MARKETS
But volatility ensures we'll need to update this in no time
Wall Street Journal Oct 9, 08 9:12 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Stocks saw a strong open this morning, with the Dow rising 135 points after a positive quarterly report from IBM and a rally in European stocks, the Wall Street Journal reports. But investors were also mulling a worse-than-expected jobs report. Though new jobless claims fell by 20,000 last week, moving off a 7-year high, analysts had expected a slightly bigger decline.
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Big Blue's outlook erases some gloom
Bloomberg Oct 9, 08 7:29 AM CDT
(Newser)
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After five straight trading days of losses, investors may have regained a touch of confidence as markets in Asia and Europe bounced back from their beatings today, reports Bloomberg. The rebound, fueled in part by IBM’s reaffirmation of its profit forecast, comes after the worst five-day selloff since 1987. “IBM's numbers show that it's not all doom and gloom out there,” said one expert.
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ANALYSIS
Microsoft's $300M ad campaign fights 'snooty' Apple
Slate Oct 1, 08 4:29 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Apple's ads have long painted Microsoft users as square, but the PC has effectively stood up to the cool kids in the company's $300 million campaign, writes Farhad Manhoo in Slate. "Even if they are a little saccharine, the core message of Microsoft's ads—that Apple is snooty—should resonate," he writes. "That's because Apple is snooty." If you don't choose a Mac, Apple's self-affirming line goes, you're part of the lazy masses who don't stand up to the "IBM-Microsoft regime."
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International demand keeps tech afloat even as economy sinks
Wall Street Journal Jul 18, 08 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The tech sector keeps rolling even as the overall economy continues to flail, the Wall Street Journal reports. Four of tech’s giants, Microsoft, Google, IBM and Nokia, posted quarterly results yesterday, riding high on developed nations’ need for cost-saving technologies and emerging economies’ demand for infrastructure upgrades as the Internet and cell phones enjoy wider use in the developing world.
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Before the iMac, there were mega machines
LiveScience Jul 16, 08 8:21 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Convenience is a given when it comes to today's PCs, but the machine you're reading this on has come a long way. Major transformations date as far back as the early 19th century. Live Science gives the back-story on 10 revolutionary computers. The Difference Engine, 1822: Designed by Charles Babbage but not built until decades later, today's replicas show this math-table-generating machine to work flawlessly. ENIAC, 1946: This US Army computer weighed 30 tons, used 17,478 vacuum tubes, and consumed 150 kilowatts.
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Exec shared rival's confidential info with new HP bosses
Wall Street Journal Jul 2, 08 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A former Hewlett-Packard vice president faces federal charges for sharing trade secrets from IBM, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exec requested confidential pricing information while he was working for IBM. Two months later, he got a job at HP and emailed the info to an HP executive, according to investigators. Hewlett-Packard fired the new hire and reported him to IBM and authorities.
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Mars aims to unlock genetic code to develop hardier cacao trees
Washington Post Jun 26, 08 6:44 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Candy giant Mars is investing $10 million in a 5-year research project to unlock the secrets of chocolate's genetic code—the cocoa genome—as the first stage in developing cacao trees that can produce more, survive droughts, and combat disease. Mars intends to make the results public to stop key genes from being privately patented, reports the Washington Post. The cocoa harvest has become volatile and unreliable in recent years.
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SpectraWatt joins IBM, HP entries, part of a larger trend in IT industry
CNET Jun 17, 08 4:31 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Intel made a move into clean technology yesterday, creating a spinoff that will manufacture solar cells and pumping $50 million into it. SpectraWatt’s focus will be on improving solar-cell efficiency and cutting costs per watt, its CEO told CNet. IT companies are increasingly getting into the solar industry. Both IBM and HP recently began such endeavors.
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Email, IMs keep employees available and distracted
New York Times Jun 14, 08 11:25 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Google, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM are partnering are on a new initiative to help workers distracted by emails and instant messages improve their productivity, the New York Times reports. The Information Overload Research Group, a nonprofit launching next month, will devise cultural and technological solutions to reduce the digital deluge that’s costing firms $650 billion a year in productivity.
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Los Alamos, IBM team pass petaflop level
New York Times Jun 9, 08 9:36 AM CDT
(Newser)
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IBM and Los Alamos Laboratory scientists used an amalgam of computer chips, including some designed for use in the PlayStation 3, to blow through one of the computing world’s most pursued milestones—processing more than one thousand trillion calculations per second, reports the New York Times. The petaflop benchmark more than doubles the previous record.
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Computing giant seeks to expand services division, gain advantage over IBM
Wall Street Journal May 12, 08 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Hewlett-Packard is near a deal to buy Electronic Data Systems for $12-13 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports, an acquisition that would make it more competitive in the services sector with rival IBM. Confirmation was expected soon (HP admitted “advanced discussions” were underway), even as the tech consulting and outsourcing company, valued at $9.5 billion, saw its stock soar on the news.
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PRODUCT REVIEW
Lenovo, Asus debut lightweights that are close, but not there
Wall Street Journal May 8, 08 3:02 PM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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Firm paying out $2.5B, expecting $12B in stock buybacks
Wall Street Journal Apr 29, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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IBM raised its quarterly dividend for the thirteenth consecutive year today after posting strong Q1 earnings two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm expects to pay $2.5 billion to shareholders this year after raising its dividend 25%, from 40 to 50 cents. IBM also expects to pass along another $12 billion to investors through stock buybacks.
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