Have Laptop Will Travel

Dell asks workers to take unpaid vacations

Originally posted on November 5, 2008 @ 11:37 pm

Dell is also feeling the economic slowdown and is instituting some stringent measures to address the weak demand for computers.

The company is urging its workers to take up to five days of unpaid vacations as a way of cutting costs. This is on top of the 8,900 job cuts and global hiring freeze that it has already instituted.

Michael Dell himself announced it through email this week.

This economic downturn is really affecting a lot of people. I myself am a victim, having been laid off from a really lucrative consulting job. I just hope this won’t last too long and that things will improve very soon.

Psystar countersues Apple

Originally posted on September 1, 2008 @ 11:54 pm

A week ago I blogged about Psystar’s attempt to distribute Mac OS discs with its Macintosh clones–a move that has gained the ire of Apple and has merited a lawsuit against the company.

Now it’s Psystar’s turn to use legal measures. The company is charging Apple with restraint of trade, unfair competition as well as other violations of antritrust law. All of this is contained in a hefty 54-page complaint that has been filed at that Northern California Division of the US District Court. The decision to file a countersuit is to maintain their argument that there is a market for third-party Macintosh clones, only that Apple has put many legal and technical roadblocks that prevent companies from taking advantage of the demand.

Psystar’s claims actually have some weight and it will be interesting how the US district court will decide on this in the future.

New Acer notebook sells for $400

Originally posted on May 30, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

Acer is launching a new 8.9 inch notebook, the Aspire One. It’s based on the Intel Atom processor, and comes at a stunningly low price of $400.

You’ll get 512MB of main memory, and an 8GB solid state drive. Screen’s decent with a 8.9″ display with a resolution of 1024-by-600 pixels and an LED backlight.

The laptop’s packed with features like a built-in web camera, 95% full size keyboard, touchpad, 802.11b/g wireless module, Ethernet LAN port, three USB ports, a VGA output, 5-in-1 media card reader, and SD card slot.

There will also be a second release for $620 release with 1GB of RAM and 80GB of hard drive storage.

End of an Era as Gates exit Microsoft

Originally posted on June 27, 2008 @ 7:15 pm

Bill Gates may be one of those rare polarizing personalities who you either love or hate. But whatever you may feel about him and the behemoth that he created, Bill Gates has left a lasting impression on the world and has made so many things that we take for granted now possible.

The visionary has officially left Microsoft to pursue his philantrophic interests through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charity, which is partly funded by his own personal fortune. Gates bid his Microsoft employees farewell at the Campus and was joined by CEO Steve Ballmer as he delivered a short speech.

Gates will not be entirely out of Microsoft though as he will remain the chairman of the company and will still work on special technology projects.

Apple third biggest PC seller

Originally posted on July 17, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

Apple fans will surely be elated by the news that Apple Inc. has managed to become the third biggest PC seller in the US for the second quarter of 2008.

According to research firm Gartner and IDC, the company scored 8.5 in the domestic market based on Gartner surveys (and 7.8 based on IDC), allowing it to reach third behind top sellers Dell and HP. The company has managed a 38.1 per cent increase in PC sales to achieve this. In terms of worldwide sales though, Apple is at fifth place.