hewlett-packard

Microsoft and Apple: The roof tile analogy

Roof tile? That's over on aisle 9.

Stretch the analogy a bit. Windows tablets? They're on aisle 9, next to the laptop bags.

I could stretch the analogy even more, where the buyer gets lost amid a sea of generic Spanish roof tiles like Tom Anderson (the early version of Hank Hill) at Home Labyrinth.

Nobody has to ask that question about the iPad. It's front and center at the Apple store.

So, Redmond needs the Microsoft Store -- or similar boutique storefronts where its product can stand out.

On Friday, the Kansas City Star reported that people actually lined up … Read more

HP won't offer an ARM-based Windows 8 tablet this year

Hewlett-Packard has chosen not to ARM itself as it preps for the debut later this year of tablets running Microsoft Windows 8.

The big Silicon Valley computer maker confirmed that its first Win 8 tablets will use Intel's x86 architecture, not the ARM-based chips that will run a variant of Windows 8 known formally as Windows RT. HP's first tablet will be aimed at business users, a company representative told CNET.

Windows 8 is the first full-fledged Microsoft operating system designed to run on both Intel and ARM processors. Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled two self-built Windows 8 tablets dubbed "Surface" … Read more

Customer contact info leaked by HP in case against Oracle

It's been a haphazard week for the security of personal data with major leaks at LinkedIn and now Last.fm.

You can add some probably now-unhappy Oracle customers to that list thanks to some legal documents that have popped up in the hardware giant's legal battle against Hewlett-Packard going on right now.

As reported by Wired, Oracle received "hundreds of complaints" from customers after the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company announced it would be discontinuing support for the Itanium processor, making a lot of HP databases rather useless. In a nutshell, that's what started this whole lawsuit … Read more

HP shuffles executives, names Veghte COO

Following a major slew of layoffs last week, Hewlett-Packard is shuffling the deck at the top this week with some executive promotions.

Previously executive vice president of the HP's software unit, Bill Veghte has been bumped up to chief operating officer. According to a statement, Veghte has been assigned the task to "further accelerate the execution of the company's strategy by working across HP to drive innovation and customer satisfaction."

George Kadifa will replace Veghte as EVP of the software division. Previously serving in executive roles at IBM and Corio, Kadifa comes to HP from global … Read more

Sans cool iPad-like device, HP not catching Apple anytime soon

Why is the largest computer company in the world not competing with Apple in the hottest device category?

The easy answer is that Hewlett-Packard shuttered its WebOS tablet business last summer.

The uneasy answer is that here we are in the summer of 2012 and HP, after announcing massive layoffs this week, has nothing to offer. (Sorry, the Windows 7 HP Slate doesn't count.)

And the outlook for HP doesn't necessarily improve when you think that it is putting all of its tablet eggs in Windows 8 and Windows RT devices.

Both of those categories are still unknown … Read more

HP's Enyo team 'clarifies' reports about Google move

HP's Enyo team says reports of its move to Google need clarification.

The Verge reported yesterday that Google would soon be assimilating the Hewlett-Packard team responsible for creating Enyo, the HTLM5-based application framework for WebOS that debuted on the failed TouchPad.

But a blog item posted on the Enyo Web site today says the majority of the team remains, that development of Enyo will continue, and that the Enyo team is expanding.

In an update to its report, and citing unnamed sources, The Verge had added that the person in charge of Enyo, Matt McNulty, was one of the … Read more

Hewlett-Packard just whacked the wrong executive

If Meg Whitman has a clue about how to restore a one-time Silicon Valley legend, she's doing a great job of keeping the plan to herself.

Nine months after her appointment as Hewlett-Packard's CEO, the Whitman era began in earnest today with the announcement that HP would fire 27,000 employees.

Twenty seven thousand employees.

And among the casualties is one Mike Lynch, the brilliant English computer scientist who founded Autonomy, a company once described by the Financial Times as "the doyen of European software." Autonomy's software sifts through and categorizes patterns found in unstructured … Read more

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

Following a dismal turnout from Dell on Tuesday, Hewlett-Packard fared far better for the second quarter of 2012.

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 … Read 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 … Read more