HP

Hewlett-Packard rocked the networking world Wednesday with the announcement that it plans to buy 3Com for $2.7 billion. The acquisition is expected to make HP the number-two networking vendor behind Cisco Systems and set the two companies up for a battle of titans.

"Companies are looking for ways to break free from the business limitations imposed by a networking paradigm that has been dominated by a single vendor," said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager for HP's enterprise servers and networking group.

With the fate of its proposed $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc. uncertain amid antitrust scrutiny, Oracle Corp. is moving ahead with a new product incorporating both companies' technology, and snubbing Hewlett-Packard Co. in the process.

Sun and Oracle unveiled a new database machine Tuesday built from Sun hardware and Oracle software.

The first phones with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system will be released Oct. 6. Microsoft said the new devices will feature improved interfaces, better browsing, and access to such services as Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone.

The worldwide rollout will include new hardware as well as existing models. In North America, new Windows Mobile phones will be released by wireless operators AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, and from manufacturers HP, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba.

Marketplace, My Phone

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s 19 percent drop in quarterly profit shows that the company still relies heavily on printer ink and the troubled personal computer market, despite the aggressive transformation it's undertaking to branch out and encroach more on rival IBM Corp.'s turf.

Hewlett-Packard Co. has introduced the first Web-enabled printer to the world, creating a new category of consumer products that can access the Internet without first connecting to a PC. The printer got its start in Vancouver where it was conceived and designed by a Hewlett-Packard engineering and marketing team.

Despite the netbook craze that has many PC manufacturers competing at the low end of the mobile-computing market, Hewlett-Packard is rolling out a new generation of consumer desktop PCs just in time for back-to-school sales.

Peripherals of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chain to the PC, following Hewlett-Packard's announcement Monday of the world's first Web-connected home printer.

The HP Photosmart Premium with the company's TouchSmart technology allows users to print directly from online sources. A 4.33-inch TouchSmart panel on the printer -- which HP described as the largest LCD touchscreen of any all-in-one inkjet printer -- helps users navigate to the content they want to turn into hard copies.

'An Entirely New Printing Platform'

Advanced Micro Devices on Monday released its fastest chips yet. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company announced the six-core Opteron chips, code-named Istanbul -- a move that pushes the chip manufacturer out in front of server customers.

The six-core processor, considered to be the most efficient processor yet, combines lower costs, higher performance per watt, and more scalability, according to AMD. The processor is for two-, four-, and eight-socket servers.

While other big technology vendors have said they have seen demand bottom out and show signs of recovery, Hewlett-Packard Co. has stayed cautious, warning it's too soon to tell when its business will improve.

HP's CEO, Mark Hurd, reinforced that outlook Thursday. He told investors and financial analysts at a meeting in New York that he is confident HP can hit its profit forecast, but he wouldn't speculate on the timing of a turnaround in tech spending.

A new report from Pike Research, a firm that analyzes global clean technology trends, states that the e-waste problem will continue and grow through 2015, but that the tide will turn in 2016 as recycling efforts finally catch up to the amount of electronics being manufactured.