mckinney

CTO for HP's PC unit announces retirement

Less than a week after Hewlett-Packard announced that it would be retaining its personal computers division, the unit's chief technology officer announced his retiring.

Phil McKinney served as vice president and CTO for HP's Personal Systems Group, which is responsible for managing long-term strategic planning, research and development for HP's PC product lines, ranging from mobile devices such as tablets to laptops, desktops, and workstations.

While putting on a diplomatic front, McKinney insisted on his blog that this is not a "traditional" retirement:

My definition of retirement is the freedom to write, speak, mentor, advise … Read more

HP mum on Windows, flexible on displays

SAN FRANCISCO--Hewlett-Packard mobile evangelist Phil McKinney didn't have much new to say Monday about HP's mobile operating strategy, but did highlight the company's work on new display technology.

McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer for HP's personal systems group, kicked off the MobileBeat 2010 conference with a brief presentation followed by a question-and-answer session in which he reaffirmed the current goal of the personal computing industry: to figure out what the hell people want in a device bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a notebook PC. Now armed with Palm's WebOS operating system … Read more

HP VP talks laptops, new slate prototype (podcast)

Philip McKinney is vice president and chief technology officer for the Personal Systems Group at Hewlett-Packard, where he oversees the group's long-range technical strategy and research and development. At the Showstoppers press event at CES, McKinney was walking around with a couple of new latops PCs and a new portable VGA pico projector.

Larry Magid and McKinney talked about these products, but Magid couldn't help but ask about HP's slate PC prototype that Microsoft Steve Ballmer showed off during his keynote address. McKinney wouldn't go into much detail about this unannounced product, but Magid got at … Read more

Acqua Liana 'eco-mansion' thinks big, very big

Many real estate sellers are facing tough times in today's economic climate. What to do? One alternative: hope for environmentally conscious green dollars. That's what luxury real estate developer Frank McKinney did. He is pursuing a green strategy with his latest creation, the elaborate Acqua Liana, set on about 1.6 acres on the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Acqua Liana (Tahitian and Fijian for "water flower") features a glass "water floor" with "hand-painted tiles in a Lotus garden motif, brilliantly illuminated below the shimmering surface," according to McKinney's Web site. The three-story mansion claims to be the first built and certified according to the rigorous standards defined and mandated by the U.S. Green Building Council, the Florida Green Building Council, and Energy Star for Homes.

While we can't help but wonder if the words "green" and "mansion" inherently represent a contradiction, the 15,071-square-foot mansion does incorporate plenty of eco features.

Solar panels meet most of the house's energy needs. Environmentally conscious lighting reduces electricity consumption by 70 percent. If the homeowner wants to know how much electricity is being consumed, the automated feedback system displays energy efficiency in real time.

A water system collects enough runoff water from the entire cedar roof to fill an average swimming pool every 14 days. The water is then used to fill the water garden and irrigate the landscape. Ultra-efficient air conditioning and purification systems ensure air quality that's supposedly twice as clean as a hospital's operating room. … Read more