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HP clarifies iPaq situation: 210 delayed, 110 shipping now
Looks like HP finally noticed that people were a little confused about the shipping status of its newest iPaqs, so the company dispatched Worldwide Public Relations Manager Mike Hockey to clear things up: according to Mike, the iPaq 110 should be in stores soon, but "a supply issue discovered in the development of the recently announced HP iPAQ 200 products will cause the availability to be later than we had hoped in some regions of the world." So much for that optimistic ship date HP had listed, which appears to be a glitch with the web ordering system that always promises an "estimated ship date" of two days in the future. Also, it never comes to your Little League games. Stupid promises.
iPaq 210 shipping on Friday?
The last we heard about HP's iPaq 210, all pre-orders had been canceled and HP's product pages had been updated to cheerily say "Coming in 2008!" -- which makes it so very strange that HP's store now lists the business-oriented handheld with an "estimated ship date" of 10/26 and a $50 price bump to $450. We're assuming it's just be a typo like yesterday's SanDisk false alarm, but there's still a chance something's up, especially considering the device was originally supposed to ship on the 8th for $399 -- not exactly easy numbers to screw up. [Thanks, Speed]Read -- HP store page with 10/26/2007 estimated ship date and $449 priceRead -- HP product info page with "Coming in 2008!"
HP mulling a bid to acquire Kodak?
It doesn't feel like this one has too sturdy a leg to stand on just yet, but according to Financial Times, Hewlett-Packard may be (once again) looking to acquire Kodak. Reportedly, the rationale is that combining the strengths of the two would "create a global imaging powerhouse." Additionally, it was noted that Kodak is "trimmer and in better financial shape largely because of steps taken by CEO Antonio Perez, a 25-year HP veteran recruited in 2003 and CEO since 2005." As expected, spokespeople from both outfits declined comment, but we wouldn't be surprised if this here acquisition was at least on someone's table.
Patent investigation could force hard drives off US market
This one's still a ways off, but the International Trade Commission has just launched a patent investigation into five manufacturers that could result in a ban on hard drive imports if the agency finds evidence of infringement. The patents, which are owned by Californians Steven and Mary Reiber, cover a method of using "ceramic bonding tips" on the internal wiring of the drives, and the couple claims Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell have all infringed by importing the drives. Much like the Qualcomm case, the ITC has a variety of ways of dealing with the situation and the parties have a lot of methods of appeal, but products that infringe on US patents are barred from being imported, so this initial determination will set off a lot of dominoes when it gets made in 45 days. Details are still pretty sketchy on what exactly the ITC is investigating, but we'll definitely keep you updated as we get more info.Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant to be legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.
HP announces the Blackbird 002 gaming machine
We'd heard it was coming Monday, but HP apparently decided to wait until today (because nothing else was going on, obviously) to launch its Blackbird 002 gaming rig. While HP still hasn't told us exactly what you'll be getting for that $2500 - $7100 price tag, whatever chips you order will be liquid-cooled, fully overclockable via a completely open BIOS, and be easy to get at via the tool-less chassis. Check the gallery for some more beauty shots.%Gallery-6941%
HP's MediaSmart Home Servers get a release date
If you're keeping abreast of the Windows Home Server proceedings (and we suspect you are) then you're probably somewhat familiar with the HP EX470 / EX475. Furthermore, If you've been eyeing the two, drive-filled towers and been hoping to know when you might get your hands on them, you may be in luck. According to reports from retailers like Amazon and PCMall, the $599 EX470 (clocking in at 500GB) and and $749 EX475 (1TB) will begin shipping on September 15th. As you'll recall, the servers rock 1.8GHz AMD Semprons and contain four drive bays, plus tout four USB ports and one eSATA port -- for additional external expansion. As the supposed launch date for WHS draws ever nearer (or further... it's hard to tell) it's at least nice to know that we'll have some options when it does eventually land.[Via DailyTech, thanks Mark]
New HP Pavilions, Presarios announced
Something must be in the air this week, at least when it comes to announcements. Almost in tandem with Dell, Hewlett-Packard has entered the fray to show off its phantasmagorical selection of desktop-delights. Nothing groundbreaking here, but a decent cross section of models to choose from, including the small-form-factor Pavilion Slimline s3100n and s3120n, mid-range models a6110n, a6120n and a6130n, and two new media center Pavilions, the m8100n and m8120n. Also on offer are the Compaq Presario SR5110NX and SR5130NX, on a more budget-friendly tip. The majority of these feature the NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE integrated graphics chipset and Windows Vista Home Premium. Here's a long list of specs to sink your teeth into: Pavilion Slimline s3100n - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive Pavilion Slimline s3120n - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200, 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive, TV-tuner, FireWire Pavilion a6110n - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive Pavilion a6120n - Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive Pavilion a6130n - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 400GB hard drive Pavilion m8100n - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, TV-tuner, remote Pavilion m8120n - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 640GB hard drive, TV-tuner, remote Presario SR5110NX - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ CPU, 512MB of RAM, 120GB hard drive Presario SR5130NX - AMD Athlon 64 3800+ CPU, 1GB of RAM, 200GB hard drive Clearly a little something for everyone -- as long as you're in the market for an HP desktop, that is.Update - Due to a little Photoshopping mishap, the original image didn't give the correct impression of the size of these desktops side-by-side, but that has been corrected.
Hewlett-Packard garage given national landmark status
The garage where budding entrepreneurs Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard set up shop nearly 70 years ago has now been designated a national historic landmark, according to the company that now bears the pair's initials. Widely considered to be the birth of SIlicon Valley, the garage (along with the rest of the property) was snapped up by HP in 2000 to the tune of $1.7 million, and underwent an extensive restoration in 2004 -- apparently one of the steps necessary for it to gain landmark status. Those looking for a little inspiration still won't be able to walk up to the garage anytime they like, however, with HP saying that it'll continue to only open it up occasionally to visitors and special tours.[Photo courtesy of Mercury News]
HP's HDX Pavilion 20-inch gaming notebook from more angles
Remember that 20-inch HP HDX Pavilion laptop from yesterday? Well, more shots of the massive gaming laptop have turned up from different angles to give us a better idea of how this top-end laptop looks. This new angle puts the HDX closer in style to the traditional laptop form factor than its main "inspiration," the Dell XPS M2010. Still, the sheer size of the screen coupled with the remote means that this is a laptop with one helluva identity crisis: is it best to think of it as a portable home entertainment system, or a maxed out machine for those with very wide laps? A capable gaming machine it may be, but we have a feeling this won't be the only area where it draws interest. Hopefully, as the unveiling of Santa Rosa nears, HP will grace us with an official press release and we'll be able to get a better idea of the HDX's currently unconfirmed specs.
HP slams Acer for alleged patent infringement (again)
Pulling out all the stops to protect its industry-leading 20-percent share of the global PC market, HP's lawyers rolled into the Marshall, Texas federal courthouse this morning and slapped Acer with another four counts of patent infringement, adding to the previous suit filed in March. HP claims that Acer also knowingly violated HP patents covering power and heat management, regulation of the data bus, and video scaling, bringing the total number of patents allegedly infringed to nine. Seeing as Acer led the industry in growth last quarter and is on track to surpass Dell as #2 (according to IDC), HP's request that the court stop the importation or sale of any Acer machines that might infringe the patents and award massive cash damages would go a long way towards protecting HP's all-important marketshare. Given the stakes involved and the nasty and protracted nature of most patent disputes, expect to see this one drag on for a while.[Via Engadget Chinese]
HP to beat Dell with Linux-loaded PCs?
Funny how HP and Dell keep getting in each other's faces -- you'd almost think they used to be boyfriend / girlfriend or something. Dell's recently taken Linux-loving customers' opinions into consideration and now it looks as if HP might elbow in on the action too. A few of its notebooks are certified to work with Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 operating system and also with Red Hat. HP did actually offer Linux-loaded PCs a few years back, but quickly discontinued sales due to poor results. It has since been involved in "a number of massive deals for Linux desktops" and they're even in a "massive deal right now for... multi-thousands of units of a desktop opportunity for Linux," claims Doug Small, worldwide director of open source and Linux marketing at HP. He didn't disclose any "massive" details on their increasing custom Linux-based PC orders, but assures us that HP sees this activity as "an indicator." We know HP and Dell could be ready to pounce at any moment, but it doesn't mean other tighter-lipped companies might be in on the race as well. In any case, for our own entertainment's sake, we're hoping for a real showdown. Lock and preload![Via Slashdot]
Hewlett-Packard making video games? No Printer Tycoon, please...
"Sitting in front of a TV is boring. Gaming is the new high-definition experience." These words of utter genius brought to you by the vice-president of Hewlett-Packard, Philip McKinney. Yeah, that's right. HP. They want to make games now. Since Burger King is making those crappy games, it's not too far of a stretch in comparison, really. Anyone buy those 360 games with their Burger King? Let us know. We'd like to arch our brows at you incredulously. It's not all about actual games to HP, but they want to dip their feet in the video gaming market with their recent acquisition of Voodoo PC. There's a bunch of hypothetical mumbo-jumbo about their visions of the future and whatnot, but really, they're just looking to find their "in" to the market. What do you guys think? Would we welcome Hewlett-Packard the same way we welcomed Microsoft? Or is having 4 console makers about two too many?
HP dons white hat to hack customers' servers
Usually the term "hacking" has some rather negative connotations, so it almost seems counterintuitive to pay someone good money for breaking into your system, but that's exactly what HP is offering to do for its corporate customers with a new service called HP Active Countermeasures, or HPAC. As you'd imagine, HP's hackers won't do anything malicious once they break into a client's server -- propagating a worm, for instance, would seem to be bad for business -- but they will use a combination of buffer, heap, and stack overflows to exploit a system in much the same way that black hatters cause Internet terror on a daily basis. Specifically, the company will employ one of its own servers to launch attacks using eight to ten scanning clients for every 250,000 devices that are part of the program, and offer customers a temporary patch until they're able to hire a dedicated security firm for shoring up any vulnerabilities. Pricing is promised to be "aggressive," with firms using less than 20,000 IP addresses expected to pay only a few dollars per user per year for the privilege of learning how shoddy their security really is.[Via The Inquirer]
Model jet plane tech will help cool HP servers
Not content with just making its servers bulletproof, HP also wanted to pack more of them into a given space than anyone else on the market, but to do that, the company had to find a way to dissipate the massive amounts of heat generated by super-dense server clusters. With traditional fan cooling not up to the task, HP found a rather unusual solution to the problem courtesy of one of its executive's pursuits outside of work: VP Rob Noblett's model jet airplane hobby. With the help of engineer Wade Vinson, Noblett realized that the electric-ducted fans he and fellow hobbyists had been using to achieve high speeds more safely could probably be modified to provide the air movement HP was seeking to cool the high-powered servers on its drawing board. After re-engineering the fans to optimize them for cooling instead of thrust, engineers were able build a model called the Active Cool Fan that is both smaller and more energy efficient than traditional fans, even though it's said to force out air as fast as a leaf blower. These powerful new fans are scheduled for inclusion in HP's next generation of BladeSystem servers, which will be sure to attract more than a few large companies sick of the maintenance required on servers that frequently overheat and shutdown.
HP iPaq hw6915 PocketPC phone reviewed
We've been on the fence about HP's hw6000 line of Swiss Army phones ever since we first spotted the GPS-equipped iPaq hw6515 -- these models include everything but the kitchen sink, but they also force you to use that non-standard 240 x 240 screen. Still, MobileTechReview's in-depth look at the latest member of the family, the hw6915, makes us think we could overlook the square screen and lack of 3G data options because, well, the rest of this Windows Mobile 5.0-powered smartphone sounds like exactly what us convergence-geeks are seeking. According to MTR, the quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset impresses on many fronts, including its solid keyboard, powerful internal antenna, GPS performance, and best-in-class benchmark numbers. HP also throws in some nice extras, like helpful Today screen plug-ins, a full-featured wireless radio manager, the ability to location-stamp photos, and even A2DP in the Bluetooth stack, which isn't normally included in WM5 AKU2 devices out of the box. Besides the fact that this screen resolution may not support all third-party apps, the only real knock to this model concerns the camera's startup/shutter lags -- and if that's the worst thing to be said about a device that seemingly does it all, then we're totally sold.
Iowa State's C6 VR room upgrading to 100 million pixels
Iowa State University has just announced a $4 million overhaul of its so-called "C6" virtual reality room that will enable a total of 100,000,000 pixels to be displayed on all six 10-foot by 10-foot surfaces in the room, and supposedly make it the most realistic environment of its kind in the world. In use since June of 2000, C6 has served a role in projects for fields as diverse as urban planning, cell biology, and mechanical engineering, and is currently being funded by military grant money to develop a VR room which would enable a single operator to remotely view and control a squadron of unmanned planes. To give the refurbished room an impressive sixteen times the resolution of its current iteration, researchers at the school's Virtual Reality Applications Center are hooking 24 Sony digital projectors up to an HP server stuffed with 96 graphics processors, as well as adding eight channel surround sound and motion tracking software. Iowa State students looking to break into the room at night for some absolutely sick FPS action can do so this fall.[Via ZDNet]
Five new Compaq business laptops from HP
Because we know that you can never get tired of reading laptop specs, we have five more HP models to drop on you, including the waif-like 12-inch nc2400 (pictured) which weighs in at a mere 2.8-pounds. All five of these Compaq-branded notebooks are targeted at business users, and all but the 15.4-inch (WXGA or WXSGA+) nx7400 series -- which can also be equipped with a Celeron M -- sport one of several Core Duo or Solo flavors. Graphics here range from integrated (the 12.1-inch nc4400) to ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 (14.1-inch, WXGA or WXGA+ nc6400) to an ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 card available in certain configurations of the15.4-inch nw8440 series. All these machines offer WiFi and a minimum of 512MB RAM and a 40GB HDD out of the box, with some models sporting extras like a fingerprint reader, 7200RPM hard drive, and LightScribe dual-layer DVD burner. No prices are known for the nc2400 or the nc4400, which are coming on May 22nd, but the other models are available immediately with prices starting at $1,549 for the nc6400, $740 for the nx7400, and $1,599 for the nc8400 series.Read- nc2400Read- nc4400Read- nc6400Read- nx7400Read- nc8440
