dell log

Palm and Dell Phones on AT&T

2010-03-22T17:39:00.000+02:00

I’ve landed in Las Vegas for CTIA Wireless, the U.S.’s biggest phone confab. The show floor doesn’t open until tomorrow, but news is already breaking. AT&T, for instance, has announced that it’s adding Palm’s Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to its lineup, as well as Dell’s Android-based Aero–the first Dell phone to ship in the U.S.

At the moment, it’s fashionable to declare Palm to be dead. It’s true that things look bleak at the moment, but pundits have been writing premature obituaries for the company for years, so I’d take the current round of knowing analysis with a grain of salt. With the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus’s arrival on AT&T, there are Palm handsets on ever major U.S. carrier except T-Mobile. That can’t hurt, and might help.

(I’m sorry that the AT&T Pre Plus lacks the nifty Mobile HotSpot feature that’s available on the Verizon version. But I’m not surprised: If AT&T had enabled MHS on the Pre while continuing to deny iPhone users the tethering it said was “coming soon” back in 2008, iPhone users would have headed towards AT&T headquarters with pitchforks.)

Dell, meanwhile, is a company that hasn’t had much luck with handheld gizmos in the past (remember the DJ?). The Aero runs Dell’s own Android interface and is based on the Mini 3, which has only been available in China and Brazil until now. I’ll try to track one down before I head home from the show.

[Via http://technologizer.com]

Dell Vostro V13 Core 2 Solo

2010-03-22T11:30:00.000+02:00

Adamo laptops are among the sexiest machine available on Dell Catalog, but like every high-end goods, price is an obstacle difficult to overcome for most of us… And when Dell decided to offer a Cheap Adamo, the Vostro V13, we decided that we had to give it a try and found out if our 69,980 Yen Vostro V13 was a pretty good deal after all. Just to let you know Dell Japan as nice offer for a Vista and Celeron 743 powered Vostro V13 at just 12,980 Yen (106€).

Dell Vostro V13 Specs:

- Intel CoreTM 2 Solo SU3500 @ 1.40 GHz

- 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM (1066 MHz)

- Intel GMA 4500MHD

- 320 GB Serial ATA 7,200 rpm

- 13.3” HDF LED Backlight Monitor with a 1366×768 resolution.

First Impression

Directly coming from the Adamo family the Vostro V13 inherit for its big brother handsomeness and quality build. Like the Adamo the Vostro V13 peculiarity reside in the way you will close your computer screen and lid, lying on top of your computer bottom deck.

Receiving an elegant brushed aluminum lid and bottom body, the V13 over all quality is matching our expectation. Add to this a well design and elegant keyboard and mouse pad, the Vostro V13 is just the elegant Business oriented Laptop that many of us would die for.

Minimalistic the V13 is in the other hands a bit means with peripheral. Don’t expect much here but the V13 only features a USB 2.0 port and an e-SATA one. If you are looking forward to plug your computer to your nice 24” Full HD Monitor you will have to do it the good old fashion way with the poor man D-Sub output.

Luckily Dell also thought that it could be nice to add 2 more slot with a SD Card reader and an Express Card/34 port on the side of your computer ant that pretty much it.

Looking forward to enjoy HD video on the Go? You are in luck, since the Vostro V13 features a pretty nice none glossy 13.3” screen with a 1366×768 resolution

Everyday usage.

Unfortunately only available in Japan with a Celeron 743 or a Core 2 Solo SU3500, the Vostro V13 is far from being as powerful as an Adamo, at least for us in Japan, but the good news is that it will just do what it is suppose to do! Now let’s face it, and even if you would have better enjoyed a Core 2 Duo S7300 like on the USA V13 for example, the Vostro V13 has never been made to compete against power user oriented laptop, but has been targeted to business oriented user, where a Core 2 Solo SU3500 with a 7200rpm HDD will easily handle Web Browsing, Email, Basic Office usage and even some basic photo edition even with Photoshop.

If you ever wanted to push the limit of your Business oriented usage and just need to relax for while, reset assure, the Vostro V13 even on its Core 2 Solo configuration will easily handle Hulu Video, as well as HD videos. As for 3D video gaming, well let’s say that Intel’s GMA 4500MHD won’t give you the needed power to play those 3D heavy games, but once again, who will be crazy enough to try such games on such tiny and slim Business laptop whether or not you could get it with a Core 2 Duo CPU.

So far so good, the Vostro V13 is a pretty nice business tool, well built, nice aluminum casing an ultra slim with just 19.7mm, the Vostro has for me everything it needs when it comes for a slim & elegant mobile professional laptop… But as a mobile device, the Vostro has just one weakness… Its battery. Unfortunately unswappable, the Vostro V13 will need to go back to DELL support center if you ever need to change its internal battery, we actually were not capable to remove the computer aluminum bottom without damaging the computer… Bad very bad.

Conclusion.

Despite its poor choice of CPU in Japan, I would die for a Core 2 Duo V13, its unswappable battery, I would still get the V13 in addition on of me setting at the office. Actually using a Vaio G2 series in a Windows Server and Exchange Office environment, The V13 will perform just as well as my G2 Core 2 Duo 1.2Ghz plus giving me the satisfaction to own an excellently build computer and on top of that a very elegant one. And as proof, while writing this review I just placed an order for a Vostro V13 with a Core 2 Solo at 23,450 Yen (196€) to replace my Wife Lenovo 3000 N100 Core Duo 1.66Ghz Laptop.

[Via http://f3.kz]

P@SHA & CIO head out to campuses with IT CEOs

2010-03-17T05:19:00.000+02:00

Today marks the launch of a new initiative branded as “Campus Conversations” - a collaboration between CIO Pakistan and P@SHA, and supported by PSEB.

The thought behind it is that the industry-academia linkage is weak resulting in a disconnect between the two. Instead of each complaining about the other, a discourse that will enable the two segments to work in unison in improving this relationship for the benefit of all, is what is needed.

So CIO and P@SHA will travel with a panel of CEOs (this panel will change depending on the university and the city) to university campuses across the country to start a “conversation” with students/faculty. The initiative will be result-oriented with real commitments being the key. I have explained it a little in this interview with Rabia Garib at the CIO Webstudio.

Today’s panel includes Yusuf Jan of Mixit Technologies, Rahim Lalani of TRG Tech, Ashar Zaidi of Intel Pakistan & Danish Nafay of National Foods. Rabia Garib and I will be there too of course! We are heading out to the FAST Karachi Main Campus. Tune in to this blog and to the CIO Webstudio to see if we survived the encounter .

[Via http://jehanara.wordpress.com]

Dell E173FP - LCD display - TFT - 17" - 1280 x 1024 - 250 cd/m2 - 450:1 - 0.264 mm - VGA

2010-03-15T17:00:00.000+02:00

Dell E173FP – LCD display – TFT – 17″ – 1280 x 1024 – 250 cd/m2 – 450:1 – 0.264 mm – VGA Review

This monitor is creat, it takes up very little room, and still gives me a great picture – better than any other LCD I have owned. The really nice thing with this monitor is you see the whole screen – you do not have thet black box going around the picture your who display is viewable. I also liked that I could add a speaker bar to my monitor easily. This is an excellent buy and value!

Dell E173FP – LCD display – TFT – 17″ – 1280 x 1024 – 250 cd/m2 – 450:1 – 0.264 mm – VGA Feature

Designed for a wide variety of users
Ranging from the home to corporate or financial trading environments
Utilizes a 17 Active Matrix TFT LCD
Displays brilliant text and graphics with a maximum resolution up to 1280×1024 pixels
Monitor has wide viewing angles

Dell E173FP – LCD display – TFT – 17″ – 1280 x 1024 – 250 cd/m2 – 450:1 – 0.264 mm – VGA Overview

The Dell E173FP 17″ Flat Panel LCD Color Monitor is designed for a wide variety of users ranging from the home to corporate or financial trading environments. It utilizes a 17″ Active Matrix TFT LCD that displays brilliant text and graphics with a maximum resolution up to 1280×1024 pixels. This monitor has wide viewing angles, which allow you to view the screen from various positions without compromising image quality. With a contrast ratio of 450:1, it generates sharp, crisp lines and images, while its fast response time provides superior clarity for moving images. Those who require exceptional quality and reliability will appreciate the value that Dell E173FP provides.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Mar 15, 2010 12:00:03

[Via http://netebook.wordpress.com]

New Dell Computer

2010-03-15T05:01:00.000+02:00

My 5-year old laptop suddenly began misbehaving, and considering its age, I opted to order a new machine instead of wasting time troubleshooting. After much research, I ordered a Dell laptop. However, after already being delayed once, I received another email from Dell stating that my order had been delayed for a second time, and that if I didn’t respond that day, my order would be cancelled. I responded with a call to customer service that was most unfulfilling and followed up with an email:

“Please continue to process and ship my order. However, my faith in Dell’s ability to deliver has been deeply eroded. The is the 3rd delivery date that I have been promised, and both delay notices have been sent the day the computer would have had to ship to make the promised delivery date. It is clear that Dell’s supply chain management system is unable to forecast actual assembly or anticipate delays…”

Later that same day, I received an email that my order had shipped. I would like to think that my email had that effect, but I suspect that my initial analysis of Dell’s IT system is more likely accurate.

[Via http://thepinkyupdate.wordpress.com]

Dell Mini 5 To Take on iPad With Amazon

2010-03-12T11:03:00.000+02:00

Dell’s upcoming Mini 5, which was earliest shown openly at this years CES, will be made accessible in a range of colors and will also feature addition with a host of Amazon services, according to a lately leaked internal document.

The leaked information, which was originally posted on Engadget, details that the Android-powered tablet may be accessible in a number of “premium finishes.” The document also mentions thatthe Mini 5 will be accessible in a range of colors and designs.

Beyond the personalization options, the first leaked page unhappily didn’t offer several other latest information concerning Dell’s upcoming tablet, simply listing its features, for example the front-facing video camera, dock connector, and capacitive touch-screen. However, a second leaked page offers some extra interesting tidbits that were previously unidentified.

The second page information a content partnership that Dell may be entering with Amazon. The document states that the Mini 5 will incorporate with Amazon’s Kindle, MP3 and Video services, and will comprise a Kindle reader app

Could this partnership with Amazon be seen as a move to compete with the upcoming iPad? Apple’s tablet has the iTunes plus iBooks Stores, so supporting Amazon’s services could help Dell bring something like to the table.

For those eagle-eyed readers, you might have spotted that the leaked certification refers to the Snapdragon-powered device as the ‘Streak’, a name that first surfaced late last year. As for whether this is just the interior codename for the upcoming product, or an official change gone from the Mini 5 moniker is at present unknown.

Dell has yet to verify a solid release date or final price for the device.

[Via http://technonewsworld.wordpress.com]

Dell Precision M4500

2010-03-10T23:14:00.000+02:00

For those which work in business, Dell introduce new Precision M4500. With a new and very atractive design, M4500 came with some specifications which will transform this notebook in a very powerfull machine. Here are few specifications:

Processor: Intel Core i5 / i7

Display: 15.6 inch with 1920 x 1080 pixels rezolution

Video: nVidia Quadro FX 1800M / Quadro FX 880M with 1 Gb memory

Hard-disk: Solid state drive with 64GB

Memory: Up to 16GB

Web-cam: 3 megapixels

Weight: 2.72kg

[Via http://xtremecomputers.wordpress.com]

Oh, The Dell With It

2010-03-10T11:23:00.000+02:00

The workers should be here any minute now for day two of the roof project. Yesterday they stripped the entire old roof off, put down new tar paper, and got about 7/8 of the front of the house reshingled. Also, they cut out the dormer from the upstairs bathroom and gutted the room, except for the toilet and the tub, but that’s going. If you know anything about my upstairs bathroom, you know how the ceiling slants following the angle of the roof. Well, that slant is being bumped out and a new dormer built in its place and then a functioning shower will be installed so that one can stand erect while showering. Oh, yeah, well, there was never a shower there to begin with, just a tub that never got used. Today the dormer should be built so the rest of the roof can be shingled.

The fun continued at computer central last night. I don’t think I went into specifics about it yesterday, but Monday night, because I wasn’t able to connect to watch the Radio Chick on Shovio.co m, Ariel thought he could do something to make it work. But when he turned on the new computer–the brand new computer, the one that was delivered on Saturday–it would not start. It was a bit of a dance with a Dell representative, only because the first few suggestions weren’t working, but the guy talked Ariel through the situation and got the computer up and running.

While I was working yesterday, during all the chaos of home repair going on about me, I thought, let me watch a movie. But, neither of the two drives was working.

Oh, it was the greatest thing. The workers were here until dark and before Ariel got home, to tackle this new computer issue, I went to scour the driveway for nails. I began picking them up but one of the guys saw me and after I assured him I didn’t mind, he gave me this neat tool to use. It was like a super magnetic push broom on wheels. You just roll it over and it attracts all the nails on the ground.

So, Ariel got home and got on the phone with Dell, and how he didn’t end up having a coronary is beyond me. He went toe to toe with several different departments because their record keeping department has not yet updated the registration info yet and because of that, were unable to help him. We couldn’t run the supplied discs in either drive to reinstall the player and Dell (and I’m sure others as well) has a way to access your desktop so they can resolve such issues. But they couldn’t, or wouldn’t do it and Ariel was livid, yelling into the phone how “I’m a loyal customer, I own 4 dell computers, this one is brand new, I’ve had two issues with it already since Saturday, why should I be penalized because your record keeping department doesn’t do it’s job, get me a supervisor, I am NOT waiting another 24 hours for this to get resolved, I am staying on the phone, I need this resolved toNIGHT!” Rinse, repeat, over and over again.

Sometimes you learn from your mistakes and actually have to return to the scene of the crime. When he called Dell on Monday night, it happened to have been a wrong number, the number for Dell Canada, but they helped us. After over an hour of trying not to pop a blood vessel last night, Ariel got on the phone with Canada, explained the problem, and was talked through the registration process and the rep connected to the desk top and went to work to resolve our issue, all the while apologizing it was taking so long.

So, there you have it, Dell customer service stinks. You need help, go to Canada.

And let’s see what the newts thought of last night’s American Idol.

[Via http://brianksigley.wordpress.com]

Bon Giorno, Hello, AnnyongHaseyo, Konnichiwa, Kumusta

2010-03-05T07:51:00.000+02:00

Hi fellow readers, bloggers and working moms out there like me. It’s not that hot today here in the Philippines with a temperature that is almost 28° C (82°F). Currently working inside our nipa hut using my newly bought Dell Inspiron 1440 while swaying my son’s crib (multitasking as they say). Valuing every time that I have while surfing, answering questions from work and making my baby sleep and earn money. Nowadays, it is really important to budget your time, spend your money wisely and maintain a good relationship with your family. It’s really great that I was able to find a job that satisfy what the people around me needs and what I personally need. Working at home is fun and enjoyable as I am able to spend time with my 4-month-old son while I am at the comfort of our home earning some money instead of just surfing without pay. The job I am currently into is very flexible as I am able to schedule myself on the time that I am most available and of course my endless need for knowledge is being satisfied. I am happy with the reviews they made regarding my job and hope to answer more questions to gain more knowledge and earn more.

[Via http://azanzwer.wordpress.com]

Old PC is almost gone

2010-03-05T04:53:00.000+02:00

Wasted all day trying to fix my PC. Finally I gave up and ordered a Dell instead.

Windows started okay but it froze after about 5 minutes. I reloaded Windows XP but lost the mouse, keyboard co-processor, a bus and network connection. Istruggled for 45 minutes and loaded a wireless network connection but still couldn’t get online.

I then backed up all my files and set up my $300 Eee PC to check emails and get on the Internet.

I also orderd the new Windows Office to replace my 2001 XP Office I got from UT.

Dell won’t come until March 25; a long 3 weeks.

[Via http://hslu.wordpress.com]

New Dell computers have arrived.

2010-03-03T11:17:00.000+02:00

The Dell computers we purchased to replaced some of our 7-year old computers have arrived. It comes with Windows 7 and Windows XP downgrade.

It is going to take a few days to configured the computers to our liking so we can increased our productivity. Not sure if we’re going to use Windows 7 right away due to some ancient software we are still using.

By the way, we are finally going to get Office 2007. Well, Office 2010 is just around the corner. More spending in this economy, but hey, we are contributing to the recovery. We’re still not sure if we are going to need Outlook (2007) anymore since we have moved the email system to a less Microsoft-centric one. Anyway it’s still going to cost us a cosiderable amount of our IT budget for the softwares.

Currently the pricing for Microsoft Office 2007 Standard Edition is over $300 at Amazon.com. Where can we get it cheaper? Any ideas?

[Via http://amidon.wordpress.com]

Which Mass Storage Driver for Dell Optiplex 780?

2010-03-03T05:10:00.000+02:00

Having trouble finding which driver you need to install for SATA on the Dell Optiplex 780? Yeah me too. So after much trouble and lack of documentation on Dell’s website I figured I’d post it here after finding it on a Russian web site. For the record I was installing XP Pro 32-bit (for work). Had this PC not been a ‘test’ PC it would be running Windows 7.

And yes I put in the freakin’ service tag at Dell’s website.

In the BIOS it comes by default set to ATA instead of AHCI.

You need to install the Intel ICH10D driver.

With the proper SATA driver installed you can reboot and change it to AHCI and it will boot. Without the proper driver and set to AHCI the box will simply blue-screen and constantly reboot until you switch it back to ATA or throw it on the ground.

Hope it helps someone else.

[Via http://davesays.wordpress.com]

LevelStock.com: China Crescent Enterprises, Inc. Plans to Expand Into India in Strategic Move to Increase Global Sales and Net Income Beyond $100 Million Revenue Target for 2010

2010-02-22T17:27:00.000+02:00

Feb 22nd 2010, Braintree,Ma. LevelStock.com is pleased to announce to all of its members and investors information on China Crescent Enterprises, Inc. (OTCBB: CCTR) The Company released news as follows:

China Crescent Enterprises, Inc. (OTCBB: CCTR) today announced a Webcast scheduled for Friday, February 26, 2010 to present the Company’s plans to expand into India as part of a strategy to increase global sales and net income. The Company anticipates reporting record net income on over $40 million in revenue in the annual report for 2009. The Company has also announced a $100 million profitable revenue target for 2010 in addition to announcing a number of large long-term contracts.

A link to the Webcast will be made available on the Company’s website www.chinacrescent.com and emailed to the corporate email database upon release Friday.

China Crescent sends regular email updates to its opt-in, permission-based email database. Interested investors can easily, safely and quickly register to receive these communications directly on the corporate website homepage (www.chinacrescent.com). Recipients can manage their own email contact profile and safely unsubscribe at any time.

About China Crescent Enterprises, Inc. (www.chinacrescent.com)

China Crescent is a systems integration service provider that markets technology outsourcing services in China including the sale and service of brand name technologies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, IBM, HP and Dell. Following a recent strategic acquisition, the Company has expanded its business line to include original design manufacturing (ODM). China Crescent reported over $40 million in profitable revenue in 2008. The Company has reported record profits through the first 9 months of 2009 and anticipates reporting record profit in the 2009 annual report. Management has set a goal of reaching $100 million in revenue in 2010.

Headquartered in Dallas with operations in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dalian and Beijing, China Crescent bridges the gap between global business cultures to assist clients worldwide realize the advantages of the high quality, low cost technology products and services available from China. China Crescent also assists clients in localizing products and services to realize the tremendous growth potential available by expanding into the Chinese Market.

“SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT” UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The statements in this release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results, events and performance could vary materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause China Crescent’s actual results in future periods to differ materially from results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, product demand and market competition. You should independently investigate and fully understand all risks before making investment decisions.

About LevelStock.com

We are an investor community and investors relations website specializing in emerging growth stocks in today’s Hot Sectors and providing a platform of services for SmallCap, MicroCap, NanoCap Companies.

We encourage everyone to join our social media sites:

Free Subscription For Our Newsletters: http://www.levelstock.com/

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LevelStock.com is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer. The information here is believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed to be accurate by LevelStock.com Please be advised that the information contained may or may not be complete and is solely for informational purposes only. Please read our full disclaimer for complete risks and disclosures http://levelstock.com/news.php?viewStory=19

CONTACT INFO: LevelStock.com 288 Grove Street Suite 181, Braintree, MA 02184

Email: support@levelstock.com

[Via http://stocktradingnews.wordpress.com]

Check Out Dell W3000 30-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD HDTV

2010-02-22T11:40:00.000+02:00

Dell W3000 30-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD HDTV Review

Dell W3000 30-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD HDTV Feature

Amazing television experience: HDTV ready, wide-screen format for excellent movie and Digital television experience
Slim design: Save cabinet space or mount on a wall (100×200 VESA mount sold separately)
Use as either a TV or a computer monitor (or both); 300:1 Contrast Ratio; Widescreen 16:9 Aspect Ratio
Supports Picture in Picture (PIP), Picture by Picture (PBP), and Picture Outside Picture (POP) Functions
Speakers are included (TV includes speaker outputs to run directly into your home theater system); Includes LCD TV with Stand, Speakers, Remote Control and Power Cable

Dell W3000 30-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD HDTV Overview

With a full feature set, including HDTV capability as well as PC connectivity, the Dell W3000 30-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel LCD HDTV is perfect for multimedia customers who want to watch TV, DVD video and play games. The widescreen aspect ratio is ideal for video applications, and when combined with the Picture/Picture features, makes it easier for users to maximize their multimedia experience by simultaneously viewing images from multiple video inputs including those from a PC.

Available at Amazon Related Products Customer Reviews

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Feb 22, 2010 05:40:05

[Via http://largestlcdtv.wordpress.com]

Dell Mini 10 Netbook Gets WiMAX

2010-02-19T22:00:00.000+02:00

The Dell (s dell) Mini 10 netbook is a very nice specimen, as witnessed by Kevin’s video below. It has just about everything a netbook user could want and then some, given word that WiMAX is now an option. The new option is unlocked, so it can be used with either Sprint (s s) or Clear in the U.S., giving up to 10 Mbps performance. The option is $60, and you’ll have to get a data plan which is extra. Maybe Kevin can get his hands on one of these babies with 4G?

dell-mini-10-unboxing

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Better Battery Life Motivates Mobile Chipmakers

[Via http://jkontherun.com]

Need New Battery!

2010-02-19T05:29:00.000+02:00

My laptop battery is beginning to fail me. According to the warning message upon logging in, my battery no longer will hold a charge and it recommends me buying a new one. So i went onto the Dell website and theyre selling the batteries for $130-$150! Extreme ripoff indeed :/

[Via http://mrkennyte.wordpress.com]

It Ain't Over Yet

2010-02-15T17:20:00.000+02:00

By Dirk Van Dijk

February 12, 2010

Earnings Preview 2/12/10

Earnings season is winding down, but that does not mean it’s over. Next week will bring 336 earnings reports, including 46 members of the S&P 500. Among the more significant reports well be those from Retail heavyweights Wal-Mart (WMT) and J.C. Penney (JCP), Tech titans Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL) and Applied Materials (AMAT). Other important companies releasing results next week include Deere (DE – Analyst Report) and Kraft Foods (KFT).

It will be a busy week on the economic data front with reports on Housing, Industrial Production and Inflation coming out.

Monday

• Furniture and Carpet stores will run sales featuring stove pipe and tri-cornered hat themes (a.k.a Presidents Day)

Tuesday

• The Treasury Budget will finally be released. The report showing just how much red ink was spilled in Washington in January was supposed to come out this week, but was delayed due to the snow. Consensus expectations are for a deficit of $46.0 billion. In December it was $91.9 billion, but the data is extremely seasonal. The better comparison is with January a year ago when $63.5 billion worth or red ink was spilled. That’s right folks — the budget deficit is expected to be down significantly. If it is, expect the number to hardly be mentioned on CNBC, since that would not fit their general talking points

Wednesday

• The day will start off with a very important measure of the housing market: housing starts and building permits. In December, housing starts unexpectedly plunged to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000, interrupting a gradual uptrend that started in the spring. Normally one might expect a snap-back, but the seasonal adjustment might not capture all of bad weather. Building permits held up much better in December at an annual rate of 653,000, and permits are generally the best leading indicator of starts. I would expect starts to do better than permits in January, reversing some of the December divergence. Traditionally, residential investment is one of the most important (if not THE most important engine lifting the economy out of recessions). This time around, the engine seems to be running on just one cylinder

• The second major report of the day is the one on Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization. In December, overall Industrial production rose by 0.6%, but that was mostly due to a huge surge in Utility output, which rose 5.9%. Utility output is as much a function of the weather as it is of economic activity. Manufacturing output actually fell 0.1%. Look for a small rebound in manufacturing output. In December, overall Capacity Utilization was 72.0% and has been on an uptrend since May. It was up from 71.5% in November, but as with Industrial Production the increase was mostly from the Utilities; Factory output only inched up by 0.1% to 68.6%. The Capacity Utilization report is one of the most underrated of economic reports, and while it is improved from last summer, it is still at historically very low levels. A stalling Industrial Production and a fall in Capacity Utilization would be very bad news

Thursday

• Weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance come out. They fell 43,000 in the last week, to 440,000. That reversed three straight weekly increases, but prior to that they had been in a very steep downtrend. Look for the decline to continue, but not at the same rate. The four-week average was only down 1,000 last week to 469,500

• Continuing claims have also been in a steep downtrend of late. However, that is in part due to people simply exhausting their regular state benefits which run out after 26 weeks. If one factors in the extended claims paid by the Federal government as part of the Stimulus Program, claims soared last week. Looking at just the regular continuing claims numbers is a serious mistake — they only include a little over half of the unemployed now given the unprecedentedly high duration of unemployment figures. Last week regular continuing claims were 4.538 million, a drop of 79,000. Extended claims (paid from Federal ARRA funds) were 5.684 million, a decline of 171,500. Make sure to look at both sets of numbers!

• The Producer Price Index (PPI) is due out. In December it was up 0.2% on a headline basis, a sharp drop from the 1.8% increase in November. Excluding food and energy to get the core PPI, prices were unchanged in December after a 0.5% increase in November. On a year-over-year basis, producer prices were up 4.4% overall, but mostly that was due to the rebound in energy prices from a year ago. On a core basis, the PPI was up only 0.9% year over year. Look for a small increase on both a core and headline basis in January

• The index of leading indicators has really been on a tear of late, rising 1.1% in December on top of a 1.0% increase in November. Expect a further rise, but not at quite as hot a pace

Friday

• The Consumer Price Index is due out. In December it was up 0.1% on a headline basis, down from 0.4% in November. On a core basis, prices were down 0.1% in December after being unchanged in November. On a year-over-year basis, prices were up 2.7% overall, and up 1.8% on a core basis. Look for the CPI to be close to unchanged, and possibly slightly negative on a core basis. Inflation is not a serious concern right now

Potential Positive Surprises

Historically, the best indicators of firms likely to report positive surprises are a recent history of positive surprises and rising estimates going into the report. The Zacks Rank is also a good indicator of potential surprises. While normally firms that report better-than-expected earnings rise in reaction, that has not been the case so far this quarter. Some of the companies that have these characteristics include:

Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) is expected to report EPS of $0.38, down from $1.71 per share a year ago. Last time out, CLF posted a positive surprise of 850% (OK, it was a very low base, so take that percentage with a grain of salt) and over the last month the mean estimate for its fourth quarter earnings is up 7.20%. CLF has a Zacks #1 Rank.

Reliance Steel (RS) is expected to report EPS before non-recurring items of $1.01, up from $0.90 a year ago. In the 3Q, Reliance posted a positive surprise of 26.7% and over the last month, the consensus estimate for its 4Q earnings is up an awesome 168.1%. RS is a Zacks #1 Rank stock.

NVIDIA (NVDA) is expected to earn $0.15 per share this year, up from a loss of $0.25 a year ago. In the third quarter it posted a 1333.3% positive surprise. Over the last month the mean estimate for the 4Q is up 15.0%. NVDA holds a Zacks #2 Rank.

Potential Negative Surprises

Goodyear Tire (GT) is expected to post a loss of $0.06 a share, an improvement over the $1.18 a share loss a year ago. Last time GT reported 6.38% short of expectations. For this Zacks #5 Rank stock, analysts have actually increased the estimates for this quarter over the last month by 2.44%.

Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) is expected to earn $0.46 a share this quarter, down from $0.59 last year. It disappointed by 56.3% last time out, and analysts have cut the estimate for this quarter by 4.52% over the last month. The stock holds a Zacks #5 Rank.

Winn-Dixie (WINN) is expected to report a loss of $0.16, worse than the loss of $0.06 last year. Last quarter they reported 3.50% short of expectations. Over the past month, analysts have cut the estimate for this Zacks #5 Rank stock by 10.8%.

[Via http://zacksman.wordpress.com]

Dell Mini 5 Poses For Photo Opp

2010-02-12T17:31:00.000+02:00

Enagadget has a pretty nice set of pics of Dell’s upcoming Mini 5 Android smartphone. This thing looks like a beast! The Mini 5 has been approved by the FCC with US compatible 3G bands, so hopefully this is the phone AT&T will get from Dell. Check out the full gallery of images HERE.

[Via http://thegadgetgurus.net]

Dell Warranty Class Action Lawsuit Allowed To Proceed In Ontario

2010-02-08T17:24:00.000+02:00

If you’re in Ontario and you have a Dell computer, you may want to pay attention to this. Law professor Micheal Geist has been tracking the story of a young man who needed his computer fixed:

In 2004, Ian Andrews purchased a Dell laptop computer for $1,700. About 2 1/2 years later, the computer began to malfunction, periodically shutting down unexpectedly. Stuck with a problem computer that was past the standard warranty period, Andrews complained to Dell. The computer giant responded that the online contract governing the initial purchase required him to resolve the dispute by arbitration.

Andrews recognized this was not a realistic approach, later stating that, as a university student, he was not in a financial position to retain counsel to support an arbitration claim. Instead, he chose a different course of action, suing the company as part of a class-action lawsuit that brought together thousands of consumers experiencing similar problems.

Dell challenged the class-action suit, but last month the Ontario Court of Appeal sided with Andrews, ruling that it could proceed.

This sounds somewhat similar to a Dell lawsuit that I’ve written about in the past. Why is this decision important for people in Ontario? I’ll let Geist explain:

This latest case represents a major win for Canadian consumer groups, who have tangled with Dell before in a case that ultimately went to the Supreme Court of Canada. Businesses operating online may understandably prefer to limit their likely liability through arbitration, but the resounding response from the Ontario legislature and courts indicates that it should not be possible to force consumers to click away their class-action rights.

I’m all for having consumers protected, so as far as I’m concerned this is great for them. I do have one question though. Dell keeps getting hit with these types of lawsuits. I wonder what’s up with that? Perhaps it’s something that they need to look at so that they are still a viable choice for those who want to buy PCs.

[Via http://itnerd.wordpress.com]

Dell Mini 5 passes FCC

2010-02-08T10:45:00.000+02:00

One device that i am hugely is excited for running android is the Dell Mini 5. On the North American front the device has not got much attention , although we did grab a video of it at CES 2010 (Dell Mini 5 at CES 2010). I would love to see all the features a device of this size and potential power is bringing to us. Could this device alone beat out any hope for Apple’s Tablet being successful granted this device has some real power behind it (probably not)? It has passed the FCC on AT&T 3G bands, and Dell has taken the stance Entertainment device first and phone second, and the way people are using Smartphones today you can be mad at them for taking this approach. For specs on the Device keep up with our Blog and we will make sure to keep you updated on the device.

Dell Mini 5 Passes FCC>>>

[Via http://smartphoneinsight.com]

Dell Mini 5 Prototype Sneak Peak

2010-02-05T16:55:00.000+02:00

Snuggle up with the black Dell Streak/Mini 5 prototype, which has “Model M01M” marked under the battery cover—probably the most official name to date. Spec-wise the M01M sums up what’s been speculated all along—A 5-inch 800×480 touchscreen, Android 1.6, 1GHz CPU (presumably Snapdragon, as revealed by the teardown), WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G of some sort, 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, front-facing camera, and the same 1530mAh battery as the one in the teardown. The price? ¥7,500, which converts to a whopping $1,098 in US cash, but bear in mind that this doesn’t reflect the M01M’s actual retail price for whenever it might launch.

[Via http://evolveent.wordpress.com]

et tu, Dell?

2010-02-03T17:51:00.000+02:00

October 6, 1997. Dell is the number one PC seller in the world, and are just over a decade old. The young company can seem to do no wrong, and has returned investors a 2,800% gain in the past 5 years.

Apple had already seen it’s heyday in the previous decade, and has now fallen on hard times. Over the same 5 year time period, the older company experienced massive turbulence, and had lost around 50% of it’s value.

Michael Dell gets on stage and is presented with the question: now that Steve Jobs is back at Apple, if you were him, what would you do to fix the company?

“What would I do? I’d shut [Apple] down and give the money back to the shareholders”

Fast forward 13 years. Since then, Apple has seen a 3,500% gain in it’s value. Dell, on the other hand, has seen almost none, at the moment it stands at a mere 10%.

When looking at a shorter, 5 year time period, things look even bleaker for Dell: a 60% loss in value (meanwhile, Apple is around 500%).

So to Michael Dell: “Your company has lost 60% of it’s value over the past 5 years. What will you do to fix it?”

I’m guessing his answer won’t be what it was 13 years ago.

References:

cnet

[Via http://spritely.wordpress.com]

"If you want people to follow you, walk behind them" - Starbucks' Howard Schultz leads the field on ROI for social media

2010-02-03T11:48:00.000+02:00

In my ‘day job’ as one of the Director of a Social Media (ROI) consultancy firm called Media Focus UK Ltd I am always on the look out for fantastic thought leaders and columnists to follow and Gordon MacMillan at Brand Republic is one of those. He stays three paces ahead of others in thinking and can simply express what many feel needs to be said in readable and enjoyable terms.

In his latest posting (link below) he discusses the perennial problem of 3 out of every 4 marketeers or communication people not really understanding where social media fits as a part of their major promotional strategies and that they are ‘confused about the role.’ He cites someone who is not – Howard Schultz – the boss of Starbucks.

Schultz is asked in an interview which one channel will take precedence, here’s his answer:

“I think social media is a natural extension of our brand because we want to do things that are unexpected, and to speak to all sorts of people who are engaged with social media. It’s tough to measure but there is an incremental benefit to sales.”

MacMillan goes on “No one questions the value of PR or thinks too much about assigning ROI to it. It is clearly done well worth its weight in gold” and that there is one thing (the PR thing) that struck him, “Howard Schultz must think about ROI when he thinks about the 200% rise in profits at Starbucks in the last quarter.”

MacMillan continues “Schultz must think about ROI when he discusses how the coffee chain attracted 5.1 million Facebook fans and 768, 527 followers and how according to Nielsen the time spent by users on social networking sites has more than doubled since December 2007. Nielsen said last month that consumers spent more than five and half hours on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009.”

A Chinese proverb (I forget who said it now – perhaps Lao Tse) said something along the lines of “If you want people to follow you, walk behind them.” Meaning, I’d guess you can persuade people easier if you are one of them and are listening to what they think, feel and are responding to them and valuing them all. Isn’ t that what Starbucks are doing in this example?

MacMillan concludes “If you want to talk to these people you’d better be where they are. I’ll mention Dell again. You kind of have to and while the $6.5m it made via Twitter is a drop in the ocean it is part of a growing drop that many savvy firms are part of.”

Free downloads of real life examples on how social media is changing the way business works – taken from newspapers ‘09

Making Money from Social Media – real world examples

Better targeted advertising – real world examples

Corporate reputation disasters – real world examples

Changing face of journalism Real life examples 2009

Group based campaigning – real world examples

http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/gordons_republic/archive/2010/02/02/social-media-confusion-and-the-problem-with-roi.aspx

[Via http://virginonmedia.wordpress.com]

Dell Mini 5 Android-powered

2010-01-27T04:43:00.000+02:00

Dell has unveiled a 5-inch Android-powered tablet PC at CES, which is called Slate for now. The device comes with a SIM slot so you can hook up to 3G service for Internet connectivity, it has a 5-megapixel camera and It’s believed that Dell is prepping similar devices with different screen sizes and form factors.

[Via http://garyzc.wordpress.com]

Episode 23: A Toppie Family Secret?

2010-01-25T11:16:00.000+02:00

This episode of the Smellcast covers a lot of ground.

Toppie talks about doing a project for his Dad. Then he jibber jabbers about going downtown to get high speed internet access. It’s about time Toppie. Welcome to the twenty first century. He also has a new flash drive storage unit thingy that seems to excite him.

Also, a brief listen to a podcast called Ding Da Bell that Toppie dearly loves. It really cracks him up big time. Ding and the Bell are so sweet and lovable. You can find them over at dingdabell.com and also on Itunes.

Listen as Toppie fiddles with his new flash drive. Riveting stuff. No, really.

Toppie’s new computer is acting up. Toppie fears it will never really work right. This leads him to once again extole the virtues of his old, now defunct Dell computer.

Toppie reveals tantilizing evidence of a deep dark family secret — were Toppie’s grandparents ever really married??? There’s some obscure document signed by some strangers that a marriage was apparently performed, but, as we just realized, no wedding photos!! Mysterious!

Talk to your parents! Talk to your grandparents and ask them questions about thier life before they’re gone. You will be glad you did.

Please click the link below to listen to the Smellcast/episode 23.

The Smellcast/Episode 23

[Via http://smellcast.wordpress.com]

Ok. It’s almost back together…

2010-01-22T05:30:00.000+02:00

I have been working this evening on getting programs loaded back onto the new hard drive that I have installed into my computer.

The hard drive that came with my system appears to be failing. I was getting alert message all weekend. I contacted Dell and after running the diagnostic software they determined yes the drive was bad and sent a new one overnight.

They put an image of my operating system and stuff that came with the computer and I’m installing what I put on after I got it. Of course, Dell forgot a few things… I have downloaded from their support site two things but I believe they are going to have to send me a Roxio disc because I don’t have one with what they sent last year. Overall their customer service has been great and I have no complaints in that area with this situation.

The fun part is now going to be getting my iPhone backup into the new system so that I won’t lose everything. I have downloaded a program that is suppose to make this transition easier. I will find out tomorrow evening when I sit down to get this done.

Wish me luck!

[Via http://ckahr.wordpress.com]

Why Netbooks Make Great Christmas Gifts

2010-01-18T17:01:00.000+02:00

Did you know that for less than $500 you can get a powerful full-featured computer that is also compact, stylish and light?

Introducing – Netbooks (also called mini notebooks or subnotebooks), a hot ticket in Europe, being slowly introduced to the US market. Since their emergence in 2007 netbooks have steadily improved in specs and now there is very little distinction between a netbook and a small notebook in terms of computing power.

A typical netbook weighs only 3 lbs, has a 12″ screen and costs up to $500. Since it is optimized for regular home use, a netbook is perfect for surfing, looking up information, playing movies or even games. A netbook is light, compact, and has excellent battery life. A 12″ ultra crisp screen is more than enough for performing daily tasks.

While some people use their iPhone or a bulky, hot laptop for surfing and email checking, it is worth considering that a typical iPhone only has a 3.5″ screen, and seriously lacks features and CPU power (it’s browser can’t even play Flash). Do you know how much an iPhone costs? An iPhone costs as much as the most powerful netbook.

Let’s look at the specs for the upcoming ASUS EEEPC 1201N:

- 3GB RAM – 320 GB Harddrive – HDMI out (to hookup directly to your HD TV) – 11 hours of battery life – 12″ ultra bright screen – Wi-Fi- Bluetooth – Webcam – Windows 7 – SD Card slot

All that for just $500! A similarly equipped Apple MacBook starts at $999, and it won’t be as light and long lasting. It is also worth mentioning that it is possible to install Mac OS X on any netbook, though it is against Apple’s policies.

While most people are only preparing to do their Christmas shopping, you can easily cross one off the list – a netbook will make a great affordable gift for anyone.

Refurbished computers

Laptops for sale

Cheap laptops computers

Refurbished Notebook

Refurbished Laptops

Wholesale laptops

Wholesale computers discount

Laptops Discount

[Via http://ewoaunetbooknewsdm.wordpress.com]

Dell Store Lets You Change The Skin Of Your Laptop

2010-01-15T05:42:00.000+02:00

Dell has partnered with (Product) Red to provide some unique looking skins for your laptop. So if you’re thinking about getting a Dell, then you should seriously consider skinning it.

Read Full Post

[Via http://range.wordpress.com]

HP and Microsoft Buddy Up for Cloud Computing

2010-01-13T17:51:00.000+02:00

The manufacturing floor where HP assembles custom gear for data centers

Hewlett-Packard (s hpq) and Microsoft Corp. (s msft) today said the two companies would invest $250 million in the next three years to link Microsoft software with HP gear and sell it as one. The two have committed to what they call the infrastructure-to-application model with an eye to establishing both companies as big players in cloud computing. As the cloud gains in prominence, and is increasingly seen as the next generation computing model, hardware, software and networking companies are buddying up to create a data center that runs like a computer.

So this announcement is HP’s and Microsoft’s strategy for taking on Cisco’s (s csco) servers and its alliance with VMware (s vmw), but it’s also a blow to companies without such partnerships, primarily Dell (s dell). As for IBM (s ibm), it has tried and true services, software and hardware expertise to draw from. So what’s under the hood in the HP-Microsoft partnership?

Unifying and incenting a sales channel to sell HP-Microsoft gear
HP won’t stop offering other hypervisors but it will have a cadre of salespeople dedicated to pushing Microsoft’s Hyper-V
Like it did with Oracle, HP is going to build hardware specially optimized for Microsoft applications including an SQL server. HP declined to talk about what this means for its work with Oracle (s orcl), but since Oracle now is selling its database appliance built on Sun hardware, my guess is that partnership was doomed when Oracle said it would acquire Sun.
Microsoft will use HP gear in its Azure cloud.
The two will combine R&D forces to build out the future data center, which will be built around containers and will be optimized to run efficiently depending on the application.

Some quick thoughts here that I will explore later today on a call with HP and Microsoft: Efforts such as this one and Cisco’s tie up with VMware and EMC concern me, as they seem to indicate that the big players are using cloud computing as an excuse to partner up. In creating optimized systems of the type that Microsoft and HP will focus on, the danger of vendor lock-in rises. Is optimization becoming the code for proprietary?

Behind these optimization efforts is the holy grail for information technology, which is creating a data center that is aware of the application and can deliver exactly the performance required for a specific task and no more. This saves on power costs and also implies that we’ve achieved some type of real-time information and automation that make data centers run like a computer, rather than like a gaggle of servers networked together with Ethernet and duct tape.

But given the concerns about openness between clouds, the optimization efforts of these large vendors seem troubling. Now, your HP gear will be optimized for Microsoft’s proprietary Hyper-V virtualization instead of open Xen. That’s not to say HP’s management software won’t be able to run in heterogeneous environments, or that other hypervisors won’t run on its gear — HP CEO Mark Hurd was at pains to say it will– but that companies running those environments may take a performance or efficiency hit.

Regardless, the cloud is shaking up the traditional corporate IT market and Microsoft and HP are trying to figure out their own ways of putting their respective companies on top. I don’t think that it is a coincidence that the two started working together on this project back in April, which is when Cisco finally unveiled its server plans. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on the call gave his definition of cloud computing, which basically brings all of this home, “The cloud means a modern architecture for how you build and deploy applications.”

[Via http://gigaom.com]

DELL NOTEBOOK STUDIO 17- Jet Black, Intel Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz), 2GB SDRAM, Glossy widescreen 17.0 inch, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, 160 GB SATA HD, 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) , Dell 1397 Wireless-G Card,

2010-01-11T05:40:00.000+02:00

DELL NOTEBOOK STUDIO 17- Jet Black, Intel Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz), 2GB SDRAM, Glossy widescreen 17.0 inch, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, 160 GB SATA HD, 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) , Dell 1397 Wireless-G Card, Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal, Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam , High Definition Audio 2.0, Integrated Finger Print Reader, Windows Vista Home Premium Review

Check Price Now! DELL NOTEBOOK STUDIO 17- Jet Black, Intel Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz), 2GB SDRAM, Glossy widescreen 17.0 inch, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, 160 GB SATA HD, 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) , Dell 1397 Wireless-G Card, Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal, Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam , High Definition Audio 2.0, Integrated Finger Print Reader, Windows Vista Home Premium Feature

Jet Black, Intel Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz), 2GB SDRAM
Glossy widescreen 17.0 inch, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
GB SATA HD, 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) , Dell 1397 Wireless-G Card
Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal, Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam , High Definition Audio 2.0, Integrated Finger Print Reader
Windows Vista Home Premium

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jan 10, 2010 23:40:03

Beware Dell Customer Service – MDK – Fairfax, VA USA

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware Dell Customer Service, July 4, 2009

By MDK (Fairfax, VA USA) – See all my reviews

I purchased the Studio 17 on line from Dell. Prior to purchasing the Studio 17, I called a Dell sales representatives. I asked if I would notice a difference between the monitor on the Studio and the Dell SP2309W 23-inch monitor on my desk. I was told the difference would not be noticeable. Based on this information and my past excellent experiences with Dell machines and Dell support, I ordered the Studio 17.

I was extremely disappointed in the quality of the display on the Studio 17. It was substantially less clear than my Dell SP2309W–really not suitable for the long hours I spend on my machines.

Confident that Dell would readily take this machine back (based on my past excellent experience Dell), I called Dell’s returns department.

I was informed that a 15% restocking fee would apply, that these were the rules, and that there was no one who was authorized to waive this fee. I noted that Dell’s website clearly states that the fee does not apply if the “return is a direct result of a Dell error.” Direct misrepresentation by Dell’s sales representative would seem to fit the common sense definition of an “error.” I was given a great deal of legalistic verbiage by a number of Dell employees, but no help of the sort that I would expect from Dell. I was finally referred to Dell’s legal department although no address or phone was provided. I asked the simple courtesy that the return period of 21 days be extended while I pursued this option, I was told that this period was not extendable.

Dell’s customer service policy appears to be Caveat Emptor.

[Via http://8xdvd8x.wordpress.com]

Will Demand Meet the Tablet Supply?

2010-01-08T17:08:00.000+02:00

Dell (s dell) is using CES to offer a glimpse of its first tablet, an Android-based gadget with a 5-inch screen that’s a bit bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a netbook. The company is joining a crush of hardware manufacturers and software developers jumping into a white-hot tablet space, creating a buzz that has expanded beyond the tech sector to attract attention from mainstream media outlets such as USA Today and MSNBC.com. But is there really much demand for these little connected devices that aren’t phones?

source: CNET

At CES this week, Microsoft has trotted out an HP (s hpq)-branded tablet, Lenovo has showcased a laptop/tablet hybrid and Motorola (s mot) has offered a glimpse of an upcoming tablet product, to name just a few of the companies using the Las Vegas show to flash sleek new offerings. In the meantime, Apple (s aapl) is rumored to be readying a tablet as well. And many of the new tablets run Google’s (s goog) mobile operating system, which– as Google’s Andy Rubin rightly boasts – offers the flexibility to be leveraged on a host of different platforms (and which, as Om noted, could lead to the Androidification of everything).

But while Apple’s iPod touch — which is kind of a mini-tablet — has been a hit, tablet-like devices offered in the past from Microsoft, Fujitsu and others haven’t managed to find much of an audience. That could change in the next few years given the increasing presence of Wi-Fi and the deployment of 4G networks, and we’re likely to see a host of non-phone gadgets gain traction as connectivity comes to a wide variety of consumer electronics devices. But consumers will be asked to shell out at least a few hundred dollars to carry a gadget in addition to their existing phones — some of which function pretty well as mini-computers. Whether there are enough users willing to do so is far from clear.

[Via http://gigaom.com]

What's hot at CES, and why it matters

2010-01-06T23:51:00.000+02:00

NEWS

What’s hot at CES, and why it matters

By Ben Parr

January 6, 2010 4:23 p.m. EST

The wild success of “Avatar” has sparked a wave of demand for 3D content in the home.

(Mashable) — We’re about to see a new wave of technological innovation kick-start the new year. Right now, more than 100,000 tech giants and gadget geeks are in one place: Las Vegas, Nevada.

They are attending CES — the Consumer Electronics Show — where countless new gadgets, devices, and technologies will be revealed to the public for the first time.

This show is a major trend-setter, not only for the gadgets people will buy in 2010, but for the direction of many businesses and industries worldwide. Technology released at CES has the potential to shift large markets such as entertainment and mobile in new directions, which is why you should be paying attention to emerging trends at this year’s show.

Three industries in particular could really feel the after effects of this year’s CES: entertainment, mobile, and publishing. The impact of the show on these industries could even reverberate into the entire economy.

That’s why businesses in these sectors should watch CES 2010 with a close eye, because technology coming out of here will affect them for years to come. Here’s an overview of what’s to come this week at CES:

1. The entertainment industry’s technological shake-up

The entertainment industry has been dealing with a lot of issues spawned by the rise of social media and web technology. Movie and TV studios are trying to find ways to fight back against piracy and illegal file sharing.

They’re also debating whether to support new technologies such as Boxee, a service that brings TV to your desktop.

In fact, a product known as the Boxee Box, will be front and center during the show. The device, no larger than a coke can, ports Boxee’s TV content (including CNN, CBS, and Internet TV channel Rev3) onto your TV. The device could have a major impact on how people use their TVs and is a technology many in the entertainment sector are watching.

There is another technology that will be prevalent at CES that theaters and movie studios hope will keep people coming back to the big screen: 3D. The wild success of “Avatar” has sparked a wave of demand for 3D content in the home.

Several vendors at this year’s show will reveal 3D TVs and laptops in order to latch onto this trend. It could change the whole viewing experience.

2. Everything’s going mobile

I don’t have to tell you mobile is hot right now, but you might be surprised to learn what’s going mobile this year.

For example, Logitech, LG, and Samsung are expected to demo projector phones at this year’s CES. Television is also going mobile at this year’s show, as Shapiro and others will reveal phones and mobile devices that can broadcast your favorite shows.

However, the big mobile trend this year will be Android. It started with Google’s announcement of its self-branded smartphone, the Nexus One, but Shapiro, Dell, and others are likely to reveal smartphones and tablets that run on the OS.

People expect their mobile phones to do more. Not only that, they expect more of what they do to be mobile. That trend will be prevalent in Las Vegas this week.

3. Publishers and tablets

Why should magazine, newspaper, and book publishers care about CES 2010? Two reasons: e-books and tablets. In the impending wake of the rumored Apple Tablet launch, many companies are set to reveal their own tablet computers and e-book readers, including Microsoft and Dell.

CES could determine if these devices succeed as a whole. If they do, they could continue what the Amazon Kindle has started: creating an alternative way to read magazines and books. This year’s show could determine whether publishers need to make their content tablet friendly.

[Via http://dominicstoughton.wordpress.com]

China Inflation May Be US Opportunity

2010-01-04T11:12:00.000+02:00

China continues to thrash the US in terms of rapidity of economic growth. Analysts expect GDP growth in the People’s Republic to be above 10% this year which the improvement in the US may be no better than 3%.

The HSBC purchasing manager index for China rose to 56.1 in December, up from 55.7 in November. Reuters reports that the figure is the best since April 2004.

A hot economy often come with the specter of inflation. Chinese manufacturing companies are already admitting that their rising costs are forcing increases in the prices that they charge their customers.

China is faced with three tremendous forces that are likely to make hyper-inflation more likely as the year wears on. The first is the impressive availability of capital. China’s $585 billion stimulus package has poured money into the market causing bubbles in real estate and equities. The capital has also driven consumer demand for goods and services. That demand is likely to push prices even higher.

China has also taken a large portion of its impoverished rural population and moved them to cities to work in factories. That has created a middle class in China that did no exist a year ago. The needs of this middle class are pushing up the costs of commodities including fossil fuels and agriculture products.

China’s need to import strategic products like oil are also likely to raise prices of that critical commodity, pushing up prices of chemicals, diesel, and gas.

Inflation in China means that it will lose some of its “low cost” producer status which has made it the manufacturer to the world. Chinese companies will have to pass on a large portion of their burgeoning costs to customers in the West, large companies like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and tech operations like Dell (NASDAQ:DELL).

The dream of a renaissance in manufacturing in America may come true. All that may be needed is enough inflation in China to make its ability keep its cost of factory-made products down impossible

Douglas A. McIntyre

[Via http://247wallst.com]

Dell Studio XPS X1340-024B

2009-12-30T23:30:00.000+02:00

Dell Studio XPS X1340-024B

Dell’s retail-only Studio XPS X1340-024B sits at the high end of the mainstream laptop group. Move up in price, and you find laptops built to fit specific user profiles, namely gaming systems with high-end graphics and models with large displays and Blu-ray drives built chiefly for media consumption. Beneath its upscale exterior, the Studio XPS X1340 features a fairly typical mainstream configuration that should help it appeal to a wide audience. It offers a faster Core 2 Duo processor than other mainstream laptops, which helped it finish at or near the front of the group in testing. And though it uses integrated graphics, it is capable of running some 3D games. Lastly, extras such a backlit keyboard, edge-to-edge glass on the display, and facial recognition software also help to justify the higher price compared with other mainstream laptops at retail this summer.

Still, the Studio X1340 is not without its warts. For starters, it runs hot. And for a 13-inch laptop, it’s a tad on the hefty side. Ultimately, the deal breaker for many might be its poor battery life.

By way of comparison, the 13-inch HP Pavilion dv3-2155mx weighs a hair less (while carrying a big, extended-cell battery) and runs much longer. The same can be said for Dell’s Studio S1440-022B, which is even more impressive when you consider it has a larger 14-inch display. The Studio S1440 includes a superior software bundle, too, with a full copy of Microsoft Office and 15 months of virus protection. Lastly, don’t overlook the Toshiba Satellite E105-S1602, which features a backlit keyboard, good battery life, and a two-year warranty.

The Dell Studio XPS X1340 boasts a unique look, with its rounded hinges supporting the display and angled shape. The tapered chassis measures (with the lid closed) a rather thick 1.6 inches along the back edge and narrows to 1.2 inches in front. A silver stripe cuts across the lid, separating the piano-black cover from a strip of faux leather. The leather-like strip provides a comfortable grip when toting the laptop around, and, depending on your taste, it either enhances or detracts from the overall design.

Like the Toshiba Satellite E105, the X1340 features a backlit keyboard, which is incredibly useful in low-light situations. It’s one of those features, like the two-finger scroll on MacBooks, that once you have it, you find it hard to live without. The keys themselves are quiet, flat, and roomy. The touch pad is smaller than average, running only 2.5 inches wide by 1.5 inches tall. The mouse buttons are quiet and feature an illuminated stripe when the keyboard backlighting is enabled. A row of touch-sensitive media controls sits above the keyboard, along with buttons for turning the Wi-Fi antenna off and on, and ejecting a disc from the slot-loading DVD burner.

The 1,280×800-pixel resolution on the 13.3-inch LCD screen is standard for a thin-and-light laptop, and is the same as you’d find on the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The glass covering the display runs edge-to-edge, which adds to its slick looks. A Webcam sits above the display, and with the included facial recognition software, which Dell calls FastAccess, you can set it up to log in to Windows by scanning your face instead of typing a password. While it’s better software than what we saw with the Asus UX50V, it still takes too long in nearly every instance to recognize your face. While it’s a cool trick, it’s faster to simply type your password.

Despite its angled, sleek appearance, the Studio XPS 1340 is surprisingly hefty, weighing 5.1 pounds. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is a half pound lighter, while the older, heavier Lucite MacBook weighs the same as the Studio XPS 1340. Even with a big nine-cell battery, the 13-inch HP Pavilion dv3-2155mx weighs 5 pounds, and the 14-inch Dell Studio S1440-022B weighs only 4.7 pounds (but ditches the optical drive to save weight). One final note about the design: the Dell Studio XPS X1340-024B runs hot. After 15 or so minutes of typical use (Windows apps and Firefox, mind you, not gaming), the left side of the laptop begins to cook your thigh. A relatively quiet fan spins to cool the GPU, but it would seem to be overmatched. The laptop seized up several times during our review process, and it’s worth noting that a few online customer reviews of the X1340 also reported heat issues and instability problems.

Dell is on the leading edge of laptop connection collections. HDMI is becoming more common in laptops, but those offering a DisplayPort connection are still in the minority. Surprisingly, a VGA port makes the cut here, though it was left off of the similar Studio S1440. FireWire is slowly fading from popularity, but a four-pin FireWire port shows up here, along with an eSATA port (which doubles as the second USB 2.0 port) for faster data transfer times to an external drive.

[Via http://dziklaptops.wordpress.com]

Dell Inspiron Mini 10

2009-12-23T17:36:00.000+02:00

Dell has always been inspiring us with ever new technologies. This time Dell has introduced yet another model of Dell mini. This notebook is not only made in different colors but also packs in quite some features to make it fairly competitive with main stream notebooks. The notebook will ship in 2010 with a totally new processor Intel Atom N450 processor. It has got a six cell battery and color range of Shocking Pink, Baby Pink, Light Blue, Light Green, White and Black. Built in slot to include graphic accelerator card will help you update to a gaming PC. The other very important feature is the choices you are given in terms of the operating system you want to have on this baby. You can have Windows 7, Windows XP Starter, or Ubuntu Linux.

Here are the system specifications for Dell Inspiron Mini 10

Intel Atom N450 processor with 1.66 GHz speed
10.1 inch with high definition quality
Built in speakers with SRS surround sound
HDTV tuner and location aware GPS configurations available in coming weeks
Crystal HD for smooth HD playback
Built in 802.11 b/g wireless with Bluetooth and Mobile Broadband
1GB DDR2 memory at 800 MHz
160 GB or 250 GB storage options available
Up to 9.5 hours of battery life ( 3 to 6 cell battery )
OS options available include Windows 7, Windows XP Home, & Ubuntu Linux
Weighing between 2.7 to 3.1 pounds (approx)

[Via http://technotrunk.wordpress.com]

I say NeTbook and you say NotEbook! Why so many choices?

2009-12-21T10:16:00.000+02:00

This one goes out to OB1 who asked me a question regarding ultra thin notebooks. Ironically the Mac Air he had purchased a while got nicked and thus now leaving him with am emptier wallet and the new ownership pain of finding another net vs note “book.” Folks i don’t wana start on a rant here but i have a few observations before i actually round this up. I would like to summon the car industry tiering metaphor if i may. Do you all recall something called a Corolla? (which costs a pretty penny now) its from that mammoth Japanese company that sells cars. Well over the years if you notice they have been upping the ante on that series and introducing other sub- Corolla models like the Yaris and the Yaris hatchback. Of course the rest of the industry follows this approach as well. The reason i make this analogy because in the Computing industry (laptops even more so) one sees the same tiering structure taking hold more and more. I recall back in the 90’s Dell’s cheapest computer would be no less than 800 USD. But the parts and specifications were not mediocre but average. Thanks to the might of Intel and AMD they have led a charge of lower priced (and lower performance in some cases) Central Processing Units (or CPU’s or the brains of the computer– sorry about all the industry jargon folks) Thus we have a whole new category of laptops and low end home PC’s running well mostly Windows 7 Home Premium. So to sum it up we now have:

Netbook: usually does not have any extras (not even a DVD Drive) ranging anywhere from 299-500USD like the Toshiba Satellite T135-S1300RD TruBrite 13.3-Inch Ultrathin Black/Red Laptop – 9 Hours 22 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Or an ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-EU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 4 Hour Battery Life

Ultra thin notebook: close cousin of the Netbook and sometimes the mid ground between supper high and price and super performance. I would include the Apple MacBook Air MC234LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop and even the (this one packs more features for the money) Lenovo Thinkpad X301 13.3-Inch Black Laptop – Up to 5.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows XP Pro) Notebook: which is your full scale notebook which start as low as 599 – 2700USD smiler to a or the infamous Apple MacBook Pro MC118LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop And the of course there is the desktop replacement workhorse! like the DELL GAMING LATTOP – Intel® CoreTM2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) , Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit, 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440×900 (900p) , Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW) , 4GB Dual DDR3, 250GB SATA HD, Single NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M 1GB, Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n Wireless with MIMO Technology are nothing but a behemoth like the Apple iMac MC413LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop These workhorses are “supposedly” the desktop class killers. To make life easier across the board, i will share with you a quick decision making Usage and Laptop or desktop so you can quickly make up your mind and just start using instead reading reviews and rants like this one: Common user: email, internet surfing, word precessing, light spreadsheets, home finances, light multimedia (playing NO High Definition content / music is fine) Any of the following should be good enough : (mind you i haven’t owned any of these except the ASUS eEE PC for my little daughter to skype with) ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 10.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) Acer AOD250-1584 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) Toshiba Mini NB205-N230 10.1-Inch Black Onyx Netbook – 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter) Mid user: email, internet surfing, word precessing, corporate spreadsheets, home finances, multimedia ( High Definition content / music / watching movies / some light games) Any of the following should be good enough : Sony VAIO VGN-FW510F/B 16.4-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) HP Pavilion DV6-1354US 15.6-Inch Black Laptop – Up to 4 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium) ASUS UL50Ag-A3B Thin and Light 15.6-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Professional) Advanced Gaming and Desktop Replacement Warrior! This is all the way and becomes the complete home PC which works off road and in the home/home business+ high end gaming or designing! ASUS G51J-A1 15.6-Inch Blue Gaming Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) Apple MacBook Pro MC226LL/A 17-Inch Laptop The All in one family PC Now there really is no such thing as a family shared notebook, there are alternatives i do like. Most recently i had a chance to play with the Dell Zino HD Dell Inspiron Zino HD Piano Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium) I really like this little hot tomato! its fast! its easy to use! and has an HDMI out (to connect to your existing HDTV) and 2 e-SATA ports (for super fast backup to your external family) . Works very nicely with any standard LCD or Plasma. For the family i highly suggest the following rig: Dell Inspiron Zino HD Piano Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium) LG W2486L 24-Inch LED Backlit Monitor (Gloss Black) Western Digital My Book Studio II – 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) USB 2.0/FireWire 400/FireWire 800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH2Q20000N and finally a keyboard/mouse combo that actually would work in your living room IOGear Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel, 2.4GHz Wireless GKM561R (Black) Your well under 1000USD (3750 SAR) with this setup and i think with the new Windows 7 all those 3 or 6 family members would be relatively happy. Oh and you will need some backup software to backup all the Windows user accounts on this machine. I would suggest reading my Backup article Now for all you die hard Mac folk out there, i am a bit reserved on the whole new iMac line from Apple. I would prefer a nicely loaded Apple Mac mini MC239LL/A Desktop + LG W2486L 24-Inch LED Backlit Monitor (Gloss Black) and of course PTC Mini-DVI to HDMI Adapter with 6ft HDMI Cable for Macintosh but i will enlist it anyway : Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop Western Digital My Book Studio II – 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) USB 2.0/FireWire 400/FireWire 800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH2Q20000N So there you have it! a simple list of brands and names and of course my rants! if you have further questions, please do send me directly for more Q&A’s. These technology investments should not be complicated — i try to make it simple but even i get caught up in the mix of trends and glamour! Netbooks, notebooks, p.c., mac, intel, mad, dell, which netback, netback roundup, notebooks roundup, low end home pc’s, p.c. vs mac, dell zino HD, macbook pro, family PC, family computing, mini port to hdmi, mac mini on HDTV, dell zino on HDTV, HDTV, HD movies, HD Nation useful Links http://www.hqlaptops.com/apple-macbook-air-vs-lenovo-thinkpad-x300/

This one goes out to OB1 who asked me a question regarding ultra thin notebooks. Ironically the Mac Air he had purchased a while got nicked and thus now leaving him with am emptier wallet and the new ownership pain of finding another net vs note “book.”

Folks i don’t wana start on a rant here but i have a few observations before i actually round this up. I would like to summon the car industry tiering metaphor if i may. Do you all recall something called a Corolla? (which costs a pretty penny now) its from that mammoth Japanese company that sells cars. Well over the years if you notice they have been upping the ante on that series and introducing other sub- Corolla models like the Yaris and the Yaris hatchback. Of course the rest of the industry follows this approach as well. The reason i make this analogy because in the Computing industry (laptops even more so) one sees the same tiering structure taking hold more and more. I recall back in the 90’s Dell’s cheapest computer would be no less than 800 USD. But the parts and specifications were not mediocre but average. Thanks to the might of Intel and AMD they have led a charge of lower priced (and lower performance in some cases) Central Processing Units (or CPU’s or the brains of the computer– sorry about all the industry jargon folks) Thus we have a whole new category of laptops and low end home PC’s running well mostly Windows 7 Home Premium. So to sum it up we now have: Netbook: usually does not have any extras (not even a DVD Drive) ranging anywhere from 299-500USD like the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-EU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 4 Hour Battery Life

Ultra thin notebook: close cousin of the Netbook and sometimes the mid ground between supper high and price and super performance. I would include the Apple MacBook Air MC234LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop and even the (this one packs more features for the money) Lenovo Thinkpad X301 13.3-Inch Black Laptop – Up to 5.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows XP Pro)

Notebook: which is your full scale notebook which start as low as 599 – 2700USD smiler to a Toshiba Satellite T135-S1300RD TruBrite 13.3-Inch Ultrathin Black/Red Laptop – 9 Hours 22 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)or the infamous Apple MacBook Pro MC118LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop And the of course there is the desktop replacement workhorse! like the DELL GAMING LATTOP – Intel® CoreTM2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) , Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit, 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440×900 (900p) , Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW) , 4GB Dual DDR3, 250GB SATA HD, Single NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M 1GB, Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n Wireless with MIMO Technologyare nothing but a behemoth like the Apple iMac MC413LL/A 21.5-Inch DesktopThese workhorses are “supposedly” the desktop class killers. To make life easier across the board, i will share with you a quick decision making Usage and Laptop or desktop so you can quickly make up your mind and just start using instead reading reviews and rants like this one:

Common user: email, internet surfing, word precessing, light spreadsheets, home finances, light multimedia (playing NO High Definition content / music is fine) Any of the following should be good enough : (mind you i haven’t owned any of these except the ASUS eEE PC for my little daughter to skype with)

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 10.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

Acer AOD250-1584 10.1-Inch Blue Netbook – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

Toshiba Mini NB205-N230 10.1-Inch Black Onyx Netbook – 9 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

Mid user: email, internet surfing, word precessing, corporate spreadsheets, home finances, multimedia ( High Definition content / music / watching movies / some light games) Any of the following should be good enough : Sony VAIO VGN-FW510F/B 16.4-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

HP Pavilion DV6-1354US 15.6-Inch Black Laptop – Up to 4 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

ASUS UL50Ag-A3B Thin and Light 15.6-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Professional)

Advanced Gaming and Desktop Replacement Warrior! This is all the way and becomes the complete home PC which works off road and in the home/home business+ high end gaming or designing!

ASUS G51J-A1 15.6-Inch Blue Gaming Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Apple MacBook Pro MC226LL/A 17-Inch Laptop

The All in one family PCNow there really is no such thing as a family shared notebook, there are alternatives i do like. Most recently i had a chance to play with the Dell Zino HD

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Piano Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)

I really like this little hot tomato! its fast! its easy to use! and has an HDMI out (to connect to your existing HDTV) and 2 e-SATA ports (for super fast backup to your external family) . Works very nicely with any standard LCD or Plasma. For the family i highly suggest the following rig:

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Piano Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)

LG W2486L 24-Inch LED Backlit Monitor (Gloss Black)

Western Digital My Book Studio II – 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) USB 2.0/FireWire 400/FireWire 800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH2Q20000N

and finally a keyboard/mouse combo that actually would work in your living room IOGear Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel, 2.4GHz Wireless GKM561R (Black)

Your well under 1000USD (3750 SAR) with this setup and i think with the new Windows 7 all those 3 or 6 family members would be relatively happy. Oh and you will need some backup software to backup all the Windows user accounts on this machine. I would suggest reading my Backup article

Now for all you die hard Mac folk out there, i am a bit reserved on the whole new iMac line from Apple. I would prefer a nicely loaded Apple Mac mini MC239LL/A Desktop+ LG W2486L 24-Inch LED Backlit Monitor (Gloss Black) and of course PTC Mini-DVI to HDMI Adapter with 6ft HDMI Cable for Macintosh

but i will enlist it anyway : Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop

Western Digital My Book Studio II – 2 TB (2 x 1 TB) USB 2.0/FireWire 400/FireWire 800/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive WDH2Q20000N

So there you have it! a simple list of brands and names and of course my rants! if you have further questions, please do send me directly for more Q&A’s. These technology investments should not be complicated — i try to make it simple but even i get caught up in the mix of trends and glamour!

useful Linkshttp://www.hqlaptops.com/apple-macbook-air-vs-lenovo-thinkpad-x300/

[Via http://techiestage.wordpress.com]

Dell & the Cloud: Where we've been, Where we're going

2009-12-18T23:05:00.000+02:00

They say turn around is fair play. Kevin Hazard of the Planet recently took this literally. No sooner had I finished interviewing him at the Cloud Expo in Santa Clara then he turned around and pointed his camera at me. He got me talking about the cloud and what the heck Dell’s doing in it.

Some of the topics I tackle:

What I do as Dell’s Cloud Evangelist.
Where Dell plays in the cloud:
- Cloud based services providing IT management as a service.
- Building these capabilities through the acquisition of four companies over the last two years: MessageOne, ASAP, Everdream and Silverback.
- Creating custom servers as well as providing data center design and implementation for some of the world’s largest “hyper-scale” customers e.g. Microsoft’s Azure and three out of the top five search engines in the U.S.
What’s next: building on this experience to offer integrated cloud solutions for setting up private and public clouds. Combining Dell hardware and services with best of breed software — all coming from/supported by Dell.

My thoughts on Public vs. Private clouds and how we will end up with a mix of computing models.

Extra Credit Reading

MSPmentor’s take on my interview

Pau for now…

[Via http://bartongeorge.net]

Could a new fund lift Elevation Partners?

2009-12-16T11:00:00.000+02:00

High profile private equity shop appears to be pitching new fund despite string of struggling investments.

Word is that Elevation Partners, the high-profile if poorly timed private-equity firm headlined by rock star Bono and star investor Roger McNamee, is raising a new fund.

Elevation's investment partners (from left): Bret Pearlman, Fred Anderson, Bono, Marc Bodnick and Roger McNamee. Photo: Elevation Partners.

As surely as dogs chase rabbits or night follows day, PE shops raise more money when the existing fund is mostly used up. (Elevation’s is about 70% invested.) Yet when all you have to show for your first effort are embarrassing misses — no rabbits caught, mostly grim darkness, metaphorically speaking — it’s got to be tough to collect fresh cash.

This is the tough position in which Elevation finds itself. Despite having raised $1.9 billion in 2004, the ballyhooed firm is far from a successful experiment. It’s got all of one exit, a gaming-company sale to Electronic Arts (ERTS), headed by an Elevation co-founder.

Two of its investments are seriously sick. One is the online real estate dog Move.com (MOVE), better known by its scandal-ridden former name, Homestore.com. The other is Forbes Media, the parent for FORTUNE competitor Forbes Magazine, in which Elevation invested at perhaps the worst time in decades for media enterprises.

The snafus sting, of course. But the fate of Elevation’s first fund rests almost solely on one investment, its $460-million stake in beleaguered smartphone maker Palm (PALM). That investment is barely in the money for Elevation. It’s worth about $500 million currently.

Elevation is demonstrably in for the long term: It chose not to sell late last year when the stock peaked around $18, compared to Tuesday’s close of $11.65. Palm recently raised $500 million in a stock offering, so its near term is secure.

Still haven’t found what they’re looking for?

But the company is a long way from a home run, unless Elevation forces a sale to a bigger player like Dell (DELL) or Microsoft (MSFT). Remaining independent is an expensive proposition, however, as Barclays analyst Amir Rozwadowski notes to clients.

“We believe that its improved cash position should enable the company to be very aggressive in its marketing efforts over the next few quarters, particularly as the company looks to improve brand recognition, carrier distribution, and overall awareness of its products,” he writes. “We do however expect the company to continue to burn cash at a healthy clip in the near term, as expanding scale is at the top of management’s agenda.”

Elevation declined to comment on its fundraising agenda. It needs to raise a new fund, though, in part because it recently added longtime eBay CFO Rajiv Dutta to its ranks as managing director. New bigshots typically don’t get to participate in the “economics” of five-year-old funds, so if Dutta, a skilled operations and financial executive, is to make some serious money at Elevation, he’ll need a fund from which to invest.

Elevation doesn’t have trouble getting meetings. Endowment heads are likely to agree to a sit down if Bono shows up. Once in the room, there are few better talkers in Silicon Valley than McNamee. (A wonkish fantasy: a “talk-off” featuring McNamee, venture capitalist John Doerr and Apple’s Steve Jobs. Imagine the possibilities.) McNamee and his partners will have their work cut out for them, though. One win, two disasters, a couple fresh investments and one still risky possibility. Not the strongest lineup to bring into a pitch meeting.

[Via http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com]

Dell Studio XPS 16 (1640) Windows 7 - Laptop with Facial recognition security software - Obsidian Black with Leather Accent, Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache), 6GB DDR3 , 500GB Sata Hard Drive, 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner, Edg

2009-12-14T17:00:00.000+02:00

Dell Studio XPS 16 (1640) Windows 7 – Laptop with Facial recognition security software – Obsidian Black with Leather Accent, Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache), 6GB DDR3 , 500GB Sata Hard Drive, 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner, Edge-to-Edge HD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD W/2.0 MP Webcam, ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 With 512MB, Wireless A/B/G/N Mini Card, Wireless Bluetooth Review

Check Price Now! Dell Studio XPS 16 (1640) Windows 7 – Laptop with Facial recognition security software – Obsidian Black with Leather Accent, Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache), 6GB DDR3 , 500GB Sata Hard Drive, 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner, Edge-to-Edge HD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD W/2.0 MP Webcam, ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 With 512MB, Wireless A/B/G/N Mini Card, Wireless Bluetooth Feature

Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) , 6GB DDR3 SDRAM
500GB 7200RPM Sata Hard Drive, 8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Edge-to-Edge HD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1366×768) Laptop screen with 2.0 Megapixel Camera, Dual Digital Array Microphones, Intel® 5100 WLAN Wireless-N (1×2) Half Mini Card
ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 – 512MB, Obsidican Blak with Leather Accent, 6 Cell Primary Battery
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium – 64bit, Microsoft Works, Facial Recognition Software

The Studio XPS 16 shines a light on features that matter. Its backlit keyboard and touch pad buttons are easy to use, day or night. Keep an eye on your battery power by simply checking the color of the indicator on the hinge. Capacitive multimedia buttons also glow when activated.Help protect your files with a smile.Why worry about forgetting your password? Facial recognition security software lets you log onto your laptop with a simple scan of your face. It automatically locks your laptop when you step away, and unlocks it upon your return.Externally Accessible: (2) USB 2.0 compliant ports,(1) USB 2.0 compliant / e-SATA port with PowerShare, 15-pin VGA video connector, IEEE compliant 1394a port, Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45), 54mm Express Card slot, Display Port, HDMI Port, AC adapter connector, Audio jacks (2 line-out, 1 Mic-in),8-in-1 Media Card Reader. Dimensions & Weight: Width: 15.15″ (384.9mm), Height: 0.95″ (24.1mm) front / 1.34″ (33.95mm) backDepth: 10.02″ (254.6mm)Weight: Starting weight of 6.4 lbs. (2.91 kg)8(16″ WLED display 6 cell battery). Weights will vary depending on configurations and manufacturing variability.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Dec 14, 2009 11:00:05

[Via http://8xdvd8x.wordpress.com]

The Bottom Line on Facebook and Twitter

2009-12-14T04:54:00.000+02:00

By Irina Skaya

Last week, I wrote a blog on 10 best practices for managing branded Facebook fan pages. Since, I also wrote Twitter do’s and don’ts that include crisis and time management tips. I’ve written both for a presentation for my social media team at Horizon Media, which was extremely well-received. In fact, the feedback I’ve received has inspired me to share this presentation on Slideshare.net. The same day I posted it to Twitter, the Slideshare team has featured it on their homepage. Take a look at it yourself, and if you like it as well, nominate it for the Slideshare Zeitgeist 2009!

[Via http://iskaya.wordpress.com]

RTR: Rapport + Trust = Referrals

2009-12-11T17:51:00.000+02:00

Grosh Backdrops and Drapery Brand

A NEW brand ambassador is a passionate consumer that actively and willingly promotes your brand, product or service through social media outlets creating a “viral word of mouth” marketing campaign FREE of charge. These people provide credible feedback and first hand knowledge of whatever it is you offer and increase your company reach and visibility. Sounds great right?

Where to start: “If you build it, they will come.”

To build NEW brand ambassadors you must first become one yourself! Practice what you preach. What brands are you loyal to? Why are you loyal to them? Tweet away! Champion a cause and let your voice be heard!

Be accessible:

One of the great things about social media is that “key” people are more accessible these days. It used to be that if you had a question, comment, concern or complaint your only option was to call a 1-800 number and listen to an automated teller ramble on while you press zero over AND over AND over again trying to get to the operator and talk to a live person. These days with just one tweet or post, key decision makers are at your fingertips. So listen up, social media company contacts whether it be CEO’s, VP’s, customer service and account reps, sales and marketing managers, it is good business practice to make yourselves accessible. Respond back to the good, the bad and the ugly questions and comments of your “potential” consumers and current customers because just as one tweet can make Dell 6.5mil, one tweet from an unhappy camper can certainly lose you money.

Mutually beneficial relationships:

A couple other ways you can build new brand ambassadors AND mutually beneficial relationships are through guest blogs and Twitter chat sessions. Guest bloggers not only lend their unique voice to your blog but they also bring their legion of friends, fans and followers to your website. They get to separate themselves from the crowd and promote their talent and brand while engaging a whole new network that may be unfamiliar with them. With Twitter Q/A chat sessions companies have a chance to gain valuable feedback on their products and services. Chat sessions are a way for consumers to voice their opinions and feel like they made a difference. Great for troubleshooting! It is also a wonderful opportunity for a company to build rapport and earn trust from consumers.

RTR: Rapport, Trust, Referrals

Rapport + Trust = Referrals: By being accessible and engaging with your current customers and potential consumers in your network you begin to build Rapport with them. By building rapport you gain their Trust. By gaining their trust, you get Referrals which leads to a viral word of mouth marketing campaign. Just like in face to face meet and greets, make sure you are genuine. Do not push the “hard sell.” Remember, new brand ambassadors promote willingly and that the most sold relationships are mutually beneficial.

[Via http://groshbackdrops.wordpress.com]

Fusion-io Update: IBM Moves Past "Server Proven" to Supported Device

2009-12-09T23:02:00.000+02:00

WHAT FUSION-IO ANNOUNCED TODAY

Fusion-io announced today that the ioDrive would be released to IBM clients as the HIGH IOPS Adapter in the 160gb and 320gb versions. To my eye these are identical to the ioDrives currently shipping as “Server Proven” but there may be some differences; I wasn’t able to download the datasheet so it’s hard to tell.

ANALYSIS

Fundamentally, Fusion-io is not a storage play — it’s all about performance. IBM’s introduction of the ioDrive to the SYSTEM X family of servers is a mirror of the HP situation where the storage groups essentially compete with the server group when it comes to Fusion-io. The good news is that all the left-rudder/right-rudder confusion is now over. Fusion-io owns the SSD-based PCIe market at IBM and HP (for now).

MY TAKE

It will be interesting to see the uptake at the direct sales level for IBM and HP over the next few quarters. In the world of zero-sum budgets, this could have an immediate and substantial negative consequence to SCHOONER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (another Lightspeed investment as is Fusion-io) and other storage appliance vendors touting NAND flash as a performance enhancement (Violin Memory and Avere come to mind).

CONCLUSION/PREDICTION

I give Fusion-io credit for sticking with the program — it’s going to be a long, slow, crawl to get the server vendors moving substantial amounts of ioDrives but it looks like the engine is starting to rev. I’m guessing the lone holdout, DELL, will opt in at some point with a supported device strategy for Fusion-io.

FIO ANNOUNCEMENT

IBM LINK

[Via http://sjsattler.wordpress.com]

PC-NEWS

2009-12-04T17:14:00.000+02:00

Acquisition of Dell’s PC plant in Poland by Foxconn Foxconn Electronics’ (Hon Hai Precision Industry’s) acquisition of Dell’s PC plant in Poland is unlikely to help boost its notebook shipments significantly in the short term since the plant’s notebook output is very small; however, it might trigger Dell to increase its outsourcing to Foxconn in the long run, according to sources from notebook makers. Dell’s in-house notebook production lines are mainly located at its plants in Malaysia while the Poland plant is mainly used for desktop production with a very small volume of notebook manufacturing. Therefore, the acquisition should directly benefit Foxconn’s desktop shipments and sales, the sources pointed out. Foxconn’s current weakness lies in its lack of a strong R&D team, and purchasing a purely manufacturing plant will not benefit the company much in this regard, the sources noted. The acquisition will not impact the current outsourcing plans of first-tier notebook makers for 2010 since Foxconn’s new orders are from Dell’s in-house production. Foxconn’s current notebook clients include Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Apple and Sony with an estimated shipments of 3-4 million notebooks in 2009, and forecast shipments of six million units for 2010, the sources noted.

[Via http://5magazine.wordpress.com]

Creative of the Week - Dell Design Studio

2009-12-02T23:07:00.000+02:00

Advertising Agency: Mother, New York

Mother, New York presents Dell’s new “Illuminations” collection of laptop exteriors. The design studio features more than 200 designs for consumers to personalize their Dell laptops. Here are some of their designs.

Creative via Creativity Online

[Via http://advertisinga2b.wordpress.com]

Cyber Monday

2009-11-30T23:25:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone! Back from a slight hiatus and ready to give you information on great deals.

Every Monday is Cyber Monday on the Savings Squirrel blog. Check out these great deals and coupons for extreme savings!

Target.com: Click here and you’ll receive $7 off your online order of $70 or more PLUS receive free shipping. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 7.

Godiva.com: Enter the code MERRY and you’ll receive free standard shipping on your online order of $50 or more. Expires December 7.

SmartBargains.com: Click here and you’ll receive 12% off your entire online order PLUS receive free shipping. Expires December 2.

RadioShack.com: Click here and you’ll receive $10 off your online order of $85 or more PLUS receive free shipping. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires January 15.

CrateAndBarrel.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $100 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 22.

TheChildrensPlace.com: Enter the code CABINB9 and you’ll receive 15% off your entire online order. Expires December 6.

Cabelas.com: Enter the code 9WINTER and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $99 or more. Expires December 16.

Nike.com: Enter the code GIFT and you’ll receive free shipping on your entire online order. Expires December 22.

Alloy.com: Enter the code DISC15A and you’ll receive 15% off your entire online order. Expires December 17.

AnnTaylorLoft.com: Enter the code 104000690 and you’ll receive $20 off your online order of $100 or more. Expires January 5.

VistaPrint.com: Click here and you’ll receive 50% off your entire online order (excludes shipping). Expires December 31.

Drugstore.com: Click here and you’ll receive $10 off your online order of $80 or more (non prescription orders only). Expires December 31.

Rugby.com: Enter the code HOL2009A and you’ll receive 25% off your entire online order. Expires December 7.

Kmart.com: Enter the code COUPONCABIN and you’ll receive $5 off your online order of $50 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 31.

Chadwicks.com: Enter the code CHAD234 and you’ll receive $30 off your online order of $90 or more. Expires December 31.

BrooksBrothers.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $200 or more. Expires December 23.

BCOutlet.com: Enter the code BC30CABIN and you’ll receive 30% off any single item. Expires January 8.

1800Contacts.com: Enter the code CABIN688 and you’ll receive $9 off your online order of $90 or more PLUS receive free shipping. (New customers only). Expires December 2.

BigDiscountFragrances.com: Enter the code CC15100 and you’ll receive $15 of your online order of $100 or more. Expires January 10.

E-ZRentACar.com: Enter the code CABIN and you’ll receive 7% off when you book any car rental. (Some exclusions apply; please see website). Expires December 30.

Budget.com: Click here and you’ll receive 20% off on your online rental. Expires December 31.

LeapFrog.com: Click here and you’ll receive 25% off your entire online order PLUS receive free shipping on orders over $50. Expires December 2.

Disney.com: Enter the code SHIP89 and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $89 or more. Expires December 17.

Dell.com: Enter the code G$J83T50BRX626 and you’ll receive $5 off your online order of $75 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 31.

DicksSportingGoods.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $49.99 or more. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires December 31.

NBAStore.com: Click here and you’ll receive 15% off any single item. (Some exclusions apply; please see website.) Expires January 15.

VictoriasSecret.com: Enter the code VSSAVE20 and you’ll receive 20% off your entire online order. Expires December 2.

Gap.com: Click here and you’ll receive free shipping on your online order of $50 or more. Expires December 15.

There’s plenty more; will post later!

[Via http://savingssquirrel.wordpress.com]

Dell Precision M4400

2009-11-30T09:45:00.000+02:00

Дори ако по делото, което е добре известно, че междувременно не е обозначена с ‘северна ширина “, в случай на Dell Precision M4400 ипотпал все пак е идентичен с Barebone на Latitude E6500. За да създадете впечатление за пасивно състояние на технологията на модели Точност, само една промяна на дизайна е реализиран. Това е с изключение на обозначението на типа ляво над клавиатурата.За тази цел вероятно също можеше да се помисли за серията XPS, но това е предназначена предимно за игри.

За да се обобщи, в случай стабилността на M4400 е отлична. Така че, нищо не пречи на интензивно използване на мобилните комуникации на тази тетрадка.

Това предлага отлични възможности на максимален размер на работния плот и преглед особено за графика и CAD потребителите.

Освен домашно приготвени Dell ипотпал Wireless 1397 (802.11g) и 1510 модул (802.11a/g/n) също актуална модули дата Intel, Wireless 5100 и 5300, са възможност за M4400. Последните две се различават по поддържаните максимална сума трансфер от 300 Mbps за Intel 5100 чип и 450 Mbps за Intel 5300 WLAN модул.

[Via http://ipotpalex.wordpress.com]

QVC, Let 'Black Friday' Host Dave James Go Home, After 20-Plus Hours On-Air He's Getting 'Zombified'

2009-11-27T23:05:00.000+02:00

What a trooper QVC host Dave James is! But get the man some strong coffee, or drugs. Or better yet, cite QVC for cruel and unusual punishment of its employees.

For QVC’s big Black Friday event, James is appearing live for the network for 28 hours straight. He started at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night. If he’s not on the air live, he is appearing on a Webcast, showing viewers a behind-the-scenes look at QVC.

About 4:45 p.m. Friday, we checked out the Webcast and saw James with fellow host Sharon Faetsch. He was using a Dell laptop that is going to be tomorrow’s Today’s Special Value, and he looked like he needed toothpicks to keep his eyes open.

Sharon Faetsch

“He’s a little zombified at this point,” said Faetsch, since James had been on 20 hours straight by that time.

“I can only close one eye at a time, or I’ll fall asleep,” he said at one point.

James could barely feign interest in Faetsch’s babbling about a taco-egg recipe. Finally, he got up and said he was taking a break.

“I’ll be back in just a few minutes,” James said. “Guys, I’m going to cut off my microphone.”

Thank God. It’s embarrassing when you leave you mic on when you’re in the bathroom. Didn’t Leslie Nielsen do that in one of his movie comedies, maybe “Naked Gun”?

James took such a long time getting back that Faetsch brought out a life-sized photo of him and sat it next to her, and then she had a backstage crew member come up and chat with her.

James is a pro, and it was amazing to see him summon up his energy and perk up when he want back on live TV.

Behind the scenes, we saw James being told he was going to have to do a “walkaround” with a cameraman with a Steadicam.

In between all this, James was concerned about the score for the Alabama-Auburn game. We know nothing about college football, but he was rooting for Alabama.

“Roll (Crimson) Tide, roll,” he said.

Some posters on QVC’s forums complained that looking at the Webcast “was like watching paint dry,” but we actually enjoyed watching Faetsch squirm when James took so long to come back from his break.

Amy Stran

And we heard this behind-the-scenes tidbit: “We’re going to have to be quiet when we go where Jane (Treacy) is selling,” the stage manager told James.

As we turned off the Webcast, host Amy Stran, a former cast member of the soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” had just joined James.

At one point, Stran and Faetsch were chastised by a stage manager for talking about one of their wedding-ring sets while James was chatting to his wife on the phone about the football game.

“You can’t have two conversations,” the stage manager said, noting that viewers — like us — were hearing everyone talk at once.

QVC, let James go home.

[Via http://homeshoppingista.wordpress.com]

The man behind the netbook craze

2009-11-20T11:00:00.000+02:00

A few years ago rivals mocked Jonney Shih, chairman of Asustek, and his purse-size laptop computers. Millions of netbooks later, Shih is having the last laugh.

Jonney Shih, CEO of Asus, in Taipei.

On a hillside above the Hsing Tian Kong temple in the northern reaches of Taipei, Jonney Shih sits on a wobbly stool next to an ornate low wooden table. Dressed in a taupe suit, white shirt, and silver tie emblazoned with jaguars, Shih, 57, cheerfully waves off three umbrella-wielding employees who try in vain to shield their boss from the hot sun and a swirl of menacing bees.

But Shih, who is waiting to be photographed for this magazine, sits serenely, perspiration-free in the sun, intent on a game of Chinese chess. “In Buddhism you learn to accept everything, to let it flow through you,” Shih says. “Then you can slow down and think clearly.”

It turns out the ferociously driven Shih is a less-than-model Buddhist. (Buddhists aren’t supposed to be thinking about technology while they’re meditating — something Shih is known to do.) But his ambition, combined with engineering skills and spot-on business instincts, also makes him the most brilliant technology executive you’ve never heard of.

He is the largest shareholder and chairman of Asustek (pronounced a-soos-tech), the $21-billion-a-year tech conglomerate that introduced the first netbook three years ago, ushering in a revolution in the stagnant PC industry. When it hit stores in the fall of 2007, Shih’s $399 EeePC was derided by rivals as a low-power plaything. But Asustek, or Asus for short, went on to sell millions of the mini-notebooks and soon vaulted to No. 5 in worldwide PC market share.

Today virtually every PC manufacturer on the planet, including Dell (DELL), Hewlett- Packard (HPQ), and Toshiba, offers its own version of netbook. (The exception is Apple (AAPL).) But the biggest netbook maker, with 38% of the market, is another Taiwanese tech company, Acer, which also happens to be Shih’s former employer. Asus, which had the market all to itself for about eight months, is now in second place, with a 30% share.

So Shih, after creating what has grown into a $10 billion category in two years, needs to come up with another breakthrough, and he’ll apply his own flavor of Buddhism to the challenge. “Most people think Buddhism is passive or about escape,” he says. “It’s not. It’s about confronting what’s in front of you with a clear and flexible mind. That might be a hot day or your competition, but you accept it and do everything the best at that moment.”

That sounds fairly magnanimous, but whether it’s in Chinese chess or the PC world, Shih’s best effort has a way of crushing the life out of whoever gets in the way. Shih’s “not that well known in the West because he doesn’t put himself first,” says Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of chipmaker Nvidia. “He’s humble, but he always has a mental model for exactly what he wants his company to do.”

The Giant Lion

Asus was started in 1989 by four former Acer engineers. (The name “Asus” comes from the mythical Greek horse, Pegasus.) At the time Acer, one of the original companies to transform the island of Taiwan into the center of computer manufacturing in the world, had already gone public on the Taipei exchange.

Many Acer employees took their stock gains and launched their own businesses. At a café in Taipei, four subordinates tried to persuade Shih, who was running R&D at Acer at the time, to join them in starting a company to design and manufacture motherboards — the central circuit boards in PCs that connect crucial components, including the processor and memory.

Shih demurred out of loyalty to his mentor Stan Shih (no relation), co-founder and chairman of Acer. But he did encourage his former reports to start Asus and took a stake in their new company. In 1994, after three years as president of Acer’s business unit — selling Acer technology rather than designing it — Shih joined Asus as CEO.

When a chip company comes out with a new processor, it’s up to the motherboard designers to integrate that chip into a standard circuit board that can run the computer. Whichever company can get its motherboard out first and squeeze the highest performance out of a chip set wins the business of the PC makers.

Back when Shih was at Acer, he made his reputation by building killer motherboards. When Intel (INTC) was rolling out its 386 processor in 1985, Shih and a group of engineers showed up at the Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas ready to do battle. “We didn’t sleep much that voyage,” Shih recalls.

In the competition among motherboards, Dell’s offering was the highest performing, but it wasn’t a technology suitable for mass production. Shih’s was, and it beat out the best from IBM (IBM), Compaq, and everyone else. (At the time, many PC makers produced their own motherboards, which they sold to other manufacturers as well.) The orders came pouring in, and Shih’s reputation around Intel and the rest of the PC industry was made.

After moving to Asus, Shih continued his success with Intel’s 486 processor, and computer makers such as Hewlett-Packard, Sony (SNE), and Dell found that if they used Asus motherboards, their computers performed better. By the mid-’90s, Asus sold more motherboards than anyone, and its revenue and profits climbed steadily throughout the decade.

But in 2001 other companies, ECS and Foxconn, started undercutting Asus’s prices in the motherboard business. Asus’s share in unit volume fell to No. 2, and annual profit dropped dramatically to $300 million in 2002, from $500 million the prior year. In response Shih launched what he called the “giant lion” strategy.

“You need to be a lion. A lion has position in the jungle,” Shih says. “So we kept driving the performance, quality, and innovation of our motherboards — we kept our leading position in the jungle. But I realized that at the same time you have to have big market share. You need to be a giant lion.” Shih founded a subsidiary, ASRock, to compete at the low end, leveraging Asus engineering and manufacturing.

The giant lion mauled the competition: Within two years Asus was back as the No. 1 revenue producer in the motherboard business, and its volume exceeded the output of the second, third, and fourth companies combined.

Meanwhile the company started making “white label” consumer electronics for the likes of Dell, HP, and Sony. Named Pegatron after the first part of “Pegasus” (the wholly owned subsidiary was spun out in 2008), it manufactured notebooks as well as routers, MP3 players, gaming consoles, and whatever else big brands wanted made. But Shih wasn’t satisfied to be a mere contract manufacturer, and in 1997, Asus started making laptop computers under its own brand.

A computer for the masses

Asus is Taiwan’s HP and Apple rolled into one. It is the No. 1 seller of notebooks there, but its laptops win for their performance, reliability, and style, not their discount prices. Asus has notebooks covered in leather, hand-polished steel, even bamboo.

But Shih’s ambitions extend beyond what clearly is a maturing market. He wanted to build a machine for the next billion PC customers. His breakthrough notion was to provide a device that offered good enough performance to surf the web and do simple computing tasks in a very easy-to-use, affordable package.

Fortuitously, Intel at the time was working on a chip that would help Shih accomplish his goal. “Behind the scenes we had been working on Atom, our low-cost, lowpower chip,” says Sean Maloney, Intel’s executive vice president. “Jonney immediately wanted it.” The question was how to package a machine around it.

For three months Shih and the head of Asus’s motherboard business, Jerry Shen (now the Asus CEO), personally worked out the basic concepts: what features to include (Wi-Fi, a touchpad, and a solid-state drive) and what to throw out (Microsoft Windows, initially, and a full-size keyboard). Then they brought in a team of engineers to make their ideas real. At one point, as they struggled over the machine’s software interface, Shen locked the team in a Taipei hot-springs hotel for two days. They finally emerged with their answers. When the first few thousand EeePC netbooks went on sale in Taiwan in October 2007, they sold out in 30 minutes.

Like other tech companies, Asus was hit by the global recession, and last winter it posted its first quarterly loss in the company’s 20-year history. The company has cut costs through layoffs and salary cuts, and has scaled back its inventory. More recently, however, Asus has rebounded, blasting through analyst estimates for its third quarter, and its stock is trading at a 52-week high on the Taipei Exchange. (Asus has made Shih rich, but his only concession to his wealth is a chauffeur-driven Volkswagen Phaeton. “It’s 80% of a Bentley and half the price,” he jokes.)

Asus, which gets 40% of revenue from Asus-branded technologies, is forecasting a 30% increase year over year in netbook and notebook sales in 2010. Of course, rival Acer also forecasts growth, and the maker of the Aspire One model isn’t likely to cede its No. 1 position in netbooks anytime soon. And so Shih is spending his time meditating about Asus’s next industry-changing hit.

The next netbook

At Asus headquarters in a bright corner room filled with fabric swatches and beanbag chairs, the next phase of Shih’s clear thinking is being prototyped. This is the company’s top-secret design lab. Lying on counters are notebooks that look as if they are folded, origami-style, from sheets of aluminum. Others have keyboards that slide back and slightly up when the case is opened for a more ergonomic position. An international team of designers swap ideas on couches.

Shih’s instinct tells him that the “next netbook” won’t come from an engineering specification but from understanding how people use devices to communicate, get work done, and play. More than ever he is pouring company resources into design.

He pulls out a prototype of the forthcoming Eee Keyboard, an aluminum-clad keyboard with a touchscreen on one side. Via a wireless connection, it turns a flat-screen television into a websurfing, Facebook-friendly device. From his pocket emerges a smartphone that Asus developed with navigation company Garmin (GRMN).

The Asus-Garmin phone has been a dud, and the keyboard isn’t out yet, but those items suggest that Shih is thinking about more easy-to-use, affordable products that are integrated as part of a digital lifestyle. “My competitors are doing their own version of the EeePC,” Shih says, “but I don’t know if they have the vision of how everything can work together.”

Is Shih’s insight about integrated technology the “giant lion” that will help Asus regain its leadership position in netbooks? It hardly sounds revolutionary, but by now rivals know better than to underestimate Shih, especially when this “bad Buddhist” is thinking clearly.

When you donate ...

2009-11-18T11:00:00.000+02:00

When you donate to ABVI-Goodwill you help our environment!

ABVI-Goodwill helps keep over 2 million pounds of unwanted clothing and household items out of local landfills each year. Our partnership with Waste Management also helps reduce waste of recyclable materials. You even help us create jobs when we repurpose donated materials into quality merchandise that is manufactured for sale in our stores.

We also offer Reconnect, a free program to recycle unwanted computers, in partnership with Dell. We now accept any brand of computer equipment in any condition at each of our eight Goodwill stores. Our goal is to divert more than 300,000 pounds of computer equipment from landfills each year.

3Com Insider Trading Probe In Effect

2009-11-16T17:25:00.000+02:00

The SEC is looking into what many people are calling a blatant sign of insider info on the Hewlett-Packard for 3Com acquisition according to Bloomberg (hat tip Zero Hedge).

Too May Apple (AAPL) Stores

2009-11-13T10:53:00.000+02:00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will have too many retail stores at some point. It will face the “Starbucks problem” of over-building. Starbucks once boasted that it would eventually have 40,000 coffee shops worldwide. It will be lucky to end up with 20,000.

A $3 cup of coffee is not a $1,500 Mac. Apple will reach a ceiling of profitable retail stores at a count much lower than Starbucks.

Apple has 279 stores and is adding to that total at the rate of about 50 per year and that pace is likely to increase. According to CNET, 170 million people visited Apple outlets in the company’s 2009 fiscal year and during that period the company brought in $6.6 billion of its $29.9 billion in revenue through sales at retail.

Much of that retail revenue did not come from dedicated Apple locations. Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) sells Macs. There is no easy way to determine the portion of Apple computer sales that come though its own stores.

Apple faces the classic dilemma of electronics companies that sell their products both online and at retail. Store locations are expensive, especially the in the prime areas Apple chooses for its locations. Talent is expensive, too. Apple wants people with handset and computer skills working with it precious potential customers. Apple could adopt the tactic that Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) had for many years. People who want a Mac can buy it online or not at all.

Apple believes that getting new Mac customers and switching people from PC machines requires them to see and touch its computers. That might be true with other products, but the Apple aura extends so broadly that it could be argued that the Mac sells itself. The limit to high volume sales of the Mac is likely to be based more on its high price point than whether people have held a Mac in their hands. Obviously, a large portion of Mac buyers have looked at or worked on Apple computers owned by friends, relatives, and co-workers.

The retail business can be humbling. A computer sold through a store has a much lower margin than if the same Mac is sold online. Apple cannot afford to make low profits on store-sold computers and hope to make it up on volume, although that may be less true for a company that has nearly $25 billion of cash in the bank than it is of others in the retail business.

Douglas A. McIntyre

'Twandroid?' - The Best Free Twitter Apps for Android

2009-11-13T05:34:00.000+02:00

With the recent popularity of Google’s Mobile Operating System (OS), Android, the race is on to develop applications for all the Social Media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Since all apps are not created equal, this article will highlight the top free Twitter apps in the Android Market today.

Twidroid ()

Twidroid has been my go-to Twitter client for some time, and it has come far from its buggy beginnings. The free version will likely impress you, while the pro version (US$4.89) adds additional features like multiple accounts and video uploading.

Pros:

Clean User Interface. You won’t find a better UI in the Market. The Home, @Mentions, Direct Messages, Search, and Refresh buttons are available from anywhere in the app, and the toggle-able input box reduces screen clutter. A calm blue color scheme makes for easy reading.

Tweet options. Tapping a tweet brings up a nice overlay with all of the mentioned links, profiles, and hashtags. Tapping a tweet’s blue arrow allows you to retweet, reply, and view the tweeter’s profile, among other useful options.

Highly configurable. The number of tweets in your feed, the frequency of notifications, even the font size are all customizable from the Settings menu.

Other great features include search, trending topics, notifications, URL shorteners, photo upload, and cut and paste.

Cons:

Can’t manipulate tweets from user profiles. A vital flaw in Twidroid that lesser apps address is the inability to select a tweet while viewing a user’s profile, including your own. This makes it difficult to interact with new followers or with tweets that have fallen below the maximum size of your timeline.

Hangups. Occasionally, Twidroid will go to a lot of trouble to refresh your timeline without showing any new information. This issue has been mostly curtailed with recent updates.

Swift

The Swift Twitter app is a relatively new arrival in the Market, released in August 2009. The interface takes some getting used to, but it’s worth the effort, as there is strong functionality under the hood.

Pros:

SPEED! Swift is, well, swift! The app loads quickly, and pulls in new data like a champ.

Continuous feeds. Many mobile Twitter clients will load a set number of recent tweets, and refreshing may disconnect you from older items. But Swift is unique. As you scroll through your time line, Swift automatically loads older tweets, allowing you to read and respond to anything in your feed. Your feed will show you where you last left off, and you can always “Jump to Now” to get the most recent updates from the top.

Resends failed tweets. If there’s a hiccup in your connection or Twitter’s service and your tweet isn’t sent, Swift will “try again later” and attempt to resend automatically until successful.

Expandable links. Selecting a tweet with shortened links will automatically display the expanded URL or title of the destination web page. This is great for avoiding suspicious sites, but I find it most useful in deciding which articles are worth the load time in a mobile browser.

Cons:

Can’t view your own profile. Other than searching for yourself, or selecting your own tweet (or a tweet that mentions you), Swift offers no easy way to view your own profile. Beyond the pure narcissistic pleasure, I find viewing my profile useful for interacting, and it allows me to put the right foot forward when following new people. This missing feature is a disappointment in an otherwise great app.

Odd user interface. Once you figure out that Swift’s interface is hidden below your username, you’ll be off and tweeting. Despite regular use, I’m often fumbling for buttons that aren’t there and pressing things inadvertently.

Doesn’t always confirm tweets. Swift will occasionally send your updates into the Twitterverse without confirmation of success. If you don’t get feedback right away, check your feed to avoid the dreaded double post.

TwitterRide

TwitterRide is a solid app. While it lacks a few premium features, its lightweight, dead simple interface makes it great for quick posts and replies.

Pros:

Simple and clean UI. Three large tabs top TwitterRide’s interface: Main Feed, @Replies, and Direct Messages. That’s all you need. Switch between them with ease and speed. Little stars on each tab let you know of new arrivals. There’s plenty of clutter-free space to read your tweets, and three built-in color schemes to suit your eye.

Easy tweet manipulation. Tweeting, retweeting, replying, and DMing are done from a separate screen where you can add a URL, photo, or mark your GPS location.

Smart profile viewing. Twitteride allows you to view your own profile from the main menu, and view anyone else’s by selecting or searching for them. You can reply and retweet directly from a user’s feed. TwitterRide also allows you to update your profile photo directly from the app.

Cons:

Can’t see the timeline when tweeting or replying. Because TwitterRide takes you to a new screen when updating, you can’t reference the timeline or even the tweet you’re replying to without going back and forth. This is the main reason I tend not to interact heavily with followers using this app.

Difficult to select links and profiles. Because TwitterRide does not bring up an overlay when you select the body of a tweet, you’ll need to steady those fingers to touch the tiny links and @mentions you’re aiming for. Opening links inadvertently while scrolling through your feed is also a common problem.

Xeeku

Xeeku has a lot of advanced (and some strange or unnecessary) features. If you can get over the sheer ugliness of the interface, Xeeku can be a useful tool.

Pros:

Advanced tweet manipulation. Selecting a tweet allows you to reply, retweet, go to a user profile, go to a mentioned profile, go to links, and search hashtags. These options are available throughout. Another handy choice is “Gmail Share” which will paste the tweet URL into a new e-mail message for sharing with your Twitterphobic friends and family.

Other smart features include photo upload, trending topics, @reply notifications, and saved searches.

Interesting features. Xeeku has some unique functions that I haven’t seen in other apps:

By selecting Recent Conversation from any user’s tweets, Xeeku will line up the @replies you’ve been trading with that user so you can read them in succession.

Clicking on a user’s profile will load their timeline and stats, as well as a “friend drawer” which shows the photos of the users they follow, much like a profile page on Twitter ().

Selecting “Gallery” from the main menu loads a random selection of “Featured User Photos” from twitter.xeeku.com. This is a fun way to see what users are uploading and find interesting people to follow.

Cons:

Harsh Interface. Gradients, mismatched icons, sharp edges, and wandering text await new Xeeku users. In addition to its ugliness, the interface can be frustrating. A row of buttons floats aimlessly at the bottom, putting the comparatively less useful “Saved Searches” and “Trends” icons before “Mentions” and “Direct Messages.” Additionally, the app insists on going full screen and hiding your notification bar, cutting you off from new emails, messages, and the battery life indicator.

No settings. Want to turn off notifications? Rather see 200 tweets in your timeline? Well, you can’t, because Xeeku has absolutely no settings menu. Xeeku is a lot like kindergarten snack time: “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.”

Instability. Xeeku has been updating recently, and while some patches tend to improve stability, others increase the Force Close rate. On the whole, it seems Xeeku may be so feature-heavy that it stumbles under its own weight.

Conclusion For now, these four apps tend to have the most useful Twitter features for Android (). Of them, Twidroid and Swift do the best job balancing rich functionality, speed, and interface design. In Android communities, Twidroid tends to be the Twitter app by which all others are measured, but I find I’m using Swift more and more for its speed and stability.

Quick Alert: Score one for HP as they grab 3Com!

2009-11-11T23:46:00.000+02:00

A tip of the cap to the management and M&A teams at HP, as they continue to acquire the necessary pieces to challenge Cisco’s core business. With HP’s acquisition of 3Com for $2.7 billion, HP has gained a portfolio of modern architected networking products that span switching, routing, and network security. Additionally, HP expanded access to overseas markets, including the ever expanding market in China, through 3Com’s H3C unit.

While some will laugh at the reach and capabilities of 3Com, HP understands that 3Com’s products are solid, modern, and good-enough when put under the HP ProCurve brand and backed by the power of HP and their Services Division. Furthermore, while Cisco continues to date the likes of EMC and VMware, HP is in full control of their destiny. They have built a strong portfolio that spans storage, servers, virtualization, networking, security, applications, and management.

While Cisco isn’t going to be losing any sleep over this acquisition, they will take note of how aggressive HP is going to be to not only defend their own turf but also to expand into Cisco’s bread and butter. However, IBM, Juniper, Brocade, and Dell may be tossing and turning tonight as they contemplate the future. If IBM continues to wait to purchase the necessary pieces to compete with HP and Cisco, their choices will be limited. If Dell does not shore up their portfolio, then they face the reality of falling further behind and severely limiting their growth potential. Finally, both Juniper and Brocade must weigh the possibility that organic growth may not be possible as we are nearing a major inflection point for all of IT.

One quick note, don’t underestimate Huawei or ZTE as they are both hungry and flush with cash. Additionally, Oracle remains a wildcard as they may jump into this race.

Painful upgrade to Windows 7 for my Dell 11z

2009-11-11T17:16:00.000+02:00

I just spent the entire day and a half working on getting Windows 7 installed on my Dell Inspiron 11z Netbook… what a hassle. Just to recap: I ordered my Dell 11z last month a few weeks before the release date of Windows 7, and Dell offered a promotion to “pre-install” Windows 7 on certain machines if they are delivered after Oct 22nd. My order fell in this category, so I made my purchase with the belief that my Dell 11z would ship on Oct 25th with Windows 7 installed, and thus I would avoid the hassle of doing an upgrade installation and having to fight to find the right drivers, etc. Well, that didn’t happen. My Dell 11z arrived with Windows Vista installed, and after talking with Dell support several times discovered my only recourse was to get the Windows 7 upgrade DVDs from Dell and do the upgrade myself.

First of all, the upgrade installation came on DVDs and I do not have an external DVD-ROM drive. So, I had to do some Googling to figure out how to create a bootable USB flash drive, copy all the install files to it, and boot up my Dell 11z from this USB drive.

After doing the installation (which went fairly smoothly), I discovered that several internal devices (such as the WiFi Card, Bluetooth module, card reader) were not present on my system under Device Manager. Apparently, these drivers were not part of the “native” drivers available with Windows 7. So I visited the Dell web site to discover that most of these drivers are non-existent under the Dell 11z product for Windows 7 drivers and apps.

I decided to contact Dell tech support via the online chat, and I get someone who just runs me in circles doing a bunch of crazy stuff. He’s giving me links to download drivers and apps that just don’t work. Finally, he tells me my Win 7 installation must have “gone bad” and I will need to reinstall Vista, then Windows 7 on top of that. Go suck an egg, brother… I’m not doing that!

So my next move was to restore my Dell 11z back to the Vista OS-state by using Clonezilla and the backup image that I made just before I did the Win 7 upgrade. I then went through the system tray icons, start menu, etc. and wrote down every extra Dell driver and app I could find. I also made screenshots of the Device Manager output so I would know what I might be missing so far as devices and drivers.

Once I finished documenting everything, I reinstall Windows 7 again as a clean install. Now, Dell provided a 2nd DVD with the upgrade package labeled “Win 7 Drivers and Apps”, however, there wasn’t a user-friendly application I could run that would install the necessary drivers and apps for my Dell 11z. You needed to go through all the folders on that DVD and figure out which ones might apply to your system and try to install them. A real pain.

So, I downloaded all the drivers I could find from the Dell support site that seemed relevant for my Dell 11z under Windows 7, and also the Vista drivers and apps for anything that seemed to be missing from the Win 7 drivers. Even between the vista and Win 7 drivers/apps, I was still missing two key drivers: One for my internal WiFi card and the other for the Bluetooth Internal Module. Doing some keyword searching on the Dell web site popped up two drivers that seemed to be right (although I don’t know if they are the latest versions). Here’s the links for the two missing drivers:

Dell 1520 Wireless-N Mini-Card Driver and Bluetooth Wireless 365 Module Driver

Armed with all these drivers and apps, I began installing them one by one until all the devices and apps were back, just like under the original Vista OS system. I double checked the system tray icons and Device Manager and it seems that everything is present and working properly. Dell could have saved me (and probably many others) a lot of time by having ALL the correct drivers listed under the Dell 11z product.

NOW, I can start optimizing the system and installing my applications. So hopefully by the end of tomorrow I’ll have my Dell 11z ready for production use. If you’re in the same boat as I, good luck and I hope my comments will help out.

Dell Mini 3ix, the Android smartphone

2009-11-09T10:53:00.000+02:00

Dell’s first Android smartphone has received FCC approval. The Dell Mini 3i was released in China earlier this year as a stripped down, entry-level model. The FCC signed off today on a more advanced version, the Mini 3iX. This will include Wi-Fi and 3G mobile broadband, the two features most notably absent from the original.

The Mini 3iX will have the same design as its little brother, giving it a 3.5-inch, 360-by-640 touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, and a microSD memory card slot. In addition to Wi-Fi and 3G, it will have Bluetooth.

Via Brightland >>

This device will run Google’s Android OS. A special user interface was created for the Mini 3i by China Mobile, but this won’t be on a version released in other regions. Instead, Dell has developed a second custom UI (shown here).

Coming to America?

While FCC approval is an indication that the Dell Mini 3iX may be released in the U.S., it isn’t proof. Devices have to get FCC approval before they can even be legally be used in the United States, and many companies get approval from this government agency for models they know customers will carry when traveling.

Vista sold more PCs than Windows 7 did

2009-11-06T11:37:00.000+02:00

Microsoft moved a lot of install disks, but hardware makers got a bigger bump two years ago

Photo: Philip Elmer-DeWitt

When Microsoft (MSFT) launches a new operating system, as it did two weeks ago, PC manufacturers like Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL) and Acer are supposed to reap the benefits. And everything seemed to be in place on Thursday Oct. 22 for that happen.

“Never before has the industry launched such a variety of new form factors, price points, technology upgrades, and design innovations at one time,” wrote NPD’s Stephen Baker just before Windows 7’s release. “This past weekend I happened by a Best Buy store and there was not one single PC for sale with Vista on it. Lots of Windows 7 machines, however, all of which were marked ‘not for sale until October 22.’ Someone did a great job in the supply chain making this happen. This will give Win 7 a tremendous boost out of the gate.” (link)

Two weeks later, Baker is singing a different tune. Microsoft got a big boost according to NPD’s weekly tracking data, racking up sales of Windows 7 that were 234% higher than Vista’s during its first few days of sales. (More on that below the fold.)

But PC makers didn’t make out quite as well. Although they had a relatively strong week, with unit sales up 49% year over year and 95% from the week before, it was nothing like Vista’s launch in Feb. 2007. Then, sales soared 68% year over year and 170% from the week before.

In a press release issued Thursday, Baker explained what happened:

“A combination of factors impacted Windows 7 PC sales at the outset,” Baker wrote. “Vista had a slight advantage at launch, as January traditionally has a bigger sales footprint than October. The other hurdle Windows 7 faced was sales of PCs with older operating systems (XP and Vista) were high, making up 20 percent of sales during the Windows 7 launch, compared to just 6 percent of older operating sales during Vista’s launch week.”

Another thing to remember about that Vista launch week is that it set a relatively low bar. Retail Vista sales were considerably below Microsoft’s forecast — almost 60% lower than sales of Windows XP during its first week in 2001.

Ironically, it was the computer manufacturers who did best in Feb. 2007. Sales of new PCs with Vista pre-installed were up 67% the week that Vista launched compared with the same week in 2006.

Apple (AAPL), of course, sells both OS X and the Macs that run it, so when it launched Snow Leopard in August, it made money on both sides of the deal.

Dell Releases World's Thinest Laptop

2009-11-05T20:36:00.000+02:00

This is ridiculous!! I wonder how long I could live with this before it breaks? Pretty soon laptops will be paper thin.

I wouldn’t mind snatching one up though. But for $1,800, I think I will fall back. But I know there are some Moguls out there who will snatch this up.

Press release after the jump….

DELL ANNOUNCES ADAMO XPS, A DAZZLING GIFT IDEA FOR STYLE-MINDED THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

· World’s Thinnest Laptop is 0.4-inch thin· Adamo XPS Reinforces Dell’s Commitment to Craftsmanship and Design

· Advanced Head-Turning Design Offers Full Feature Set for On-The-Go Computing

ROUND ROCK, Texas, Nov 5, 2009 … Last spring Dell set the computing industry abuzz with the introduction of its Adamo brand, and along with it the world’s thinnest laptop PC. Today, the world meets a new champion of thin: The Dell™ Adamo XPS™, measuring 9.99mm or just four-tenths of an inch. Both laptops set new standards for craftsmanship, design and engineering excellence.

Adamo XPS is a stunning laptop whose design provides a unique experience. With the swipe of a finger, the keyboard appears from under the display as the system is open. The feature set challenged engineers to build the latest technology into a compact space, including:

· 4GB* DDR3 800 memory;

· Intel Core 2 Duo (1.4Ghz) ultra-low voltage processor;

· Thin 128GB SSD for faster, cooler, quieter and more durable storage than traditional hard drives;

· A 13.4-inch high-definition display.

The attention to detail is apparent in the black, jewelry box-like packaging that is as striking as the laptop itself. A tug on a cloth loop reveals the Adamo XPS and assorted accessories that accompany the system. The Adamo XPS was recently recognized as the hottest Windows 7 product by leading technology analyst Rob Enderle with Digital Trends.

Adamo, derived from the Latin word meaning “to fall in love,” is a flagship in a line of products created to disrupt the personal computing space with the combination of new design aesthetics, personalization choices and sought-after technologies.

The Adamo by Dell brand was launched last March with the first Adamo laptop, which combined high-performance technologies in a finely-machined aluminum case only .65-inch thick.

The pencil-thin Adamo XPS weighs just over 3 pounds** and measures 13.39 x 10.71 inches. Dell expects to begin taking orders and shipping the Adamo XPS with Microsoft® Windows® 7 pre-installed in time for the holidays. The Adamo XPS is priced starting at $1799. More information is available at www.adamobydell.com

Courtesy: Gizmodo

If the Data Center Is the Computer the Fight Is on to Control the Ecosystem

2009-11-04T23:18:00.000+02:00

Liquid Computing, a startup going head-to-head with giants, today launched its own version of unified computing gear that stands in almost direct contrast to the announcements made yesterday by Cisco, EMC and VMware about Vblocks and the new Acadia services arm. Also today, HP laid out its vision and new software for a converged computing infrastructure, the heir to its adaptive infrastructure products of the last four years. These two announcements are the latest in a web of partnerships that are taking place in the data center infrastructure space as folks try to combine computer, storage and networking into some kind of monolithic compute fabric (GigaOM Pro subscription required). The end result of such efforts will be to make the data center function like a giant computer, and the fight is on to provide the component parts plus the OS.

Liquid unveiled its Liquid Elements software that will work with Intel-based servers and NetApp storage gear. The software and Liquid’s switch can be combined to deliver the same sort of unified fabric computing that Cisco has been selling. Liquid differs from the Vblocks on offer through Cisco/EMC/VMware in that the software can run on any Intel-based server, either virtualized or in a bare metal implementation, said Vikram Desai, CEO of Liquid Computing. Cisco’s servers use Intel chips, but they are all about running virtual machines.

HP’s announcements focus on its version of the data center OS that it calls the Infrastructure Operating Environment, its FlexFabric Virtual I/O, and what it calls Virtual Resource Pools, which is a not-that-fancy-way of saying virtualized clusters of server and storage hardware based on existing storage gear and operating systems. There’s also a piece that optimizes data center operations.

However, on the server side, HP has a big limitation right now in that its Flex Fabric virtual I/O software only works with HP’s blade servers. So to really get the benefits of a converged network fabric, you’re gonna have to have HP blade for now. Doug Oathout, VP of Green IT at HP, says the company plans to make Flex Fabric work on other hardware, but offered no time line.

What’s in Store for Storage

That’s the server+networking side, so what’s happening in storage? HP’s Virtual resource pools are pretty compelling in that they can work with any hypervisor and can accommodate applications that are running on bare metal servers without virtualization and a variety of storage gear. HP today also announced its HP X9000 boxes which contain software from its IBRIX acquisition. They offer enterprises the ability to create up to 16 petabytes of virtualized storage. It’s like having the ability to open a door in any room in your home and find an empty walk-in closet when needed.

On the storage side, Cisco’s servers can see it, but they can’t control or talk to the storage infrastructure. That’s why it needs EMC and VMware working with it to make a truly unified platform. Liquid Element can talk to any Ethernet-based storage gear, although it works best with storage from NetApp.

When it comes to services, HP will help you figure out how to build out this converged infrastructure and Liquid will rely on selling though channels. The creation of Acadia may signal that Cisco was having a hard time selling its equipment into organizations through a channel that couldn’t figure out how to make its gear work, Liquid’s Desai pointed out. It also may show how deals whereby large IT vendors have snapped up systems integrators (Dell buying Perot Systems or HP buying EDS) have forced Cisco to offer its own services arm in order to push its gear where those others may not.

As cloud computing and delivering IT on demand get taken over by the larger vendors, and are made palatable for enterprise customers, companies from small to large are cobbling together their vision for this highly virtualized data center infrastructure that basically acts and thinks like one big computer. Given how different the products are when it comes to openness and working with other equipment, it looks like we’re heading for a Mac vs. PC fight in the data center.

Intel's (INTC) Worst Day: Why Didn't IBM Rat On Mr. Chips?

2009-11-04T17:33:00.000+02:00

There may have been a time when Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) wanted to the next Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), at least in terms of earnings, market cap, and share of market. It has, in essence, followed in Redmond’s footsteps, at least with antitrust authorities.

Intel is becoming more embroiled by the month in charges that it used threats and kickbacks to keep PC and servers companies from doing business with its smaller competitor AMD (NYSE:AMD). AMD is close to ruin, though it is a matter of opinion whether its current state was caused by former CEO Hector Ruiz or Intel’s clandestine actions.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed antitrust charges against Intel Corp., alleging the company threatened computer makers and paid huge kickbacks to stop them from using competitors’ chips, according to The Wall Street Journal. Among the companies that Intel may have threatened are IBM (NYSE:IBM), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ).

Intel has already been fined in the amount of $1.56 billion by the EU for anti-competitive behavior. That judgement will almost certainly be appealed. The FTC is also looking at Intel’s past business practices.

Like Microsoft before it, Intel is faced with the potential of multiple actions which might include the Justice Department and regulators in other large developed nations with strict antitrust regulations, particularly Japan and South Korea.

The NYS announcement raises several important questions. The first is whether any of Intel’s customers can claim that they were damaged by not being able to do business with AMD which, for a time, had several chip products that were considered superior to Intel’s.

The second, and perhaps more pressing question, is why companies like IBM and HP, which are larger than Intel, would allow themselves to be bullied and bribed for a period that may have lasted for years. Is there a reason that the companies did not bring Intel’s actions to the attention of the Justice Department?

Where were the general counsels at IBM and HP when management needed them? Certainly not riding around in the yachts that Intel bought them

New Dell multi-touch monitor

2009-10-30T11:33:00.000+02:00

Been looking for a new monitor ? excited about the new touch features in windows 7 ? (if your not cool enough to own a mac) well look no further.

Dell have released a new 21.5″ full 1080p, 16:9, multi-touch LCD. Boasting HDMI, USB, VGA, DVI, audio input and output a 2MP webcam and stereo microphones, this thing is ready for all your multimedia come video chatting needs right outta the box.

Costing $499 AUD it is a fairly competitive piece of kit.

...Back?

2009-10-28T10:58:00.000+02:00

HI GUYS.

I know — you’re probably asking the Whats and the Whys now. And I kinda anticipate a furious flurry of flying bricks in my direction. 8D

I’m gonna be honest with you to say it straight out that I was taking a break. That is, kinda like stepping out of the Arashi circle, the fandom circle, and the fangirling circle. To be EVEN MORE FRANK, I was in this episode of having my fangirling/interest waning to a dangerous non-existent level. It was when I started returning back to my all-time-since-I-could-always-remember loves — romance novels and writing original stories. Did you know that I actually haven’t really written and/or finished an original story? I have spent my entire writing lifespan on fanfiction! You have no idea how shocked I was when it dawned on me. So anyways, I was ‘re-discovering’ my old loves, working on my stories and also reading all those mushy romance novels. I kinda didn’t have any sort of contact with Arashi at all. I stopped listening to Arashi songs on my iPod and went back to my ol’ favourite American songs (not those generic trash, but indie/alternative country/alternative rock genre). I started going on the computer lesser and lesser, coming on only to play some online games (my usual way of stress-relieving, though mostly it’s a closet addiction lol), or idle internet-surfing, or researching for my school projects/assignments. My phone is screwed up so I don’t have access to any videos, PV or crack!vids or no. Even my Arashi goodies have all been stashed into a box next to my study desk! It’s as though my 2-year obsession with Arashi never existed.

BUT. Of course, it takes a long while of taking a break before I realise how much I still love my Stormy boys. Of course, I’m not as obsessed as before, but I still love them. I started putting up my old Arashi photos/posters around my study desk, and at times I’d flip through old magazines to read those pages on Arashi, and sometimes I’d switch my iPod playlist back to Arashi. In fact, the other day during a free period in school, I plugged in my iPod without knowing my brother had altered the settings to play all songs instead of a specific playlist. The first song that came up was Kitto Daijoubu! IT WAS SO AWESOME. I’ve always loved Kitto Daijoubu, but hearing the song again after so long almost made me cry because I SO FUCKING MISS LISTENING TO ARASHI’S UNASAHAMED BUBBLEGUM POP SONGS. I was grinning like an idiot during the entire song. AND, I was so fucking happy to know that I still like Arashi songs. If it were otherwise I’d be a lost cause, man.

Give me some time, and I’ll find my way back (:

So — other updates on my life:

EXAMS ARE NEXT WEEK OMGAWSHWTF. And look at what I’m doing, in front of the computer. XD It’s exams for one whole week, before the last 2 weeks (or 1 week? I’m not sure, the school admin hasn’t confirmed anything wtf) of school and IT’S 2 MONTHS OF WELL-DESERVED HOLIDAYS, BAYBEH! I so need to get back on track with my life, man. 2009 has been such an eventful, screwed up year for me.
I GOT A NEW PUPPY. Although, he isn’t so much of a puppy anymore. XD He’s (currently) 3 months old, the MOST ADORABLE BEAGLE IN THE WORLD, and he’s named Benji <3 He’s amazingly huge for his age, because we were told the litter he was born in had only 3 puppies (imagine all the nutrients fit for 10 puppies going into mere 3 puppies! D:), and assuming by his I’m-the-boss swagger, he’s probably the first out of the litter. XD He’s nosy, too curious, too eager, he slobbers so much, he’s unrelenting, he loves playing with/bullying my other dog Tinkles and my 3 cats (who love teasing him), he drinks too much water that his entire snout is in the water bowl… and he’s just so adoring of us all, and he’s so goddamn adorable to be alive. I don’t have pictures of the computer right now, sadly. I posted a few on my Facebook weeks ago, just because my friends were pestering me lol. I swear I’ll post up a million of them when I get the chance!
HERE’S A HUMONGOUS UPDATE ON THE SOON-TO-BE-HALF-MIND LAPTOP. My dad and I have been eyeing on the Dell Studio 15 for some time, since it’s specs are pretty good considering the price is a bargain, before my dad started looking at the Dell XPS 16, just because it’s more of a game-inclined notebook and considering the awesome FPS/high-end games I’m planning to install. XD Then, my dad is also considering the Sony Vaio, as the price is only a few hundred ringgit more than the XPS yet its specs are of top-notch quality. I SO WANT THE VAIO! DDDDDD: The design is sooooo sleek and chic, and the functions are fantastic. The touchpad and keyboard function so effing smoothly (I tested it out at a Sony centre, mind), and look at the 8GB memory RAM <3 The GOOD news is that the laptops we’re looking for are all equipped with the new Windows 7 OS, which is our main priority, and hopefully by the time the school holidays arrive I’ll get the laptop!
When I get my laptop, it’s gonna be a TOTAL revamp of everything computer and internet. I’m changing my e-mail address, closing down several accounts, starting new ones. Basically, starting afresh. I’m mostly doing this in a way of ‘getting rid of the baggage‘ and starting anew with the chance I got. Most of all, I’m sick of all the junk I’m getting in my Hotmail account, and I need to get new e-mails, separate accounts for separate purposes, and I’M SO ANTI-MICROSOFT NOW. Hotmail is crap, man. I’m so pro-Google now XD So anyways, those who are connected to my Hotmail e-mail, I’ll notify you when my default e-mail is changed.
I actually have this piggy bank I call my Yukata Fund. 8D My friends and I decided, after Bon Odori, that we would save up a little from our allowance everyday so that we can afford to buy a yukata set next year (which costs around RM300++). But in recent weeks the Yukata Fund has been converted into a Holiday Trip Fund. XD I have been having doubts of buying a yukata. It’s really nice and awesome and all, but I don’t think I want to spend so much money on something which I can only wear yearly and only perhaps on one or two occasions like fangirl meetups. And my friends and I are planning a holiday trip to Penang, which is gonna be awesome because it’s 10 of us young ‘uns on a 3D2N trip up north with our teacher guiding us around since she’s a Penangite 8D BESIDES. I YEARN FOR THE SANDY BEACH MORE THAN CLOTHES ANYWAYS.
I mentioned this earlier in the post — MY BELOVED PHONE IS BROKEN! T_T The screen is totally fucked up, in the sense that it goes static and often blacks out completely. The functions work fine, though. And I haven’t been able to get it fixed at a service centre because it opens during office hours only. D: So I gotta wait till the holidays to make the trip there. Geez. I’m now using my mom’s old crappy non-colour-screen phone. Texting is so much fun because the keypad is awesome 8D
And the online game I mentioned earlier — it’s called Left 4 Dead. Think zombie apocalypse. Four survivors on a mission to find rescue. Awesome graphics. First Person Shooter mode. EPIC AWESOMENESS! <3 You should go on YouTube and watch the gameplay. I’m a self-confessed L4D addict! Zombie horror genre is my favourite, and this game totally converted me into a FPS player. I play almost every day when I get the chance on my brother’s computer lol. And yes I’M A CLOSET FEMALE GAMER! 8D And random fact: my in-game ID is Sakurai. Yes, as in Sakurai Sho <33333
My bedroom has gone through major arrangement changes! Before this, my study desk was in a study room, which is technically a GAME ROOM since it has 3 computers that are always on and occupied. It’s so goddamn hard to concentrate on my homework with the games distracting me D: So I moved my desk up to my bedroom. My sister is fine with me doing anything (she’s only in the room to sleep and bathe, anyways, she spends the entire day on the computer in the ’study room’), as long as she got the bed with the frame, and I get the pull-out mattress XD But in exchange for that, I now have my own bookshelf (PACKED with all our collection of books, books, books, that I only have one miserable shelf to fit all my school books LOL), and my own desk. The room is officially my GROUND ZERO, and I have easy access to all my stuff. INCLUDING MY ARASHI COLLECTION XD But the arrangements aren’t done, yet. I need to do a major spring cleaning and it’s gonna have to be during the holidays. And we need a bunk bed, lol. When I’m done I’ll take pictures

That’s all I can remember of in regards to Life Updates. BTW, the main reason I actually came on my blog is actually THIS. Arashi has been featured in numerous local magazines in recent months, but Galaxie is the only one I read regularly (and the only English entertainment magazine so far to feature Arashi, lol?), and IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN I SEE A HALF PAGE FEATURE OF ARASHI! I love my mom for totally randomly buying this issue for me <3 Serendipity is such a wonderful thing, no? And yes, judging from the way I squealed and flailed and read through the article 3 times, I AM NO LOST CAUSE. YET.

Oh, and a month before, a letter from a reader in Galaxie magazine mentioned Arashi. Firstly, I’M SO HAPPY IT TOOK THE GALAXIE TEAM JUST A MONTH TO RESPOND WITH THIS FEATURE ARTICLE. It took more than a year of pestering them before they finally feature Arashi (prior to this, they’ve feature Matsujun and Aiba, individually and separately). And secondly, KITTY/FIQA DID YOU WRITE THAT LETTER? XDDDDDDDD Because the reader was signed as ‘Kitty’ and I SWEAAAAAAAAAAR it’s you. XD

So anyways! That’s a long post to make up for the few months I was gone. I would like to remind those who posted comments on any posts that I DO READ THEM! I’m gonna go read them after this post is published, in fact. XD Any comment left by my blog readers are always welcomed and well-loved. I would normally say I’m reachable through e-mail, but since I’m so inactive… I’m practically unreachable. XD Just leave comments and whatnot, and I’ll read them sooner or later, but never never!

Tashii, OUT.

compare and contrast..

2009-10-28T05:25:00.000+02:00

I just sat back on my home office chair and noticed something – the way I’d laid out my phone and laptop spoke volumes.. so I took a picture to show you…

My work laptop and phone

work

My personal laptop and phone

Home

Interesting, huh?

My work, which is very important in the scheme of things to both me and my company – if I can’t work well, then it costs lots of $$ – gives me the most basic phone I’ve ever seen and a base spec business laptop. Actually, I’m not complaining about the laptop, it might be basic, but it works fine, I just need a bigger harddisk – 50G these days for demos and virtual machines is waaay too small. The phone on the other hand, is embarrassing.

My home setup technically isnt that important (as in I don’t need it to pay the mortgage etc) – however it does keep me in touch with my kids on skype which is pretty important, and I also use it for my photography obsession to process photos and more recently, for writing children’s books. So, this largely non-essential use and I manage to have a hugely better spec machine (and oh so shiny too) than work. My phone is also muuuch better than my work phone and more appropriate (calendar/3G/email sync etc).

I’ve never had particularly good work laptops and I’ve always had to compromise in what I want to do -surely thats an oxymoron!

Tablet Android: Dell Streak

2009-10-23T10:15:00.000+02:00

Dell ha lanzado un tablet basado en Android: Streak.

Dell Streak

Lo que se ve es un prototipo, por lo que aún está sujeto a cambios de diseño.

Tiene una pantalla táctil de 5 pulgadas de 800×400 píxeles, además de una batería de 1300mA, conectividad WiFi , Bluetooth y 3G. También cuenta con ranura de para tarjetas microSD y lleva la versión 2.0 de Android. Su cámara es de 5 Mpx.

Parace ser que Dell se ha planteado en serio competir con el tablet de Archos.

Fuente de la noticia

Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 8X DVD+-RW Dual Layer Drive

2009-10-19T16:15:00.000+02:00

Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 8X DVD+-RW Dual Layer Drive Review

Check Price Now! Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 8X DVD+-RW Dual Layer Drive Feature

DVD-5, 9, 10, 18
DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, DVD+R9 (Double layer)
10 ~ 24X CD-ROM
3 ~ 8X CAV (Single) DVD-ROM
2.4 ~ 6X CAV (Dual Layer) DVD-ROM

Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 8X DVD+-RW Dual Layer Drive Overview

Dell 8X Slim DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive Inspiron 1100,1150,5100,5150 laptops.

Dell Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 8X DVD+-RW Dual Layer Drive Specifications

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 19, 2009 12:15:03

Help Support Foundation for Women

2009-10-16T10:31:00.000+02:00

Today’s Featured Cause:

Foundation for Women – The Foundation for Women (FFW) serves impoverished women and those with disease by funding and creating microcredit programs locally and globally.

Save yourself some money with coupon codes and and support Foundation for Women by shopping with Donation Street. Today’s top money saving offers:

Barnes & Noble- Save $10 when you buy UP and Monsters, Inc. on Blu-ray.

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Interstate Music- 11% OFF $79 Or More – Fall Sale

Chico’s- 20% off your entire purchase.

Fairmont Hotels- Fairmont 10-Day Sale: Get 25% off or Free Room Night.

Acer ultrapassa Dell

2009-10-16T10:20:00.000+02:00

A Acer, de Taiwan, ultrapassou a Dell e se tornou a segunda maior fabricante mundial de computadores no terceiro trimestre, enquanto as vendas mundiais do setor se provaram surpreendentemente fortes, alimentando as esperanças de que a demanda esteja se recuperando.

As vendas mundiais de computadores pessoais cresceram em 2,3 por cento no terceiro trimestre, para 78,1 milhões de unidades, enquanto o setor continuava sua gradual recuperação, com todas as regiões, exceto o Japão, atingindo ou superando as expectativas de vendas, de acordo com o grupo de pesquisa IDC.

A IDC havia previsto uma queda de 2,9 por cento no volume.

Os analistas afirmam que a política de preços agressiva adotada pela Acer e pela maior fabricante mundial de computadores, a Hewlett-Packard, e a boa demanda dos consumidores ajudaram as duas empresas a conquistar mercado, enquanto a Dell, dependente da demanda empresarial, continuou a cair no ranking mundial.

As vendas da HP cresceram em 9,3 por cento, segundo a IDC, e elevaram sua participação no setor a 20,2 por cento. A HP ultrapassou a Dell e passou a liderar o mercado em 2006, e vem ampliando sua participação durante toda a crise.

A Acer se beneficiou da popularidade dos netbooks, laptops baratos e sem luxos cuja função básica é navegar na Web. O grupo manteve sua ascensão meteórica, com alta de 25,6 por cento nas vendas, o que o conduziu ao segundo lugar com fatia de mercado de 14 por cento.

A Acer, fundada nos anos 1980 por Stan Shih, um empresário de Taiwan, começou a operar como fornecedora de componentes eletrônicos e cimentou sua entrada no segmento de computadores ao adquirir a divisão de computadores portáteis da Texas Instrumentos, no final dos anos 90.

Nos últimos anos, a Acer adquiriu as fabricantes de computadores Gateway e Packard-Bell, expandindo dramaticamente sua presença no mercado dos Estados Unidos e reduzindo a distância que a separa da HP e da Dell.

Colaboração de Fernando Bamberg @flickr.com/bamberg86

S AAPL

2009-10-14T21:49:00.000+02:00

This is kind of a joint post between Mike and myself, as we have both sold Apple (AAPL) in the last week (although he did get a slightly better price, and he sold a partial position while I offloaded it all) after having some discussions about the stock.

Our thought process was very fundamental, and it revolved around the question: what isn’t priced into the stock? There is no bad news surrounding AAPL right now. Any thoughts that they, being a manufacturer of premium products, would be struck down by the recession have been quelled as they rolled out earnings numbers that almost defied belief. The myth that without Steve Jobs the company would be a body with no head has been squashed, as they performed admirably during the health-related absence of their CEO. They continue to excite and amaze the population with relatively minor and incremental upgrades to their products, due to the strength of their existing market position and their incredible marketing abilities. And finally, the ever-persistent rumors about a tablet or touchscreen notepad-like product have reached the pinnacle as analysts expect a product arriving early next year that will energize that dormant segment like they did the music and mobile phone industries.

As I said before, there seems to be no bad news priced in, but I see a few dark clouds on the horizon. Windows 7 is arriving soon, and is supposed to be the first product from Microsoft (MSFT) that can truly compete with OS X. Unlike their other industries, AAPL does not enjoy a strong market position in the PC field, and so have to rely on slick marketing to win customers. Their main message recently has essentially been “Windows sucks, OS X doesn’t,” and when that goes away, what do their marketers fall back on? This new tablet concept hasn’t materialized in the years that the rumors have persisted, but it appears that it is for real this time. But what if it flops? This is highly speculative, but if AAPL has a very high profile failure on their hands (much bigger than the Apple TV), the stench may flow to their other offerings and wake people up to their competitors products (such as the much improved Microsoft Zune HD, or the new premium Dell laptops (DELL)).

AAPL is about 5% below its all time, intra-day high of approximately 202.98. That price was reached in December 2007, just before the financial crisis really took hold of the markets. At that point, there were equally no reservations among analysts that AAPL was going to the moon. It was after that point that doubts began materializing.

We expect AAPL to perform well, and we aren’t calling a top on AAPL. However, until we see a catalyst for growth materialize, we do not anticipate their stock outperforming the market, making other places to put capital more appealing.

Disclosure: No position in AAPL or DELL, Long MSFT

Adamo, "To fall in love with". Check it out!

2009-10-14T04:00:00.000+02:00

No, I’m not being a soppy git – although always subject to change.

Dell’s AdamoXPS (’Adamo’ apparently derived from the Latin “to fall in love with” – I live and learn every day!) looks pretty amazing – so much so that whilst I’ve not got a great deal to say about it until they send me one to play with (ever hopeful) that I thought I’d give you a peek at what I mean – check out the images below!

Which way up?

Skinny! 9.99MM!

If you’d like to to sign up to receive some more info, click the following Dell Link here.

Article 3: Dell and salesforce.com Launch Cloud Compting Offerings for SMBs

2009-10-12T16:10:00.000+02:00

Hmmm….is this a case of beauty and the beast? That is – on-premises paradigms marrying cloud-based solutions? The Odd Couple redux? Time will tell for sure but in the “truth is stranger than fiction department” I present to you BREAKING NEWS from Dell and salesforce.com. The net-net is that Dell is offering salesforce “certified” solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs). As you know, I am a huge fan of CRM and the power of sales force management, so this news was especially interesting to me and I felt a strong need to share it.

The big question of the day: how will the SMB channel partner make money from this endeavor?

cheers…harrybbbb

Dell and salesforce.com Launch Cloud Computing Offerings for SMBs

ROUND ROCK, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company, today announced the availability of new certified Dell-salesforce.com solutions, joint offerings for small and medium businesses (SMBs), that deliver customer relationship management (CRM) applications via the cloud.

These solutions will allow small and medium businesses in the United States to manage their people and processes more efficiently by deploying sales force automation and CRM across their businesses. The joint offerings require no incremental hardware or software to install or maintain, and customers will be able to manage all their customer information, activities, and conversations, with subscription based pricing starting from $9 per user per month. SMBs can get started today at http://www.dell.com/crm.

“Dell and salesforce.com are providing customers with an integrated and proven solution that we have been testing extensively in our own organizations,” said Steve Felice, president of Dell’s global small and medium-sized business operations. “Today, salesforce.com runs its datacenters and PCs on Dell equipment and Dell has integrated Salesforce CRM with our on-premise applications using Dell’s PowerEdge servers and Dell Integration Services,” he added.

“Our work with Dell opens up a whole new world for small and mid-sized businesses, empowering them to harness the power of cloud computing without the cost and complexity of managing infrastructure,” said George Hu, executive vice president, marketing and alliances, salesforce.com. “Working with Dell will help accelerate the adoption of cloud computing by SMBs worldwide.”

According to technology analyst firm Gartner, SaaS-based software models will represent the area of growth for applications over the next five years for midsize businesses, anticipating a compound annual growth rate of 29.1% through 2013 in North America*. The certified Dell-salesforce.com solution addresses critical integration issues between applications, thereby reducing IT costs for SMBs.

For growing businesses with more complex IT environments, the Dell–salesforce.com solutions also offer the expertise of Dell Integration Services, which provide fixed low cost, quick migration and integration for businesses with the salesforce.com Sales Cloud.

This out-of-the-box integration solution for SMBs was born and road-tested by Dell’s SMB team within the company, and helps SMBs easily and painlessly integrating cloud technology into their IT environments without disrupting their business processes.

SMB Success in the Cloud with Dell and salesforce.com – How it Works

Joint Dell and salesforce.com sales teams will introduce these solutions to existing and prospective small and medium customers, with salesforce.com providing the CRM solution and Dell providing integration and migration services, where needed.

The Dell–salesforce.com offerings include:

Salesforce Contact Manager Edition – Contact Manager Edition works with any email application including Outlook and Gmail, and provides a cloud-based contact management application for 1-2 users to store contacts, track customers, run activity reports, manage tasks and meetings, and more. A free six month subscription to Contact Manager Edition is available as an exclusive to customers of Dell Vostro laptops and desktops.
Salesforce Group Edition – Group Edition provides basic CRM for small groups up to five users. Group Edition features Salesforce for Google AdWords, includes all the Contact Manager features and also allows users to track sales opportunities, run sales reports and real-time dashboards.
Salesforce Professional Edition – delivers a complete picture of your customer interactions. It includes everything in Group Edition plus no user limit, reports and analytics, custom dashboard, sales forecasting, mobile access, and much more.
Salesforce Enterprise Edition – Enterprise Edition provides everything in Professional Edition, plus workflow and approvals, advanced security, territory management, offline access and more, so users can customize and integrate CRM for the specific needs of their company.

The Dell–salesforce.com solutions also offer the expertise of Dell Integration Services, which provide fixed low-cost, quick, data migration and integration for businesses. Dell Integration Services are available with Salesforce Enterprise Edition for IT staff that may lack the budget or expertise to integrate existing on-premise data from an Oracle, MySQL or homegrown database with cloud computing applications such as Salesforce CRM. Dell Integration Services include:

Dell Integration Appliance – Tested and implemented internally by Dell’s team on the company’s award winning PowerEdge servers, this out-of-the-box Salesforce CRM integrated solution provides data cleansing and migration tools, along with a library of prebuilt integration templates for connecting many commercial software-as-a-service products.
Virtual Integration Appliance – Enables users to deploy integration appliance functionality on any hardware in their virtualized environment.
Cloud Integration Service – Ideal for integrating Salesforce CRM with other cloud computing applications.

Organizations interested in these solutions can visit http://www.dell.com/crm. The site also has more information about Salesforce CRM and Dell Integration Services along with a free trial subscription of Salesforce CRM for Dell SMB customers.

*Source: Gartner Inc., 1 May 2009, Dataquest Insight: Top 10 Practices for Selling to SMBs in Any Economy, Joslyn Faust.

Join Dell, salesforce.com and customer SPS Commerce for a free joint Webinar on November 4, 2009 from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. PT to showcase the benefits of Dell Salesforce Certified Solutions.

My Dell is a Dell-inquent

2009-10-07T22:35:00.000+02:00

Dell XPS M1330 laptop

The above picture is my Dell laptop complete with missing quotation key. Notice that the keys are a silver color and the color ON the key denoting its function is a somewhat darker grey; they are not lit in any way and so at night I need to have an overhead light shining down on the keyboard or I have to move the monitor part of the laptop such that its light shines on the keys so I can hunt down a particular key — fortunately I’m a touch typist so I don’t have to do this often, but nonetheless, to see the keys at night takes some work. Further, what you can’t see in this picture is that the print on the E, R, N, and M key has worn off – again, it’s a good thing I’m a touch typist. Now to add insult to injury, the power cord works intermittently and when this particular laptop goes into battery mode, the screen lighting fades to where you can hardly see the screen at all. Add to this the issues with the Vista operating system and you may understand where I am today. In computer Hades.

In simpler terms, I hate this laptop with every fiber of my being. This is my third Dell; my second Dell laptop. This one was recommended by my IT guru and I don’t blame him for the fact that this particular machine is a gigantic piece of computer crap — maybe in his capable hands it would have worked like a charm. All I know is I paid a tremendous amount of money 2 years ago for this; the warranty has run out, and I’m ready to chuck it out the window.

Now I use my computer every day, especially in the pursuit of my degree and also when writing this and my other blog. The keyboard gets quite a workout so it has to be functioning well to suit my needs. I can always order a new power cord;it’s not cheap. There is absolutely nothing I can do about the broken quotation key except to pound my finger on the spot where the key once was which results in a series of quotation marks and I simply backspace until I have what I want. Oh, I can replace this keyboard for about $250 but that doesn’t include installation/labor. Pitiful, isn’t it?

So I have decided I need to find the money to buy a new laptop in the next 6 months. The one nice feature of this laptop is it’s small and very lightweight – it’s only 12 1/2 inches wide and 8 1/2 inches deep and it weighs hardly anything at all so I can easily take it with me and I’m not lugging around 10 lbs of computer stuff on my shoulder. That is its one saving grace – the portability. It also has good memory and it only crashes once every week or so now.

I don’t think I’m asking too much to buy a computer that isn’t going to crash at all – ESPECIALLY when I’m trying to complete an online timed school quiz. Gah….talk about frustrating — I’m on question 18 of a 20 question test with 15 minutes left and the computer crashes.

So…do I completely change my focus and try out a Mac? Or should I stick with a PC and simply ditch Dell in favor of maybe HP? I need some input from readers please. I really want to know — what do you use and what would you all recommend I buy? I really don’t need alot of bells and whistles; I’m not into gaming – I basically want this for school and to surf and play on Twitter and on my blogs, and to collect my pictures of EmmaLou and Devoted Spouse.

Help me please – send comments on what you like and don’t like about what you use and if I have any Mac laptop users out there please give me comments on what laptop is best for students? I’ve heard bad stuff about the new Mac Air. It’s getting to the point I don’t know which reviews to believe anymore and I’m just not a techhead at all! So give me your valuable recommendations please!!

Today's Best Market Rumors (10/7/2009) (NOK)(AAPL)(JPM)(GE)(WYNN)

2009-10-07T12:22:00.000+02:00

Updated throughout the day.

Updated 1.36 PM EST: Pimco left the bondholders steering committee at CIT (NYSE:CIT) last month (CNBC)

Updated 12.45 PM: Polycom (NSADAQ:PLCM) could be taken over by Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) or Dell (NASDAQ:DELL). Interdigital (NASDAQ: IDCC) could be bought by Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and ValueClick (NASDAQ:VCLK) could be taken over by any one of a number of companies. (Barron’s)

Updated 12.41 PM: GM head of American sales leaves amid talk that car company CFO may be next (CNNMoney)

Update 10.50 AM EST: Congress may pass a bill which will require that public companies split the roles of chairman and CEO. (MarketWatch)

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) may be involved in the bidding for McGraw-Hill’s (NYSE:MHP) BusinessWeek working jointly with Zelnick Media. Strauss Zelnick is on the boards of Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) (PaidContent).

Citigroup (NYSE:C) may sell it Philbro unit which is paying its chief $100 million this year. (CNBC)

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) has narrowed its list of CEOs to two people (WSJ).

Foxconn has a deal to make 300,000 to 400,000 Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) tablet PCs to ship in Q1 (DigiTimes)

Collins Stewart believes that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) are on the lookout for acquisitions. (The Deal).

Share sales by Steve Wynn, head of Wynn (NASDAQ:WYNN), and his COO may be” a canary in the coal mine to other investors to take some profits on the gains in this sector since the March lows.” That would include MGM (NYSE:MGM) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) (TheStreet.com)

Private equity firms Bain Capital and THL Partners are asking banks that supported their buy-out of Clear Channel Communications to help restructure the firm’s debt. Those banks include Citigroup (NYSE:C), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). (NYPost)

News Corp (NYSE:NWS) CEO Rupert Murdoch is in Japan and South Korea and may be discussing partnerships to build a rival product to the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle. (Reuters)

Vivendi will discuss selling its 20% stake in GE’s (NYSE:GE) NBCU at its October 19 board meeting to allow a transaction with Comcast (NADSAQ:CMCSA) which would involve the cable company getting control of media firm. (BusinessWeek)

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) executive Heidi Miller could be in the running for the CEO job at Bank of America. (The Big Money)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Dell ще предлага компютрите си с 1-годишен безплатен достъп до Napster

2009-10-05T16:35:00.000+02:00

Днес Dell и Napster сключиха сделка, според която компютърният производител ще предлага някои от продуктите си с 1-годишен безплатен достъп до ресурсите на Napster. В частност, става въпрос за моделите от линиите Dell Inspiron и Dell Studio като първите бройки с екстрата ще започнат да се предлага от следващия месец в Германия, САЩ и Великобритания. По принцип годишният абонамент за Napster струва $60, така че грубо ще спестите около 100 лева.

Източник: SlashGear

Social Media Huddle: Practical insights from Salesforce.com, Juniper Networks, Dell and IBM

2009-09-30T20:58:00.000+02:00

I was lucky enough to be asked to present a case study at Banner’s Social Media Huddle last week to a group of IT marketers interested in practical applications of social media. The event was a follow-up to Banner’s Demand Generation Summit where social media arose as a key topic of interest.

Alongside myself were speakers from Salesforce.com, Juniper Networks and Dell.

All delegates got a copy of Banner’s cool social media map.

Robin Daniels from Salesforce.com explained how they were using social media channels to reach customers and prospects, plus six golden rules of social media.

Conversations are a two-way street
Be honest & transparent
Be interesting & respectful
Know your audience
Quality matters
Don’t share secrets

Of these, I believe the first is a real differentiator for social media. Organisations are able to engage in a dialogue with their audience – whether this be via marketing, corporate communications, PR, customer service, or any other division within the company. This ability for consumers to make real-time requests, complaints, queries and suggestions will require organisations to revisit and revamp their processes in order to respond.

Points 2-5 shouldn’t be anything new. If we’re only now telling ourselves that we need to understand our audience, be mindful of what we say, and deliver something of value and quality, then we’ve been seriously missing the point with our marketing efforts.

And point 6 should be part of any organisation’s corporate policy.

What was fascinating to hear was how Salesforce.com, a company that was born on the web, has grown up with a culture that embraces these social media vehicles.

In fact, myself and my fellow presenters are all fortunate to work for companies that have seen the benefits of social media and embraced it. Whilst this means that our approaches aren’t perfect and there is still work to be done to present a unified voice across the organisation, it does allow us to test approaches and learn from these lessons. This can only stand us in good stead as the application of these vehicles becomes far more mainstream.

Sarah Wright from Juniper Networks talked about her experiences developing a community around Juniper’s Junos OS. This was a fantastic example of building a community around the needs and wants of their customer base. It was also an example of the time-commitment and resources required to manage such an undertaking. Sarah is the only person managing community inquiries and as the community grows, it’s hard to see how this will be sustainable.

One can’t help but feel that programs such as these will become increasingly common-place as part of an organisation’s strategy, and that new roles will be born out of this.

I was the third presenter and gave an overview of the results and key lessons learnt behind IBM’s Virtual Forbidden City campaign, which used purely social media and online vehicles to generate leads for IBM’s service-oriented architecture solutions. I will detail the key learnings from this campaign in my next blog post.

And finally, Kerry Bridge from Dell shared examples and tips around the ways in which organisations are using Twitter for business including @DellOutlet which has over a million followers and has made over $3million in revenue for Dell.

What was most surprising, when Kerry asked the audience (all marketing professionals) how many were on Twitter, only a couple of people aside from the speakers raised their hands. I sometimes wonder whether those of us who have become sadly addicted have lost sight of the fact that a vast number of people still have no idea how to get started… or why they should bother doing so! I noticed people furiously scribbling notes as Kerry outlined the basics for creating a profile, finding people to follow, and “twetiquette” (or Twitter etiquette).

The final part of the afternoon was an opportunity for all the speakers to sit on a panel to discuss how to make the case for social media, and the people and process element – i.e. who do you need to get involved and who should ultimately “own” it.

There were questions from the audience on whether or not social media was a fad and whether they should get involved. Admittedly the entire panel are heavily involved in social media and therefore not the most impartial of judges, but the sentiment was unanimous – brands/products/companies are being talked about online whether or not organisations decide to participate. The only way to influence the conversation and position your brand is to get involved.

As for ownership – everybody owns social media. Everyone has the opportunity to have their voice heard. Each department within an organisation has a different part to play and different objectives that can be met by engaging online. The challenge arises in knitting these voices together to drive value, both for the community AND for your organisation.

Xerox To Buy ACS For $5.6 Billion To Dominate Office Services

2009-09-29T16:35:00.000+02:00

Could It Be A Costly Gamble In These Economic Times?

Xerox Corp. (XRX.N) and new CEO, Ursula Burns, unveiled plans to buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc (ACS.N) for $5.5 billion. It would mark the biggest acquisition in Xerox’s 103-year history, joining a wave of hardware makers expanding into services. Shares of the printing company plunged on concerns that it was gambling on a major shift in strategy.

Aimed at snapping Xerox out of its funk, the acquisition was called a “game changer” that will help the company dramatically expand. Combining Xerox’s strengths in document technology with ACS’ expertise in work-process management and automation they hope to generate triple the revenue from services, which was $3.5 billion in 2008 to an estimated $10 billion next year. Ursula Burns, a Xerox veteran who took over in July, is definitely seeking new markets. “Through our strategic initiatives, it became clear that the $150 billion business process outsourcing (BPO) market is well aligned with our business and a key driver of long-term growth,” Burns told investors.

Quite lofty expectations many industry analysts perceive, especially with Global Economies still in flux, and many dramatically reducing purchasing budgets. ACS is also the larger of the two companies, with 74,000 workers compared with Xerox’s 54,000…so some restructuring is likely coming. ACS automates paper-based work processes and provides specialized BPO and IT services to a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, retail and financial services, health care, education and transportation.

Xerox, known worldwide as a hardware company specializing in copiers and printers was facing ever-increasing pressure from rivals such as Hewlett-Packard (who acquired EDS), and Dell (who acquired Perot–Presidential Candidate Ross Perot’s Company), in their purchase of service companies.

With its acquisition of ACS, Xerox will become a $22 billion company, of which $17 billion is in recurring revenue. Together, they hope to streamline the entire document production and information flow in offices on a global level, as Xerox hopes to scale ACS to markets like Europe, Asia and South America.

Ny Dell bærbar med trådløs strøm!

2009-09-29T09:55:00.000+02:00

Jeg synes den her bærbar er super cool:

Det er som sådan ikke selve computeren der er noget ekstra ordinært fedt ved(udover Dell har oppet deres design en smule), men mere det den kan. Hvis man benytter dockingstaionen(som vist på billedet), oplader den computeren igennem den plade, som den står på. Det betyder at der ingen kabler er til den bærbar, er man på vej ud af døren, eller til møde løfter man således bare den bærbar computer. Super fed funktion i forhold til at skulle fjerne en masse kabler, eller skulle undocke den bærbar, som man ellers normalt kan.

Comon skriver følgende om den:

Teknologien er ikke ny. Firmaer som amerikanske WildCharge sælger allerede induktionsplader, der kan bruges til at lade f.eks. mobiltelefoner op. Men der er en række begrænsninger.

For det første skal telefonen lægges oven på pladen, der skal tilsluttes til stikkontakten med et almindeligt strømkabel, og dermed forsvinder lidt af den mobilitet, som ellers ligger i ordet »trådløs«. For det andet fungerer det kun, hvis telefonens bagklappe bliver erstattet med en særlig induktions-adapter.

Dells nye Latitude Z bruger samme teknologi, hvor computeren har indbygget en induktions-adapter, der lades op fra en induktions-plade på standeren. En fuld opladning tager omtrent samme tid som med kabler, ifølge producenten.

Den trådløse oplader er ikke det eneste nyskabende i Latitude Z, som også har en instant-on—funktion, som kører over et separat mini-bundkort med ARM-processor, hvor man kan tilgå sin mail, kalender, kontakter og Firefox over et separat OS.

Se mere om den på gizmodo.com hvor du også kan se en vidoe af den:

Xerox (XRX) Overpays For ACS (ACS)

2009-09-28T10:16:00.000+02:00

Dell (DELL) paid a price that it could not defend, at least financially, for Perot (PER) earlier this month. Xerox (XRX) has decided to follow Dell down the same road by paying an extraordinary premium for ASC (ACS), a business outsourcing operator. The price tag is $6.4 billion in cash and stock.

Xerox has a market cap of a mere $7.8 billion. The company’s primary reason for making the acqusition is that “Xerox becomes a $22 billion global company, of which $17 billion is recurring revenue – a significant boost to our profitable annuity stream.” The market is likely to drive Xerox’s stock into the ground.

The $2 billion premium that Xerox is paying is especially hard to justify because ACS is trading near its 52-week high of $52. In other words, the market has said the company is fully valued. And, it is. Last quarter ACS made only $97 million of net income on $1.7 billion in revenue, an awful margin.

Xerox, its business already only a shadow of what it was when the company was one of the top IT companies in the world three decades ago, may feel it needs a deal, but it cannot afford a bad one.

Douglas A. McIntyre

OC Firm On Patent Offensive - socalTECH.com

2009-09-25T15:25:00.000+02:00

An Orange County firm, SpeedTrack, has targeted Amazon.com, Best Buy, Dell, Costco, The Home Depot, and a slew of other firms over a patent the firm said is being infringed upon by the companies. According to SpeedTrack, the patent–U.S. Patent No. 5,544,360–covers how those retailers return searches for products on their web sites, so that users don’t see “cannot be found” in the results. SpeedTrack said the patent protects a method it calls “Guided Information Access”, which was created by co-founder Jerzy Lewak for its software, which the firm said is used by police departments to sort through criminal records data. The company is seeking damages for the patent infringement. SpeedTrack is being represented by Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman LLP in the patent lawsuit. Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman is the same law firm being used by Joltid, the firm owned by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype, in a lawsuit against eBay over use of peer-to-peer technology in Skype.

Read the article at socalTECH.com

Tech Titans Holding $260 Billion In Cash (DELL, PER, ORCL, JAVA, MSFT, AAPL, IBM, GOOG, CSCO, INTC, HPQ, QCOM, EMC, YHOO)

2009-09-25T09:41:00.000+02:00

The economy is obviously getting better, so long as you are not one of the unemployed or about to lose your job. Now with more than a 50% rally from the March lows and a Dow Jones Industrial Average challenging the 10,000 level, suddenly everyone wants to put on their investment banker hats again and look for buyers and buyout candidates after deals are announced. This week’s Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) deal for Perot Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: PER) was a $3.9 billion acquisition versus $12.7 billion in cash and equivalents held at the end of the quarter. The Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) deal for Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) is valued at $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun’s cash and debt. We went back through our list from September 2, 2009 where we noted that outside of the financials in the 20 largest US companies had a cash hoard of $335 billion that could be used for mergers and acquisitions, and that is not accounting for lines of credit, stock or debt that could be sold, and other means of financing a deal. While nowhere near all of the cash will ever be used, many companies could pay big dividends before any tax changes.

So we wanted to look through the technology sector and after we looked through the top 100 markets caps in our 24/7 Wall St. Real-Time 500 we added a few new additions in the tech sector that still had over $5 billion in cash. Out if the $335 billion from those in the top twenty, we broke out Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). Even after a huge rally, $335 billion and then some could go a very long way for strategic and bolt-on acquisitions as a positioning strategy for the next decade. Now, going further down the list of the top 100 companies with $5 billion or more in cash from tech companies alone adds in Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). When we tally up all the cash, there is over $260 billion available from these few tech companies that could be deployed for mergers, acquisitions, or the good old dividends. Again, that is before tallying up credit lines, factoring, debt sales, and other financing methods.

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) had almost $25 billion in cash and long-term investments. Now that it has migrated away from just selling PCs and printers, we think that there will be a rather long lull before H-P tries to match its big buyout of EDS even if Dell is tip-toeing into IT-services and consulting with Perot. But in the end, what we think may not matter. Nearly $25 billion in cash when you know you will be profitable ahead leaves a lot of room to go out make purchases.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was the 29th largest company as of Wednesday with a $74.12 billion market cap. If you tally up its cash, short-term and long-term investments, it is sitting on almost $15 billion in cash and equivalents as of last quarter. After all the lawsuits that the Jacobs team are settled, it might consider a way to deploy capital to get around future patent cases. If only it was possible, although anything is possible.

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the 64th largest in the country with a $34.7 billion market cap, and it is sitting on very close to $10 billion in cash and short-term and long-term investments. The issue is that it just made the $2.1 billion deal for Data Domain, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDUP), but it also has over 50% of the float of VMware (NYSE: VMW) and that company is worth $17 billion. EMC is likely in such a storage leadership position that it has to make strategic deals. In that notion, EMC could be making $1 to $3 billion buyouts every six to twelve months.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was the 100th largest company mid-week with a $23.6 billion market cap. The distant #2 search player is hard to call a definite buyer now because of new management and because of a new direction and restructuring. But the company is still generating cash every quarter even if Google has dwarfed it, and the deal with Microsoft is going to add cash. Throw in its other strategic spin-outs and asset sales, and suddenly Yahoo! may have a real desire to go for broke. At the end of Q2 it held about $7.5 billion in cash and short-term and long-term investments. As Yahoo! wants to get further into profitable content and user-centric interfaces, you could probably pick a hundred names for it to buy. Carol Bartz is no meager CEO and she could probably even get into the auto business if she could make the case that it would take back ten points in the company’s share of search.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is still #2 with a $230 billion market cap mid-week has more than $36 billion in cash and equivalents. There is always the concern that antitrust issues will arise in any Microsoft deal, but that has not been the case in the search pact with Yahoo! so far. There are very few add-on plays here for its O/S and Office software. Other software, media, search, advertising-related, audio and communications plays would be the most logical targets assuming all the cash doesn’t go for buybacks or another big dividend.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) was #9 on the top companies list and had a market cap of $159 billion and $12.5 billion in cash after spending $2.4 billion in the last quarter alone for dividends and buybacks. IBM would likely look at another people-intensive or service-intensive deal, although there are random hardware and storage and systems possibilities still out there.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is now #8 on the America’s largest and it has long been a puzzle about what it would do with all that cash. Its market cap was $165 billion mid-week, and its hoard of cash and equivalents is more than $31 billion. Buying back its own stock would be expensive and maybe just silly and integrating an outside company into Apple might be far from easy. With Apple’s 909.16 million shares, it could pay out close to a $34.00 per share dividend if it wanted to take the cash balance down to Zero and start all over again.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) now has a market cap of close to $158 billion now that its stock went back over $500… and a cash balance of roughly $19.3 billion. Google may have the “Do no evil” mantra, but Google will now get into trouble for any deal it makes that is beyond an expansion. If Google chose the cash dividend route, it could pay close to $60.00 per share and just start over on its cash growth game. Also keep in mind one thing: in acquisitions, Google has tried to stay as content-neutral as it can so that it can still claim fair and open search and preference of content on the web.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was worth close to $135 billion in market cap mid-week and despite making deals all along the way and buying back billions worth of shares, its last quarter ended with close to $35 billion in cash and equivalents. Its expansion has been on many fronts, so where it could do a deal would depend on the climate and upon what would give it a leg up for the next generation. It also has preferred to make small strategic deals since its old Scientific-Atlanta deal.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) had a market cap of roughly $109 billion mid-week and has close to $19 billion cash equivalents before closing a recent deal. It also had close to $6 billion in receivables and inventories. Intel has been somewhat active via its ventures and in acquiring units or bolt-on companies like Wind River recently. Intel has to be careful where it treads on anything processor-related, but there are dozens of core related technologies in computing and in communications that it would not fall under harsh antitrust reviews.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) had over $12.5 billion in cash at the end of last quarter that could be used for a deal if its Sun ambitions are thwarted by the dopes at the E.U. who think that Sun should keep losing money. If that deal is somehow blocked, you know at least how much Larry Ellison is willing to dole out for a money-losing operation.

As a reminder, these market caps and figures were snapshots mid-week. The top market caps were taken from our own 24/7 Wall St. Real-Time 500 list of American companies with the 500 largest market caps in the country. There is also sometimes a discrepancy in the formal figures on the books and what companies state in their conference calls, and we have attempted to smooth that data as a result.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week to be notified of key merger news, key analyst calls, top early morning day trader alerts, along with news of IPO’s, key offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

SEPTEMBER 25, 2009

Over 30 Million Media Phones Expected To Ship in 2014

2009-09-24T21:09:00.000+02:00

The “Fourth Screen” market is a sector of the technology industry that includes digital photo frames, and Internet appliances. A new ABI Research study called Connected Home Devices (Fourth Screen) takes a look at this market and what it will look like for remainder of this year up until 2014, covering the geographic areas of North America, Asia Pacific, European and RoW.

Out of the fourth screen market the fastest-growing device type is the media phone. Media phones are expected to generate a market value above US$5 billion by 2014. In 2014 alone, it is expected that 30 million media phones will be shipped. That’s pretty good growth considering the first media phones only began to show up late last year in the U.S.

[via Geek.com]

Workaround for Dell OpenManage Server Administrator installation fails prerequisite checks

2009-09-23T15:59:00.000+02:00

When trying to install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) on a PowerEdge R610 server running Windows Server 2003 R2, I received the following error from the prerequisite checker:

”This is not a supported server. Server Administrator software can only be installed on supported servers.”

I recevied this error when trying to install OMSA 5.4, 5.5, and 6.0.1. To get around the error you can run the installer with the option to bypass the prerequsite checker. To do so, from command prompt, run the following:

C:\OpenManage\windows\SystemsManagement\msiexec /i SysMgmt.msi SYSTEMCHECK=NO

Dell’s official documentation says version 5.4 and 5.5 of OMSA are not supported on the R610, but it runs great on many systems in my environment.

Algunas impresiones sobre SIMO 2009

2009-09-23T10:26:00.000+02:00

SIMO 2009

Algunas impresiones sobre SIMO 2009

La Feria SIMO ha dejado de ser un gran evento para los ilustradores del Marketing y la Publicidad, aunque las empresas que han acudido a presentar sus nuevos servicios y productos, han desarrollado un fantástico trabajo dentro de los presupuestos que se han manejado a lo largo de este año. Asimismo, en el caso de Microsoft, o lo que es lo mismo, la presentación del Sistema Operativo (SO) Windows 7, así como los esfuerzos de sociedades como SAGE, Telefónica, Vodafone, SAP o HP, que también se puede hablar de Dell, sí han invertido, sobre todo en el tema de conferencias, porque los talleres y conferencias son muy atractivos para los profesionales del sector de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC). Por otra parte, ya que hablamos de detalles, la zona para los “blogueros” o Bloggers, en la que puedes disfrutar de acceso a Internet, así como de la oportunidad de tomar un respiro y un refresco, ponen de manifiesto la mejora de la organización de la Feria SIMO, que ha habilitado zonas comunes, de espacios abiertos, donde las relaciones comerciales son propicias para el diálogo o la exposición de los proyectos. En cuanto a empresas, nos encontramos un poco de todo, pero se ha ido, como se suele decir, al grano, por lo que la Agencia Agora News, o bien, Technopolis TV están difundiendo noticias sobre este congreso, que ha recuperado el tono de profesionalidad que, quizás en otras ediciones, estaba de lado a favor de las grandes presentaciones de las compañías por medio del gasto en los grandes stands y en costosas Campañas de Publicidad. Por cierto, excelente el diseño de los Pen Drives de Vftech (http://www.vftech.es/), que demuestra que se puede seguir innovando en este sector, y no sólo hablamos del diseño en la red, sino de cómo debemos de cubrir la idea, ideas y el proyecto en general.

Se dijo hace varios meses, porque en la presentación la directora de SIMO, María Valcárcel, así como otros directivos y responsables del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, o bien, de las empresas patrocinadoras, recalcaron que la feria iba a tener nuevos contenidos, donde iba a primer las relaciones profesionales, las conferencias y la presentación de nuevas ideas de negocio, gracias a las aportaciones del Instituto de Empresa (IE), que ha coordinado la representación de numerosos especialistas en la materia.

De esta manera, como ya hemos comentado, el lujo se ha quedado en casa, y hemos pasado al trabajo y la exposición de una serie de oportunidades, ya que los temas de actualidad, como la “Convergencia Digital: nuevos negocios, nuevos mercados” o “Movilidad como clave tecnológica” son presentados por muy buenos oradores en la materia del sector de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC).

Por otro lado, el Canal de Distribución, en el que se incluye un espacio para Partners y empresas de este sector, se ha completado con otro ciclo de actividades de cara a uno de los sectores más importantes, que no ha pasado desapercibido debido a la crisis económica y financiera. Por lo tanto, temas relativos a la seguridad, soluciones de gestión empresarial para las pequeñas, medianas y grandes empresas, almacenamiento, virtualización, movilidad, transformación del mercado de impresión, nuevas soluciones IT, infraestructura dinámica y Marca Blanca en servicios de Internet son, según los comunicados recibidos, cuestiones que centrarán el debate en los próximos días.

En este sentido, las oportunidades de negocio, dado la coyuntura económica, han provocado el lanzamiento de pequeñas empresas que desean la capitalización de la idea y del proyecto, por lo que SIMO ha permitido la captación y foro de discusión, que es una de las tareas obligadas para dar salida a proyectos relacionados con la innovación y ciencia.

La informática, clave para agilizar los procesos, está perdiendo algo de fuelle, dado que los dispositivos móviles son la llave del futuro, dado que las aplicaciones han generado nuevos recursos para los desarrolladores.

A nivel institucional, el Ayuntamiento de Madrid, el Plan Avanza 2, Madrid Emprende y otros organismos, como por ejemplo el Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio, que ha lanzado los planes de digitalización por medio de Red.es o el Instituto Nacional de las Tecnologías de la Información (INTECO), y que divulga el Plan Avanza 2, están presentes.

En este sentido, gracias a los comunicados recibidos, os dejamos la información relativa a este programa.

Según el Informe “La Sociedad en Red 2008” del Observatorio de las Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información (ONTSI) España ocupa uno de los primeros lugares del ranking de la UE-27 en porcentaje de empresas con acceso a Internet que se conectan mediante banda ancha, alcanzando más del 92% del total de empresas de nuestro país.

Además, la cifra de negocio del comercio electrónico (B2C) en España se estima que ascendió a 5.362 millones de euros a finales de 2008, un 12,6% más que en el ejercicio anterior. Los billetes de transporte (52,5%), las reservas de alojamiento (43%) y las entradas a espectáculos (41%) continúan siendo los productos estrella del comercio electrónico en 2008.

Las tecnologías más adoptadas en las microempresas (de 0 a 9 empleados) son el teléfono móvil con un 69,1%, el ordenador (64,7%) e Internet (53%).

Por su parte, en las pymes y grandes empresas (más de 10 empleados) la penetración es en primer lugar el ordenador (97,8%), seguido de Internet (94,9%) y, por encima del 90%, la telefonía móvil.

Destaca, del mismo modo, el incremento en el último año de la disponibilidad de página web, que ha experimentado un aumento de 5 puntos porcentuales, situándose en el 57,5%. Este porcentaje alcanza el 72% entre las medianas empresas y, por primera vez, más del 50% entre las pequeñas (54,1%).

El Plan Avanza2 (2009-2012) se incluye dentro de las medidas del Plan E, www.plane.gob.es, en el que se recogen las acciones adoptadas por parte del Gobierno para sostener la actividad económica y sentar las bases de un crecimiento sostenible en el futuro.

A través del Plan Avanza2, se pretende conseguir la adecuada utilización de las TIC para contribuir al éxito de un modelo de crecimiento económico basado en el incremento de la competitividad y la productividad, la promoción de la igualdad social y regional y la mejora del bienestar y la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos.

Para lograr los objetivos previstos el Plan Avanza2 se estructura en 5 ejes de actuación: Desarrollo del Sector TIC, Capacitación TIC, Servicios Públicos Digitales, Infraestructura y Confianza, Seguridad y Accesibilidad y también la información referente a los dominios .es que se mostrarán durante el SIMO.

El Plan Avanza2 incide en el papel de las TIC como elemento esencial para la recuperación económica de España, reforzando los ejes de infraestructuras, confianza, seguridad y accesibilidad, capacitación tecnológica, contenidos y servicios digitales y desarrollo de la industria TIC e introduciendo, además, nuevas líneas temáticas prioritarias, como el desarrollo de redes inteligentes, tele-medida y tele-acción, Internet del futuro e Internet de las cosas.

Fecha: 23 de septiembre de 2009.

Fuente: Departamento de Prensa de SIMO; Departamento de Prensa de las empresas enunciadas; Agencias de Noticias y comunicados recibidos por algunas compañías.

Imagen: Logotipo de SIMO 2009.

Para más información:

-SIMO Network:

http://www.simo.ifema.es/es/portal.do;jsessionid=FE405C1DD9FC2192E1FE0259381FA931

-Plan Avanza 2:

http://www.plane.gob.es/

-Red.es:

http://www.red.es/index.action

-INTECO:

http://www.inteco.es/

-SIMO 2009 – Jorge Hierro:

http://jorgehierro.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/nos-quedamos-sin-simo-2008/

Jorge Hierro Álvarez

Consultoría de Nuevas Tecnologías e Internet

http://www.jorgehierro.es

http://www.jorgehierro.wordpress.com

http://www.jorgehierro.blogspot.com

In between the time...

2009-09-20T16:31:00.000+02:00

So many things have happened since the last time I blogged.

For instance, I finally understood the difference betweeen Serif and Sans-Serif fonts. Ok that might not be a big thing but is quite a revelation.

Got my DELL Studio 15 – it’s been around a month now and a black beauty! After all the confusion about Dell or HP in my previous post I settled down on DELL and got the Studio 15 – 500 GB HDD and 4 GB Ram – 15.6′ WLED – pretty cool- and since a computer without internet is not that good, got a Reliance Netconnect too and the speed’d pretty good. So finally I am mobile, atleast can carry some work home when I visit Secunderabad.

Speaking of home, Iam home today and know what a good old friend of mine got engaged today!

Finally, Bangalore though much like Secunderabad is not that comfortable – or atleast I need the time to get used to the place. Been there for just a week and already felt home sick and cam home the first weekend. Secunderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and now Bangalore – phew - I never imagined I would leave Secunderabad, but dont really know what’s in store – let’s see!!

Weird that I almost stopped writing – something I want to happen. Should give it a serioud thought sometime now!

Adios!

Alienware M17x :A Gamers Delight !!

2009-09-19T16:06:00.000+02:00

Alienware is an american boutique computer maker famous for its powerful machines and unique sci-fi themed designs.All their machines are high on power and heavy on the wallet(generally). Alienware became wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell in 2006 but still operates separately.Now dell brings Alienware to india .Alienware takes the place of dells old gaming line -XPS laptops and desktops which are being phased out now.

The first of Alienware gaming line is Alienware M17x a mammoth machine which is easily the largest(40.5X32 cm),heaviest(>5kg) and most imposing laptop in indian markets now.The specifications of Alienware M17x are such that it dwarfs any other in the indian technology arena .

Alienware M17x comes with a quad-core Mobile core 2 Extreme QX9300 CPU running at 2.53 Ghz with a 12MB L2 cache.The standard memory is 4GB extendable to 8GB.Graphics are handled by dual Nvidia GeforceGTX 260Ms in SLI mode with 1GB of RAM each with option to upgrade to dual to dual GTX 280Ms.The storage option available are 160GB, 250GB, 320GB, 500GB at 7,200RPM.

Other Specifications are:

Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Integrated Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 (1000 Mbps)

Internal Wireless a/g/draft-n with MIMO (2×2) Technology)

Internal Wireless Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

4 Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports

1 eSATA/USB 2.0 Combo (2-in-1 port) with PowerShare

IEEE 1394a (4-pin) port

ExpressCard Slot

DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA – Video Output

Front Speakers Audio Out Connector / Headphone Jack

Center Speaker and Subwoofer Audio Out Connector / Headphone Jack

Rear Surround Audio Out Connector

Audio In / Microphone Jack

Two Built-In Front Speakers

Now on to other features

BinaryGFX:This technology gives users the ability to switch between discrete or integrated graphics

Stealth Mode:This mode can also be called the power saver mode,in this mode discrete graphics cards are turned off and other components throttle down to achieve a 65W power limit.

Numeric key:It have separate numeric keypad as in desktops which is uncharacteristic for a normal laptop.

Lighting:There are customizable lights in the glowing alien head logo keyboard,track pad edge ,media control button and speaker grill.

All these said but now comes the factor which guides the deal in india the most “price” , According to the dell site the price is Rs.138,000(includes taxes and delivery charges).

Twitterville Book Launch

2009-09-18T06:12:00.000+02:00

Just got back from the Vancouver launch of “Twitterville”, authored by Shel Israel. For those who are not familiar with Shel, he has also written “Naked Conversations”, that one co-authored with Robert Scoble (@scobleizer).

Shel Israel & Ferg Devins

A good chunk of the Vancouver Twitter community turned out for the launch at Canvas Lounge. Some of the people I came across were @jaypiddy, @hummingbird604, @CathyBrowne (who’s actually mentioned in the book!), @raincoaster, @cognoscento, @johnbiehler, @tinybites and @bluelimemedia, among many others.

Shel graced us with an entertaining and informative presentation about the book. Here are some of the points, along with a few pictures for good measure:

People, communications and conversations are changing. Whereas prior to social media conversations took place from the “top down” (i.e. – from the upper ladders of corporations down to end consumers), the advent and adoption of social media have reversed that.
Shel’s perspective is that Twitter has a small-town feeling, where conversations start out similarly to two neighbours chatting across one fence. At first, the chat may be superficial, but then a deeper rapport is created. Conversations are one-on-one. Twitterville tells stories that were relayed to Shel through Twitter.
Wondering how to stand out in the social media crowd? “Outgenerous” your competition. By giving more (advice, that is), people get to know that you’re the person to go for insight in your field… which increases your reputation.
Social media gives companies a chance to humanize their brands (as told by @MolsonFerg – Ferg Devins – head of public affairs in Canada for Molson Coors and one of the case studies in Twitterville)
Wondering if anyone can make money off Twitter? Just look at the example of @CrowdSPRING. According to Shel, CrowdSpring’s business model is basically to tweet RFPs. The company makes a 15% revenue based on the value of each proposal that is approved.
Yes, Twitter can be used in more “traditional” fields. Just look at how doctors at Henry Ford Hospital “tweetcasted” a live, robotic surgery – one tweet at a time. time. Results from tweets kept on arriving even after the surgery was over: because the type of surgery performed is elective, the increased exposure created more inquiries from private clients. More students were interested in practicing at Henry Ford. More innovative doctors were keen to bringing their skills to the hospital.
Shel Israel

Shel Israel explained that his attraction to Twitter is that it is one tool which allows people to act more like in real-life. Hence why it’s probably so popular.

Other observations, these from the question & answer period:

Instead of monitoring what everyone is saying about its brand, Dell only looks at conversations coming from those with slightly positive or slightly negative perceptions. They ignore what comes from consumers who have pretty much made up their minds that Dell sucks. Instead, they focus on consumers who they have a chance to transform into advocates. To do so, they use a mix of measurement tools that include Radian6 as well as… Google (who would’ve thought?)!
Another member of the audience (I’m so sorry I didn’t catch his name. All I know is that he sounded slightly British) brought up a couple of very valid points: to measure your influence on Twitter, don’t look at you number of followers. Instead, examine how relevant your followers are to your message. Number of RTs is also a great index to measure the value of what you’re communicating.

Cathy Browne. She is in Twitterville!

Ok. It’s late at night, so this post is going out as is. Hope you get some good value from it!

Alex Bogusky Fears Only Mediocrity

2009-09-17T00:01:00.000+02:00

If you have to be afraid of something, then fear mediocrity. Some very well written and inspiring advice from Alex Bogusky. Based on a conversation with what sounds like Ari Merkin, he also outlines some of his precepts for success in new business.

1. Tell other people your dreams.

2. The clients you currently have are your true new business machine

3. Find some real passion in the building for the business or take a pass on it.

4. Don’t model yourself after other agencies. Stop stealing all the decks from other shops to find a great pitch.

I am definitely a fan of Crispin (who ain’t?) and while I haven’t always agreed with all Mr Bogusky’s opinions, this really struck a chord.

GEICO MIGRATES TO JBOSS ENTERPRISE APPLICATION PLATFORM

2009-09-16T15:00:00.000+02:00

COMPANY: GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company)

CATEGORY: Superior Alternatives

INDUSTRY: Insurance

GEOGRAPHY: US

BUSINESS CHALLENGE: Existing middleware platform was complex to manage, not performing and scaling as expected and expensive to maintain. The architecture team decided to investigate alternatives that could be deployed that would better meet their needs.

MIGRATION PATH: Proprietary middleware platform to JBoss Enterprise Middleware

SOFTWARE: JBoss Enterprise Application Platform: 28 bands (1 band = 32 CPUs), Red Hat Technical Account Manager (TAM), Red Hat Consulting, Amentra

HARDWARE: 50 Dell servers

BENEFITS: Reduced the total cost of ownership by more than 30%, throughput gain of 3X with utilization down to 1/3rd of the current platform, overall resource utilization went from above 50% to under 10% which allowed significant room for scalability without having to acquire additional hardware

Download the PDF case study

COMPANY BACKGROUND

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is the third-largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States based on the latest 12 months written premium. GEICO provides auto insurance coverage for nearly 9 million policyholders and insures more than 14.4 million vehicles.

In addition to auto insurance, GEICO also offers customers insurance for their motorcycles and homes. Commercial auto insurance, boat, ATV, RV, personal umbrella protection and life insurance are also available.

GEICO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies, is rated A++ for financial stability by A.M. Best Company and ranks at the top of several national customer satisfaction surveys. For more information about GEICO, go to www.geico.com.

BUSINESS AND/OR TECHNICAL CHALLENGE

In 2007, GEICO’s enterprise architecture team recognized they were facing several challenges with their existing middleware platform. The platform was complex to manage, not performing and scaling as expected and expensive to maintain. The architecture team decided to investigate alternatives that could be deployed that would better meet their needs.

More detail on the challenges with the existing middleware is documented below.

- Cost – GEICO’s license agreement was a “time bound licensing agreement” for the number of application servers deployed during the time frame. Since GEICO experienced significant growth during this time frame, the cost to “true up” and pay for the additional licenses was significant.

- Performance – When GEICO upgraded their Java Application Platform JDK from version 1.4 to 1.5, they saw no improvements in either machine (CPU/Memory) usage or application response time. After eight weeks of performance testing and tuning, they were finally able to configure the upgraded platform to match the earlier version’s performance. The upgrade was not only cumbersome but was also expensive since they had to engage professional services to accomplish the upgrade.

- Memory leaks – The current JDK experienced unexplained memory leak(s). Developer load and memory testing returned misleading results unless the developer knew how to work around the leaks and complete certain types of tests.

- Documentation/Support – GEICO found it challenging to identify and understand the Java API in the current JDK environment due to lack of documentation. They also had challenges in acquiring tools to identify memory issues, debug leaks, etc. For every instance of a high severity issue such as memory leak, external professional services had to be engaged to identify and fix the problem.

- Staging – – Some of GEICO development teams adopted JBoss for the developer workstations and built the code on JBoss. It was a complex and redundant process engaging operations to make configuration changes on dual platforms.

VENDOR SELECTION PROCESS

GEICO conducted extensive research and identified Sun’s GlassFish and Red Hat’s JBoss as potential solutions that were suitable for GEICO’s application and infrastructure. JBoss Enterprise Middleware was selected based on their market share and extensive support from Red Hat. GEICO conducted a proof-of-concept, and installed JBoss Enterprise Middleware, as the current middleware application platform in a cluster of servers (POC environment). Performance and load tests were conducted using various tools for a selected business application on both platforms.

The results from these tests were astonishing. A few highlights are listed below:

- User page transition time decreased as much as 19 seconds

- During the proof-of-concept 1,749 additional business processes were created on JBOSS

- On the same hardware and environment, JBoss required 70% less CPU resources than the current platform

- Performance tuning JBoss was accomplished in 40 man hours versus 1440 man hours for the current platform

GEICO also conducted multiple reference checks with organizations that were of similar size and industry. The reference checks were extremely positive about Red Hat.

SOLUTION

The solution consisted of acquiring the licenses for JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (JEAP). The initial deployment environment consisted of 17 bands. An additional 11 bands were added at a later date. (1 band = 32 CPUs). A plan was put together to aggressively migrate 2 out of 3 mission critical applications in a time span of 3 months. GEICO also acquired the TAM license (Red Hat Technical Account Manager dedicated to GEICO) as part of the contract.

BENEFITS

By implementing the new JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, GEICO was able to reduce the total cost of ownership by more than 30%.

The added benefit was a throughput gain of 3X with utilization down to 1/3rd of the current platform. The overall resource utilization went from above 50% to under 10% which allowed significant room for scalability without having to acquire additional hardware.

RED HAT SUPPORT, TRAINING, AND CONSULTING SERVICES LEVERAGED

One of the challenges for GEICO was the time bound migration process. GEICO’s middleware team was trained on JBoss for a week. With the support of Red Hat and Amentra (a Division of Red Hat), they successfully migrated not only the planned 2 out of 3 applications but all 3 applications. This was a clear demonstration of expertise in Red Hat Consulting services and the ability of GEICO’s middleware team to adapt rapidly.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COMPANIES FACING A SIMILAR BUSINESS CHALLENGE

“Open-source does not translate to unsupported”. Don’t be afraid of change. GEICO had initial concerns about support, stability and deploying open-source software for its mission critical applications. The market maturity and the premium level of support offered by Red Hat made it very easy to make the change to an open source solution. If your organization has been slow to consider adopting open-source solutions, the competitive advantage that can be gained based on the lower cost of ownership and utilization of efficient/best of breed products can be lost.

No Time To Blog: Day 1 - Dell House

2009-09-16T09:15:00.000+02:00

Part of the reason that I don’t have much time to blog this week is that I’m on a training course at Dell, in Bracknell, today, and I had to stay over last night. I sampled the delights of Nando’s in Reading and got absolutely drenched in London. It was something of an epic journey but at least I had the delights of a Travelodge to look forward to (is it just me that thinks the word ‘Travelodge’ doesn’t look right? I’ve double checked and it’s definitely not ‘Travel Lodge’).

I’m currently sat in a meeting room in Dell House, which may, or may not, be their UK HQ. It’s a very nice building either way. I’m here to learn about their Equallogic SAN arrays, which are pretty impressive bits of kit, but I’m not about to start talking about IT, so don’t worry.

I can’t help but notice that I’m asking the most questions in here. Does that mean that I know the least or that I’m the most inquisitive?

BİNG 2.0 Gelecek Haftamı

2009-09-11T16:13:00.000+02:00

Microsoft’tan Bing 2.0 çok yakında!

Microsoft’un senelik toplantısından öyle haberler geliyor ki, hem Google, hem Apple kulak kabartacak.

Microsoft çalışanlarından sızan ve Twitter’a da yazılan bilgilere göre gelecek hafta Bing 2.0 gelecek.

“Bing 2.0 bu ay çıkacak ve heyecan verici yeni özelliklere sahip olacak. Haritaları çevredeki restoranların fotoğraflarıyla birikte görebileceğinizi düşünün” diyen Monte Enbysk, Microsoft Office Live’de kıdemli bir editör.

Çalışanların Microsoft’un yıllık buluşmasında keşfettikleri arasında Windows 7 ile birlikte piyasaya çıkacak dizüstü bilgisayarlar da yer aldı. Dell ve Sony’den dünyanın en ince dizüstü bilgisayarları yolda. Bunu da bir başka Microsoft çalışanı olan Bob Caswell’den öğreniyoruz.

[Via http://kulturmantari.wordpress.com]

Dell ни дразнят с новия Adamo

2009-09-10T09:57:00.000+02:00

Dell ни предлагат да хвърлим поглед на новия Adamo – наистина не се вижда кой-знае колко, но нали все пак това е идеята – да подразнят въображението ни. Поне от снимката можем да добием едно ясно впечатление – става въпрос за много тънък лаптоп. Предишният Adamo, който излиза на пазара през март, спокойно може да се нарече един от най-красивите ноутбуци на пазара (поне по наше мнение). Предвид солената цена, за останалите му достойнства може да се поспори, но той наистина е красавец.

Какво можем да очакваме от новото лъскаво предложение на Dell? На първо място – 9.99 мм дебелина (отчасти в чест на датата, на която той бе обявен – 09.09.09). За останалото засега не се знае – дано не се наложи да чакаме до 10.10.10, за да научим.

[Via http://pcstorebg.wordpress.com]

Ανακοινώθηκαν από τη Dell τα Inspiron 14z και 15z

2009-09-10T04:22:00.000+02:00

Ανακοινώθηκαν από τη Dell τα Inspiron 14z και 15z | PC Magazine

Η Dell φιλοξενεί στην επίσημη ιστοσελίδα της δύο νέα notebooks που εντάσσονται στην ομάδα των Inspiron. Τα νέα Inspiron 14z και 15z διαθέτουν οθόνη 14 και 15,6 ιντσών, αντίστοιχα, και απευθύνονται στο μέσο χρήστη που θέλει ένα οικονομικό φορητό υπολογιστή με τεχνικά χαρακτηριστικά που είναι ικανά να αντεπεξέλθουν στις περισσότερες καθημερινές εργασίες.[next

[Via http://xollothnews.wordpress.com]

Dell bows Studio XPS 8000 tower with Core i5

2009-09-08T15:50:00.000+02:00

Dell quickly seized on the launch of Intel’s Lynnfield architecture by introducing a new system to take advantage of it. The Studio XPS 8000 is a smaller, less costly counterpart to the Studio XPS 435 (to be rebranded as the 9000) and starts off with a 2.66GHz Core i5 and more modest Radeon HD 4350 dedicated graphics to give most of what higher-end users expect but without having to scale up to a full Core i7 system and mid-range visuals. It continues to share the basic chassis concept of the 435 and has both a tray for peripherals and cooling designed for airflow…

(source)

[Via http://appleandmacnews.wordpress.com]

Wikis in the Enterprise

2009-09-06T04:40:00.000+02:00

What is a wiki?

Wikis were first introduced in WikiWikiWeb a website designed by Ward Cunningham in 1995. A wiki is the term given to an online document that many people can collaborate on. That is, they can edit, update, delete, add pages/links, change content and so on to wiki pages. The most common and well known wiki is: Wikipedia.

What is an Enterprise wiki?

Infoworld declared 2004 as the Year of the enterprise Wiki, as wikis began to emerge in businesses across the globe. Bascially, a wiki that is used for conducting work in an enterprise is an Enterprise wiki.

What is so great about wikis?

Collaboration. Participation. Harnessing collective intelligence (Tim O’Reilly)
Wikis provide users with simple and easy to use methods of content creation via a wiki markup language.
Linking -> An important part of the SLATES paradigm in Andrew McAfee’s blog, wikis make linking to other wiki pages easy by stripping it down to the bare essentials in the Wiki markup language. Provides an easy ability to forge deep interconnections between data sources.
Edits and history of the document is tracked so you can return to previous versions and look at differences between versions.
User access control: Wikis can have the power to allow and deny users. Users who are not registered can be disallowed the ability to edit. Registered users will have their username fixed to edits so that these chanegs can be tracked to particular users.
Modern wikis can integrate with other tools such as e-mail, RSS and blogs.

Weaknesses of wikis?

Giving many users access relies on their ability to contribute effectively and advantageously.
Spamming can be possible when masses of users can contribute anonymously.
Control is sacrificed for empowerment, that is managers lose control while users take/get control.

Businesses using wikis?

Disney:

Disney’s Digital Media faction started using a wiki when its team decided they needed a tool that matched their department. They needed speed and collaboration, so they create an internal website without consulting their boss. They just did it. The project was not seen as defiance of their management but rather a tool to enhance their performance and better use the resources of their 150-strong team. Reader here – Online version of the magazine article.
Dell:

Socialtext co-founder discusses how their product helped Dell:
“The second use case is a participatory knowledge base. So at Dell, for instance, we did a knowledge base for their call center. Their call center handles exceptions. That’s what they do all day long. Answer a call, hear the problem, look for an answer, and then they don’t have the information. Now, [with a wiki], they tap the informal network that exists inside the call center and document the solution. 99 percent of the pages created [on the wiki] and tagged allow the call center to go from 20 clicks to find information to four, substantially decreasing search costs and decreasing the average call time by 10 to 20 percent.” (Source: Discussing the role of enterprise wikis).
Yahoo:

“…we use TWiki internally to manage documentation and project planning for our products. Our development team includes hundreds of people in various locations all over the world, so web collaboration is VERY important to us. TWiki has changed the way we run meetings, plan releases, document our product and generally communicate with each other. We’re great fans of your work!” (Source: The Yahoo Twiki success page).

Others:

See the Twiki (Wiki product provider) customer list with quotes from users of the software. Customers include: Nokia, Yahoo!, Oracle, Trend Micro, Sony, United States Coast Guard, Allergan, etc.

[Via http://benmccallum.wordpress.com]

Coastal Connection online store - competition for Best Buy and Radio Shaq

2009-09-05T22:25:00.000+02:00

New online electronic store mat provide stiff competition to the big box online retailers such as Circuit City, fry’s and JR

For_Immediate_Release:

(Free-Press-Release.com) July 26, 2009 — www.coastal-connecton.com\shop.aspx Online retailer Coastal Connection has launched a new website with an improved design to give their customers an even more enjoyable online shopping experience with fresh new pages, related products and many more exciting features.

Founded in 2004, Coastal Connection has gone from strength to strength in the world of online sales with their every growing range of technolgy products, such as laptop’s PDA’s GPS systems and digital camera’s.

“We’ve come a long way since selling just desktop PC’s,” said Reggie Halilton, PR Manager ” to an online retailer of name brand electronics; it’s essential that we have as many brands on board as possible.”

With such a wide range of Electronic’s to choose from, Coastal Connection felt that it was time to manage their overwhelming selection of products and guide their customers to the best products by improving their website.

Since the early days, Coastal Connection has always championed choice as one of their best features, but with so many new brands joining the online retailer, there were too many products for even the most sensible shopper to browse. This resulted in stagnant sales as customers were literally spoilt for choice.

The new Coastal Connection now incorporates properly merchandised pages for each product featuring special offers, best sellers, recommended products, customer reviews and related products to help customers find exactly what they’re looking for and to make an informed purchase.

To check out the latest new changes and innovative new marketing methods, visit

http://coastal-connection.com/shop.aspx

electronics store, sony, hp, dell, wii, acer, best buy, shop, computer, coastal-connection, finance

[Via http://coastalconnection.wordpress.com]