Hasta La Gadget!

After last week’s news that Dell is considering going back to being a private company, CNBC is reporting that Microsoft is considering helping out the company with the transition. The move to go private would require a lot of money, and it’s said that Microsoft is willing to kick in between $1 billion and $3 billion to help Dell with the move.

Microsoft is said to be in talks with private investment company Silver Lake and Dell CEO Michael Dell. Essentially, the investment would either be “mezzanine,” meaning debt that converts to equity if the debt isn’t paid back in a certain amount of time, or some sort of preferred shares that would see Microsoft’s investment turned into shares at some point.

This wouldn’t be a surprising move at all for Microsoft. The company is loaded with cash, and they have invested in a handful of big companies in the past, including Facebook, Barnes & Noble, Comcast, and even Apple. Plus, investing in Dell would help out Microsoft in the long run, since Dell obviously relies heavily on the software company with its new Windows 8 OS.

However, we’re sure that HP, Acer, ASUS, and the rest of the Windows 8 hardware bunch will feel pretty betrayed if Microsoft ends up siding with Dell. However, negotiations are said to still be in progress, so the final decision on what Microsoft will do has not yet been decided. Dell was once a giant in the personal computer market, but the company has struggled in recent years, losing over a third of its value just last year. However, the company currently has a little over $5 billion in cash to help it float, and hopefully Microsoft’s investment will see the company make some progress.

[via Business Insider]

Microsoft may help Dell go private with $1-3 billion investment is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell Wyse – the cloud computing company acquired by Dell in May 2012 – may soon be entering its bet on the emerging PC on a stick genre. While the previous examples of these flash drive computers we’ve seen use Android as their primary operating system, Dell’s product will also run on Android, but will give customers the freedom to choose from different OSes to actually use.

Currently known as “Project Ophelia,” the computer is meant to be used mainly as a gateway to Dell Wyse’s cloud services. According to Quartz, “It allows access to Windows, Mac OS, Google’s Chrome OS, Dell’s custom cloud solutions, Citrix cloud software, and even Google’s Chrome OS, using virtual instances of those operating systems running in the cloud.” The PC will plug into (and draw power from) a display via USB. Then it will connect to Dell Wyse’s servers via Wi-Fi and to hardware peripherals via Bluetooth.

Dell’s vice president of cloud operations Tarkan Maner said that they’re planning to sell Ophelia for only $50 (USD) each, though he didn’t mention how much the cloud services would cost. That’s probably where they’ll generate most of their revenue.

From a tech support perspective, this could make it a lot easier to secure and manage a large number of computers. But I wonder if it also poses a risk of data theft, disconnection or lack of access on a massive scale should things go wrong. It also takes away a lot of control from the user in return for the convenience it provides. Either way, it’s too early to see what kind of effect Ophelia may have on the PC industry.

[via Quartz via Boy Genius Report]

Like a handful of computer manufacturers lately, Dell hasn’t been doing so hot, and it’s rumored that the company is considering going private and taking its name off the public stock market. Anonymous sources have told Bloomberg that “several large banks have already been contacted about financing an offer to take Dell private.”

Trading was halted on the company for a short while, but shares jumped 15% when trading resumed. Dell has declined to comment on any rumors or speculation, but it’s said that the company is in talks to go private with at least two private equity firms. However, the deal could easily fall apart if the firms can’t line up the needed financing, or can’t figure out how to exit the investment in the future if need be.

Dell was once a giant in the personal computer market, but the company has struggled in recent years, losing over a third of its value just last year. In the most recent financial report, Dell’s revenue was down 7% year-over-year, while profits were down 34%. However, the company currently has a little over $5 billion in cash to help it float through the decline.

Since CEO Michael Dell owns a large percentage of shares (15.7%, to be exact), Bloomberg‘s sources say that it’s easier for financial firms to work out the deal. If Dell were to actually go private, that would mean that all of the publicly traded shares would be bought up by a private firm, and being private means looser regulatory issues to deal with, which could be an opportunity for shareholders to cash out.

[via Bloomberg]

Dell rumored to be going private, shares jump 15% is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell has unveiled a new configuration for its Latitude 10 tablet at CES 2013. Dell calls the new configuration the Up 10 Essentials and promises that this is the first full-featured enterprise ready Windows 8 tablet below $500 in price. Dell is aiming the tablet schools and small businesses looking to deploy affordable Windows 8 tablets.

Dell originally launched the latitude 10 in October of 2012 in a standard configuration. The latitude 10 Essentials configuration promises a secure, manageable, and durable enterprise-ready tablet option for consumers on budget. The tablet supports rich entertainment features including movie watching, books, and games and offers compatibility with applications people are used to on desktop PCs.

Tablet has a magnesium alloy frame and uses soft touch paint for enhanced durability. The screen of the tablet is covered in Gorilla Glass to help survive drops and resist scratches. The tablet is available with an optional productivity dock that has a traditional keyboard and mouse for use on the desktop. The Latitude 10 tablet also has a full-size USB port and a SD memory card reader.

The tablet uses an Intel Atom Z2760 processor operating at 1.8 GHz. The screen is a 10.1-inch unit with a resolution of 1366 x 768. The tablet is paired with 2 GB of RAM and uses Intel Graphics Media Accelerator for graphics duties. The Latitude 10 essentials with 64 GB of storage is available right now starting at $579. A version of the tablet with 32 GB of storage will be available in the coming months for $499.

Dell announces new Latitude 10 essentials tablet configuration is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell’s Latitude 10 earns some noteworthiness as an early work-oriented Windows 8 tablet, but it isn’t what we’d call cheap with a $650 base price. The crew in Round Rock is mending that with a new essentials level that scales things back. It sheds the active digitizer and removable battery in the name of a lower $579 price for a 64GB version that’s available to order today. Price-sensitive slate shoppers can go one step further in the near future: Dell is promising a properly frugal 32GB version for $499 that should ship in the months ahead. There’s still a stiff fight ahead when Windows RT tablets already undercut the Latitude, but the essentials tiers could be low-hanging fruit for pros and students still hanging on to legacy apps.

Continue reading Dell Latitude 10 essentials trim pushes pro Windows 8 tablets down to $499

Filed under: Tablets, Dell

Comments

Source: Dell