pcs

The CherryPal PC is in a holding pattern. The $249, 10-ounce, 2-watt-drawing, cloud-computing PC we first spied in July is still at least a couple weeks away from materializing. The company tells TG Daily that problems with the graphics hardware has pushed back its ship date at least two weeks. This follows on the heels of the company delaying the original August release due to a software conflict with the system's solid-state storage.

The irony here is that hardware and software issues have delayed this tiny PC that has only the bare minimum of hardware and software. The CherryPal … Read more

This blog has been updated with comments from HP.

A rumor is circulating that Hewlett-Packard is closing the gaming PC outfit it bought just two years ago.

The report comes from a blog called Techgage, which cites an "insider close to the situation," who reports an e-mail announcing layoffs is circulating at the company, though the report doesn't include a specific number of jobs being cut. It also reports that Voodoo is returning parts to its supplier.

HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said it would be "incorrect" to say HP is shutting down Voodoo, but didn'… Read more

"I know I said I was going to the party dressed as a clown, but what do you think of this pin-striped suit?"

When you've worked in advertising for a long time--especially if you're on the creative side--you learn to steel yourself to expect anything. Otherwise, your doctors prescribe you far too many strangely-named concoctions, all of them ending in 'zepam'.

Which is why Microsoft's decision to regress its ad agency, Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, back to the mean, is merely another day at the Wishing Well.

It is, however, sadder than seeing Hillary Swank … Read more

As reporters, we tend to be wary whenever a company claims to be the first, the best, or the smallest of anything. But when we saw an image of CompuLab's Fit-PC Slim, we thought it could very well be the tiniest machine capable of running Windows XP yet.

The original Fit-PC 1.0 was already a minute machine, measuring about 4.7 inches x 4.5 inches x 1.6 inches and weighing about 1.1 pounds. The new model, however, makes the first version look bloated. Weighing less than a pound, the Fit-PC Slim takes up only about … Read more

The roughly two-month shopping period before school starts is typically fruitful for consumer electronics retailers. Not this year.

All categories combined showed minimal growth. Although notebook sales increased 10 percent over the same period the year before, desktops were down 3 percent. And products that have been guaranteed big sellers in past years continue to lose momentum: digital-camera sales were down 1 percent, printer sales were even, and MP3 player sales were up 7 percent.

This is especially concerning to electronics retailers, since the all-important holiday shopping season is approaching, a time when they typically can expect to play catch-up … Read more

Hewlett-Packard announced on Tuesday a new series of consumer notebook and desktop PCs that focus on enhancing users' multimedia experience.

The new notebooks include HDX16 and HDX18 models, designed for a mobile, high-definition computing experience. They both have built-in TV tuners, Blu-ray, wireless networking, and high-end theater-quality audio/video options.

The HDX16 features a 16-inch wide-screen with 720 or 1,080-pixel HD resolution. The HDX18, on the other hand, has a full-size 18.4-inch Ultra BrightView 1,080-pixel HD screen and a high-end graphics card. Both models sport HP MediaSmart that allows for playing hi-def multimedia content. The two are … Read more

Writing about the Tuesday introduction of new iPods by Apple, American Technology Research's Shaw Wu observed that the product debut came smack in the midst of a lousy economic cycle where "macro headwinds are becoming more apparent."

That qualifies as more than mild understatement.

The economy's wheezing, big banks are collapsing and oil prices remain sky high. So then why is PC demand expected to be strong through the end of 2008--and beyond?

That's the gist of a new report out of IDC. No matter that Lehman's on the ropes or that Uncle Sam … Read more

The New York Times has a cool visualization chart on its site Wednesday showing how the world population spends its discretionary income.

It highlights per capita spending on clothing and footwear, electronics, alcohol and tobacco, household goods, and recreation. At Crave, we obviously zeroed in on electronics spending, and the results seemed predictable at first: the U.S. spends an ungodly amount of money on electronics: $162 billion a year. "Electronics, " by the way, are defined here as PCs, TVs, stereos, and camera equipment. Cell phones, notably, are not included.

The U.K., France, Germany, and Russia also … Read more

Turns out, the sky isn't falling on the PC industry.

That's according to an update from IDC, an analyst firm that tracks the global PC market. Despite economic sluggishness in the U.S., PC shipments have actually increased worldwide more than expected.

Worldwide PC shipments are expected to grow by 15.7 percent this year to reach 311 million units, according to a report released Wednesday by IDC. Growth will slow slightly, but remain above 9 percent through 2012. IDC says that amounts to annual PC shipments reaching more than 482 million in 2012.

This growth is to … Read more