Click to enlarge. Source: Asymco.com

After Apple (AAPL) blew past everybody's expectations on Tuesday, reporting sales up more than 73% and earnings up nearly 116%, analysts up and down Wall Street rushed to revise their spreadsheets and issue new notes to clients. We got our hands on 39 of them, including one (Ticonderoga Securities) MORE]]> Apple's earnings grew 116% in Q1. So why is the Street is looking for 44% in Q2?

Click to enlarge. Source: Asymco.com

After Apple (AAPL) blew past everybody's expectations on Tuesday, reporting sales up more than 73% and earnings up nearly 116%, analysts up and down Wall Street rushed to revise their spreadsheets and issue new notes to clients. We got our hands on 39 of them, including one (Ticonderoga Securities) that it has since gone out of business.

The biggest changes we saw in the analysts' reports were sharply higher 12-month price targets. Jumps from $500 to $600 a share were common. One analyst (Hudson Square's Daniel Ernst) went all the way to $700.

The analysts also revised their sales and earnings estimates, but not nearly as generously. The consensus for the March quarter, according to Thomson/First Call, is for Apple to earn $9.25 a share on sales of $34.48 billion, annual increases of 44.5% and 40%, respectively.

Earnings growth of 44.5% might sound like a lot for a $417 billion company, but a glance at the chart Horace Dediu posted Friday on Asymco.com puts that number in perspective. You have to go back 10 quarters -- to the depth of the housing bubble meltdown -- to find Apple's earnings growing less than 47% in any particular quarter.

Apparently the Street still views Apple's post-2007 growth spurt -- that is, after the launch of the iPhone -- as a flash in the pan. Over the past five years, including the worst of the downturn, Apple's average growth per annum was more than 60%. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that over the next five years, that growth will slow 20%.

For the most plausible explanation I've read for how they figure that, see Dediu's Why Apple is cheap.

FORTUNE -- Have you noticed how everyone seems to have contracted Attention Deficit Disorder? We are so distracted that we actually text while driving. Piloting a four thousand pound vehicle isn't important enough to command our full attention. Notice how hard is it to pry people from their devices in meetings? It has never been harder to get peoples' attention. As a result, your enterprise has to MORE]]> By Christopher Lochhead, contributor

FORTUNE -- Have you noticed how everyone seems to have contracted Attention Deficit Disorder? We are so distracted that we actually text while driving. Piloting a four thousand pound vehicle isn't important enough to command our full attention. Notice how hard is it to pry people from their devices in meetings? It has never been harder to get peoples' attention. As a result, your enterprise has to develop a black-belt in engagement.

The new battle for engagement is driving a seminal change in business models, processes and technologies. Employees have to be enticed to work. Offices are becoming amusement parks. Companies offer everything from free food and massages, to video games, volleyball courts, pools, hammocks, and tree houses. Zynga's new office has beds for animals, neon lights, and a Winnebago in the lobby. Red Bull's offices in London have a slide so you can glide downstairs on your butt.

Engagement is becoming the buzzword in software. A recent report by Jason Maynard, lead tech analyst at Wells Fargo, says there is a shift to "engagement applications." He writes:

"Business applications are moving beyond merely transactional activity and are becoming critical tools to engage with customers, to improve internal productivity, and to facilitate collaboration within the enterprise and throughout the entire value chain. Collectively this migration represents a new engagement system of record for the social, collaborative, and mobile era."

The rise of social gaming firms like Zynga and the success of Apple and Facebook, are causing business software developers to re-think their user experience approach. They are embracing "gamification" strategies to make their software applications and business processes more engaging. Leading companies are embracing fun as a way to get work done.

Enterprises are being forced to replace or supplement their decade or older intranets and email systems with new social business applications. Business productivity and communication apps are increasingly incorporating social features, analytics-based recommendations and discovery tools to drive productivity and user engagement.

"Engagement marketing" is now all the rage. It is rapidly becoming a higher priority than internal social business because it drives revenue. Engagement marketing uses digital channels to gain attention, build brands, drive customer collaboration and most importantly acquire new revenue.

It is grounded in the modern reality that most customers begin their buying cycle electronically. The online experience is often the first step used by both consumer and enterprise buyers of almost everything. This new paradigm is making engagement marketing the most critical vehicle for driving sales.

Smart Chief Marketing Officers are re-thinking their entire marketing point-of-view. It is time to use technology to design a new digital revenue acquisition strategy. Engagement marketers are exploring how technology can help:

- Gain attention
- Build audience
- Drive enterprise-to-customer and customer-to-customer collaboration

Engagement marketing integrates search engine optimization, Web ads, search ads and your entire Web presence - from Facebook and Twitter, to blogs, micro-sites, and private social networks. The goal is to go beyond traditional one-way communication to stimulating attention and enticing interaction.

Engagement marketers are exploring new ways to encourage customers to collaborate in everything from designing marketing campaigns, developing new products, and becoming brand ambassadors. You could say Yelp has an engagement business model. If people weren't willing to write reviews for free, Yelp wouldn't have a business. Clif Bar launched the "Meet The Moment" campaign by encouraging people to share photos of "awesome moments" that they curated into a "moment gallery". Thus getting customers to create Clif Bar ads. All of these engagement strategies are predicated on the idea that the more things a customer does with you, the more loyal they will be.

Whether it is driving employee collaboration or customer interaction, in this new world the more engaged people are with your business the more value you can create. So prepare to get engaged or get lost.

Christopher is a veteran CMO turned strategy advisor who is a co-founder & partner at Play Bigger Advisors.

Cook

Here's one thing that's changed since Steve Jobs died.

When Tim Cook, Apple's (AAPL) new CEO, thinks his company has been wronged by the media, he doesn't shrink from hitting back -- swiftly and in a way that he knows will quickly become public.

This report that MORE]]> Calls the suggestion that his company doesn't care about the health and safety of workers in the supply chain he built "patently false and offensive"

Cook

Here's one thing that's changed since Steve Jobs died.

When Tim Cook, Apple's (AAPL) new CEO, thinks his company has been wronged by the media, he doesn't shrink from hitting back -- swiftly and in a way that he knows will quickly become public.

This report that got Cook's goat -- the second in a New York Times series about working conditions in the Chinese factories that build nearly all of Apple's products -- was particularly painful, we imagine, on several levels:

• As Apple's long-time chief operating officer, he personally assembled the supply chain on which the paper cast such a harsh light
• Apple is hardly the only U.S. electronics company that exploits an Asian labor force willing to work harder, for longer hours, in more onerous conditions and for considerably less pay than Americans. But as every business editor knows, Apple is the brand that draws the most readers.
• Apple, it can be argued, has done more than any of its competitors to monitor and improve the working conditions the Times' reporters zeroed in on
• Two of the harshest quotes in their piece came from current or former Apple employees

That last item may have stung the most. And you can almost hear the fury in Cook's message to his staff. It begins:

"As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple's values today, and I'd like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It's not who we are."

The full text, first unearthed Thursday by 9to5Mac and confirmed by us as genuine, below the fold.

Team,

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple's values today, and I'd like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It's not who we are.

For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers' manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren't as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.

Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we've made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people.

At the same time, no one has been more up front about the challenges we face. We are attacking problems aggressively with the help of the world's foremost authorities on safety, the environment, and fair labor. It would be easy to look for problems in fewer places and report prettier results, but those would not be the actions of a leader.

Earlier this month we opened our supply chain for independent evaluations by the Fair Labor Association. Apple was in a unique position to lead the industry by taking this step, and we did it without hesitation. This will lead to more frequent and more transparent reporting on our supply chain, which we welcome. These are the kinds of actions our customers expect from Apple, and we will take more of them in the future.

We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment. As you know, more than a million people have been trained by our program.

We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word. You can follow our progress at apple.com/supplierresponsibility.

To those within Apple who are tackling these issues every day, you have our thanks and admiration. Your work is significant and it is changing people's lives. We are all proud to work alongside you.

Tim

Image: Halfbrick Studios

A record 1.5 million votes were cast earlier this month in the fourth annual Best App Ever contest, more than three times as many as last year. Created in 2008 by 148Apps -- a smartphone app-tracking website named after the maximum number of apps that could be installed on Apple's (AAPL) original iPhone -- its purpose, MORE]]> The results of the "People's Choice" app award are announced at Macworld|iWorld

Image: Halfbrick Studios

A record 1.5 million votes were cast earlier this month in the fourth annual Best App Ever contest, more than three times as many as last year. Created in 2008 by 148Apps -- a smartphone app-tracking website named after the maximum number of apps that could be installed on Apple's (AAPL) original iPhone -- its purpose, according to founder Jeff Scott, "is to help publicize the very best apps available, not just the best-selling apps."

It's not a bad idea. There are a dizzying number of mobile applications to choose from, especially if you include -- as Scott did this year for the first time -- apps for Google (GOOG) Android devices. This year,

• 1,692 apps were nominated
• By 1.1 million users
• 53.9% of the votes were cast for iOS apps
• 46.1% for Android apps

And the winner, with 36,431 votes, nearly ten times the number the nearest Android app drew, was (wait for it)

Jetpack Joyride, for the iPhone or iPad

Created by Halfbrick Studios, an Australian firm best known for the 2010 game phenom Fruit Ninja (more than 30 million downloaded), Joyride is a retro throw-back to the one-touch jump-and-run horizontal scrolling games of the Super Mario Bros. era packed -- like any addictive game -- with just enough twists, missions, prizes and upgrades to keep players coming back for "just one more."

The app is free on the iTunes App Store (here), but you can buy your way to higher levels with in-app purchases like the popular coin doubler ($0.99).

Jetpack Joyride had already won editorial accolades from publications ranging from the TouchArcade to the New Yorker. Now the people -- or at least 1.1 million of them -- have made their choice.

Below the fold: The official trailer that tells the backstory of why Barry Steakfries is scattering evil scientists with a machine-gun powered jetpack in the first place, but you don't need it to enjoy the game. The full list of winners and honorable mentions in 148Apps' other 108 (!) categories is available here.

* Twitter now has the ability to censor tweets or accounts in certain countries if legally required, a move some writers see as a "huge setback and disappointment." "As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," the MORE]]> Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.

* Twitter now has the ability to censor tweets or accounts in certain countries if legally required, a move some writers see as a "huge setback and disappointment." "As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," the company wrote on its blog." Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content. ... Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it up in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why." (Marketing Land and Boing Boing)

* In response to The New York Times' second installment in its investigative series about Apple (AAPL), TechCrunch argues that the Cupertino-based giant may not be the only tech company to blame for harsh worker conditions. (TechCrunch)

* How one Amazon (AMZN) merchant is effectively bribing buyers of its products for five star reviews. (The New York Times)

* Google's Mountain View headquarters expanded by 67% last year, adding 2.9 million square feet of space. (Silicon Valley Mercury News)

* Samsung reported $4.7 billion in operating profit on sales of $42 billion for the latest quarter, with mobile accounting for 40% of company sales. (Engadget)

* HTC is changing up its strategy after it saw its fourth quarter revenues dip 2.5% to nearly $3.4 billion. This year for the company will be all about focusing on quality over quantity. (All Things D)

* As for Motorola Mobility, the device manufacturer pulled in $3.4 billion in sales but posted $80 million in losses. (Boy Genius Report via PandoDaily)

* Almost 50% of businesses now support Macs and 27% support the iPad. (VentureBeat)

* North Korea warned citizens that anyone using cell phones during the 100-day mourning period for Kim Jong-il will be branded and punished as "war criminals." (The Telegraph)

Don't miss the latest tech news. Sign up now to get Today in Tech emailed every morning.

Click to enlarge. Source: IHS iSupply.

Two reports published Thursday -- one by IHS iSuppli, the other by Strategy Analytics -- describe the global race for smartphone supremacy as high-stakes see-saw.

Basically what happened is that Apple (AAPL) took the lead from Nokia (NOK) in June, lost it to Samsung in September and won it back in December.

"Apple's MORE]]> A pair of reports agree -- more or less -- on the current state of the battle

Click to enlarge. Source: IHS iSupply.

Two reports published Thursday -- one by IHS iSuppli, the other by Strategy Analytics -- describe the global race for smartphone supremacy as high-stakes see-saw.

Basically what happened is that Apple (AAPL) took the lead from Nokia (NOK) in June, lost it to Samsung in September and won it back in December.

"Apple's introduction of the 4S in the fourth quarter unleashed tremendous pent-up demand for the iPhone as consumers awaited the arrival of the latest model," said IHS senior analyst Wayne Lam. "This caused the company's smartphone shipments to surge, allowing it to retake market leadership by a slight margin. However, Apple and Samsung continue to run neck and neck in global smartphone shipments, setting up a tight battle for leadership that will continue throughout 2012."

Although the two firms are tracking the same markets and using the same metric (shipments, rather than sales to end users), their numbers differ by as much as 2.5 million units. IHS has Samsung shipping 95 million smartphones worldwide in 2011 (see spreadsheet above). According to Strategy Analytics, the Korean company shipped 97.4 million.

But they both agree that Apple, which reports its sales with considerably more transparency than Samsung, sold 93 million iPhones in 2011.

Below: The Strategy Analytics spreadsheets.

In part I, I talked about how up-front investment in a high-caliber strategic business development function helped to save Loudcloud when an existential crisis hit in 2002. But the value of strategic business development didn't end there. In fact, it was only beginning.

Opsware V1: Single product, single customer

The EDS transaction closed in mid-August, and we started into the fourth quarter of 2002 in much better MORE]]> By John O'Farrell, contributor

In part I, I talked about how up-front investment in a high-caliber strategic business development function helped to save Loudcloud when an existential crisis hit in 2002. But the value of strategic business development didn't end there. In fact, it was only beginning.

Opsware V1: Single product, single customer

The EDS transaction closed in mid-August, and we started into the fourth quarter of 2002 in much better shape than we'd entered the first quarter. That said, we still had plenty of challenges. We were a single-customer, single-product company. Moreover, the product—software that automated the administration of servers—was powerful but far from ready for broad commercial adoption. It had been developed solely for internal use by skilled (and somewhat forgiving) Loudcloud system administrators in a controlled environment. It was difficult to sell and hard to implement, requiring significant process change on the part of the customer's IT staff. It wasn't easily consumable in small chunks, leading to protracted sales cycles and long implementation periods.

Of course, we had 60 great engineers and plenty of cash, and they lost no time starting the work needed to make the software easier for our small but talented sales team to sell. While they did that, the BD team led the development of what would become a selective but highly productive M&A strategy to turn Opsware into a broad data center automation platform.

Kicking off the M&A strategy

Working closely with the product and sales teams to understand needs and build consensus, we started identifying and prioritizing categories adjacent to our core server automation category and tracking the key players in each. Together, we developed a set of criteria for acquisitions, including technical factors such as architectural compatibility and APIs as well as non-technical factors like location, team size, culture and financial profile. As a general theme, we wanted products that fit with our core proposition of data center automation and were compatible with our server product, but were easier to sell and implement, opening the customer's door for a subsequent server automation sale. We briefed the board repeatedly to prepare them for specific acquisition proposals to come. Thus armed for battle, we set forth.

Going into battle

Any good strategy allows for opportunism and, as it turned out, our first acquisition was highly opportunistic and somewhat unusual. Tangram was a 20-year-old company, publicly-traded on the OTC "pink sheets" exchange, with a market cap of about $10 million. Their product was IT asset management software, and while their revenues were growing slowly, their 200 enterprise customers were very satisfied with the product. We seized the moment and picked up $10 million in annual revenue for stock valued at less than $10 million—a bargain. The deal brought us a complementary, consumable product, 200 new prospects for server automation software and a low-cost base in Cary, North Carolina, that soon became our "offshore" location for support and sustaining engineering. In short, a good start to our M&A plans, just four months into our new life as a software company.

Our next acquisition, a year later, was much more strategic. Our customers were beginning to like our server automation product and wanted to know if we could solve their next pain-point: automating the configuration of network devices such as routers and switches. We identified the four leading players in network configuration management, visited and screened them all, and ran a competitive process to get them competing to sell to us. (It's always better to have them trying to convince you to buy than for you to be trying to convince them to sell.) We got the one we wanted, Rendition Networks, for a combination of cash and stock valued at around $33 million. In addition to 30 new enterprise customers and a strong engineering team in Redmond, Washington, we would now have an attractive starter product and a combined server-network automation offering that put us further ahead of our only credible single-product competitor, Bladelogic. Within a year, Opsware Network Automation was generating over 20% of our bookings. Even better, the Rendition purchase positioned us for a major OEM deal that would further accelerate Opsware's breakout lead. I'll talk about that in the next post.

With servers, network devices and asset management in the bag, storage was the missing piece of the puzzle. That proved to be harder—there were few storage automation startups to begin with and none that looked like a great fit. We ultimately did acquire a small startup named Creekpath Systems in 2006 for $10 million in cash, closing their small Colorado HQ and moving a few team members to Redmond. Unlike our other acquisitions, storage automation proved just as hard to integrate and commercialize as it was to find an acquisition target, and this was the least successful of our purchases. Notwithstanding that, we now had a unique full data center automation story: servers, network and storage.

Our fourth and final acquisition was in an emerging category called Runbook Automation. Having automated individual functions such as server provisioning or router configuration, our customers now wanted to automate entire IT workflows across servers, networking and storage, integrating with other systems such as monitoring or ticketing. Here there were just two viable targets: RealOps in Herndon, Virginia, and iConclude in Bellevue, Washington. We knew we wanted iConclude, but again a competitive process of negotiating with both companies helped to drive a speedy transaction at a fair price of $54 million in cash and stock in March 2007. (iConclude's founder and CEO, Sunny Gupta, now runs Apptio, an Andreessen Horowitz portfolio company).

Although we only made four acquisitions in five years, spending less than $100 million in cash and stock, the M&A strategy played a vital role in transforming Opsware from a single-product player, solely dependent on one giant customer, to a full-suite data center automation market leader with hundreds of enterprise customers. The acquisitions positioned the company for a major strategic partnership with a technology giant in 2006 and a billion-and-a-half dollar sale to another a year later.

Who you gonna call?

Just like the Loudcloud sale to EDS, Opsware's M&A strategy relied on many essential ingredients and actors: an aggressive but disciplined management team, outstanding engineering, marketing, sales, legal and finance functions, an acquisition currency and a supportive board. Again, however, a small effective business development team was there to leverage these assets and drive the process to achieve results while the rest of the company continued to fire on all cylinders. While we acquired four companies, we evaluated hundreds and gained massive industry insights in the process.

What's your M&A strategy? Who's driving it?

John O'Farrell is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. John led the firm's investments in Facebook, Twitter and Groupon, and works with portfolio companies on partnering, strategic transactions and global expansion. Prior to Andreessen Horowitz, John held Executive Vice President positions at Silver Spring Networks, Opsware and Excite@Home. Earlier in his career, John worked in the United States and Europe with US WEST, Booz Allen, Telecom Ireland, the EU Commission, Digital Equipment and Siemens. John has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from University College Dublin. He speaks English, German, French and Portuguese.

FORTUNE -- It's only fitting that a loud, global outcry over ACTA, an international agreement to govern intellectual property, began just after the anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA were shelved by the U.S Congress in the face of massive public pressure. If "copyright maximalists" can't get legislation MORE]]> The brouhaha over the American internet piracy bill has died down, giving way to proposed international legislation with many similar elements.

By Dan Mitchell, contributor

FORTUNE -- It's only fitting that a loud, global outcry over ACTA, an international agreement to govern intellectual property, began just after the anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA were shelved by the U.S Congress in the face of massive public pressure. If "copyright maximalists" can't get legislation passed, writes TechDirt's Mike Masnick, "they resort to getting these things put into international trade agreements, which get significantly less scrutiny."

Not that the "maximalists" -- including the movie and music industries -- were following such a timeline, exactly. ACTA -- the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (PDF) -- is their backup, and they've been working on it for years. It's stirring protests now because Poland, Ireland and the European Union announced they would sign on this week, moving the pact closer to reality.

Like many trade agreements, ACTA is a confusing mess. Even its signatories don't agree on how it's supposed to work. The way it's been pushed forward has also been unruly -- talks have been held in secret, without any kind of legislative oversight or input from citizens or public-interest groups. The public only became aware of it in 2008, a couple of years after discussions began, when Wikileaks published a discussion paper. Since then, drafts of the pact have been released to the public, each successively less onerous to critics. Reportedly, though, big media and pharmaceutical lobbyists have been privy to the talks all along

Not that the critics are appeased. People in Poland are even marching in the streets in protest. The online vandals of Anonymous have attacked governments and businesses around the world.

Part of the confusion, and ire, comes from the fact that ACTA combines counterfeiting and piracy as if they were similar, when in reality, they're very different. Counterfeiting is when a customer is duped into buying, say, a fake iPod or a knockoff Gucci handbag. Piracy is when someone, for instance, distributes an unauthorized copy of a movie or song. Different kinds of laws apply to each, or are supposed to. Copyright holders (movie studios, record labels, etc.) often try to meld anti-piracy measures with those aimed at counterfeiting, which are usually less controversial. SOPA and PIPA were similar to ACTA in this regard.

The whole thing is so muddled that it's not entirely clear what effect it will have on U.S. law or how it's enforced -- though proponents insist that it merely supports current laws by providing a basic legal framework for their enforcement. Critics say it will put Internet service providers in an untenable position, making them potentially liable for their customers' alleged actions and thereby forcing them to comply with requests from copyright holders for user data, with no due process. It's one thing when a judge orders you to hand over data. It's quite another when the order comes from Viacom.

Masnick says the biggest problem with the pact isn't that it will change U.S. law -- it "probably" won't, he writes -- but that it will lock down current law that governs enterprises, like technology and Internet media, that are in constant flux and are driven by innovation. To comply with the agreement, "the US needs to retain certain parts of copyright law that many reformers believe should be changed," he writes.

Critics also say that activities such as non-commercial file-sharing, which are normally handled by civil courts, could be turned into crimes because the agreement is unclear on precisely what "commercial-scale" piracy is. Piracy for commercial gain is covered, but so is "significant willful copyright or related rights infringements that have no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain." It all depends on what the meaning of "significant" is. In other words, if you download a movie -- or maybe it has to be three movies, or 300 -- it's possible that rather than a summons-server knocking on your door, it would be a cop. But again, this isn't entirely clear because the language is so vague and because it's impossible to tell how U.S. enforcement agencies will interpret it.

There are lots of other problematic provisions in ACTA, having to do with seed patents, generic drugs and other matters (watch this space for more), but the loudest criticisms so far have to do with its copyright provisions. In 2010, 75 law professors signed a letter to President Obama urging him not to sign the pact.

They went unheeded. Obama signed the pact -- which was originally developed by the United States and Japan -- last year. Other current signatories include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Morocco, Singapore, and South Korea.

There are questions as to whether it was even legal for Obama to sign without the consent of Congress. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon thinks it wasn't. In October, he sent a letter to Obama demanding an explanation. Wyden was a vociferous critic of SOPA and PIPA, and has been critical of ACTA as well -- particularly the opacity of its development. In particular, he decried the failure "to give the public a say over issues that so profoundly affect their lives."

Macworld|iWorld graphic via IDG World Expo

When Apple (AAPL) announced in 2008 that it was pulling out of Macworld -- no longer exhibiting its products or staging Steve Jobs' closely-watched keynotes -- many wondered whether the venerable expo could survive.

It was touch and go there for a while, but it turns out there is money MORE]]> The 28-year-old expo has a new brand, a new focus and hundreds of fizzy new products

Macworld|iWorld graphic via IDG World Expo

When Apple (AAPL) announced in 2008 that it was pulling out of Macworld -- no longer exhibiting its products or staging Steve Jobs' closely-watched keynotes -- many wondered whether the venerable expo could survive.

It was touch and go there for a while, but it turns out there is money to be made providing a venue where third-party vendors and Apple's preternaturally loyal customers can get together once a year.

So this week in San Francisco's Moscone West convention center, some 300 companies will be exhibiting their wares at the freshly renamed Macworld|iWorld -- a new brand, explains general manager Paul Kent, that formalizes the show's evolution since the rise of the iPhone and iPad.

Kent has taken a page from Austin's South by Southwest, setting up performance spaces and galleries and booking a roster of Apple-flavored name-brand artists, including jam-band Moe, writer Susan Orlean, Public Enemy's Hank Shocklee and the creators of South Park.

But at its heart, Macworld|iWorld is about the software and accessories on display -- some silly, some substantive, some a little scary. Here are the themes that caught our eye on Day 1:

• Big Brother. Appmospheric is pushing its Teen Agree app for GPS-equipped smartphones that lets parents monitor where their kids are driving, how fast they are going and -- on Android phones only -- whether they are texting at the same time.
• 

  Intoxicase

  Bottle openers. We spotted three different iPhone cases with built-in church keys, one from Opena Case that slides from the bottom and two from Intoxicase that are affixed to the back. Intoxicase also makes a free app that counts how many brews you've opened.

• Brushes and pens. Nomad sells two models for the iPad that mix capacitive bristles with natural fibers. Kickstarter-funded Adonit makes three -- Jot Classic, Jot Mini, Jot Pro -- for fine lines. And Smile makes a pen for marking up PDFs.
• Camera attachments. iPro and Olloclip sell systems that let you add fish-eye, wide-angle and, in the case of Olloclip, macro lenses to the iPhone 4 and 4S. For videographers, iSupport makes stabilizers with handles and a socket where third-party lenses can be screwed in.
• 

  Blue Microphone

  Microphones. To improve on the built-in model, Mic-W makes its iSeries "professional" mics that plug into the headphone jack. Blue Microphones has one with a pop filter and a shock mount that wouldn't look out of place on David Letterman's desk.

• Industrial-strength cases. RokForm makes a series of magnesium and aluminum iPhone cases -- with locks and lanyards -- that look like they're ready to go to Afghanistan. Gid Development's Bodydock system includes a kickstand and "Sweet Spot" magnets for attaching to fabrics.
• Waterproofing. Watershed makes drybags for the iPhone and iPad. DryCASE's claims its cases are waterproof to 100 feet.
• 

  TabletTail

  iPad holders. To make it easier to hold an iPad with one hand, Grablet offers an attachment with big plastic clips and an adjustable pad. Octa's Tablet Tail comes in two pieces: a vacuum dock and a flexible WhaleTail that looks just like it sounds. We still haven't seen the perfect iPad pillow for watching movies in bed.

• Hipstamatic for video. Global Delight has a cool new app called Game Your Video packed with easy-to-apply filters, special effects and themes that makes the chore of editing raw video into, well, a game. $1.99 on iTunes.

Aftermath of an explosion at an iPad factory in Chengdu, China

When monologist Mike Daisey flew to China to find out why the workers who assemble electronic devices for Apple (AAPL)  -- and every other major U.S. manufacturer -- were jumping from the roofs of their factory-city dormitories, he was shocked to discover that most of the MORE]]> Its investigative series about how our electronic gadgets are made could be a contender

Aftermath of an explosion at an iPad factory in Chengdu, China

When monologist Mike Daisey flew to China to find out why the workers who assemble electronic devices for Apple (AAPL)  -- and every other major U.S. manufacturer -- were jumping from the roofs of their factory-city dormitories, he was shocked to discover that most of the American reporters writing about the suicides had never visited the plants or talked to any of the workers. (See A harsh light on Apple's supply chain.)

Well that's changed. A few months ago, the New York Times assigned a team of reporters led by Charles Duhigg, Keith Bradsher and David Barboza to investigate the hundreds of Chinese companies that make our iPads and iPhones -- starting with Foxconn, the world's largest manufacturer of electronics components.

The first story in the series, How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work, described an ecosystem of interlocking Asian component suppliers so vast, responsive and eager for the work that it was clear by the end that, as Steve Jobs reportedly told President Obama at a dinner last year, "Those jobs aren't coming back" to America.

The second piece in the series -- In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, published today -- makes it clear that Americans wouldn't want those jobs. It starts with the story of one Chinese worker fatally burned when an iPad polishing factory exploded last May and doesn't stop until it has explored every available report of unsafe or onerous working conditions in Apple's supply chain. Although it gives the company credit for trying to do something about it -- establishing a code of conduct, performing inspections, issuing annual compliance reports -- it quotes former and current Apple employees who question the company's commitment.

"We've had this conversation hundreds of times," a former executive in Apple's supplier responsibility group told the Times. "There is a genuine, companywide commitment to the code of conduct. But taking it to the next level and creating real change conflicts with secrecy and business goals, and so there's only so far we can go."

It's the kind of reporting that wins the New York Times Pulitzers year after year. But one of the things the prize committee looks for in a series like this is evidence that it's had an impact. That something has really changed.

That's going to be tough.

FORTUNE -- Scott McNealy can barely conceal his enthusiasm as he sits down in the media room of his Silicon Valley mansion to watch the New Hampshire Republican presidential debate. But it is not the debate itself that has Sun Microsystems' longtime CEO literally on the edge of his seat -- in fact, his MORE]]> The tiny polling site hopes to get a lift from presidential campaigns -- and its tech-star co-founder.

FORTUNE -- Scott McNealy can barely conceal his enthusiasm as he sits down in the media room of his Silicon Valley mansion to watch the New Hampshire Republican presidential debate. But it is not the debate itself that has Sun Microsystems' longtime CEO literally on the edge of his seat -- in fact, his enormous television is actually on "mute."

No, he is pumped because two of the six candidates on the screen are using Wayin, an online polling startup that McNealy co-founded with a financier friend, to measure their supporters' opinions and to gauge their performances in the early January debate. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich both use Wayin, as does the Republican National Committee and Frank Luntz, the Republican strategist and pollster. "I'm flat-out excited," McNealy says. "I'm investing an enormous amount of my waking hours in this."

Nearly 30 years after he co-founded Sun, and two years after the company sold to Oracle (ORCL), one of the tech industry's most outspoken and colorful executives is back. Only instead of selling servers and software to businesses, he's trying to get consumers, sports teams, and corporations -- and politicians -- to embrace a social media tool that's a little hard to define: It is part polling app, part interactive media tool (think Twitter), and part enterprise service.

The polling software at the heart of Wayin is super easy to use. It allows you to create basic questionnaires, on the web or using a mobile app, by selecting an image and asking a question. Pick a photo of the Fab Four, ask Who is your favorite Beatle?, and bingo, the answers from your followers will start trickling in immediately.

Former Sun CEO Scott McNealy is talking politics.

Launched in October, the service has gotten early traction in politics. Romney -- the candidate McNealy favors, by the way -- has used Wayin to ask his supporters on Facebook what the most important issue in the election is. (Some 42% say the economy.) Pollster Luntz, who is a Wayin investor, went on The Sean Hannity Show after the Fox News debate in December and asked viewers to vote on who had won. Within 10 minutes he had 5,000 responses (early on, viewers had Gingrich winning, but sentiment gradually shifted to Ron Paul). "There are times when polling overnight isn't fast enough," Luntz says.

Taxes: Which candidate paid the most?

The campaigns' use of Wayin underscores the rising importance of social media in politics. "We are trying to reach across as many platforms as possible," says Kathryn Wheeler, the national Facebook director for the Gingrich campaign. "The younger generation likes this newer, faster, more visual platform," she says about Wayin. (While Wayin's major political users are all Republicans, as is McNealy, the company says it has pitched itself to the Obama camp -- which wholeheartedly embraced social media in 2008 -- but has not heard back.)

McNealy, who serves as executive chairman, foresees many other uses. Online fashion magazines could use Wayin to poll readers on a new purse, and consumer goods companies could use it to test new packaging ideas. A retailer like Wal-Mart (WMT) could poll employees on how their week went to determine which stores have morale problems, he says. And Wayin could also play a role in interactive television: AT&T (T) has built Wayin into its U-verse broadband television service, so if you are watching the NFL playoffs, for example, the Wayin app on your phone will automatically suggest related polls. (Will the Bulls win in overtime? Will they make the playoffs this year?)

Wayin has raised $6.5 million from McNealy and other investors, and McNealy is furiously working his Rolodex to get his former big-iron customers to give it a go. Revenue will come from advertising and sales to companies who may want to use the service to measure customer satisfaction or employee sentiment.

The biggest challenge for Wayin may be getting heard above the noise. Facebook already has a built-in questions app, and upstarts like Qriously and PollDaddy offer ways to gauge opinions in real time. Services like Yahoo's IntoNow (YHOO) and GetGlue allow users to interact alongside television programs. During the New Hampshire debate, ABC News was encouraging its viewers to weigh in -- not with Wayin, but with Twitter by using the hashtag #nhdebate. Twitter may not have the tools to classify the answers as neatly as Wayin, but it does have more than 100 million users.

This article is from the February 6, 2012 issue of Fortune.

FORTUNE -- The disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant last March set off a global reassessment of the technology. Germany and Switzerland plan to mothball their reactors, while China and India will push ahead. Meanwhile, the NRC just approved a new reactor design, a crucial step in Southern Co.'s bid to build the first reactor MORE]]>

Southern Co. is building the foundations for its two new nuclear reactors in Georgia.

FORTUNE -- The disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant last March set off a global reassessment of the technology. Germany and Switzerland plan to mothball their reactors, while China and India will push ahead. Meanwhile, the NRC just approved a new reactor design, a crucial step in Southern Co.'s bid to build the first reactor in the U.S. in 30 years. The new units at the Georgia plant (above) will power some 500,000 homes. --Anne VanderMey

By the numbers

$14 billion: The cost to build the two Georgia reactors. Southern Co., which owns 46% of the project, says ratepayers will save $6 billion over the life of the plant, compared with the cost of coal or gas plants.

73%: The estimated increase in nuclear power generation globally by 2035. Nukes' share of total power generated is projected to be 13%, the same as in 2009.

63: The number of nuclear reactors under construction today. China is building 26 while India has six under way. Currently in operation worldwide: 435.

Sources: Southern Co.; International Atomic Energy Agency; World Nuclear Association; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2011 New Policies Scenario

This article is from the February 6, 2012 issue of Fortune.

* Meet Larry Kirschbaum, the former Time Warner Book Group head who now runs Amazon Publishing. Bloomberg Businessweek's Brad Stone profiles the man quietly leading the charge to build a new publishing empire one e-book author at a time. Also in Amazon-related news, the company announced the AWS Storage Gateway, MORE]]> Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.

* Meet Larry Kirschbaum, the former Time Warner Book Group head who now runs Amazon Publishing. Bloomberg Businessweek's Brad Stone profiles the man quietly leading the charge to build a new publishing empire one e-book author at a time. Also in Amazon-related news, the company announced the AWS Storage Gateway, computer-installed software that lets users connect to Amazon's storage cloud and safely transmit corporate data. (Bloomberg Businessweek and The New York Times)

* The New York Times continues its series of in-depth Apple-focused features, this time focusing on worker safety in Chinese manufacturing plants. (The New York Times)

* A look at SAP (SAP) company chairman Hasso Plattner's attempt to transform business computing again through the use of cheaper memory chips in servers. (The Wall Street Journal)

* Whether you're already over that new iPhone 4S or simply sat this generation out, you may be interested in hearing how the iPhone 5 is shaping up. A Foxconn source tells 9 to 5 Mac that production of the iPhone 5 is gearing up. The new handset will reportedly feature a 4-plus inch screen and come longer and wider than previous version. (9 to 5 Mac)

* Netflix's fourth quarter earnings beat expectations with sales of $876 million, but it warns that its international expansion plans may mean little or no profit this year. The company also expects Amazon (AMZN) to launch a standalone video service with cheaper pricing. (All Things D)

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"We should support everyone who's willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs." -- Barack Obama during his State of the Union address (TechCrunch)

* Apple (AAPL) surprised everyone by reporting huge numbers for its latest quarter. iPhone sales spiked 128%, iPad MORE]]> Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.

"We should support everyone who's willing to work; and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs." -- Barack Obama during his State of the Union address (TechCrunch)

* Apple (AAPL) surprised everyone by reporting huge numbers for its latest quarter. iPhone sales spiked 128%, iPad sales jumped 111%, and Mac sales climbed almost 26%, helping boost overall revenues to nearly $46 billion, a 73% jump over the previous quarter. (Fortune)

* Meanwhile, Yahoo (YHOO) announced earnings that lined up with analyst expectations. The Internet company reported a decline in revenues of 3%, to nearly $1.2 billion and a drop in net income of 5%, to $296 million. "The work is ongoing," CEO Scott Thompson explained during the earnings conference call. "I believe there is big potential at Yahoo, much bigger than the outside world envisions today." (The New York Times)

* Google (GOOG) announced that it plans to follow the behavior of users across many of its sites, like YouTube, Gmail and Google search. While the company had previously been collecting some user data, this marks the first time the company will use the data from various services to assemble a more, cohesive and complete profile of the user. Users themselves won't be able to opt out of this data collection process, which begins March 1. (The Washington Post)

* How the recent shut down of popular file-storage company Megaupload could have a chilling effect on the growing online storage industry as a whole. (The Wall Street Journal)

* IGN reports that the Xbox 360's successor, what people are calling the Xbox 720, will hit shelves in late October or early November of 2013 with six times the horsepower. (IGN)

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FORTUNE -- It may be unfair to grade a work in progress, but in the case of a closely watched company like Google, it's inevitable. In the MORE]]> Disappointing quarter aside, it's too early to tell whether Google is fundamentally doing better or worse under Larry Page. But the company is more focused, more willing to take risks and -- for the first time in years -- more interesting.

By Kevin Kelleher, contributor

FORTUNE -- It may be unfair to grade a work in progress, but in the case of a closely watched company like Google, it's inevitable. In the nine months that Larry Page has served as Google's CEO, he's shown a bold, decisive style that has won the company unexpected success in social, stirred up a number of controversies and earned Page himself a mix of praise and criticism.

And so, tech pundits can't help but turn their thumbs up or down, based on what's happened. The deeper truth isn't so binary. Page has embarked on a course of management-by-risk familiar to startups but much rarer in companies with 12-digit valuations. The question isn't what has Page done, it's where he's pushing Google (GOOG).

In April 2011, Page took the reins from Eric Schmidt, who had made strategic decisions as part of a triumvirate including Page and co-founder Sergey Brin. By some important measures, Page has already proven himself a strong leader, winning a 97% approval rating from Glassdoor.com (Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg saw his rating fall to 89% from last year's 96%). And for an unprecedented third year, Google was named the best company to work for.

Yet Page may need some more time to win over investors. Last week, after the company delivered an earnings report that fell significantly short of the Street's expectations, the stock dropped as much as 10%. The disappointing quarter followed two previous quarters where earnings were much stronger than expected.

Page, who's famously declared that Google's mission is to organize all the world's information, takes a long-term view of the company's success. But he also understand that getting there means wasting no time in taking dramatic steps to prepare for it. So he launched a swift reorganization of the company to sharpen its focus, made an unorthodox purchase of a mobile-device manufacturer and reorganized many of Google's sprawling sites and features around a brand new product, Google+.

It will take a while to judge clearly whether these moves were smart or rash. But hasn't slowed the dishing out of praise and criticism. Some declared Page CEO of the Year after less than nine months on the job; others scoffed at that premature laurel. Some saw Google+ as proof that Google can compete in social media, others as a bane for investors. And nobody -- maybe not even Page himself--– knew what to make of the $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility.

Overall, a look at the headlines that Google made during Page's first months show a mix of good news and bad. Among the bad: In June, the company said the Federal Trade Commission was investigating its dominance in the search market. Two months later, it paid $500 million to settle a separate investigation into online-pharmacies buying AdWords. The company fended off a hacking attack directed by China and lost out on the bidding for Nortel's patent portfolio. And relations with movie and music studios grew tense as Google emerged as a vocal opponent of the SOPA bill.

Many of these events are the result of actions that predate Page's reappointment as CEO. Other, more positive developments bear the marks of his leadership: The four-month reorganization aimed at enhancing engineering productivity, the relatively smooth launch of Google+ (which now has 90 million members), the streamlined look of its home page and products like Gmail, the spread of Android -- now running on 250 million devices -- and Chrome with a browser market share, at 26%, that eclipses Firefox.

Given that mix of positives and negatives, it's too early to declare whether Google is better off or worse off under Page. Using the stock as a proxy isn't reliable: It's wavered between $470 and $670 a share, but overall is little changed from Page's first day.

What's clear, however, is Google is different under Page. It's more focused in its overarching strategy, in its slimmed-down offerings and in its managerial voice. It's is more willing to embrace risk, evident in the Motorola deal and the aggressive bets on Google+. Google has always been willing to take some strong stands but these are, on the one hand, increasingly balanced with practical approaches -- like the back-and-forth negotiations with content giants and the quiet push to return to China. Yet on the other hand, its more prone to controversy - like the nym wars surrounding Google+, or the recent introduction of Google+ into search results -- which now looks like a brewing controversy.

The big bets Page is placing may pay off, or they may set Google back. But Google is at least acting as if it understands all too well that it must either take bold chances now or face a slow, endless Yahoo-like (YHOO) death. In the tech world, giants get sidelined by not taking chances. Tech giants that answer to shareholders like to pretend otherwise, but -- just like any startup -- they live or die by risking failure.

In a way, over the past year, Google has started acting more like a startup than it has in years and more like a startup than most companies its size. In that way, Google under Page isn't unlike like Apple (AAPL) under Steve Jobs and Amazon (AMZN) under Jeff Bezos -- two companies that also took big risks when they fit into the strong vision of a smart, intuitive leader.

Will Page's intelligence and intuition keep Google at the vanguard of innovation? Or will his his risk be remembered as bold but unsuccessful bets on where the internet is heading? One thing about the internet, it's always moved in unpredictable ways. No one can say for sure where Google is heading. But under Larry Page, it's going to be an interesting ride.

Chart: MacRumors.com

A sampling of what Wall Street had to say overnight about Apple's (AAPL) first fiscal quarter earnings report:

Barclay's Ben Reitzes: No "Law of Large Numbers" Here. The upside Apple posted for the December quarter was beyond all of our most bullish scenarios, especially for iPhones and iPads. Most importantly, it seems momentum can continue MORE]]> Nothing but praise -- after the ship had sailed -- from folks who totally missed the boat 

Chart: MacRumors.com

A sampling of what Wall Street had to say overnight about Apple's (AAPL) first fiscal quarter earnings report:

Barclay's Ben Reitzes: No "Law of Large Numbers" Here. The upside Apple posted for the December quarter was beyond all of our most bullish scenarios, especially for iPhones and iPads. Most importantly, it seems momentum can continue given low channel inventories and demand in China. We look forward to several new product cycles this calendar year including a new line of iPads, an iPhone 5, and new Macs. In addition, we may hear more around a potential dividend and Apple's entry into the TV business during CY12 as well. With all of these drivers, Apple remains our top pick in the sector. Price target: $630, up from $555.

RBC's Mike Abramsky: iDominance! Strong Q1 results offer an early vote of confidence for CEO Tim Cook and team, and the strong guidance shows continued momentum from product cycles and expanding markets (Asia/emerging markets Q2–Q3). We remain constructive on the shares and view valuation (8x ex-cash) as compelling. Risks to our outlook include: 1) transitional risks post-Steve Jobs; 2) unexpected competitive gains; 3) margin erosion; and 4) "law of large numbers." Reiterate outperform. Price target: $600 (up from $525).

Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty: Apple reported the cleanest and strongest EPS beat in recent history. New iPad 3 and iPhone 5 will help maintain sales momentum in 2012 and increasing possibility of cash return could re-rate the stock toward IBM's multiple range of 12-13x P/E. Raising price target to $515.

JMP Securities' Alex Gauna: We reiterate our Market Perform rating for Apple following a blowout F1Q12 earnings report. Upside revenues of $46.3B (+64%q/q, +73%y/y) represented substantial growth reacceleration and drove a crushing non-GAAP EPS beat of $13.87 (JMP $9.65, Street $10.08). The stock was up almost 10% in aftermarket reaction and as embarrassing as it is for us to have a Market Perform rating on the stock into such a powerful result, we are electing to remain on the sidelines at this juncture given the risk of this proving to be a peak margins and growth quarter, elevated litigation uncertainty, and management transitions.  Target price: "NA"

ISI's Brian Marshall: When the Apple is Ripe, it will Fall...however, this AAPL is still growing on the Tree. With minimal "real" competitive threats to AAPL's major product families in CY12, we believe the outlook for the next 4 quarters can be characterized as "smooth sailing..." We think the road for the "AAPL cart" is relatively smooth over the next few quarters. Price target: $515.

CitiGroup's Richard Gardner: Firing on All Cylinders. Revenue and EPS of $46.3B and $13.87 were well above consensus $39.1B and $10.09 driven by better-than-expected units across the entire product portfolio. Particularly impressive was the 37M iPhone shipments, which drove more than half of the EPS upside. Although the lack of hardware re-design was initially criticized, the iPhone 4S experienced strong demand through the qtr supported by pent-up demand and additional carrier relationships. Target: $600 up from $500.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster: Strong Dec. Results A Precursor To Monster 2012. We believe investors are missing the potential long term upside of Apple's current market expansion and future upgrade cycles. Based on our research, we estimate that 70% of iPhones sold in the US were upgrades from previous iPhones. We believe 30% of iPhone sales were from buyers going from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S. Lastly, our research suggests 94% of iPhone owners expect to re-buy an iPhone.  Price target: $670 up from $607.

BTIG's Walter Piecyk: Apple Target up to $600 after Blowout Fiscal Q1. The most impressive element of the quarter was clearly the 37 million iPhones that were sold during the quarter which topped our street high estimate of 35 million and produced an ASP that actually grew from the prior year, a clear indication of the popularity of the higher priced iPhone 4S. We believe Apple is gaining additional momentum on Android which suffers with a fragmented product portfolio and uneven customer experience and RIM's lack of interesting product. As an example, we estimate that Verizon's non-iPhone smartphone base actually declined in Q4 while the iPhone base grew by more than 4 million. Price target: $600, up from $580. 

Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore: Product pipeline is stacked. We believe Apple's new product portfolio remains incredibly strong.  Specifically, we expect iPad 3 in C1Q12 followed by an iPhone 5 refresh in the Fall.  In addition, we expect Macs with Ivy Bridge should support incremental share gains and Apple TV appears set to graduate from an "Apple hobby" later this year.  We anticipate an iOS device with Siri user interface and iCloud synching has the potential to redefine the smart TV category in the same way iPhone and iPad impacted the smartphone and tablet markets, respectively.  Meanwhile, we expect iPad 3 to enter the tablet market as most competitors are refocusing their efforts on Windows 8 tablets. Price target: $600 up from $530.

Evercore Partners' Rob Cihra: That's a Lotta iPhones. Huge free cash flow of $16.2B drove Apple's ballooning net cash/investments to an almost absurd $97.6B or $104/share, with investor hopes continuing to grow for some sort of dividend and mgt at least sounding somewhat more open to the idea. Price target: $650 up from $600.

Next up: Macworld/iWorld in San Francisco.

Click to enlarge.

With revenues that grew 73% and earnings that more than doubled, Apple (AAPL) proved Tuesday that the fourth quarter results that so disappointed Wall Street last fall were a fluke. The company that Steve Jobs built is still that rare beast in American business: A $400 billion giant that acts -- and grows -- like a MORE]]> Humiliated by a bunch of bloggers, amateur analysts and assorted day traders

Click to enlarge.

With revenues that grew 73% and earnings that more than doubled, Apple (AAPL) proved Tuesday that the fourth quarter results that so disappointed Wall Street last fall were a fluke. The company that Steve Jobs built is still that rare beast in American business: A $400 billion giant that acts -- and grows -- like a start-up.

Tuesday's results also revealed another fluke: The shellacking that our team of independent analysts suffered in October at the hands of Wall Street analysts with some of the worst track records in the business. (See Apple earnings smackdown: The bloggers got clobbered.)

This time, as evidenced by the preponderance of Wall Street blue on the bottom of the chart at right and the dominance of Indie green at the top, the order we had documented in more than half a dozen consecutive quarters was restored.

Once again, the Street blew it. And although even the most bullish independents were surprised by the strength of Apple's Q1 2012 results, at least they were in the ball park.

So kudos to Navin Nagrani, the Chicago real-estate executive who won this quarter's Earnings Smackdown with the best revenue and earnings estimates of the 50 analysts we polled.

"Feels like winning an Oscar," he wrote when I told him. "I'm such an Apple geek."

A hat tip also to:

• Asymco's Horace Dediu and Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu, who nailed the Mac number. (Dediu is also No. 1 when all the categories are averaged together.)
• Gabriel Dubois of AAPL Independent Analysts, who came in closest on both iPhones and gross margin
• Dennis Hildebrand of Apple's Gold and Luke Kittell of the MacObserver's Apple Finance Board, who nailed the iPod number
• And Gregg Thurman, also of AAPL Independent Analysts, who missed narrowly on iPads

I'm not sure what to say about Gabelli's Hendi Susanto, who had the worst estimates for revenue (off by $11 billion), EPS (off by $5) and iPhones (off by nearly 12 million units) as well as the second worst estimates for iPods and iPads. As near as I can tell, he published his numbers on Oct. 19, just after Apple's big miss, and never looked at them again.

But he's got plenty of company in the pink and red cells at the bottom of the color-coded chart below, including (but not limited to) Hudson Square's Daniel Ernst, JMP Securities' Alex Gauna and, once again, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty. For analyst who writes such smart Apple reports, she publishes some pretty dumb numbers.

Below the fold: The annotated spreadsheet.

Click to enlarge. Best estimates in bright green, second and third in light green. Pink is bad and bright red worst of all.

Not that nothing can MORE]]> Evgeny Morozov thinks search engines should "flag" sites that promote nutty conspiracy theories. It's a nutty idea.

FORTUNE -- There is a lot of garbage and nonsense on the Internet. There will always be a lot of garbage and nonsense on the Internet. And, thanks to our understandable wish to clean up garbage when we see it, there will always be misguided calls to do something about it.

Not that nothing can be done. Google's (GOOG) algorithms, imperfect as they sometimes are, help keep fraudulent and spammy links out of the upper reaches of search results, for example. But what about "dangerous" ideas, or those that are just wrongheaded, nutty or insulting?

Evgeny Morozov (his Twitter bio: "There are idiots. Look around.") believes that Google and other search engines should slap warning labels on links to such ideas. The Internet has evolved, he laments at Slate, "with no or little quality control." This has yielded some good outcomes, like Wikipedia and Twitter. "But it has also spawned thousands of sites that undermine scientific consensus, overturn well-established facts, and promote conspiracy theories."

It's not clear that any facts have actually been overturned, but I'll give Morozov a bit of rhetorical leeway on that one. His problem is with the nuts: 911 Truthers; people who believe, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, that vaccines cause autism; disbelievers in evolution, global-warming deniers, and the like.

Except, when are they "the like?" This is where Morozov's proposal falls apart. The Truthers are pretty clearly misguided, as are the anti-vaccine people. And, yes, most of the global-warming deniers. Global warming ("climate disruption" is a better term) is clearly real. But does that mean we should lump all critics of the current scientific consensus together, and together with 911 Truthers and Holocaust deniers? Like many truths, the truth of climate disruption is complex. There is consensus among legitimate scientists that it's happening, but that consensus isn't total. There are plenty of valid disagreements over the severity of the problem and the potential negative consequences of it, and even more over what, if anything, should be done about it. Some of the critics who point out or exploit these disparities are labeled "deniers," whether or not the appellation actually fits. Sometimes it doesn't.

How is Google supposed to go about making such fine distinctions? And on a more basic level, since when is Google supposed to be in the business of deciding what is truth and what isn't? Even if it were technically possible, it's not Google's place to tell us that we shouldn't take seriously Jenny McCarthy and her anti-vaccine army, any more than it is Google's place to decide which sites are and are not engaged in digital piracy (again, it's not always clear).

Morozov writes that by flagging questionable links, Google would be advising users to "exercise caution and check a previously generated list of authoritative resources before making up their minds."

But those sources are right there, in the Google results, along with links to all the nutty stuff. People can choose to believe either the lone blogger with the garish Web site, or the experts who know what they're talking about. It's hard to envision the person who might be given to believing in conspiracy theories being persuaded to conduct further study by a Google "red flag."

Google does do filtering -- of the above-mentioned fraud and spam, as well as of porn (in the latter case, the user decides whether to apply the filter). It is able to push some of the bad stuff lower in the search rankings, making more room on top for the good stuff. It does this largely through the collective wisdom of the Internet itself -- what gets linked to the most, for instance. But that's far different from deciding what is and what is not a "dangerous" or "wrongheaded" idea and what is a "legitimate" one. Google tries as hard as it can to represent the Internet as it is, not the Internet as Evgeny Morozov thinks it should be.

FORTUNE -- While debates rage on about the economic stability of Western European and the US, emerging markets are stealing the attention of foreign investors on the prowl for growth markets and huge returns. China's internet and e-commerce venture potential is one such example.

US and European investors have been white hot on China's Internet and e-commerce venture potential for some time. This is due in large MORE]]> By Maelle Gavet, contributor

FORTUNE -- While debates rage on about the economic stability of Western European and the US, emerging markets are stealing the attention of foreign investors on the prowl for growth markets and huge returns. China's internet and e-commerce venture potential is one such example.

US and European investors have been white hot on China's Internet and e-commerce venture potential for some time. This is due in large part to the natural assumption that China's burgeoning 1.34 billion population reflects massive growth potential for e-commerce opportunities. On the whole that notion makes tremendous sense –- more people equals more spending. However, not often taken into consideration is the fact, despite an explosive population, there are many in China who do not have the disposable income necessary to drive and sustain a successful eTail environment at this time.

Take a slight jog to the West and hit the streets of Moscow, and the investment story is similar but with a couple of huge differences. Not only is it one of the fastest growing Internet markets in the world but it's also home to the highest billionaire population of any city in the world. Prada, Gucci and Armani are right at home here in the Russian capital, the heart of a country with 140 million population, 59.7% of whom are Internet users, (that is a 42.8% penetration rate). It is the Russian's affinity, not just for high-end merchandise, but also for accessibility to product not often found in local stores – and the growing infrastructure making it easier to procure these items – that is, in part, continuing to drive the eTail boom.

With the seventh-largest Internet audience in the world, Russian companies are capitalizing on this explosive growth. For example, OZON.ru, the Amazon.com and Expedia of Russia, has enjoyed a 34% increase in revenue growth from 2010 – 2011, bringing in $150 million in returns. After closing out on a record-breaking fundraiser of $100 million in September 2011, the company now pulls in over $1million in revenue per day, keeping them well on track to reach $1billion annual turnover in the next 3-5 years.

The emerging e-commerce market also benefits from Russians' exceedingly low debt and large disposable income. With an estimated 87% disposable income per capita, Russians are warming up to the ease and accessibility afforded by the Internet. While an estimated 25% of online users in Russia have made a purchase in relation to China's 23%, (representing 3.3% of China's total retail value), the number of online shoppers in Russia will increase by 120% over the next five years, with the size of the market jumping 145%. Astonishingly, the online retail market makes up less than 1% of the total retail market. This is incredibly small when you compare it to the UK e-commerce market – which takes up 7% of the total UK retail market. However, the tides are turning and Russia is finally reaching the point where retail is becoming an accepted form of shopping.

While it remains true that only a slight percentage of Russian monthly Internet users make purchases online today, the future of online retail is clearly set to explode. This is a market that offers boundless growth opportunity parallel to that of the US market in the early 2000's. For today China may be the belle of the ball, but Russia is on par to be an equally attractive and sustainable investment opportunity in the days and years ahead.

Maelle Gavet was born in France. Education: Sorbonne University (Paris, France), Ecole Normale Supérieure, Fontenay-St-Cloud (France), Institut D'Etudes Politiques (France, Paris). Worked at Non-Profit Preobrazhenie Foundation as project manager(1999 –2001). Predstavitelskij Dom, Founder and Managing Director (2001 –2003). The Boston Consulting Group (2003 - 2009). OZON.ru, head of Marketing department (2009-2011) . OZON.ru, CEO (2011 – present).

Everybody was counting on Apple (AAPL) to report record earnings, but nobody -- not even the most bullish independent analysts -- predicted anything like the blowout the company just reported.

Trading was halted at 4:27 p.m. after Apple's shares had closed at $420.50, down MORE]]> Shares jump nearly 9% in after-hours trading on record sales of $46.33 billion, record profit of $13 billion, record 37 million iPhones, 15.4 million iPads, 5.2 million Macs

Everybody was counting on Apple (AAPL) to report record earnings, but nobody -- not even the most bullish independent analysts -- predicted anything like the blowout the company just reported.

Trading was halted at 4:27 p.m. after Apple's shares had closed at $420.50, down $6.91 (1.62%) for the day. When trading reopened about 25 minutes later, the stock immediate shot up more than $37 (nearly 9%).

The numbers, from top to bottom, are actually quite stunning:

Sales: $46.33 billion, up 73.3% year over year
EPS: $13.87, up 115.7%
iPhone:  37.04 million units, up 128%, compared with 40% for rest of market
iPad: 15.4 million units, up 111%
Cumulative iOS devices: more than 315 million
Mac: 5.2 million units, up 25.8%, compared with 0% growth for the PC market
Asian Mac sales: up 58%
iPod: 15 million units, down 22.9%, more than half iPod touches
iTunes store revenue: $1.7 billion
Gross margin: 44.7%, up from 40.3% last quarter
Apple store revenues: $6.1 billion
Total stores: 361 stores. $17 million average revenue
Cash and marketable securities: $97.6 billion, up $16 billion
Visitors: 110 million, up 45%
Revenue guidance: $32.5 billion
EPS guidance: $8.50
GM guidance: 42%

"We're thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Apple's momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline."

RBC's Mike Abramsky characterized the results as a "massive beat" across the board, and pointed out that iPad sales were "more resilient than expected" against Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle Fire.

The earnings call just started. Apple is providing live streaming at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq112. Our notes below the fold.

COO Peter Oppenheimer reviews the numbers, adding bits of color here and there.

Q&A:

Q: Describe iPhone momentum at end of quarter? Tim Cook: He was thrilled etc. Attributes to "just breathtaking customer reception" to iPhone 4S. Made a very bold bet as to what the demand would be, it turned out we were still short of supply and ended quarter with a significant backlog. Improved some, but still short in some geographies. Also pent-up demand. Thinks made correct decision to go with a range of iPhones. The quarter's extra week also helped. U.S. and Japan were particularly strong. Also pleased with greater China, even though didn't sell into mainland China until January. "It turns out we didn't bet high enough." iPhone 4S was the most popular iPhone throughout the quarter.

Q: Was pent-up demand all countries, or just the countries that just got the phone? [Dropped call.]

Q: Q about hard drives. For March quarter, Cook doesn't expect any problem getting hard drives for Macs, but may have to pay more.

Q: Price declines of RAM and DRAM last quarter. What about next quarter? Cook: Did bet better prices than expected on Flash and displays last quarter and that should continue.

Q: Any impact on iPad sales of Amazon Kindle Fire and other competitors. A: Sales consistent with Cook believes that this is a huge opportunity for Apple and that tablets will eventually overtake PCs. Our iPad ecosystem is "in a class by itself. More than 170,000 apps compared with a few hundred for the competition. We don't really see these limited function tablets and e-readers being in the same category. We don't think people who want an iPad will settle. I think most people will agree that it was the year of the iPad, not the tablet, for the second year in a row.

Q: iPhone price elasticity? What about the pre-paid market? Each model were important in getting to 37 million units. But the iPhone 4S was clearly the most popular. It's too early to tell how the pre-paid market will play out. In every country in the world trying to adjust and do better in the future.

Q: Re Peter's comment that they are "actively discussing" what to do with the cash. A: We don't have anything to announce today? Q: Is there a time frame? Will you announce? A: Actively discussing.

Q: Gross margin going down from 44.7% to 42% is a big drop. A: Factors affecting are 3: 1) loss of leverage from revenue with 14th week. 2) Some one-time items that won't reccur 3) Dollar is much stronger. 44.7% is as high as he's seen.

Q: Munster asks about TV. A: Tim: Apple TV product actually doing very well. As of September 2.8 million in last fiscal year. Set a new quarterly record of 1.4 million last quarter. Otherwise no comment.

Q: Hows the new job? A: You know I love Apple. Reminded everyday what a privilege it is to work with his incredible team. You can see the results.

Q: About dividends or buybacks. A: Examining all options. "Were not letting it burn a hole in our pockets."

Q: About iCloud. A: Over 85 million customers have signed up for it in just 3 months. It solved a lot of problems and made their lives much much easier. It was a fundamental shift, recognizing that customers had multiple devices. "It's not just a product, it's a strategy for the next decade."

Q: iPhone distribution. Esp. China. A: Now over 130,000 points of sale, up 35% from last year. We added carriers in Japan and Sprint in U.S. China Unicom still a key partner, nothing to announced today. But China is an extremely important market for us.

Q: Revenue guidance down 25% from last quarter. A: Peter points out that end of gift giving seasons will push sales down sequentially. Five reasons down more this year than last.

1. 14th week.
2. Extra week will not be in March quarter, as they were last year.
3. Last year increased iPhone inventory
4. Pent-up demand from iPhone 4S
5. U.S. dollar has strengthened, esp. compared with Europe.

Q: Acquisition strategy. Peter: We tend to make small ones for talent or IP. We tend to do several each year. Our track record is very strong.

Q: How are they integrated? Tim: We don't believe in divisions like other countries do. Semiconductor team, for example, does semiconductors for the whole company.

Q: Geographic expansion. When stores in India and Russia? Tim: We're selling there online, through carriers and retail partners. Singles out Brazil as a huge opportunity, but not Apple retail store in the near term. In India, revenue increased three times in last quarter, but from a small base.  In terms of carriers, you can but we're looking at the same list you are.

Q: Did iPad benefit from lower-cost tablets? Will the ultrabooks do the same for Macbook Air? Tim: I looked at data on a weekly basis after the Fire launched, but didn't see an effect. My own view is that there was no obvious change in the data. There is cannibalization of the Mac by the iPad. There thing about the iPad is you can see it starting to appear everywhere. Fortune 500. K-12. Sold twice as many iPads as Macs. Of course consumer has moved in a huge way. It's winning market by market by market. I think it's remarkable that we've sold 55 million iPads and we've only in business since April 2010.

Q: Are you seeing accelerated refresh rate or halo effect. Tim: In enterprise, we've seen iPhone being a catalyst, followed by iPad followed by Mac. One pulling the other. We've seen that phenomenon before with the halo that the iPod created for the Mac.

Q: Android vs. iPhone. Is it becoming a two-horse race. OEM model vs. integrated. Tim: Not Mac vs. Windows at all. Mac is still single-digit of world market. Where iOS compares favorably with any competitor. Haven't found a way to get crisp, transparant Android numbers. Cites NPD and Nielsen data showing iPhone catching up to Android. It seems like all the data in the U.S. shows that it's a very close race. In iPad way ahead. And no product comparable to iPod touch. What we focus on is innovating and making the best product and ignoring how many horses there are.

Q: 4G and larger screen. Has popularity of larger screens and 4G changed your view. Tim: Won't comment on future road map. We sold 37 million iPhones and could have sold more. There a lot of people who like what we're doing.

And that's a wrap.