* Q1 underlying sales rise 4.8 pct vs forecast 4.1

* Looks to step up innovation from second quarter

* Earnings per share down 13 pct at 0.30 euros

* Shares up 7.7 percent

(Adds further details, analyst, updates shares)

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Consumer goods giant Unilever beatforecasts with a 4.8 percent rise in first-quarter underlyingsales on Thursday and its new chief executive said it plans toboost sales volumes with a drive on marketing and new products,pushing its shares higher.

Walt Disney Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings dropped 46% on lower revenue, especially at its theme-park and movie-studio divisions. Charges also pressured the bottom line.

Even so, the entertainment giant's shares rose 3.6% to $23.99 in after-hours trading as the bottom-line results topped Wall Street's expectations. Revenue, though, fell short.

President and Chief Executive Robert Iger called the quarter "difficult ... due to the weak economy and other factors."

Motorola will launch multiple Google Android smart phones at several different price points in the fourth quarter of this year, chief executive Sanjay Jha told an investors' conference call on Thursday.

Android seems to be critically important to Motorola's future. While Jha said the smart phone market was one of the bright spots in a tough mobile industry, he didn't say a word about Windows Mobile, the other smart phone platform Motorola has pledged to support. No, it was all Android.

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Maybe it's time to start believing Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) conservative earnings guidance.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based consumer electronics giant customarily offers investors modest earnings forecasts and then regularly beats the target. Lately, it's defied the recession, selling slick laptops and smartphones at a premium to its rivals' products and continually expanding its margins.

In a question and answer session with financial analysts during Wednesday's second quarter earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook revealed that iPod touch sales have "more than doubled year over year." Combined, iPhone and iPod touch sales total about 37 million units.

Cook called that combined number an "enormous platform for developers," adding that with the recent changes introduced with Apple's iPhone 3.0 SDK, which went beta in March and is expected to be released to customers this summer, Apple and its development partners will soon "unleash a whole new level of innovation that keeps Apple years ahead of everyone else."

SEATTLE -- Strong sales of the iPhone helped Apple Inc. lift its quarterly profit 15 percent, well ahead of Wall Street's expectations Wednesday despite the global economic downturn.

For the three months ended March 28, Apple's fiscal second-quarter earnings rose to $1.21 billion, $1.33 per share. In the same period last year Apple earned $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast a per-share profit of $1.09.