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Monday 31 October 2011

HP Launching Windows 8 Tablets; webOS Future Still In The Air [ 31-10-2011 19:42 ]

Author: Serge Novikov Source: LA Times Translation by: Paul Smith

Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, revealed during an earnings call on Thursday that the company would be forging aheaad with releasing Windows 8 powered tablets next year. It's a bit of a turnaround from earlier this year when the company unveiled its webOS powered TouchPad. Unfortunately for HP, and webOS fans, the TouchPad proved to be something of a failure, ending its life early with a $99 fire sale price tag to shift remaining stock.

With HP launching Windows 8 tablets there of course still remains the question of what the company plans to do with webOS. On that score the future is not looking too bright for the platform with Whitman saying:

One of my observations is that HP tries to do a lot of things. And I am a big believer in doing a small number of things really, really well - set them up, knock them down, set them up, knock them down.

Without wishing to read too much into that statement it would seem Whitman might not be sold on the idea of giving webOS another try in the near future. It's a view reinforced by comments from HP's former CEO Leo Apothker:

I think from a webOS perspective that's kind of the next piece of work to complete ... The whole team of Meg, Cathie, myself, John Visentin are working very, very hard and as quickly as we can to make the right decisions about that product.

A final decision on webOS' future should come within the next few months, but the very fact that there is debate and that it is taking so long to resolve itself doesn't exactly bode well.

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Rumour: Apple Working On Ultra-Thin 15-Inch MacBook [ 31-10-2011 19:21 ]

Author: Irina Turina Source: Macotakara Translation by: Paul Smith

Macotakara are reporting that Apple are in the midst of working on a new 15-inch MaBook that will sport an ultra-thin design a la the MacBook Air. It ties in with previous rumours that Apple was already testing out such a device. Although the rumour is persisting what isn't yet clear is whether this new model would be a new addition to the MacBook Air line or be branded as a MacBook Pro. If the latter turns out to be the case then presumably the optical drive currently featured in the MacBook Pro line would be dropped to make the device thinner, possibly in conjunction with pairing down other features.

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Ubuntu Appearing On A Small Screen Near You In 2014? [ 31-10-2011 18:53 ]

Author: Serge Novikov Source: Engadget Translation by: Paul Smith

Ubuntu has become one of the most, if not the most, popular Linux distro for desktops and laptops, but that is pretty much where it has stayed. Sure it has been ported to the odd tablet or smartphone here and there, but not officially and to be honest there has been no real impact. That might be about to change, however, as Mark Shuttleworth, the distro's founder, called upon the Ubuntu community at the recent Ubuntu Development Summit, to move beyond the PC.

What that means wasn't explicitly spelled out, but Shuttleworth did say that the time is now right for Ubuntu to appear on tablets, phones and smart TVs. For those who use Ubuntu or follow its progress this might sound all too familiar as there was some big talk of Ubuntu bursting onto the tablet scene this year. Obviously that never materialised, however, that doesn't mean to say it won't this time around. When 'this time around' actually is no one quite knows yet although Shuttleworth hinted at a 2014 timeframe with the arrival of version 14.04.

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Three UK: 97% Of Our Network Being Used For Data [ 31-10-2011 16:40 ]

Author: Irina Turina Source: Three Translation by: Paul Smith

UK network Three has revealed that 97% of all its network traffic is data use. Quite frankly that's a staggering figure and means that just 3% of their network is being used for making voice calls and sending texts. The huge surge in data usage has been felt strongly at Three with usage climbing a mammoth 427% over the past 14 months. Three themselves are saying that the huge increase is primarily down to app downloads and moving streaming.

Whilst seeing the numbers laid bare like this might be shocking to some of the more traditional minded amongst us it isn't really at all surprising. With the seemingly insatiable demand for smartphones over the past few years data usage has been steadily climbing. What was once the domain of early adopters and geeks is not very much mainstream with users all across the spectrum using data services.

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