CUPERTINO, Calif. – ArcSight Inc. said Thursday its fiscal first-quarter profit tripled as the cybersecurity software and services company's sales jumped 39 percent.

The company said net income rose to $3 million, or 8 cents a share, in the three months ended July 31. That compares with net income of $1 million, or 3 cents a share, in the same period last year.

Excluding one-time charges, adjusted earnings amounted to $6.6 million, or 18 cents a share, the company said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected ArcSight to earn 13 cents a share. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue for the quarter rose to $48.1 million from $34.6 million. Analysts projected $45.5 million.

Consumer Watchdog took its crusade against Google to new heights Thursday, running ads in New York's Times Square blasting CEO Eric Schmidt on privacy issues.

The group's Inside Google site produced two videos (hosted on YouTube, of course) depicting Schmidt as a creepy maniacal ice-cream truck driver handing out free ice cream to children while conducting full body scans in order to absorb private information through 'Google Analytics.' They sort of have to be seen to be believed.

A shorter version of the video will run 36 times a day for an unspecified length of time in order to promote Consumer Watchdog's campaign for a national 'Do Not Track Me' list, similar to the Do Not Call list managed by the Federal Trade Commission. In singling out Google, Consumer Watchdog highlighted Schmidt's comments to CNBC last year on privacy as well as a more recent report that he advocated giving young people the right to change their names to restore their reputations.

An independent review of smart meters installed in Northern California by utility Pacific Gas & Electric found no technical flaws, but a poor roll-out with customers.

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday released the evaluation of PG&E's controversial smart-meter program, which was conducted by consulting company The Structure Group.

After PG&E installed two-way meters in Bakersfield, Calif., customers complained that their utility prices shot up, which they blamed on the new meters. Since then, there have been questions over PG&E's handling of the program by regulators and push-back from various communities in its territory.

Earlier this summer, the CPUC contracted with Structure, which tested 750 smart meters and 147 old electromechanical meters. The test found that smart meters reported accurately and that customer billing matched the expected results.

The new Facebook security feature lets people see what devices are logged into their account and to remotely log them off.

(Credit: Facebook)

Facebook on Thursday announced a new security feature that will allow users to see if they are logged into their accounts on a different computer and to remotely log out if so.

This will address the problem that many of us have of leaving a computer--either one we borrowed at a friend's house or used at a public spot like a library--logged in to our Facebook account without realizing it. Doing so leaves it open for abuse by whoever happens to visit the site next on that machine, allowing them to use the account to send spam or masquerade as the legitimate user.

THE DEAL: Under a new five-year agreement, Google Inc. will continue to provide the search results on AOL Inc.'s websites. The companies signed the deal this week.

THE MONEY: AOL declined to give financial details. Google has not disclosed how much money it gets from the deal because it's only a small portion of its total revenue.

WHAT'S NEW: The contract will put AOL video content on Google's YouTube site for the first time. It also expands the companies' partnership onto AOL's mobile sites.

Source: Summary Box: Go...

Samsung on Thursday introduced the Galaxy Tab, a tablet PC aimed at the heart of Apple's iPad, at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany. Samsung presented the tablet with a pun that cites a "new galaxy of possibilities."

The Galaxy Tab has a seven-inch display and weighs .84 pounds. It comes with 16GB or 32GB of internal storage and a 32GB microSD expansion slot. The iPad competitor also features a touchscreen, Wi-Fi, GPS, 802.11 and Bluetooth.

What the Galaxy Tab has that the first iPad doesn't is back- and front-facing cameras. The front-facing camera allows face-to-face video telephony over 3G. The rear-facing camera captures still images and video that consumers can edit, upload and share.

NEW YORK – Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. posted better-than-expected results for its fiscal third quarter Thursday, reversing a loss as revenue more than tripled thanks to strong sales of 'Red Dead Redemption' and other games.

The company also raised its guidance and now expects to turn an adjusted profit in fiscal 2010. It will be the first time in nearly a decade that Take-Two posts a yearly profit without the launch of a new 'Grand Theft Auto' game. The game has been Take-Two's reliable cash cow, but the company has been working to expand its portfolio so it's not dependent on the franchise.

For the three months ended July 31, the company earned $5.9 million, or 7 cents per share, up from a net loss of $56.5 million, or 73 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Desktops helped Dell regain its former place as the No. 2 PC maker--behind HP, but ahead of Acer.

(Credit: CNET)

After vaulting over Dell to take the No. 2 spot among the top sellers of PCs last year, Acer now finds itself back in third place.

According to data compiled by iSuppli and released Thursday, Acer shipped 10.2 million PCs during the second quarter of 2010, while Dell shipped 10.5 million during the same time period. Those numbers show that Acer shipped a 6.2 percent fewer computers during the second quarter than the first, and Dell shipped 1.2 percent fewer. But it means that Dell gets its old No. 2 spot back, which it relinquished in October of last year.

Coulomb's ChargePoint stations unlock for use when presented with a smart card or key fob recognized by the station's RFID reader.

(Credit: Coulomb Technologies)

Coulomb Technologies unveiled its latest electric-vehicle charging station on Thursday morning in Detroit.

The Motor City is the first locale in Michigan to get a charging station for public use as part of ChargePoint America, a $37 million program to install public and residential stations throughout the U.S. to encourage adoption of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.

After its recent conflict with Research In Motion over access to customer data, India is expanding its reach to include Google and Skype.

The Indian government is asking all three companies to install local servers in the country so that it can more easily tap into encrypted e-mail and other communications, according to Bloomberg and other sources.

Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters on Wednesday that notices were being sent to Google and Skype to provide 'lawful access' of data to security agencies. The country sees access to such communications as vital in its fight against militants and terrorists who may use encrypted networks to plot  attacks.