers from the recession.
Klein made the remarks at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in [...]

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Worldwide smart phone unit sales were up 50% in Q1 from a year ago, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The firm says the industry sold 54 million units in the quarter, accounting for 18% of overall handset volumes.
The top three players look like this:

Nokia (NOK): 21.5 million units, for [...]

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