No Dell, Apple Laptops on Virgin
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In response to the recall of millions of batteries, the airline is restricting in-flight use of many popular notebooks. In Gear Factor.
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Start-up Axiotron shows off its Modbook, a keyboard-free tablet computer that began its life as an Apple MacBook. And yes, it's authorized by Apple.
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(InfoWorld) - Dell Inc. has stepped away from long-time supplier Intel Corp., launching one desktop that spurns the chipmaker's vPro business bundle and two others that use processors from chipmaking competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). Dell will still build its new Dimension E520 and XPS 210 desktop PCs with a choice of Intel's Pentium D or Core 2 Duo processors, the company said Tuesday. But for the first time, Dell will offer a choice of AMD's Athlon and Sempron chips in the new Dimension E521 and C521 models. For its new OptiPlex 745 business desktop, Dell said it developed its own bundle of business-friendly technologies instead of using Intel's vPro platform. Intel has seen strong sales in recent years for bundles of software and hardware such as its Centrino package for wireless notebook PCs. The company launched vPro in September as an effort to extend that strategy to business desktops. The company did not rule out the chance that it might add Intel's bundle to future desktops, but said vPro had to mature first. "We'll continue to work with Intel to help them refine the technology," said Dell's chief technology officer, Kevin Kettler. He spoke during the company's annual Technology Day meeting in New York. "There's still work to be done to drive that technology as a fundamental, strong value for our end customers." He compared the current vPro bundle to early iterations of hardware-based security in Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chips. "Dell was a slow adopter of TPM, and that's not because we didn't know about them or forgot to ask about them. There are some cases where we've ultimately used a technology but waited for it to mature a little bit before adopting it," Kettler said. Dell competitors Hewlett-Packard Co. and Gateway Inc. both launched vPro-enabled desktops last week, prompting some analysts to ask why Dell was lagging despite its close relationship to Intel. The answer is that Dell was assembling its own business bundle. The company's OptiPlex 745 boosts security and eases IT management while reducing power draw. Those are the same selling points as vPro, and the Dell system even uses similar components, like Intel's new Core 2 Duo processor and a TPM security chip. The difference is that Dell chooses and integrates the remaining pieces, retaining more control over the final product. In October, Dell will add its own Client Manager module to the system, allowing IT managers to remotely boot and troubleshoot thousands of client systems from a single site. Intel does that trick with its Active Management Technology (AMT). Likewise, Dell chose its own partner for security and password protection, using Wave Systems Corp.'s Embassy Trust Suite. Dell sells the OptiPlex 745 with a Core 2 Duo E6300 processor for US$899. The XPS 210 costs $1,190 for a premium entertainment package. The Dimension E520 and E521 will go on sale Wednesday for $719 and $329, both with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP Media Center OS, dual-core processors and multimedia options. The Dimension C521 will cost $359 but take up just half the space compared to the E520 and E521. In another announcement Tuesday, Dell is extending its relationship with EMC Corp., adding another five years to their partnership in selling storage products such as the Dell/EMC AX100 and CX3 UltraScale networked storage systems. Together, the two companies have sold 34,000 networked storage systems to 10,000 customers since founding their alliance in 2001.
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Apple's share of the retail notebook marked jumped to 14.3 percent in May from 12.5 the month before, as the company placed fourth in a list compiled by NPD Group. Apple now trails only HP, Toshiba and Gateway, although Dell is not included in retail sales counts.
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Dell has taken an aggressive pricing strategy in its competition with Apple in the music player space. Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox reported in his blog today that Dell has dropped pricing on the 15
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Some Windows advocates are using my post about Leopard as "proof" that Vista is really what you need. When I said Leopard feels like Windows, I meant that it locks up, disappears, freezes and crashes. That I have to trick it into doing the right thing. I wasn't paying Windows a compliment, geez, you guys need to learn how to read. And by the way so do some of the Mac advocates. I didn't say you're having no fun with Leopard. Glad you're pleased. I wish I could gloat at how great an upgrade it was, nothing would make me happier. And btw, since writing the piece yesterday, it's been performing pretty well on all four systems I have it installed on. Maybe getting all that out in the open is just what was needed. For the record, I've never used Vista, I don't want to, honestly I'd rather live in Bucharest than use Vista. Not today's Bucharest, which I hear is actually pretty nice, I'm talking about the Bucharest of Ceausescu. The one who taught Cheney and Bush all they know about torture.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Apple introduced online movie rentals and the MacBook Air, a laptop small enough to fit in an manila envelope. The three-pound laptop is the "world's thinnest," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Tuesday at the annual Macworld conference. Jobs also touted new entertainment initiatives and an upgrade to Apple TV in his much-anticipated speech.
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Science & environment: Â· Apple announces UK sale date for Â£269 gadgetÂ· Rural customers face network problems
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On track for 2007 Virgin Trains has teamed up with Nomad Digital to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to passengers.â¦
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Apple 1, Branson 0 Virgin has closed Virgin Digital, its Windows Media-based alternative to Apple's iTunes. It stopped selling one-off downloads on Friday, though subscribers will still have access to their collections until their next monthly payment is due.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Virgin Group Ltd. will shut down its online music subscription and download service in the U.S. and U.K. next month, leaving one less competitor for Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store. In the U.K., Virgin Digital stopped selling tracks last Friday, and is no longer accepting new customers. As of Friday, only existing customers will be able to access the service, and the site will shut down for good on Oct. 19. The U.K. version of the site said users with more than one month of outstanding subscriptions will get a refund, but unused credits for song downloads should be used and won't be refunded. U.S. users of Virgin Digital will be able to use their credit on Napster LLC's music download service. The pending demise of Virgin Digital marks another casualty among online music stores, which have generally received lukewarm reception from consumers with the exception of Apple's market-leading iTunes service. Since Virgin Digital used digital rights management (DRM) technology from Microsoft Corp. to manage how songs could be played and transferred to portable devices, the service was not compatible with Apple's iPod line, which uses different DRM technology and file format. The Virgin Digital service allows customers to download tracks up to four more times to replace lost or damaged copies. Since that option will no longer be available when the store closes, the company advised customers who purchased tracks to back them up by burning the songs to a CD . Burning the tracks will let those customers re-import the tracks to the computer as MP3 files. Virgin also offered a subscription service that let people access an entire catalog of songs as long as they continued to pay the monthly fees. Those songs, which used Microsoft's DRM, would be unplayable if the person's subscription expired. Once the club closes, subscribers will also lose access to those songs. As part of the terms of subscription service, users were not allowed to burn those songs to CD. Virgin Digital officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the service's closure. The Virgin Digital store is not the only one to fold in the face of competition from Apple's iTunes -- or from illegal downloads. Last month, MTV Networks, which is owned by Viacom Inc., said it would merge its Urge music service with RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody service. Urge, which was a partnership between MTV and Microsoft launched in May 2006 that failed to effectively compete with iTunes. Â
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Blog: new laptops are upgraded versions of Dell's existing workhorse models
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(InfoWorld) - Dell will officially launch its first three consumer PCs running the Ubuntu 7.04 Linux OS on Thursday, two desktops and an Inspiron E1505n notebook PC. The new modelsÂ give buyers a third choiceÂ when shopping for a PC at Dell: a machine with Windows installed, a machine with no OS, on which they can install one of their choice, and now a machine with Ubuntu Linux already installed. Other PC makers, including Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo Group,Â  also sell PCs that run Linux, but mainly on customized machines, because retail demand for the open-source OS is tiny compared to that for Windows. The PCs will be available in the U.S. after 4 p.m. Central Time fromÂ Dell's Web site. The laptop starts at $599, while the two desktops, the Dimension E520 and XPS 410n, start from $599 and $849 each, respectively. A comparable XPS 410 with Windows Vista Premium costs $899. Dell announcedÂ what flavor of Linux it would use in the PCs, Ubuntu 7.04, earlier this month. It's the same OS Michael Dell, the chairman and CEO of the company, uses on his Dell Precision M90 laptop at home. Dell is targeting the Linux enthusiast market with the PCs, and said the choice of systems is a response to customer feedback collected atÂ a Web siteÂ set up to solicit customer suggestions. Over 100,000 people participated in surveys about the systems and what kind of Linux to install in the machines, Dell said in a statement. The three PCs all use Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessors. The two desktops contain 1GB of RAM and 250GB of hard disk space, while the laptop includes 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard disk drive. Users will be able to choose from several hardware options on their Ubuntu PCs from Dell. The options offered contain the most mature and stable Linux driver support, and Dell plans to work with vendors to ensure more devices include Linux driver support in the future, it said. Dell is offering hardware support for the PCs through its existing channels, with basic software help from several dedicated Web sites and Linux forums. Canonical is offering software service upgrades from theÂ Ubuntu Web site. The company also created theÂ Dell Linux ForumÂ for users to find resources, troubleshoot, discuss issues, and share experiences about the new PCs. Â
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First, the big news is that lines are forming at Apple stores. Send links to pictures. Oh the humanity. Second, the reason those of us who ordered in advance are not getting our Leopards is that Fedex couldn't handle the load.  Even so, when I called Fedex this morning they said I would have my package today, even though the website says otherwise. Their gears are stipped on a good day. Is Fedex the AT&T of package delivery? Will Apple end up leasing their own fleet of trucks to deliver the next version of Mac OS? I guess we still have to make it through this release.  Will we be able to have a Flash Conference on Monday to discuss Leopard? Only time will tell.
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MacBooks, Vaios challenged Dell has revamped its Inspiron laptop line with a set of three models all available in a choice of eight "vibrant" colours and with a pick of Intel or AMD processors.â¦
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Carphone expands Virgin offering From this morning customers at Carphone Warehouse will be able to buy Virgin broadband, digital TV and phones from a special in-store services area showcasing the company.â¦
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DVD burner from Sony does just fine without a PC. Also: Virgin goes head-to-head with the iPod Mini.