hardware

The iPad display is capable of so much more than firing pin-sharp pixels at your face. They say there's an app for anything, and while many throw a wrench in your productivity gears, some can improve your workflow in unexpected ways -- such as rigging up your iPad as an external display over Wi-Fi.

A second monitor could sit next to your laptop as a simple widescreen mobile hub, or alongside your desktop computer as extra visual real estate to keep those heavyweight widgets off your main screen.

It's not just available for Macs either. We'll be … Read more

Since Microsoft unveiled its first Microsoft-branded PCs, the Surfaces, in late June, I've been wondering how ambitious the company's scale-up plans were.

Today at the Worldwide Partner Conference opening keynote, I got an answer. CEO Steve Ballmer told attendees Microsoft's goal is to sell "a few million Surface PCs" in the coming year. (I actually thought I heard Ballmer say "a few millions," with an "s.") Ballmer also said that according to estimates, there will be 375 million Windows PCs sold in the next 12 months. His implication was there would … Read more

Organizations around the world will collectively spend more than $3.6 trillion on IT products and services, Gartner said today.

That sounds like a healthy chunk of change, but it marks only a 3 percent increase from last year when spending totaled around $3.5 trillion. Still, Gartner's latest forecast is a bit more optimistic than the 2.5 percent rise it projected last quarter.

"While the challenges facing global economic growth persist -- the eurozone crisis, weaker U.S. recovery, a slowdown in China -- the outlook has at least stabilized," Richard Gordon, a research vice … Read more

The big event at every Google I/O conference is the Oprah moment, when the keynoter tells the throngs of developers what gear they'll be taking home. That's when the audience usually goes wild. And so they did again this year, when developers heard they'd be taking home three shiny Google devices -- two of them so new you can't even buy them yet. A fourth gizmo was added during the second-day keynote.

With the focus so much on the new toys, it sometimes feels like Google is shifting its focus to hardware, … Read more

Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering Bob Mansfield is retiring, the company said today.

Mansfield, who has been with Apple since 1999, will be replaced by Dan Riccio, Apple's current vice president of iPad hardware engineering.

"Bob has been an instrumental part of our executive team, leading the hardware engineering organization and overseeing the team that has delivered dozens of breakthrough products over the years," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "We are very sad to have him leave and hope he enjoys every day of his retirement."

Apple says the … Read more

The hardware business has gotten a bad rap.

IBM saw the writing on the wall and sold its PC division to Lenovo in 2004.

CNET wrote at the time:

The deal will let IBM continue its shift from selling so-called commodity products to selling services, software and high-end computers. Although the company helped make PCs a global phenomenon, IBM makes little profit from PCs and often loses money.

Not long after, Dell followed suit.

Peter Pham explains it nicely from a financial point of view:

Dell is actively remaking itself into a server and IT services company moving away from … Read more

The Surface tablet may not be the only piece of hardware Microsoft is cooking up.

According to Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund, the software giant plans to follow through with the same strategy of developing both the hardware and software on its upcoming crop of mobile phones.

"Our industry sources tell us that Microsoft may be working with a contract manufacturer to develop their own handset for Windows Phone 8," Sherlund wrote in a note to investors, which was relayed by Reuters this afternoon.

"It is unclear to us whether this would be a reference platform or whether … Read more

What do you get when you stick a bunch of geeks from all around the world in an hardware-focused incubator program for 111 days?

Well, you still get robots (which are pretty cool), but with the HAXLR8R hardware-related accelerator program, you also get young people who are excited about nearly every facet of life.

The program's demo day in San Francisco on Monday night highlighted several new products that consumers can literally get their hands on. This included some products you would expect from really smart people interested in hardware like:

Bilibot, a robotic platform designed to make affordable … Read more

What do you get when you stick a bunch of geeks from all around the world in an hardware-focused incubator program for 111 days?

Well, you still get robots (which are pretty cool), but with the HAXLR8R hardware-related accelerator program, you also get young people who are excited about nearly every facet of life.

The program's demo day in San Francisco on Monday night highlighted several new products that consumers can literally get their hands on. This included some products you would expect from really smart people interested in hardware like:

Bilibot, a robotic platform designed to make affordable … Read more