Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is considering offering free versions of its Windows Phone and Windows RT to device manufacturers, according to a report from The Verge, citing sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.
USA Today was unable confirm the report. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google's free Android software has stormed the world, taking a leading position while pushing Google's services and ads to rope in revenue. Microsoft, which charges device makers for its software, has remained a distant No. 3 on smartphones.
"While monetization through alternative means such as ads and app stores is an industry norm today, within Microsoft this thinking (is) outside the box," says IDC analyst Al Hilwa.
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Odyssey Resources Limited(ODX.V)
Odyssey Resources Limited, a junior exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties, primarily precious metals properties. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is based in Longueuil, Canada.
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: PHI Inc. (PHIIK)
PHI, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides helicopter transportation services to the integrated energy, and independent exploration and production companies primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Oil and Gas, Air Medical, and Technical Services. The Oil and Gas segment provides helicopter services to oil and gas exploration and production companies, and other offshore oil service companies primarily for routine transportation of personnel and equipment; transportation of personnel during medical and safety emergencies; and evacuation of personnel during the threat of hurricanes and other adverse weather conditions. The Air Medical segment provides air medical transportation services for hospitals and emergency service agencies in 17 states. The Technical Services segment offers helicopter repair and overhaul services for existing flight operations customers. It also operates 6 aircraft for the National Science Foundation in Antarctica. As of December 31, 2012, it owned or operated 268 aircraft, including 165 aircraft for Oil and Gas segment, 97 aircraft for Air Medical segment, and 6 aircraft for other operations. The company was formerly known as Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. and changed its name to PHI, Inc. in December 2005. PHI, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is based in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Hot Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Stoneridge Inc.(SRI)
Stoneridge, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design and manufacture of engineered electrical and electronic components, modules, and systems for the medium and heavy-duty truck, automotive, agricultural, and off-highway vehicle markets primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates in two segments, Electronics and Control Devices. The Electronics segment produces electronic instrument clusters, electronic control units, and driver information systems, as well as electrical distribution systems, principally wiring harnesses and connectors for electrical power and signal distribution. Its products collect, store, and display vehicle information, such as speed, pressure, maintenance data, trip information, operator performance, temperature, distance traveled, and driver messages related to vehicle performance. In addition, this segment?s power distribution systems regulate, coordinate, and direct the operation of the electrical system within a vehicle. The Control Devices segment designs and manufactures products that monitor, measure, or activate a specific function within the vehicle. This segment?s product lines include sensors, which are employed in a range of vehicle systems, such as the emissions, safety, power train, braking, climate control, steering, and suspension systems; switches that transmit signal to activate or deactivate selected functions; and electromechanical actuator products, which enable original equipment manufacturers to deploy power functions in a vehicle. Stoneridge, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Warren, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Stoneridge (NYSE: SRI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Patricio Kehoe]
As the U.S. automobile industry recovers, auto parts suppliers are expecting to see increasing sales volumes. Particularly firms such as Delphi Automotive (DLPH) and Stoneridge Inc. (SRI), which specialize in electronic components, expect to make large profits. Increasingly electrified vehicles, higher demand for hybrid and electric powertrain vehicles and stricter governmental emissions regulations should drive revenue growth for these firms in coming years.
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Timberline Resources Corporatio(TBR.V)
Timberline Resources Corporation engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in the western United States. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and copper. The company?s principal property includes Lookout Mountain Project located in Nevada. It also owns other projects at various stages of exploration in the Battle Mountain/Eureka gold trend in north-central Nevada. The company was formerly known as Silver Crystal Mines, Inc. and changed its name to Timberline Resources Corporation in February 2004. Timberline Resources Corporation was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Coeur D?Alene, Idaho.
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: S&P 500/Barra Value(SU)
Suncor Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated energy company. The company involves in the development of petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; acquisition, exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas in Canada and internationally; transportation and refining of crude oil; and marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products primarily in Canada. Its Oil Sands segment produces bitumen recovered from oil sands through mining and in-situ technology, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock, diesel fuel, and by-products. This segment?s products include gasoline and distillates. The company?s Natural Gas segment acquires, explores, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, oil, and by-products from reserves located primarily in western Canada, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, and the Arctic Islands. Its International and Offshore segment engages in the exploration and pro duction of oil and gas in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, in the North Sea, and in Libya and Syria. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil at Suncor's refineries in Edmonton, Alberta; Montreal, Quebec; and Sarnia, Ontario in Canada, as well as in Commerce City, Colorado into a range of petroleum and petrochemical products for sale to retail, commercial, and industrial customers. It also transports crude oil through pipelines in eastern and western Canada, as well as through wholly-owned pipelines in Wyoming and Colorado; and produces specialty lubricants and waxes. In addition, this segment operates retail sites in Canada under the Petro-Canada brand; and in Colorado under Phillips 66 and Shell brands. Suncor Energy Inc. also engages in third-party energy trading activities. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Calgary , Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sara Murphy]
A recent report from sustainable business advocate Ceres found wide discrepancies in disclosure quality among oil and gas majors. Ceres found that BP (NYSE: BP ) , Suncor (NYSE: SU ) , and Eni (NYSE: E ) provided the best disclosure overall, while ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) and Apache (NYSE: APA ) did the worst.
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
For instance, Total SA (NYSE: TOT ) recently threw in the towel on its Voyageur�Upgrader project, a 200,000-barrels-a-day facility that was designed to "upgrade" bitumen into crude oil. It sold its 49% stake in Voyageur to its joint venture partner, Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU ) , for $500 million, arguing that the project was "no longer justified from a strategic and economic" standpoint. Not long after, Suncor also decided to abandon the project, for which it took a C$1.5 billion write-down.
- [By Tyler Crowe]
According to former Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU ) CEO, Rick George, oil sands producers need to do a better job improving the image of this particular type of oil. While the unflattering image that oil sands production has among the general public is probably not helping, there are much bigger fish for oil sands producers to fry. Increased operating costs, labor shortages, and a lack of takeaway capacity are just a few of the major problems that oil sands producers need to address to get the most from this emerging energy source.
- [By Jonathan Yates]
There has been a great deal of concern about the United States suffering from a "lost generation" as Japan has now for several. For investors in oil, this has certainly not been the case: A recent article in The Wall Street Journal noted that oil has risen 310% (Brent Crude) over the last decade. The future looks equally promising for investments in the sector such as ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), Americas Petrogas (BOE.V), and Octagon 88 (OTCBB: OCTX).
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Telephone and Data Systems Inc. (TDJ)
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a diversified telecommunications service company, provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services in the United States. The company�s wireless services comprise postpaid and prepaid service plans, which consist of voice minutes, messaging, and data services; national consumer plans; business rate plans; smartphone messaging, data, and Internet services to access the Web, e-mail, social network sites, text, picture and video messages, and turn-by-turn GPS navigation, as well as to browse and download various applications; and data services, including news, weather, sports information, games, ring tones, and other services. It provides wireless devices, such as handsets, modems, and tablets; and a range of accessories comprising carrying cases, hands-free devices, batteries, battery chargers, and memory cards, as well as wireless device repair services. The company also offers voice services, including local and long-distance tel ephone service, voice over Internet protocol, voice mail, caller ID, and call forwarding services; broadband services comprising digital subscriber lines and other high-speed Internet data services; network access services; hosted and managed services consisting of co-location, hosting, hosted application management, and cloud computing services; and satellite and terrestrial video services to commercial and residential customers and carriers. In addition, it provides printing and distribution services. As of December 31, 2011, the company served approximately 5.9 million wireless customers and 1.1 million wireline equivalent access lines. It sells its products through retail sales and service centers, direct sales, and independent agents, as well as through Website and telesales. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Progress Energy Resources Corp(PRQ.TO)
Progress Energy Resources Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties in Canada. The company focuses on natural gas and light oil projects in the Foothills region of northeast British Columbia and the Deep Basin of northwest Alberta. It has 1.9 trillion cubic feet of proved plus probable company interest reserves on a total land position of 1.25 million net acres. The company has a strategic partnership with PETRONAS, to develop Montney shale assets in the Altares, Lily, and Kahta areas in the Foothills of northeast British Columbia. Progress Energy Resources Corp. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Hot High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Linn Energy LLC (LINE)
Linn Energy, LLC (LINN Energy) is an independent oil and natural gas company. The Company�� properties are located in the United States, primarily in the Mid-Continent, the Permian Basin, Michigan, California and the Williston Basin. Mid-Continent Deep includes the Texas Panhandle Deep Granite Wash formation and deep formations in Oklahoma and Kansas. Mid-Continent Shallow includes the Texas Panhandle Brown Dolomite formation and shallow formations in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois. Permian Basin includes areas in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. Michigan includes the Antrim Shale formation in the northern part of the state. California includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. Williston Basin includes the Bakken formation in North Dakota. On December 15, 2011, the Company acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located primarily in the Granite Wash of Texas and Oklahoma from Plains Exploration & Production Company (Plains).
On November 1, 2011, and November 18, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On June 1, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties in the Cleveland play, located in the Texas Panhandle, from Panther Energy Company, LLC and Red Willow Mid-Continent, LLC (collectively Panther). On May 2, 2011, and May 11, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin. On April 1, 2011, and April 5, 2011, the Company completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On March 31, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin from an affiliate of Concho Resources Inc. (Concho). During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company completed other smaller acquisitions of oil and natural gas properties located in its various operating regions. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 7,759 or 69% of its 11,230 gross productiv! e wells.
Mid-Continent Deep
The Mid-Continent Deep region includes properties in the Deep Granite Wash formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths ranging from 10,000 feet to 16,000 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma and Kansas, which produce at depths of more than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Deep proved reserves represented approximately 47% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 49% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 285 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.
Mid-Continent Shallow
The Mid-Continent Shallow region includes properties producing from the Brown Dolomite formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths of approximately 3,200 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois, which produce at depths of less than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Shallow proved reserves represented approximately 20% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 70% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 665 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.
Permian Basin
The Permian Basin is an oil and natural gas basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico and produce at depths ranging from 2,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Permian Basin proved reserves represented approximately 16% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 56% were classified as proved developed reserves.
Michigan
The Michigan region includes properties producing from the Antrim Shale formation in the northern ! part of t! he state, which produces at depths ranging from 600 feet to 2,200 feet. Michigan proved reserves represented approximately 9% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 90% were classified as proved developed reserves.
California
The California region consists of the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. California proved reserves represented approximately 6% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 93% were classified as proved developed reserves.
Williston Basin
The Williston Basin is one of the premier oil basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in North Dakota and produce at depths ranging from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Williston Basin proved reserves represented approximately 2% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 48% were classified as proved developed reserves.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt DiLallo]
Contango can also affect a company like LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE ) which seeks to hedge all of its production for the long term. A good example of this can be seen last year when LINN Energy�bought the Jonah Field from BP (NYSE: BP ) . Upon closing the deal, LINN hedged 100% of the expected oil and natural gas production through 2017. If the market were in contango at the time it could have had an impact on the future profits LINN expects to produce from that asset. It would mean that production sold just after closing would have netted a higher sale price than oil and gas that won't be produced until 2017. That's one reason why LINN had been using puts to hedge its production; it wanted to keep some of that upside.
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