dell

Dell drops its Streak 7 tablet

Dell has stopped selling the Streak 7 Android-based tablet.

When customers go to the tablet's page, they're presented with a message, saying that the "Streak 7 is no longer available online." The page now features information on other mobile devices Dell sells, including the Venue and Venue Pro. Dell is also still selling accessories for the Streak 7.

Dell's decision to stop selling the Streak 7 comes just a few months after the company announced that it had discontinued the 5-inch Streak 5 tablet.

That said, it's worth noting that Dell has not officially announced the death of its 7-inch tablet, so until it responds to CNET's request for information on the Streak 7's status, saying that it's discontinued might be too strong. Amazon, for instance, continues to sell the Streak 7.… Read more

Best Buy, Verizon, Dell launch Cyber Monday deals

Best Buy, Amazon, Verizon, and Dell launched Cyber Monday deals featuring discounted laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Best Buy is calling its sale "Cyber Week" and puts Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba laptops at the top of the list on its launch page. All three come with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Best Buy laptops listed on Cyber Week page:

Lenovo, $299.99: Model: 1450ABU. 15.6-inch LED-backlit display, AMD dual-core E-450 accelerated processor, 4GB memory, 320GB hard disk drive, and optical drive. HP Pavilion, $349.99: Model: g4-1229dx. 14-inch LED-backlit display, Intel dual-core "Sandy Bridge" Pentium B950 processor, 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive, and optical drive. Toshiba - Satellite Laptop, $379.99: Model: C655-S5305. 15.6" LED-backlit display, Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3-2330M processor (2.2GHz), 4GB memory, 320GB hard drive, and optical drive.

Black Friday deals you can get right now

If you're hearty enough to drag yourself out of bed in the middle of the night, stand in long, cold lines, and fight deal-crazed crowds, just to score a superlow price on a laptop, hard drive, or whatever, I salute you.

Quick housekeeping note: I'm off tomorrow (Happy Turkey Day, everyone!), but I'll be back on Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday! So if you have the time, I hope you'll pop in for some sweet weekend deals.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to sleep in, spend time with your family, and avoid potential stampedes, … Read more

Rumor Has It, Ep. 9: iPad 3 is the loneliest number (podcast)

Spinal Tap ruined Karyne's life last week, and now she's losing the betting round this month.

She has one more week to get two points, or else it's her turn (once again) to embarrass herself. So put on your thinking caps, and send in your suggestions for the show of shame.

On this week's show, we learn how to pronounce Asus (kinda), the Facebook phone is one step closer to truth, the Amazon phone might be, too, and the Xbox 720 has Emily rescinding her vote. … Read more

Lenovo prepping 5-inch Android-based tablet, report says

Lenovo may be working on a 5-inch tablet, Engadget reports, citing an anonymous source.

According to the gadget news site, it has received some basic specs and photos of the device from its source. The site claims the device will come with a 5-inch display, run Android, and feature a dual-core processor. In addition, the photos seem to show that it comes with a Micro-USB port, a front-facing camera, and HDMI output. Engadget's source is unsure when the tablet might launch.

There's no telling what market the 5-inch tablet is designed for, but Lenovo is heavily focused on … Read more

Asus, Dell: We're not exiting the Android tablet business

Asus reiterated its commitment to the Android tablet business, refuting a report that said it, along with Acer and Dell, are looking to retreat after a rocky start.

The company was responding to Taiwanese news site Digitimes, which cited suppliers in its report that the three PC manufacturers were looking to phase out their Android tablet businesses.

"As usual, the rumors and reports from Digitimes are incorrect," said Asus spokesman Gary Key. "Asus is not exiting the Android tablet business."

Likewise, a Dell spokesman said the company doesn't have any plans to exit the business … Read more

Intel: Ultrabooks have to be 'cool'

At an Intel Capital conference this week an Intel executive spelled out how and why the market will transition to ultrabooks over the next few years. In a word, ultrabooks need to be "cool."

Intel is driving the PC industry to ultrabooks with a $300 million ultrabook fund--principally for hardware development--and a second fund announced this week, the $100 million AppUpSM Fund, targeted at applications for future ultrabooks.

Erik Reid, the general manager of the Mobile Platforms Division at Intel's PC Client Group, detailed Intel's thinking in a session at the Intel conference this week in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The coolness factor: "Users want something that's cool," said Reid. Intel research shows that when people see an ultrabook they think that "it must be better engineered because it's thin. It's harder to make a thin device than a thick device. It's more forward-looking." … Read more

Dell's long, slow climb on R&D spending

Dell CEO Michael Dell is working hard to position the company as more than just a PC vendor. In fact, Dell is pushing the company upstream so much he’s willing to walk away from low-margin PC deals and spend more on research and development.

The catch is that Dell’s talk hasn’t caught up to his R&D spending as a percentage of revenue. Here’s what Dell said on the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call yesterday.

Our improved profitability and cash flow have enabled us to move forward with strategic investments both organic and inorganic. … Read more

Dell Q3 earnings: Better than expected, still not great

Dell reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings, no revenue growth and provided an anemic revenue growth picture for the fiscal year.

The PC maker reported fiscal third quarter earnings of $893 million, or 49 cents a share, on revenue of $15.36 million, flat with the year ago quarter. Non-GAAP earnings were 54 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting non-GAAP earnings of 47 cents a share on revenue of $15.65 billion.

As for the outlook, Dell said its operating income targets for the fiscal year--17 percent to 23 percent growth--will be met, but revenue growth will be sluggish. The … Read more

Apple could sell up to 5.3 million Macs this quarter

Sales of Apple's Mac are already off to a cheerful start this quarter and could reach as many as 5.3 million units by the end of December, according a new report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Based on data from NPD Group, Munster found that Mac sales in the United States rose 19 percent in October over the same month last year. The year-over-year growth is especially strong, given that Apple had just refreshed the MacBook Air that month last year.

Looking at the global picture, Wall Street is projecting a 25 percent gain in worldwide Mac … Read more