RIM tops quarterly estimates; stock up 5% - San Francisco Chronicle

Number of the day

5 percent

That's how much Research In Motion saw its stock rise Friday after the BlackBerry maker posted quarterly sales that trounced analyst estimates. The stock rose as much as 15 percent, its biggest intraday gain in almost a year, after the Canadian company reported the sale of 7.4 million phones in the fiscal second quarter and posted a narrower loss than expected. The results signal RIM may still have a future as it struggles to compete with Apple's iPhone and Android-based phones.

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"It only takes a little bit of desk research to discover that what is called the Great Firewall is actually much more porous than the Chinese government would like to admit."

Tom Smith, founder of researcher GlobalWebIndex, which released a report Thursday showing that Facebook and Twitter have millions of users in China. In the world's largest Internet market, where the social networks are banned, Facebook users jumped to 63.5 million in the second quarter from 7.9 million in 2009, while Twitter users tripled to 35.5 million. Sites blocked in China can be accessed through so-called proxy services, which connect users to overseas servers so they can visit banned sites.

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The Demo conference runs Monday through Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Santa Clara. Companies attending get six minutes each to demonstrate to potential investors and customers how their new product will change the world. After the presentations, a group of experts take the stage to share their thoughts. Panelists and speakers include Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, and Josh Elman, a principal at venture firm Greylock Partners.