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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One of the channels, tentatively called Sony Pictures Movies HD, would be the company’s first wholly owned cable channel in the U.S. devoted to movies. The channel is expected to debut October 1; it would be a basic cable service, and not compete in the pay TV market with HBO and Showtime.

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For the quarter, RIMM reported revenue of $4.24 billion, just below the low end of the guidance range of $4.25 billion and $4.45 billion, and below the Street consensus at $4.35 billion. Profits of $1.38 a share, on the other hand, were at the top of the guidance range of $1.31 to $1.348 a share, and above the Street at $1.34.

The company shipped 11.2 million smart phones in the quarter, and added 4.9 million net new subscriber accounts, boosting the total to 46 million. The company came in at the low of the guidance ranges on both measures: the company had expected to sell 11.2 million to 11.8 million phones, and it had expected to add 4.9 million to 5.2 million net new customers.

Gross margin in the quarter was 45.4 percent, down from 45.7 percent in the February quarter, but up from 43.6 percent a year ago.

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“The risk/reward balance for KNOT has improved over the last few months, in our view,” Davies writes in a research note. “We are upgrading based on expectations that the local business should improve given a recent reorganization and platform upgrades. We believe the Macy’s overhang is well understood and see opportunities in registry and China longer term.” Davies notes that she sees “an improved outlook for local advertising.”

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The FCC, which supports the idea that would carriers should treat all Internet traffic equally, wants to change the current rules, after a recent court decision found that the FCC does not actually have the authority to compel broadband providers to comply with the Commission’s stance on the issue.

The FCC’s proposed response is to bring broadband access under the same common carrier rules that apply to voice service; the carriers sharply disagree with that approach, since it would bring the threat of much stricter regulation.

The WSJ said that FCC chief of staff Edward Lazarus and other Commission staffers are in talks with lobbyist for AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), the cable industry and providers of Internet-based voice service like Skype and Google (GOOG).

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So, should they by the other 43 percent?

TownHall Investment Research analyst Gerard Hallaren raises that question in a research note today. Hallaren reports that Sprint management made a comment that led some investor to conclude that Sprint is actively considering buying the rest of Clearwire. “As best we can tell, the speculation is based on a perceived desire by Sprint to control its own destiny by owning its 4G network and on synergies created by combining the two companies,” he writes.

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The deal reportedly will be announced Monday.

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This week, Google (GOOG) complained that Apple’s new rules on sharing iPhone and iPad user data with advertisers unfairly advantages the company’s own iAd service over rivals like Google’s AdMob–and the government is reportedly looking into the issue. There’s also continued grumbling over the company’s decision not to support the Adobe (ADBE) Flash standard on the iPhone/iPad platform, and the Feds are apparently looking at that issue, as well.

Stifel Nicloas analyst Rebecca Arbogast reviewed the situation in a research note this morning, and finds that Apple has justifications in both cases that support its policies.

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Forrester (FORR) analyst James McQuivey asserts in a blog post today that Google TV has a chance to succeed at redefining the consumer television experience in a way in which Apple (AAPL) TV, Roku, Vudu, Boxee and various other combatants have not been able to do.

“I have been amazed at how little people understand what’s really going on here,” he writes. “Google TV is a bigger deal than you think.” McQuivey asserts that TV matters “in a way that nothing else does,” driving $70 billion a year in advertising and a comparable amount in cable and satellite TV fees, plus another $25 billion in consumer electronics sales. He also points out that viewers watch TV on average 4.5 hours a day.

Google’s (GOOG) goal: to get a chunk of the giant pot of TV ad money.

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Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar this morning wonders in a brief research note if the company is at risk of an “interminable slide.” He notes that checks find the company is is paring back orders for the September quarter due to “continued share loss.”

Kumar says that volume shipments of the company’s new flagship N8 smart phone will not start until the September quarter, which he says is “even further out that the current reset expectations.” He thinks that the latest version of the company’s Symbian operating system software could be facing opposition from independent software vendors, “as applications cannot port over from the legacy environment and have to be recompiled.”

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• Intel: Caso cuts his rating to Neutral from Positive based on checks that find a weakening PC environment leading into Q3. “The secular elements of our INTC thesis remain intact, but we believe estimates need to come down, and are hesitant to continue recommending the stock ahead of estimate cuts,” he writes. Caso thinks we could be beaded for the worst Q3 for notebooks since 2001.
• Broadcom: Caso moves his rating to Neutral from Positive. He writes in a research note that checks find “a broader slowdown in end-market demand.” Caso says his primary areas of concerns are not a large percentage of the company’s revenue, we nonetheless thinks a slowdown will make it tough for the stock to outperform until demand issues are resolved. In particular, he has concerns about demand in the PC, consumer electronics and Nokia (NOK) handset markets.

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