BoomTown » computer

Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs Talks About Smartbooks and More!

Kara Swisher — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:36:52 +0000

When in San Diego recently, BoomTown paid a visit to Qualcomm and its Chairman and CEO, Paul Jacobs, to talk about a new “smartbook” device the wireless-technology company unveiled last week.

Well, sort of–while I got a gander at a prototype, the real one is not actually set to debut until the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January, where Jacobs will deliver his first keynote address.

There, he will show off what is essentially a combination of a smartphone and a netbook using wireless technology and an always-on capability, an attempt to push yet another innovative device type onto the market.

It will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip, and the first ones will be made by Lenovo and offered by AT&T (T)–to try to get the device widely used by consumers.

Smartbooks will be videocentric and have a Linux-based user interface, a keyboard and a range of popular widget applications, such as email and Facebook.

Obviously, this will be a competitive market and, really, Apple (AAPL), with its upcoming tablet computer, is also pushing into this mobile-phone-that-ate-computers space.

Moving into new markets has been important for Jacobs and Qualcomm (QCOM), which recently gave fiscal-year forecasts under Wall Street expectations and has had a rocky time in recent quarters.

Along with the econalypse, the company has attributed this to the decline in handsets with CDMA wireless technology, which Qualcomm pioneered.

Here’s my interview with Jacobs about smartbooks, as well as augmented reality and the company’s new FLO TV device, coming out soon. Plus, a wireless bandaid!:

[ See post to watch video ]

While Fanboys Breathlessly Await Steve Jobs's Apple iTab, They Should Probably Thank Bill Gates Too

Kara Swisher — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:10:54 +0000

Way back in the fall of 2001, when BoomTown was but a less-aged version of myself, I attended a keynote speech at the now-defunct Comdex show in Las Vegas, where Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates continued to bang the drum for one of his long-running obsessions: The tablet computer.

“The tablet takes cutting-edge PC technology and makes it available whenever you want it, which is why I’m already using a tablet as my everyday computer,” Gates said at the time to the audience gathered at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. “It’s a PC that is virtually without limits and within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America.”

Well, that did not happen.

But Gates did keep his promise about using a tablet–he kept on doing so and also harping on the topic all the time, with Microsoft even releasing a giant tabletop Surface several years ago and supporting multitouch in the coming Windows 7.

I recall Gates talking about the idea of how important the tablet is on innumerable occasions, more than any single concept I can recall.

It is ironic, then, that all the hype has suddenly and firmly coalesced around the particulars of the tablet that Apple (AAPL) will be unveiling in the coming months.

And now that CEO Steve Jobs is back fine-tuning the whole shebang, the obsession has moved into overdrive, punctuated only by endless stories about every single new app for the iPhone and fights over some of those new apps for the iPhone.

It’s a complete aside, but how ironic is it that Apple has somehow managed to make Google (GOOG)–the Skynet of the Internet–seem like a victim over this Google Voice shrillathon?

Back to the Apple tablet, which is playbook hype for iconic computer giant.

Besides being a secret project everyone in Silicon Valley seems to know about, the coming device is enjoying full-on breathless reportage of every single possible button and every possible feature, with every single bit of functionality parsed, dissected, masticated and spat back out.

But let’s be honest–in the end, this Apple tablet is probably going to be some kind of giant, sleeker, more glorified and doubtlessly niftier version of the iPod touch, called the iTab or the iPad or the iAmSoCoolAren’tI?, at three times the price.

Now, as it turns out, Microsoft (MSFT) is also at work on a table device, this time called the Courier.

This development became known recently after a demo video of it in use was somehow “leaked”–three guesses about which software giant in Redmond, Wash., put that out, and the first two don’t count!–to Gizmodo.

It seems to be some kind of tablet mixed with a journal mixed with a day planner, with a hinged two-page look. Digital writing and a stylus are involved, but also lots of touchscreen action.

Well, I say, good for Microsoft, and perhaps for Gates, who has now mostly disengaged himself from the day-to-day particulars of the behemoth he built, including the Courier.

Nonetheless, in all likelihood, Apple will still garner the most buzz in this tablet faceoff and will, more than likely, sell more.

A delicious irony, given that in their fascinating and long-running rivalry, it has usually been Jobs playing the hopeless dreamer and Gates the one who makes bank from the dreams of others.

No longer, which should make this round between Microsoft and Apple the most interesting of all.

Speaking of dreaming of dreams, it is always a good time to post the video of Susan Boyle singing “I Dreamed a Dream”:

Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs Speaks!

Kara Swisher — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:09:19 +0000

While in Southern California last week, BoomTown sat down with Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs to have a chat about the booming market for smart phones and, well, smart everything.

Here, among other topics, he talks about another new moniker–a smart book–which is not a netbook and not a smart phone, but essentially a smart phone that runs like a low-powered, always-on laptop computer.

Jacobs certainly hopes such innovative devices will take off, as his company is going to be one of the ones to benefit from such an explosion. In fact, a slowdown in the mobile market was behind the drop in quarterly profit Qualcomm announced last week.

But the San Diego-based tech firm also raised estimates, given that it concentrates on the fast-growing and fast-forward smart phone market, such a 3G handsets, and making profits from licensing patents on its technology in the arena.

With all the swirl around iPhones from Apple (AAPL), the Palm (PALM) Pre, the various new BlackBerrys from Research in Motion (RIMM) and whatever else gets cooked up by Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and others in the critical smart and mobile device market, it’s interesting to hear what Jacobs has to say.

Here’s the video interview:

[ See post to watch video ]

Liveblogging Fortune Brainstorm Tech: AOL CEO and Chairman Tim "The Plumber" Armstrong

Kara Swisher — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:09:01 +0000

It did not start out too well for AOL CEO and Chairman Tim Armstrong, with a poll on the screen showing most of the attendees in the ballroom at Fortune Brainstorm Tech voting that the Time Warner (TWX) online unit was either out of juice or irrelevant.

The event, which is taking place over three days in Pasadena, Calif., is packed full of Web and media luminaries, so BoomTown will be sitting in the front row and liveblogging some of the sessions here, such as this one that I did for the session with Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company (DIS).

Armstrong did not break any news in the interview with Fortune’s lively interviewer, David Kirkpatrick, relying more on projecting an I’m-in-charge-here attitude and saying confident things like “a challenge is also an opportunity.”

In general, Armstrong tried to be upbeat about the prospects for AOL, which has for too long been the Web’s sad sack of an Internet company.

“We are still in a very large trade wind,” he said, referring to advertisers spending money online. “If someone asked you if advertising [online] is going to go up, I think you would have to say yes.”

To take advantage of that, Armstrong said AOL would be focused on investing “in content systems that connect with advertising systems–that’s a white space we are going after.”

He noted that AOL needs to have the same “plumbing approach” to content that Google (GOOG)–where Armstrong had been a major advertising exec before taking his new job–has had to search advertising.

“You have to take the Silicon Valley approach to content,” Armstrong declared.

Armstrong also talked a little bit about his recent 100-day trip around the AOL empire worldwide and what he got out of it.

“I got a lot of advice from different people about what to do,” he said.

His takeaway, which he will discuss at an all-hands meeting scheduled for tomorrow with AOL staff: “It’s really about strategy. If we don’t have the right strategy, we’re not going to win.”

Which is kind of stating the obvious, but it sounded good.

Armstrong also touched lightly on the issue of getting rid of various assets AOL has compiled over the last several years, like it pricey purchase of the Bebo social networking site.

But some, as I recently reported–such as the Truveo video search service and the information search company Relegence–are staying.

Armstrong also talked of buying, but judiciously–noting to me later that AOL had 900 possible acquisition deals blocked in its pipeline.

Someone call a plumber stat!

Armstrong said he has put a stop to a lot of those deals, including putting the kibosh on a $400 million check he was supposed to sign right when he got there.

It was, as he told me after his interview, a windfall that supposed to go to a big computer maker for a distribution deal, which he chose to pass on.

“Everything has to make sense from a return-on-investment basis for me,” said Armstrong. “It’s that easy.”

And that hard, although he did move the crowd, which was polled with the same questions about AOL’s chances after Armstrong talked.

He got more people in the audience to vote that AOL would “return to health as a major Internet player,” which is–as legions of the company’s leaders have shown–no easy task.

[Photo credit: Brad Markel for Fortune]

Siri: The Full D7 Demo

Kara Swisher — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:01:05 +0000

Siri is a virtual personal assistant for your Apple (AAPL) iPhone or computer, originated at the Stanford Research Institute and spun out as an artificial intelligence project financed by DARPA.

In its demo for Walt Mossberg and me at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, Siri tried to show how it was an alternative to search to get a user things like tickets and pizza–using a combination of innovative technologies, including speech recognition, natural language processing and semantic Web search.

Here’s the video of the full D7 Siri demo:

[ See post to watch video ]

The AppleTwitter-Equals-iBrangelina Experiment*

Kara Swisher — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:05:43 +0000

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* Yesterday, in a BoomTown post about the latest unproven rumors that the world’s most iconic computer company, Apple (AAPL), was in “late-stage” negotiations to buy Silicon Valley’s latest pretty young thing, microblogging service Twitter, I wrote:

“Oh, the very notion of Apple and Twitter is a Techmeme dream-ticket, sure to be chewed over for days on end. (I once considered doing a post that just said “AppleTwitterAppleTwitterAppleTwitter…” for 1,000 words to see how much idiotic traffic I would get.)”

I wrote that because the pair rivet the tech press and digital fanboys as no others do, fomenting an obsession normally reserved for, say, Brangelina.

And since I imagine that a marriage of Apple and Twitter would be covered a lot like those two are–Red alert: Someone just sighted Evan Williams with a giant iPod getting a scoop at Fraiche Yogurt for Steve Jobs!–I thought I would get started early, just in case.

(Finally, given the epic Twitter diss of last year, let’s all just assume that Facebook will be playing the Jennifer Aniston role.)

Exclusive: Yahoo's Bartz and Microsoft's Ballmer Finally Talking About Search and Advertising Partnership

Kara Swisher — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:55:02 +0000

In early discussions that began in the last several weeks that apparently included a face-to-face meeting last week, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer are finally talking about search and also advertising partnerships the companies could possibly strike, said several sources with knowledge of the situation.

According to a variety of sources, the talks between the pair (pictured here) and other execs at both companies are preliminary and wide-ranging, focused on what kind of commercial relationship Yahoo and Microsoft could have in the future.

But, cautioned sources close to Yahoo, the discussions are not about a renewed acquisition attempt by Microsoft and also might not result in any deal.

In any case, investors will likely cheer any kind of productive re-engagement between Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT), which has been lacking since a tense takeover effort by the software giant went south last year after an ugly battle that soured relations between the two companies.

“It’s long past time,” said one outsider who had been told of the discussions. “With Google’s huge market share, these two need to work together and the problems they had should be put in the past.”

Both Yahoo and Microsoft declined to comment about the talks.

The change in leadership at Yahoo has helped, especially since Bartz–a Silicon Valley veteran with much deal experience–has none of the baggage from the takeover battle that previous management was carrying.

Microsoft seems to have also moved on, working on a massive redesign and relaunch of its search brand, under the internal name Kumo, an effort that has included the hiring a whole lot of talent in the arena, mainly from Yahoo, in fact.

That includes Qi Lu, a former Yahoo tech star, who is leading all of Microsoft’s online efforts.

All of this means that a relatively green-field approach is now possible.

Thus, sources said, the talks include many scenarios, such as one in which the companies swap online advertising assets and deliver services to each other.

In that interesting plan, Yahoo might take over all of Microsoft’s display and premium advertising business to sell along with its own, while Microsoft would run the search advertising business for the pair.

Such a deal, which plays to each company’s strengths, would bind the two closely together, even though they still compete on many other fronts in the Internet space.

It also joins their forces, creating a sale that is much more attractive to advertisers and allows for better competition against search powerhouse Google (GOOG).

And while Ballmer has publicly said repeatedly that Microsoft is interested in buying either Yahoo’s search advertising business or search outright, sources close to Yahoo said the company is still determined to maintain control of the important search business and the massive traffic and critical data it provides.

That is especially true, given that Yahoo is the No. 2 player, with a much larger share than third-place Microsoft. According to recent surveys, for example, Google has a 63 percent share, while Yahoo has 20.6 percent and Microsoft eight percent.

But it is also in Yahoo’s interest to move fast, since its search traffic could be declining soon.

According to a story by Dow Jones yesterday, citing a comScore (SCOR) report, recent toolbar distribution deals with computer makers Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Acer by Microsoft and Google respectively, will have a negative impact on Yahoo.

The story said that Yahoo “could lose up to 15% of its search traffic over the next 12-to-18 months after failing to renew deals with two computer makers, blows likely to hamper the Internet giant’s efforts to remain a viable competitor in search advertising.”

But even as he directs aggressive moves to put even more competitive pressure on Yahoo, Ballmer has been unusually deferential in giving Bartz a lot of time to come to the table.

Nonetheless, he cannot seem to stop talking about it either.

At a recent conference in mid-March, for example, Ballmer said:

“It’s really about getting the pooled volume, because you actually can improve your product faster if you have more users….If you have more advertisers, you can improve the product as well….There are returns to scale. And putting the scale together is valuable.”

But, in that interview, Ballmer also said that he had only talked to Bartz briefly since she was hired in January–congratulating her on the new job and mentioning that he’d love to talk about a deal.

And, at another meeting with Wall Street analysts earlier, he went even further:

“You all know that I would like to figure out how to pool somehow Microsoft and Yahoo. I’m not talking about doing an acquisition, blah, blah, blah, back to search deals, blah, blah, blah, I don’t know if anything is going to happen. I’ll short-circuit the whole conversation, but the fact of the matter is, these two guys [Microsoft and Yahoo] should somehow figure out how to get together and create more competition for this guy [Google]. And I’m hoping perhaps that that’s a reasonable conversation to have with new management at Yahoo as Carol comes onboard.”

In contrast, Bartz has played her hand very close to the vest so far, at least publicly, often discounting any effort to split up Yahoo.

In fact, at a Morgan Stanley (MS) tech conference in early March, she said:

“I am not going to negotiate with my 55,000 favorite friends….We’re going to negotiate as companies negotiate–and that’s privately. If something happens, you’ll know it then. Until then, there is no comment.”

(By the way, both Ballmer and Bartz have agreed to be interviewed onstage–separately, of course–at the D: All Things Digital conference in late May that Walt Mossberg and I run–so we will be sure to try to get one–not that they would give one!)

Department of Déjà Vu: Last Microsoft Retail Store Foray Was a Bust

Kara Swisher — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:00:21 +0000

Displaying BoomTown’s advanced age and elephantine cache of meaningless tech memories, after news yesterday that the software giant was plunging into the retail market, I was surprised to find little mention that Microsoft’s last store effort ended in failure in 2001.

That’s not to say it’s a particularly good or bad idea to hire a former Dreamworks and Wal-Mart (WMT) exec named David Porter (pictured here) as vice president of retail stores to create Microsoft-branded stores–or as the company announced yesterday, “to create a better PC and Microsoft retail purchase experience.”

While Microsoft (MSFT) sells most of its consumer products via big-box retail stores like Best Buy (BBY), and the retail market for just about everything is weak, Apple (AAPL) has definitively proven that a well-designed retail store can be a powerful marketing tool.

The visually stunning and infectiously fun Apple stores, in fact, have been an important part of its recent surge in mainstream consumer appeal, becoming hubs of activity and even social life in its mostly big-city locations.

In fact, that was just the idea behind microsoftSF, which was located in San Francisco’s Metreon Sony Entertainment Center.

The huge 8,500-square-foot store, with 160 Microsoft products and related software and hardware from 30 partners, was billed in a June 1999 press release as “an interactive, hands-on retail environment in which people of all ages, from all walks of life and at all levels of technological expertise can explore the benefits technology can bring them. Far more than just another computer store, microsoftSF is a showcase for the latest technology from Microsoft and the hardware and software companies with which it collaborates.”

The microsoftSF store, which I visited several times (but bought nothing, although I was mostly a PC user at the time), was very attractive and the only such store in the world, with a “Road Warrior” arena, a lounge, a gaming area and more.

Said the press release: “To make all this possible, microsoftSF deploys Microsoft Windows and more than 100,000 feet of copper cable, 60 Sony PCs, 18 laptop docking stations, four dual-processor servers powered by Hewlett-Packard Net Servers, a Cisco Systems network, and an array of hidden audio speakers that create 16 individually controlled sound zones.”

And Microsoft CEO (then President) Steve Ballmer weighed in enthusiastically:

“We are delighted to be able to showcase in this one-of-a-kind retail environment the entire range of Microsoft software and hardware, as well as the technology of other companies who share the vision of how the PC and the Internet can empower people any time, anywhere. San Francisco and the Silicon Valley are home to the world’s largest and one of the most sophisticated high-tech audiences, so this was the natural place to create this site–dedicated to showing, in an interactive environment, the way technology can enhance our working, learning, living and playing.”

Not so much, as it turned out. The store closed in 2001.

But that does not necessarily mean that the new and much expanded efforts will have the same experience. The Metreon, which was sold off by Sony, was an odd mall then and still is, although its movie theater is successful.

And, in this effort, Microsoft will have control of the whole enchilada.

Plus, if well done, it is not such a bad idea to have a place–perhaps only in highly-trafficked locations in big cities–to show off its consumer wares, especially its popular Xbox 360 and other products (please, not the Zune!).

More importantly, given the disaster that has been the Windows Vista experience, it is probably a good idea to have a place to get people interested in Windows 7, especially its touch capabilities, when it rolls out this year.

Also, I still like the Surface interactive table, even if it is mocked in a popular video as a “big-ass table.”

Of course, only Apple stores have done well so far in this genre, as everyone, from Gateway (GTW), Sony (SNE), Nokia (NOK), Helio and Palm (PALM), has had rough retail experiences.

So, Porter certainly has his work cut out for him, at least judging from the press release from Microsoft yesterday:

“Defining the time frame, locations and specifics for planned Microsoft-branded retail stores will be Porter’s first order of business. The purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy.”

Said Porter: “There are tremendous opportunities ahead for Microsoft to create a world-class shopping experience for our customers. I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we’ll share learnings from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical to our success.”

He’ll have to wait to see if the second time is a charm.

Apple, Apple All Around, but Not a Drop of Thinking

Kara Swisher — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:13:26 +0000

Hey, did you hear that Apple is launching some sort of new notebook thingamabob today?

If you didn’t, it can’t be because the Apple-product-release-hyper-hype cycle let you down.

Below, for example, is a screen grab Techmeme’s top stories early today. This list will balloon to more and more obese proportions as soon as the much-leaked rumors–a new MacBook from a single piece of godlike metal! With a sleek black border! And some secret-looking inputs to spin gold from hay at home!–about what the iconic computer maker is up to are officially confirmed or not this morning.

That you can always feel the anticipation in the air whenever Apple makes any move is, in a way, fascinating.

And the news-to-come was even boosting Apple’s shares yesterday, which have been taking a severe beating in the recent market meltdown and, before that, on false rumors of a heart attack suffered by Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs.

All seems to be forgiven from when Apple (AAPL) underwhelmed at its “Let’s Rock” event only a month back, where its ho-hum redo of its iPod line failed to live up to all the breathless excitement of its fanboys.

No matter. Next!

AllThingsD.com’s Johnny Apple-blogger John Paczkowski of Digital Daily will be there, of course, posting at the media-clogged launch, as it happens, and mightily contributing to the blog-smog that will start collecting over Cupertino, Calif., at 10 a.m. PDT.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Rob Glaser Talks About Steal–Oops–RealDVD

Kara Swisher — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:12:15 +0000

When he debuted his company’s new DVD copier at DEMOfall recently, called RealDVD, RealNetworks’ Rob Glaser did a video interview with BoomTown about it.

And now that RealNetworks (RNWK) and Hollywood are cross-suing each other over RealDVD–in the latest clash over the still-contentious copyright issue that separates the tech and entertainment industries–it’s time for a replay!

The RealDVD software allows a user to rip all the parts of a DVD, including cover art, onto a computer. It costs about $30.

Hollywood studios, which filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday, maintain that RealDVD is illegal, and one of their reps called it “StealDVD.”

Haw, haw. This is what apparently passes for clever in Hollywood these days.

But before the entertainment giants’ lawsuit, RealNetworks filed its own suit, claiming it was protecting the fair-use rights of consumers to make copies of content they had purchased.

To avoid violating digital rights management schemes, RealDVD has added its own DRM layer, preventing ripped DVDs from being copied and shared and imposing further barriers to piracy.

But there are still possibilities for illegal ripping, of course, because RealDVD users must promise not to copy videos they don’t own.

No surprise–an honor-system product that makes it even easier to copy DVDs was not exactly welcome by Hollywood, which has been trying to protect its movie revenues from suffering the same fate as the music industry via rampant CD-ripping.

Thus, the typical mainstream media reaction to the inevitability of consumers wanting to digitize content: More lawsuits!

In any case, here’s the video of Glaser talking about RealDVD:

[ See post to watch video ]

New Clues About Missing Aviator Fossett–Whom the Internet Has Tried to Find–Discovered by Analog Hiker

Kara Swisher — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:32:29 +0000

A man hiking in a remote part of Mammoth Lakes in California’s Sierra Nevada found a pilot’s license and an FAA card, both bearing the name of aviator Steve Fossett.

Authorities are now trying to verify the IDs and other items for authenticity. No human remains or plane pieces were found nearby so far, although a fleece pullover and some money were also retrieved in the same area.

The discovery is about 50 miles away from Nevada desert locations where teams had been searching for the well-known adventurer, who vanished while on a solo flight in a single-engine Bellanca Super Decathlon a year ago.

It has been assumed that Fossett, who has since been declared legally dead, crashed, and the search for him was suspended a month ago.

After Fossett’s disappearance, tens of thousands of Web users mounted an unusual online search mission, studying satellite photographs of a huge swath of ground.

The images were uploaded by Amazon (AMZN) to its Mechanical Turk, in an attempt to find a possible crash site.

Google Earth (GOOG) was also used in the effort, which is called “crowdsourcing.”

The Turk was also used in another unsuccessful search for Microsoft (MSFT) techie Jim Gray, who went missing on a boat off the coast of California.

Computer-aided image-scanning technology has also been used in the search for Fossett, to no avail, until this very old-school break was made.

The Entire D6 Interview With Dell Computer's Michael Dell (3 of 3)

Kara Swisher — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:53:22 +0000

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May.

Unfortunately, due to issues too complicated to go into, we have to post all the D6 interviews in several 15-minute parts (I know, I know).

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview that Walt Mossberg did with Michael Dell, the founder of the once-high-flying computer company who has returned as its CEO. Dell was forced to resume the role in 2007 after changing market conditions caused the company to falter and competition from Apple (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Sony (SNE) increased.

The video of the interview is in three parts, all of which I have posted this week.

In this third part, Dell talks about longtime efforts at Dell (DELL) to push green initiatives in the personal computer industry and smaller-sized computing devices versus mobile phones.

Dell then takes questions from the audience about the blogosphere, Dell marketing efforts versus Apple, fist-fighting chances versus Steve Jobs (Dell can take him, he claims!) and cloud computing.

[ See post to watch video ]

The Entire D6 Interview With Dell Computer's Michael Dell (2 of 3)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:00:24 +0000

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May.

Unfortunately, due to issues too complicated to go into, we have to post all the D6 interviews in several 15-minute parts (I know, I know).

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

The video of the interview is in three parts, all of which I will post this week.

In this second part, Dell talks about the Dell (DELL) retail strategy, its cooperation with Microsoft (MSFT) to create a better Windows ecosystem, “craplets,” the Vista operating system, and multi-touch technologies, and he also answers a question from an online reader about the popularity of Apple computers.

[ See post to watch video ]

Apple Predictions + Grain of Salt = Impossible

Kara Swisher — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:27:18 +0000

As usual before yet another big Apple event, the psychic friends network is in overdrive in anticipation of the iconic computer company’s “Let’s Rock” media gathering in San Francisco tomorrow.

At this point, I think Apple could announce a change in the color of its bathrooms at its Cupertino HQ and it would be mayhem among the Mac faithful.

Nonetheless, even though what will be announced is likely to be a series of incremental improvements for Apple’s line of music-playing products–iTunes, iTouch and, of course, the iPod–and even the possibility of a revamped design, it’s astonishing how striking the hype is around the event.

Of course, that kind of passion from core users is a blessing for any tech company, and it is hard to quibble with Apple’s stellar ability to market every jog and tittle of its product development as if it was the second coming.

But the most intense focus will more likely be on Apple’s leader, CEO Steve Jobs, whose gaunt appearance at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June set off a flurry of discussion about the exact state of his health.

That talk has since been less frantic, despite the fact that there actually has been no clear announcement from Apple (AAPL) on the delicate subject (and Jobs’s colorful off-the-record chat with the New York Times’s Joe Nocera does not count, folks).

In any case, because AllThingsD.com cannot resist either, Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski will be there liveblogging “Let’s Rock” from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with all the news that’s fit to post.

And, of course, everything else too.

The $100 Laptop–Still Not a Bargain?

Kara Swisher — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:02:54 +0000

With all the holiday hubbub, don’t miss this great piece in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend by Steve Stecklow and James Bandler, which chronicles the bumpy road of the much-hyped $100 laptop project, spearheaded by MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte.

Walt Mossberg and I have had Negroponte at two of our D conferences to talk about the effort (pictured above), which is a great idea in concept, although a much more vexing challenge in reality.

Negroponte’s goal in 2005, which turned into a project called “One Laptop Per Child,” was simple and profound: Create a $100 laptop with interactive and connected capabilities to distribute to 150 million of the world’s poorest schoolchildren in developing countries.

Unfortunately, he is likely to fall well short of that goal now, due to unexpected and stiff competition from for-profit tech companies (most specifically the OLPC frozen-out and miffed Intel and Microsoft), too-high pricing for the product and the need for long-term technical support for its users.

“I’m not good at selling laptops,” Mr. Negroponte is quoted in the article as telling colleagues. “I’m good at selling ideas.”

And here’s the video that goes with the Journal story on OLPC: