June 12, 2009
ASUS: “Our goal is to provide products that are better than Apple’s”
Engadget
Nilay Patel writes that according to Jonathan Tsang, vice-chairman of ASUS, the company’s goal is “to provide products that are better than Apple’s.”
“According to Tsang, ASUS spends very little on marketing, instead preferring to spend the majority of its budget in engineering products so innovative consumers are forced to take notice. We don’t know if that strategy will actually work — especially since true competition with Apple would have to involve software, not just hardware — but we will say that it’s clear ASUS is doing everything it can to drive the industry forward, not just lying back and copying rivals like MSI and Acer.”
Quicks Hits to Reduce Costs
IT World Canada
Linda Tuck Chapman provides some ideas on how businesses can start realizing between five and 20 per cent savings.
“Software: 1) Are you paying for maintenance on out-of-service software or software that will be phased out sometime in the next two years? 2) Have you been conservative when buying seat licenses, avoiding the trap of future needs? 3) Are you paying for maintenance before the software is fully implemented and in production? Mobile Devices: 1) Does your policy limit company link company-paid cell phones appropriately with job needs? 2) Have you requested and audited 100% of invoices once a year to identify unusual costs or inappropriate use? 3) Do you require employees travelling on company business to carry a phone card issued by your land-line carrier who have much lower long distance rates and no roaming charges?”
HP taps Symantec cloud backup
The Register
Chris Mellor writes that HP will be offering its consumer PC and notebook customers, a free 60-day version of Norton Security and a 30-day trial of Norton Online Backup.
“The (Symantec’s cloud backup) software is pre-installed, and the offer includes 5GB of cloud storage.”