Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), XM Satellite Radio (XMSR), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Walt Disney (DIS), ConAgra Foods (CAG), Oracle Corp (ORCL)

More profit warnings:

• International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) shares are down over 2.5% in premarket trading after yesterday it lowered its third-quarter land-sales earnings outlook due to lower-than-expected land sales during the quarter.
• PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) this morning trimmed its sales and profit forecast for the rest of the year due to weak consumer spending and warmer-than-usual weather. PetSmart now expects 17 cents to 20 cents per share for the third quarter, from a previous forecast of 21 cents to 23 cents earnings per share.

ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) “voluntarily stopped production at the Missouri plant that makes its Banquet pot pies after health officials said the pies may be linked to 139 cases of salmonella in 30 states, including Wisconsin.”

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) yesterday announced it has agreed to acquire LogicalApps, a provider of automated Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) controls management solutions.

While many schools ban and confiscate Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPods, some found a good use for them, The New York Times Reports — to help bilingual kids with some difficulty understanding English. As for the iPhone, Piper Jaffray conducted a survey and found that 3% of teens already own an iPhone.

Walt-Disney (NYSE: DIS) company has kicked off the holiday shopping season with its 10 most wanted gifts list.

Hoping to capitalize on the social networking craze, eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) has launched its own version of a social networking service today, Neighborhoods, and is promising other customer-friendly features by year’s end.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has bought Jaiku, an activity stream and presence sharing service that works from the Web and mobile phones.

There was much news on Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) yesterday and the shares surged after a Citigroup analyst Eileen Furukawa estimated the transaction’s likelihood of closing at greater than 60%. The merger, she said, could produce up to $7 billion in cost savings. She has upped XM’s price target to $19.50 from $15. The market, however, still gives the deal only a 24% chance of passing regulatory muster. SIRI shares closed up 3.77% and XMSR shares up 6.87%.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Technology

Twitter has seen lots of traction lately. But, there is competition, such as from Finland’s Jaiku. The company says that it’s “an activity stream and presence sharing service that works from the Web and mobile phones.”

And, now Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) has just bought the company. In fact, Jaiku is a spring chicken, having been founded in February 2006 (the product launched in July 2006).

No doubt, mobile is key for Google. And, like other areas - such as videos - it’s been tough for the company to develop things organically. So, why not buy its way into the space?

Unfortunately, you can’t check out the Jaiku service (it’s closed to new users right now). And as seen with other Google deals - such as for Jot - it’s unclear when we might see it re-emerge (or appear in other Google services).

But, if I were Twitter, I would be quivering.

Also, if you want to check out other M&A deals, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

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Our hugely popular Ruby On Rails free PDF giveaway has resulted in us serving up over 1 terabyte of free PDF files!

Since the initial announcement that our beginner’s Rails book, Build Your Own Ruby On Rails Web Applications, by Patrick Lenz, would be made available in its entirety in PDF form for FREE, close to 50,000 people have downloaded the book.

Normally retailing for USD $29.95, the book has been completely updated with all reported errata, and includes an entire new section on debugging Rails apps using the ruby-debug tool.

Due to the large number of simultaneous requests, several people experienced problems downloading the book in the first couple of days. We immediately moved the file to Amazon’s S3, which handled the enormous load much more gracefully.

If you were one of these people, please try again now — this amazing offer is only good until mid-November!

This article provided by sitepoint.com.

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Drama, Horror, Thrillers, New Releases, Sony, Distribution, Exhibition, Home Entertainment, Remakes and Sequels

Sony Pictures has just launched Stage 6 Films, “a label that will acquire and produce films for theatrical and straight-to-DVD release.” The Variety announcement reports that Stage 6 will focus mostly on the DVD market, and on films budgeted at $1 to $10 million dollars. They’ve got a lot of movies on the horizon, with some pretty big stars involved. Conspiracy is an action flick starring Val “Iceman” Kilmer, Gary “Lumbergh” Cole, and Jennifer “Hot” Esposito. Thomas Jane is acting in and directing Dark Country (hope it’s not a punisher!). The Stone House is a horror film starring Shane West and JK “Schillinger” Simmons. The Lodger stars Alfred Molina, whom I always picture in his underwear singing “Sister Christian.” And Felon brings us even more Kilmer thrills, with Stephen Dorff and Harold Perrineau in tow.

And you know when you’re talking direct-to-DVD, you’re talking about some really random sequels. Stage 6 has announced a prequel (a prequel?) to this year’s pretty cool horror flick Vacancy. There will also be a second Starship Troopers sequel — Starship Troopers: Marauder, with Casper “Van Dien” Van Dien, Boris Kodjoe, and Jolene Blalock. Wesley Snipes will star in a sequel to the absolutely terrible action movie The Art of War, which I will refer to as The Art of War 2: Seriously? And Center Stage 2 will capitalize on the public’s love of melodramatic teen dance dramas. I must confess a special place in my heart for the original Stage, because it led to a memorable high school back seat rendezvous. Put that quote on your poster, Sony! “Stage 6 will also continue to leverage our vast library of studio films, as we have done with Daddy Day Camp and the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise,” threatens a Stage 6 executive.

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Deals, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek

Though we’ve had a slew of zombies and demons shoveled down our throats over the past few days, is there any way to create a new flick that keeps things fresh? Wait — I know — how about we take a bunch of zombies, demons and “other bad guys,” and have them square off against Santa Claus!? Not only that, but we’ll get the dudes behind 300 to make the flick, hoping they’ll put the jolly fat man in an outfit that’s just a tad more revealing than we need it to be. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you talk to), I’m not kidding about the above. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Hollywood Gang (the shingle behind 300) has optioned the rights to the graphic novel The Last Christmas, which was written by actor-comedian Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan.

In it, Santa Claus turns his back on Christmas for whatever reason (I imagine the salary kind of sucks when you’re giving everything away for free), but when he finally decides to emerge from seclusion, “he has to find a way to save the world, and Christmas, from being overrun by demons, zombies and other bad guys.” So what are they trying to say here? What’s the message? Without Santa Claus, our entire planet would be f**ked? Seems that way. I can’t imagine this graphic novel is serious in tone (if you’ve read it, please speak up), but it’s definitely garnered my interest … if only because I’d like to see Santa rip the head off a zombie and use it to kill a demon — something tells me the kids would love it! No writer is onboard to adapt at this time, so we’ll have to wait and see the route they eventually decide to take. What do you think about this one (the cover completely rocks, by the way)?

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, Newsstand

After wallowing in production limbo for the last ten years, Empire Online reports that Pixar has finally decided to make not one, but three films about John Carter of Mars by Tarzan creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs. The latest news about the project emerged when Pixar’s creative team made a visit to the Burroughs’s archives. Pixar’s team was comprised of Jim Morris (VP), Andrew Stanton (director), and Mark Andrews (script). Carter was “a Civil War veteran whose retreat into a cave to avoid capture by Apache Indians takes an otherworldly turn as he’s transported via time portal to the planet of Barsoom (aka Mars) and taken prisoner by 12-foot-tall green men”. First appearing in Princess of Mars back in 1917, the character appeared in over seven novels, so there is plenty of material for the trilogy. According to reports, “All six members at the meeting expressed a deep commitment to the project, acknowledging that they had been inspired by Burroughs’ creations from a very early age. This is evidenced in the excitement held for the John Carter property and the plans for a film trilogy faithful to the Burroughs books”.

Rights to Carter were finalized back in January for Pixar and Disney. Reportedly, the project has been around since the 90’s when Jeffrey Katzenberg had designs on a feature film version while he was still head of Disney. After that, the project made the rounds to Paramount and has had some big names attached to direct over the years, including Robert Rodriguez and Jon Favreau. There is still talk that Pixar will finally be getting into the live-action game with Brad Bird’s telling of the San Francisco earthquake, 1906. But, there is plenty of time since they aren’t exactly in a rush to get Carter into production. The first film will hit screens sometime in 2012. Talk about planning ahead …

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Filed under: Cellphones

For you Walkman / Cyber-shot buffs out there who’ve been dying to get your hands on some new phoneage — look no further. The Sony-Ericsson dreamteam have just announced the official release of two of its new mobile phones sure to have player haters… um, player hating. The W910, which we took a look at back in June, apparently has music-playin’ on its mind, though with HSDPA, a 1GB Memory Stick, and its “shake” feature (which allows you to jostle the device to switch songs or randomize playback), you might find other uses for it. If you’re more of an Ansel Adams-type, you can get your mitts on the K850, a camera-minded phone that’s got a considerable 5-megapixel camera (with a Xenon flash / video light), has more of that beloved HSDPA, and can do 30fps video — if that’s your thing. Both of these sweet babies will be available in “selected markets” this month, no word on price.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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The upcoming holiday season will be an interesting one, with all three home consoles duking it out for the number 1 spot. Nintendo has already mentioned that they won’t be able to meet demand even by then, which would then see disappointed console gamers look towards the Xbox 360 and PS3 as viable alternatives despite a totally different set of games. Having said that, Nintendo won’t be dropping the price of its console, with the recommended retail price remaining at $249. This is pretty disappointing since both Microsoft and Sony has already cut prices of their consoles. Anyone wants to place a bet on when Nintendo will slash their price?

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Computers, Celebrities, iPod, iPhone

Well, the Beatles are finally on iTunes … sort of. George Harrison’s solo work is the last of all the former Beatles bandmembers’ music to be made available digitally through Apple’s music service. The deal is not exactly an iTunes exclusive, since nine of Harrison’s post-Fab Four albums are already available through other online retailers such as Rhapsody, but the albums sold on Apple’s store will have rare tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Now, the more digitally inclined can pick up the classic ‘All Things Must Pass,’ or, if you’re in the mood for a little irony-laced 1980s sing-along, just go grab ‘Got My Mind Set On You.’

Apple the computer company and Apple the record label settled their dispute some time ago and now we’re all just biding our time until the Beatles catalog becomes available electronically. Paul McCartney and Olivia Harrison, George’s widow, have said they hope to see the Beatles catalog online soon.

Maybe the deal is already done and this is just Steve Jobs’ way of teasing us.

From I4U News

Related Links:

• Artists Ditching Record Labels, Offering Music for Free Online
• Hands On Review: The Return of WinAmp
• TiVo Adding Rhapsody Music Service

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Video Games, Interviews, Celebrities, BlackBerry, iPhone

If it weren’t for the Internet and YouTube, Dutch rock sensation Racoon would probably never be as popular as they are in the U.S. After more than 200,000 views of their video for “Close Your Eyes” on YouTube, the band was picked up by not just a label, but by the Dutch Government. Yes, a joint project of Buma Cultuur and the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute have teamed up to market Racoon in the U.S.

Their third album, “Another Day”, hit stores stateside on October 2, so we caught up with Stefan De Kroon, Racoon’s bass player, to get the low-down on their tech tastes. Turns out he likes to shave. A lot.

What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set (for down-time)?

A mobile phone to play games on and listen to music (and, oh yeah, make phone calls). Sometimes also some video games but that’s more for my band mates than for me. Not a big gaming fan.

What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?

I had a Nokia N73 but it got detached from my person last week during a gig we played in Curaçao. Hope its new Antillean owner likes it as much as I did. The built-in camera takes really nice pictures. I actually love the fact that that the colors are a bit ‘off’ sometimes. It always makes for some surprising and out-of-the-ordinary pieces of art… It does bug me, however, that after a while it gets sIower. I’ll be getting a new phone this week, the Nokia N95. It’s supposed to be the top-of-the-notch Nokia from the N-series that has an integrated video camera and a GPS system. Looking forward to it since we will be able to do some video blogging then and find our way to the venue a little better.

Who’s the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?

It was to my best mate that I wasn’t going to join him in the pub (I still can’t believe I said that!).

Where do you go (site or service) pretty much every time you get online?

MySpace of course, since we use it to keep in touch with our fan base. It’s a lot more direct then our official website. And YouTube, it rules! It’s absolutely brilliant what we can discover on YouTube (pretty much anything we’re looking for), and how many people discover us and our music that way. We post all our music videos on YouTube and you can tell exactly how many people viewed it and how they are liking it. We recently put up the video for our first U.S. single “Close Your Eyes” and it already got viewed 200,000 times over the last couple of weeks. Amazing .. .And both MySpace and YouTube are perfect to check out bands that you hadn’t heard of before.

What annoys you most about your iPod, cell phone, or laptop (or any other gadget)?

That after a while they have a very short battery life.

Name one thing you wish your iPod/cellphone/laptop (any gadget) could do that it doesn’t do now?

I wish I could shave myself with my cellphone — shouldn’t be too hard to implement such a thing in a cell phone now, should it? Would come in really handy on tour.

What upcoming gadget can you not wait to get your hands on?

To be honest I’m quite happy gadget-wise. Though I would like an MP3 player which could contain ALL of my music.

You’re stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?

Seeing as there would be no way to recharge the battery of any gadget I would bring, I think I’d stick to a pen and a few pieces of paper (Remember? From the good old days?).

What’s the most-played song or artist on your iPod?

At the moment The Arcade Fire. Any song of theirs, really.

Blackberry, Sidekick, or Treo?

Sorry, Not using any of them. Talking about e-mail: I just stick to my computer for now. Don’t want to be flooded by e-mail all day long. And it usually isn’t THAT urgent that it can’t wait a couple of hours. And if it is, they can always call or text me on my cell.

Are you getting an iPhone?

Looks like a really fun thing to have, but I need to be able to use any provider I wish or it’s a no-go for me. The iPhone didn’t come out in The Netherlands yet. I’m definitely going to check it out when it does. They say it’s for the end of this year. If it’s set up so I can use it with my current provider, who knows … I might get tempted. But I’d probably turn off the e-mail function. Maybe they should do one with the built-in razor instead.

What’s the longest time you’ve ever spent playing a video game in one sitting and what game was it?

The only game I ever liked playing was Oddworld: Abe’s Exxodus, an old PS2 game. I think I played it once for 10 hours straight. Never touched another video game since.

Do you use/have a Mac or PC? Why?

PC, out of habit I guess.

Related Links:

• Daffy Duck Interviewed by Switched. Really.
• Keyshia Cole on TXTing Missy Elliott and More
• Cnote’s D’Lo Perez Loves his Sidekick

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