business

Ultrabooks: Final nail in the coffin of 'business laptops'?

I'm not really sure who uses a business laptop. Now that ultrabooks are here and spreading, I'm even less sure.

Case in point: the HP Folio 13.

Here at the CNET offices, I've seen more and more people asking (and hoping) for MacBook Airs. Apple's never had a problem with differentiating between business and personal computers: It simply make products, period. Our IT department allows Apple computers, but they're not technically business laptops. No one seems to mind.

On the Windows side of things, there's been a bit of a divide between some business-targeted laptops--some with crypto-enabled TPM, or Trusted Platform Module chips, others with Intel's vPro technology--and "consumer" computers. That divide is old-fashioned. … Read more

Poynt yourself in the right direction

Poynt rolls all of the local discovery tools you need into one application. You can use it to search for restaurants, events, deals, people, businesses, movie tickets, even gas prices.

With all that functionality, fortunately Poynt's interface is simple and straightforward. Just open up the app and tap any of the icons on the home page to begin your search. All of the search tools take your GPS location into account, which means in most cases you'll get the most-relevant results. Also, many of the tools have additional options to help you further refine your search, if necessary.… Read more

HTC suffers first profit drop in two years; 2011 profit still solid

HTC trudged through a difficult fourth quarter, but all in all, 2011 was a solid year for the handset maker.

The company said today that during the fourth quarter of 2011, it posted a profit of NT$11 billion ($364 million), which, while strong, was down a thumping 26 percent compared to the same period last year when it generated NT$14.8 billion in net income. It was the company's first profit drop in two years.

HTC saw a similar story on the revenue side, as sales dropped from NT$104 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010 … Read more

The laptop with two brains: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Hybrid doubles down on CPUs

Remember the Lenovo ThinkPad X1? Last year's uber-high-end semithin and semirugged business laptop has gotten a 2012 refresh with the ThinkPad X1 Hybrid, adding an idea that we definitely haven't seen before: this Intel Core i-series-powered computer has its own separate Qualcomm dual-core processor for viewing media in a battery life-saving mode called IMM, or Instant Media Mode.

The idea's not unlike a hybrid, so to speak, of ideas such as automatically switching discrete graphics and quick-launch OS environments that have gone out of fashion as of late in laptops. Lenovo's IMM claims to bump battery life to 10 hours when in that Qualcomm processor-powered Linux-based OS. A dedicated, separate 16GB SSD acts as storage in this mode.… Read more

Lenovo adds Thunderbolt to ThinkPad Edge for CES 2012

One of the added benefits to the next generation of Intel Ivy Bridge processors coming later this year is its native support of Thunderbolt. The newly announced high-end ThinkPad Edge S430 will feature Thunderbolt as one of a bevy of extra features aimed at taking this middle-range small business line of laptops up a notch.

It's unclear whether it will feature Ivy Bridge, but considering that the new CPUs will release in June, coinciding with the S430's release, we can guess that it's likely that the S430 will feature the new Intel processors.

The Edge S430 doesn't look particularly striking, but Lenovo promises metal accents and a soft-touch finish that might make holding it more impressive. Besides having "the latest Intel Core processors," additional options will include an optical drive or, alternatively, a second hard drive, and Nvidia Optimus graphics. The Edge S430 will start at $749. … Read more

Hands on with the HP Folio 13

Editors' note, January 20, 2012: We posted our full review of the HP Folio 13. We also added our hands-on video to the end of this blog.

As ultrabooks become a major part of the laptop landscape this year, the key to finding a good one might not lie in specs--since so many have identical innards--so much as look, feel, and bang for the buck.

In that regard, the HP Folio 13 might be a winner.

The HP Folio 13, which was announced last year, is a small business-targeted ultrabook that could be equally at home in the hands of a regular Joe User. After all, the "business" differentiation is merely cosmetic and arbitrary, unless you choose to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional an optional TPM chip. What the HP Folio 13 has--a Core i5 low-voltage CPU, 128GB SSD storage, 4GB of RAM--befits any laptop in the 13-inch ultrabook universe circa 2012.

It is a thicker laptop, and a heavier one, too, compared with the MacBook Air and any of last year's ultrabooks. Not by much, though; it's a little over 3 pounds, and still thinner than any "normal" laptop. It's just not wafer-thin. Consider the side benefits, though: the HP Folio 13 only costs $899, which undercuts a lot of the ultrabook competition by at least $100. And, in terms of both specs and features, there are few compromises. The Folio 13 comes with everything that most ultrabooks do, with none of the annoying compromises such as missing SD card slots or Ethernet jacks that were common to last year's ultrabook crop.… Read more

Facebook lawsuit gets green light

Google+ introduces improvements just before the holidays, text-sending teens increase their data usage by 256 percent over last year, and a federal judge rules that a lawsuit targeting Facebook's "sponsored stories" can proceed.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook lawsuit can proceed Facebook private messages for biz Google+ improvements Teens text way too much Japanese touchscreen vending machines Saudi prince invests in Twitter Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

YouSendIt debuts on Android, Mac

Popular file-sharing and cloud collaboration service YouSendIt finally brings its services to Android and Mac platforms.

While Android and Mac users have long been able to access YouSendIt through the company's Web site, native apps have only been available on Windows and iOS--until today. With the new Android and Mac apps, you can send files, share folders, and sign documents from outside a browser. YouSendIt for Mac is still in beta, but is publicly available for download now.

If you haven't used YouSendIt, it's an all-in-one suite for managing documents through the cloud. Different from services like … Read more

Execs would rather go virtual than to Houston, study says

Houston is a wonderful place.

I've always wanted to write that sentence and here, finally, is an opportunity.

For America's executives have decided to dump their irrational loathing upon a city that tries its very best, despite a climate the devil would reject, the 72nd best public transit system in America (out of 100 metropolitan areas), and freeways that seem to go on longer than former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

You see, ON24, a Webcasting and virtual events company decided--no doubt in its own self-interest--to discover which cities business executives would most prefer to avoid for a … Read more