Stories related to: computer

Hamstrung by poor battery life, and burdened with an overly weighty Vista operating system that makes starting up a drag, a pair of new subnotebook computers offer a glimpse of what could be—but isn’t quite, writes Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg. Lenovo’s IdeaPad—a junior ThinkPad—and the U2E, a quirky offering from Asus, are pricey to boot. More »

A microbiologist studying computer keyboards discovered that some of them harbored more bacteria than the average toilet seat, the Guardian reports. The dirtiest—which had to be removed from an office—had 150 times the level of acceptable bacteria, putting the user at risk of catching bugs that cause diarrhea and vomiting. "It was off the scale," the researcher said. More »

Scientists in England have created the world’s smallest transistor, the BBC reports. At 1 atom thick and 10 atoms wide, it could be the key to creating microchips beyond the power of silicon. The transistor is made of graphene, a single layer of graphite and an excellent conductor of electricity. And unlike with silicon, the smaller a graphene transistor is, the faster it works. More »

The government Thursday lifted a week-old ban that prevented IBM from competing for new federal contracts. In exchange, IBM agreed to withdraw its protest of an $84 million contract with the EPA it lost last year, and to refund any attorney fees and costs the Government Accountability Office paid to fight it. IBM has placed five employees on administrative leave in the dust-up. More »

Colombian officials claim to have computer files captured from its FARC rebels that indicate Venezuela sold arms to the terrorist group, the New York Times reports. If Interpol verifies the files, they would also suggest links between FARC and Ecuador’s government and provide insight into the rebel organization. Colombia nabbed the computers in a raid in Ecuador earlier this month. More »

Sun Microsystems is moving toward connecting computer chips using lasers instead of wires, a move that could make computers 1,000 times faster. The company snagged a $44 million Pentagon contract to continue work that could also mean smaller, more energy-efficient machines. It won’t be easy, though: A Sun researcher told the New York Times the chance of success is 50%. More »

A new laptop security system in development at Intel learns to adjust to you—that is, the user—getting to know your pattern of Internet use in order to provide more personalized protection. The software, called Proteus, is meant for companies that provide laptops to many employees, normally equipping all of them with the same cookie-cutter security system, reports Technology Review . More »

Greener tech solutions are a focus of this year’s CeBIT technology trade fair, which opens tomorrow in Germany. Tech companies from around the world will showcase products like servers that use less electricity alongside their hot new gadgets, AP reports. The emphasis on green ideas sets the tone for the international industry, Microsoft Germany’s general manager says. More »

Dell posted a 6.5% decline in profits for its fiscal fourth quarter yesterday, citing slowed consumer spending and the cost of restructuring, which included slashing thousands of jobs, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dell results are likely to cause concern about other tech stocks—especially those that rely on the US consumer market—and doubts about Dell's ambitious turnaround plan. More »

Many Windows Vista users have struggled to make the operating system work with their hardware, and emails released this week reveal that even Microsoft bosses had a tough time, PC World reports. The emails have been made public as part of a lawsuit that claims Microsoft deliberately misled consumers by slapping "Vista Capable" stickers on machines that weren't capable of running many of the system's important features. More »

Modernity's full of fine inventions and healthy advice, but don't they really make us dimmer, sicker, and less prone to stumble on sex? So writes Nora Ephron in the New York Times , as she opines on hand-washing, breast-feeding, and rumors that chicken soup cures colds. "You have chicken soup; you get the cold anyway," she writes. "So: is it possible that chicken soup gives you a cold?" More »

Longtime business stalwart Lenovo will unleash a stylish new line of laptops on a crowded consumer field, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lenovo’s IdeaPad line will offer sporty red aluminum-alloy cases and higher-performance gaming specs, as well as novel features such as face-recognition software that lets users log in simply by looking at the screen. More »

Tech buffs have forecast a laptop takeover for years—and now US buying data is finally confirming a coup de desktop. Consumer laptop sales beat out desktop buys for the first time last year, and corporations will likely follow in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reports. New technology, lower prices, and the growth in WiFi are driving the portable boom. More »

The NPD market research group says that the lates version of the operating system, Leopard, is Apple's most successful yet, reports Apple Insider. In its first month on the shelves, sales were 20% higher than last year's Tiger release, despite promotion being stepped down a little. Tiger sold 30% more than the year before's Panther, which outsold its Jaguar predecessor by 100%. More »

Leaps forward in chip design are bringing supercomputing technology to personal computers and corporate data centers , Business Week writes. Hardware makers are coming up with more ways to cram colossal amounts of computing power into small spaces, but software is lagging a bit behind. Microsoft is building a brain trust in a bid to develop new applications. More »

CompUSA has been sold to a restructuring company and will be ending retail operations after the holidays, AP reports. The troubled electronics retailer, bought by Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim in 1999, closed more than half its outlets in the spring after repeated  turnaround efforts failed. Gordon Brothers Group will close the remaining 103 stores after holiday closing sales. More »

ComputerWorld offerss pointers for corporate offices that want to save energy. Do it for the climate. Do it for your grandkids. But most of all, do it for the bottom line. Know what you're blowing: Start your energy audit with a meter. Use those sleep settings, and do so consistently. More »

The famously frenetic NYSE trading floor is rapidly becoming history as more efficient computer trading replaces human traders. With most of the exchange's trading rooms shuttered, only two trading halls stay open to the 1,500 remaining traders, whose numbers are dwindling, AFP reports. "The floor as we knew it is dead," says one expert. More »

Wouldn't it be nice if your computer could figure out what you wanted it to do? That dream just might be approaching reality, thanks to a project called CALO that aims to teach computers to understand users' intentions, according to the MIT Technology Review. "If CALO succeeds, it'll be quite a revolution," says one researcher. More »

Computer-maker Dell’s rollercoaster ride isn’t over and it’s left investors woozy. Despite increasing net income 27% in third quarter earnings released yesterday, Dell shares slipped nearly 10% in after hours trading, giving back nearly everything the stock gained leading up to the report and underlining CEO Michael Dell’s statement: “There’s more work to be done,” reports the Austin American-Statesman. More »