Business Tech

PC maker Dell has a competition on its hands to see who'll take over the company.

Until this weekend, a group led by founder Michael Dell had seemed to have things mostly sewn up with their $24.4 billion plan for putting an end to the Texas-based company's days as a publicly traded entity.

But now things have apparently gotten more complicated for Dell's board of directors. Reuters is reporting today, citing a source, that a special board committee is evaluating a pair of last-minute preliminary proposals, one from asset management firm Blackstone Group and the other … Read more

When F. Scott Fitzgerald claimed that "there are no second acts in American life," he clearly didn't foresee the resilient career of the man who once headed America Online. Rita Braver reports:

He was the Boy Wonder of computing, co-founding the pioneering Internet service America Online while still in his twenties, and then helping make it the top-earning stock of the 1990s -- trying, he told CBS News back in 1997, "to build an interactive medium to inspire people's lives."

And if you've ever wondered what happened to Steve Case, look no further. … Read more

Asset-management firm Blackstone Group has reportedly submitted a tentative offer to buy Dell, rivaling a $24.4 billion offer from founder Michael Dell and investment firm Silver Lake, which was announced last month.

Both Bloomberg and The New York Times are citing unnamed insiders in reporting the preliminary deal proposal, which, Bloomberg said, will commit Blackstone to hold takeover discussions with Dell. The letter was reportedly sent last night, and, Bloomberg said, Dell has till Tuesday to respond.

Details of the proposal were not available, and it's not known if Dell will go along. Bloomberg said Blackstone wouldn't … Read more

Longer lasting Haswell ultrabooks are coming with Windows Blue.

Intel's upcoming Haswell chip will be tied to new technology coming with Windows Blue, according to a source close to Microsoft.

Haswell, due in June, is the next-generation mainstream Intel processor that will power ultrabooks and a variety of hybrids that straddle tablet and laptop designs.

Intel's silicon-level Haswell technology will result in "the single largest generation-to-generation battery life improvement in Intel history," according to a recent statement from Intel CEO Paul Otellni.

But Windows Blue -- an update to Windows 8 that is expected to deliver … Read more

Canonical, the organization behind popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, is working alongside the Chinese government to deliver a state-endorsed operating system.

According to Canonical, it's working alongside the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to bring a suitable Ubuntu version to China. The operating system, which will be known as Ubuntu Kylin, is expected to be released in April.

Ubuntu Kylin is part of a broader strategy on China's part to increase the adoption of open-source initiatives in the country, according to Canonical. China's ministry was deciding between several different Linux distributions before ultimately choosing Ubuntu.

"… Read more

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a new bill, known as the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act, to force law enforcement to obtain a warrant to track suspects with GPS devices.

The bill, which was introduced to Congress yesterday, is sponsored by Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), as well as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House judiciary committee ranking member Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). If passed, it would provide a "legal framework" that provides clear guidelines on when and how GPS devices can be accessed and used.

"New technologies are making it increasingly … Read more

Sharp will receive the remainder of a $120 million investment by Qualcomm in June, according to reports.

Sharp said that by June 28, the television set maker will be granted the second half of Qualcomm's investment. The investment pact was in jeopardy after the Japanese firm missed the March 29 deadline set by the U.S. chipmaker to receive the second half of the $120 million investment, as Sharp experienced delays in fabricating power-conserving screens made jointly by the two companies.

Developed in conjunction with Qualcomm subsidiary Pixtronix, Sharp's new screens are means to conserve power through the … Read more

Samsung is said to be in talks with Amazon to sell an e-ink technology company it acquired a couple of years ago.

The two tech giants are currently holding discussions for Samsung to sell Liquavista, a firm it acquired in 2011, to Amazon, Bloomberg is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the discussions. An exact price hasn't been determined yet, but Liquavista is expected to go for less than $100 million.

Samsung acquired Liquavista in January 2011 after the company, which develops e-ink technology for e-readers, made a splash at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show with … Read more

Apple is currently in the lead when it comes to the domestic cloud storage wars, according to a new survey produced by Strategy Analytics.

The real strength here for the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation was digital entertainment, which tends to require a lot of space anyway.

Thus, the combination of iCloud and iTunes Match was said to account for 27 percent of cloud storage usage in the United States during the third quarter of 2012.

Ed Barton, director of digital media at Strategy Analytics, highlighted in the report how music has become a "key battleground in the war for … Read more