News - Business Tech

Dell preps 10.8-inch Windows 8 tablet, says report

Dell's upcoming Windows 8 tablet will break the 10.1-screen-size mold, spanning a roomy 10.8 inches, according to a report. And it's targeted at business -- a market that Microsoft and its coterie of Windows device makers know well.

The "Dell Latitude 10," as reported by Neowin, has some brawny PC-like specs, including a 128GB solid-state drive and up to 2GB of memory -- which, by the way, is what Dell currently offers on its 10.1-inch Latitude ST, also targeted at corporate "enterprise" customers.

A source familiar with upcoming Windows 8 tablets and hybrids told CNET more

Apple's VP of Europe Cagni leaves company, report says

Apple vice president of Europe Pascal Cagni has left the company, according to a report.

French newspaper Le Figaro is reporting today, citing an unnamed source, that Cagni resigned from Apple yesterday (heres an English translation). The publication didn't say where he might have gone. Apple has not confirmed that Cagni has left the company, and his LinkedIn profile still shows him as employed by the iPhone maker.

Cagni joined Apple back in April 2000 to head up the company's European operations. According to reports at the time, he was hand-picked by Steve Jobs for the post. Prior more

Tim Cook: Bringing a world of change to the world of Apple?

In his tenure as Apple CEO, Tim Cook has taken a company built by Steve Jobs, and transformed it into something a bit more corporate, according to a new report.

Although Cook himself wouldn't sit down with Fortune, the publication today published a feature citing several sources with knowledge of how the Apple chief executive has changed the company. Chief among those changes, Fortune says, is a switch from engineering-driven decision making to one that more conservatively considers production efficiency, and thus, cost-savings.

"I've been told that any meeting of significance is now always populated by project management more

Did RIM shelve an idea to license BBM to competitors, carriers?

Research In Motion had at least considered licensing BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) before its chief executive Thorsten Heins shifted focus, according to a new report.

Late last year and early into 2012, RIM's executives were drawing up plans to make BBM available for licensing to device makers and carriers, the Wall Street Journal is reporting today, citing sources. According to the publication, the platform was to be called "SMS 2.0," and would work on both Android and iOS.

To help make that push, RIM last year acquired messaging firm LiveProfile, according to the Journal's sources. The move was more

Nvidia qualifies its first LTE modem for tablets on AT&T

Nvidia first LTE modem is ready for AT&T's network.

The Icera 410 LTE modem chipset for tablets and laptops has been tested and validated for operation on the AT&T 4G LTE network, the Santa Clara, Calif. chip supplier said today.

"Validation with AT&T...paves the way for Nvidia Icera-powered LTE devices on the AT&T network through this year and next," Stan Boland, senior vice president of mobile communications at Nvidia, said in a statement.

The 410 is the first Icera modem to implement 4G LTE in Nvidia's "software defined" radio baseband processor.

The chipset more

Investment firms warned of Facebook woes before IPO, report says

As more details emerge on the behind-the-scenes events surrounding Facebook's initial public offering, the more upsetting the revelations might become to individual investors.

Just before Facebook went public, a large investment firm named Capital Research & Management indicated to the social network's underwriters that it wanted to take a significant investment in the company. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, Capital Research was warned by one of Facebook's underwriters about the social network's declining revenue forecast, leading the investment firm to buy far fewer shares than initially anticipated. Some of the firm's fund more

Who wins, who loses in Oracle v. Google

After more than a week of deliberations, the jury in Oracle v. Google finally came back with a verdict over patent infringement on Wednesday.

There is an obvious winner and an obvious loser here, but let's reflect on some of the major wins and losses that have emerged thanks to proceedings at the U.S. District Court of Northern California in San Francisco over the last several weeks.

WINNERS

Google: The obvious winner in the patent round and the less-than-obvious winner in the copyright round. When the copyright verdict was announced a few weeks ago, the jury could only more

Google 7-inch tablet imminent, says report

The Google 7-inch tablet is on the way, according to a fresh report -- the latest in a long line of reports dating back to the beginning of the year.

The tablet will hit the market in July, according to a Thursday report from DigiTimes. Shipments -- about 600,000 initially -- are set to begin in June, the Taipei-based publication claimed.

Asus is expected to manufacture the device.

NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim told CNET previously that a 7-inch Goggle tablet was in the works, though a June shipment date means that an original projection of an April production more

Microsoft gives Flash a reprieve in IE10

It appears that ditching Adobe System' Flash Player wasn't as easy as Microsoft thought earlier this year.

Because screenshots from WinUnleaked show the browser plug-in working even in the Metro version of IE10 where Microsoft had earlier said plug-ins would be barred.

Microsoft and Adobe declined to comment for this story. But a source familiar with the plans said IE10 will build in a version of Flash Player optimized for Windows 8 matters such as touch-screen interfaces, power consumption, and security.

The reason, the source said: browsers just aren't ready yet to ditch Flash, so Microsoft will give more

Don't expect a patent offensive from victorious Google

Today's jury verdict that Google's Android didn't infringe Oracle Java patents no doubt left many at Google breathing sighs of relief.

As Android programming evangelist Tim Bray tweeted, "F***ing A."

Google took this case to the brink, refusing to settle on either Oracle's copyright or patent infringement charges, and has emerged with minimal scarring so far. Some copyright issues remain unresolved, and there are always appeals. So far, things look a lot better than the prospect of the $2.6 billion Oracle sought. But it ain't over 'til it's over, as Yogi Berra more