May 16 - 10:40am EDT   The top-ranking online electronics stores continue to be dominated by Apple and other specialized sites, according to a new study by ForeSee Results. Both Apple and hobbyist computer store Newegg have tied each other for the highest satisfiaction scores in an examination of the top 100 shops in the US, each reaching the 80-point threshold ForeSee says is necessary to be considered "superior." The company doesn't provide specifics as to why these two topped the charts but notes that its rankings are based on both the actual ease of use of the site as well as the ability to find stock and get it at the right price. [full story]

May 14 - 12:35pm EDT   Dell has no plans to eliminate its XPS line of computers, a company representative says. On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported that Dell intends to phase out four of its XPS gaming systems, on the basis that they are eating into sales of its newly-bought Alienware division. Dell is said to be in tough financial circumstances, having lost its former dominance in PC sales to chief rival HP. In April the company revealed plans to fire at least 8,800 people, and close its desktop manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. [full story]

May 9 - 2:30am EDT  Apple has been ranked the worst among all major PC vendors and other large electronic firms in the fight against climate change. Climate Counts this week released its second annual Company Scorecard hoping to create a "simple, easy-to-understand ranking of companies would motivate both companies and consumers to step-up their efforts on climate change." Apple was ranked in last place among the list of 12 electronics companies, while companies such as IBM, Canon, Toshiba, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard were near the top of the electronics industry. Top honor went to Nike, which passed last year’s high scorer, Canon, to become the top scored company among the 56 companies evaluated. Apple was the only ... [full story]

May 6 - 4:05pm EDT   HP on Tuesday announced a partnership with YouTube that will enable users of the company's HP MediaSmart connected entertainment products to view YouTube videos on their TVs, using nothing but a remote control. The company's MediaSmart products already make accessing digital media content from networked home PCs simple with one menu. In a similar fashion as Apple TV, the new alliance will bring full-screen YouTube videos to users' living rooms, requiring them only to log in to their YouTube accounts via the keyboard-less MediaSmart interface. [full story]

May 1 - 6:15pm EDT   ProjectForum 6.1 ($80) a wiki-based software application that supports collaboration within and between professional workgroups. Version 6.1 introduces a new "mail to wiki" feature, and improves support for outgoing email notifications. This version also includes many smaller enhancements and bug fixes. CourseForum 6.1, a version of the ProjectForum application targeted for online learning applications, was also released. [Download - 2.4MB] MacBreakZ 4.8 ($30) Personal Ergonomic Assistant designed tpromote healthy and productive computer use by reminding the user ttake a break. Based on your actual keyboard and mouse use and the time you have spent in front of the screen, MacBreakZ ... [full story]

April 30 - 2:45pm EDT   Samsung SDI on Thursday revealed that it has developed a new lithium-ion battery that should result in significantly longer use times without compromising on size. Generating 2,800 milliamps per hour (mAh) of energy, the new technology provides as much as 10 percent more actual runtime than a typical 2,600 mAH unit. The refinements made to the battery cell also let it charge faster than earlier cells. [full story]

April 29 - 9:00am EDT   Intel has encountered a supply shortage that will prevent it from fulfilling more than half of the orders for its Atom mobile processors in the next month, according to a report in the Taiwan newspaper Apply Daily. Less than 40 percent of the semiconductor firm's requests are purportedly being met and, as a result, are expected to delay or hurt the rollouts of micro notebooks from a number of new entrants to the field, including from Acer and Dell. [full story]

April 28 - 10:55am EDT   HP on Monday added two new desktop PCs for business users to its range, with the Compaq dc5850 and Compaq dx2450. The two are some of the first HP PCs to use AMD's triple- and quad-core Phenom X3 processors. The latter is the value-oriented offering, and can be configured with a choice of AMD processors, ranging from the 2.1GHz Sempron, through the 2.8GHz Athlon and to the 2.5GHz Phenom. Four memory slots allow for expansion up to 4GB while NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards are offered as options. Operating systems are Windows offerings that include a range of Vista and XP Professional interfaces, as well as FreeDOS. [full story]

April 18 - 11:15am EDT   LG Display promises to break open the micro notebook business with a series of new LCDs, according to observations by purported industry insiders. Seeking to up-end the market, the company hopes to develop a 10.1-inch LCD with a 16:9 ratio similar to many HDTVs. At 1024x576, the screen would have a lower vertical resolution than the 600 pixels of sharper ultra-small displays but would cut down on the vertical size of budget notebooks and more properly fit movie ratios. The screen is due in October. [full story]

April 17 - 12:45pm EDT   AMD's Phenom X3 processors, which use an unusual triple-core design as opposed to standard dual- or quad-core arrangements, are now available in a select number of HP and Gateway systems. Gateway's GT5670 desktop uses a 2.1GHz X3 8400, along with 3GB of RAM, a 320GB SATA II hard drive, and 3GB of RAM; graphics are limited however to an integrated GeForce 6150 SE chipset, as opposed to a dedicated card like the 8800. Best Buy is charging $550. The X3 8400 uses 2MB of L3 cache memory. [full story]

April 17 - 8:25am EDT   HP this morning extended the life of its MediaSmart TVs with a firmware update that adds a Windows Media Center Extender function. The LCD sets purportedly become the first TVs to add the Microsoft feature without an external hub and can now play music, videos, and other content from Windows Media PCs on a home Wi-Fi network. This includes the most recent Internet TV beta features and protected content from MovieLink and other services. [full story]

April 16 - 11:45pm EDT   HP will offer the 2133 Mini-Note PC preconfigured with Windows XP in mid-May, something the company refers to as a "downgrade". Laptop Magazine observes that XP is more ideal for ultramobile PCs, given its lower power requirements, and better performance on lighter hardware. The revelation came after a chat with an HP Sales representative, who confirmed that XP would be an available feature in the future. [full story]

April 16 - 6:00pm EDT   New research from Gartner says Worldwide PC Market Grew 12 percent in first quarter of 2008, with the U.S. recession effecting minimal disturbance on Global PC Shipments in the quarter. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 71.1 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 12.3 percent increase from the first quarter of 2007. Apple saw the biggest gain among the top 5 vendors in the U.S. market, enjoying strong retail sales coupled with "decent growth" in the professional market. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard extended its lead, with marketshare increasing to 18.3 percent. Dell registered its second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in the worldwide market. [full story]

April 16 - 4:30pm EDT   PC shipments in the first quarter of 2008 reveal a changing landscape both in the US and in the world at large, according to preliminary results released today by IDC. While positions remain largely the same, shifts in growth percentages reveal that some companies are gaining at the expense of others. Dell in particular has recovered from its long slump in 2007 and has had a second consecutive quarter of strong shipments, leading US charts with 30.9 percent of the country's computer market (4.9 million units) and a 15.6 percent boost to shipments over the same period a year before. [full story]

April 14 - 7:15pm EDT   Hewlett Packard, with some assistance from DreamWorks, is announcing a new technology dubbed "HP DreamColor" that the company says will be a "disruptive" force in the market place. MacNN spoke with Jim Zafarana is Vice President, Worldwide Marketing for Hewlett-Packard Company's Workstation Global Business Unit and Jeff Wood, Director Product Marketing at HP about the new technology, which will purportedly pave the way for displays with accurate, predictable color reproduction at a fraction of the cost of similarly capable monitors and finally offer a transition route to flat-panel displays for graphic design firms (like DreamWorks) that have thus far been stuck with ... [full story]