hp

Mark Hurd reportedly contacted about running Dell after buyout

Mark Hurd, the former chief executive at Hewlett-Packard, has reportedly been approached by an investment group about the possibility of running rival Dell if its buyout effort of the computer maker is successful.

Private-equity firm Blackstone, which is reportedly making a bid for Dell to rival a $24.4 billion buyout offer from Silver Lake and Michael Dell, has discussed the position with Hurd, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. Earlier today, Fortune reported that Hurd was one of Blackstone's top candidates to run the computer maker if its bid were successful and Dell founder Michael … Read more

HP sidesteps Autonomy drama; Israel-Palestine makes news

Give Hewlett-Packard's management credit for keeping the company's annual shareholders meeting as uneventful as possible. Considering the soap opera drama leading up to today's event, that was no mean feat.

Earlier in the day, Autonomy founder Mike Lynch published an open letter, suggesting questions that shareholders ought to ask of management in connection with the allegations that HP made against Autonomy after paying $11.1 billion to buy the software company. In November, HP shocked Wall Street when it took an $8.8 billion accounting charge related to the acquisition. At the time, the company said that … Read more

Best ergonomic monitors

When shopping for a new monitor, degrees of swivel, tilt, and pivot aren't usually at the top of the wish list. But ergonomic options are important for the comfort and placement of your work space. Some monitors are designed with no options for adjusting your physical viewing experience, and an inefficient monitor setup can result in bad posture, eye strain, and other physical discomfort.

Whether you use your monitor for work or play, these models are chock-full of ergonomic features to maximize productivity by reducing fatigue and discomfort. Make sure to click on the photos of each monitor to see a demonstration of how they work. … Read more

HP's Autonomy acquisition probed by U.K. regulators

Hewlett-Packard has a way of quietly announcing its dealings with Autonomy in its annual and quarterly regulatory filings.

In its quarterly report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, the company announced that the U.K. Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into the alleged irregularities of HP's acquisition of Autonomy.

Here's what HP wrote in its filing:

As a result of the findings of an ongoing investigation, HP has provided information to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC related to the accounting improprieties, disclosure failures … Read more

Windows 8 touch-screen laptop price cuts coming

Expect to see significant price cuts on Windows 8 touch-screen laptops if Microsoft's expected Windows 8 discount on licensing fees for PC makers is implemented.

Those price cuts could range between 10 percent and 20 percent, according to a report in Digitimes, which cites sources at Taiwan's retailers.

Those same sources indicated that touch-screen laptops now account for about 10 percent of sales, but this could jump to 20 percent in some cases with discounts from Microsoft.

Reports Tuesday in Digitimes and the Wall Street Journal indicated that Microsoft will lower the price of Windows 8 for PC … Read more

Meg Whitman changes stance, now supports same-sex marriage

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman said today that her views against same-sex marriage had changed "after careful review and reflection" and that "the time has come" for marriage equality.

Whitman, who formerly supported California's Proposition 8 during her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2010, was one of dozens of prominent Republicans who have signed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to overturn the controversial proposition. The voter-approved amendment to the state's constitution, which bans gay marriage, is expected to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court next month.

She explained in a … Read more

HP's Whitman: 'We're shifting resources from PCs to tablets'

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman may have stated the obvious when she said today that HP is transferring its attention to tablets.

"We're shifting resources from PCs to tablets," she said during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

"The market moved very fast to tablets and smartphones, and we've got to now manage that transition."

She continued. "And it's not that HP didn't try to manage that transition -- they did with the acquisition of Palm. But as you know under the previous [management] that took a little detour to … Read more

Patent suit takes aim at Apple, Dell, others over encryption

A security group has taken aim at some of the biggest computer and software makers, claiming their products infringe on one or more of its patents.

Maz Encryption Technologies, a Delaware company made up of two former employees of Maz Technologies, filed suits last week against Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Lenovo, and Research In Motion (now BlackBerry).

In seven separate complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Maz accuses the companies of infringing on one or more of its three patents covering encryption and user authentication technologies -- low level security found in … Read more

Countdown begins for Galaxy S4 reveal

Monday's CNET Update does it with stylus:

The mother of all mobile trade shows, Mobile World Congress, kicked off in Barcelona. Today's video roundup highlights the buzz over Samsung, WebOS and a new way to talk to your phone:

- Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S4 on March 14

- Visa's mobile payment program will be built into the Galaxy S4

- More on MasterCard's mobile payment plan, MasterPass

- First impressions of the Galaxy Note 8 tablet

- Samsung HomeSync to rival Apple TV

- WebOS lives in future LG smart TVs

- HP tries tablets again with the Slate 7 … Read more