HP touch Pad for $99

An HP TouchPad for $99

The HP TouchPad is in greater demand than ever before, selling out in stores across the U.S. andCanada over the weekend after a price drop down to $99.99.

So what does any good business do when its products are in demand? Deliver more of that product, of course. And that's what Hewlett-Packard said Monday that it intends to do with the TouchPad.

Well, until it is really and truly sold out. 

HP spokeswoman Bryna Corcoran said on Twitter that more TouchPads will hit HP's own online store.

"Regarding 'next batch' coming in.. it's called a warehouse," Corcoran said in a tweet. "No more being made, but have inventory coming from ones already manufactured."

Corcoran said she didn't know how many TouchPads were on the way or when they'd arrive, but HP is still taking orders for the TouchPad online at $99.99 for a 16-gigabyte Wi-Fi model or $149.99 for a 32-gigabyte Wi-Fi unit.

HP to spin off PC business

Hewlett Packard will spin off its industry-leading but struggling personal computer business, according to a Bloomberg News report on Thursday.

HP also plans buy British software developer Autonomy for $10 billion, the news report said, citing anonymous sources with "direct knowledge" of the company's plans. Autonomy specializes in database search and other enterprise software technologies.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

HP's stock swung wildly on the news. Shares had fallen by as much as 8% in early trading on Thursday. After Bloomberg's report, shares rebounded and shot up as high as 8% above Wednesday's closing price, before falling back into slightly negative territory in early afternoon trading.

HP is slated to release its latest quarterly earnings report Thursday after the market's close. Analysts expect a profit of $1.09 per share on sales of around $31 billion.

Google buys Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion

Google will acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, in a surprise move that for the first time puts the company squarely in the smartphone hardware — rather than solely software — business.
“The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences,” Google CEO Larry Page wrote in a post on the company’s official blog.
Google will acquire Motorola for approximately $40 per share in cash, or around $12.5 billion dollars, “a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011,” according to Google’s press release.
“This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world,” Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said in a statement.

IBM Makes Brainy Breakthrough in Computing

IBM (NYSE: IBM) researchers unveiled a new generation of experimental computer chips Thursday. The chips are designed to mimic the brain's abilities of perception, action and cognition. The development could lead to advances in computers that require much less power and space than current technology.

IBM's first neurosynaptic computing chips recreate the spiking neurons and synapses of biological systems such as the brain by using advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry. The first two prototype chips have been fabricated and are undergoing testing.
Systems built with these chips will be called "cognitive computers" and won't be programmed the same way as traditional computers. Cognitive computers are expected to learn through experiences, find correlations, create hypotheses and remember, mimicking the brain's structural and synaptic plasticity. IBM is combining principles from nanoscience, neuroscience and supercomputing to kick off a multi-year cognitive computing initiative.
IBM and its university collaborators have been awarded approximately US$21 million in new funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for phase two of the Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project. SyNAPSE's goal is to create a system to analyze complex information from multiple sensory modalities at once and to dramatically rewire itself to adapt to the environment.

Is the HP TouchPad Untouchable?

Battered by repeated price cuts and reportedly sluggish sales, it looks as if the HP (NYSE: HPQ) TouchPad tablet is struggling in the market less than two months after it first hit retail shelves in July.

The Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) retail chain sold only 25,000 of the 270,000 units it ordered, AllThingsD has reported.
Best Buy apparently refuses to pay for its unsold inventory of TouchPads and demands that HP take them back. HP is reportedly sending a top executive to Best Buy headquarters in Minnesota to discuss the issue.
"Unfortunately, the TouchPad is a me-too product," Carl Howe, director of anywhere consumer research at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld. "It's almost as good as the iPad and was initially offered at the same price, and I think that hurt it in trying to get a beachhead with consumers."
The TouchPad was also hurt by a lack of apps, Howe said.

Verizon Wireless promos $20 plan for the data reluctant

For those of you living close to our nation's circle of political puissance, Verizon's got a promotional offer that'll help you feel like one of the data-dependent elite. Available starting today and running through September 30th, existing voice subscribers in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia can begin their trek towards an always-connected lifestyle by tacking on 300MB of data for $20 per month. The deal's intended for cost-conscious customers who haven't yet learned "the many benefits of... a smartphone," and is open to any of the operator's 3G or 4G LTE handsets. Be sure to hit the break to find out more in the presser below, but we warn you -- internet addiction is a slippery, costly slope.

Yahoo gets Android handset in Japan, renews hope for long-awaited AltaVista phone

Mobile operating systems, it seems, make strange bedfellows, so perhaps it's not a major surprise that Yahoo, a top traffic presence in Japan, is getting its own Android handset in that country. The search engine is lending its name to a version of Sharp's AQUOS 009SH. The Gingerbread handset is preloaded with Yahoo Home, Auctions, and various other Y-branded goodies. The phone's SoftBank contract also comes with a free two-year premium membership to Yahoo Japan and some bonus points for Yahoo Shopping purchases. The Yahoo Phone will be hitting Japan next month.

Source :SoftBank (Translation)