Windows and Halo boost Microsoft

Microsoft has seen strong quarterly profits, thanks to demand for its Windows operating system and its popular Halo 3 video game.

The software giant saw net profit rise 23% to $4.29bn from $3.48bn a year earlier, during its first financial quarter, beating expectations.

Revenue added 27% to $13.76bn over the three months to 30 September.

The firm also raised its yearly forecast. Shares rose 11% in after-hours trade, to more than $35.

Morningstar analyst Toan Tran described the results as a "blowout quarter".

"I think Microsoft is going to have a fabulous second quarter. Worldwide PC demand is still very strong and is going to benefit Windows and Office," he added.

"With the holiday season, we're going to have demand for Xbox 360, and for Halo 3 so the second quarter is shaping up to be fabulous for Microsoft."

Outlook

Revenue from Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system grew 25% from a year earlier, hitting $4.14bn while sales climbed 20% to $4.11bn.

Meanwhile the firm's entertainment and devices arm saw revenue climb to $1.93bn - nearly double that seen in the first fiscal quarter of 2006, helped by the Halo 3 game as well as the Xbox consoles on which the game is played.

Looking ahead the firm raised its forecast for the financial year to $58.8bn in sales from a previous estimate of between $56.8bn and $57.8bn.

The results come the same day that Microsoft announced it had paid $240m (£117m) to buy a 1.6% stake in Facebook.

The deal means Microsoft will sell internet ads for Facebook outside the US.

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Samsung Cancels Blu-ray Player, Delays Dual-Mode Unit

Samsung confirmed Wednesday that it was canceling one of its Blu-ray players, while delaying its dual-format model until the end of the year.

The Blu-ray-only BD-P2400 was set to debut at a price point of $649 USD. However, the device was essentially the same as the $100 cheaper BD-P1400, save for the addition of HQV video processing.

In an increasingly muddied market for high-definition players where there appears to be no apparent winner for the foreseeable future, Samsung's move might not be all that surprising. It could be making this move to focus on getting its own dual-format player out, the BD-UP5000. While the player was originally supposed to be released in October, the company now says it will not be released until mid- to late December.

Another reason could be that Samsung wished to ensure its set-top box was BD Profile 1.1-compliant, which is a requirement of all players after October 31. While the unit will not ship with the new code, a firmware update in January will enable playback of discs that fit that profile.

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