ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

Intel will speed up the mobile and wearable device chip rollout as the market moves away from PCs, new Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and President Renee James tell Reuters in a first press sit-down since May.

The company will also increase focus on Atom processors, giving the product line as much (if not more) priority as the Core family. Intel might even open its factories to custom-designed (including ARM-based) hardware, just as AMD already does, in the face of declining PC returns.

"If there was a great customer that we had a great relationship with laptops and other mobile devices, and they said look, we'd really love you to build our ARM-based product, we'd consider it. It depends on how strategic they are," Krzanich says.

Dutch CE retailer De Harense Smid gets a new breath of life just a day after it declares bankruptcy-- a deal with Mikro-Electro saves 20 of the retailer's outlets.

The deal also covers 300 (out of 550) employees, and Mikro-Elektro will take care of outstanding customer orders, payments and repairs.

De Harense Smid currently has 46 outlets, 43 in the Netherlands and 3 in Belgium.

Established in the 1800s, the retailer was hit hard by the current economic downturn, towering debt and competition from larger CE chains. It had already been going through cuts before joining the likes of Free Record Shop and iCentre in bankruptcy.

Go De Harense Smid

Go Restart for Bankrupt CE Retailer Harnese Smid (Dutchnews.nl)

Bloomberg reports former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve joins the Apple ranks as VP, where he will work under CEO Tim Cook on what the company cryptically calls "special projects."

Deneve is no stranger to Apple, having worked with the company on 1990-1997. He also had experience leading Lanvin and Nina Ricci before becoming YSL CEO on 2011.

The hire appears unrelated to Apple's still vacant head of retail position-- that particular vacancy remains available since the company kicked out Ron Johnson replacement John Browett (he of Dixons and the $55 million "golden Hello") after all of 6 months back on October 2012.

Actiontec proposes a solution for customers wanting to extended wifi signal range around the home-- the WCB3000, a Multimedia over Coax (MoCA)-based wireless network adapter.

The WCB3000 leverages on existing coax wiring to extend wifi signals in areas suffering from weak wireless coverage, such as a dead zone within a 2nd floor bedroom.

It mirrors wifi signals from the router-- meaning customers remain on the "same" network if they move to a different part of the house.

Device features include dual 2.5 and 5GHz radios, TR-069 remote management support and auto-configuration when used with an Actiontec router/gateway. Installation is also fairly simple, since it simply requires plugging into a coax port.

Go Actiontec Wireless Network Adapter with MoCA