COMPUTING

Apple Bloggers Pay Pretty Penny for Macs, Ponder Porcine iPhone Update, Pray for Perfect Products

Friday - August 8, 2008There's been lots of activity in the Apple-focused blogosphere this week -- and that's no surprise, what with the screaming success Apple's been having with its Mac and iPhone sales. For example, TechCrunch reported that Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer that produces the iPhone for Apple, has ramped up production to 800,000 units a week. With that kind of production, Apple is on a lot of people's brains these days. A few of the more interesting stories this week include the high price of the Mac and the iPhone 3G's bug-fixing update. [More...]

What Does Apple Have Up Its Sleeve?

Thursday - August 7, 2008When Apple announced last month that it anticipated higher development costs in coming months, analysts cringed and the stock dropped. But tech heads rejoiced. Such a message often means new products are coming from the company. Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told analysts that a "future product transition" will lower gross margins from nearly 35 to about 30 percent in 2009. [More...]

IBM's Homeward Bound Linux PC Push

Tuesday - August 5, 2008IBM fired the opening salvo at this year's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, and to the surprise of no one, it was aimed squarely at Microsoft. Sure, it was the low-hanging fruit -- Microsoft's an easy target. It's kind of like taking pot shots at John McCain at an Obama fund-raiser. But here, the ammunition was more notable than the target. [More...]

PC Upkeep for Average Joes

Tuesday - August 5, 2008Firing up a brand-new PC is a magic moment that can never be recaptured. The flawless performance, the lightning-fast speeds, the uncluttered desktop -- they're a thing of beauty. In time, though, just about all PC users will have to cope with their share of problems, from sluggish download speeds to out-and-out system failures. [More...]
Will the Next MacBook Touchpad Look Like an iPhone?

Thursday - July 31, 2008On the heels of Apple's third quarter financial report, in which Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer hinted at new products that would put pressure on Apple's relatively high margins, the Apple rumor mill is running rampant with speculation. Further teasing along the guessing game, Apple CEO Steve Jobs opaquely noted, "We're busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months." [More...]
Tarot Cards, Palm Reading and Apple Patents

Thursday - July 31, 2008Apple's success in products like the iPhone and iPod has industry analysts and competitors, as well as faithful followers, speculating on what's to come in future product introductions. It also has them wondering and guessing about where the company is headed from a broader perspective. Public patent filings are one source of information that happens to gather a lot of attention in this regard. [More...]

Portugal Rings Up Big Order for Intel's Classmate PCs

Wednesday - July 30, 2008Intel's low-cost laptop initiative is set to get a boost Wednesday from Portugal's government, which is pledging to provide elementary school students with 500,000 computers based on the chipmaker's Classmate PC design. The announcement brings Intel's rivalry with the One Laptop Per Child organization into the spotlight once again. [More...]
Rumor Mill Has Apple Slicing and Dicing Intel Chipsets

Tuesday - July 29, 2008Is Apple's line of MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers due for a redesign -- or at least a refresh? The MacBook Air's relatively fresh form factor will likely remain the same for a while, but new aluminum cases for the other MacBooks in Apple's menagerie -- ones that will key off of the Air's thinner, slightly rounded design -- might be on the way. [More...]

Dell Debuts Diminutive Desktop

Tuesday - July 29, 2008Dell rolled out its entry in the emerging ultra-small PC category Tuesday. The Dell Studio Hybrid is the computer maker's smallest and most environmentally responsible consumer PC offering. The desktop joins other systems in the category, including the Apple Mac mini and HP's Slimline series. [More...]

Does Linux Need a Little Tough Love?


Monday - July 28, 2008Well, last week started out with a bang thanks to Monday's announcement of the new, Debian-powered CherryPal PC. That the low-power machine runs Linux is, of course, good news. The twist is that users won't even see it, because the entire user interface is presented through Firefox. Slashdot and LXer immediately picked up the news. [More...]

Can Apple Break Through China's Great Wall of Counterfeits?

Monday - July 28, 2008Apple may be making a lot of noise lately with its new iPhone 3G, but when it comes to fighting software pirates, Steve Jobs' company prefers to speak softly and carry a big stick -- the stick, of course, being legal action like its recent lawsuit against computer maker Psystar for producing machines that can run Apple software. [More...]

Consoles Sell Like Hotcakes, Yahoo Cuts a Deal, Sysadmin Caves

Friday - July 25, 2008As much as I love zombie movies, I really don't care to count how many times I've been invited to BECOME a zombie on Facebook. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about. That's what you get when you open your platform to developers with all sorts of agendas -- you get a handful of good stuff, and you get oceans of crap -- spammy, garbagey applications -- the software equivalent of Cracker Jack prizes. [More...]