Advanced Micro Devices, the world's second largest PC processor supplier, had some sobering things to say about the PC market when the company reported earnings Thursday.

"For the first time since 2001, client PC shipments have declined sequentially for three consecutive quarters-and have been below historical averages for the last seven quarters," AMD CEO Rory Read said during the chip supplier's second quarter earnings conference call.

"We also believe the PC industry may be resetting to a new [lower] baseline," he said.

Revenue declined 10 percent to $1.41 billion for the the Sunnyvale, … Read more

In case you missed it (which is likely), Fujitsu has entered the Windows 8-ready fray with a convertible "tablet PC."

You probably don't remember tablet PCs because they weren't big with consumers. Nor businesses for that matter.

But they've been around for at least a decade. For instance, there's the Compaq-branded Tablet PC TC1000 that Hewlett-Packard launched in 2002.

Or the more recent -- relatively speaking -- HP EliteBook Tablet PC series.

So now, in 2012, in the age of the svelte, 903g Microsoft Surface tablet, we have the 13-inch Fujitsu Lifebook T902 (PDF). … Read more

An ultrabook six months from now will make today's designs seem so last year. You can thank Windows 8 and the Metro interface for that.

The next Windows operating system -- which we now know is slated for release October 26 -- will bring touch screens to laptops. So, the standard ultrabook today sans a touch screen may seem a bit frumpy by comparison when new designs hit for the holiday season.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini said yesterday that "more than 40" touch-enabled Windows 8-based ultrabooks are in the pipeline. That would include designs like the Acer Aspire S7.… Read more

Get ready for the touch-screen laptop.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini said today that "more than 40" touch-enabled Windows 8-based ultrabooks are in the pipeline. All of those use the chipmaker's Ivy Bridge processor, he said.

Otellini was speaking during a conference call after the company announced second-quarter earnings today.

In total, there are more than 140 Ivy-Bridge based ultrabook designs in the pipeline, he said. About a dozen of those products will be so-called convertibles that allow a laptop to be converted to a tablet.

A recent example of a convertible is the dual-screen Asus Taichi.

Otellini … Read more

Ultrabook and MacBook Air shipments numbers will grow by about 7 million units in 2013, according to market researcher Gartner.

"We are looking at about 5 percent of total mobile notebook shipments in 2012. That includes Apple's MacBook Air, which is a big portion of that five percent," Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst at Gartner, told CNET.

Kitagawa went on to say that "big" does not necessarily mean more than 50 percent but would not get more specific.

Gartner describes the combination of ultrabooks and the MacBook Air as "ultramobile notebooks." Typically, ultramobile laptops … Read more

Samsung plans to acquire CSR's handset connectivity and location development operations and technology, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the deal, Samsung will hand over $310 million to the semiconductor company to take control over its "Handset Operations." In addition, Samsung will take on all 310 CSR employees operating in those divisions.

CSR says that Samsung will also invest $34.4 million into its operation in return for a 4.9 percent equity stake.

"I believe that under Samsung's ownership the handset operations will be in a better position to prosper in the … Read more

Production of the next iPhone has already begun, a Japanese-language Apple blog claims.

And to back up its claim, the Macotakara blog cites listings for iPhone 5 cases on China's Alibaba.com.

The blog goes on to say that the back of the new iPhone has both glass and aluminum. "In the area where aluminum is not used, there is glass." (see image below).

This contrasts with previous reports that claim the next iPhone will have an all-aluminum back like the iPad.

By comparison, the iPhone 4S sports glass coverings on the front and back.

The iPhone … Read more

Blame it on Windows 8.

Analysts this week cited "waiting for Windows 8" as one reason for flat shipments of traditional PCs.

But I would submit that's an excuse rather than a reason. Instead of waiting, consumers are buying MacBooks, iPads, Google's Nexus 7, and large-screen Android phones.

In other words, what Intel CEO Paul Otellini likes to optimistically call -- in the case of tablets -- "additive" devices, or machines people buy in addition to a PC. But I think they're what consumers actually buy instead of a PC.

Does that portend … Read more

Ultrabook numbers will fall far short of Intel's aggressive market share targets, an IDC analyst told CNET. The MacBook Air, meanwhile, continues to coast amid continued popularity.

An IDC report today showed a weak PC market caught in its seventh consecutive quarter of little to no growth.

"The volume isn't there and it's going to be way below what Intel had hoped for," IDC analyst Jay Chou told CNET, referring to ultrabooks.

"The first half [of 2012] is about 500,000 ultrabooks shipped worldwide. It's nowhere near Intel's initial hope," Chou … Read more