PCs

HP: WebOS licenses in the works

On the eve of the launch of its TouchPad, Hewlett-Packard is signaling that it's ready to stir things up in the mobile-OS business.

Today, CEO Leo Apotheker told Bloomberg that HP has had discussions about licensing WebOS.

"We are talking to a number of companies," Apotheker said. "I can share with you that a number of companies have expressed interest. We are continuing our conversations."

Bloomberg says it's heard from unidentified sources that Samsung is one of those companies, but a Samsung spokesman denied that. HP did not elaborate on who potential partners could be.

HP has revamped the WebOS operating system it bought with Palm almost exactly a year ago and made it ready for tablets. Apotheker's comments today expand on earlier statements that he would entertain the idea of licensing WebOS to other players in the mobile-devices business. … Read more

HP shuffles top-ranking executives

Hewlett-Packard just announced some big changes to its executive team.

Ann Livermore is stepping down from running HP's Enterprise Business unit, and will join the company's board of directors, the company said in a statement. Her new seat will be added to the board and will not replace any current member's.

Until HP names a replacement, Livermore will serve as interim head of Enterprise Services.

HP also said it is eliminating the position of chief administrative officer. The man who currently holds that position, Pete Bocian, is leaving immediately, reportedly for a job in investment banking.

Chief … Read more

Sinofsky shows off Windows 8 at D9

Microsoft gave an early demonstration of the new look and capability of the next generation of Windows today at the D9 conference.

President of Windows Steven Sinofsky also gave an early preview even before he took the stage in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., to his conference hosts at the All Things D blog. For now it's called Windows 8, but Sinofsky says that's just a code name.

"We tried with Windows 8 to re-imagine how you work with a PC," Sinofsky said on stage during an interview with D9 host Walt Mossberg.

The first noticeable change … Read more

HP CEO: We might license WebOS

During an interview at the D9 conference today, Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker dropped a mini-bombshell: HP would consider licensing its mobile operating system, WebOS, to other hardware makers.

In response to a question from the audience at the tech conference about potentially licensing the OS, Apotheker replied:

I happen to believe that WebOS is a uniquely outstanding operating system. It's not correct to believe that it should only be on HP devices. There are all kinds of other people who want to make whatever kind of hardware they make and would like to connect them to the Internet. We'… Read more

More HP notebook batteries recalled

Hewlett-Packard is adding to the list of notebook battery models that pose a safety hazard, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

HP has voluntarily recalled an additional 162,600 lithium ion batteries used in some HP and Compaq notebooks sold between July 2007 and July 2008. The batches of batteries included with 31 models of its notebooks can "overheat and rupture, posing fire and burn hazards," according to the CPSC.

The latest round of batteries being recalled is in addition to the 70,000 recalled in May 2009 and 54,000 in May 2010, all for the … Read more

How the defunct Dell Adamo led to the new XPS 15Z

Just more than two years ago, Dell introduced one of its most unlikely products ever. The Adamo laptop was stylish, it was expensive, and it wasn't around that long. The product was killed less than two years after its very splashy debut.

On Tuesday, Dell is set to announce the XPS 15Z, a $999 laptop that is in many ways a descendant of the Adamo. While the XPS 15Z lacks the same daring design and sleek profile, it's much more in line with what people have come to expect from Dell nowadays: some thoughtful style, decent quality, but … Read more

Yes, tablets are hurting PC sales...kind of

Selling PCs isn't the business it used to be.

HP said yesterday that revenue from consumer notebook and desktop sales dropped 23 percent in the last quarter, Dell reported yesterday its sales of computers to consumers dipped 7 percent, and Acer's shipments dove 16 percent percent. Meanwhile, tablets, specifically the iPad, are flying off shelves. Gartner is predicting Apple will sell 47 million iPads this year, out of 70 million tablets worldwide, and that the overall number of tablets will grow to 108 million next year.

Taken together it's easy to conclude that the relatively new tablets are cannibalizing PC sales in the consumer market. And they are, but not in a way you might expect. A recent study from Forrester showed that people who buy a tablet are more likely to have purchased a computer in the last two years. Forty-four percent of them had bought a PC in the previous year, 28 percent in the previous two years.

The more accurate conclusion is that tablets are establishing themselves as a replacement for a second or third computer. Consider the tablet the replacement for that computer people would like to have but could do without. … Read more

Rumor: Android 3.0 ThinkPad tablet by summer?

According to a Lenovo internal presentation sent to the blog This Is My Next over the weekend, the world's fourth-largest PC maker is planning to jump on the touch-screen tablet bandwagon by this summer.

Here's what the document says: The tablet will be powered by Android 3.0, otherwise known as Honeycomb, will come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage size options, weigh 1.6 pounds, and have a 10.1-inch IPS (in-plane switching) touch screen. The processor is an Nvidia Tegra 2, there are two cameras--front and back--and it'll be 0.55 inches thick.

There are … Read more

The 'post-PC era' might be closer than we think

Whether you agree with the phrasing or not, Steve Jobs' assertion that we're in the "post-PC era" might not be far from the truth.

The data on the latest PC market share for the first quarter of 2011 is out today and it is not good for the sector. PC shipments were down year-over-year for the first time in almost two years. In other words, the bounce back that PC makers saw after the recession? It's officially over.

IDC says global PC shipments shrank 3.2 percent from a year ago, worse than the already meager … Read more