Stories related to: computer

Computer and printer giant Hewlett-Packard rode strong server, software, and PC sales to a 28% boost in fourth quarter earnings from a year ago, CNN Money reports. The company posted a net profit of $2.2 billion, with a share price of 81 cents, up from 60 cents a year ago. The profits defied low industry expectations set by tech companies like Cisco Systems and Qualcomm, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

Is Google moving in the direction of writing its own platform software and building its own hardware? That's what Gordon Haff argues on CNET's The Pervasive Datacenter blog, citing recent news about Google designing its own network switches and writing its own virtual machine for its cellphone platform, on top of its longstanding practice of assembling its own servers from component parts. More »

Advanced Micro Devices introduces its long-anticipated Spider desktop chip set  today,  including a new microprocessor, a graphics processor and chips to link system components that will give gamers access to ultrarealistic images and increase computing performance. But it still can’t match Intel’s latest chip offering, reports the Wall Street Journal. One gamer says AMD chips are "worlds away" from matching Intel's performance. More »

It has been almost a year since Windows Vista was released to businesses, but a spate of hardware compatibility issues has many still waiting to upgrade until the release of the first service pack, scheduled for early next year. With the next version of Windows due in late 2009, PC World thinks many companies may skip upgrading to Vista altogether. More »

In what's believed to be the first arrest ever for theft of virtual property, a Dutch teenager has been busted for stealing "furniture" from an online game. He allegedly stole login information from gamers playing "Habbo Hotel," a Sims-like operation in which players create guests and furnish hotel rooms using credits that cost real money. The thief, 17, then used the information to remove other players' furniture, said police. More »

Intel is rolling out a line of processors today that breaks brave new ground in micro-sizing —the chips are the first ever to be mass-produced with a  45 nanometer process, nearly a third smaller than today's 65 nanometer technology. The development gives the company an edge over rival Advanced Micro Devices, which just last month released 65nm chips. More »

Two ex-undergrads at Fresno State U. have been charged with hacking the school's system to up their grades—and face up to 20 years in jail and $250,000 fines, Computerworld reports. John Escalera, who worked the computer help desk, reportedly hacked the Peoplesoft management system in 2004 to raise his and buddy Gustavo Ravo Jr.’s grades. Both have pleaded not guilty. More »

Spring ahead, fall back. And fall back again, for many whose clocks wrongly reset themselves last weekend—1 week ahead of the schedule Congress set when it extended Daylight Saving Time. Most cell phones and computers, which get time and date information from networks, weren't affected, but many alarm clocks and PDAs that predated 2005 jumped the gun, MarketWatch reports. More »

Microsoft yesterday reported a 23% leap in net income and its best revenue growth since the dot-com boom, making it an isolated winner in a tumbling market. The announcement drove up the company's shares 10% in after-hours trading. The sales of new PCs with Windows installed helped drive the gains, especially in developing countries creating large new markets for computers. More »

Apple reported yesterday that it dramatically outstripped estimates for fourth-quarter profits, news that bumped the company's stock up 6% in after-hours trading. Apple saw $6.22 billion in sales this quarter for earnings of $904 million ($1.01 per share), a 67% improvement over the same time last year. Analysts were expecting earnings of 86 cents on sales of $6.07 billion, repors the Merc-News. More »

The Rockies blamed an “external malicious attack” for the crash of a partner company’s server who was handling the sale of World Series tickets, and said they'll try again tomorrow. The site received 8.5 million hits in 90 minutes but, according to a company spokesman, traffic was not the issue. Only a few hundred of the estimated 60,000 available tickets were sold, reports the Rocky Mountain News . More »

Sales of Mac computers are booming, boosted by the success of Apple's iPod and iPhone among PC users. Apple will move into third place among computer makers today—behind Hewlett Packard and Dell, reports the New York Times . The surge comes just as Apple is about to release the new Leopard version of its OS X operating system. More »

Hard disk space is about to quadruple, says Hitachi, thanks to this year’s Nobel Prize-winning physicists. The company today announced it had developed a new technology for passing data between the disk and the disk-reading heads which shrinks the heads and allow for disk storage of up to 4 terabytes of data. It marks a return to tech pioneered by the Nobel winners. More »

Tufts University researchers have begun a three-year research project which, if successful, will allow computers to respond to the brain activity of the computer's user. Users wear futuristic-looking headbands to shine light on their foreheads, then perform a series of increasingly difficult tasks while the device reads what parts of the brain are absorbing the light. More »

The Burmese government is cutting the last lines of communication with the outside world, confiscating satellite phones and computers that reporters and bloggers were using to spread news of the violent repression of pro-democracy protests. Officials even demanded to see permits for satellite phones at a United Nations office. Authorities also searched other offices in a Rangoon hotel and office building for equipment. More »

Global cellphone and computer usage is up dramatically as inequalities in technology drop. Cellphone ownership has grown 20% in the US, where 80% of the population uses computers, third in the world behind Sweden and South Korea. Computer usage is up in 26 of 35 countries in a new Pew survey, PC World reports, and even 6% of Tanzanians log on. More »

Electronics makers expect to sell lots of PCs, iPods and mobile phones this holiday season, judging by how many semiconductor chips they scooped up in August, PC World reports. Sales of global chips rose to $21.6 billion in August, a 4.5% increase over last year. August is the month that manufacturers stock up on chips to get ready for holiday demands. More »

IBM is set to begin work on a computer capable of a quadrillion calculations per second, more power than a mile-high tower of laptops. McClatchy Newspapers reports the system will use 884,736 processors—six times the current best—to analyze problems on a dizzying scale. “We're on a path to a time when computers will be smarter than people,” one executive said. More »

Hackers could exploit a glitch in AOL's instant messaging program and take control of users' computers , a security firm reports. Core Security discovered that the way AIM uses HTML code provides a loophole for hijacking PCs, via a web link that implants a self-copying worm. AOL says it has solved the problem; Core claims the solution doesn't go far enough. More »

Gabbers have a couple of new options if they want to use the 'Net to make free (or cheaper) phone calls. Each is a box that connects to a home phone and a computer to route calls through cyberspace. One is a modest and low-cost, the other a chic machine boasting Ashton ("Punk'd") Kutcher's name as creative director. A third has been around awhile, but comes with one major caveat. More »