| HP cuts 27,000 jobs, profit tumbles 31 percent in Q2 May 23rd 2012, 20:22  Looks like rumors of major cost-cutting measures at HP are true: the company along with its fiscal Q2 results has just outlined plans to slash 27,000 jobs by the end of its fiscal 2014. The drop, or about eight percent of its workforce, is being offered an "early retirement" if it doesn't want to wait to be let go involuntarily. The move is intended to streamline HP's operations and save between $3 billion to $3.5 billion a year by the time the cuts are done. As for the results themselves, they explain all too clearly why the cuts are inbound: HP 's profit dropped a massive 31 percent to $1.6 billion, and its revenue dropped three points to $30.7 billion. CEO Meg Whitman touted the results as exceeding an earlier glum outlook, but with the enterprise, printer and services groups all dragging the company down, it's clear that HP is in the same boat as a struggling Dell. Continue reading HP cuts 27,000 jobs, profit tumbles 31 percent in Q2 HP cuts 27,000 jobs, profit tumbles 31 percent in Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 16:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | LG's 55-inch OLED TV gets official design, possible €9,000 price tag May 23rd 2012, 20:12  LG has been coy about details of its 55-inch OLED TV since we saw its hyper-rich organic colors at CES, but it just nailed down a number of details at a Monte Carlo event. The 55EM9600 has seen its display base get a bit bigger now that the screen isn't being specially perched at a trade show, but moving more equipment to the base and using a carbon fiber back has let it shed an extra millimeter of thickness, down to 4mm (0.16 inches). The steadier footing puts all the AV connectors at the back, while a trio of USB ports sit on the side for those who often share media from their cameras and flash drives. LG wouldn't give our Spanish team definite release info about the OLED set, but there's been repeated murmurs of a European price of about €9,000 ($11,313) and a possible release as soon as July, just inside LG's official target of the second half of the year. Certainly not the most frugal TV you can buy at this size if that's true, then, but it'll certainly get everyone's attention -- now where's our US details? LG's 55-inch OLED TV gets official design, possible €9,000 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Engadget Spanish (translated) | | Email this | Comments | | Nokia 808 PureView enables NFC image share, mobile payment apps to come May 23rd 2012, 19:52  Rounding off a busy day of shooting with Nokia's new imaging mistress, the company's Vesa Jutila, Head of Symbian Product Marketing, hooked us up with some more developments for the 808 PureView, specifically to do with NFC. He told us that picture sharing would be possible across devices -- not limiting itself to fellow PureView smartphones, and differentiating it from another hotly anticipated future smartphone. We'd err against using it on those full 38- or 34-megapixel images though, as they will often measure over 10MB and it could take some time. Further, Nokia's already applied for Mastercard and Visa accreditation to get those mobile wallets up and working. We're curating our own exclusive image gallery as we speak and they're likely to whet your appetite for more oversampling goodness. Expect a fully-fledged review with a final model in the not-too-distant future. Nokia 808 PureView enables NFC image share, mobile payment apps to come originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Kinect Accelerator company profiles: Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku May 23rd 2012, 19:42  Microsoft's Kinect Accelerator program kicked off over a month ago, but at the time we were only made aware of the participant start-ups' names, not their innovations. So, when Microsoft offered us the opportunity to talk with the folks behind four of the program's participants -- Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku -- we jumped at the chance. Join us after the break to see what this quartet of fledgling companies has planned to propogate the Kinect effect further than ever. Continue reading Kinect Accelerator company profiles: Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku Kinect Accelerator company profiles: Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric, Styku | Email this | Comments | | Oxford makes big push into Bigfoot research, enlists Swiss zoologists for DNA study May 23rd 2012, 19:25  The search for Bigfoot continues and, no, that's not a nod to a very special episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Though Harry and the Hendersons did its best to humanize that monster of myth, a group of well-heeled European scientists are seeking to go beyond the Hollyweird fantasy to actually prove the creature's existence using advanced genetic techniques on Yeti remains. Part of a collaborative effort between Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology, the Collateral Hominid project aims to gather material from public and private cryptozoological collections for analysis to determine whether that elusive species branched off from bears or our neanderthal forebears. Project head Prof. Bryan Sykes hopes the research, the results of which will eventually make the rounds of peer-reviewed journals, will dispel skepticism that has surrounded this controversial creature by providing " a mechanism for... identification that is unbiased, unambiguous and impervious to falsification." Basically, these real-life Mulder & Scullys want incontrovertible DNA proof that these fantastic ape-like beings are simply the stuff of evolution. Whatever the case, the truth is most certainly out there, folks -- it's just likely encased in fossilized dung.
[Image courtesy Worch.com] Continue reading Oxford makes big push into Bigfoot research, enlists Swiss zoologists for DNA study Oxford makes big push into Bigfoot research, enlists Swiss zoologists for DNA study originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink PhysOrg | Oxford University | Email this | Comments | |
