Business Tech

HP's Q2 earnings: Not half bad, even if overshadowed by job cuts

HP reported a net income of $1.9 billion, or 80 cents a share (statement). Non-GAAP earnings were 98 cents a share on a revenue of $30.7 billion. Separately, HP announced 27,000 job cuts and said it would plow the savings back into R&D.

Wall Street was expecting HP to report second quarter earnings of 91 cents a share on revenue of $29.92 billion.

CEO Meg Whitman commented in prepared remarks:

We are making progress in our multi-year effort to make HP simpler, more efficient, and better for customers, employees, and shareholders. This quarter we more

HP plans to cut 27,000 jobs, plow savings into R&D

Hewlett-Packard said today it would eliminate 27,000 jobs as part of CEO Meg Whitman's plan to restructure the bellwether technology giant and cut costs.

The job cuts represent 8 percent of HP's work force, and would be completed by the end of fiscal 2014, the company said today.

In addition, HP will reduce expenses by streamlining its supply chain, narrowing its product portfolio, simplifying its market strategy, and improving its standard business practices. The cuts are expected to generate savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion after fiscal 2014. The savings will be reinvested in the more

Samsung, Apple CEOs meet without coming to agreement?

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung met face-to-face over their patent disputes this week, but according to a new report, they couldn't seem to get along.

The Korea Times is reporting today, citing a Samsung "official," that the chief executives "could find no clear agreement through the talks," leaving the firms no other option but to battle it out in court.

Both Cook and Choi, as well as their general counsels, were ordered in April by Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to meet in San Francisco more

Seagate to buy controlling stake in storage rival LaCie

If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

Storage manufacturer Seagate announced today that it is seeking to purchase a controlling stake -- 64.5 percent -- in consumer rival LaCie.

If approved by regulators, Seagate would then make an all-cash offer for the French company's remaining outstanding shares. LaCie Chief Executive Philippe Spruch would lead Seagate's consumer storage products organization.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Seagate's interest is fairly straightforward, and the companies are complementary from the standpoint of sales channels and retailer relationships. (Although LaCie sells its wares across the globe, including in the U.S., its more

MIT Sloan CIO Symposium takes on mobile, data, clouds

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Most discussions about where computing is and where it's going end up touching on three big themes: mobility, big data, and cloud computing. Yesterday's MIT Sloan CIO Symposium was no exception, whether those precise terms were used or not.

Perhaps the most striking example of just how rapidly mobile devices are forcing IT organizations to adapt came from Scott Griffith, the CEO of Zipcar, who said that "60 percent of interactions are now through an Android or an iPhone." He also noted that essentially BlackBerry's entire share had shifted to Android over a period of more

Browser choice: A thing of the past?

Like to pick your browser? Beware, because new mobile devices threaten to stifle the competitive vigor of the market for Web browsers on PCs.

On personal computers running Windows, Macs, and Linux, you can pick from a variety of browsers, finding the best combination of user interface, performance, expansion, customization, and other attributes.

There are real differences between browsers, and the shifting share of browser usage shows that millions of people aren't content with whatever came with their computers. IE6 security flaws getting you down? Firefox to the rescue! Firefox seeming bloated? Chrome to the rescue! Chrome invading your more

Nokia shakes up Nokia World: 'Less CES, more SXSW'

Nokia World is getting a makeover.

The mobile company announced on its blog today that Nokia World will no longer be "a single, large-scale event." Instead, the company has decided that it might be a better idea to hold several "smaller, more intimate events" designed around topics catering to specific audiences.

"Think less CES, more SXSW," Nokia's Heidi Lemmetyinen wrote in the blog post, comparing her company's events to competing shows.

Nokia World has historically been home to the company's major announcements. Last year, CEO Stephen Elop took to the stage at Nokia World to show off Windows Phone 7-based Lumia handsets.more

Bunch of Windows 8 devices coming from Dell

Dell is preparing a raft of tablets, hybrids, and ultrabooks for the Windows 8 launch later this year.

"The addition of capacitive touch capability into Windows 8, we think, will be a welcome addition...and will have a full complement of products at time of launch," Michael Dell said today during the company's first-quarter 2013 earnings conference call, in response to an analyst's question.

"We're totally lined up with Windows 8. You'll see us introduce tablets," he added.

And he suggests that Windows 8 touch-centric interface means that current PCs will not be a good fit. more

Is it a problem if Windows 8 boots too quickly?

Really fast boot times on Windows 8 hardly sounds like a problem. But it is. Here's why.

Startup can be so fast that you whiz by familiar sign posts that prompt for input, wrote Chris Clark, a program manager in the Windows User Experience team, today in a Building Windows 8 blog post.

"When you turn on a Windows 8 PC, there's no longer [enough time] to detect keystrokes like F2 or F8, much less time to read a message such as 'Press F2 for Setup'," Clark said.

On a solid-state drive-equipped ultrabook, for example, Windows 8 can more

Mozilla pushes for stronger 'maker' philosophy on Web

Mozilla whisked the covers off Webmaker today, a new development initiative intended to encourage Web-based development across the globe.

The company stated that Webmaker's goal is to, "move people from using the Web to making the Web," in a blog post. Mozilla is encouraging people to participate in a series of coding events it's calling the Summer Code Party, and has partnered with some notable organizations and individuals to further its agenda, including author Cory Doctorow, OKGO musician Damian Kulash, Tumblr, Creative Commons, the London Zoo, and the San Francisco Public Library.