Apple Announces record result after sales surge in China

Apple sells 61.2m iPhones in first three months of 2015 and brought in revenues of %58bn, but latest numbers do not include Apple Watch

Dominic Rushe in New York

Apple sold 61.2m iPhones in first three months of 2015, recording a revenues of $58bn as strong sales from China propelled the tech company to another record quarter.

This quarter, Apple was aided by strong sales of the new iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 Plus in China during the Chinese New Year in February. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected Apple to sell 58.1m iPhones and for the company to report revenues of $56bn.

The numbers paled in comparison to last quarter of 2014 when Apple sold a record 74.5m iPhones. Those sales underpinned $18bn in profit for the quarter, the largest in corporate history. But the end of the year is traditionally Apple's best month thanks to Christmas sales.

The latest numbers do not include Apple Watch, which was available for pre-orders on 10 April and went on sale on 24 April. Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive officer, may update analysts about the new product on a conference call later this afternoon but the company has said it will not break out Watch sales separately.

Slice Intelligence, which compiles sales estimates from an online survey panel, has estimated close to a million Apple Watches were pre-ordered in the US on the first day they went on sale. Estimates for the popularity of the watches have varied widely with analysts predicting the company could sell between 16m and 60m in the first 12 months.

“We are thrilled by the continued strength of iPhone, Mac and the App Store, which drove our best March quarter results ever,” said Cook. “We're seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we've experienced in previous cycles, and we're off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch.”

The galaxy s6 edge is bigger than samsung ever dreamed !!

Samsung once shocked the world when its Galaxy Note phablet became a surprise hit and forced rivals such as Apple to adapt by releasing phones with giant displays. Has Samsung now pulled off yet another surprise hit with the Galaxy S6 edge? Bloomberg reports that Samsung has started producing curved Galaxy S6 edge displays at a third factory much sooner than it had anticipated, as the company has been caught off guard by high early demand for the new device.

In terms of real numbers, this means that Samsung is aiming to up its total monthly production of S6 edge screens from 2 million to 5 million, which is an impressive number for a device that pretty much flew under the radar until its big unveiling earlier this year.
The fact that Samsung didn't anticipate high Galaxy S6 edge demand isn't a surprise. After all, the original Galaxy Note Edge was mostly panned by critics and avoided by consumers. However, Samsung really worked hard to refine its designs for curved displays and came up with an extremely stylish and attractive device in the S6 edge.
At any rate, we expect the “edge” brand to be a staple of future Samsungphones and we'll be very interested to see if any other Android manufacturers try out similar designs similar to how the original Galaxy Note spawned the phablet revolution.

Nokia says it wont make phones anymore !!

We hope you weren't counting on Nokia reviving its phone business. The Finnish firm is now bluntly denyingclaims that it's planning to return to making phones -- there are "no plans" to make or sell any, Nokia says. That's not surprising given both the company's expansion of its networking efforts and an agreement with Microsoftthat it won't make phones until at least 2016. Simply speaking, Nokiawouldn't have the cash or permissions to build these devices in the near future. With that said, the company mentioned this fall that it was considering licensing its storied name to a third party handset maker. If you don't mind buying a Nokia-approved phone, there's still a chance (however small) that you'll get your wish.

Comcast drop TWC Merger Deal

Back in February last year, Comcastsuggested a takeover merger of Time Warner Cable at a value of $45.2 billion, which would make it an even larger broadband cable provider than it already is, covering over 40 percent of the U.S. market.

The deal faced a great deal of public opposition, and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler also expressed serious doubt about whether the merger will truly benefit consumers. Now, Comcast announced that it is withdrawing from the deal.

"Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn't agree, we could walk away," said Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts in a press release.

Over the past few months, Comcastfaced massive public opposition to the merger, scrutiny from Tom Wheeler at the FCC, along with a possible incoming lawsuit from the DOJ.

Recently, the FCC re-classified cable broadband providers as Title II providers, which includes Net Neutrality rules that prevent blocking websites (so long as the content is not illegal), throttling, and paid prioritization, and they increased transparency. Under these rules, the ISPs would no longer be able to dictate who has better access to their networks, and they would no longer be able to build so-called "fast lanes" for content providers that paid extra. The fear is that an ISP the size of Comcast and TWC together will have the power to abuse its customers in other ways.

Fortunately, Comcast structured the deal in such a way that it could back out if it was faced with too much regulatory pressure, meaning that aside from all the time that went into attempting to make the deal happen, from here on out there are no further costs.

Bill Paxdon and Daniel Radcliff bring GTA to Tv in CNET UK

Game over, man, game over! Bill Paxton recording voice-overs for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies. Rachel Murray / Getty Images for Activision

Game over, man! Bill Paxton is taking on Daniel Radcliffe in "Game Changer", a BBC docudrama telling the real-life story of the campaign against Grand Theft Auto and other violent video games.

"Aliens" and "Agents of SHIELD" star Paxton plays outspoken lawyer Jack Thompson, while "Horns" star Radcliffe, best known for getting his kit off in a play about a horse, plays Sam Houser, one of the men behind the smash hit GTA series.

Meanwhile, Carphone Warehouse names its mobile network iD, and Three announces voice-over LTE -- phone calls made over your 4G connection. The Avengers take on a very angry artificial intelligence in Joss Whedon's "Age of Ultron", a superherospectacular that's almost too full of eye-popping action.

Plus, we find out why a Colorado man entered a shootout with his computerafter a blue screen of death appeared.

Hit play on the video and enjoy!

Bill Paxton and Daniel Radcliffe bring Grand Theft Auto to TV in CNET UK podcast 430 Your browser does not support the audio element.

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After that, we hear you in our feedback section. Keep telling us what you think of the show and the rest of the week's technology news in the comments below.

CyberPowers 3 blade gaming PC is build for showning off

Sure, you can accessorize a gaming PC with curved monitors and glowing lights to make it stand out, but what if you don't think they're eye-catching enough? CyberPower thinks it has an answer: it just started taking orders for the Trinity, an oddball gaming rig that divides the chassis into CPU, Performance (read: graphics) and Storage "blades." According to the company, that three-part design is both pretty and functional. The unusual split prevents the components from heating each other, so a hot-running video card shouldn't cook your processor.

The line starts out relatively modestly with the $955 Trinity 100, which carries an AMD A10 processor, 8GB of RAM, GeForce GTX 750 Ti graphics and a storage combo that includes both a 120GB solid-state drive and a 1TB spinning drive. However, you can pony up for higher-end pre-configured models (up to an Intel Core i7 and a GeForce GTX 970), and you can order advanced upgrades like the Titan Xcard if you insist on the best. This definitely isn't be the cheapest gaming rig you can buy, but there's no question that it'll get attention the next time your gaming pals stop by.

Hp pavilion andEnvy x360 are cheaper path to convertible laptops

Intrigued by HP's luscious new Spectre x360 convertible laptop, but looking for something a bit cheaper? Say hello to the new Pavilion x360 and Envy x360. Starting at $410, the Pavilion x360 is HP's most cost-effective convertible laptop -- meaning its screen can be folded all the way around to its rear to be used like a tablet, or folded tent-like for Netflix binges. The Envy x360, starting at $680, is a step up from the Pavilion with a premium metallic finish and bigger 15.6-inch screen. Both computers are also the first to have Bang & Olufsen's touch, HP's new audio tech partner following Beats' betrothal to Apple. At this point, that just means they've been optimized by B&O's tireless audio engineers, and they include some software tweaks to make the best of tiny laptop speakers.

The Envy x360 is certainly the prettier of the pair -- and it's more powerful too, with support for Core i5 and i7 processors and up to 16GB of RAM. The entry-level $680 model gets you a 500GB hard drive and 720p screen, while going up to $770 will net you a terabyte HDD and 1080p display. And of course, you can (and should) opt for a solid-state drive.

But really, the Pavilion x360 is the more interesting convertible. Its 11-inch $410 model is nearly $100 less than Microsoft's Surface 3 (not including its $130 keyboard), and it's powered by a Pentium N3700 processor and 4GB of RAM. For $500, you can upgrade to a Core M processor and 128GB SSD. There's also a 13-inch model for $530 with a Core i3 processor, though you're only getting a 500GB hard drive, not an SSD. Those are decent prices for an ultraportable laptop, but they're even more intriguing considering the flexibility of the Pavilion x360's screen.

If convertibles aren't really your thing, or you just want something very cheap, HP also announced a refresh of its classic Pavilion lineup starting at $550 for the 140inch model. You won't be twisting its screens about, but there are some significant new upgrades, including options for 1080p displays and discrete graphics cards. HP's also refined its unibody design this year, so even though the Pavilion's cases are made out of plastic, they feel sturdier than before.

Both the Pavilion x360 and traditional Pavilion lines will be available on HP's site on May 13, and will eventually roll out to stores on June 21. You'll have to wait a bit longer for the Envy x360, which hits HP's site on June 18 and stores the same day as the Pavilions.