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At least for now, Hewlett-Packard can lay claim as the second most-popular tablet manufacturer behind Apple.

Too bad, it'll be a short-lived reign.

Despite all of the attention focused on Apple's iPad, other tablet makers have seen some adoption this year. In total, the U.S. tablet market--excluding Apple--saw sales of more than 1.2 million units and retail revenue of $415 million from January through October, according to a new study from NPD. HP stood on top of that non-iPad hill, closely followed by Samsung Electronics.

Of course, the market is still tiny when compared with Apple, … Read more

Having reviewed the first four ultrabook laptops to hit stores, and spent some hands-on time with a just-announced HP version, it's clear Apple's dominance of the superthin laptop category faces a serious challenge.

Acer, Asus, Toshiba, and Lenovo all have impressive systems, all under 18 millimeters thick, and all with second-generation Intel Core i-series processors and solid-state drives (SSDs). The key is that these 13-inch laptops start at $799, while the 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,299.

That said, stack all of these systems together on a table and we'll still pick the Air for general everyday use, as long as price is no object. To date, no one has matched the multitouch trackpad experience of the MacBook, along with its excellent keyboard, and simple sleep/hibernate quick-start states.

But, if you're looking for the best value based on system specs, the field is suddenly wide open.… Read more

Google has cut the price on its Chromebook laptop computers, offering the Web-connected device with minimal offline capability at prices starting at $299.

When Google unveiled the product in May, the base price was $349.

In a blog post, Google senior product manager Venkat Rapaka said the company has been "working closely with our partners to continually improve the overall Chromebook experience while making them even more affordable." Google, though, declined to disclose specific sales figures for the devices.

"Our partners just launched their devices into the market a few months ago, and we're encouraged by the positive feedback we've received from consumers and the rate of adoption by schools and businesses," a spokeswoman said.

But the price drop suggests the devices aren't moving off store shelves as quickly as the company and its partners want, said Roger Kay, president of market research firm Endpoint Technologies Associates. Kay believes Chromebooks have sold "poorly" since their launch.

The idea behind the Chromebook is to simplify computing.… Read more

Asus reiterated its commitment to the Android tablet business, refuting a report that said it, along with Acer and Dell, are looking to retreat after a rocky start.

The company was responding to Taiwanese news site Digitimes, which cited suppliers in its report that the three PC manufacturers were looking to phase out their Android tablet businesses.

"As usual, the rumors and reports from Digitimes are incorrect," said Asus spokesman Gary Key. "Asus is not exiting the Android tablet business."

Likewise, a Dell spokesman said the company doesn't have any plans to exit the business … Read more

At an Intel Capital conference this week an Intel executive spelled out how and why the market will transition to ultrabooks over the next few years. In a word, ultrabooks need to be "cool."

Intel is driving the PC industry to ultrabooks with a $300 million ultrabook fund--principally for hardware development--and a second fund announced this week, the $100 million AppUpSM Fund, targeted at applications for future ultrabooks.

Erik Reid, the general manager of the Mobile Platforms Division at Intel's PC Client Group, detailed Intel's thinking in a session at the Intel conference this week in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The coolness factor: "Users want something that's cool," said Reid. Intel research shows that when people see an ultrabook they think that "it must be better engineered because it's thin. It's harder to make a thin device than a thick device. It's more forward-looking." … Read more

Sales of Apple's Mac are already off to a cheerful start this quarter and could reach as many as 5.3 million units by the end of December, according a new report from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Based on data from NPD Group, Munster found that Mac sales in the United States rose 19 percent in October over the same month last year. The year-over-year growth is especially strong, given that Apple had just refreshed the MacBook Air that month last year.

Looking at the global picture, Wall Street is projecting a 25 percent gain in worldwide Mac … Read more

If you believe Digitimes, Asus and Acer have cut ultrabook orders by 40 percent due to sluggish demand for the ultrathin laptops.

Of course, Digitimes is often wildly wrong, so take this news with the requisite grain of salt.

Digitimes claims that Asus and Acer planned to order a combined 250,000 to 300,000 ultrabooks by the end of 2011. However, "due to the unsatisfactory sales during the initial month after their launch," the companies have revised 2011 shipments down to between 150,000 units and 180,000 units, the site reports.

Neither Acer nor Asus immediately responded to CNET's request for comment on the Digitimes report.… Read more

HP is now the top-ranked tech company, according to Greenpeace's latest guide to greener electronics.

The guide's criteria has been updated to take into greater account energy use, conflict minerals, green products, and supply chain energy use.

Greenpeace released its latest rankings today, showing HP moving ahead three to the top spot. It's a big leap considering that just six years ago HP was targeted by Greenpeace as one of the worst tech companies for using fire retardant materials suspected of being hazardous. At the time, Greenpeace members stood outside of HP's headquarters and handed out … Read more

Ultrabooks will capture more than 40 percent of the laptop market by 2015, becoming, in effect, a counterweight to tablets like Apple's iPad, according to market researcher IHS-iSuppli.

In a research note titled "Ultrabooks to Deliver Ultrafast Growth," iSuppli sees these svelte Windows laptops that run on Intel processors taking 43 percent of the laptop market by 2015.

Currently, Windows 7-based ultrabooks from vendors such as Acer and Asus compete with Apple's MacBook Air. But new designs based on Windows 8 and future Intel processors in the coming years are expected to make them attractive alternatives … Read more