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Moving its PC line beyond Microsoft's Windows operating system by embracing Google's Chrome OS, Hewlett-Packard today announced the $330 Pavilion 14 Chromebook.

Samsung and Acer were the first to offer Chrome OS devices, with Lenovo following suit. Now HP evidently believes it's worth jumping on the bandwagon for the browser-based operating system, describing the Chromebook as part of its "multi-OS approach."

"Google's Chrome OS is showing great appeal to a growing customer base," said Kevin Frost, general manager of HP's Consumer PC, Printing, and Personal Systems group. "With HP's Chromebook, … Read more

It seems Hewlett-Packard plans to follow Samsung, Acer, and Lenovo into the Chromebook market.

The company published a spec sheet for the Pavilion Chromebook 14-c010us that reveals a 4-pound model with a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, 16GB SSD, 14-inch LED-backlit display with 1,366x768 resolution, a Webcam, and three USB 2.0 ports.

It appears the device will ship in the coming weeks. The spec sheet, spotted by The Verge, lists an advertising embargo date of February 17.

"The HP Pavilion Chromebook gives you fast and easy access to the things you love and depend on, from … Read more

Intel has the go-ahead to construct a $4 billion plant in Ireland where it will design the next generation of 14 nanometer processors.

The chip giant received the OK from Ireland's lead planning agency, according to Ireland-based tech news site Silicon Republic. With that approval a done deal, the project just needs authorization from Intel's board to move forward.

Construction is expected to take two years and could create 3,500 construction jobs and 800 full-time permanent positions. The plant will be located at Intel's campus in Leixlip, County Kildare, where 4,000 people already work, Silicon … Read more

Earthlings can breathe a sigh of relief; NASA scientists have officially ruled out the possibility of the 22 million ton asteroid Apophis smashing into the planet in 2036.

"The impact odds as they stand now are less than one in a million, which makes us comfortable saying we can effectively rule out an Earth impact in 2036," manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office Don Yeomans said in a statement. "Our interest in asteroid Apophis will essentially be for its scientific interest for the foreseeable future."

Apophis is still en route to come exceedingly close … Read more

Battle Bears Royale is a multiplayer shooter game that teams you up to take out other players while navigating through multilevel maps. Don't be fooled by the cute, cuddly characters in Battle Bears Royale; this multiplayer game has tough but enthralling gameplay.

Right after you download Battle Bears Royale, beware of the pop-up windows that try to get you to play other games in the so-called network. This didn't make for a good first impression on our end. Be sure to press "Skip" to proceed with the actual game.

Informational windows describe features contained in the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Go big, add touch. Sony's subdued CES formula in a nutshell.

Sony's latest Vaio T Series 15 is a new, larger ultrabook with 1080p, sporting a 10-finger multitouch display. It joins the fray of a seemingly endless run of touch-enabled laptops at this year's CES that continue to be announced with knee-jerk predictability. Sony's also adding a touch-screen option to the Vaio T 14 that's already on sale.

Yes, having touch on a Windows 8 laptop is better than not having touch, but it's hard to get excited at all about its presence … Read more

There are times when you just need a light diversion that isn't too time intensive. Flow Free is a game that fits that need very well, but unless you pay, you'll have to put up with some advertising.

The well-designed interface is sleek and attractive. The object of Flow Free is simple and so are the controls. Your goal is to connect matching dots of color with a line, or pipe. The trick is that the pipes can't cross and you have to fill up the screen. There's enough strategy to make it interesting, but not … Read more

As smartphones become tiny laptops, people store more and more important files on them. However, smartphone memory can still fail, so it's vital that you back up your gadget to save those files. MyPhoneExplorer Client is full of features to help you do that, but there are too many strings attached.

Before you can even start using MyPhoneExplorer Client, you have to download a desktop companion. When you do, the program will try to install some very nasty spam software with it. When you finally go through a painful setup process, you will be greeted by an app that … Read more

Cinema 4D for Mac is a complex 3D graphics app for Mac OS X. With prices ranging up to $1,000 for a license, this is not a lightweight app decision. It also requires considerable hardware resources to function.

Designed to allow your MacBook or iMac to become a 3D animation studio, Cinema 4D for Mac is a full-featured software package that looks and works like a dedicated animation hardware platform. Learning Cinema 4D for Mac takes a fair bit of time; it may take weeks to become conversant in the software and use the incredible power it has underneath … Read more