But investors in recent years found a solution they like, plowing money into real-estate investment trusts that own the buildings housing the server computers that run websites. REITs pay out 90% of their pre-tax income in the form of dividends. So, despite heavy expenses on land and property, many investors consider it sort of a sure thing that these outfits will continually lever up and return money to shareholders.

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The service will have limited programming, will operate outside of where Verizon offers its FIOS video service, and is being put together in conjunction with television operators, the authors report.

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But the most intriguing part of Berger’s note is his report that Asian sources indicate a compound called “Bismaleimide Triazine Resin,” which is used in the packaging of many chips, could be constrained given that most of the supply comes from Japan’s Mitsubishi Gas Chemical. A shortage of BT resin would hurt Xilinx, which is “50 percent exposed,” he writes, Altera, which has 40 percent exposure, and Qualcomm which has 30 percent exposure.

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The rise of mobile technology, especially mobile phones, is threatening to displace the personal computer and to create new technology leaders, they write, with Qualcomm, for example, surpassing Intel in importance.

“Intel is in peril as it is trapped in the old paradigm that will be cannibalized as the new paradigm accelerates,” the authors write.

“In the 4th wave, connectivity is king and QCOM and the carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Communications are positioned to benefit as are tower companies like American Tower.”

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The tablet computer debuted last week to fairly favorable reviews from, among others, The New York Times’s David Pogue, with The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg calling it the first real competitor to Apple’s iPad.

“After almost one week on the market, it appears that the sell through of Motorola’s Xoom has been extremely light,” reports the firm, without specifying sources for the information. Detwiler attributes the apparent lackluster results to “its high price, lack of consumer applications and the anticipation for today’s expected Apple iPad 2 announcement” this afternoon.

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The other party that has been rumored to be interested is Sony.

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The one million units is in line with his forecast, and a bit ho-hum given it equals just $400 million annually in revenue on an $88 billion top line. The units might be “significantly higher” if Apple TV had access to the 300,000 apps in the Apple App Store, writes Wu.

“One questions many investors have asked us is how does Apple add multi-touch capability to a TV?” writes Wu. “Our answer is the ability to connect the Magic Trackpad, similar to adding multi-touch to its desktop macs including iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.”

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Child, a 12-year Amazon vet and a 7-year Arthur Anderson vet, calls Groupon the “most amazing business I have ever seen.”

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Speaking at an investor conference on Wednesday, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha made his best case for the company and its opportunities in both smartphones and tablets. Motorola also plans to have 4G phones in the market early next year, Jha said, without giving specifics. But he also acknowledged the company is headed for some serious turbulence.

The first quarter is normally down from the prior quarter, but this year’s first quarter is shaping up to be a lot worse, with the cellphone unit expected to post a loss.

“We have an additional challenge potentially with Verizon,” Jha said, speaking in code so as not to use the iWord. “There is a competitive dynamic developing.”

Mobilized isn’t afraid to say the phone that must not be named. He’s talking about a Verizon iPhone.

Jha talked a lot about the company’s efforts to diversify–selling more phones to carriers other than Verizon, increasing sales in Latin America and China, and adding tablets. Jha said the company will sell both 7-inch and 10-inch tablets.

However, clearly not everyone was impressed. As noted by Barron’s, Nomura Securities launched coverage of Motorola stock on Thursday with a “reduce” rating, saying that a CDMA iPhone could ultimately push Motorola into the mid-tier of the smartphone battle, where it will face more competition from Asian makers, such as Samsung.

And the timing could hardly be worse for Motorola, which is spinning off the cellphone unit, a process that is slated to be completed on Jan. 4.

Longer-term, Motorola faces the challenge of using an operating system, Android, that is used widely in the industry, while spending more than rivals on research and other development costs.

One conference attendee suggested HTC’s research costs are a third of what Motorola spends. Jha said that there is a difference in the two companies’ cost structures, but rejected the idea that it was that pronounced.

“I think we are investing more in software differentiation,” he said. “I think we will make that investment matter.”

There’s also the fact that the phone businesss is so hit driven. That’s something the company learned on the positive side with the RAZR way back when, and on the negative side in the drought that followed the release of that slim flip phone.

Although the competition among Android devices is fierce, Jha said he doesn’t regret the company’s bet back in 2008 to focus so much of its resources on that operating system.

“There are obviously tradeoffs in every decision,” Jha said. “But on balance it’s been a very, very good decision for us.”

Jha said he knows that in order for Motorola to produce the kind of profit margins it wants long-term, it will have to be able to differentiate its software. Hardware differentiation, he said, gives only a six-month advantage versus doing something unique in software.

“I don’t think I can get to a gorilla position from where I am in one easy sweep, but I think it is possible to create differentiation in this business,” Jha said.

U.S. patent 7,843,449, filed September 20, 2006, describes how “autostereoscopic displays,” meaning ones that don’t require headgear, either require the audience to remain in one spot, or require high degrees of processing power for holograms.

“Thus, a need still remains for highly effective, practical, efficient, uncomplicated, and inexpensive autostereoscopic 3D displays that allow the observer complete and unencumbered freedom of movement.”

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He advises buying the stock in advance of “catalysts” coming in the first half of next year, especially given a share price that represents just 9 times estimated 2011 earnings per share, backing out the company’s cash.

A Morgan Stanley survey of 150 handset retailers in five countries in Europe shows N8 sell-through of one for every six Apple iPhones that are sold, notes Standaert.

That may not sound so hot, but expectations are so low that sales of 2.5 million N8s in the current quarter, and 9 million in 2011, would be better than the Street is expecting, writes Standaert. And it would be enough to keep the company’s market share at about 35 percent.

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For the quarter, CRM posted revenue of $429 million and non-GAAP profits of 32 cents a share, ahead of the Street at $410.5 million and 31 cents.

For Q4, the company sees revenue of $447 million to $449 million, with non-GAAP EPS of 27-28 cents; the Street consensus has been for $424.8 million and 28 cents.

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Meanwhile, in a pair of SEC filings, Microsoft Chairman and founder Bill Gates disclosed the sale of 3 million shares for a combined $81.7 million. Gates continues to hold 617.97 million shares.

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Yesterday, the stock took a hit on a report that talks had collapsed. That was followed by multiple reports that KKR was likely to drop out of a group that has been discussing making an offer for the disk-drive maker.

The Post says that TPG Capital has brought in a new partner–which it didn’t name–to replace KKR in the contemplated joint bid, asserting that “TPG is still very much in talks to take the business private.”

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See: Delusional investors in Sony, who bid up shares today over a rumor that Apple will blow its wad on the company.

Where did that crazy rumor come from? From this innocuous Barron’s column, where Eric Savitz throws out Sony’s name as a possible Apple purchase, alongside Disney and Adobe.

Now, Barron’s is an excellent publication (it is also owned by News Corp.’s Dow Jones, which owns this site), and Eric is an excellent writer. But perhaps something got lost in translation, because anyone who looked at the piece for a second would see that Eric was simply engaging in the time-honored tradition of “making wild guesses about Apple’s plans.”

Or, in Eric’s words: “That was pure speculation. Yeesh.”

I’m just glad there isn’t a public market (yet) for Facebook shares.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Chapter 11 filing likely was imminent.

“Through the restructuring, TerreStar Networks hopes to lessen its debt obligations in order to place greater focus on delivering the future of ‘always available’ mobile communications through its recent launch of the world’s first integrated satellite-cellular smartphone,” the company said.

The company also said it signed an agreement to receive $75 million of debtor-in-possession financing with EchoStar, its largest secured creditor.

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In September, retail sales of new video game gear was down eight percent from a year ago to $1.18 billion, according to market research firm NPD Group. Hardware sales were down 19 percent and software sales were down six percent, although accessory sales were up 13 percent. I would note that sales were up from $818.9 million in August.

NPD has revamped its monthly reports on the industry, in particular stressing that the report only includes sales of new goods at retail, and does not include sales of used games, rentals, mobile games, social networking games or digitally distributed games. NPD also has stopped breaking out sales data for the individual handheld and console platforms, and it has stopped providing unit sales information for software games.

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The box provides a single access point for content from TV providers and the Web, along with a variety of applications. The Revue works with any HDMI-ready TV. The box uses the CE 4100 Intel (INTC) Atom processor. To install the box, you connected an included HDMI cable to you TV, and another cable to your cable or satellite TV box.

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The study finds that 35 percent of social network gamers have not previously participated in computer gaming. In one surprising finding, NPD finds that female social gamers outnumber male social gamers, 53 percent to 47percent.

The report also finds that 10 percent of social network gamers have spent money playing the games.

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For the quarter, the PC maker posted revenue of $15.5 billion, up 22 percent from a year ago, and ahead of the Street at $15.2 billion. Non-GAAP profits of 32 cents a share topped the Street by two cents.

The company said it expects Q3 revenues to be up in the low single digits on a percentage basis sequentially.

In a statement Dell said that “the corporate client refresh is well underway,” and that “demand will continue through the next several quarters.”

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I mean really, all you have to choose from now is iOS 4, Android, WebOS, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry OS, Symbian, MeeGo and a few others that have almost no traction. Not enough choices, right?

Well, no, according to the Chinese search engine Baidu (BIDU).

According to Information Week, various Chinese media reports suggest the company is considering the development of its own mobile phone OS.

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AMD spikes in after hours trading after the company posted better-than-expected revenues and profits for the second quarter, the stock has reversed and is trading meaningfully lower this morning, as attention turns to a noteworthy production delays for a much-anticipated “Fusion” chip code-named Llano that combines a microprocessor with a graphics processor.

While the results initially looked like a carbon-copy of the strong results from Intel (INTC) earlier in the week, AMD once again proves to be a stickier story than many investors would like.

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