Mobile/Wireless

Fri, September 03, 2010 - Hewlett-Packard swooped in with the better bid to overtake Dell and win 3Par, so now we can all sit back and wait for the next acquisition battle to roll around. Meanwhile, Apple debuted updated iPods and Apple TV to entertain us, among other IT news stories of the week.

Mon, August 16, 2010 - End users rule, and tacking on bare-bones media features won't cut it.

Fri, August 13, 2010 - The reign of Hewlett-Packard's former CEO Mark Hurd was bookended by scandal -- only where the first one, in which the HP board was caught spying on journalists and others, allowed Hurd to consolidate power and nab the chairman's job, the second has sent him packing. Meanwhile, Oracle has sued Google, claiming that the Android mobile OS infringes on patents it acquired from Sun Microsystems.

Mon, August 09, 2010 - With Mark Hurd's sudden resignation, Hewlett-Packard Co. has a golden opportunity to hire a CEO with business savvy in mobile, wireless and smartphone areas, helping give the mature technology behemoth a needed and vital strategic direction.

Fri, August 06, 2010 - It's the end of an era: Intel can no longer offer computer makers perks for using its processors, according to an antitrust settlement that the chip maker reached with the U.S. government. Meanwhile, BlackBerry users in some countries may find their e-mail service terminated if governments are denied access to the network's secure data. Finally, employee paychecks may no longer be safe as hackers look for new revenue sources.

Tue, August 03, 2010 - This coming week I will have waited more than 200 days (more than six months) for my $100 Motorola Droid rebate from Verizon. I bought this phone in late December 2009, and submitted the rebate request on January 10, 2010. Verizon acknowledges that they received the rebate request, but they have not managed to send me a usable rebate yet. I did receive a rebate money card from them, but this card could not be redeemed because I received the card after Verizon had canceled it as a nonreceived money card. The replacement card, promised to me about three weeks ago, has yet to show up.

Wed, July 28, 2010 - Political infighting doomed Microsoft's Kin, but Google's Android was developed without drama.

Wed, July 21, 2010 - One move, plus one e-mail password snafu add up to one frustrating week for this PC and iPhone user. Dear AT&T: You should be able to do better customer service than this.

Wed, June 30, 2010 - The mobility and remote-access boom is technology powered but business driven. As small and midsize businesses (SMB) increasingly look toward technology to help them rebound in 2010, improved mobility solutions, greater employee productivity and a growing social media presence are all key strategies. Empowering employees with remote access can help SMBs thrive -- allowing them to improve customer service and add agility to their business model.

Fri, June 25, 2010 - Normally when I write about customer service and tech support it's to point out just how badly these functions are executed by major organizations. This week, I have just the opposite to discuss. In the 10 days I have experienced not one but two examples of excellent customer service.