March 17, 2010
PC sales are back in the black
Channel Register
John Oates writes about PC sales according to research firm, IDC.
“After a miserable six months, PC sales got back into positive territory in the second half of 2009. Figures from IDC showed a yearly growth rate of 2.9 per cent, pushed mainly by laptops and netbooks. Consumer sales of portable computers grew 38.5 per cent in 2009 compared to 2008. Business sales showed almost one per cent growth in the fourth quarter, ‘providing a glimpse of an anticipated commercial refresh in 2010,’ researchers predicted.”
Report: Samsung to release slate tablet PC
ZD Net
Andrew Nusca writes that Samsung may be working on a slate tablet PC, according to a report from APC.
“APC reports that the unnamed device (from Samsung) is aiming to be a primary, not complementary, computing device and can dock to become a desktop computer, according to anonymous Samsung executives. The slate tablet PC is due in the second half of 2010. The device will have a full-power (read: Intel Atom or Moorestown, rather than ARM) processor and a wealth of connectivity options, according to the report, and will have ‘more potential’ than Apple’s iPad.”
Google Launches Web Store for Cloud-Based Apps
Webmonkey
Michael Calore writes about Google Apps Marketplace.
“Google has debuted the Google Apps Marketplace, an online store where Google Apps users can browse different cloud-based applications and add the ones they like to their suite of online tools. The apps can share data with the standard Google apps like Gmail and Docs on whatever hosting environment you’re using. Basically, you get to build your own Web-based productivity suite.”