HP today announced the evolution of its PC portfolio, with new Haswell processors. Added to the line are the HP Elite One 800 G1 and ProOne 600 G1 series all-in-one PCs, and the EliteDesk 800 G1 and ProDesk 600 towers and small form factor desktop computers.
Currently at eCost.com, save 40 percent on the refurbished 17.3-inch HP Envy notebook computer in midnight black. It was $1,000, but has been reduced by $400 to $600 with free delivery. That discount makes it about $160 less than the lowest price we have seen anywhere else. This notebook features a 2.4GHz Intel quad-core i7 processor, 12GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. A 90-day warranty on parts and labor is included from HP.
HP has taken a stab at the fledging mobile desktop market with its new Envy Rove. Like the Sony Vaio Tap 20 and the Dell XPS 18, the Envy Rove does double duty as an all-in-one touchscreen Windows 8 desktop computer, while it also incorporates an in-built battery for mobile use around the house. The Envy Rove is one of three new all-in-ones HP announced today, which also offer a choice of the latest Intel ‘Haswell’ silicon scheduled for widespread availability in July.
HP today announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2013. Second quarter diluted earnings per share was $0.55, down from $0.80 in the prior-year period and above its previously provided outlook of $0.38 to $0.40 per share. For the second quarter, net revenue of $27.6 billion was down 10% year over year.
HP has just announced the HP SlateBook X2 and the HP Spilt X2, a pair of detachable PCs offering notebook and tablet functionality in one device. The SlateBook X2 is the first Android detachable device with the Nvidia Tegra 4-processor, and runs Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean." The Split X2 is powered by the full Windows 8 operating system.
A pair of contradictory reports have surfaced today, regarding the potential sale of HP's troubled acquisition Autonomy to German software powerhouse SAP. Initially, the Times of London reported that HP had tried to sell the company to SAP, but a follow-up report from HP refutes all reports, with backup by SAP saying that an executive had a quote given in an interview misinterpreted by the UK paper.
Business magazine Fortune has released the 2013 edition of its list of the 500 biggest corporations in the US. One of the most significant shifts in the list is the ascendancy of Apple, which has jumped from 17th place to sixth, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Fortune comments that while the company has "maintained more than disrupted" its product line, and even had to apologize for iOS 6 Maps and its Chinese warranty services, it "remains an innovation icon."
HP has announced the availability of the Scanjet Pro3000 s2 for business users. Said to plug into existing scanning platforms, the sheet feed scanner includes a 50-page automatic feeder for mass document scanning, and is capable of scanning A4-sized pages at 300dpi in color at up to 20 pages per minute.
This week, MacMall.com has lowered the price on the 27-inch iMac from $2,949 down to $2,899 with free shipping. That's a savings of $49, making this the lowest price on this iMac brand new. This iMac features a 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 3TB Fusion Drive with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX graphics processor and two Thunderbolt ports. Included with it are an Apple wireless keyboard, Magic Mouse, and one-year warranty on parts and labor from Apple.
HP has finally launched its latest foray into the tablet segment, making the HP Slate 7 available for purchase on its website. The 7-inch Android tablet is a mid-level offering that HP is touting largely on its price. It also features integrated Beats Audio processing, a feature that — along with a $170 starting price — HP hopes will attract buyers.
Leap Motion has made a deal with HP to embed its 3D motion-tracking controller into HP devices. The agreement will initially see HP providing the Leap Motion Controller with specific HP products as a bundle, and will explore fully integrating the motion-tracking technology into future, unannounced HP devices.
Following reports published by Gartner and IDC showing the worst declines in PC sales on record, both Microsoft and HP shares have taken a beating, reports the Wall Street Journal. At the end of trading on Thursday, Microsoft shares shed 4.44 percent down to 28.94, while HP shares fared worse down 6.5 percent to $20.88 after it was revealed its PC shipments fell 24 percent. With the decline in PC sales directly attributed to the rise of the iPad and other tablet devices, the relatively weak performance of Microsoft and HP in the mobile devices segments has negatively affected investor sentiment in both companies.
HP today unveiled the world’s first commercially-available Moonshot system, which the company claims uses up to 89 percent less energy, occupies 80 percent less space, and costs 77 percent less compared to traditional X86 servers with the same processing power. The 4.3-unit high system is tailored for "social, cloud, mobile, and big-data" uses.
Hewlett Packard co-chairman Ray Lane has stepped down from his position at the company, and is taking two other board members with him. Lane is leaving following a narrow re-election -- and G. Kennedy Thompson and John Hammergren, also both elected by a close margin -- are departing as well. All three are leaving in part due to their roles in the Autonomy acquisition scandal that rocked the company in 2012.
A study of 10,000 US computer users by customer satisfaction analyst Tempkin Group has once again ranked Apple as the top manufacturer for overall "computer experience" quality, which is defined as having excellent functionality, being accessible and generating the strongest positive emotions. This is the third year running that Apple has topped the list, but HP took second place -- losing by only two percentage points, and with a higher "functionality" rating than Apple. Sony and Lenovo were ranked least favorably of the 10 manufacturers rated.
Google has expanded the reach of notebooks running its cloud-centric Chrome OS. The company has revealed on its blog that it has worked with its partners including Acer, HP and Samsung to rollout their low-cost devices to new consumer markets in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Google is also targeting business and schools in the same countries with special online promotional events scheduled for late March.
HP and Samsung have partnered up to provide native HP printing support in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S 4. The built-in printing support will allow Galaxy S 4 owners to send a printable file to most HP Inkjet and LaserJet network printers without the need to download an app. Support is included for more than 180 different HP network printers, as well as for numerous printing options such as duplex printing, orientation, and paper type.
According to regulatory documents filed Monday, UK law enforcement has opened up an investigation into HP's claims that it was badly misled when it acquired software developer Autonomy. The inquiry by the UK Serious Fraud Office mirrors that of the US Department of Justice investigation that started at the end of 2012, after HP accused Autonomy of deceitful accounting and forged sales records.
This week, OfficeDepot.com has slashed the price on the HP Envy x2 11.6-inch convertible tablet from $850 to $600, a savings of $250. That's about $67 less than the lowest price offered on this computer anywhere else. The HP Envy features a 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor, with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space as well as a detachable keyboard. Windows 8 is pre-installed, and a one-year warranty is included from HP.
Hewlett Packard said today that it is selling its troubled WebOS operating system to LG Electronics. LG had worked with HP on the operating system, and is expected to use it for its line of smart televisions. Both companies declined to reveal the terms of the deal.
HP has unveiled a new Android tablet aimed at the home market, its first attempt at a consumer tablet after the WebOS-based TouchPad in 2011. The HP Slate resembles a fairly standard seven-inch tablet that uses Android Jelly Bean, but is the first to offer integrated Beats Audio processing. Electronista spent a small amount of hands-on time with the tablet ahead of the opening of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Google increased the amount it spent on lobbying the US government 90 percent year-over-year in 2012, according to data compiled by Fortune. The company ended up spending $18.22 million, easily beating out any other American technology firm. Microsoft, in fact, came in second place with $8.09 million, despite likewise increasing its spending. Other major tech businesses that funneled more money toward lobbying last year included HP, Facebook, and Amazon.
HP is rumored to be developing an Android tablet, acccording to Readwrite. The device will be powered by an Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor and has been in development since Thanksgiving. The same sources also indicate that HP is also working on Android smartphone as well, although it is uncertain if the device would be released this year.
Hewlett Packard today announced the worldwide release of the new HP Officejet Pro X [website not yet updated], which is, according to the Guinness World Records, the world’s fastest desktop inkjet printer. Also announced by the company are the HP Officejet Pro 251dw, and Officejet Pro 251dw Multifunction printers.
HP has created its first Chromebook, the Pavillion 14. The new web-based notebook joins similar offerings including the Google Chromebook from Samsung and the C7 from Acer. While HP is charging a premium for its device, it is quick to point to the additional 2-inches of diagonal screen real estate offered by its 14-inch display as a selling point.
As part of its recovery and restructuring plan announced under new CEO Meg Whitman, Hewlett Packard said today it is closing its Russelsheim, Germany site. In doing so, the manufacturer will cut 850 jobs, with another 250 possibly able to transfer to HP partners or clients. The company claimed that th emote would not affect HP's other major sites in Germany.
Preliminary PC shipment data produced by Gartner shows that Apple has held on to the number three position in the US market in the fourth quarter of 2012. Although PC shipments declined in the US by 2.1 percent year over year dropping to 17.5 million units, Apple managed to boost its sales by 5.4 percent over its 2011 fourth quarter results. HP retained its number one position in the US, boosting its sales by 12.6 percent, while Dell retained second position but went backwards with 16.5 percent fewer sales for the quarter.
Shipments of personal computers have continued to decline, according to market analyst firm Gartner. Sales have declined in the fourth quarter in 2012 by 4.9-percent compared to the same period in 2011, with a combination of the weak global economy and the availability of cheap and accessible tablets reportedly to blame.
On Thursday, Apple updated its set of drivers for various HP and Brother models for users of OS X from 10.6 up to the present 10.8.2. The updates, available through the Software Update mechanism or through a direct update from Apple's support pages, provides the latest drivers and bring in support for new and existing models for printers, scanners and all-in-one units from the two companies. Both require a minimum of OS X 10.6.1.
HP brought its latest hardware to Las Vegas this week for CES, where Electronista checked out the company's new xi-series displays. The offerings range from the 20-inch 20xi to the 27-inch 27xi, bringing a modernized appearance and LED-backlit IPS panels.
HP does not have a presence on the CES show floor this year, however the company did bring some of its new products to Las Vegas to show off. Electronista had a chance to check out the Pocket Playlist, a portable Wi-Fi storage device that provides supplementary storage for iOS- and Android-powered devices.
The US Department of Justice has commenced an investigation into reports of accounting fraud at Hewlett-Packard's troubled acquisition, Autonomy. In November, HP had made its own discovery of potential fraud at the software developer, and submitted evidence to federal regulators following a write-down of $8 billion of the value of the company, for which it paid $11 billion a little over a year ago.
HP has given the EliteBook Revolve an early reveal ahead of both CES 2013 and its eventual on-sale date of March. Living up to its name, the device employs a revolving hinge that follows in the footsteps of the traditional Windows convertible notebook. This time though, HP has added a dose of style from its high-end Envy line and combining it with a notebook that its is positioning for the business market.
An International Trade Commission lawsuit brought by technology company X2Y Attenuators against Intel -- claiming that the chipmaker had stolen X2Y's technology and used in chips purchased by other manufacturers -- has failed, with a preliminary ruling by Judge David Shaw that not only did Intel not infringe on the three energy-conditioning patents in question, but that two of the X2Y patents were invalid. Also named in the lawsuit were Apple and HP, since both use certain Intel chips in their products. Both companies were also cleared.
Even as much of the news media focuses on Apple's recent announcement that it would be moving production of some of its Mac lineup back to American shores, Hewlett-Packard s dismissing the news, noting that HP has been assembling PCs in the United States "since the beginning." In a recent blog post and some follow-up statements to the media, HP pointed out that its workstations and commercial desktop PCs are manufactured in Indianapolis, with the company's servers manufactured in Houston. Building in the US, HP says, allows the company to better serve its customers due to being closer, as opposed to "building them in China and shipping them by sea."
HP has put an all-in-one laser printer with a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot on sale in India, effectively performing the usual task of a wireless hub. The HP Hotspot LaserJet Pro M1218nfs multi-function printer connects to a wired network via Ethernet, and can allow up to eight other devices to wirelessly connect at the same time.
The saga surrounding HP's multi-billion dollar Autonomy write-down took new turns and added new players today, with the announcement of a second shareholder lawsuit over the faltering computer giant's acquisition of the British software firm. The new suit names not only HP's board of directors, officers, and former executives, but also Deloitte and KPMG, two of the Big Four audit firms, as defendants. The suit alleges that the firms missed multiple red flags that should have alerted them to flaws in Autonomy's accounting.
The fallout from HP's $8.8 billion write-down on Autonomy continues apace, with former Autonomy chief Mike Lynch now requesting that HP provide more details on allegations that Autonomy engaged in improper accounting. Lynch has defended autonomy, claiming that the company's finances were "handled in accordance with applicable regulations and accounting practices," and states that he "utterly reject[s] all allegations of impropriety." HP, for its part, has challenged Lynch to submit to questioning under oath about Autonomy's finances.
An investor has filed a civil securities lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard, alleging that the computer giant misled stockholders with regard to its purchase of Autonomy. HP bought Autonomy last year, but just last week the company announced it would be taking an $8.8 billion write-down on the purchase, citing misleading statements and other improprieties in Autonomy's financials. Reuters reports that the civil suit is a class action lawsuit, and it was filed in a San Francisco court today. It is not yet confirmed, but the suit may name HP CEO Meg Whitman and former CEO Leo Apotheker as defendants.
Mike Lynch, the former CEO of Autonomy, has strongly denied allegations by HP that his former company had engaged in "serious accounting improprieties" and willfully misled shareholders regarding its financials. Lynch has not yet hired a lawyer, but he is reportedly sitting down with former clients of Autonomy in order to sort out the numerous charges HP has leveled against the company and its former management. A good deal of Lynch's protest appears to hinge on differences in accounting standards between American firms and some firms based in other countries.
Today, HP announced that it would take an $8.8 billion write-down on Autonomy, the British software company HP bought last year, claiming that Autonomy had misrepresented its finances considerably. HP bought the company for more than $10 billion last year in the midst of an abortive shift away from computer hardware production. The company now holds that Autonomy's balance sheets contained "serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures, and outright misrepresentations" occurring prior to HP's acquisition of the firm.
Environmental activism group Greenpeace has downgraded Apple in its 18th annual Guide to Green Electronics. The slip to sixth place is blamed on a "lack of transparency" with several issues, namely "GHG [greenhouse gas] emission reporting, clean energy advocacy, further information on its [Apple's] management of toxic chemicals, and details on post-consumer recycled plastic use."
This week BHphotoVideo.com has the 13.3-inch MacBook Air for $1099, which is $100 less than the original price of $1199, and about $30 less than the lowest price found anywhere else. Also chose from either FileMaker Bento 4 or Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac for FREE with your purchase. This MacBook air features a 1.8GHz Intel core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of flash storage.
HP today unveiled new additions to both its Officejet Pro and LaserJet lines of printers, targeting small and medium-sized businesses and other enterprise-class customers. The new Officejet Pro X series of desktop printers and multifunction printers produce content at up to twice the speed of their competitors and lower the cost of printing. Powered by HP's PageWide Technology, the Officejet Pro X series is capable of printing high-quality documents at up to 70 pages per minute.
Just as high-end storage manufacturer Violin Memory prepares for an initial public offering, HP has announced that it will end a deal in which it resells Violin's high-end storage computers. HP will instead rely on its own 3PAR storage devices, according to an HP representative.
Following a recent update for Epson, Canon and Lexmark printers and all-in-ones (AIOs), Apple on Thursday issued an update for most supported HP printers running under Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6), Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8). The new combination update for the HP line is 473.4MB in size, though most users will receive the update through Software Update which will be specific for the printer(s) they currently use.
Even as Lenovo posted high yearly growth and gained on market leader HP, the worldwide PC market saw a sharp decline in the third quarter of this year. This according to analysis firm IDC, which published its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report earlier today. The report found that the PC market's well-established struggles with retaining market share as consumers increasingly opt for mobile devices instead of traditional PCs.
Taiwanese smartphone and tablet maker HTC has revealed it will stop selling tablet devices in the US. The market is saturated and Apple's iPad is far and away the leading offering, according to HTC's global online communications manager, Jeff Gordon. He did indicate the company will keep an eye on the market, however, and may return with a product it feels will adequately compete with the market leader.
Despite her prior statements that the company would need to produce a smartphone in the near future, HP CEO Meg Whitman says that the company will not be releasing one in 2013. Speaking at HP's financial analyst day yesterday, backpedalled on her earlier remarks, saying that HP has no plans to introduce a smartphone in 2013 but the company is looking for a way to differentiate any potential smartphone from the competition. Whitman said that HP must introduce a smartphone within the next five years or face being locked out of a "huge segment of the population in many countries of the world."
HP CEO Meg Whitman predicted that the computer maker's fiscal 2013 profit wouldn't meet market estimates today, and shares in the company subsequently plunged below their nine-year low. Whitman also said that the company's turnaround efforts would take quite a while, Bloomberg reports today, a prediction reflecting the company's difficulties in maintaining margins as consumers increasingly opt for mobile devices over the PCs HP manufactures. HP stock dropped 13 percent on the day, closing at $14.91, their lowest point since 2002. Shares in the company have dropped 35 percent since HP was named CEO a year ago.
