Microsoft vs. Android

It’s pretty clear that Microsoft, a many-time failure at mass-market tablets has decided that if they can’t beat Apple and Android at popular tablets, they’ll sue them instead. That’s my only explanation for Microsoft suing Barnes & Noble, Foxconn, and Inventec over their Android e-readers. Microsoft, we now know, from Microsoft’s Horacio Gutierrez, Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property & Licensing, that Microsoft was trying to win by litigation even before Microsoft commercially released Windows 7 tablets. Gutierrez wrote, “We have tried for over a year to reach licensing agreements with Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec.Their refusals to take licenses leave us no choice but to bring legal action.”

Apple's App Store

Bloomberg reports that Apple is suing Amazon.com over use of the App Store trademark. Apple was granted the App Store trademark by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but Microsoft is opposing the registration. It’s a lot of hubbub for a trademark that was given to Apple by a former intern turned CEO. Way back in 2006—two years before Apple made the App Store term a household named—Salesforce.com outlined its AppStore vision.

Google Chrome 10

I’ve liked the Google Chrome Web browser since it first showed up in 2008. Today, with the slipstream release of Chrome 10, I may finally be ready to retire all my other Web browsers.

The reason I’m considering doing this is quite simple.Chrome 10 is screamingly fast. It’s more than ten-times faster than its first version was in dealing with JavaScript. It also leads all other of today’s Web-browsers when it comes to raw JavaScript processing speed with itsnew “Crankshaft” V8 JavaScript engine.

Sony Vaio Hybrid PC: Features Intel Thunderbolt tech

And now for something completely different, from Sony of all people. While the trend in laptops has been to lose once-essential components like an optical drive and even discrete graphics in the desire to stay thin and light, Sony Insider says the electronics giant is thinking of a new way to keep those parts around — just in a different way.

Apple CEO sends supportive email to Japan staff

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has reportedly sent an email message to Apple employees in Japan which was both heartfelt and supportive. In addition, Jobs and the executive team said that if any Apple employees knew of any supplies they were in need of, they should let Apple HQ know.

The email said:

Lenovo ThinkPad X120e

Lenovo calls its ThinkPad X120e an ultraportable--and its new AMD Fusion CPU certainly endows the laptop with much better performance than netbooks have achieved in the past. But it's nowhere near as fast as the average Intel Core processor-based ultraportable. Lenovo has done a magnificent job giving the keyboard a full-size feel, but the 1366 by 768, 11.6-inch display suffers in comparison to the 12- and 13-inch displays of other ultraportable laptops. Given the choice between characterizing the X120e as an underpowered ultraportable or as a wonderful netbook, I'm going with the latter.

Display tech to watch this year: Multitouch catches fire

Computerworld - Touch-screen panels have been around for more than a decade, but it was the 2007 introduction of a multitouch screen in Apple's iPhone that galvanized the market. Now the business is going gangbusters -- as are the innovations that touch-screen manufacturers hope will build on Apple's success.