Activision-Blizzard exceeds expectations in the second quarter

The world of video games, Activision-Blizzard, Vivendi-controlled, published Wednesday, August 3, profits and sales well above expectations for the second quarter, driven by the success of the shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops. Net income jumped 53% to $ 335 million. Turnover rose against all odds, albeit modest (+2.3%), reaching $ 699 million, against 599 million dollars expected by analysts.

Google claims a "hostile campaign" by Microsoft, Oracle and Apple

The internet group Google has strongly denounced Wednesday, August 3, a "hostile campaign" against its operating system for mobile devices Android led by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and others, "through patent cans." Blog on the group's legal director, David Drummond, Google's opponents accused of "fighting a sudden procedures instead of a competition based on new features or new equipment." "A multi-function phone can cause up to 250,000 claims related patents, and our competitors want to impose a 'tax' with these dubious patents, which makes the Android devices more expensive for consumers," acknowledges yet Mr. Drummond.

The next handheld console from Sony will not be available for Christmas

Playstation Vita, the new generation of handheld console of the Japanese manufacturer Sony, will not be available for sale in Europe or the United States for the holidays season. Kazuo Hirai, the vice president of Sony, announced that the console, much anticipated, would be put on sale in Japan at the end of the year, before a deployment to European and U.S. markets in early 2012. For console manufacturers as for video game publishers, the holidays season is crucial, because most of console sales happen on the last two months of the year. Missing this window of sales slows significantly the adoption of a machine by the players; Nintendo has experimented with his 3DS, launched off holiday periods, and whose sales were more labored.

GF3 Panasonic, Olympus, EP3, Sony NEX C3: Huge photo sensors, tiny cameras

Smaller, faster, more beautiful: New System cameras compress large image sensors in small enclosures. The manufacturers promise more image quality with less weight. For whom is that dwarf camera? A comparison. Is there anything smaller? Three major camera manufacturers have struggled with new models at a record: If the camera is built with the smallest package, where you can change the lens and exposure of a very large image sensor? The new system cameras from Sony (NEX C3) and Panasonic (GF3) have in fact even smaller enclosure than its predecessor, they are now almost as small as the compact cameras.

Google + is record, growth of 25 million users in June

 - Larry Page and Sergey Brin, smile, and rightly so. The omnipresent Google, the two founded in 1996, collects another record: its social network, which appeared June 28, it reached 25 million users, becoming the fastest-growing site in the history of the World Wide Web According to ComScore, and marketing research firm that specializes in Internet traffic, Google + is able to beat all its competitors.

The sister of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg left to found his own company

Randi Zuckerberg, the sister of the creator of Facebook, and serving as chief of social network marketing, has submitted his resignation letter to start his own communications company, as published by the All Things Digital blog. Zuckerberg had spent the last three months of maternity leave, a period when he was away from the daily social network and allowed it, according to that blog, think about your future.

RIM unveils five new BlackBerry

The Canadian Research In Motion (RIM) announced Wednesday, Aug. 3, the "larger" launch of BlackBerry smartphones in its history, unveiling five new aircraft operated by an all new version of its operating system. The Group of Waterloo, Ontario, whose stock has lost half its value since the beginning of the year, will launch two new models of BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Torch of three.

RIM did not specify the date of the launch, but said more than 225 distribution partners had "begun or completed" certification of its new devices, which aim to regain ground lost to Apple's iPhone . According to May, the Apple iPhone is now more used than the RIM BlackBerry in the United States, according to the firm ComScore.