Windows

How Apple could ship 48 million FaceTime devices this calendar year

Critics scoffed when Steve Jobs said he would ship "tens of millions" by Dec. 31

This was a busy week for rumors about FaceTime -- the Wi-Fi-based video conferencing protocol that Apple (AAPL) introduced on the iPhone 4 in June and added to the iPod touch two weeks ago.

The one that got the most attention was AppleInsider's report that the company is speeding up development of a camera-equipped iPad that could MORE

Will Samsung dump Windows Phone 7 for Android?

Statements by Samsung this week indicate that they are going Google.

Samsung passed Motorola three years ago to become the biggest mobile phone maker (feature+smart phones) in the US, so their operating system choices carry a lot of weight.

They are also listed as one of the five Windows Phone 7 Series launch partners. But at IFA this week, and in earlier statements by its CTO, Samsung seems lukewarm on Windows Phone MORE

The Mac cracks the engineering market

After an 18-year hiatus, AutoCAD returns to the platform and is coming soon to the iPad

In an important vote of confidence in Apple's (AAPL) resurgence as a mainstream computing platform, Autodesk (ADSK) announced overnight Tuesday that it is bringing AutoCAD back to the Mac.

AutoCAD is an industrial-strength 3D modeling program for software and engineering design. According to Autodesk, its various Microsoft (MSFT) Windows configurations are used by some 10 million MORE

The numbers don't lie: Mobile devices overtaking PCs

Here it comes: Mobile will soon outsell PCs.

Tim Bray last week attempted to conceptualize the market change that is happening in computing in a post called the Great Game.  In a nutshell, what we are seeing in smartphones is bigger than anything that has come before it.  Much bigger than the PC.  And it is coming so fast that we don't realize what's happening.

The Numbers Are Really Big MORE

The magnetic draw of the Apple Store

London's new Covent Garden store proves once again that Apple can pull in the crowds

Before we talk about numbers, you might want to check out the video at right (and on YouTube here) shot 10 minutes before Apple opened its newest and biggest store, in London's Covent Garden.

This is not London's first Apple Store. In fact, the city already had three others, including one on Regent Street that was, until MORE

Big Macs on campus

In five years, Apple has switched places with Dell as the student laptop of choice

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) dropped nearly 2.5% in the opening hour of trading Wednesday thanks in part to a downgrade by Global Equities Research's Trip Chowdhry that included this bulletpoint:

70% of incoming University freshman students are coming with Macs, which is up ~10% - 15% y-y. Microsoft is failing to connect with the new generation of MORE

Dell confirms interest in Google's ChromeOS

A Dell spokesman today said they are investigating Chrome for future laptops.

While not surprising or filled with any sort of detail, reports today reveal that Dell (DELL) is in talks with Google (GOOG) to use its ChromeOS.

Amit Midha, Dell's president for Greater China and South Asia said:

"We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with MORE

Chrome woos three PC titans from Windows

If you really want to make a splash in the PC industry, it helps if you have the three biggest players signed up.

According to some files located inside of the latest ChromeOS, Google is readying builds of its OS for three different hardware makers.  HP (with reservation), Dell, and Acer.

If those names sound familiar, it is because they are the world's three leading PC manufacturers according to IDC and MORE

Defending Ballmer?

Lots of reactions to my screed on Steve Ballmer, his tenure at Microsoft (MSFT) and his shocking lack of awareness about the world around him. Most agreed with my perspective. Not all. One fan of Steve's wrote thusly:

The idea that all these Windows users are just stupid is a huge blind spot for people living in Silicon Valley.  Look, people can complain about Microsoft and Steve. But the MORE

Steve Ballmer doesn't get it

Microsoft's CEO knows  the future of personal computing lies with mobile, yet he continues to live in the past.

I sat incredulous last week listening to Steve Ballmer display more out-to-lunchness than I've ever heard from a major CEO. His company, Microsoft (MSFT), only recently lost the battle of most valuable technology company to Apple (AAPL). He is presiding over the umpteenth reorganization of the company he has run for years, MORE