Dell shares lower after quarterly profits drop

Dell shares lower after quarterly profits drop

US computer maker Dell has reported another decline in quarterly profits, sending its shares lower.

Net profit at the US giant was $337m (£202m) in the three months to October, down from $727m last year.

Dell's revenues also dropped 15% to $12.9bn. Both figures missed analysts' expectations, sending shares down 7% in after-hours trading.

Although Dell did not provide a formal outlook, it said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to improve.

Global computer sales have been knocked by the worldwide recession, as customers cut back on their spending.

Since returning as chief executive in 2007, founder Michael Dell has cut more than 10,000 jobs and acquired several companies.

Dell bought IT services provider and fellow Texan firm Perot Systems for $3.9bn in September.

Original article : here

Google previews Chrome open source operating system

Google previews Chrome open source operating system

Internet search giant Google has lifted the lid on its operating system, known as Chrome OS.

The free and open source system is initially aimed at low-cost netbooks and does away with many of the features of a traditional program.

All applications are designed to run in a web browser and all the user's data is stored on Google's servers.

Engineers from the firm said the first computers running the system would be available before the end of 2010.

"We are trying to offer a choice for users," said Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management, during an event at the firm's headquarters in California.

"This model of computing is fundamentally different."

The event follows the recent launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 and Apple's operating system upgrade, Snow Leopard.

Full story : HERE

Demo :...

Sir Tim Berners-Lee recognised for his contribution to IT

Sir Tim Berners-Lee recognised for his contribution to IT

Sir Tim Berners-Lee was recognised for his outstanding contribution to UK IT at the UK IT Industry Awards held last night at a prestigious ceremony at Battersea Park Events Arena. The audience of over 1,300 guests watched Sir Tim accept the Award via a special video message from his office at MIT.

In total there were 26 presentations at the Awards which are a venture between BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and Computing, merging the BCS IT Industry Awards and the Computing Awards for Excellence to create one platform for the entire profession to showcase and celebrate best practice, innovation and excellence.

There were a diverse range of winning projects and organisations. These included a project that enables the virtual exploration of underwater sites (VENUS), an IT project for Comic Relief by Carrenza and a project by Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust which aims to...

Graduate pay holding up

Graduate pay holding up

Although there are a diminishing number of graduates entering IT sector as unemployment increases to 44 per cent, salaries are rising.

As the unemployment prospects for university leavers entering IT have seen a year-on-year increase of 44 per cent, the number of graduates entering the world of IT is declining, reveals a study by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU).

The rate of unemployed IT increased 4.2 percentage points to 13.7 per cent for the 220,065 students surveyed in January 2009 and who graduated in 2008, reveals HECSU’s What Do Graduates Do?

The number of graduates going into IT type roles saw a-year-on-year decrease. The number of IT consultants, software professionals and computer programmers dropped 18 per cent from 2,980 to just under 2,450, whilst the number of graduates working as IT technician/helpdesk support decreased by 15 per cent from 795 to 675. However, there has been...

Free public Wi-Fi scheme for town

Free public Wi-Fi scheme for town

A major Wiltshire town is to become the first in the UK to offer free public wireless internet access to its entire population, it was claimed.

Swindon Borough Council plan for all 186,000 citizens to have blanket "Wi-Fi mesh" coverage by April 2010.

Line rental will be free, and there will be no connection charge, say council officials.

Wireless internet allows computer users to access the internet without the need for wired connection to phone lines.

'Much cheaper'

Subscribers to the service - to be called Signal - will have limited access but could pay for 20Mb upgrades.

This fee would be "significantly less" than current broadband suppliers, scheme bosses estimate.

The £1m project will be run by Digital City UK Ltd, in which Swindon Borough Council has a 35% share.

Some 1,400 secure access points will be fitted around Swindon, similar to those used in homes "but with a much...

Techies 'unhealthiest workers'

Techies 'unhealthiest workers'

IT workers are the unhealthiest in the UK, according to a recent survey.

Less than one in five people employed in the tech sector said that they met government targets of doing at least five 30-minute exercise sessions a week, according to the study by weight loss agency Fat Free Fitness.

This was coupled with most IT workers admitting having a poor diet. Only 14 per cent say that they ate at least five daily portions of fruit and vegetables and most admitting to drinking more than ten cups of coffee a day.

Rich Leigh, a personal trainer and founder of Fat Free Fitness, said that the government should be doing more to encourage employers and workers to be more active.


Full story : HERE

Thanks to Josiahb for spotting this one

Age of cyber warfare is 'dawning'

Age of cyber warfare is 'dawning'

Cyber war has moved from fiction to fact, says a report.

Compiled by security firm McAfee, it bases its conclusion on analysis of recent net-based attacks.

Analysis of the motives of the actors behind many attacks carried out via the internet showed that many were mounted with a explicitly political aim.

It said that many nations were now arming to defend themselves in a cyber war and readying forces to conduct their own attacks.

While definitions of what constitutes cyber war are not shared, it was clear that many nations were preparing for a future in which conflict was partly conducted via the net.

"There are at least five countries known to be arming themselves for this kind of conflict," said Greg Day, primary analyst for security at McAfee Europe.

The UK, Germany, France, China and North Korea are known to be developing their own capabilities.

The US is known to have an...

Apple nukes Psystar

Apple nukes Psystar

The Apple vs Psystar case has ended rather predictably, with Apple basically nuking the Mac clone maker out of existence.

Florida-based Psystar rose to fame back in February of 2008 when it started to market Mac close systems - basically PCs modified and configured to run the Mac OS. In July of that year Apple threw a spanner into Psystar’s plans by filing a lawsuit against the company. That case has been progressing through the legal system ever since.

However, on Friday Judge William Alsup dealt what seems to be a fatal blow for Psystar by granting Apple’s motion for summary judgment while denying Psystar’s counterclaims.

Basically Alsup ruled that the Mac OS End User License Agreement (EULA) is both legal and valid and ruled that installation of the OS on non-Apple hardware is not allowable. Period.

Full story : HERE

IT staff back in demand after jobs market hits "tipping point"

IT staff back in demand after jobs market hits "tipping point"

UK market sees encouraging bounce back

In a development that will hopefully be replicated here, from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and consultant company KPMG are reporting that jobs in the UK IT sector are growing for the first time in nearly two years.

In the October edition of its monthly Report on Jobs, the confederation said the overall jobs market had reached "the tipping point into growth, driven by returning confidence in the private sector".

On a scale where a baseline of 50 represents no change and anything above shows more vacancies, permanent IT and computing positions hit 51.5 in October. For the same period last year, the job market was shrinking rapidly, with a score of 40.

Full story : HERE

Bing teams up with Wolfram Alpha

Bing teams up with Wolfram Alpha

Microsoft has teamed up with a web tool once hailed as a rival to Google to provide results for its search engine Bing.

Wolfram Alpha aims to answer questions directly, rather than display a list of links like a search engine.

The "computational knowledge engine" is the brainchild of British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram.

It will be used to bolster Bing's results in areas such as nutrition, health and mathematics.

The partnership will initially be rolled out in the US.

Bing has been gradually grabbing market share from other search engines since its launch in May.

Figures from Experian Hitwise suggest its market share in the US rose from 8.96% in September to 9.57% in October.

The figures put it well behind market leader Google which has 70.6% of the market.

Full story : HERE