What’s New in Apple’s iPhone 4S? – Review

After countless rumors and speculations, the long wait for Apple’s newest iPhone has finally come to an end as Apple finally introduced the iPhone 4S. Though the news may have disappointed some people who were expecting an iPhone 5, it does not mean that the iPhone 4S is just a replica of its predecessor, the iPhone 4, as it is loaded with new features of its own. iPhone 4S may have the same design as iPhone 4 but it has a faster processor, upgraded camera, and a voice-activated software called Siri. In addition, the iPhone 4S will not be exclusive to AT&T and Verizon Wireless as Apple has added Sprint as their newest carrier, thus expanding their target users.
The Siri software will allow the users to send messages and make phone calls by just using their voices. Apple guarantees that Siri is capable of understanding what they say and answering them back. Users do not have to talk in a certain way they can communicate with Siri just how they communicate with other people normally. Siri can also help the users to do things like remind them of their appointments and search the Internet to look for information they would need. It can also familiarize itself with all the people in the contacts, thus, if the user ask Siri to send a message to a particular person, it will be able to do so.
As for the iPhone 4S processor, the A5 dual-core 1GHz with a dual core GPU, which is also used in the iPad 2, can provide a faster and better graphic performance than iPhone 4. This is a huge help with it comes to opening apps, surfing the Internet, playing games, etc. This new processor also allows the iPhone 4S to provide a longer battery life. Moreover, this new iPhone can also provide 6 hours of browsing over 3G, 8 hours of talk time over 3G, 9 hours of browsing through Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video playback, 14 hours of talk time over 2G and 40 hours of music playback. This processor has also helped the enhancement of the iPhone 4S camera.
The new 8 megapixel camera is definitely a tremendous leap from iPhone 4s 5 megapixel camera. It has an autofocus, flash, f/2.4 aperture lens and a backside-illuminated CMOS sensor enabling the camera to gather more light. It also has a hybrid IR filter that helps improve the color accuracy. Users can rest assured that their pictures taken by this iPhone will look brilliant no matter where they view it. In addition, iPhone 4S can also take pictures in both low-light and bright light and it can also take pictures of moving subjects with less blur. Users would also be able to capture pictures fast as iPhone 4S can allow them to take pictures from the Lock screen. Moreover, photo editing can already be done in this iPhone right away easily. Lastly, this camera can capture 1080p HD videos at 30 frames per second.
You can get some iPhone 4S deals now, or check out these iPhone 4 deals which have been reduced.

Smartphone Security: How to Keep Your Handset Safe

Once upon a time, a phone was just a phone: It simply made and received calls. The only security you worried about was if someone had picked up in the other room to listen in.
Flash forward to 2011, and the line between phones and computers has all but vanished. In fact, your smartphone is likely more powerful and feature-rich than your desktop computer was just ten years ago.
With that increased utility, though, comes more vulnerability. Having a wealth of information--personal and otherwise--in your device makes your phone a target, and as the bad guys ramp up their efforts to infiltrate it, the good guys are gearing up their efforts to keep the bad guys out.

Does Smartphone Security Really Matter?

The short answer is yes, absolutely, more and more. The degree to which it matters, however, depends on the individual user, or the individual company.
Threats to your mobile security are not always easy to see. They range from the simple (such as when someone finds your phone and reads all of your e-mail) to the highly complex (such as Trojan horses, viruses, or third-party apps that share your personal information).
Here are some common security risks, with tips, tricks, and tools to combat them.

Don't Lose Your Phone

This may seem like a no-brainer, but don't put your phone down on a bar (especially if you work for Apple and have a prototype that no one is supposed to see). If you're in a public area, don't put it in a pocket or an open bag where it's visible and could be grabbed easily. Obvious suggestions, sure, but these kinds of on-the-street situations account for most cases of phone theft.

Your First Line of Defense

Set your phone to lock, or time out, after a certain period of inactivity, requiring a password to get back in. All of the major smartphone operating systems support this function.
You'll want your password to be something hard for you to forget and easy to type since you'll enter it frequently throughout the day, yet difficult for someone else to guess. Anything containing your name, information found on a driver's license, or a number as simple as "1234," for example, are not good passwords.
Here's how to find time-out settings on various smartphone OSs:

• Android: Previously, Android supported only pattern unlock (in which you draw a pattern to access the phone), but with version 2.2 of the OS, it now supports PINs and passwords. From the home screen, press Menu, Settings, Location & Security, and under Screen Unlock you'll find many options for setting passwords. To set the screen time-out, however, you must go back to the Settings menu and this time click Display. (Hint: If you decide to go with the pattern unlock, create a complex one that crosses over itself, or someone might deduce your pattern from the repeated smudge marks on your screen).
• BlackBerry: From the home screen click Options, Security Options, General Settings. There you'll see options to enable the password, set or change the password, and set the security time-out options.
• iOS: Earlier versions of iOS allow only for a four-digit PIN unlock code (which isn't ideal). Luckily iOS 4 introduced the option to set a longer password. Open the Settings app, and then select General, Passcode Lock. Just above Passcode Lock is the Auto-Lock option, which controls the time-out.
• Windows Phone 7: Open Settings, and then select Lock and Wallpaper. From there you can set or change the password, and also set the screen time-out.

Your Second Line of Defense

Graphic: Chip TaylorRemote wipe, plus the aforementioned password protection, is the bare minimum that most IT departments will require, although the specific steps you'll need to take very much depend on the level of security at your company.
Remote wipe means that if your phone is lost or stolen, you can remotely clear all of your data--including e-mail, contacts, texts, and documents--off of the handset, thus keeping that information out of the wrong hands.
You or your IT department can set this feature up for any of the major OSs, as well as use Microsoft Exchange to wipe the device (provided that you have an Exchange account). Those people without Exchange accounts or IT departments have other, simpler options.

• Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7: If your OS is among one of these, you're in luck, as you can find many fantastic third-party applications that allow you to remotely wipe your device. Lookout Mobile Security is just one example that not only enables you to wipe your device via the Web but also lets you track a lost device through GPS, back up your data over the air, and even scan for viruses. Its basic version is free, but to enable advanced features such as remote wipe you will have to pay for a Premium account ($3 a month or $30 a year). You'll encounter big players in the security-app game, too; for instance, NotifyMDM, Symantec, and Zenprise sell multiple-mobile-device management systems to companies.
• iOS: iPhone remote wipe is a bit trickier. If you have iOS 4.2 or higher, you can simply download the Find My Phone app from the App Store, and enable it in MobileMe in the Settings app. If you lose your phone, you can log in using MobileMe via Apple's Website to track it, display a message, or wipe it. If you have an older version of iOS, though, you'll need a paid MobileMe account, which costs a steep $99 a year. Plus, you'll have to enable the function by going to Settings, choosing Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and clicking Fetch New Data then Enable Push. Afterward, return to the 'Mail, Contacts, Calendar' screen and select your MobileMe account.

Note that all of the apps and services mentioned in this section, as well as other tools (such as Mobile Defense and Where's My Droid?), can help you find your phone via GPS. These apps have drawn attention lately, as their usage has led to the arrest of several thieves and carjackers.

Trojan Horses, Malware, and Viruses

"As there gets to be hundreds of millions of smartphones out there, that becomes a bigger target for attackers," says Ahmed Datoo, chief marketing officer for Zenprise. His firm creates software that enables a large company's IT department to scan all devices in the system at once, remotely, to make sure no malware has snuck in.
"We have seen a rise in malware across the board for all platforms. Lately it’s been focused on the newer devices with greater adoption: iOS, Android," he says.
And if you’re thinking that kind of thing results only from installing pirated software from sketchy Websites, be forewarned that attacks can also occur in official app stores.
What should you do? Consumers should turn to third-party apps once more. If you're on Android, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone 7, again consider Lookout: It scans your phone for malware and spyware, even examining any application you download. That said, it could still miss a nasty SMS or MMS script, so think twice before you open an MMS item from someone you don't know. Symantec, which makes business-level products for virtually every mobile platform, also creates consumer-level tools for Android and Windows Phone 7; more software like Mobile Defense is emerging, too.
iOS doesn't really have antivirus apps available on a consumer level, relying instead on Apple's stringent App Store policies to keep out malware. Considering the scale and speed at which apps are submitted and approved, though, things are bound to slip through the cracks. The potential for human error is just too great to deny. On iOS you can use the Trend Smart Surfing app, which blocks access to Websites known to contain malware or potential phishing attacks. It would be nice to see more protection for various inboxes, though.

Third-Party Apps That Share Too Much

When you install a third-party app, you grant it certain privileges. Those privileges may include access to your physical location, contact information (yours and that of others), or other personal data. Most of the time an app will be fine, but how do you know what its makers are doing with those privileges and your information? The short answer: You don’t.
Most phone OSs try to handle this problem with a centralized application-store screening process, attempting to weed out any bad eggs before they get in. Again, however, undesirable things slip through.
Android takes a different approach, having looser central control but providing the end user with more information. Before you install an application on Android, the app must ask you for specific permissions. Don't simply ignore such messages. If you're just trying to install a simple wallpaper, ask yourself why it needs access to your contacts and your location. Be judicious when granting permissions.
Additionally, with all platforms, always pay close attention to app ratings and read the comments to see what other users have said. If an app has merely 50 downloads and a two-star rating, do a little digging and find out why. The best protection here really is common sense. Failing that, Lookout Premium can provide you with an overview of the permissions you have granted.
Even major companies including Facebook and Pandora have been sharing (read: selling) more user information than was commonly thought. Your options are pretty much limited to avoiding these applications or starting a letter-writing campaign.

Which OS Is the Most Secure?

There is no easy answer to this question. All of the major smartphone OSs have made significant strides in the last year.
"From an enterprise control and security standpoint, BlackBerry is still the gold standard," says Khoi Nguyen, director of product management for mobile security at Symantec. RIM's phones also feature advanced, devicewide encryption--including for the SD Card--that's cleared for usage at some of the highest levels of government.
Yet in the last six months Apple and Android have expanded support for security management, and more companies appear comfortable using them, Nguyen adds. Also, to enable further security, device manufacturers such as HTC and Motorola have added proprietary software on top of the various OSs their phones support.
With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is following a similar strategy to that of Apple and Google in that it's starting out by keeping its mobile OS consumer-focused. The company is likely to add more business-friendly security in days to come, however.
One of the biggest holes in Android's security that's slowing its mass adoption in the business world is its lack of encryption, especially on the SD Card. That's a significant risk for business users, who save their e-mail attachments on unencrypted SD Cards.
BlackBerry phones offer the option to encrypt SD Cards, whereas iOS and Windows Phone 7 do not currently support removable storage. That said, many companies are willing to accept phones with unencrypted SD Cards, as long as remote wiping is set up. This arrangement will be fine for most consumers, too. It's important to note, though, that in order to wipe a phone remotely, it must be powered on and have a data connection. So if someone pulls the battery out of your Droid before you wipe it, you cannot erase your SD Card.

Smartphone Security For the IT Crowd

The enterprise ecosystem has changed dramatically in the past year. Each end user wants to stick with the device they prefer personally, and they want to use it for work. Denying them that freedom doesn't always go over so well.
"The days of the IT department trying to regulate what devices users can and can't have--that battle is lost. So they should focus on their real mission, which is providing security to their users," says Datoo of Zenprise.
With so many platforms and new devices flooding the market, how can the IT pro at a small company possibly develop software to track them all, and keep them virus-free? More companies are turning that job over to software developers such as NotifyMDM, Symantec, and Zenprise, which enable management of a company's devices from a single interface.
Third-party software allows an IT admin to search all devices at the same time--whether for 5 or 57,000 users--while still accommodating the latest, most cutting-edge phones.
It's a brave, new, constantly evolving world out there. While we have yet to see an attack on smartphones that rivals the scale of PC attacks, attempts are becoming more and more frequent, and they will continue to proliferate. Critical thinking and your browser's search button may always be your best line of defense.

Smartphones of the Future: How They Will Look, What They Will Do

lexible designs, augmented reality, quad-core processors, and even some artificial intelligence are just a few of the features you can expect smartphones to have in the next five to ten years. 

As you're reading this article, developers, engineers, and product designers are working on the next great mobile technology. The mobile world is rapidly changing: Smartphones have gone from portable messaging and email devices to streaming-video machines that surf the Web at blazing speed and have cameras that rival point-and-shoots (and they also happen to make calls). What will smartphones look like in five years? Or ten? What sort of amazing things will they be able to do?

Of course, we have no way to predict exactly how cell phones will evolve (unless some sort of magical crystal ball comes along), but looking at today’s trends and tracking what the geniuses at MIT and other academic institutions are up to can give us a pretty good idea of what’s to come.

Flexible Smartphone Designs

In the animated series Futurama, the character Amy has a cell phone so tiny that she ends up swallowing it. Although the technology inside phones will get smaller and smaller (think nanotechnology), don’t expect any nearly invisible phones anytime soon. According to Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC Mobile Devices Technology and Trends, smartphones will stay around the 3.7-inch to 4.3-inch display size. They might become thinner and lighter, but the market won’t see microscopic phones. Displays won’t grow any larger than 4.3 inches, according to Llamas--after all, who wants to carry a tablet in their pocket?
Even so, consumers can’t get enough of display real estate, which is why manufacturers might try to pack in as much display as possible--while retaining the pocketable size. Remember the Kyocera Echo on Sprint? We applauded its innovative foldable, dual-screen design (it sort of resembled a Nintendo DS), but the way the software interacted with the two screens had some issues. Nevertheless, don’t expect this design idea to go away, says Llamas. He thinks we’ll be seeing similar designs--with better execution--in the next five years.
Other phone manufacturers have toyed around with dual-screen phones, too: Some concept designs have a regular LCD or OLED display on one side and an electronic-ink display on the other. Expect future dual-screen phones to be as thin as today’s full-touch phones when folded.
Llamas also expects to see more wearable phones in the next few years. Of course, we’ve already seen James Bond-esque wristwatch phones from a few manufacturers like LG, but they've been exclusively released in Europe and Asia. And future phones won't be limited to the wristwatch form: You'll be able to bend, fold, and shape your phone to whatever design you prefer. Imagine transforming your phone from a wristwatch/bracelet style to a touchscreen style with a full QWERTY keyboard, and then folding it again to slip it into your pocket.
A good example of what future wearable phones could look like is the Nokia Morph, a concept device that showcases the collaboration between the Nokia Research Center and the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre. The Morph uses nanotechnology to create a flexible, malleable electronic device. The Morph is constructed from fibril proteins that are woven into three-dimensional mesh, allowing the whole phone--screen included--to move and bend.
Remember the roll-up electronic newspapers from the movie Minority Report? We could soon see something similar used in cell phone displays. In 2008, HP and the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University unveiled a prototype of an affordable, flexible electronic display that uses self-aligned imprint lithography (SAIL) technology. Those paperlike computer displays are made almost entirely of plastic, which makes them durable, movable, and portable.

Features of the Future: NFC, Augmented Reality, and...Artificial Intelligence?

Near field communication, or NFC, allows you to make simplified transactions, data exchanges, and connections by touching your phone to an object or another phone. We're just beginning to see NFC chips in smartphone hardware as well as NFC features built into software (at least here in the United States), but you can expect the technology to explode over the next few years. Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread--which most current phones are running--supports NFC, but only a few phones, most notably the Nexus S, have NFC chips built in. Additionally, NFC is primarily used for making mobile payments, something that a lot of consumers might not be comfortable with.
Google has big plans to make NFC even more useful in its next major Android update, known as Ice Cream Sandwich. One of Google's goals with the Ice Cream Sandwich update is to enable what it calls "0-click interaction," which will let you set up peer-to-peer connections via NFC simply by putting two phones back to back. You'll be able to exchange contact information or share Web pages, YouTube videos, and pretty much any other sort of content--without installing a separate app.
At Google I/O 2011, Google's developer conference, the company showed off some cool demos of all the things that Android app developers can do with NFC. One of the demo apps, Sticky Notes, allows users to leave each other notes by touching their phones together. Another demo app, Google Talk Portal, takes you to a random video chat with another device when you touch your phone to an NFC sticker. Perhaps the coolest use for NFC is in gaming: NFC will make initiating head-to-head games incredibly easy--and you won't have to rely on the cellular network.
Augmented reality is another feature we've seen on a few apps here and there, but IDC's Llamas predicts that AR will become a standard, everyday feature in the phones of tomorrow as opposed to being limited to one-off apps such as Google Goggles or the Layar browser. We've already encountered a bit of this approach in the form of Bing's visual search, which is built right into the Windows Phone 7 platform. If you're traveling or just exploring your own neighborhood, for instance, you can point your phone at your surroundings, and the app will display an overlay of historic landmarks nearby.
If you've ever visited Disneyland or any other amusement park, you've probably had a heck of a time locating the restrooms. In the next few years, your phone might be able to not only locate the nearest restrooms but also tell you how long the line is for Splash Mountain. That is, of course, a hypothetical scenario, but Llamas predicts that GPS will go beyond simply giving you driving directions. With faster data networks, GPS will be able to deliver more-accurate, real-time results regarding traffic, weather, events, and so on. The next generation of GPS might be able to pick up your location within a building, as opposed to merely what street you're on.
The industry has heard some buzz about implementing artificial intelligence into smartphones, too. Cool? Yes. Scary? Just a bit. In the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory’s Spoken Language Systems Group at MIT, researchers have developed a mobile system that can automatically comb through user reviews on sites such as Citysearch or Yelp, extract useful information about a particular establishment, and make that information searchable. For example, if you wanted to find out whether a restaurant made good martinis, the algorithm would perform a grammatical analysis of adjective-noun pairs, such as "excellent martinis" or "disgusting martinis."
Lin Zhong, a professor at Rice University's Computer Science program, predicts that cell phones and applications of the future will collect, analyze, and provide relevant data for users--without users' even knowing.
"As we carry [smartphones] along, they collect data, analyze situations, and provide information in situ, as a human companion would do," Zhong writes in Rice University's Computing@Rice blog.

Powerful Chipsets

Last week, Qualcomm announced that it is planning to ship 2.5GHz quad-core smartphone processors as early as next year (though the company didn’t give specific dates). According to Qualcomm, these quad-core systems on a chip will feature Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and FM radio; support NFC and stereoscopic 3D video/photo (capture and playback); and support LTE networks. If we'll be seeing the first devices with these chipsets in just a year, how powerful will such phones be in five years?
Earlier this year, Nvidia shared its Tegra roadmap, indicating that its quad-core chips will be also be shipping in smartphones as early as the first part of 2012. Nicknamed "Kal-El," this system-on-a-chip is said to be five times faster than the Tegra 2 processor, which is used in many current top-of-the-line smartphones and tablets. Next in line is the "Wayne" series (yes, Nvidia has a superhero thing going on with its chips), which the company says will be 10 times faster than the Tegra 2, followed by the "Logan" (50 times faster!) and finally the "Stark" (75 times faster!). The Stark series is slated to be released in 2014, so you can expect to see smartphones become a lot more powerful in very little time.
Unfortunately, the one technology that won't improve is battery life, at least according to Llamas. As processors grow more powerful and as more smartphones switch to LTE technology, your phone's battery life will continue to suffer. The good news is that portable charging products will improve, including cases with extra (and, we hope, longer-life) batteries.
Finally, expect more phone companies to make a bigger push toward going green--in everything from the technology inside the phones to the manufacturing process to the packaging. We've seen a few companies (most notably Samsung) take such steps already, but Llamas predicts that it will become an across-the-board practice for phone manufacturers.
We're just barely scratching the surface here by discussing only design and features. Networks, carriers, and operating systems will look completely different within five years. That's why I'll be following up with another article about the future of network technology. While we can't predict everything that will come, perhaps the best way to get a glimpse into the future of mobile technology is to watch and read science fiction (well, except maybe Futurama). Just look at the Personal Access Display Device, or PADD, from Star Trek, which is essentially a smartphone/tablet prototype! Also, keep your eye on developments coming out of both academic and corporate research labs (look for their blogs) to get a good idea of what awesome mobile technology could be coming down the pipeline.

 

Latest Invention: The Smallest Laser in the World Created by US Researchers

The latest invention of American researchers is the laser that claims to be the smallest in the world. They managed to develop the laser by squeezing light into a space that is even tinier than a protein molecule. Their latest invention could be a significant breakthrough in the field of optical technology, making one step closer to nanolasers, which can be used to investigate and manipulate DNA. In addition, the laser can lead to the creation of super-fast computers and improved telecommunications.
The team of researchers was led by Professor Xiang Zhang. He mentioned that the plasmon laser constricts light into a gap that is only 5nm wide. An important step was the ability to detain light in a small space for a specific period of time required for light to stabilize into a "coherent" laser state, having all of its waves synchronized.

It is worth mentioning that plasmons are in fact wave-like movements of excited electrons on the surfaces of different metals. By connecting light to these oscillations, scientists managed to compress it further than usually, reports The Telegraph. More information on lasers and latest inventions you can find here at www.IfoNIAC.com, please check the links at the bottom of the story.
Professor Zhang, from the University of California at Berkeley said: "Plasmon lasers represent an exciting class of coherent light sources capable of extremely small confinement. This work can bridge the worlds of electronics and optics at truly molecular length scales." Their latest invention was described in the online version of the journal Nature. The scientist who co-authored the research, Dr Thomas Zentgraf, from the University's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centre, stated: "The advantages of optics over electronics are multifold. For example, devices will be more power efficient at the same time they offer increased speed or bandwidth."

Whiteman faces big challehges at HP

No one's counting Hewlett-Packard (HP) out. But by any measure, new CEO Meg Whitman faces a mountain of problems as she takes the reins of the world's biggest-selling tech company.

With $126 billion in revenue last year, more than 320,000 employees and a global operation that ships the equivalent of two personal computers every second, HP is still a force to be reckoned with in the tech industry. But the Palo Alto giant is reeling from recent turmoil in the corner office, a disappointing financial performance and a poorly executed effort to revamp the company's strategy for a new era in tech.
Whitman, the former eBay (EBAY) chief who was named CEO of HP on Thursday, faces two immediate challenges: In her own words, "there is no higher priority" than getting HP on sound financial footing, after a series of downward revisions to its sales forecasts caused a steep slide in HP's stock. In addition, analysts say she needs to resolve the question of whether HP will stay in the PC business after last month's announcement that HP might spin off or sell its $40 billion personal computer division.
"Meg has a huge challenge ahead of her.She is going to face big, big challenges," said Peter Bendor-Samuel of the Everest Group, a tech services consulting firm.Many believe Whitman must clarify what HP's strategy will be. She appeared to straddle the fence last week, saying she supports fired CEO Léo Apotheker's controversial decisions, while backing away from his stated goal of "transforming" the company into one focused on software and cloud computing. HP will expand its software business, Whitman said, but it's not going to stop being a hardware company.
Experts warn that several of HP's core businesses, including computer servers, printers and tech services, are threatened by new trends in the way people and companies use technology. In the most obvious example, many people now use mobile gadgets such as smartphones and Apple's (AAPL) iPad instead of PCs to access the Internet.
Despite that trend, Apotheker decided last month to stop selling tablets and smartphones using HP's webOS software after initial sales proved disappointing. That leaves HP with no major product to counter the iPad's popularity.
Whitman may also find challenges inside the company. Critics say HP is ill-served by a board of directors that approved Apotheker's recent moves. Shareholders have already sued the company over Apotheker's decisions and the recent decline in HP's stock, and they may draw more ammunition from a New York Times report that some board members voted to hire Apotheker last year without ever meeting him in person. Whitman joined the board in January.
Some also warn that the board's hasty appointment of Whitman, after deciding to remove Apotheker last week, may have left other top HP executives feeling passed over and eager to leave.
First, however, Whitman "needs to move swiftly, to communicate what is the future of the PC business and get customers to understand what that future looks like," said Crawford Del Prete, a veteran industry analyst with the IDC research firm.
Confusion over the company's plans for the personal computer business has caused HP's corporate customers to hold off on making large-scale purchases of new PCs for their workers, according to Del Prete and others who track the industry. Dell and other rivals have launched new campaigns to lure away those customers.
HP executives have recently said their preference is to spin off the PC division as a stand-alone company that will work with HP to support its products and customers. Some analysts predict that HP, after reviewing the options, will decide to keep the division in-house because it helps HP sell other tech products and negotiate discounts for components used in other computer systems.
Whitman insisted Thursday that she has an "open mind" on the question, but she also promised a resolution by the end of December. "The best thing we can do is get to a decision as soon as possible," she said. "This decision is not like fine wine. It's not going to get better with age."
As for improving the company's financial performance, Whitman gave no hint of specific plans. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak said Thursday that HP can meet its profit projections for this quarter but said she has "less certainty" about its sales forecast.
At rival Cisco Systems (CSCO), CEO John Chambers confronted declining sales this year by ordering big spending cuts and trimming nearly 13,000 jobs. Without ruling anything out, Whitman and HP Executive Chairman Ray Lane suggested they can improve on Apotheker's performance by taking a more hands-on stance and getting top executives to work "on the same page."
"We're going to function as a team in a way that we haven't for quite some time here," Whitman vowed.
Wall Street analysts mostly applauded the decision to remove Apotheker, after HP's stock lost nearly half its value during his 11 months as CEO. But several voiced dismay over Whitman's statements endorsing the moves Apotheker announced last month, especially the review of the PC business and the deal to buy commercial software-maker Autonomy for a pricey $10.3 billion.
"Despite naming a new CEO, HP's value-destructive strategy remains unchanged," Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore wrote in a note to investors.
Whitman insisted that she was excited about the prospects for Autonomy's software, which helps companies manage and search "unstructured" data such as the contents of emails and audio or video recordings.
But she echoed Lane in disavowing Apotheker's intention to "transform" HP.
"Transformation was probably not a good word," she told this newspaper. While the Autonomy deal might add $1 billion or more in revenue to HP's business, she said, "we have almost $130 billion in revenue largely from hardware and services. So adding $1 billion in software revenue isn't going to transform that business. We are in the hardware business and we're going to continue to own that business."
While Autonomy's technology is useful, analysts say, the acquisition makes more sense if HP buys more companies to fill other gaps in its software offerings. Whitman gave no indication that she will pursue other deals, but many believe Autonomy's cost will make it difficult to swing another big purchase for a while.
HP, meanwhile, is one of the world's biggest suppliers of server computers and other tech gear for corporate data centers, as well as computer printers and technology services. But analysts note that each of those businesses is under pressure from new trends.
Profit margins are shrinking in the server business. Printing growth has slowed. And the advent of cloud computing and other new technologies has led to shrinking demand for traditional outsourcing of computer maintenance and other functions that are a big part of HP's $35 billion services business.
Add in the effects of another economic downturn, along with increased competition from Oracle (ORCL), Cisco and other tech giants, and the challenges for Whitman seem huge. But analyst Toni Sacconaghi at Bernstein Research, who said investors are "exasperated" with HP and its board, isn't ready to write the company off.
"We continue to believe that HP is not a broken company," he reported to clients Friday, adding that HP's stock price -- which hit a six-year low Friday -- offers "the potential for meaningful upside for patient investors."

TWO CHALLENGES ON WHITMAN'S IMMEDIATE TO-DO LIST FOR HP

What experts say Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman needs to do to get the Palo Alto tech giant on track:

Clarify the strategy: Some analysts remain skeptical about Whitman's attempt to marry
ousted CEO Léo Apotheker's software-centric
strategy with HP's hardware and services businesses.
Whitman promises to complete the company's
now-infamous review of its PC division by year's end.
Improve the finances: Recent changes in how technology is used have put pressure on HP's core products, including personal computers, servers, printers and tech services.

Latest Science Inventions

Invisible Shield

This latest science invention is a spray-on invisible thin glass coating that sterilizes, protects and strengthens surfaces.

The coating also repels water, dirt, stains, mildew, fungus, bacteria and viruses.

A liquid coating invented at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials in Turkey and patented by Nanopool GmbH of Germany, is a flexible and breathable spray-on glass film.

The film is approximately 100 nanometres thick (500 times thinner than a human hair) and has multiple applications and uses in numerous fields.

The coating is environmentally friendly (Winner of the Green Apple Award).

latest science inventions It can be applied within seconds to make any surface very easy to clean and safe from anti-microbes (Winner of the NHS Smart Solutions Award).

The special glass coating known as "SiO2 ultra-thin layering" protects practically any surface against water, uv radiation, dirt, heat, acid, stains, mildew, fungus. bacteria and viruses.

Trials by food processing plants in Germany have concluded that surfaces coated with liquid glass only need hot water for cleaning. In fact, the coating provided higher levels of sterility than surfaces cleaned with bleach or other chemicals.

A year long trial at a British hospital in Southport, Lancashire is to be published soon with very promising results for a wide range of coating applications used on medical equipment, implants, catheters, sutures and bandages.

Trials for in-vivo applications are confidential, but Neil McClelland, the UK Project Manager for Nanopool GmbH, describes the results as "stunning".

"Items such as stents can be coated, and this will create anti sticking features. Catheters and sutures which are a source of infection, will also cease to be problematic," he says.

Colin Humphreys, a professor of materials science at Cambridge University, commented that liquid glass appears to have a wide range of applications and that the product 'looks impressive'.

The investment opportunities for this latest science invention seem endless - buildings, vehicles, appliances, clothing etc. can have dirt and germ free surfaces without using toxic coatings or chemicals.

New HP VirtualSystem for VMware provides foundation for cloud computing
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 29, 2011

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HP today announced HP VirtualSystem for VMware, a highly optimized, turnkey solution that gives organizations a virtualized infrastructure that speeds implementation and provides a foundation for cloud computing.

As virtualization has gained adoption, multitier network architectures, virtual sprawl, inflexible storage, unpredictable workloads and security concerns have increased complexity and limited broad deployment. To help midsize to large organizations address these challenges, HP VirtualSystem for VMware includes virtualized HP Networking solutions, HP Converged Storage, HP BladeSystem servers, HP Insight software with on-site installation services.

Built on HP Converged Infrastructure, HP VirtualSystem features architectural innovations and services that help eliminate virtualization complexity, consolidate IT infrastructure and improve performance, enabling clients to:

* Accelerate virtual machine mobility by up to 40 percent while doubling throughput and reducing network recovery time by more than 500 times(1) with the new HP FlexFabric virtualized networking solution;
* Cut capacity requirements by 50 percent, double virtual machine density(2) and speed deployment with HP LeftHand and HP 3PAR Storage Systems;
* Improve virtual server operations with HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter™ Server, which alerts IT administrators and allows for remote troubleshooting and management;
* Align virtualization strategy and investments to business goals with consulting, planning, preintegration, deployment and support services from HP Technology Services and HP ServiceONE partners.

“Virtualization has become mainstream for clients, but there are obstacles to broad deployment,” said Paul Miller, vice president, Systems and Solutions, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, HP. “With HP VirtualSystem for VMware, clients can simplify and scale their virtualization deployments to provide a clear path to the cloud.”

“Companies need solutions that enable them to move from siloed stacks of infrastructure to pools of technology resources that can be shared and delivered as application services in real time,” said Gary Green, vice president, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware. “HP VirtualSystem for VMware helps customers streamline their virtualization projects today and transition to cloud computing in the future.”

Rapid time to revenue for channel partners

HP VirtualSystem is modular and easily optimized for midsize businesses, helping channel partners to sell and speed time to value. HP VirtualSystem for VMware offers partners faster time to revenue via streamlined and simplified solution sales and delivery of HP-optimized VMware solutions.

In addition to delivering HP VirtualSystem for VMware solutions, partners can customize HP Virtualization Smart Bundles. These are optimized configurations that deliver predictable performance and reduce complexity with modular components to add performance and capacity as needed.

Pricing and availability

HP VirtualSystem for VMware is available now starting at $167,300, including HP Converged Infrastructure, factory integration and three years of HP Support Plus 24.(3) Clients can leverage existing licensing agreements or purchase pre-installed VMware licensing from HP.

Additional information is available at www.hp.com/go/vs4vmware.

More information about HP VirtualSystem, HP CloudSystem and HP Converged Storage is available at HP booth 301 at VMworld® 2011.

HP’s premier client event, HP DISCOVER, takes place Nov. 29 - Dec. 1 in Vienna, Austria. The event showcases how organizations can get started on their Instant-On Enterprise journeys.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world.