Intel profit drops 17% on softening PC sales

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Last week, IDC issued a sobering report which indicated that PC shipments for the first quarter fell by 13.9 percent, despite the release of Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system in October. Now, here’s more sign of trouble in the PC market. Intel announced today that its net income fell by 17 percent during the… Read More…

Microsoft: $2B Dell loan supports key partner, helps Windows ecosystem

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Updated below with HP comment criticizing the deal and making a pitch for Dell’s customers, as well as comments from Michael Dell. Microsoft’s involvement in the $24.4 billion deal to take PC maker Dell private was officially confirmed this morning, with the Redmond company agreeing to provide a $2 billion loan to help finance the… Read More…

Dell board reportedly set to consider buyout, including big Microsoft investment

Michael Dell (Wikipedia photo)

Bloomberg News is reporting that Dell’s board plans to meet this evening to discuss a potential $24 billion buyout — a move that would take the Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker private. If the board gives the nod, a deal could be announced as early as Tuesday morning. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg said that the… Read More…

Report: Microsoft in talks to invest up to $3B in Dell to help take the PC maker private

Michael Dell (Wikipedia photo)

Now, here’s one of the more interesting stories of the day. CNBC’s David Faber is reporting that Microsoft may invest between $1 billion and $3 billion in Dell as part of the computer maker’s plan to go private. The investment would be a huge bet by Microsoft in one of its critical PC maker partners… Read More…

Chart: This is what the ‘Post-PC Era’ looks like, so far

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Worldwide PC shipments declined by 8 percent in the third quarter, in advance of the Windows 8 release, according to numbers released by the IDC and Gartner research firms this week. Looked at in the most favorable light for Microsoft, the dip suggests that the industry, businesses and home computer users are waiting eagerly for… Read More…

Can Microsoft finally make the stylus go mainstream?

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The concept of the stylus as an input for computing has been around for a long time, with people dragging items around the screen with a pen and scribbling in digital ink. Microsoft first attempted to popularize the approach with its original Tablet PCs a decade ago. The rise of screens and the iPad pushed… Read More…

Apple boss Tim Cook takes a few cracks at Microsoft and Amazon, says tablets will ‘cannibalize’ PCs

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Apple CEO Tim Cook leads the most powerful technology company on the planet. But even as the top dog in tech (with a market value of $475 billion, which is bigger than Microsoft and Google combined) Cook says that he relishes competition. “As long as people invent their own stuff, I love competition,” said Cook, speaking… Read More…

CES Video: Lenovo’s Android notebook splits into a tablet

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During a Consumer Electronics preview event tonight, Lenovo showed an array of new products, including several running Google’s Android operating system — even a new Android-powered TV set. One device that caught my attention was the new IdeaTab S2, the company’s latest entrant into the hybrid tablet/notebook market, running Android 4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich)…. Read More…

Self-sanitizing keyboard wins FDA nod for healthcare use

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Vioguard, a company started by two Microsoft Hardware veterans and their business partners, says it has received U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for use of its self-sanitizing computer keyboard in hospitals and other healthcare settings. The keyboard can be retracted automatically into an enclosure to be bathed in germicidal ultraviolet light from two 25-watt fluorescent lamps…. Read More…

Andy Rooney targets Bill Gates in 2nd best rant in PC history

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As much as Andy Rooney might have turned himself into a caricature over the years, he is an iconic crank, one of the best there ever was. His retirement from 60 Minutes after tomorrow’s show is the end of an era. And one of the best rants of his storied career took aim at something close… Read More…

Apple, Microsoft and the divergence of the personal computer market

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Apple is set to report earnings Tuesday afternoon, amid expectations of a blowout quarter. While much of the focus will be on iPads and iPhones, it’s becoming increasingly interesting to watch the company’s traditional Mac business — specifically Apple’s ability to defy the trends in the broader personal computer market by boosting Mac sales at… Read More…

IDC cuts PC forecast as iPad, Kindle and friends take toll

Can Amazon dethrone the iPad?

The IDC market research firm today reduced its forecast for PC shipments for 2011 to 4.2 percent, from its previous projection of 7.1 percent. IDC cited factors including an “increasingly conservative economic outlook” but also explained that alternative devices have taken much of the momentum away from the low-priced, “mini-notebook” computers that helped to fuel the… Read More…

Rewind: Microsoft’s ‘Ben the PC Guy’ on the new ‘Golden Age of PC Design’

Microsoft's Ben Rudolph, a.k.a. Ben the PC Guy

Sure, Windows 8 looks snazzy with that tile interface and stuff, but what are you going to buy in the meantime if you want a new Windows machine? Are Windows PCs really keeping pace? And what does Microsoft say to people using or considering Macs? Microsoft Windows PC evangelist Ben Rudolph, better known as “Ben… Read More…

Apple bucks trend with 28% increase in Mac unit sales

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Apple is just out with its quarterly earnings, reporting record revenues of $24.67 billion and profits of nearly $6 billion. Also notable: Macs don’t seem to be falling victim to cannibalization from Apple’s own iPad in the same way that Windows PCs appears to be. Mac sales were up 28 percent for the quarter ended… Read More…

Windows app store Allmyapps reaches 100,000 users

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Allmyapps, an online app store for Windows PC reminiscent of Apple’s App Store for Mac, this morning announced that it has signed up 100,000 members worldwide in its three months since launching its beta version. The results show “how much Windows users are in need of an Application Store to discover and manage their applications,”… Read More…

WebOS planned for every HP PC, alongside Windows

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Hewlett-Packard, continuing to raise questions about Microsoft’s long-term dominance in PC operating systems, plans to ship its webOS operating system on every one of its PCs — alongside Windows — starting next year. That nugget is included in a new Bloomberg BusinessWeek story about HP.  The company, the world’s largest PC maker, had previously said… Read More…