hp

Former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein calls sale to HP 'a waste'

Nearly three years after Palm sold itself to Hewlett-Packard, the mobile device maker's former chief executive expressed regret about the deal, calling it "a waste."

When asked if there was something he have done differently with the rollout of the WebOS mobile operating system, Jon Rubinstein told Fierce Wireless in a story published Tuesday that the HP acquisition spelled the end for Palm's mobile OS. And if he had known then what he knows now, Rubinstein said, it's very unlikely he would have agreed to the deal.

"Talk about a waste," said Rubinstein, … Read more

Ex-HP boss Ray Lane reportedly in $100 million spat with IRS

The last six months haven't been kind to Ray Lane.

According to a Bloomberg report, the former chairman of Hewlett-Packard has been fending off an IRS case putting him on the hook for a $100 million in taxes, all while he was trying to steer HP through snafus that culminated in his departure from the board.

Tax-court documents show the IRS in December found that Lane improperly used his partnership, Vanadium Partners Fund LLC, to claim $251 million in losses to offset income. Lane has appealed, disputing the agency's claim that his fund lacked legitimate business purpose.

Lane, … Read more

The ugly truth: Apple vs. PC design

Walk into any Best Buy and you're hit with an ugly truth: PCs aren't pretty.

A 15-inch HP Windows 8 laptop that sells for $270 (Best Buy's "Deal of the Day" on Saturday) isn't meant to be pretty. It's meant to be practical.

But a $330 iPad Mini is also very practical for a lot of people. And pretty too (consumers and reviewers seem to think so). Pretty and practical are two reasons Apple can sell tens of millions of Minis.

Why bring this up? I was struck by a statement from an … Read more

HP revives one of our favorite laptops, plus new Envy, Pavilion systems

Alongside the frankly more interesting Rove 20 tabletop PC, HP has also announced revisions to the rest of its Pavilion and Envy laptop lineups. However, included in this bundle is one product that caught our eye: an update to one of our favorite laptops.

The new HP Pavilion 11 TouchSmart is an 11-inch semi-sequel to the low-cost, AMD-powered HP dm1, a system we loved when it was released in 2011 because it offered decent, portable performance at near-Netbook prices.

The new version, also with an AMD CPU, adds a standard Windows 8 touch screen and will start at $399 (yes, … Read more

HP CEO talks Android, not Windows 8

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman had a lot more to say about the company's new Android products than she did about Windows 8 during HP's second-quarter earnings conference call.

Whitman's remarks hinted at HP's newfound affinity for new operating systems, which includes Android of course.

"Using multiple operating systems, multiple architectures, and multiple form factors, we are moving quickly to product the devices that customers want," she said.

Then she proceeded to talk about new Android devices, with no mention of Windows 8.

"Following the launch of our first Chromebook in February, we launched … Read more

HP's Q2 revenue slips, but Whitman looks ahead

Leading up to Hewlett-Packard's second-quarter earnings report after the bell on Wednesday, analysts were expecting a mixed bag.

They got one.

The tech giant reported earnings of $1.1 billion, or 55 cents per share. Non-GAAP earnings were 87 cents per share on a revenue of $27.6 billion.

Wall Street was expecting earnings of 81 cents a share on revenue of $28 billion for the second quarter.

Out of the six core segments highlighted in the second quarter report, only the software group posted a positive revenue mark as the support team was up by 12 percent annually. … Read more

Android has become a hedge against Microsoft and Windows

Hewlett-Packard rolled out another Android device this week. This could become a pattern as PC makers hedge against a world that's less about Microsoft and more about Google.

On Tuesday, the largest PC maker in the world -- a dubious distinction these days -- added a laptop-tablet hybrid to its growing stable of products based on Google operating systems.

The $479 HP SlateBook x2 is an Android first for HP. It's "powered by Android, the world's most popular mobile operating system...100 percent tablet, 100 percent notebook, 100 percent Android," according to the company's … Read more

Apple envy? Microsoft exec cites MacBook Air design

At least one Microsoft executive believes that Apple designs are good enough to cite as a yardstick.

After revealing that Windows Blue would officially be called 8.1 at the JP Morgan Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference on Tuesday, Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Tami Reller moved on to the topic of tablets, convertibles, and detachables.

"The HP envy x2 is a classic example of a beautiful detachable. When the tablet and base are together it looks like a MacBook Air competitor," she said.

How good is the Envy x2's design? "This 11-inch ultraportable laptop is cute, … Read more

Carl Icahn targets Dell, HP before the PC goes 'downhill'

We know Carl Icahn wants to buy Dell. But he also has his eye on the other half of the U.S. PC industry. But don't worry, this will all happen before the PC dies.

The other half would be Hewlett-Packard. Icahn is pondering the merger of Dell with HP, according to comments he made to Bloomberg TV on Friday.

Michael Dell needs to be fired first, though.

"We think it's very important that you have a new CEO [at Dell]...We need more than a bit of a cultural change at Dell. Michael Dell, I just … Read more