When Edgelings' Editor-in-Chief Michael S. Malone was asked this week to participate in a BBC documentary about high tech pioneer Robert Noyce, it evoked in him a poignant sense of the leadership vacuum left by Noyce's untimely passing--not only in Silicon Valley but in America. Who, Malone asks, is ready to step up and lead us--and our economic engine of innovation--again?

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Now, this is good news: yesterday, Amazon stunned both the tech world and the stock market by announcing terrific fourth quarter financials: net income jumped 8.7 percent to $225 million (52 cents a share) on sales of $6.7 billion (up 18 percent). Not surprisingly, that was enough to drive the stock up 14 percent in late trading. Better yet for Amazon, which was credited by observers with a brilliant holiday marketing campaign, these financials contrasted nicely with the recent bad numbers from new rival eBay, which suffered its first-ever drop in sales last quarter. Amazon's announcement today was enough to drive eBay's stock down 3.7 percent (12 percent for the year to date) and make the impending war between the two companies look less like a duel and more like a rout.

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Under the guise of improved customer service, Google yesterday quietly struck a blow for Net Neutrality. The search giant announced plans to set up 36 servers in 12 locations in the U.S. and Europe that would enable researchers to uncover the sources of any slow-downs in performance of various web applications and searches . . .in other words, to determine if Internet Service Providers such as Comcast are intentionally blocking or slowing down the delivery of content to their customers. That real purpose is artfully hidden in the official blog comment by Web founder and Google Internet guru Vint Cerf: "When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP (Internet service provider), the application, your PC (personal computer), or something else?"

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Apparently, it's a dangerous life being a high tech blogger. TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has announced that, following his coverage of Davos, he will temporarily take a break from journalism as he ponders his future as a blogger. The reason: Arrington claims that as he left a conference Tuesday in Munich an unknown assailant ran up and, without provocation, spit in his face. This attack follows (he also claims) Arrington and his family having to deal with a stalker last summer. Wrote Arrington, ""I draw the line at being spat on. It's one step away from something far more violent."

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Despite the bad news you've been reading lately, there are still some companies doing well in the current downturn. And, as in past recessions and depressions, most of them involve inexpensive entertainment, food or fun. A bit of good news (and some possible stock tips) from KNTV-NBC reporter and regular Edgelings contributor Scott Budman. Read the blog and watch the video.

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Yahoo yesterday beat the Street's estimates for its fourth quarter financials . . .and reaped a significant reward from a subsequent jump in its stock price. Earnings were 18 cents per share on sales (excluding fees from partners) of $1.38 billion, down 2 percent from the year before. That was enough to lift Yahoo's stock price 6.7 percent, to $12.10, in after-hours trading. In the company's earnings conference call, new CEO Carol Bartz, in one of her first public statements since joining the company, said, "“Did I come to Yahoo to sell the company? The answer is no. This is not a company that needs to be pulled apart and left for the chickens.”

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One of the most unlikely consumer electronics success stories of recent years has been the Amazon Kindle digital book. Analysts had been predicting electronic books for more than a decade. But it took Amazon.com, with its unequalled combination of distribution and access to readers -- along with a lot of good timing -- to finally pull off this technology. Now, according to the New York Times, the company is preparing to introduce the second generation of the device, the Kindle 2 at an event at New York's Morgan Library on February 9th. Founder Jeff Bezos will be there to host the event. The Kindle 2 is expected to fix some ergonomic flaws in the original version (the weird keys, the obtrusive side buttons) as well as offer a much improved display, thanks to the new Epson Broadsheet processor chip.

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An earnings call scheduled for today should provide more details, but already its becoming apparent that the sexy new BlackBerry Storm smartphone, introduced in late November, has a mixed start. Critics have lauded the features and style of this 'iPhone killer', and shipments for the first month reached an estimated 500,000 units (which RIM says met its forecasts). But there have also been complaints about the device's buggy software (which necessitated a software fix in December) and hardware glitches. Have these problems impacted sales of the Storm after the fast start, or is demand still growing? More tomorrow.

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That dangerous new Internet worm -- variously known as Downadup or Conficker -- has already infected more than 1 million PCs since it first appeared on January 7th and took advantage of the security hole in Windows. By the time Microsoft delivered a patch, it was already too late: by then, the worm used its entre to scan nearby computers and infect them as well -- creating viral 'explosions' inside networks of corporate computers. To stop the spread, Microsoft not only offered a patch, but a clean-up tool . . .except that Conficker is also apparently designed to block the delivery of that tool -- suggesting that the hackers behind this worm are real pros. Now, virus hunters around the world are nervously waiting for the next shoe to drop. The big fear is that this infection, the worst in at least five years, is merely the first step in a larger strategy to use the infected machines for criminal activity of some kind. And experts agree that should this happen, there is little that can done to stop it, other than limit the damage after it has begun. Other than that, have a nice day.

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When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, CEO Steve Jobs made certain the world understood that the device's multi-touch user interface was patented. Roll forward to this month to this month's hot new introduction of the Palm Pre. More than one reviewer, in raving about the quality interface on the Pre, also drew parallels to the iPhone. In particular, the two-fingered pinch motion that is now available on the Pre is remarkably similar to the one found on the iPhone, which is where most of us saw it for the first time. Apple apparently feels the same way, as suggested by a comment from Apple's new interim CEO, Tim Cook: "We like competition. As long as they don't rip off our IP [intellectual property] and if they do we're going to go after anybody that does." We smell litigation that ends with quiet licensing agreement . . .

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Most of us who surf the Internet to play, learn or shop, find ourselves facing the dreaded "Password Memo", which reminds us that we need to regularly create a new password, choose that password in a way we'll never remember it, and then warns us not to write it down -- thereby guaranteeing we quickly forget it. Security expert and regular Edgelings contributor Charlie Martin shows us how following this process actually increases the likelihood of getting hacked -- so why do it? Blame our old enemy Sarbanes-Oxley.

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Sitting on the board of directors of a hot new tech start-up company has reminded Forbes publisher and regular Edgelings contributor Rich Karlgaard that the basic principles of entrepreneurship a pretty useful for the rest of us as well . . .especially in this economy. Read his essay and check out his video.

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With the just announced -- and long-awaited -- decision by the FDA (backed by the new Obama Administration) that human stem cell testing would be allowed on people with spinal injuries, stock in Silicon Valley biotech company Geron has skyrocketed. It's been a long road for Geron getting here -- and perhaps an exciting future ahead. A story of patience and commitment from KNTV-NBC tech reporter and regular Edgelings contributor, Scott Budman.

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The images of Barack Obama's inauguration Tuesday evoked familiar memories for Edgelings' editor-in-chief, Michael S. Malone; a seven-year old's recollections of electric crowds gathered on the National Mall, an endless wait in the bone-chilling cold, and of a new era ushered in by another charismatic young President.

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In a week of bad news, South Korean electronics giant Samsung still managed to stun the market by announcing quarterly losses the were DOUBLE analysts' predictions -- and this despite extensive cost-cutting efforts at the company over the last few months. The company posted an operating loss (the first since it began quarterly reporting in 2000) of $675 million. That compares to a $1.9 billion profit for the same quarter a year ago. Scariest of all, thanks to deep holiday discounting on its consumer products, the company's overall operating margin slid to minus 5 percent on a quarterly basis. Samsung still has nearly $5 billion in cash, and that should help it get through until the second half of 2009, when the company predicts a turnaround. After today, though, analysts aren't quite so optimistic.

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When all the world is flat on its face, just struggling to your knees is a victory. Thus, the excitement over Google's quarterly financials yesterday. Sales (adjusted for comissions to partners) rose 21 percent, to $4.22 billion -- $100 million more than analysts predicted. A year ago, that would have been disastrous news; now it's enough to break out the party favors. Meanwhile, earnings (minus one-time expenses) were $5.10, up from $4.92 . . . but net income fell 68 percent to $382 million. On the news, company stock jumped 4 percent, but then, as investors had second thoughts, fell back to just a 1 percent gain -- closing at $306.50.

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It has long been noted that for all of its many businesses, Microsoft is still largely dependent for its financial health on just two products: Windows for PCs (i.e. 'Client') and Office. The former played the crucial role in making the Redmond giant into the world's most powerful software company . . .but it has long left Microsoft overly dependent upon sales of Windows to home PCs. And now, with the sales of PCs flat, the company is now paying -- an 11 percent drop in revenues for the quarter, its first-ever lay-offs -- for two decades of failing to sufficiently diversify its operations. It hasn't been for lack of trying on Microsoft's part -- and, in fact, one ray of light in the story is that some divisions at the company remain profitable, including Windows Servers . . .and, once again, that old workhorse: Office.

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Intel announced Wednesday that it was laying-off as many as 6,000 employees -- 7 percent of its 84,000 workers -- and closing several of its factories, all in the face of a slumping chip market. Almost lost in the news was Intel's announcement that it would be closing its last remaining manufacturing facility at company headquarters in Santa Clara, California. This news essentially marks the end of the 'silicon' era of manufacturing in Silicon Valley, which began at Fairchild Semiconductor fifty years ago. Other plants to be closed include assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and Cavite, Philippines, as well as a wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon. Intel says that many of the employees at these facilities will be given the opportunity to apply for jobs at other Intel plants.

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The venerable web gadget site Gizmodo claims it has in hand some spy photos of the second generation Android phone, not due until May, and to be produced by HTC for T-Mobile. Notable features? No keyboard, soap bar-shaped packaging, and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Click on the link and tell us what you think.

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Talk about a turnaround . . .and not a good one . . .Sony has just reversed its earlier positive forecast for its current fiscal year ending in March. Initially, the company predicted net profits of 150 billion yen ($1.65 billion) and operating profit of 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for the year. Now the Japanese company says it will likely suffer a net LOSS of 150 billion yen ($1.65 billion) and an operating LOSS of 260 billion yen ($2.86 billion) for the year. That amazing turnabout suggests that Sony must be in the middle of a truly catastrophic quarter.

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A day after its stock hit a two year low, Apple came back big with unexpectedly strong 1st quarter financials: net income up 1.5 percent to $1.61 billion, or $1.78 a share -- all on sales of $10.2 billion (up 5.8 percent). Wall Street responded gleefully: company shares jumped as much as 12 percent, or $9.87, to $92.70.

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KNTV's Scott Budman sees the inauguration of Barack Obama as a moment in technology culture as much as a passing of the political torch. In today's blog and video segment for Edgelings, Budman looks at two young East Bay men (one VERY young) who, inspired by Obama's election and empowered with low-cost, high-performance recording and editing tools, as well as social networking, have turned themselves into overnight national celebrities.

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