HP brings touch to the mass market with new laptops and desktops
Hewlett-Packard is launching a series of new products today, including some long-awaited touchscreen laptop computers.
The highlight of today’s 10 product introductions are laptops with multi-touch touchscreens that work with Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system.
“We introduced our first touch screens in 1983 and now we’re on our third generation of TouchSmart models,” said John Cook, (right) vice president of desktop marketing in HP’s Personal Systems Group. “Touch may very well be the best way to… Continue Reading
HP funds 60 researchers at 46 universities
Even as it cuts back on expenses, Hewlett-Packard continues to partner with universities on basic research. Today, the company said it has decided to offer grants to 60 research projects underway at 46 universities in 12 countries.
The funding from HP’s Innovation Research Program is aimed at jump starting graduate student projects among the most brilliant researchers HP can find, said Rich Friedrich, director of the HP Open Innovation Office with HP Labs. Each grant is… Continue Reading
HP hits targets but warns of tough quarters ahead
Hurt just a little by the downturn, Hewlett Packard hit its expected financial targets as its reported net income fell 17 percent to $1.7 billion for the second fiscal quarter ended April 30.
Revenues for the world’s largest tech company were $27.4 billion, down 3 percent from $28.1 billion a year ago. (Adjusted for currency fluctuations, revenues were up 3 percent).
Since HP’s sales didn’t crater, it’s likely that it gained market share in the recession. The… Continue Reading
Xerox launches solid-ink printing in bid to shake up copier/printer market
Xerox is launching a new version of its high-end multifunction copiers that use solid blocks of ink — a cheaper and greener printing solution than ink toner.
The new ColorQube 9200 multifunction copiers are different in that they melt solid blocks of ink that don’t have to be housed in costly and wasteful cartridges. Xerox claims the machines cut printing costs by 62 percent and eliminate 90 percent of the waste of similar copiers.
These $23,500 machines… Continue Reading
Roundup: Wright sticks with Spore, Zango folds, Texas gives solar a boost and more
Wright still on board with Spore — Despite his departure from Electronic Arts, the Sims creator says he will still pitch in on Spore’s sequels.
Game runs apocalypse drills — A report on crisis response has been released based on the game Superstruct, a program that crowdsources people’s reactions to disaster scenarios. CNet has more.
Cybersecurity no easy fix — A study conducted on cybersecurity for president Barack Obama suggests that U.S. networks are vulnerable to external threats, but that… Continue Reading
Roundup: Ashton vs. CNN, the NY Times vs. Sarah Lacy, Dell vs. HP and more
Here’s the latest action:
Expectations run high for Apple earnings — Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey estimates the iPhone maker’s take at $8 billion for the second quarter, up 6 percent from last year.
Twitter topped 9 million visitors in March — The micro-blogging site saw a 131 percent spike in traffic, largely driven by older users. comScore has the scoop.
CNN and Ashton Kutcher neck and neck in Twitter race — The sprint to 1 million followers is heating up,… Continue Reading
HP Labs reports on its restructuring and open initiatives
A year ago, Hewlett-Packard revamped its approach to fundamental research with a restructuring at HP Labs. The population of the labs’ research team had been declining for years, so new director Prith Banerjee decided to refocus the team from hundreds of projects to just 20 or 30.
A year later, Banerjee said the team is much more focused on just 23 major projects now and 40 smaller ones, has eight areas of focus for its 500… Continue Reading
Roundup: Yelp allegedly extorts, Twitter embraces its origins, Tesla CMO defects and more
Here’s the latest action:
The downturn finally hits HP — The company announced a 10 percent drop in earnings yesterday and plans to cut salaries. CNet has more.
Yelp accused of extortion, again — Local business owners report that the trendy review site offers to hide negative critiques in exchange for cash. And it’s not the first time Yelp has been called out for this.
TechCrunch reviews 2008 — Erick Schonfeld offers up insightful snapshots of last year’s startup, venture and… Continue Reading
HP unleashes a series of new low-cost computers at CES
Hewlett-Packard is launching a bevy of new products today that show it is designing its products to take into account the lighter pocketbooks and energy usage concerns of consumers.
These products being unveiled this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas reflect a more focused HP.
The company isn’t throwing spaghetti at the wall anymore. It quietly pulled out of the TV market in 2008, but is staying in markets such as digital photo… Continue Reading
Watch out, Apple: HP has discovered multi-touch technology for its notebook PCs
Apple has enjoyed a good run as the innovator with multi-touch displays on its iPhones. But multi-touch is a fundamental technology that any computer maker can use. And we can expect that there will be a lot more of it to come.
Hewlett-Packard is announcing today a convertible notebook PC with multi-touch technology for consumers. The new laptop builds on the touch-screens that HP included in its TouchSmart desktop PCs. Now the HP TouchSmart tx2 goes… Continue Reading
HP folding Voodoo PC business unit into larger division or visa versa?
Hewlett-Packard is reorganizing its PC division so that Voodoo PC gaming computers will no longer be stand-alone products — one more sign of the relentless focus at HP to focus on cost-cutting.
Voodoo is a tiny part of the overall HP PC business. It sells high-end gaming systems in hand-painted cases that can go for $10,000. While the sales are small, Voodoo represents an ultra-cool brand favored by hardcore gamers who have considerable influence on other… Continue Reading
Austin game event: Sun Microsystems tailors its services for online games
Sun Microsystems is at the Austin Game Developers Conference this week, pitching developers on its latest R&D effort, Project Darkstar – an open-source server platform for massively multiplayer online games, social networks and virtual worlds.
This isn’t the first time a company has created a platform that developers can use to create MMOs and virtual worlds; in fact, it’s a market that might be described as having more lions than gazelles. IBM is among those promoting… Continue Reading
HP cutting 24,600 jobs over three years as it merges EDS operations
Hewlett-Packard is cutting 24,600 jobs, or 7.5 percent of its work force, over the next three years. The victims are part of the effort to integrate the operations of newly acquired computer services company EDS into HP. Nearly half of the cuts are in the U.S., but the company plans to replace half of those positions to better address worldwide markets.
HP said the restructuring will result in $1.8 billion annual savings. Mark Hurd, chief executive… Continue Reading
Data Robotics raises $15 million for Drobo backup storage business
Data Robotics has raised $15 million in a fourth round of funding for its consumer-focused Drobo backup storage business.
The Santa Clara, Calif., company makes “data robots,” or external backup storage units that make it easy to back up data on a computer or a network of computers. The lead investor is Greylock Partners. Other participants include new investor New Enterprise Associates, as well as existing investors RRE Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures. To date, the… Continue Reading
Roundup: TV news still main source for some, HP has strong quarter, free subway tickets? and more
Here’s the latest action:
Study: Educated older people still get most of their news from television — The “educated” demographic, 23 percent of the U.S. population, also gets news online, according to a buzzword-laden report by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. This demographic is called “Integrators,” according to the language of Pew, and is somewhat similar in behavior to the younger, smaller group of online-focused readers it calls “Net-Newsers.”
Hewlett-Packard had a strong… Continue Reading
Dell launches series of new business laptops with up to 19 hours of battery life
Dell could really use a comeback. It has lost its luster in computing to the likes of Apple and Hewlett-Packard. So it struck back today with 10 new laptops, most of them new versions of its Latitude business laptops with as many as 19 hours of battery life. (OK, more like 10 hours of battery life; see below.)
The new computers use Intel’s new Centrino 2 chip sets which introduce built-in WiMax, a high-speed wireless networking… Continue Reading
Don’t expect to see many PC games at upcoming E3 game show
As the video game industry gears up for its annual E3 conference in July, the reality is setting in that the one-time entertainment extravaganza has become narrowly focused on console games, with very little room for PC games.
Even Microsoft and Intel, the champions of the PC, have conceded that point. Intel isn’t holding any press conferences or functions at the show. And Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Windows gaming at Microsoft, said his team… Continue Reading
HP takes a swing at Apple’s MacBook Air with new Voodoo Envy laptop
Hewlett-Packard’s VoodooPC division will launch a new Voodoo Envy 133 laptop computer for luxury consumers. And the design looks like it will go head to head with Apple’s MacBook Air.
Like the MacBook Air, the new version of the Envy line is razor thin — only 0.7 inches thick and weighs 3.4 pounds. (A MacBook Air is 0.76 inches thick at its widest and weighs 3.0 pounds).
The Envy also has a large 13.3-inch screen and has… Continue Reading
HP launches 50-plus consumer products in Berlin, including a reality show with MTV
Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group is launching 50-plus products today in Berlin as it readies its summer and back-to-school line-up for consumers.
The company is launching the products in Berlin because more than half of its $40 billion in annual Personal Systems Group sales are overseas, says John Cook, vice president of consumer marketing at HP.
Cook says the line-up pays attention to design, meaningful innovation, and relentless execution. The attention to the details of design is there,… Continue Reading
HP introduces a stunning billion-color display
Most high-quality computer displays have about 16.7 million colors. But that’s not good enough for the color experts at places such as animation studios. For artists who have to compare work across long distances, getting the colors exactly right is both difficult and critical.
Hewlett-Packard is introducing a billion-color display today for those artists. That’s 64 times the number of colors you normally see.
The stunning DreamColor LP2840xz display is a result of collaboration with HP’s longtime… Continue Reading