If one is to believe Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist, Amazon is in "advanced negotiations" to acquire the mobile chip division of Texas Instruments in a billion dollar deal.

Such an acquisition could turn Amazon into direct rival to Amazon and Samsung-- both companies who design their own chips.

TI makes the OMAP product line and, amongst others, the processors inside the Kindle Fire tablets. It recently exited the mobile device processor market, shifting development away from smartphones Continue reading...

So at least part of the current batch Apple-related rumours is confirmed-- Apple sends out invites for a 23 October 2012 press event at the California Theatre, San Jose.

"We've got a little more to show you" the invite says below a colourful take on the familiar Apple logo.

What will Apple reveal at this event? Predictably all talk points towards the now mythical smaller (as in 7.85-inch) iPad. Meanwhile 9to5mac.com has what perhaps is a less interesting suggestion from an unnamed "high-profile Continue reading...

Intel beats internal forecasts even if Q3 2012 revenues drop by -5% Y-o-Y to $13.5 billion, a decline CEO Paul Otellini attributes to "a continuing tough economic environment."

Operating income for Q3 2012 totals $3.8bn.

The PC Client Group is the worst performing Intel business unit, with revenues reaching $8.6bn with an -8% Y-o-Y decline. On the other hand the Data Centre Group is more positive as revenues grow by 6% Y-o-Y to $2.7bn.

Other Architecture group revenue drops by 14% Y-o-Y to $1 Continue reading...

Rivals will be remain rivals-- according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple just managed to poach top chip designer Jim Mergard from the Samsung ranks.

Mergard is a 16-year AMD veteran, where he was VP and chief engineer before leaving for Samsung. He was one of the leads behind "Brazos," a high-end AMD chip development aiming at portable PC use.

“We are looking for the best and brightest chip heads…” a post from an Apple employee on LinkedIn says.

Judging from the bitter the Apple-Samsung rivalry Continue reading...

by Deron Kershaw, Industry Analyst at Gap Intelligence

Gap Intelligence in USA has learned HP will make major changes to its laptop brand positioning when Windows 8 arrives later this month. The most significant change is that the Pavilion dm and dv lines, which currently account for roughly one third of all HP laptops in the US retail channel, will now fall under the Envy brand. HP's Envy brand will continue its shift toward the mainstream to make way for the flagship Spectre brand at the top. HP is expected to use its TouchSmart, Folio, and Sleekbook trademarks to further differentiate products by form factor and functionality within each line.

2000 - HP will continue to release new 2000-branded laptops at least through the end of this year, but has plans to eventually phase the brand out. Although speculative, gap intelligence expects the Pavilion g line to eventually include the $399-$449 products, while the Compaq brand remains as the entry-level budget option.

Pavilion - HP's Pavilion line will gain Sleekbooks, but will otherwise be almost exclusively attached to the G series moving forward. The Pavilion dm, dv, and m series will now fall under the Envy brand, which was confirmed by several new product listings on HP's website, including the Envy dm4, Envy dv6, and Envy dv7. Continue reading...

Anyone who wants to know where Microsoft is heading just needs to check the 2012 Steve Ballmer letter to shareholders-- one pointing to a future of hardware and online services.

Perhaps taking a page or two from the Apple playbook, Ballmer talks of Microsoft building "specific devices for specific purposes" with the Xbox and Surface tablet acting as examples... all while continuing to work with its "vast ecosystem of partners" (Dell, Samsung, HTC et al).

The company will also continue the development Continue reading...

HP CEO Meg Whitman tells investors company recovery will only become visible in fiscal 2014, once investments start paying off-- blaming a lack of clear strategy and heavy executive turnover for the company's troubles.

As a result HP will continue to struggle throughout fiscal 2013, if not beyond... Operating profits for the fiscal July quarter are down by -22%, while PCs are down by -28%.

"The single biggest challenge facing Hewlett-Packard has been changes in CEOs and executive leadership, which has caused multiple inconsistent strategic choices, and frankly some significant executional miscues," Whitman remarks. Which is more than fair enough-- over the past few years HP saw a number of CEO changes (chiefly Mark Hurd and Leo Apotheker) as well as expensive shifts in company strategy (such as the Palm and webOS purchase and dismantling).

Here is the turnaround of the week, if not the month-- in an interview with Fox Business CEO Meg Whitman confirms HP is working on a smartphone, saying the company needs to go back to mobile market.

"My view is we have to ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world, that is your 1st computing device... We’re a computing company, we have to take advantage of that form factor,” Whitman says.

HP used to sell Windows Mobile device before it bought Palm and webOS for all of Continue reading...