Say, Google, save Chromebook from Intel while you still can
PC manufacturers' priorities baffle me. For years I bitched about OEMs shipping laptops with low-resolution screens -- even Apple. Sony is, or was, the exception but offering the feature for a price premium. My first 13.3-inch notebook with HD resolution (1600 by 900) was a VAIO. In 2006! Apple only followed the Japanese company six years later. The screen is the gateway to your computer, so why do so many OEMs ship cheap displays? For Macs and many Windows PCs, panels are brighter, if not higher-res, today. But not Chromebooks, even as prices push against the $299 threshold and pop above it.
Yesterday's Intel-Google event was an eye opener, or perhaps eye-strainer for anyone looking for Chromebooks with better screens. During the Q&A, PC execs dodged a couple questions about the displays, the majority of which are 1366 x 768 resolution and dim 200-nit brightness. Resolution matters less when panels are bright and deliver consistent color and contrast from wide viewing angles. Chromebooks consistently ship with the best keyboards on any laptop for any price, and the trackpads are exceptional, too. The displays suck. Only two models are good enough. Most newer models change nothing.
HP invests over $1 billion in new open source cloud products
As businesses shift more of their operations to the cloud so the demand for reliable, scalable services and platforms increases.
To address these needs HP is launching a new portfolio of cloud products and services called HP Helion. This incorporates existing HP cloud offerings with new OpenStack technology-based products, professional and support services in a single portfolio to help meet customers' specific business needs.
HP Omni 10: A good-value Windows 8.1 tablet [Review]
So far HP’s approach to tablets has been pretty clear cut, choosing Android for its low-cost 7-inch to 10.1-inch tablets, and Windows for its more premium-priced 11.6-inch and 13-inch convertibles. With the Omni 10, however, the company is really shaking things up. First, it’s a 10.1-inch tablet at the kind of price point where you used to find Android models only. Second, it’s running full-fat Windows 8.1, not Windows RT, with a quad-core Bay Trail processor and a full HD screen.
It’s as if HP has realized what other Windows 8 tablet manufacturers have struggled to come to terms with: That it’s not enough to produce a tablet with low-end specs and high-end pricing, and expect that people will buy it just for the chance to run Windows and use Office. You need to produce something that competes with its Android rivals on every level, including the screen, the performance and the price.
Apple makes MacBook Air less appealing
The significance of today's MacBook Air refresh: What is and what isn't. I focus specifically on the smaller model. What is: Slight processor refresh, but lower entry price -- $899 for the masses and $849 for education, both 100 bucks less than yesterday. What isn't: Retina Display screen resolution.
From the perspective of physical size, screen dimension (11.6-inches), resolution (1366 x 768), Intel processor, and core benefits, the lower pricing brings MacBook Air closer to Chromebook, particularly for school purchasers. Both computers compete for educational buyers, and Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung all target the market with compelling Chromebooks. As differences diminish and price gaps lessen, the Apple becomes less appealing by comparison. Stated another way: New pricing shines fresh spotlight on MBA, which similarities to lower-cost Chromebooks are greater for school year 2014-15.
Hello, Chromebook!
Today Mihaita Bamburic bids "Goodbye, Windows XP!" Meanwhile, Wayne Williams walks down eXPerience memory lane. For good reason: This week, Microsoft pulls the life support plug -- following many, many, many delays. Henceforth, you use XP at your own risk, or forcibly march forward into the second decade of the 21st Century. You could follow Microsoft to Windows 8.1, or be truly courageous. Mac or Linux laptop are options, or you could go Chromebook. Yeah, you read right.
Here in the United States, Best Buy will trade in your XP clunker and give "minimum of $100 toward the purchase of a new Windows computer, Apple computer or Chromebook". The offer ends April 19, so hurry. The cash back will practically pay for a new Chromebook, which costs so little and does so much -- surely more than your XP wheezer. Someone from the Windows division once told me that O2, as in Oxygen, was one of the runner-up names for XP. How fitting. Your old machine has been living off oxygen for far too long. Pull the plug. I'll give you some reasons why Chromebook.
HP launches NFC authentication for enterprise printing
The increased use of mobile devices in the workplace leads to a number of issues. Not least of which is establishing control over shared resources like printers.
To address this HP has launched its first touch-to-authenticate solution for enterprise customers using NFC enabled smartphones or tablets.
Worldwide server shipments up in 2013 but revenues in decline
According to new research by Gartner worldwide server shipments were up 2.1 percent in 2013 whilst revenues declined by 4.5 percent.
Most of this shipment growth has taken place in the Asia/Pacific and Japan regions whilst the North American market has remained relatively flat. Vendor revenue declined everywhere except the Asia/Pacific region where it grew by just 0.6 percent.
HP donates $250,000 to women studying IT Security
Any job a man can do, so can a woman. Sure, there are physical differences between the sexes, but that does not have to impede success. One industry that has primarily been a men's club is IT. Historically, being a computer nerd has been a guy thing. However, over the years, women have been embracing video games, computers and comic book conventions. An explanation of why could be due to an increased acceptance of nerd and geek activity in the media. TV shows like Big Bang Theory make it cool to be what was once deemed uncool.
Unfortunately, there is currently a shortage in the IT security sector. This is particularly troubling as there have been many breaches lately, most notably Target. With a need to fill vacant positions, HP wisely looks to women -- a group that is underrepresented in the field. The company announces that it is donating a quarter of a million dollars to a scholarship for women studying IT Security.
HP boosts its mobile business device portfolio with ElitePad 1000 G2 and ProPad 600
There have been a lot of interesting announcements made at MWC this year, and HP is one of several companies making it clear that business users have not been forgotten. The new HP ProPad 600 has been unveiled alongside an upgraded HP ElitePad 1000 G2, and both have been designed with mobile computing in mind.
Both tablets run Windows 8.1 and the ElitePad 1000 G2 picks up where the HP ElitePad 900 G1 left off. The hardware is impressive enough, but there is a strong focus on battery life and portability.
Is it a notebook? Is it a tablet? HP announces its new convertible PC
If you can never decide whether to take the notebook or the tablet with you when you go out, HP may have the machine for you.
Its new Pavilion x360 is a convertible PC with a 360-degree hinge so you can use it as a conventional notebook, a tablet, or in what the company calls "tent mode". Sadly this means only that you can stand it up on a table not actually go camping under it.
HP unveils the best looking Chromebox yet
A couple days ago, Asus unveiled its Chromebox. At the time, I called it sexy. While it is still attractive, it has already been upstaged.
Yes, today, Hewlett Packard releases a sexier, rounder device that arguably makes Acer's look plain and tired. Sadly, price and full specs are not yet known.
Intel unveils new solutions for education
Intel has used the Bett 2014 educational technology show in London to announce reference designs for the next generation of devices aimed at the education sector.
The Intel Education Tablet and Classmate PC feature student-friendly features along with Intel’s Education Software suite of learning tools.
HP Chromebook 11 returns to Google Play, Best Buy gets LTE version
If you aren't familiar with the saga, the HP Chromebook 11 was greeted with much fanfare, only to be pulled from the Google Play store thanks to an overheating charger. This charger saga garnered more attention than actual incidents.
Google announced a new charger to replace the faulty model, rolling out free replacements to those who purchased the little laptop. Now, with a new charger firmly in place, the Android maker has returned the device to its Play Store.
Lenovo takes the lead in (still) shrinking PC market
For most of the last year it seems that we've been reporting the decline of the PC market. At the beginning of December we even had IDC saying that shipments had seen their greatest decline ever.
No surprise then that on the figures for the final quarter of 2013 both IDC and Gartner are saying that shipments have declined again. The good news though is that there are signs of the decline bottoming out.
HP puts Android on the business desktop
All-in-one PCs are popular in the office and in customer-facing environments because they’re stylish and take up less space than conventional models.
HP has been an active player in this field for a while and has now updated its range of all-in-one (AiO) models with four new systems including -- for the first time -- one that runs Android.
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