Mobile Computing

In-app purchase: the iPhone 3.0 shopping spree [video]

Jon Fortt recaps Apple's preview of the next-generation iPhone OS, due this summer. (AAPL) (RIMM) (T) (PALM) (MOT) (NOK) (MSFT)

Why Intel is sharing its secret sauce

Since Intel first began cooking up semiconductors, it has taken great pride in its in-house manufacturing chops. If a chip carried the Intel brand, you could be sure it was created in an Intel fab.

Today the pride is the same, but the methods are changing. The Silicon Valley chipmaker on Monday announced a deal that will allow Taiwanese contract manufacturer TSMC to make custom versions of the Atom chip, the MORE

What are Intel and TSMC up to?

The world's two largest creators of computer chips are cooking something up together.

On Monday morning, there will be a chip industry summit of sorts: Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's largest chip foundry, will make a strategic announcement at Intel headquarters in Santa Clara. According to Intel (INTC) PR, the execs on hand will be Intel mobility chief Anand Chandrashekar and sales MORE

Why the recession can't stop wireless

Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of the Americas and India for Qualcomm, got a lesson on wireless from a Masai warrior. Photo: Qualcomm

While on safari in Kenya recently, Qualcomm executive Peggy Johnson got a fresh sense of how cell phones are changing every corner of the world.

Johnson's guide, a Masai warrior, explained that he grew up in a family of nomads and attended a boarding school during his high school MORE

WiMax's last best hope

I'm zipping through the streets of Portland, Ore., in a Lincoln Navigator while a "Knight Rider" episode streams over the Internet to a screen mounted to the car's dashboard. The technology driving the demonstration? WiMax, the much-hyped wireless standard that promises to deliver Internet to consumers and businesses at speeds up to five times faster than today's home broadband services.

The good news is that WiMax appears to work pretty MORE

AT&T looks beyond the iPhone

AT&T has reaped benefits from its exclusive deal to carry Apple's iPhone. But what happens when the deal expires? Image: Apple

It's the catch in every Cinderella story: Eventually the clock strikes midnight, and that opulent carriage turns into a pumpkin.

For AT&T's (T) iPhone sales, the witching hour could be two or three years away – executives won't say exactly when their exclusive contract with Apple (AAPL) runs out. But when MORE

AMD prays for Black Friday surprise

AMD's chips are often found in low-cost PCs, which means executives can't get a true sense of fourth-quarter sales until after Black Friday. Image: AMD

Based on Intel's dramatic sales warning Wednesday, you might expect rival Advanced Micro Devices to just crawl into a hole and die. If the economic mess is tripping up the most powerful chip company on the planet, how could its underdog challenger stand a chance?

Indeed, investors MORE

Intel's plan to ride out the recession

Intel sales and marketing chief Sean Maloney says he's confident in Intel's strategy, despite the downturn. Photo: Intel

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Intel stock has fallen by half since its December high, so you'd expect the mood in the executive suite to be less than buoyant these days. But during a chat this week at the chip giant's headquarters, Intel sales and marketing chief Sean Maloney seemed unmistakably upbeat.

"We've been through MORE

PC makers move closer to a post-Windows world

The Linux version of the HP Mini 1000 will sell for $379 when it arrives in January. While the laptop itself won't sink Microsoft, it's one more example of how powerful PC companies are relying less on Windows, and doing more software themselves. Image: HP

In January, Hewlett-Packard will introduce a glossy black mini-laptop at retail for a mere $379. When it does, it will become the first major computer maker MORE

Apple's next act: Changing PC buying habits

Nvidia inside: Apple's latest MacBook laptops have an Nvidia graphics processor next to their Intel chips, which puts the spotlight on graphics chips as an important part of today's basic computer system. Image: Apple

Take Our Poll

With all the presidential campaign talk about American exceptionalism, it might be easy to forget that we do a pretty unexceptional job at some things -- like shopping for computers.

No question, we Americans buy a MORE