Will Windows 7 reboot PC sales?

Dell Computer shares surged after the company beat earnings expectations for the second quarter. The next day, chip giant Intel gave the sector another lift by raising its forecast for PC processor sales. Hopes are building among investors that the industry will see a revival in growth as Microsoft unveils its new operating system, Windows 7, on Oct. 22 to replace its troubled Windows Vista. "I think the uplift is going to be significant," said Brian Blair, an analyst with equity research firm Wedge Partners.

The question is how significant. Before Vista, a new Windows release could set off a corporate and consumer buying binge--not only for PCs, but also printers, mice, and software. Some analysts have pointed out that the Windows pop this time could be especially pronounced, since many people never bothered to buy Vista and some 600 million PCs are running the nine-year-old Windows XP.

But, the tech bulls may be disappointed. Given the weak economy, PC unit sales are expected to rise 6.9 percent worldwide in the fourth quarter, according to research firm IDC. That would be the first quarter-over-quarter increase this year, but far short of the boost from releases such as Windows 95.

"A lot of people are going to have to rethink their assumptions," said IDC analyst David Daoud. The firm expects PC sales to rise 6.1 percent in 2010.

Microsoft declined to comment for this story. But, even the software giant has tried to tamp down expectations for the new operating system. "[The impact is] likely to be elongated over a couple of years, to be honest," Bill Koefoed, the company's investor relations chief, told shareholders in August.

That is not a reflection on Windows 7 itself. In preliminary testing the software has earned largely positive reviews, despite a few complications with installation. Besides delivering bootup speeds and reliability that Vista did not, Windows 7 will help PCs work better with high-speed networks, a key step as companies use more software programs online. Consumers will also be able to more easily view and share even high-definition content, whether it os a TV show on Hulu.com or a home video.

"Windows 7 will put the pizzazz back into PCs," said Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of graphics chipmaker Nvidia.

The economy is the primary reason for the holdup in near-term PC sales. While some companies are boosting their capital spending, most will make do with their existing computers for now. Kris Kutchera, vice-president for information technology at Alaska Airlines, said she will wait as long as possible to upgrade, maybe until 2012. "There's not a huge value for us to move [to Windows 7]," she said .

Red Hat hypervisor tools to run on Windows only

Paul Cormier, Red Hat's president of products and technologies, told ZDNet Asia's sister site, ZDNet UK at a press conference last week that the hypervisor management software for desktops and servers, which is due out before the end of the year, will be available only for systems running Microsoft's proprietary operating system.

Cormier said he had spent a long time reaching the decision.

"I agonized over this as I thought I would have engineers at my door with pitchforks," said Cormier on Wednesday, who added that the decision was based on customer feedback and demand. "The management tools will run on Windows out of the gate."

On Wednesday the company launched Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4. This update bundled in Red Hat's kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) hypervisor, which allows multiple virtual operating systems to run on a host machine or system.

Red Hat has not said exactly when the tools will be available, saying only that customers will be able to get hold of them before the end of the year. The management software will be part of the first wave of products released within the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization strategy.

Mark Taylor, chief executive of U.K. open-source firm Sirius Corporation, which offers Red Hat support to businesses, said on Monday that the Red Hat decision was "weird, but understandable".

"[The decision] is understandable because in the real market the majority of desktops are running on Windows--it has a huge install base," said Taylor. "It's weird as the company normally takes the GPL [GNU Public License] approach. The decision is pragmatic, but it does seem a retrograde step in dealing with interoperability."

Red Hat has traditionally championed interoperability, and on Wednesday last week it criticised Microsoft, saying the company is attempting to lock customers into its Azure cloud-computing offering.

Cloud floats among India's large firms

Cloud computing is commonly perceived to benefit mostly small and medium businesses (SMBs), but a growing number of large Indian organizations including Shoppers Stop, Bharti, Ashok Leyland, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Infosys and Tata Elxsi, are turning to the cloud, too.

"CIO of large Indian companies are quite interested in cloud computing, where most of them are exploring how the cloud impacts their IT infrastructure," Aman Dokania, vice president and general manager of infrastructure software, Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific and Japan, told ZDNet Asia in a phone interview.

Andrew Knott, Asia-Pacific vice president of marketing, Salesforce.com, said in an e-mail that cloud computing is suitable for both large and small businesses. In India, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendor counts large business houses such as Tata and Bajaj Auto, as customers.

The platform offers a predictable, pay-as-you-go model for businesses to access computing resources. In an economic downturn, the appeal of this cost advantage is hugely magnified.

There are also other advantages besides costs, Knott said, such as easy access to applications from any computer or device, anytime and from anywhere. Cloud also enables seamless upgrades, where the provider manages all the updates and upgrades for multi-tenant cloud applications, and cuts deployment time, allowing companies to be up and running in days or weeks, instead of months or years.

Vikas Arora, group director of enterprise services at Microsoft India, said in an e-mail: "For large enterprises, lower total cost of ownership (TCO) is a means to achieve greater profits."

The software giant is in the process of launching its cloud offerings in India, and have signed up partners to trial products that have been launched worldwide, Arora said.

According to a recent report by Springboard, the Indian SaaS market was pegged at US$51.6 million (2.5 billion rupees) between 2008 and 2009, and is expected to reach US$100.4 million (4.9 billion rupees) by 2010.

Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 76 percent, this market is expected to touch US$248.5 million (12 billion rupees) by 2011, and cloud-based ERP and CRM applications are likely to see highest demand.

Chartered merger 'huge step' for Globalfoundries

Earlier this week, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing announced that they entered into a definitive agreement, in which ATIC would acquire Chartered for S$2.5 billion (US$1.75 billion). ATIC owns about two-thirds of Globalfoundries--the joint venture that the investment firm created with AMD.

The deal is subject to Singapore's High Court and Chartered's shareholders, but according to market analyst iSuppli, chances are good the deal will go through.

In a statement, iSuppli said Chartered and Globalfoundries earned a combined revenue of US$1.2 billion for the first half of 2009, which would propel it to No. 2 among pure-play foundry players. TSMC was the clear leader at US$3.3 billion.

iSuppli top foundry players by revenue
Globalfoundries revenue includes combined Chartered Semiconductor and Globalfoundries revenues for Q1 and Q2 2009 (Source: iSuppli)

The deal addresses a number of "glaring weaknesses" Globalfoundries has in service and its ability to produce in bulk, which the company had not been able to correct up till now. In particular, with the addition of Chartered, Globalfoundries would have two operational 300mm facilities and five 200mm ones.

Chartered: Date for shareholder meeting not fixed

The date for a meeting by Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing shareholders to vote on the sale of the company to Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) has not yet been set, according to a Chartered spokesperson.
The company, however, is targeting for the shareholders to congregate in November, she said in an e-mail.
According to a joint statement issued Sep. 7, ATIC and Chartered said that pending board approvals, Globalfoundries CEO Doug Grose would serve as chief executive of the combined operations. Chia Song Hwee, CEO of Chartered, would assume the role of chief operating officer and spearhead the integration effort.
The companies have just initiated the "integration planning process", the U.S.-based spokesperson added. Chartered has around 6,000 employees worldwide, with the "vast majority" based in Singapore. It has one 300mm facility and five 200mm fabs in the island-state.

"This acquisition provides Globalfoundries the ability to produce both bulk and Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology," Len Jelinek, iSuppli's director and chief analyst for semiconductor manufacturing, said in the statement. "Prior to this, Globalfoundries could only manufacture SOI. But even of larger significance is that prior to the acquisition, the company was stuck doing things the way their largest customer --AMD--wanted.

"Now, they pick up the infrastructure that Chartered had in place and that's a major boon for them," he added.

Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat, said in a research note the potential merger was a "huge step" for Globalfoundries. He pointed out that the deal would deliver the third of three critical factors defined by In-Stat as vital to the foundry's long-term success.

The first two--gaining a significant customer and breaking ground on new capacity--had already been achieved. The third, becoming a part of the Common Platform manufacturing alliance.

"Gaining Chartered gives the company formal entree to the Common Platform alliance, which it was already loosely linked to through its relationships with IBM," McGregor explained. "This does assume that the transaction doesn't nullify the alliance or any contractual obligations, but we do not believe that it will because it actually adds more value to the Common Platform as an alternative to TSMC, the world's foundry powerhouse."

McGregor added that the fact that Globalfoundries had accomplished all three of these tasks in less than a year--"far quicker than In-Stat had predicted"--was "impressive" and drives the company "into a critical position in the market".

Market shifts ahead
iSuppli added that the old foundry landscape was under duress, and that changes are fast-happening. UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation) could regain its second spot, with the expected completion of its acquisition of Hejin later in the year.

UMC did not respond to ZDNet Asia's request for comments by press time.

Netbooks changing the PC game

A new report from Canalys said 13.5 million netbooks were sold globally in the first half of 2009, anchored around telco bundling deals, with some 50 operators selling netbooks.

The "only PC segment enjoying growth this year" has attracted a new category of consumer buyer and forced PC vendors to cut costs, because of its lower price point and focus on mobility, the report added.

The biggest change to the industry has been telco involvement, it said. Subsidized netbooks have successfully emulated the mobile phone business model, with the market shares of PC vendors impacted "rapidly" by their success in tying up with telcos, said Canalys.

The massive marketing budgets from telcos have pushed netbooks to the forefront of the public consciousness, with "a prominence never before given to PCs".

"Vendors that are not present in the telco channel are missing out on valuable promotional opportunities," it said.

Tim Coulling, Canalys research analyst, raised the example of Samsung, which has deals with "more than half of the telcos currently selling netbooks" in Europe. This has boosted its profile in the PC industry, he said.

"Meanwhile, traditional notebook category leaders--including Lenovo, Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba--have been slow to recognize how quickly the market is changing around them and as a group they have signed fewer than 10 operators," he elaborated.

On the telco end, netbooks have helped justify their infrastructure investments in mobile broadband. By pushing data revenues, netbooks are helping push the business case for LTE (long term evolution) investments, he said.

In the Asia-Pacific region, telco tie-ups took about six months longer to happen, but "activity has accelerated, especially in North Asia".

Daryl Chiam, Canalys senior analyst, said: "More than double the number of netbook deals in telcos in August have been observed, [compared to] June.

"We expect to see a rush of new deals across South East Asia and Oceania toward the end of this year."

Another recent report pegged netbook sales at 22.5 percent of all portable laptops sold, up from only 5.6 percent a year ago.

An IDC analyst too said in an earlier interview, telco netbook promotions have helped raise public interest in the device category.

The analyst noted, however, that more netbooks need to come with 3G integrated, in order to boost 3G subscription numbers.

Microsoft Makes Enteros Load2Test 2.0 Framework Available to Microsoft ADO.NET Users

This latest addition to the Enteros load testing offering comes in both 32- and 64-bit capacity, enabling organizations additional supporting technology to meet the SLAs for business line applications.

With the new functionality in Load2Test, Enteros said the connections to the database directly are no longer needed as it can communicate within the middle tier of ADO.NET calls from applications to data sources. When bottlenecks and performance degradation are found, Load2Test can find the location of the ADO.NET calls and identify them for immediate remediation, ensuring little to no down time.

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Customers using the .NET Framework for its application development platform can now have the scalability for testing in both the staging and production portions of the development lifecycle. Unlike other load testing solutions, Load2Test uses real production data that provides a complete picture of overall system performance.

ADO.NET is a set of computer software components that can be used by programmers to access data and data services from sources such as Microsoft SQL Server as well as those exposed through OLE DB and XML. It is a part of the base class library that is included with the Microsoft .NET Framework and is commonly used by programmers to access and modify data stored in relational database systems as well as non-relational sources. Users of ADO.NET can not only connect to a database, but can also execute commands and retrieve, manipulate and update data.

SeaChange Demos Jinni-Powered VOD Discovery and Navigation for TV's, PC's and Mobile Devices at IBC 2009

Providing a personalized experience, the company noted, Jinni is a viewer taste-based recommendation engine that leverages semantic technology to help people choose what to watch, in a solution that is responsive to personal entertainment tastes.

Available for deployment in early 2010, SeaChange said it will introduce the Jinni interface running on its TV Navigator middleware platform as part of its three-screen video delivery demonstration during IBC 2009 in Amsterdam, Sept. 11-15.

"VOD libraries are growing at a breakneck pace and the sheer volume of titles is making it increasingly challenging for subscribers to find the content they want, much less doing so quickly," said Simone Sassoli, VP and general manager, global telecoms and middleware, SeaChange. "Bringing the power of Jinni's search and recommendation capabilities to the set top box with an incredibly rich and easy-to-use interface is a significant development for VOD and one that can immediately impact usage rates." The combination of SeaChange's middleware and VOD platforms with Jinni's database of movie and television titles and semantic content tags lets subscribers search for titles based on parameters such as a film's or program's experience (mood and tone) and story (plot elements, structures and style).

Subscribers will also be able to search their operators' VOD libraries using web-enabled PCs and mobile devices: the titles they select for viewing will automatically populate a "favorites" folder that is accessible on their set top box-based program guide.

Globaltel Media: Canada Leading Usage of Cherple, Free PC-to-Cell SMS Message App

According to Sanchez, Canada went from statistical obscurity straight to the No. 2 slot for most Cherple users and has remained the second usage country among all nations for the last three months. Since its January U.S. launch, Cherple has won nearly 10 million users with its no-fee and no-subscription service that allows people to send SMS text messages from any Internet-connected PC to any U.S. mobile cellular device and receive messages back from the mobile to the PC.

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Paid for through banner advertising and licensing, Cherple's two-way SMS texting makes it the ideal platform to have a real time, two-way chat across any distance, without the need for a special wireless data plan, smart phone or registration. Standard text messaging rates apply to the U.S. cell phone receiving and replying to any Cherple message, but there is no cost to the on-line user.

"In the month following its launch, Cherple was being used in more than 60 countries to connect to U.S. cell phones," Sanchez noted. "Now that number has grown to 146 countries and it is in use on every continent except Antarctica." More than 83 percent of Cherple users come from North America, with Canada being the second largest market, right after the United States. Since its launch in early 2009, the number of Canadian users has increased seven-fold. This growth has made North America a leading user of Cherple.

AOL Appoints Brad Garlinghouse as President, Internet and Mobile Communications

Garlinghouse will also take on an expanded leadership position for the company, heading up AOL's Silicon Valley operations from its Mountain View campus and serving as the West Coast lead for AOL Ventures, the company's venture capital arm headed globally by Jon Brod. Garlinghouse was most recently at Silver Lake Partners as an in-house Senior Advisor. Prior to Silver Lake, Garlinghouse spent nearly six years at Yahoo!, where he led that company's communications and community products. Garlinghouse will report directly to AOL's Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong.

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Armstrong, who joined AOL in April, identified Communications as one of the five key areas of strategic focus for AOL after a 100-day review of the company's business. Other focus areas include Content, Advertising, Local & Mapping and AOL Ventures.

Garlinghouse spent nearly six years at Yahoo! where he most recently served as SVP of Communications and Communities. Prior to that he served as SVP of Communications, Communities and Front Doors, which included the Yahoo! home page. He came to Yahoo in 2003 as VP, Communication Products.

Microsoft Names S3 as Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV Set-Top Box Testing Partner

Through the relationship with Microsoft, S3 noted it will provide independent professional services tailored to the requirements of the OEMs with the emphasis on time-to-market. S3 will integrate the Hardware Adaptation Layer from the OEM with the Microsoft Mediaroom client on the STB bringing the integrated system through all phases of testing required for deployment. This is done by executing a series of structured test cycles, focused on functionality, stability and reliability testing at each phase.

"As we grow our Mediaroom business it is important that we also grow our partner ecosystem," said Steve Koepp, Sr. Manager, Business Development, TV, Video & Music Business, Microsoft. "The addition of S3 as the first set-top box testing partner for Mediaroom brings scale to the STB testing process while also enabling us to re-deploy internal resources on developing next generation client experience. S3 has a skilled base of engineers with design and integration experience right across the digital TV development cycle and will provide an efficient service to STB OEMs." S3 is a provider of services, products and IP to the Digital TV industry.

mber 12, 2009] Dell Names Endeavor's Linda Rottenberg as One of the Inspiring Entrepreneurs for the Take Your Own Path Campaign

Take Your Own Path distinguishes entrepreneurs as "heroes," and is being introduced in the U.S., Japan, Germany, China and the UK following its initial successes in India and France. Linda receives this honor along with LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman, Cakelove founder Warren Brown, and Sew What? President Megan Duckett.

"Dell has always believed that it takes an extraordinary person to launch and run a business. We understand the potential of medium and small businesses to transform the global economy and the Take Your Own Path campaign underscores Dell's commitment to supporting individuals with a big idea," said Paul-Henri Ferrand, VP of global marketing for Dell Small and Medium Business. "Dell celebrates the many achievers and dreamers who dare to forge ahead in their own way with a view of how they could change the world." "Dell clearly understands the needs of entrepreneurs who take risks and bet big on business success. We're excited to participate in this one-of-a-kind campaign," said Rottenberg.

Rethinking Energy Use in Data Centers

A couple of years ago the US Environmental Protection Agency reported that the energy consumption associated with data centers had doubled between 2000 and 2006, reaching some 60 billion kWh in 2006, roughly 1.5 per cent of the entire US energy use. The EPA says this is expected to double again by 2010.

The report triggered a flurry of interest in ways to reduce consumption. However, Stavros Harizopoulos from HP Labs in Palo Alto and buddies say that almost all the attention has focused on hardware fixes. At the chip level, this means things like dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), clock routing optimizations, low-power logic and asymmetric multi-cores. At the platform level they've suggested things like dynamically turning off DRAM, disk speed control and disk spin down.

But what of software fixes? Harizopoulos and co say far less work has been done in this area, partly because there are limited ways in which programmers can control the power hungry process that go on in silico.

But the team says there are still many was that database managers can optimise their energy use and give several examples, such as designing algorithms for energy performance. That might mean carrying out scans on uncompressed data rather than compressed data, which Harizopoulos and co have calculated is more energy efficient.

In fact the whole issue of data compression will need re-examining, they say. Data compression trades CPU cycles for lower bandwidth, which has always seemed a bargain. But if you add energy use into the mix, the reasoning changes since CPU cycles can be more power hungry.

It's this kind of green thinking that Harizopoulos and co want to promote with their paper, which has lots of other ideas.

That could make for some fairly intensive work for managers of data centres but it could lead to substantial savings. Better get working

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/0909.1784: Energy Efficiency: The New Holy Grail of Data Management Systems Research

Rethinking Energy Use in Data Centers

It's this kind of green thinking that Harizopoulos and co want to promote with their paper, which has lots of other ideas.

That could make for some fairly intensive work for managers of data centres but it could lead to substantial savings. Better get working

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/0909.1784: Energy Efficiency: The New Holy Grail of Data Management Systems Research

Magnetically Levitating Mice

NASA has built a device that keeps mice floating to study the health effects of spaceflight.

By Brittany Sauser

A three-week-old mouse weighing about 10 grams is being levitated
by magnetic fields, either with a magnet (a) or without (b).
Credit: Da-Ming Zhu et al.

NASA engineers have built a device that can suspend mice in the air for hours. The purpose is to understand how zero gravity affects the bone density and muscle mass of astronauts.

The levitation device, built by Yuanming Liu and colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, uses a magnetic field that distorts the movement of electrons in water molecules to let the mice float.

According to New Scientist:

[The researchers] used a purpose-built levitation device containing a coil of wire, or solenoid, cooled to a few degrees above absolute zero so that it became superconducting. Running a current through the solenoid creates a magnetic field of 17 teslas, ten thousand times as strong as a typical fridge magnet and 10 million times that of the Earth.

The researchers have shown previously that the device can levitate water-based items for hours, but were skeptical that it would be able to make a mouse, weighing10-grams, float for long periods of time. Yet, they were able to "fly" the mouse for hours, allowing it to roam freely, and giving it food and water.

The experiment is a significant step to study bone and muscle loss, and even changes in blood flow in zero gravity, which is a common problem for astronauts when they return for space missions or extended stays on the space station. Engineers have built exercise equipment to combat the losses, which can result in long-term health issues, but there has been limited ways to actually study zero-gravity effects on humans on Earth.

Nokia Pre-Installs F-Secure Internet Security 2010 on Booklet 3G

okia and F-Secure share the vision that people want to connect to their digital content all the time, no matter what device they are using," said Kimmo Alkio, CEO of F-Secure. "F-Secure is committed to making these connections safe across devices and protecting the irreplaceable content on them. F-Secure Internet Security 2010 is a great fit for the Nokia Booklet 3G because the software was designed to be light and fast, using as little of the computer's resources as possible. Thanks to its newly designed user interface, it is also very easy to use." "F-Secure shares a heritage of mobility and has been a long-time partner of Nokia," said John Hwang, General Manager, Connected Computers at Nokia. "We believe F-Secure is the right security partner to help make the mobile PC a reality." F-Secure Internet Security 2010 is the latest version of F-Secure's flagship solution. It is light on memory use and efficient in detecting all Internet threats. Unlike many other security programs that can disturb or confuse the user, F-Secure Internet Security 2010 handles security problems automatically.

Microsoft Makes Enteros Load2Test 2.0 Framework Available to Microsoft ADO.NET Users

Sep 11, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Enteros, Inc., a developer of Enterprise Production Performance Management, announced the extension of support for its Load2Test 2.0 Framework to ADO.NET.

This latest addition to the Enteros load testing offering comes in both 32- and 64-bit capacity, enabling organizations additional supporting technology to meet the SLAs for business line applications.

With the new functionality in Load2Test, Enteros said the connections to the database directly are no longer needed as it can communicate within the middle tier of ADO.NET calls from applications to data sources. When bottlenecks and performance degradation are found, Load2Test can find the location of the ADO.NET calls and identify them for immediate remediation, ensuring little to no down time.

Microsoft chief voices 'No' fears

FOREIGN investment will be lost by this country if there is a second 'No' vote to the Lisbon Treaty referendum, a leading employer warned yesterday.

The Irish chiefs of three major multi-national companies gave their backing to a 'Yes' vote saying it will enhance Ireland's attractiveness as a place to invest.

Microsoft Ireland managing director Paul Relis said Ireland was successful in the past in bringing in investment from abroad and creating jobs.

He said a 'Yes' vote would send a positive signal to foreign investors that Ireland is committed to being a "key player in the world's most successful economic union".

He said there would be consequences for jobs in another 'No' vote: "I'm convinced we would lose investment to other countries in the European Union if this referendum was to lose."

LEO Pharma Ireland managing director Geraldine Murphy said when companies were trying to secure investment, they had to fight for every euro and other countries were "hungry for business".

Survive

"For us to survive, we need to get investment to create and to protect jobs," she said. "We just don't need to create any uncertainty around Ireland's participation in Europe."

Pfizer vice president Dr Paul Duffy dismissed the notion the minimum wage would be reduced by passing Lisbon. "I can't see any of our French colleagues taking a minimum wage of €1.87, or our German colleagues for that matter," he said.

PC Market Takes First Step Toward Recovery in Q2

El Segundo, Calif., September 11, 2009—Although it won’t be enough to generate growth for the entire year, the PC market made one small step away from the abyss in the second quarter as it achieved sequential growth in unit shipments for the first time in six months, according to iSuppli Corp.

Global PC shipments in the second quarter amounted to 67.2 million units. While this was down 4.3 percent from 70.2 million in the second quarter of 2008, it was up by 1 percent from 66.5 million in the first quarter of 2009.

“PC shipments managed to rise in the second quarter on the back of sequential growth in sales of notebook PCs, despite quarterly declines in desktops,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms research, for iSuppli. “iSuppli predicts continued sequential growth in the third and fourth quarters, driven by the slow improvement in the worldwide economy, along with the arrival of technology drivers, such as Microsoft Corp.’s new client operating system, Windows 7. However, this growth had been expected and doesn’t change iSuppli’s forecast of a 4 percent decline in global PC shipments for the full year of 2009.”

The launch of Windows 7 will be a major positive for the PC industry, prompting a huge advertising and media campaign from Microsoft that will put PCs in high-profile positions in mainstream electronic and print media.

“This advertising blitz will get more people thinking about PCs,” Wilkins observed. “This can only be a plus for the market.”

Shipments had declined by 14 percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2009 and by 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Acer and Dell move in opposite directions

Because of a strong rise by Taiwan’s Acer and the continued decline of America’s Dell Inc., the market share gap between the two companies continues to dwindle. No.-3 Acer in the second quarter of 2009 trailed No.-2 Dell by only 1.2 percentage points, down from a 6.5 point gap during the same period in 2008.

Dell’s second-quarter shipments amounted to 9 million units, down 23.3 percent from 11.2 million during the same period in 2008. In contrast, Acer’s second-quarter shipments surged to 8.2 million units, up 23.3 percent from 6.7 million a year earlier.

“Acer’s rise is due to another strong performance from its notebook PC business, clearly capitalizing on the demand for mobile computing,” Wilkins said. “Meanwhile, Dell continues to suffer because of the weakness in the corporate market, despite showing improvements in its consumer business.”

Hewlett-Packard Co. remained the top PC OEM for the 12th successive quarter, with shipments of 13.4 million units, up 2 percent from 13.1 million in the second quarter of 2008, giving it a market share of 20 percent.

“Hewlett-Packard not only is maintaining its leadership position but is also gaining market share due to its robust notebook PC business, which has outgrown the overall notebook segment for the past two quarters,” Wilkins said.

The attached figure presents iSuppli’s ranking of the world’s Top-5 PC brands in the second quarter of 2009.

For more information on this topic, see iSuppli’s new report, entitled: Touching Bottom? Desktop PCs Convulse and Contract.

Microsoft Catches Flak for Selling ‘Linux-Related’ Patents

In July it sold some patents to Allied Security Trust (AST), a cost-sharing non-profit operation that buys up patents to protect its members, companies like HP, Google, Cisco and Verizon, against pricey patent litigation, particularly by so-called patent trolls.

AST operates under what it calls a "catch and release" policy. Once its members get non-exclusive licenses to the IP, it puts the patents back on the market. It does not assert patents.

Well, AST "released" the old Microsoft patents and the Open Invention Network (OIN), the Linux-only version of AST whose sometimes overlapping members include IBM, Google, Novell, Red Hat and Philips, swooped in and bought them for an undisclosed sum, claiming that the 22 patents were Linux-related and that it was saving Linux from the trolls and their demand for royalties, a motivation it ascribed to AST buying them in the first place.

It said that the portfolio derived originally from SGI - although we heard elsewhere that there were others in the mix - which maybe makes them OpenGL-related. OIN does not identify the patents or explain how they bear on Linux.

As a matter of fact, in its public statement of self-congratulations OIN says, "The prospect of these patents being placed in the hands of non-practicing entities [a k a trolls] was a threat that has been averted with these purchases, irrespective of patent quality and whether or not the patents truly read on Linux."

So maybe they're valid and enforceable and maybe they implicate Linux or maybe they don't, but trolls don't need solid patents to create a rumpus- or so the argument goes.

Laptop buyer's guide

There's a dizzying array of laptops, notebooks and netbooks available today. Here's what you need to know to make a smart buy.

NOTEBOOKS and NETBOOKS

Laptop and notebook computers are largely the same although in some definitions notebook computers are more powerful than laptops. Netbooks are basically smaller, lighter and cheaper laptops that are designed to be ultraportable and rugged.

They typically have less processing power and memory than laptops and are designed for word processing, emailing and browsing the web rather than power and memory hungry functions such as gaming and editing and playing large media files.

PERFORMANCE

This is supplied by the laptop's processor or central processing unit (CPU), which carries out all the commands made by the laptop's hardware and software. A processor's speed is measured in gigahertz (Ghz). The higher the speed the more promptly the laptop will be able to respond to commands. Dual -core processors are faster than single-core processors.

Another important factor determining performance is memory. Also called random access memory (RAM), it stores frequently or currently used files for quick retrieval. Memory is measured in gigabytes.

If you're going to be playing videos or computer games it's a good idea to go for a laptop with a dual-core processor and at least 2GB of memory, and serious gamers probably want to opt for even more power. But if you're just after a laptop for basic word-processing and web-browsing, you can probably get away with less grunt.

HARD-DRIVE

This is where all your files and data are kept. If you're going to be saving music, videos, and photos it's a good idea to go for as much storage as possible. Storage is measured in gigabytes - go for at least 160GB. Your hard drive's speed is also important, the faster the hard-drive the better its performance.

Most hard-drives run at 5400 revolutions per minute or 7200rpm and these speeds should be adequate for most users. Serious gamers should go for the largest and fastest hard-drive they can afford.

Some laptops and netbooks come with solid state drives instead of hard-drives. Solid state drives have fewer moving parts than hard-drives and are usually more durable. They tend to have less capacity and consume less power but are more expensive.

Court Throws Out $358M Microsoft Penalty

The court upheld the jury's decision that the Seattle-area software giant infringed an Alcatel-Lucent patent with a calendar feature allowing user's to choose dates, The Seattle Times reported. But the judges referred the damages back to a district court in Southern California.

While Microsoft is still almost certain to pay damages, they are unlikely to be anywhere near as high.

Lucent calculated the damages at $561.9 million, 8 percent of the revenue Microsoft made by selling copies of software incorporating the feature. Microsoft estimated them at $6.5 million, based on a royalty agreement for a similar feature.

Chief Judge Paul Michel, writing for the three-judge panel, said the jury erred if it calculated the damages as a percentage of revenue.

"In short, Outlook is an enormously complex software program comprising hundreds, if not thousands or even more, features," Michel said. "We find it inconceivable to conclude, based on the present record, that the use of one small feature, the date-picker, constitutes a substantial portion of the value of Outlook."

High Point Solutions has Been Awarded the Prestigious Gold Certification from Cisco Systems

Sparta, NJ, Sep 13, 2009 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) --

High Point Solutions has been awarded the prestigious Gold certification from Cisco systems for its outstanding levels of customer satisfaction, training, support and specialization. The Certification recognizes High Point's expert level of achievement for advanced competencies in Routing and Switching, Security Solutions, Wireless, Unified Communication, and Data Center. Gold Certified Partners are considered extensions of Cisco's support team with expertise in virtually every aspect of network planning, design and implementation as well as network operation and optimization.

...

Latest Computer Technology

Do you know what is inside your computer? Maybe you peeked when the service technician was installing something for you. When you first open up the CPU and look inside, a computer is a very threatening machine. But once you know about the different parts that make up a complete computer it gets a lot easier. Today's computers consist of around eight main components; some of the advanced computers might have a few more components. What are these eight main components and what are they used for? We will start with beginner level details to get you started.

First is the Power Supply. The power supply is used to provide electricity to all of the components in your computer. It is usually a rectangular box and is usually positioned in one of the corners of the computer. To find it for sure, look to see where the power cable plugs into the back of the computer and you have found the power supply. Most power supplies today are calculated in wattage and come in 50 watt increments (500 watt, 550, 600, etc

Second is the Motherboard. All of the components are connected into the motherboard; it doesn't mean that it is the brain of the computer. Yes it holds the brain and helps it act together with all the other components of the machine.

The third and a very important component of a computer is the CPU (Central Processing Unit), Known as the brain of the computer and nothing is going to happen without it. All major calculation performed by a computer are carried out inside its CPU. It is also responsible for activating and controlling the operations of other units of the system. The faster the CPU can do these calculations and give the correct answers, the faster the computer runs for the user. CPUs are now measured in gigahertz (Ghz) and they are at present up to our 3.8GHz or faster

A fourth component is the RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM is used as momentary working storage for the computer. We have different types of RAM memory with different speed, but it should match with your motherboard so that it can work properly. The more RAM you have in your computer, the better your computer will work.

The fifth component is the Hard drive. This is where you can store everything. Our material on the hard drive includes the operating system (Windows XP, etc), games, and different types of software, etc. over the year the capacity of the hard drive is continuously improving and in the interval of few years its capacity have gone from around 20MB to over 500GB and more. So you can store a lot more information on your computer such as games, pictures, videos, applications, and more.

Sixth component is Cooling fans. Often most computers come with one cooling fan or it might have several. Its help to cool down the heat generated by others components, Such as power supply, the CPU, and some high-end video cards. The work of all of your cooling fans is to get this heat out of the case so that nothing overheats and breaks. While most of the noise you hear coming from a computer can be credited to the cooling fans, remember to be tolerant. The cooling fan is your friend!

Our Seventh and final component is the mixture of several different devices. These are the Cd-rom, DVD drives, floppy Drive and Backup devices such as external hard drive.

Latest compute processor

Latest computer processor provides high speed processing, great performance, effortless multitasking and a dramatic increase in your productivity. Get the most out of it with a new PC. Today's desktops and notebooks offer greater performance, quality and reliability than ever before. These computers have 2X faster performance, less waiting, sleek designs and keep you productive, entertained and informed. New technology gives you the performance you need in the design you desire. Lets take a look on Next Generation processor.

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Microsoft Catches Flak for Selling ‘Linux-Related’ Patents

Laptop buyer's guide

Court Throws Out $358M Microsoft Penalty

High Point Solutions has Been Awarded the Prestigious Gold Certification from Cisco Systems

High Point Solutions has Been Awarded the Prestigious Gold Certification from Cisco Systems

Latest Computer Technology

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