Videogame developer Valve is best known for the Half Life series, but a job posting for an industrial designer reveals further ambitions for the company-- plans to enter the hardware market.

The job posting says "[Valve is] frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we’re jumping in... There’s a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked."

What exactly is the company planning? At the August 2012 Continue reading...

We're all familiar with the Microsoft logo, right? Not any more-- the company introduces the 5th major change in logo in its history.

Since 1987 the Microsoft logo consisted of a simple solid, boldfaced and italicised logotype. The 2012 logo uses a more lighter non-bold, non-italic logotype (Segoe, font fans) and incorporates the familiar multicolour Windows symbol.

The intention of the new logo to "signal the heritage but also signal the future-— a newness and freshness," Microsoft brand strategy GM Continue reading...

The verdict is finally in... After months of legal sparring across multiple nations, Apple throws a final sucker punch and leaves Samsung reeling as it convinces a US jury its Korean rival is guilty of all accusations of design infringement.

And what a sucker punch-- the San Jose court rules Samsung has to give the biggest company in the world (by market value) no less than $1.05 billion in damages, not to mention the possibility of outright bans of key Samsung devices in the US.

The US court also waves the Samsung countersuit away, deciding Samsung will not get any damages. According to the Wall Street Journal, the jury of 9 deliberated for only 21 hours announcing the verdict.

The Japan Times reports Sony is out of the PC optical drive business-- blaming "fierce competition" for the closing of wholly owned subsidiary Sony Optiarc.

The CD and DVD drive maker will stop operations from March 2013 before Sony liquidates all unit assets. According to sources most of around 400 employees will be taking early retirement.

Formed as a joint venture with NEC in 2006, Optiarc was turned into a full Sony subsidiary in 2008.

The Optiarc closing comes as part of a company-wide restructuring Continue reading...

Dell sees a -8% Y-o-Y decline in fiscal Q2 2013 revenues reaching $14.5 billion, with EMEA revenues dropping by -7% Y-o-Y due to the current economic situation and further drops in desktop and mobile computing sales.

The Dell Consumer business is the worst hit-- revenues reach $2.6bn with a 22% Y-o-Y decline.

The company does not appear to be giving up entirely on consumer devices... yet. Speaking at the Q2 investors call CFO Brian Gladden promises we will "see new Windows 8 ultrabooks, all-in-one Continue reading...

Remember OnLive, the cloud gaming service to end all other gaming vendors? Now it reaches its own end, hits the reset button and goes through a so-called Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC).

ABC is a courts-free alternative to bankruptcy. It allows a company to transfer all assets to another company-- in the OnLive case, a yet-unnamed newly-formed entity (a "new OnLive," if you will) with "substantial funding" from venture capital firm Lauder Partners.

The process also allows the company to dissolve costly server contracts-- the chief reason for OnLive's financial woes and eventual end.

The news follows reports of the company mass-firing virtually all employees and HTC announcing a $40 million in losses from a February 2011 investment in OnLive.

Remember the comments from Acer CEO J.T. Wang on Microsoft's going ahead with the Surface tablet? Maybe here is another reason for his outburst (or proof of Wang's belief that Microsoft is going into competition with him)-- Acer is not in the list of initial Windows RT OEM partners.

Microsoft lists Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Samsung as the first vendors selling Windows RT devices at launch. It also mentions Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments as silicon partners.

Other than Acer, familiar names missing from the partner list include HP and HTC (apparently "shut out" of Windows 8 according to a July 2012 Bloomberg report).

A blog post from Microsoft VP of Ecosystem and Planning Mike Angiulo promises the OEM partners will not only offer tablets, but also PCs with “full keyboard and touchpad solutions, whether removable/dockable or a traditional clamshell.” Continue reading...

While Apple and Samsung continue dishing dirt at the patent trial of the century, Apple patent licensing director Boris Teksler reveals yet another interesting fact-- an "anti-cloning agreement" the company has with Microsoft.

The patent trial has Apple accusing Samsung of copying not only iPhone and iPad industrial design (a rectangular screen with rounded corners) but also the iOS UI.

But what is an "anti-cloning agreement"? The secretive Apple has a patent cross-license agreement with no other than Microsoft... only on the condition the 2 companies will never imitate each other's product designs. A copy of such an agreement between the 2 companies dating August 1997 is actually available online.

The patents in question cover design, form factor and also what Apple calls the "unique user experience."