HP

IDC analyst slams Windows 8 device pricing

An IDC analyst doesn't like what he's seeing so far from PC makers and their pricing for Windows 8 products.

Lenovo and Acer this week began disclosing pricing for tablets and convertibles that range between $499 (Acer) and $1,099 (Lenovo). Bob O'Donnell, program vice president of clients and displays at IDC, doesn't think this kind of traditional PC pricing bodes well for the sales of newfangled hybrid devices.

"The problem is these things are priced way too high. Look at the history of tablet products priced above the iPad. Not pretty," he said … Read more

PCs showing 'severe slump' as HP slips to No. 2

It's even uglier than thought in the PC market, new data today shows.

IDC says the global computer market "withdrew sharply" in the third quarter, with shipments falling 8.6 percent from the prior year. The tech research firm had expected a decline of just 3.8 percent -- what it called a relatively quiet quarter as companies prepare for the upcoming Windows 8 launch.

Rival Gartner, meanwhile, said shipments slid 8.3 percent to 87.5 million units, worse than its expectation for a 6.5 percent decline.

Both firms noted that back-to-school promotions weren't … Read more

Tech giants to talk patent reform at the U.N.

Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants are meeting in Switzerland today to discuss patent litigation reform, seeking to find ways to protect their intellectual property without hurting innovation.

The roundtable, hosted by the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union in its Geneva headquarters, will cover topics such as "potential improvements to existing policy frameworks, entitlement to injunctive reliefs, and definitions of what constitutes a royalty base."

The group hopes to find out how standard essential patents can be enforced without hindering competition and how to make sure licenses can be offered at reasonable terms.

"We are … Read more

HP sees no silver bullets for fiscal 2013

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman made her case for the company in an analyst powwow, but the underlying message is that the IT giant has been rattled by executive turnover and it'll take time to right HP's struggling units and balance sheet.

Meanwhile, HP's outlook for fiscal 2013 will fall short. CFO Cathie Lesjak said the company expects non-GAAP earnings of $3.40 a share to $3.60 a share with revenue declines of 11 percent to 13 percent.

Wall Street was looking for fiscal 2013 earnings of $4.18 a share. HP is seeing weakness across the … Read more

HP aims for business users with ElitePad 900 Windows 8 tablet

Expect HP's ElitePad 900 tablet to join several other business-focused mobile devices over the next few months. Intel's mobile push, along with that of Microsoft and Windows 8, will ensure no shortage of similar products. Whether HP can differentiate its tablet is another question, but from what we've seen of the ElitePad 900, we can at least say that it's taking the challenge seriously.

In terms of hard specs, the ElitePad 900 offers a 10.1-inch, 1,280x800-pixel Gorilla Glass-coated display. HP says the tablet as a whole will weigh around 1.5 pounds, and comes … Read more

Open WebOS 1.0 arrives for those who dare to port

Call it the ghost of Palm past. Today the once-lauded WebOS, originally a smartphone operating system, lives on once again in the form of Open WebOS 1.0.

Issued by Hewlett-Packard (HP), the first open-source version of Open WebOS is now ready for developers and others in the open-source community to port Open WebOS to any number of devices.

In a demo video, HP Chief Architect Steve Winston shows how the operating system works on an HP desktop.

The full version of Open WebOS 1.0 follows a pair of beta releases made available earlier this year. While HP is … Read more

HP and smartphones: A necessary risk?

Hewlett-Packard is taking on a risky strategy to "aggressively attack" the smartphone and tablet market and risks damaging its balance sheet, said Jefferies analyst Peter Misek.

The larger question is whether HP can afford to stay out of the mobile fray in the name of profit margins.

In a research note, Misek said "we believe HP will aggressively attack the smartphone and tablet markets, which we believe are risky investments."

He continued:

After failing with its acquisition of Palm and subsequent goodwill and inventory write-offs totaling $3.3B, recent comments from HP management point to … Read more

Intel and partners may be late to the tablet party, but they're here

Intel and its hardware partners will launch a broad attack on the tablet market today.

Standing alongside Intel at an event in San Francisco are executives from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE. Those companies are showcasing new Windows 8 tablets and convertible devices.

Many, if not most, of the devices have already been unveiled, such as HP's Envy x2, Dell's Latitude 10, and Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2.

All of the devices feature Intel's dual-core Z2760 "Clover Trail" (PDF) Atom Processor, a power-efficient system-on-a-chip that allows partners to build tablets as thin as … Read more

Intel touts inexpensive ultrabooks

Ultrabooks aren't expensive. That's Intel's mantra these days. So, is the chipmaker right?

"Ultrabook Prices Hit Sub-$750 As Holidays Loom", Intel said in a post today. And, when queried, the chipmaker produced a fairly extensive list of sub-$700 laptops.

Select sub-$700 ultrabooks, as cited by Intel:

$699.99 Inspiron 14z ultrabook (14-inch) $699.99 Lenovo IdeaPad ultrabook (13-inch) $599.99 Lenovo IdeaPad U310 (13-inch) $663.20 Lenovo IdeaPad U310 (13-inch) $679.99 Acer Aspire ultrabook (14-inch) $679.99 HP Envy ultrabook (14-inch)

So, what pushes these models into sub-$700 territory?

Many … Read more