A Seoul Central District Court ruling went against Microsoft (MSFT) on Friday. The court held that Microsoft’s bundling of the Windows Media Service with its Windows operating system amounted to unfair competition. It was felt that consumers should be allowed to make their own choice, which would, in turn, promote healthy competition among the providers.   Although the ruling went against Microsoft, the court set aside damage claims by local software company Dideonet, which initiated the proceedings. The $81 million (100 billion won) demanded by the company could not be related to actual losses made.   This seems to be following a pattern, since Microsoft was previously barred from bundling its instant messenger program, although there again, compensation was denied. It is apparent that the bundling strategy is being frowned upon, although none of the small local players have been able to cash in on it so ...

The battle for the smart phone market is heating up this year because the smart phone market is the only game in town. Although smart phones account for just 1 in every 7 mobile devices sold, this segment has doubled its share of the global mobile phone business over the past three years. Revenues from smart phones are expected to double, to half the industry total, by 2014.

Recent figures from market research company Gartner confirm this trend. Gartner’s figures showed that shipments of phones that allow web surfing, email and other popular software applications rose 27 percent in the second quarter to 41 million units. This occurred even while overall handset sales remained on track for their first full-year decline ever. For the three months to June 20, overall mobile phone sales fell 6.1 percent to 286.1 million units. Even during the recession it seems consumers are abandoning ‘dumb’ phones

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 17, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today’s outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Abdul Saleh discusses the Software sector. Highlighted stocks include: SAP (SAP), Fiserv (FISV), Intuit (INTU), Digital River (DRIV) and VeriSign Automotive (VRSN).

Here is the latest on the Software sector:

While most software companies are implementing a series of internal cost-cutting measures, these are steps that companies typically take in an economic downturn -- a hiring freeze, no non-essential travel, and so on. Generally speaking, a downturn is when investment in IT is most critical because these investments can make operations more efficient. This idea is one reason why we think that the tech sector would weather a downturn better than other parts of the economy.

Software giant SAP (SAP) is apparently not halting

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Outlook Global markets appear to be shaking off the recent unprecedented withering of the financial system and are looking for an upturn. But is it sustainable or is it a short-term event? So far, a string of drastic actions by the Federal Reserve and both the Bush and Obama administrations has yet to turn around a bunker mentality. Banks fear lending money to each other and to their customers. Businesses are reluctant to hire and boost capital investments. Consumers have hunkered down. All the economy's problems are feeding off each other, creating a vicious cycle that Washington policymakers are finding difficult to break. Even if the turmoil gripping Wall Street were to let up and badly shaken confidence in the banking system were fully restored, a "broader economic recovery will not happen right away." Obviously, the technology industry is not immune to the current economic ...

The markets were not friendly to bullish investors today as all three major indexes were down.  The NASDAQ and S&P were down 1.11% and 1.27% respectively, closing at 1796.18 and 911.97.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 107.46 or 1.25% as it closed at 8504.67.  Gold saw prices rise as the dollar weakened settling at $932.20, while oil dropped as expected demand declined, settling at $70.47.  The 10-year saw prices rise as the yield dropped to 3.661%. 

Best Buy [BBY: 35.84, -2.82 (-7.29%)] reported earnings of $153 million, or $0.36 per share for the quarter which ended May 30.  This was down from the same period the year before, when they reported earnings of $0.43 per share or $179 million.  Revenue was up 12% to $10.1 billion for the Minneapolis-based retailer, this however missed the average analyst expectation of $10.4 billion, with the Best Buy also reporting that sales

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The markets enjoyed a late rally to send the three major indexes up for the day, as the Dow Jones closed up 1.15%.  The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were both up closing at 1774.33 and 919.14 respectively.  Prices on the 10 year treasury once again rose over a dollar as the yield declined to 3.465%.  Oil and gold were both up today,  with August gold settled at $980.30 and crude settled at $66.31. 

Tiffany & Company [TIF: 28.37, +0.24 (+0.85%)] reported a 62% decline in first quarter profit, as they announced earnings of $24.3 million, or $0.20 per share, declining from $64.4 million, or $0.50 per share the same period the year prior.  Tiffany saw sales decline 22% falling to $523.1 million, with sales dropping 21% in stores who have been open less than a year.  Sales would have fallen only 18% but the high end jewelry company was hurt by currency

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The major indices were up today as investors gained confidence from strong earnings announcements, as the Dow closed at 8076.29.  The NASDAQ and the S&P were also up significantly, 2.55% and 1.68% respectively.  Prices on the 10-year fell as the yield rose to 2.998%.  Futures contracts on gold were up settling at $914.10, while crude was also up settling at $51.55. 

Ford Motor Company [F: 5.00, +0.51 (+11.36%)] reported first quarter results today; they posted a loss of $1.4 billion, or $0.60 a share, as opposed to the Street’s estimate of a loss of $1.19 a share.  Despite posting a big loss, Ford was up over 11% today due to the company reducing cash flow outflow, allowing them to have $21.3 billion in gross cash.  Ford also reaffirmed that they would not be seeking any money from the government to help them weather the economic slump.  The Dearborn, Mich. company said

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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) shares opened lower a day after the software giant agreed to another 18 months of supervision under U.S. Justice Department to monitor the documentation of its licensing agreements.

Microsoft has also agreed to the 18-month extension of some portions of federal antitrust oversight in a joint filing with 17 states and the DOJ. In 2002, the world's largest software maker had settled charges that it abused its supremacy in the market. Antitrust regulations require Microsoft to enable computer makers the liberty to use software programs made by rival companies. The court restrictions which were set to expire on Nov. 12, will now continue till May 2011.

Separately, analysts speculated that Microsoft had lost market share to Google, Inc.  (GOOG) in the paid-click advertising category. On Thursday, Google said that the number of ads placed on its sites grew by 17% in

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India's Tech Mahindra Ltd. won the bid to acquire a controlling stake in the beleaguered software giant Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (SAY) on Monday for over $500 million.

Tech Mahindra offered a bid of 58 Indian rupees per share for a 31% stake in Satyam, beating two other rivals: engineering major Larsen & Toubro Ltd and private equity firm WL Ross & Co.

Tech Mahindra, in which Britain's BT Group (BT) has 31% stake, will make a public offer to acquire an additional 20% in Satyam at the same price.

Last January, software giant Satyam shocked investors by revealing that its assets were overstated by more than $1 billion. Although founder B. Ramalinga Raju, co-founder B. Rama Raju, CFO Srinivas Vadlamani and three other employees have been arrested for cheating and forgery, investor confidence on Satyam has dwindled.

The acquisition is expected to restore confidence in India's

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Shares of Oracle Corp. (ORCL) jumped more than 12%, a day after the software giant reported quarterly earnings that topped market expectations and said it would pay its first-ever dividend.

In the third quarter, ended Feb. 28, the Redwood City, California-based company earned 34 cents per share, excluding special items, which beat the consensus estimate of 31 cents.

Chief Executive Larry Ellison said the quarterly results were a "tremendous achievement in the face of the serious slowdown in the world economy."

However, the real surprise for investors was the announcement that Oracle would pay a quarterly dividend of 5 cents a share for the first time since it went public in March 1986.

While most companies have slashed their payouts to shore up cash in a deepening recession, Oracle's performance reinstated shareholder confidence in the company's resilience to the recession.

Oracle stock, which has shed 10% in the

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