RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) is profitable again! The online media company that provides music and other entertainment cut its way into the black, getting rid of the costs that were getting in the way. It wasn't much of a profit, only $1.5 million for the third quarter, not even a full cent per share, but it's a hell of a lot better than the $4.5 million loss it sustained in the third quarter of 2008.

Revenue fell 8% last quarter to $140.3 million, just shy of the analyst average of $140.9 million. This trend is likely to continue through the fourth quarter. Music, technology product and game revenues were down. The profit was instead eked out of the supply chain and headcount.

With the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Tablet, newspapers doing what they should have done: thinking about the possible impact to their business and trying to find ways to mitigate it. This comes 15 years after the industry ignored the internet and a decade after it disregarded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Of course, unwilling to admit its salient and severe fallibility, the newspaper folks are saying that they don't want the Tablet to destroy print the way the iPod destroyed the music industry.

The newspapers are apparently worried that circulation could plunge, driving profits through the floor and jeopardizing their abilities to operate. They are concerned that properties like the New York Times Co.'s (NYSE: NYT) Boston Globe could wind up selling for a single-digit percentage of the original purchase price.

In the past, it has been the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii or Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone creating holiday hype -- what product will it be this year?

Quite honestly, none. The tech realm is still looking for the next big holiday hit. This is why it appears that we could be facing a holiday season full of buy-one-get-one-free specials or pushy salespeople trying to get you to allow their company to install the new flat-panel TV or add ons that will help integrate your home entertainment system.

So, what does this mean for electronics retailers?

This is a well-wish for Apple CEO Steve Jobs, recovering after a liver transplant required following complications from a form of pancreatic cancer.

(Note: I don't own Apple's shares: never have, never will. I own corporate and municipal bonds, and real estate.)

Here's wishing Jobs a speedy, full recovery. Jobs is an American icon, an innovator extraordinaire, and a symbol of all that's good about the United States, commercially and technologically.

I thought I'd take a look at two companies that reported earnings earlier in the week that share a couple things in common. First, they deal with music. Second, their prospects have been defined, in part, by the surge of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod/iTunes zeitgeist.

Let's begin with Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). According to Reuters, Warner Music Group lost 25 cents per share from continuing businesses in Q3. Analysts wanted to see a loss of only 16 cents per share. In last year's Q3, the company lost 6 cents per share. Not a good trend. Warner Music Group's management unfortunately fails to impress.

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), the famous name behind the iPod and other nifty tech products, and a company that competes with formidable opponents such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), issued its Q3 numbers yesterday. Once again, Apple proves itself to be a company that an investor should have owned.

According to Tom Johansmeyer's earnings preview, Apple was supposed to deliver $8.2 billion in sales and $1.16 per share in bottom-line income. It was even thought that Apple might go beyond Wall Street's estimates and make $1.32 per share. Well, investors were pretty pleased to see over $8.3 billion in sales and $1.35 per share in income. Impressive.

This was a very light economic day that was again sort of trumped by a Ben Bernanke speech, but this was to the Senate panel rather than yesterday's House panel. Earnings dominated the trends of the news and the markets spent all day trying to figure out if they wanted to be up or down. However, tech stocks have managed to rise and rise. And rise. Right before the closing bell, this looked to be the eleventh day up in a row.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,881.26 -34.68 (-0.39%)
S&P 500 954.06 -0.52 (-0.05%)
Nasdaq 1,926.38 +10.18 (0.53%)

Major Analyst Upgrades

According to The Wall Street Journal, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is developing a pocket-sized electronic device to be used for connecting to the internet. The "gadget" would use Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android software. Reportedly, the device will be slightly larger than Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod touch, and Dell may start selling the device later this year. That said, the story's source noted that the plan could be delayed or scrapped entirely.

The importance of this potential device should not be lost, as it is one of the first experiments by a major PC maker in the world of mobile internet devices (MID). These devices are seen as bridges over the gap between smartphones and laptops.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced today that its CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, is back at work following a five-and-a-half month medical leave for a liver transplant.

According to Apple, Jobs is going to be working a few days a week at the company's headquarters, and working from home the remainder of days.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) is coming out with a new PSP. Should Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) care? In a word: no.

According to reports, Sony will be releasing the PSP Go this fall. The big thing about the unit is that it will be small. Oh, and it will be driven by downloaded games and other content. And, quite honestly, I'm not sure it's going to offer up a lot of significant competition to the Nintendo DS.

The news flow is abuzz this week with stats about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and its Xbox 360 console. According to reports, the company has sold 30 million units of the gaming hardware around the world. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY) is still in first place with 50 million Wii consoles sold. And Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE)? Well, the PlayStation 3 is decidedly third with roughly 22 million systems moved through retail channels. And don't give me that Xbox-360-had-a-year-over-Sony excuse. Doesn't matter. Microsoft has so far played it well.

But I'd like to see Microsoft do even better when it comes to the Xbox 360. I think, out of all the investments Microsoft makes that are outside of the core operating system asset, the Xbox 360 is the one with the most potential promise.

This morning, brokerage firm Morgan Stanley issued an upgrade to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), lifting the tech giant to Overweight and upping its target price to $180 from $105. Morgan Stanley feels that Apple is a clear leader in the world of mobile Internet and that the iPhone will drive the company's earnings growth over the next two years.

The brokerage's analyst noted, "The core of our stock call is that the iPhone's success and higher margins will begin to mute the fundamental margin and growth risks in Apple's core Mac/iPod businesses."

You seriously have to be kidding me. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is interested in Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS)? I can't believe what I just read.

Well, to be accurate here, I'm not sure if this is a strong rumor or not. Then again, there has been a lot of speculation over the fate of EA since it has been doing so poorly and since its stock has seen a fall in value the last few years (it should be noted, though, that the stock has been strong the last several months).

But Barron's reports that Apple may want to buy the gaming publisher since it has a lot of cash to utilize for investing. Apparently, Guy Adami of the CNBC show Fast Money said there was some buzz equity surrounding this possibility (it was also mentioned that maybe Apple could purchase Twitter . . . but that's another story!).

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) continues to win consumers and tons of market share with its various iProducts (iPhone, iPod, etc.) along with the ecosystems that come with these products (iTunes, App Store, etc.). Can the company keep it up? There are newer competitors who are offering huge catalogs of music downloads that work with any brand of music player (including the iPod and iPhone), but that hasn't stopped Apple from rolling over competing services in the past.

Wondering which sector is performing the best during the current economic crunch? The kind folks at MarketWatch provided the answer: technology. Nick Godt notes that the sector has gained strength from "investors playing an uncertain environment as both a defensive and a cyclical sector." For the month, tech is only 1.4% lower - winning it the coveted title of the best of the worst for February. The article adds that tech was followed closely by healthcare, "the most traditional defensive sector," with a loss of 1.6%.