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Windows 8 hybrid-tablet mania

Thursday's tech news roundup calls for a deluge of tablet-PC hybrids:

Everyone is talking about tablet hybrids at this year's IFA electronics trade show in Berlin. Every major laptop maker is getting in the game, all because of the October 26 release of Windows 8. Some choose to have the screen swivel or fold to be held like a tablet, such as the Dell XPS Duo 12 and the Asus Taichi. But most hardware makers are also offering tablets with full keyboards that snap on, like HP's Envy x2 tablet and Samsung's Series 5 and 7 Slates (… Read more

Best laptops for under $600

Not too long ago, a budget laptop was, by default, a big, ugly plastic box. It may have gotten the job done in terms of school or office work, but it wasn't going to turn any heads at the coffee shop, or fit comfortably onto an airline tray (with the exception of too-small Netbooks, which had their own list of problems).

We'll look back on 2012 as the first year when budget laptops really got a fair shake, with many models looking and acting much more like their expensive cousins than ever before.

Even at the very low end of budget -- laptops that are $600 or under -- you can get a slick-looking HP Envy Sleekbook, or a powerful Acer Aspire V5.

Here are a handful of recent favorites, from 11-inch ultraportables to 17-inch desktop replacements, each of which costs about half as much as a 13-inch MacBook Air.… Read more

HP ready for battle with tablet-laptop hybrids, says Whitman

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman came out swinging in today's earnings conference call.

"We are under attack by very strong competitive pressures and we are going to respond," Whitman said when asked by an analyst about the PC business.

The company will respond with "two tablets, if you will, combined with laptops for the consumer space," according to Whitman.

This is in addition to the Windows 8 business tablet that HP has already discussed (see photo above).

She added that HP has "one of the best product lineups we've had in the PC business … Read more

HP faces iPad entrenchment at businesses, say observers

Ahead of its third-quarter earnings Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard is virtually absent in tablets, one of the hottest device markets today. And its fresh entry into the market will face an entrenched iPad ecosystem at businesses.

There's no guarantee that HP's upcoming Windows 8 Pro tablet aimed at corporate enterprise customers will stop the iPad's march into businesses, according to Rhoda Alexander at IHS iSuppli.

"It is the established leader in all of the markets. It has more of a reach into business, into education than its competitors," Alexander said, referring to the iPad. "The consistency … Read more

Students who buy a new PC can score a free Xbox

Students trudging back to school can soften the blow with a free Xbox console and a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8, as long as they buy a new PC.

Several PC vendors have cooked up the deal to attract students who need to buy a new computer. Here's how it works:

Buy a new PC for $699 or more from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy, Newegg, or the Microsoft Store. You'll have to show some proof that you're a student currently enrolled, either through a school e-mail address or ID number. You then get your free Xbox … Read more

HP ready to make a new push with consumer tablets

Hewlett-Packard is apparently diving back into the consumer tablet business.

The company is apparently developing a new Mobility unit to concentrate on consumer tablets, says an internal memo first published by the Verge. An HP representative confirmed the memo's authenticity, though he declined to comment on its substance. The memo is the work of Todd Bradley, head of the company's Printing and Personal Systems Group.

Beyond handling tablets, the new mobility unit will also be responsible for "additional segments and categories where we believe we can offer differentiated value to our customers," according to the memo. … Read more

Lenovo dings Microsoft Surface: We'll provide better hardware

During Lenovo's first fiscal quarter 2013 earnings call, executives didn't mince words in attacking Microsoft's Surface strategy.

"Although we don't like Microsoft providing hardware, for us, it just adds one more competitor," Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said during the conference call in response to analyst's question.

"[They're] just one of our many competitors. We are still confident that we are providing much better hardware than our competitors including Microsoft," he said.

Yuanqing continued. "They are strong in software, but [we] don't believe they can provide the best hardware … Read more

HP spins off WebOS business, rebranding it as 'Gram'

Hewlett-Packard is rebranding its WebOS Global Business Unit as a new company called Gram, according to an internal company e-mail.

Penned by HP Senior VP Martin Risau, the August 11 memo obtained by CNET encourages employees to tell outsiders little about the company other than it is operating in stealth mode:

Thank you for all of your enthusiasm at yesterday's new brand announcement: GRAM. We hope you will fall in love with the brand just as lots of us have already. Please note that our Mission, Values, and Plan of Action are the same. We are continuing to march … Read more

Toshiba nixes Windows 8 'RT' tablet, HP doubtful

Toshiba will join Hewlett-Packard in passing on the first round of tablets based on the RT versions of Windows 8.

This follows the confirmation Monday from Microsoft that Dell, Samsung, and Lenovo will debut tablets and/or convertibles (Asus has already announced its) based on the version of the Windows 8 that runs on ARM chips.

That RT version cannot run the vast library of software written for Intel-based "x86" PCs, though it will have a version of Microsoft Office.

"Toshiba has decided not to introduce Windows RT models due to delayed components that would make a … Read more