Business Tech

IDC: Netbook shipments up, expect constrained IT budgets

Worldwide PC shipments were up 15.8 percent in the third quarter, slightly lower than expected.

Just over 80 million PCs were shipped around the globe during the third quarter, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report released Wednesday. The popularity of Netbooks helped to disguise an industry that looks to have continued tough times ahead. Budgets for buying PCs were constrained as the quarter progressed, and IDC says there's more where that came from.

"IDC expects the ongoing economic woes in the U.S. to further impact consumer and commercial PC spending during the holiday … Read more

VC confidence level takes third-quarter hit

Venture capitalists' confidence level took another hit in the third quarter, marking the sixth-consecutive quarterly decline for the Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index, which was released Wednesday.

The index fell to 2.89 points, nearing the midway point of a 5-point scale, with 5 ranking the highest confidence level.

According to Mark Cannice, associate professor of entrepreneurship and the founder of the University of San Francisco's Entrepreneurship program and author of the index, the faltering confidence level stems from several factors:

The unprecedented deterioration of macro economic conditions and the resulting impact on the venture capital business model … Read more

Forrester Research lowers IT spending predictions

Forrester Research on Wednesday revised its best-case-worst-case scenario for U.S. IT spending. Rather than possibly posting an upside above the base, Forrester is warning, at the extreme, the situation could get worse than its September base projections.

Back in September, Forrester made a base prediction that IT spending would grow 6.1 percent in the U.S. and between 7 to 8 percent overseas. Forrester, at the time, also noted a potential existed that IT spending could exceed its base projections.

But a dramatic downturn in the markets, a virtual chokehold on credit availability, and a financial crisis that … Read more

Adobe fends off rivals with Flash Player 10

Astro is launched.

On Wednesday, Adobe Systems announced the release of a major update to its Flash technology to endow Web sites with better video, audio, and graphics. The new version 10 was code-named Astro, and it arrived just days after Microsoft released version 2.0 of its rival Silverlight software.

Flash Player 10, a free download also available for Windows and Mac users from Download.com, includes a number of new features:

• Easier-to-use 3D graphics effects.

• Better text handling for more sophisticated layouts combining words and graphics, more refined typography, and better multilingual applications.

• Better sound … Read more

Intel buys network gear company

Intel said it has acquired NetEffect, a company specializing in Ethernet products and technologies for server compute clusters.

The chipmaker purchased NetEffect's assets for $8 million, which include the company's Ethernet product portfolio, intellectual property, and technology.

NetEffect is a provider of solutions incorporating iWARP, an Ethernet alternative to InfiniBand. NetEffect's product portfolio includes 1-Gigabit and 10-Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) adapters for servers and blade configurations as well as 10GbE Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).

"NetEffect's role as a data communications solution provider...will enhance Intel's current Ethernet efforts," Tom Swinford, general manager, Intel … Read more

Court lifts import ban on phones with Qualcomm chips

Updated at 11:34 a.m. PT to include Broadcom statement

A U.S. appellate court has reversed an import ban on certain cell phones with chips made by Qualcomm, ruling that the U.S. International Trade Commission overstepped its authority in a 2007 decision.

Last year, the ITC ruled that certain new models of 3G wireless handsets with Qualcomm chipsets could not be imported because they infringed on a Broadcom patent. An appellate court stayed the ban in September, pending appeal.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision (PDF). The appellate … Read more

Intel comments on chips in new MacBook, Nvidia win

Updated with correction about Intel processors.

Nvidia in, Intel out? Not quite. Intel is still very much a player in the silicon that powers the newest MacBooks.

That said, Intel did get bumped by Nvidia in graphics. The new Apple MacBook and MacBook Air both now come with the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs said delivers "five times the graphics performance." Jobs didn't mention Intel integrated graphics by name (used in the older MacBook Air and MacBook), but that was the yardstick.

For the record, the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics processor comes … Read more

Adobe begins shipping Creative Suite 4

Adobe Systems announced late on Tuesday that it has begun shipping Creative Suite 4, the latest edition of its bundle of professional graphics and media applications.

The launch, which Adobe described as the largest in the company's history, includes updated versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Contribute, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, OnLocation, and Encore. Four different flavors of the suite are available, with prices ranging from $1,699 to $2,499.

Adobe continues to improve integration among the applications. After Effects, for example, can import Photoshop 3D layers and export content directly into Flash.

Options for … Read more

Atom chip demand redefining Intel

Intel is seeing solid results for the Atom processor--possibly giving the first significant evidence of Intel's likely future as a bigger provider of low-cost processors.

Intel confirmed on Tuesday that Atom is hot. CEO Paul Otellini said that Intel didn't meet demand in the third quarter and still can't meet demand. "We did not meed demand in Q3 for the product. We are up again substantially in the fourth quarter. Our expectation is that we will meet demand by the end of the year," Otellini said.

And many of the questions from analysts in Tuesday'… Read more