Intel follows up on its mobile computing ambitions at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013, announcing the Clover Trail+ System-on-a-Chip (SoC) series and the XMM 7160 mobile device modem.

The latest in Atom-based dual-core smartphone processors, the Clover Trail+ line (Z2580, Z2560, and Z2520) promises double the compute performance and x3 the graphics capabilities of the first Intel mobile device processors, Medfield.

Clover Trail+ SoCs also support up to x2 cameras (with primary camera sensor up to 16MP), Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT), Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), Intel Wireless Display Technology and the UltraViolet common file standard.

The first device using the processors is the Lenovo IdeaPhone K900, revealed back at CES 2013.

The Samsung-Google partnership propelled the Android OS to Apple-beating levels-- but as the mobile industry gathers at MWC 2013, does the search company actually think of the Korean giant as a threat?

According to the Wall Street Journal the success of the Galaxy device portfolio makes Google nervous. An anonymous source claims Android head Andy Rubin believes "Samsung could become a threat if it gains more ground among mobile-device makers that use Android," and the recent Motorola Mobility acquisition was actually "a kind of insurance policy" against mobile device vendors becoming too powerful over Android.

The WSJ does not have a comment from Rubin or an official Google representative.

But shouldn't Google actually celebrate Samsung, the biggest smartphone vendor in the world, whose Android-powered smartphone shipments total 215.8 million units (or 39.6% of the global market according to IDC) in 2012?

Michael Dell has plan on how to bring Dell back on its feet-- and acquires the company sharing his name for $24 billion, reportedly the biggest leveraged buyout since 2007.

The huge deal combines cash from investors Silver Lake, debts with four banks, a $2bn loan from Microsoft and Dell's own 16% share of the company. It also ends the company's 24-year run on Wall Street.

No specific details are available on how going private will change things Dell-- the company will continue its transformation towards IBM-style software and services, while no mention is given whether it will spin off the low-margin PC business.

Michael Dell returned to his company in 2007 after a brief hiatus, but since then Dell missed the consumer shift to tablets and smartphones and its fortunes slid further and further. According to Gartner, Dell is #3 in the global Q4 2012 PC vendor rankings, with just 10.2% share of the market. PC sales still make the majority of Dell revenues.

"There's a lot yet to come," Microsoft Windows unit CFO Tami Reller tells Reuters-- the company hopes for a boost in Windows 8 sales after a "solid" start as more W8 devices from Acer and HP should hit the market.

Reller continues "over the next couple of selling seasons we'll have [touch laptops and convertibles] across all form factors and all price ranges."

Microsoft says Windows 8 device sales were not hit by consumer preference to the alternatives (as in iPads or Android devices) or the current negative market outlook. Instead the company blames a limited device volume due to a constrained touchscreen component supply.

Mind, the Surface tablet still has to set the market on fire-- IDC estimates Q4 2012 Surface shipments total just 900000 (compared to 22.9 million iPads in the same period), even if the more business-friendly Surface Pro only launches this week.

Global Q3 2012/13 Lenovo sales total $9.4 billion with 12% Y-o-Y growth-- a record as the PC maker remains the only major vendor with positive results as we speak.

Company earnings amount to $205 million (with 34% Y-o-Y growth) while operating profit grows by 26% to $243m.

According to Gartner Lenovo is the 2nd largest PC vendor in both EMEA and WW during Q4 2012, with shipments growing by 7.9% Y-o-Y.

The company attributes such results to its "Protect and Attack" strategy-- protection of its China and PC profit pools while attacking every other segment (both market- and geography-wise). Thus "Attack" businesses make 50% of Lenovo revenues, with Mobile Internet and Digital Home (MIDH) accounting for 11% of Q3 revenues.

Google does not believe in the password any more-- the search giant is working on a yet unnamed security protocol designed for integration with authentication devices.

In an IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine paper Google security VP Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay outlines plans different means for logging into the websites of the near future, such as SIM cards, authentication keys and NFC-enabled finger rings.

“Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens su Continue reading...

According to both CNBC and the Financial Times Microsoft is set to join a group planning to buyout Dell-- and is putting between $1 and $3 billion of mezzanine funding.

Mezzanine financing is a hybrid of debt and equity.

Unnamed sources "familiar with the matter" say private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Dell CEO Michael Dell are bringing together a group ready to take the 3rd biggest PC maker in the world private.

Such a task might cost up to $25bn, the FT says.

Being a large software Continue reading...

Former Microsoft senior VP Joachim Kempin tells Reuters Microsoft needs a change in leadership-- even if CEO Steve Ballmer "systematically" forces out any potential challengers to his leadership.

"For Microsoft to really get back in the game seriously, you need a big change in management," Kempin says. "As much as I respect Steve Ballmer, he may be part of that in the end."

Kempin worked at Microsoft from 1983 to 2002 and is the author of "Resolve and Fortitude: Microsoft's 'Secret Power Broker' Breaks His Silence". His leaving Microsoft was mired in controversy following the use of a number of contracts he crafted with PC makers as ammo against Microsoft in the 1998-2002 antitrust prosecutions by the US government.

According to Kempin, Ballmer has repeatedly ousted potential rivals to the CEO throne he occupied since 2000. This was first seen in 2002 departure Richard Belluzzo (former Microsoft COO and Xbox console creator), and more recently with the November 2012 leaving of Windows boss Steven Sinofsky.