Well, well, well, that financial imp at Microsoft–CFO Chris Liddell–pulled a fast one on Wall Street and turned in first-quarter earnings that blew away all estimates and even the whisper numbers.

While revenue and net income were down for the third consecutive quarter, they were not as bad as investors had expected.

Perhaps those Microsoft (MSFT) financial predictions were no good, but the results were a strong sign of recovery at the software giant.

BoomTown liveblogged the morning conference call with Liddell, which took place at 7:30 am PT–thanks for the Kiwi-laced wake-up call, Chris!

(You can see the financial slides of the Q1 performance here.)

7:34 am: “It might have been the bottom of the economic reset,” said Liddell in the opening. “I’m very happy.”

Still, Liddell, who has been a glum goose for many quarters now, could not quite do cartwheels, noting that the economy was “still challenging.”

He also still repeated his favorite term for the market, calling it: “The new normal.”

7:38 am: Other investor guy, whose name I always forget (and who is Bill Koefoed, by the way), got on and went through the numbers. He also sounded deeply relieved and noted that it looked pretty good out there.

Liddell returned and said Microsoft was “well-positioned” to exit the econalpyse stronger than competitors.

Not so bad, although he expected personal computer and hardware sales be weak still and was not promising anything.

The online and search and advertising partnership with Yahoo (YHOO) was also on track, said Liddell.

“In summary, I feel great about how we are executing,” said Liddell, who made sure to give credit to “cost discipline.”

It was nowhere near the strong performances of Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) recently, but allowed Microsoft some much needed breathing room.

7:51 am: Question time!

The first was about when the launch of Windows 7 would start bringing home the bacon.

The next was about “channel inventory build,” which was like asking Liddell to be a soothsayer. “Net positive,” he opined.

The third question was about costs from the transition of the Yahoo deal and the contribution.

Costs will up front and there will be a contribution in the “hundreds of millions.”

Next: The future of cost cuts.

“I see that as the journey that never ends,” said Liddell.

Memo to PR head Frank Shaw: Cancel the truckload of caviar for a big honking party in celebration of these results. Stat!

7:58 am: I missed one question, since it was so boring, as was the answer.

Then a good one came about the deployment of Windows in corporate environments and elsewhere.

“All of the feedback we get so far is positive,” said Liddell, not that he is bragging or anything. “The sales in retail, we are expecting to be very good.”

Another cost question, this time about whether more investments are coming in the years ahead.

No ramping back, thank you very much!

The next question was about the impact of netbooks on the bottom line.

Not bad, but not huge, said Liddell.

What about display advertising online? In line with the weaker market, said Liddell, but it should improve.

8:09 am: PC demand? Liddell notes the “robustness” of the PC, which Microsoft has actually been pooh-poohing over many quarters.

Liddell said he saw better days ahead, perhaps because past ones had been weak, especially business PCs. “That can’t continue forever,” he noted.

A question about Europe. “Relatively weak,” said Liddell, while emerging markets were stronger.

“This calendar year is transition to next calendar year,” said Liddell.

A query about Windows 7 revenue recognition, which comes when Microsoft sells to OEMs.

8:14 am: More on OEMs, who are the big buyers of Microsoft’s operating system software.

Next up: Another question about outlook.

“Generally speaking, we are seeing good adoption of our products,” said Liddell, but the true rebound is coming next year.

The last question is about Windows Live.

It’ll get better, but next year, folks!

Translation, if you imagine Liddell channeling “Annie”: The sun’ll come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun!

Enjoy this lovely video of the classic song:

Microsoft has had a high-profile week, between launching its new Windows 7 operating system and striking real-time feed deals with both Twitter and Facebook.

But Wall Street is not expecting quite as much excitement from the software giant’s first-quarter earnings, which will be announced before the markets open this morning.

Both revenue and profits are expected to be down from the same period a year ago.

So any beating of expectations would be seen as a big deal by investors.

Microsoft (MSFT) will hold a conference call on the results at 7:30 am, which BoomTown will be liveblogging–mostly to enjoy the lilting accent of CFO Chris Liddell.

Analysts are expecting the company to report 32 cents a share on revenue of $12.4 billion. In the same period a year ago, Microsoft’s revenue was $15.1 billion on net income of 48 cents a share.

Microsoft’s execs have been striking a tone of caution for several quarters, largely due to the falloff in sales of personal computers in the wake of the econalypse.

In the last quarter, the company’s income fell 30 percent, for example, and it missed revenue estimates by $1 billion.

There have been no new products of any consequence in the first quarter, although Windows 7–which has been well-received so far–is likely to boost results in the months ahead.

Office 2010 is also coming out in the first half of this fiscal year, which should also add to a better future performance.

Yahoo reported its third-quarter earnings earlier today, a pretty good performance in which it soundly beat Wall Street expectations with a stronger net income than expected.

While revenue at the Silicon Valley Internet giant was down, also as expected–both owned-and-operated search and display advertising saw big declines, 19 percent and eight percent–cost-cutting by CEO Carol Bartz and the sale of the company’s stake in China’s Alibaba.com seem to have more than made up for it.

You can read BoomTown’s liveblog of the conference call by CFO Tim Morse here, but please also enjoy Yahoo’s (YHOO) financial highlights presentation, as well as its condensed financial documents, full of more numbers than you will ever want to crunch.

And, yes, Tim Morse, because I know how little attention the work of accountants get, I have actually read them all!

Here they are:

YQ3_Q309EarningsPresentationFINAL –

YHOO Condensed Financial Documents –

Yahoo bested Wall Street expectations today, announcing stronger net income for its third quarter, despite an also expected decline in revenue.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo reported net income of 13 cents a share, or $186.1 million, on revenues of $1.13 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009, which was a decline from $1.33 billion the same period a year ago.

Wall Street estimated that Yahoo (YHOO) would earn just under seven cents a share on revenues of $1.12 billion.

The improvement includes a $98 million gain on a sale of the company’s stake in Alibaba.com in China, which is nonrecurring, as well as other cost-cutting by CEO Carol Bartz.

In addition, Yahoo’s expectations for the fourth quarter are more positive than those of investors.

Also in the earnings numbers: Yahoo had $4.5 billion in cash and marketable securities, as well as 13,200 employees.

But there was something to worry about: Search advertising revenue was off 19 percent and display was off eight percent at “Owned and Operated” sites on Yahoo.

Google (GOOG), in contrast, reported a seven percent rise in its recent third-quarter results last week, and its execs projected a mood of smooth sailing ahead and no more econalypse.

Nonetheless, overall, it was a solid performance from the Silicon Valley icon, especially compared to some of its recent and decidedly rockier earnings reports.

But, while investors can now breathe a little sigh of relief that the bleeding seems to have stopped, they will now likely focus on how much growth the Yahoo can have in the future.

That’s the next story for certain, starting with Yahoo’s analyst meeting next Wednesday, although today’s Yahoo management buzzword was “stablized.”

“With revenue coming in above our guidance and flat sequentially, we had a solid third quarter that signals our major businesses have stabilized,” said Bartz in a press release. “With new products like Yahoo! homepage, our brand revitalization campaign and expansion in the Middle East through Maktoob.com, our execution is improving and we’re focused on what we do best–being the center of people’s online lives.”

Added CFO Tim Morse: “In the third quarter we saw strength in key areas of our business. Our efforts to reposition Yahoo! are still in the early stages, but we’re confident that our investments in the business will enable us to capitalize on growth opportunities as the economy recovers.”

You can read all about it in Yahoo’s press release here, which includes performance tables of third-quarter results, or below without tables.

More to come at the conference call at 2 pm, which BoomTown will blog live!

Here is the Yahoo press release on the quarter:

YAHOO! REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2009 RESULTS

Company Exceeds Revenue Outlook Maintains Strong Balance Sheet with over $4.5 Billion in Cash and Marketable Debt Securities

SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 20, 2009–Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) today reported revenues of $1,575 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, a decrease of 12 percent from the third quarter of 2008 and slightly above the second quarter of 2009. Excluding the impact of currency rate fluctuations and divested business lines, revenues for the third quarter of 2009 would have declined 7 percent compared to the third quarter of 2008.

Net income per diluted share for the third quarter of 2009 was $0.13, compared to $0.04 for the third quarter of 2008. Non-GAAP net income per diluted share for the third quarter of 2009 and 2008 was $0.15.

“With revenue coming in above our guidance and flat sequentially, we had a solid third quarter that signals our major businesses have stabilized,” said Yahoo! chief executive officer Carol Bartz. “With new products like Yahoo! homepage, our brand revitalization campaign and expansion in the Middle East through Maktoob.com, our execution is improving and we’re focused on what we do best–being the center of people’s online lives.”

:In the third quarter we saw strength in key areas of our business,” said Yahoo! chief financial officer Tim Morse. “Our efforts to reposition Yahoo! are still in the early stages, but we’re confident that our investments in the business will enable us to capitalize on growth opportunities as the economy recovers.

Revenues

* Marketing services revenues declined 12 percent and fees revenues declined 11 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2008.

* Marketing services revenues were flat and fees revenues increased 2 percent, compared to the second quarter of 2009.

* Marketing services revenues from Owned and Operated sites were $851 million for the third quarter of 2009, a 15 percent decrease compared to $1,002 million for the same period of 2008. The decrease was primarily driven by a 19 percent decline in search advertising revenue and an 8 percent decline in display advertising revenue.

* Marketing services revenues from Affiliate sites were $526 million for the third quarter of 2009, a 6 percent decrease compared to $561 million for the same period of 2008.

Cash Flow and Cash Balance

* Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter of 2009 was $355 million, a 2 percent increase compared to $347 million for the same period of 2008.

* Free cash flow for the third quarter of 2009 was $258 million, a 20 percent increase compared to $215 million for the same period of 2008.

* Cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable debt securities were $4,503 million at September 30, 2009 compared to $3,522 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $981 million.

Business Outlook

GAAP revenue for the fourth quarter of 2009 is expected to be in the range of $1,600 million to $1,700 million. Non-GAAP operating income before depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation expense for the fourth quarter of 2009 is expected to be in the range of $400 million to $450 million. Income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2009 is expected to be in the range of $135 million to $155 million.

It’s not likely the announcement of Yahoo’s third-quarter earnings later today will be quite as exciting as its Open Hack Day in Taiwan this past weekend, but BoomTown will try to make those numbers and the conference call afterward with CEO Carol Bartz as entertaining as possible.

Still, while recent results from both Google (GOOG) and, especially, Apple (AAPL), have been pretty impressive, no one is expecting Yahoo to blow the roof off.

So, here’s what to look for:

Wall Street is estimating that Yahoo (YHOO) will earn just under seven cents a share, with revenue of $1.12 billion. This compares with nine cents and $1.33 billion in the same period a year ago.

Some whisper numbers peg the results at close to 10 cents a share, which would be a sensation, especially given the still-recovering state of display advertising, which is Yahoo’s bread and butter.

Also likely to be asked about is the recent decline in Yahoo’s search share. According to comScore (SCOR), its share in the important U.S. market dipped to 18.8 percent in September, even as both Google and Microsoft (MSFT) saw small gains.

Yahoo is set to start an online search and advertising partnership with Microsoft, as soon as regulators give it the thumbs up, as seems likely.

And analysts will likely ask about the effectiveness of Yahoo’s $100 million marketing campaign, designed to revitalize its image, which it is ramping up.

But Bartz has also been cutting costs and streamlining staff and operations–her strong suit–which could improve the bottom line.

Yahoo shares, while up 39 percent for the year, are down 2.7 percent for the month, even as other tech firms are up.

The stock is down 1.7 percent today, hovering just under $17 a share.

Whether the results and what Yahoo has to say about the year ahead will affect the share price remains to be seen.

Until then, here is a link to a very good Q&A interview Bartz did with the New York Times about her management style, which was posted over the weekend.

Money quote, from the ever-quotable Bartz:

“I have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then because you don’t say six months later, ‘Remember that day, January 12th, when you peed on the carpet?’ That doesn’t make any sense.”

When Apple reports its fourth-quarter earnings today, investors are hoping–actually, expecting–that the iconic computer company will look a lot now as it always has.

In other words, don’t go changing and it will please us.

Wall Street is anticipating, as it has throughout the econalypse, another estimate-beating performance from Apple (AAPL).

While Apple has signaled that it will be making up to $1.23 per share for the quarter, the “whisper” number for the quarter is much higher.

Revenue is also expected to rise strongly to upward of $9 billion.

The reason for all this happy talk? Strong sales of all of Apple’s innovative hardware products, including iPods, iPhones, and computers, as well as the big, fat profit margins that came with upgrades by consumers this past quarter to its new Snow Leopard operating-system software.

And, of course, the stock has been showing all this investor love by–as BoomTown has noted recently–defying gravity.

Apple shares are up just above 120 percent since the beginning of the year.

The company closed at $188.05 on Friday, giving it a market valuation of $168.5 billion.

Whether it will continue going up is a big question for investors, although Apple is entering the holiday season, when it typically does well.

Plus, many are expecting the company to goose excitement for 2010 with the announcement of its secret-but-everyone-knows tablet offering.

That said, Microsoft (MSFT) is also officially launching a new operating system this week–Windows 7–which is expected to give Apple some clear competition.

In one week, Yahoo will report its third-quarter earnings, after the market closes.

And so far, its stock is showing signs that investors are hoping for better days ahead for the Internet giant.

Shares are up 8.5 percent for the month, almost 13 percent for the last three months and almost 39 percent since the beginning of the year.

While that’s not the rocket ship Google (GOOG) has been on–the search giant’s stock is up 70 percent since January, which includes a big boost recently on expectations of a strong earnings report tomorrow–it’s clear investors are hoping an improvement in the online advertising market will boost Yahoo’s fortunes.

Wall Street is expecting $1.12 billion in net revenue and seven cents in earnings per share from Yahoo (YHOO)–and a better performance than that could boost the stock.

In fact, a pair of bullish analyst reports that came out today predicted just that.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Benjamin Schachter raised his price target to $21 a share, noting that after the search and online advertising partnership deal closes, Yahoo “should be meaningfully smaller and leaner, but should also be a significantly more profitable company.”

And Benchmark Co. analyst Clayton Moran moved Yahoo from hold to buy, with a price target of $20.

But a string of recent exec departures in Yahoo’s advertising units are making some within the company’s ranks slightly worried.

The departures include Jim Schinella, the company’s SVP for corporate partnerships, in September.

And yesterday, Glam Media announced that it had nabbed Josh Jacobs as SVP of Brand Advertising Products & Marketing. At Yahoo, Jacobs was a key exec in its display ad platform unit.

Many inside the company expect more departures in the ad and engineering arena at Yahoo, pointing out that many big stock packages given to hold onto talent are about to vest.

In addition, once Yahoo’s search and online advertising partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) is approved, as it is likely to be by the end of the year, hundreds of Yahoo engineers will get the choice of moving to Microsoft.

Some will, of course, but some simply do not want to go and many Silicon Valley companies and start-ups BoomTown spoke to report seeing more resumes recently from Yahoo staff.

There is little Microsoft can do to stop possible leakage of tech talent from Yahoo until the deal is approved, since the companies cannot do any integration until it is.

Perhaps worst of all, there seems to be nothing Yahoo can do to stifle its proclivity to yodel, which I begged Yahoo execs to forgo in its recent $100 million “It’s Y!ou” marketing push.

No such luck!

Yesterday, Yahoo launched its online Yodel Studio (no, I am not kidding), where you can record your own yodel in various music genres, like, um, rap.

Yahoo held a kickoff event in New York’s Time Square yesterday–however did I manage to miss it, since I was in Manhattan?–with a passel of celebrity yodelers like Jewel, as well as one in London’s Covent Garden.

Today, there is a yodel event in Mumbai, India. Bollywood yodeling anyone?

Here is a link to the famous Yahoo yodel, by the way, if you are so inclined.

And here is a video of the Times Square event, and also the very memorable Yahoo commercial of Taylor Ware, after she won the Yahoo National Yodel Challenge contest in 2003.

Some things never change (even if they should!).

Folksy set was on the highest burner possible at Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women’s conference this morning, as legendary financial investor Warren Buffett took to the stage.

Buffett, who was interviewed by Fortune’s terrific Carol Loomis onstage in Carlsbad, Calif., held forth to the crowd–made up mostly of women–having instructed Loomis previously to “do anything with me…I like your crowd.”

And, of course, the crowd loved Buffett, who has become a Midwestern Yoda, dispensing snippets of sage advice and clever aphorisms to unabashed fans.

Oh, yes, he also has turned himself into one of the world’s richest men while doing it, presiding for decades over his Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) conglomerate.

In the interview, Loomis quizzed Buffett about a range of topics, mostly centering on the economy and the rescue of Wall Street by the federal government.

“I think they’ve done a terrific job, all things considered,” said Buffett about the performance of regulators.

While he said he did not agree with all of the more costly aspects of the various bailouts, he noted that the dire situation needed drastic action.

“We were right at the brink….This country was becoming not only economically dysfunctional, but inoperative,” said Buffett about the econalypse. “We came so close to a meltdown.”

Today, he is much more sanguine about the economic situation, while also noting it was not all sunshine and daisies.

“There are no green shots, but I don’t see anything getting worse either,” said Buffett.

Joking, he noted that the recovery could be quicker if the housing stock was made smaller by blowing up one million houses and allowing “14-year olds to start cohabiting.”

It was an adorkably funny comment, as was his answer to a question from an audience member about who should play him in a movie of his life: George Clooney, of course, but “Danny DeVito’s out.”

Mostly, what struck BoomTown was Buffett’s firm belief in the strength of the system that we have built in the U.S.

“This system works magnificently,” he said flatly.

Well, Buffett is magnificent for dang sure.

Here’s are video snippets of him at the conference–sorry it is a little tinny–talking about women’s underwear, the resilience of the U.S. and why it will be okay in the end:

[Photo courtesy of Fortune magazine.]

]]> http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090915/warren-buffett-at-fortune-womens-conference-on-the-economy-and-george-clooney/feed/ 2 http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090817/top-ad-sales-exec-on-west-coast-departs-yahoo/ http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090817/top-ad-sales-exec-on-west-coast-departs-yahoo/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:37:26 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=17697

One of Yahoo’s highest-ranking premium advertising sales execs–David Dickman, VP of West Coast sales–is leaving the company, people familiar with the situation said.

Sources said Dickman, who will leave Yahoo at the end of the month after three years at the company, is reportedly going to Time Warner (TWX) unit Warner Bros. to work in digital sales.

Well liked at Yahoo (YHOO), Dickman was impacted in a sales reorganization done in the spring.

At the time, Atlanta-based regional sales VP Mitch Spolan was named to lead Yahoo’s North American field sales, consolidating its display ad sales groups, which had previously been split between the East and West Coasts.

Before that, Dickman ran the Western sales and another exec the Eastern sales, serving big display advertisers. The latter exec took over agency sales, while Dickman remained running sales on the West Coast, reporting to Spolan.

Dickman’s departure comes after another top Yahoo display ad exec, Todd Taplin (pictured here), left last week. He was regional VP of sales in New England and Canada, responsible for big Yahoo display advertising accounts like Fidelity Investments in Boston.

Taplin–who was also well regarded at Yahoo–took a job at Collective Media in New York, as its new Chief Revenue Officer.

Flux at the Yahoo ad sales group in the U.S.–which accounts for most of the Internet giant’s revenues–will be closely watched by Wall Street right now since it is also charged with selling premium search ads for both Yahoo and Microsoft (MSFT) under the recent deal they struck. Yahoo is also aiming to turbocharge its premium graphical ad sales business.

]]> http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090817/top-ad-sales-exec-on-west-coast-departs-yahoo/feed/ 0 http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090731/boatloads-of-money-brings-boatloads-of-trouble-to-yahoos-bartz-the-video-plus-how-the-deal-almost-sunk/ http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090731/boatloads-of-money-brings-boatloads-of-trouble-to-yahoos-bartz-the-video-plus-how-the-deal-almost-sunk/#comments Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:16:27 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=16875

One of the reasons Wall Street investors have gone sour on Yahoo’s stock since its online advertising and search deal with Microsoft was announced is due a much-repeated comment that CEO Carol Bartz made at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in late May.

In an onstage interview with me, I asked Bartz about how talks with Microsoft (MSFT)–about which I had reported a lot–were going and what it would take to do a deal.

She answered quite emphatically that “if there’s boatloads of money, and there’s the right technology and there’s the right information we’d have, sure.” Bartz repeated “boatload of money” soon after.

And, since she said that’s what she wanted, Wall Street had expected such a windfall immediately in the deal.

But, with no upfront payment forthcoming–despite the fact that Bartz said she opted for money over a longer timeframe via better search monetization from Microsoft–Yahoo (YHOO) has seen its shares get pummeled.

The stock was down 12 percent when the deal was signed Tuesday and almost four percent today, giving up a lot of the gains that have been made since Bartz came on board in January.

Ironically, in an interview with me right after the deal was struck, both Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told me it was at a meeting they had at D7 that they decided to call an end to the talks that had been going on since March.

The reason was that a plan to also share display advertising was on the table and it had added a level of complexity that was too hard to bridge.

“We agreed to walk away, the game was over,” said Bartz. “It was our ‘hasta luego.’”

Well, not for long, as the execs under them both regrouped and came up with the simpler search plan–a deal that Yahoo investors are still unsatisfied with.

Now, it will be up the Bartz to convince them that their ship will–eventually–come in.

Until then, here’s the “boatloads of money” video clip:

]]> http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090731/boatloads-of-money-brings-boatloads-of-trouble-to-yahoos-bartz-the-video-plus-how-the-deal-almost-sunk/feed/ 0 http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090730/live-from-redmond-microsofts-lu-hearts-hoo-plus-business-guy-elop-and-and-server-guy-muglia/ http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090730/live-from-redmond-microsofts-lu-hearts-hoo-plus-business-guy-elop-and-and-server-guy-muglia/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:05:58 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=16840

Isn’t it ironic that Yahoo once employed–and for a very long time–top search techie Qi Lu and here he was on stage today at the Financial Analyst Meeting at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Wash., after having just scooped up that business for the software giant.

Lu, who is now president of the Online Services division at Microsoft (MSFT), was a key player in the deal that was announced yesterday between it and Yahoo (YHOO), under which Microsoft licensed Yahoo’s search technology for a decade.

Lu was not generous with the details, although he did say making the partnership work was his No. 2 priority after Microsoft’s own search business. No. 3 was being financially responsible.

Said Lu, in part: “First, search is our number–one priority…second, a big priority for us is implement the Yahoo partnership. It is a 10-year partnership. We’re absolutely committed in spirit, in everything we did to deliver the true economic values, consumer benefits, customer benefits for advertisers, publishers all around.”

Because of the scale it brings, Lu said that the deal has the potential to be lucrative, despite the fact that Wall Street thinks Yahoo sold out of its search technology too cheaply.

But he also tried to manage expectations. “And I keep telling my teams, we want to be brutally honest about where we are…and understand the hurdles we have to overcome,” said Lu.

Microsoft Business President Stephen Elop, who was on next, talked a lot about how Microsoft was dealing with the tough economy and its impact on the company’s software business.

He also gave updates about a range of its various products, including the upcoming Office 2010.

“Now, despite the difficult economic challenges, despite the end of a product cycle, what we believe, as evidenced by the strength of our annuity business, is that there’s incredible excitement out there in the market because of Office 2010,” said Elop. “So, at a time when we expect business productivity or business spending climate to improve, we are launching the most innovative wave of technology we have ever launched.”

Elop used the term “attach rate” to talk about the how users relate to Microsoft software, although I have often thought about how much I wanted to get a divorce from Microsoft Outlook.

After Elop, another business-type exec, Servers and Tools President Bob Muglia, who also had to deliver not-such-great news.

Said Muglia: “What we saw was that as the economy got soft, so did the customer buying, the business buying for servers, and starting around the middle of October into the end of our fiscal second quarter, and certainly through the entire part of our second fiscal half, this calendar year, we’ve seen a pretty dramatic decline in the server marketplace.”

And, after that, when he started talking annuity sales, virtualization and modular data centers–I’ll admit it–this is precisely the moment when I went out for an emergency cookie run.

After Q&A with Elop and Muglia, next up: CFO Chris Liddell (and his delightful New Zealand accent) to talk about–hopefully–Microsoft’s billion-dollar revenue miss in its most recent quarter.

]]> http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090730/live-from-redmond-microsofts-lu-hearts-hoo-plus-business-guy-elop-and-and-server-guy-muglia/feed/ 0 http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090730/live-from-redmond-microsofts-turner-bach-mundie-talk-strong-play-games-and-introduce-us-to-hal/ http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090730/live-from-redmond-microsofts-turner-bach-mundie-talk-strong-play-games-and-introduce-us-to-hal/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:11:45 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=16817

While Microsoft COO Kevin Turner did a kind of modified cheerleading act at Microsoft’s annual Financial Analyst Meeting, Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach played the teenage boy and Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie the voice from the future.

During his presentation at the event at the Microsoft (MSFT) HQ in Redmond, Wash.–a series of presentations for Wall Street analysts and the media–Bach showed off the Xbox’s new Project Natal motion-sensing technology, which lets you play games and more without a controller.

Bach spazzed out nicely playing a game called Ricochet, with a storm of virtual red balls coming at him, although I was slightly worried the exertion might cause him to collapse on stage.

Turner was on before Bach, pretty much doing cleanup after CEO Steve Ballmer’s presentation, talking up all of Microsoft’s various businesses, while talking down its competitors’.

Said Turner, whose mantra was building market share for Microsoft: “Strong innovation, strong innovation investment, as well as strong operational excellence that we’re driving to compete and grow our market share.”

Strong, got it? (Frankly, I know companies always put their best foot forward at events like this–but after Ballmer’s own He-Man speech, BoomTown is a little worried that Scary Microsoft could be making a comeback, after a few post-antitrust years of Kinder-Gentler Microsoft.)

Bach, given his job, was a lot more entertaining and had more to show off, although he could not be as positive about the software giant’s mobile experience, given the juggernaut of the iPhone from Apple (AAPL).

“First of all, in Windows Mobile, as Steve pointed out, we had a challenging year from a share perspective,” said Bach. “Much tougher competition in the U.S. and certainly there is plenty of competition in this space.”

No kidding!

Natal is, of course, the pretty one for Bach’s division.

“It is about technology innovation and experience innovation. I think it will lead to a bigger and better business as well,” said Bach. “It is certainly an opportunity for us to build something new.”

Mundie also showed a lot of new futuristic stuff, which borrowed from the Natal technology, including a demo of a gesture-rich “office of the future” experience.

Said Mundie: “But as far as Microsoft, one of the greatest opportunities going forward is to realize there will be a successor to the desktop. It is the room. It is the fixed computing environment. The question is what can you do with computing when you have a much more robust man-machine interaction model and you don’t have to fold it in half and move it and run it on a battery.”

In the midst of it, though, he chit-chatted with a very scary “digital assistant” named DAG (I think it must stand for Digital Assistant Golem) on the screen, whose voice freaked me out in the exact way HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey” always does.

After helping Mundie with a bunch of stuff, I am guessing DAG went off into the computer to work on a secret plan to kill off the human race.

Well, it was nice being here for this long on our little blue planet, Earth!

So, while we wait for DAG to destroy us, here’s the video demoing Natal that Bach showed to the audience, which is not new, but still pretty cool:

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