Plenty of big names are set to report their earnings in August, including the country's largest cable and satellite television providers, several of China's leading dot-coms, radio giant Sirius XM, car rental companies Zipcar and Avis, and the two biggest video game developers.
Apple's second version of its popular iPad tablet computer went on sale Friday afternoon, and was greeted by the now-familiar lines of buyers outside Apple stores.
Electronic Arts says its fiscal third-quarter net loss widened as revenue fell, but adjusted results surpassed Wall Street's expectations -- and an optimistic outlook and stock buyback plan helped push its shares higher.
Activision Blizzard has added video-game competitor Electronic Arts to its $400 million countersuit against two former executives of "Call of Duty" creator Infinity Ward, claiming that EA tried to lure the executives away while they were still under contract with Activision.
U.S. gamers spent about the same amount of money on video games last year as they did in 2009, even as sales of consoles and other hardware took a plunge. Purchases of physical game discs slid 5%, in spite of the record-breaking success of "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but downloadable and social-network games made up the difference.
Stores sold 4% less video-game equipment -- including hardware, software and accessories -- in October compared to a year ago, according to research firm NPD Group. While players are spending more on the games themselves, they aren't shelling out for new consoles: Sales of those systems declined significantly.
In Electronic Arts' new Medal of Honor game, players can take on the role of the Taliban or U.S. soldiers. But the prospect of having players shoot Americans doesn't go over too well with a lot of people, including the folks running base stores.
Last month was the worst August in four years for U.S. video game sales, according to a new NPD Group report. Revenue fell 10% from August of last year as gamers scaled back on portable-gaming purchases and turned to -- often free -- online games instead.
Tiger Woods game, like his private life, has been shaky recently, but the golfer never lost his ability to sell stuff. Corporate sponsors have long tolerated athletes' bad behavior, and Woods is too big a star for them to stay away.
Book publishers' interest in digital e-books is mounting, as the number of e-readers hitting the market, in all shapes, sizes, and color capabilities, is set to grow. And the children's sector of publishing in particular is getting their notice.
