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Google think tank tackles traffickers and terrorists

Google doesn't just want to just "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," as its mission statement says. It also wants to figure out how to use technology to improve the world under the auspices of its think tank, Google Ideas.

Google Ideas, which launched 18 months ago, is working with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Tribeca Film Festival to sponsor a conference, "Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition" in Los Angeles this week. The aim is to bring together government officials, tech leaders, researchers and victims to explore … Read more

Microsoft to feel Surface heat from PC makers

Microsoft's Surface tablet has got PC makers hopping mad. So, they're going to do something about it.

"[PC makers] are pissed off and they are looking for strategies now to not only counter the iPad but counter Surface," said a source at a large company that's part of the ecosystem -- the component suppliers and device manufacturers -- that does business with PC makers.

Separately, Roger Kay, principal analyst at EndPoint Technologies, told CNET last week that there was no shortage of "teeth gnashing" among PC executives and managers in response to the … Read more

Microsoft tablet and iPad to duke it out at large companies

Windows 8 Pro tablets have a shot at slowing iPad adoption at large companies, said Deutsche Bank -- though an analyst tempered the assessment with reservations.

Microsoft's Surface tablet running Windows 8 Pro can "leverage" the large existing base of Windows customers, giving it a better chance at checking the "penetration" of Apple's iPad at large business accounts, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a research note on Monday.

We see the x86-based Pro as a corporate [laptop] replacement. This offering has more potential because the OS is backward compatible, has more robust … Read more

Microsoft unveiled Surface after seeing partners' designs, says analyst

How many ways can Microsoft tick off its partners in the wake of the Surface tablet announcement? Well, here's another.

At issue is Microsoft's access to PC makers' designs, said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy and formerly an executive at Advanced Micro Devices.

"Microsoft looked at what the [PC makers] were doing, seeing if it could meet their Windows 8 needs and then took action based on that," he said in a phone interview, citing conversations with -- and the sentiment of -- senior level executives at top-tier PC makers.

Moorhead continued. "… Read more

What makes the Microsoft Surface tablet different? (poll)

Despite Microsoft's best efforts on Monday to demonstrate why Surface is different, it's a crowded market out there.

All of the first-tier players like Samsung, Amazon, Sony, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and Motorola (not to mention a Google-branded device that is expected) have already saturated the Android tablet market.

And then there's the iPad, which is simply shorthand for tablet in a lot of consumers' minds and commands most of the market. And has a two-year head start, to boot.

So, it's a tall order for Microsoft and Windows 8.

That said, the rollout of the 10.… Read more

The 404 1,077: Where we scrape the Surface (podcast)

The mystery of the magic Microsoft device is finally solved, but what's with all the unanswered questions? In trying to add fuel to the Surface hype machine, Microsoft leaves too much to the industry's collective imagination as we all keep speculating about the tablets' battery life, release dates, prices, and UI experience.

The competition among tablets is still presently in favor of the iPad, so we're hoping that Microsoft has more compelling announcements in the future that integrate some of the company's other inventions.

Jeff and I always fight about which popular musician deserves credit for this generation's aural decay, but the Imperial College in London may have a solution to our problem: let computers compose the music!

A team of researchers believe that digital music can move beyond human creation and evolve autonomously without a real composer. They've developed a learning computer algorithm that continuously creates and combines loops in a random sequence.… Read more

Meet the Intel man who's out to beat ARM in smartphones

It's not often you meet someone in the tech industry for whom the only way is up, but Intel's Michael A. Bell is one of those people. His job is to break Intel into the smartphone market -- and whatever he does, he can't end up reducing its market share.

Previously a vice president on the Mac side at Apple and then in charge of product development at Palm (the Pre and the Pixi were his handsets), Bell is now vice president and general manager of Intel's Mobile and Communications Group. His job is to take … Read more

Intel not joining graphics chip alliance

Intel will not join a chip-related alliance aimed at making it easier for software developers to take advantage of the compute power locked up in graphics silicon.

Advanced Micro Devices, ARM, Imagination Technologies, MediaTek Inc., and Texas Instruments announced the Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) Foundation on Tuesday.

Here's how Lisa Su, an AMD senior vice president, described it in a phone interview with CNET.

"The point is, even if you put a really powerful CPU next to a really powerful GPU, if these [chips] don't interact and the applications don't know when it's better to … Read more

Windows RT faces a host of hurdles, says analyst

Windows RT won't provide much of a kick for Windows 8 tablets and PCs over the foreseeable future.

At least, that's the outlook from J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz.

In an investors note out today, Moskowitz said that Windows RT may be an interesting long-term bet. But several challenges await.

The Windows 8 version cooked up for ARM-based processors faces a lagging ecosystem, Moskowitz said, which means a lack of compatible apps and hardware devices and limited backward compatibility with existing applications.

ARM also faces competitive pressures from Intel, which is pushing its x86-based ultrabooks and other … Read more