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Hewlett-Packard said today that it prefers to spin off its PC business rather than sell it outright, according to a Reuters report.

The company is studying the ramifications of the spinning off its personal computer business, according to the report.

Earlier this month, HP announced that its board of directors had "authorized the evaluation of strategic alternatives" for its Personal Systems Group (PSG). Those alternatives include the separation of its PC business into a separate company through a spin-off or other transaction.

"We prefer a spin-off as a separate company, and the working hypotheses is that a … Read more

Hewlett-Packard said today that it is spinning off its PC unit as it tries to escape the financial throes of the increasingly low-margin PC business.

On top of confirming it is in talks to acquire Autonomy and essentially shuttering its WebOS operations, HP said its board of directors has authorized the exploration of strategic alternatives for its PC business, the Personal Systems Group (PSG).

"HP will consider a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction," the company said. HP expects that … Read more

Photos of the knock-off Apple retail stores in China not good enough for you? NBC's "Today" show headed to Kunming, a city in the southwest of the country, that houses just such a store to capture it on film.

In the video, which was picked up by Cult of Mac, NBC reporter Adrienne Mong heads inside to scope out the trimmings on the Kunming store--the same one that made headlines last week after being profiled by a blogger with the handle BirdAbroad.

Inside, visitors poke at iPads, iPhones, and Apple notebook computers atop wooden tables while staffers stock a dizzying array of accessories on nearby walls. As Mong notes, the surroundings are "convincing," right down to the clear acrylic signage and gadget stands.

Store employees, donning blue T-shirts with the Apple logo and the company's signature name tag lanyard stand nearby, with one telling Mong she believes the media have "distorted the facts" about the operation. … Read more

Dune Rider is a freemium (as well as ad-supported) stunt-driving game that starts you out with just one vehicle, one level ("Zone 1"), and a clumsy steering interface.

Not only do you start the game with limited choices, but you're also strongly encouraged each time to buy more fuel, nitro boosts, and bonus multipliers in order to have any hope of getting the kind of score you need to earn coins, which you must then use to buy more fuel, nitro boosts, and bonus multipliers. Hopefully, you can save enough coins over time to buy new cars … Read more

There have been a few prominent issues following the update to OS X 10.6.8, though a couple of them have to do with third-party application support. One that has caused a number of users to have kernel panics is the tool Hands Off, which is a personal security program. Apparently the kernel extension for version 1.3 of the program is the culprit, and should be removed.

To do this, boot the system to Safe Mode and then locate the file "handsOff.kext" in the /Suystem/Library/Extensions/ folder. Move it out or delete it, and … Read more

Opinions vary on whether Google Instant is a time-saver or very distracting. I hear Ross Perot's Texan twang--"Can I finish? Can I finish?"--each time Google anxiously starts returning search results as soon as I enter the first letter into the search bar. Thankfully, there is a way to turn off this feature, and the hardest part about it is knowing where to look.… Read more

You're sure you've entered the correct password, yet you can't log on. Turns out, the Caps Lock was on; you just didn't notice the tiny LED or whatever is supposed to alert you to your stray thumb. Or maybe you're trying to type a line of text yet keep turning the Caps Lock on when you mean to turn it off? fRUSTRATING

DKOSD's zipped download includes a Vista Version that is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7. DKOSD requires Microsoft .NET Framework, but you can download it for … Read more

Caroline McCarthy from CNET's The Social blog joins us on today's podcast to discuss this morning's Oscar nominations and eight nods for "The Social Network" including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Score.

The film undoubtedly deserves the recognition, but it seems they left off Andrew Garfield for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Eduardo Saverin, Facebook's co-founder and a 5 percent shareholder of the $2.5 billion company.

Despite this oversight, Garfield will likely have another chance with his upcoming role as the famous Webslinger in the upcoming reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. The rest of the cast includes Rhys Ifans as the Lizard, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, and Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson.

But there's no chance the movie will be quite as awful as "Turn off the Dark," Broadway's version of the Spider-Man genesis wrought with disaster even in the face of its new finale.

Wilson checked out an early preview of the show and has an equally negative review to share that makes this Onion headline sound right on the mark: "Nuclear Bomb Detonates During Rehearsal For 'Spider-Man' Musical." We blame Bono.

As usual, the Razzie nominations were announced today in conjunction with the Oscars, and it's no surprise that the "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" swept the Golden Raspberries for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Robert Pattinson), Worst Screenplay, and...actually, the movie appears in all the categories except for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D, where they were ineligible to be nominated.

The high-powered schmoozing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has yielded a project to install solar-powered cell phone towers in India.

Vihaan Networks Limited (VNL) and lithium ion battery maker Boston Power today announced that VNL will test the small-scale telecom stations with Boston Power's batteries. VNL had originally developed the system with lead acid batteries.

The communications-based stations, called WorldGSM, are designed to operate entirely from a few solar panels and are not connected to the grid. The Boston Power batteries can power the tower, which can be set up in half a day, for up … Read more