The Droid: Serious iPhone competition

Motorola's Droid. Source: BGR

Just in time to rain on Apple's (AAPL) 2009 earnings report, a prime-time TV ad and a series of well-timed leaks have put the spotlight on Motorola's (MOT) Droid -- a yet-unreleased smartphone that is being described by sources who have played with a prototype as the iPhone's first serious competitor.

The ad, which premiered Saturday during the Yankees-Angels pennant game, is pasted below the fold. The MORE

Tech: Are happy days here again?

Is it time to dust off the party hats?

From the cheery headlines accompanying the latest round of tech earnings, you'd think so. Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt declared last week that, "the worst of the recession is behind us." IBM (IBM) actually boosted earnings targets for the year. Taken along with the stimulus potential of Windows 7, Microsoft's (MSFT) critically acclaimed PC operating system that launches this week, some say MORE

CIOs: Take the "Pepsi Challenge"

Mergers are hot again: Is your tech team prepared for post-deal integration?

By Jim Milde, executive vice president, Keane Inc.

Milde says IT can drive operational excellence. Photo: Keane

History shows that M&A deals during downturns yield better results. Boston Consulting, which analyzed over 400,000 deals from 1981 to 2008, recently concluded that "downturn deals create 14.5% more value for shareholders of the acquirer" than deals done during upturns. And they're twice MORE

Will iPhone sales disappoint investors?

Production "hiccups" may depress next week's earnings, warns one analyst

Compared with the increasingly sunny predictions streaming from his competitors, the note Oppenheimer's Yair Reiner sent clients Friday morning was something of a buzz kill.

"We believe Apple could report in line to slightly disappointing [fiscal fourth quarter] revenue," he wrote, advising investors to hold off buying shares until after Monday's quarterly earning's report.

The focus of his concern: the iPhone.

Reiner's estimate for MORE

An "app store" for your car?

Every new  car is basically a computer. So where are all the cool apps?

In my rusted jalopy, a 1991 Volvo 240 sedan, I have installed the future.

A car that stalls at every stop sign now has turn-by-turn navigation. I can check my e-mail and monitor the stock market (or, let's be honest, the day's surf). There are applications at my fingertips that can point my sputtering car toward a burrito MORE

Windows 7, like it or not

Four ways Microsoft will make it increasingly difficult to stick with Windows XP

Enterprise installed base. Source: Forrester

When Microsoft (MSFT) launches Windows 7 next week, its biggest competitor -- especially in the multi-user enterprises that are its target market -- will not be Linux or Apple's (AAPL) Mac OS X, but Windows XP.

Eight years after its launch, and nearly three years after Microsoft began shipping Windows Vista (its putative successor), MORE

Tech Talk: Randy Komisar - Plan 'B' is new plan 'A'

Are operating systems a dying breed?

As the launch of Windows 7 approaches, one executive ponders the relevance of the OS.

By Richard Muirhead, chairman and CEO, Tideway Systems

Muirhead argues that operating systems are evolving. Photo: Tideway

The perception is that operating systems are dying. In truth, they are evolving.

For years we've witnessed wars waged among major operating system vendors, with computer purchases hanging in the balance. Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows was a household name for people who MORE

Study: Unlike Vista, Windows 7 is ready for business

Vista was too bloated for many corporate PCs to handle when it arrived three years ago. Its successor, Windows 7, is a better fit. Photo: Microsoft.

Rewind three years. One of the harbingers of doom for Windows Vista, Microsoft's much-maligned operating system, was a survey that showed half of corporate PCs were too old or anemic to upgrade from XP to Vista. In other words, to get the new software, MORE

GE brings good things to startups

Conglomerate invests money - and its considerable resources - in young energy firms.

By Marc Gunther, contributing editor

GE's Urquhart offers startups cash and connections. Photo: GE

When A123 Systems (AONE), a startup company that makes advanced lithium-ion batteries, had a successful initial public offering last month, one of the big winners was General Electric (GE).

That's because A123 Systems is by far the biggest holding of a venture capital fund run by MORE