Datamation Staff

eWeek: July 1 marks the official launch of HP’s TouchPad tablet PC and the debut of webOS on a device other than a smartphone. The TouchPad features a 9.7-inch screen and retails for $499.99 for a 16GB version and $599.99 for a 32GB version. The new device has earned some praise, but many critics say […]

LA Times: Apple, Microsoft, Research In Motion, Sony, EMC and Ericsson have teamed up to purchase 6,000 patents from the bankrupt Nortel Networks. The group paid $4.5 billion for the collection of patents, five times more than Google’s $900-million bid that was the starting point for the auction. Some analysts are suggesting that Google’s failure […]

Computerworld: IBM has developed a new type of computer memory called phase change memory (PCM) that could replace the NAND flash used in solid state drives and many mobile devices. Like NAND flash, PCM continues to save data even when the power supply to the chip is off. However, PCM can write data 100 times […]

eWeek: The already-rocky relationship between Oracle and HP has grown a little more so. Oracle has responded to HP’s lawsuit over Oracle’s decision to end support for the Itanium server platform, saying, “HP untenably has put itself and thousands of customers out on the end of a very long limb because HP, almost alone now, […]

Fortune: Samsung is Apple’s largest supplier of memory chips, but patent expert Florian Mueller says the two seem to be headed for an “ugly divorce.” Samsung has accused Apple of violating five of its patents and has asked the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban Apple from importing iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches made in […]

BBC News: Security researchers say that 4.5 million PCs have been infected with the TDL-4 virus in the last three months to become part of a large botnet. And because the virus installs itself in Windows master boot records–an area not usually scanned by security software–the virus usually escapes detection. According to the researchers, “The […]

ComputerWeekly: Market research firm Gartner now believes that companies will spend more on IT this year than previously predicted. In the first quarter, Gartner predicted an annual growth rate of 5.6 percent, but it has revised that forecast to 7.1 percent growth, for total sales of $3.67 trillion. The company believes spending on public cloud […]

PCMagazine: For the first time ever, Pope Benedict XVI sent a message out to his Twitter followers today. It read, “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” Although the pope did send the message himself from his iPad, he didn’t actually write the […]

Bloomberg: A new survey by tax, auditing and consulting firm KPMG finds that technology executives are becoming less optimistic about the economy. They now say that the economy and hiring will pick up in 2014, not in 2012 as previously predicted. Only 49 percent of those surveyed said they expect to add employees this year. […]

Computerworld: Cisco has announced that its Cius tablet will finally hit shelves at the end of July and will cost $750. Although it’s more expensive than the iPad, Cius’ enterprise-friendly features may attract buyers. Those features include AppHQ, which helps enterprise developers create and deploy their applications. The tablet also offers integration with Cisco’s collaboration […]

Cnet: After several past social networking efforts that fizzled, Google is taking another shot at competing with Facebook by launching a new service called Google+. Unlike Facebook, Google+ divides your friends into circles, allowing you to choose which groups of friends can see which posts. It also includes a feature called “Hangouts” that lets you […]

CIO: Oracle has announced that it will purchase Pillar Data Systems for an undisclosed sum. Pillar makes SAN (storage area network) Block I/O storage systems which complement Oracle’s ZFS Storage Appliance capabilities. According to the company, it was “critical for Oracle to own a proprietary storage asset, especially for building engineered systems.” The acquisition continues […]