Articles about Dell

Peanut butter and jelly. Fish and chips. Salt and pepper. Dell and Microsoft. These are all things that go great together. Sure, Dell has strayed a bit, offering things like laptops with Ubuntu and tablets with Android. However, Windows has been and will likely continue to be the manufacturer's bread and butter.

In the technology world, Dell and Microsoft are "BFF" -- best friends forever. If the companies were teen girls, they'd be braiding each other's hair and gossiping about boys. Today, Dell and Microsoft have signed a monumental patent agreement -- tantamount to BFF's exchanging friendship bracelets.

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It used to be that if you were a gamer, you needed to run Windows or buy a console. For the most part, that is still true -- Windows is the king of PC gaming. However, gaming on OS X and Linux has made incredible progress. One of the biggest game-changers for Linux gaming has been Valve's SteamOS. This is a specialized Linux distribution that focuses on game playing and management.

While Valve deserves the appreciation of the Linux community, it is never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. The old saying is that absolute power corrupts absolutely. With that said, the future of Linux gaming cannot be trusted with Valve alone -- nothing against the company, of course. Today, Dell's Alienware division announces a partnership with game-developer Crytek to further the progress of Linux-gaming.

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Google's Chromebooks are becoming synonymous with education. Schools are embracing them for the low cost and ease of use. It's hard to argue with that, but I am dubious that it is the best choice for students.

A Windows PC is still the best option for readying a student for the world of business. Outlook, Excel, Access -- these are the programs that a future successful person will learn. Today, Dell announces a new laptop that is focused on education and gives Chromebook a run for its money -- the Latitude 13 Education Series.

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It's often the case that the weakest link in any system's security is the person sitting in front of the screen.

As companies recognize this they're tending to invest more in training so that they can avoid threats rather than have to clean up after them. In a recent worldwide survey by Dell, 67 percent of security decision makers say they have increased funds for education.

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When people think of Dell, they usually associate the company with cheap Windows computers and the "dude, you're getting a Dell" guy, Ben Curtis. However, the company is also in the services business, which, as PC sales continue to decline, is increasingly important.

Lufthansa is the largest airline in Europe, so who it selects to work with is important. After all, simply being associated with the largest airline is a great boon to a company's reputation. Today, Dell announces that it is the recipient of a 5-year service contract with the airline.

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PC and server specialist Dell is launching a new mobile cloud access device that delivers a full HD user experience on any HDMI or MHL enabled display.

The company claims that Dell Wyse Cloud Connect is a completely new end-user device category, bridging thin clients and mobile devices to promote BYOD.

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When standard definition TV was being replaced by HDTV, there were rumblings that it wasn't needed. After all, SDTV is "good enough". Good enough. Two words, that when combined, are extremely dangerous. For a company or industry to rest on its laurels can be disastrous. Anybody who declares something to be "good enough", is standing in the way of innovation and should probably step down if they are in a position of power. Today, it feels like almost every home in the USA has at least one HDTV. When these widescreen TVs were released, people complained that their precious I Love Lucy episodes would have black bars on the side -- god forbid. As time progressed, of course this new wide-screen high-definition format was embraced, Lucille Ball be damned.

Now, the 4K UltraHD revolution is afoot and the same rumblings of "good enough" are being regurgitated. While this new format is less dramatic than the jump from SDTV to HDTV, it makes 4K no less amazing. No, 1080p is not good enough -- we need to keep pushing the envelope. Luckily, Dell is on the forefront of these displays and delivers the amazing, yet expensive, UP3214Q. But is it worth the money?

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I'm not big on making year-ahead predictions -- common as the stories are at the turn of the year. But it's a slow news week, with the holiday and Consumer Electronics Show still ahead, so I thought: "Why not look into the crystal ball?"

If any of these come to be, something is seriously wrong with the space-time continuum.

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Things are starting to get festive, and that means there's also a lot going on. This past week has been quite a busy one! It might not come as a surprise, but the figures are in -- Windows 8.1 is not performing anywhere near as well as Windows 7 in terms of sales. Part of the reason for the slower adoption could be the Start screen and the absence of the Start menu. There has been some debate here at BetaNews about the possibility that the Start menu could make a return. Brian is very much opposed to the idea, I think it's probably a good idea, particularly for business users, while Wayne showed us how to get the Start menu back right now.

The backlash against NSA surveillance continues, and now Microsoft, Apple, Google and a number of other big names have joined forces and written to President Obama asking for reform. Joe was not impressed. To help protect user accounts, Microsoft beefed up security.

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Microsoft has been busy attacking the Chromebook recently, trotting out spokesman Ben Rudolph to handpick "people on the street" to tell him why the Google-branded laptop wouldn't work for them, and hiring Pawn Stars to call the notebook "a brick". The problem for Microsoft is this -- many of its biggest OEM partners, including HP and Acer, are producing hardware running the rival operating system.

Now Dell is the latest hardware maker, generally associated with Windows, to experiment with alternatives. No, Dell isn't abandoning Windows, just cheating on it with Chrome OS. The Texas-based company has strayed before, producing Android tablets, but this is its first flirtation with a Chromebook.

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My first computer came with a 13-inch CRT monitor. It was enormous, heavy, and flickered -- probably the reason I wear glasses today. When flat-screen LCD monitors started becoming affordable, I bought one post haste. However, It was only this year that I achieved a 1080p display; the awesome 27-inch AOC e2752She. While I thought I was on the cutting-edge of technology, apparently, I am not.

Today, Dell announces the availability of two new 4K monitors. If you aren't familiar with 4K, it is considered Ultra HD or 3840 x 2160 resolution. In other words, it has four times the pixels as a 1080p display. Yeah, it's that good.

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Every year in the United States, on the fourth Thursday of November, we gather with our families for Thanksgiving -- a holiday for, of course, giving thanks. Typically, we share a meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and various other side dishes. The men watch Football while the women and children watch the parade. It is surely a wonderful day that evokes positive emotion.

Then, at midnight, Black Friday begins and we throw all of that out the window. Consumers, still woozy from tryptophan, line up at stores to buy mass-produced products. Only hours removed from giving thanks, they trample their fellow man in a mad-dash to save a few dollars. Sadly, people actually die as a result. With that said, here are the top 10 most wanted Black Friday products.

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In what could very well be the funniest and most bizarre news of the week, a large number of Latitude 6430u owners have complained on Dell's Community forums that their shiny new business-grade ultrabooks smell like cat piss. As far as I know, the US company has not announced a new, peculiar scent that would differentiate the ultrabook from its competitors.

The lengthy thread, that dates back to mid-June 2013, is filled with posts from Dell customers complaining about the unusual smell. As you can imagine, this has lead to some embarrassing moments. One of the users has taken it so far as to allegedly kill his cat, after assuming the animal was to blame for the problem. Others have been less extreme in their actions, with most owners focusing on highlighting the issue and asking for a solution.

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Fresh from investor approval of a buyout by its founder, Dell has announced a new family of tablets and an updated range of XPS laptops. The Venue tablet range comprises four ultra thin models designed to deliver class-leading performance and quality with compact designs to help people stay in touch whilst on the move.

The Dell Venue tablets are available in Windows and Android versions. The lightweight Dell Venue 8 Pro runs Windows 8.1, has a bright HD IPS display, advanced connectivity options and provides long battery life. Office 2013 Home & Student is included with the device and there's the option of Dell Active Stylus.

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A special committee of the Dell board has reached an agreement with the company’s founder Michael Dell over a buyout of the company.

Under the agreed terms Mr Dell, in partnership with the investment firm Silver Lake, will buy back the company he founded in 1984 for $13.75 a share plus a special one-off dividend of 13 cents per share. This is in addition to a guaranteed third quarter dividend of 8 cents per share. The deal which values the company at $24.5 billion will be put to a special shareholder meeting on September 12.

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