Current TV did some coverage at the HP Gaming Summit in San Francisco. Thanks to Christina and Ann for their good work on making this happen!
4.26.2007
4.24.2007
Talk about being humbled...
Nothing gets me up on a Sunday morning short of an earthquake knocking over the house – my wife says it’s impossible to wake me up. I usually roll out of bed around 10:00, unless it’s a race day, before mulling around the kitchen and slumping down on the couch. Well, this past Sunday couldn't be further from my routine - I woke up at 4:00 AM to head to the airport for an event in San Antonio.
Now this isn't any event, mind you, it goes above and beyond all other events. In fact, I have made it politely clear that I will not travel on a Sunday unless it’s life threatening or *really* important. The last place I want to be is on a plane when I could be at home eating a nice breakfast with my family.
The event is called HP Tech Con, and we're now in our fifth year. Every year HP invites fewer than 700 lucky researchers to join together and collaborate. They showcase their research amongst management, make new relationships, and generate new contacts.
There are around 30,000+ technologists at HP, and in order to get invited to Tech Con you need to write a paper – and it needs to be approved by a committee. It’s no easy feat getting invited – but I was very fortunate to be asked to join the event. The minute I got the invite I cleared my schedule and started the count down.
This event has been quite memorable, there is a session called “the poster session”. This is where one walks around a tightly secured exhibit hall to view countless new and compelling research projects from around the world.
People from all walks of life come to this event, and all of the posters are really compelling – some of which could be retrofitted to gaming.
I believe there were five isles in the Poster Session – and it took me almost one hour to go through one of the isles and learn about what some of the teams are working on. Talk about a humbling experience! I’m embarrassed to say that some of the stuff went over my head, but upon further discussion with the teams they were able to bring it back to earth.
Yes, HP Tech Con 2007 has been a success, and it’s not over yet. There is another few sessions today, a dinner tonight, and it’s back home again tomorrow. After meeting all of the wonderful people and seeing the research there is no doubt in my mind that, as a technologist, HP rocks - as Mark Hurd says, it's one of the few places that actually puts the "R" back in "R&D".
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Please be patient while Troy Tye fixes the blog. BTW - Troy Tye rocks, did I mention that? Mark, hire this guy!
4.23.2007
Staying Afloat in a Challenging Business
Here is an extended version of the magazine article I wrote this month.
I believe there are some core principles that a company must adopt in order to sustain a successful business while building a brand. If one were to sum up it all up into one word, it would be “roots”.
The fact is it’s not easy to go out and build a brand overnight. If you start by planting some roots and continue to feed them while adapting to changing trends you stand a pretty good chance of survival. This requires, among other things, vision, strategy, and a team that actually believes in what you’re doing.
It also requires the commitment that you should not abandon your roots and plant new ones somewhere along the way. Using the PC Gaming hardware segment as an example, many PC gaming companies started in fairly open waters in an unknown niche – which allowed them to plant roots and grow. Companies like Falcon-NW, Alienware and Voodoo are obvious examples of this. There are also companies that entered the market late, with somewhat humble beginnings and managed to survive. One company that comes to mind, Velocity, came out of nowhere and is now one of the better known gaming pc companies out there.
History will show that companies who fail are usually ones who do not adapt with change effectively. Such companies are completely obvious to what’s happening around them, they tend to be arrogant when they analyze their competition, and they all but ignore what their customers are really looking for. If you look at our industry you can easily pick out a few companies who have fallen victim to such challenges.
Then there are those companies who stick to the same way of doing business for years. These companies stay too close to their roots and they grow on a single trajectory until they eventually end up in a tailspin and they either die a slow expected death – or they make emergency reparations to fix what’s broken. Typically companies like these end up fragmented and disjointed.
Some companies believe that they need to make dramatic changes to survive and they usually hire new leadership to accomplish such change. Change is usually a good thing, but when you forget your roots and plant new ones you will most likely end up in a similar dire situation as many who have failed before you. There are examples of companies that have tried this, failed, and all but destroyed their once incredibly strong brand.
Another type of failure is the company who starts off in a race to be at the top of a niche without any fundamentals. Some examples of these fundamentals are history, strategy, substance, service, and appropriate DNA. Without fundamentals you cannot establish roots, which makes it nearly impossible to survive in any market. Companies who attempt to build a luxury brand overnight are an example of such wrecks. They take out large ads in major magazines and ultimately they stop paying the bills, the lights turn out, and it’s over.
There have been many companies that view the “gaming” industry from a distance with dollar signs in their eyes. Expecting a cakewalk they end up falling victim to their own blind arrogance. It’s just not as easy as it looks I guess. The bottom line is you cannot build a business in any niche without appropriate DNA – and even with the best DNA, without a compelling brand you can almost guarantee a slow but eventual death.
So those are the general points for sustaining a successful business, now it’s time to talk about saturated markets.
In a segment full of new companies, young blood, and new ideas it’s very difficult to compete without new innovation. We are starting to see the effects of mass market commoditization in the gaming space, which is making it challenging for even the longest standing companies to survive. At one point the gaming/enthusiast companies were looked at as strategic accounts for big companies because these enthusiasts would influence large OEMs and mainstream buying decisions.
Thanks to consolidation a quick look at the horizon shows that some big OEMs are becoming strategic monsters. We will certainly see new innovations this year that will not be as easy to replicate as a custom paint job – this is fantastic news for consumers - because like any saturated industry, PC gaming has reached the point of getting stale.
There is little doubt that the landscape is changing – there are some exciting times ahead, and I personally believe we have not seen the last of major events in this space, not by a long-shot. I also see boutique companies potentially consolidating with each other -- odd to imagine, but anything is possible.
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4.17.2007
Dog Patch Studios
Earlier this month I wrote about the Gaming Summit that HP held at the Dogpatch Studios in downtown San Francisco. The above picture is priceless: At Dogpatch there is no parking in the area, so they reserved spots for us in front of the building. Each spot had a sign in front of it, as you can see to the left of the car there is another sign standing. I was in a rush to get there -- and I didn't see a good place to move my sign. The truth is we were in meetings all morning and I wasn't feeling like getting out of the car to move the sign just to park. :)
I decided to push it over and park the car. At the time I didn't think much of it but the picture, which is making its rounds, speaks a thousand words. Thanks to Phil Hammond for sending this one over.
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4.16.2007
...what should have been an amazing day
Yesterday would have been a fantastic day -- although when I got back to my hotel I heard about the Virginia Tech Massacre -- My heart goes out to the victims and their families. There's nothing more to be said.
Last week I went on a family vacation, my first one in years -- on the way back I flew directly to Las Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) event. It was pretty huge --Shane Robison EVP Office of Strategy and Technology for HP was doing the keynote and he invited a few guests.
One of the guests was from Industrial Light & Magic, the company who created Pirates of the Carribean Dead Man's Chest. These guys do some pretty amazing stuff -- the entire movie was created with PC technology, it was really neat to see how it came together.
I was asked to join Shane on stage near the end along with professional snowboarder and skateboarder Shawn White near the end of the keynote where we showed some Labs technologies with gaming and entertainment possibilities.
It was the most certainly the largest audience I have ever spoken to, around a thousand people! I must thank Ben Phillipps and Phil McKinney for helping me out with this event - their advice went a long way.
In any case, it was a fun day up until I got back to the hotel and watched the news.
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4.12.2007
More Sharks ...and another interview
I'm still on vacation at the moment, thus the reason for the lack of significant updates. Above you'll see a cool picture of a group of us shark diving, I'm on the extreme left in yellow goggles.
In the meantime here is another interview that we did with the Firing Squad after the HP Gaming Summit in San Francisco.
-------------------------------------
Earlier this month PC maker HP had a press event that showed off several technology prototypes that were promoted for gaming purposes. FiringSquad got in touch with Rahul Sood, founder of VoodooPC and HP's Chief Technology Officer for their gaming unit to find out more about these new prototypes and how they will improve PC gaming:
FiringSquad: First, HP has decided to really get into gaming for the PC, first with the purchase of your company VoodooPC. Why do you think HP believes gaming is an important part of their strategy?
Rahul Sood: HP has been a quiet leader in the gaming space for a long time with our blade servers and workstations, and being a strong player in the gaming space has long been a part of HP’s strategy. The acquisition of VoodooPC has locked HP into the market even tighter – merging the gaming DNA from Voodoo with the R&D in HP Labs gives us a more focused strategy to be a more visible leader.
One of the key reasons HP has put gaming at the forefront is we recognize that gamers are early adopters love leading edge technologies. HP can commercialize our innovative technologies for gamers, and then spread them to our other products as they scale and become more economical. Voodoo gives HP a strategic position in the gaming market to move on this strategy, along with the DNA to do it exceptionally well. …and as you know, HP Labs is one of the leading sources of innovation in the world.
FiringSquad: At the press event earlier in April HP showed off prototypes of several upcoming technologies. One of them was the curved display that was simulated at CES. What can you tell us about this product?
Rahul Sood: Using multiple, inexpensive projectors, Panoply creates a seamless, curved display that fills a gamer’s field of view, increasing realism and immersion. The image is created using a fast, automatic, camera-assisted calibration process that avoids the need for precise projector aiming. Beyond gaming, Panoply could be used for a wide range of other applications, including remote collaboration, home theater and scientific visualization. It is being considered for use in HP’s Halo telepresence product. The bottom line is what you saw was a prototype – and we have the ability to scale this to any size we want. This is where dreams become reality.
FiringSquad: How hard will it be for game developers to make games that will support this technology and has HP talked with developers about having games that will take advantage of the technology?
Rahul Sood: Well, let’s just say it’s as easy as creating additional content for a wider screen display. The display drivers work without an issue, now it’s up to the game developers if they want to create more content and tools for the gamer. At the same time we have the ability to use multiple inputs on this display so the possibilities are endless. Again this is a prototype, we are still exploring ideas.
FiringSquad: The press event also revealed a new projector that is being marketed to gamers. Can you talk more about this technology?
Rahul Sood: Pluribus is a core enabling technology that combines the power of multiple inexpensive projectors to quickly and automatically create a scalable “super-projector” capable of high resolution, great brightness, deep contrast, high frame rate and a wide color gamut. Pluribus could have a significant impact on display markets including gaming, digital cinema, event projection, collaboration and visualization. Again we can scale this to any size we want.
FiringSquad: HP also showed a handheld unit that can be used to create a kind of virtual world via real world locations. Can you talk more about this device?
Rahul Sood: Essentially we have a long term vision that mobile will become more physical, more interactive, and more immersive. What better way to experience such immersion than with your own physical being? The fact is kids are starting gaming at a much younger age than when we were growing up, and games are more addictive. It’s time to get them off the couch.
Mscape is a way to lay multimedia digital experiences – including text, audio and video -- on a physical landscape, creating a “mediascape” that enriches the experience of interacting with a specific location. Pocket PCs or cell phones equipped with GPS or other sensing technologies provide users with a way to detect and access information from the world around them. Applications could include gaming, education, tourism and location-based services.
FiringSquad: Are there any games in the works that will actually use this handheld technology?
Rahul Sood: We have some prototype games that we’ve developed at HP Labs to conceptually demonstrate the possibilities of the Mscape technology. Again, this is a prototype and we’re showcasing the possibilities to our partners.
FiringSquad: When will the curved display, the projector and the handheld unit be released for consumers?
Rahul Sood: We have pulled some IP out of HP Labs for demonstration purposes only, to show a vision of virtual worlds merging with reality, coffee tables that are also gaming surfaces using touch, and high-end racing simulators with immersive curved displays. These demonstrations are concepts and we have not announced any products yet.
FiringSquad: HP also announced plans to launch a more affordable series of gaming PC products. Can you tell us more about the reasoning behind launching a new product line and how will it differ from VoodooPC’s products besides its price?
Rahul Sood: At the HP Gaming Summit in April, we did not announce any new products. What I did say is that we have recognized a gap between the HP branded and the Voodoo branded product lines and we plan to fill that gap in the near future. As I said, we are looking for ways to pull IP out of HP Labs and commercialize our innovative technologies for the enthusiast market. We believe our roadmap is compelling, and when we start to launch products you will see and feel the difference.
The reason we are confident that our roadmap is pretty tight is simple: HP did not put a bunch of middle age men in a room (picture it) and say “hey fellas, let’s start being cool and edgy” …. Instead they acquired VoodooPC, and under Phil McKinney we at the HP Gaming team have inspired one-another to believe that it can be done – and now we’re really doing cool things. I mean really frickin cool.
FiringSquad: At a panel during the press event Trion World Network founder Lars Butler stated, "I believe the days of the console are numbered. There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that's it." Do you also believe that improving PCs for gaming will also spell the death of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo's game business?
Rahul Sood: Almost all of our customers own consoles as well as personal computers. HP is working with mobile, online and computer gaming technologies and we have no intentions to compete with video game consoles made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.
I think Lars has a very compelling vision for connected gaming – I have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times, and he has a unique perspective of the industry. We expect big things from his company in the future – did you know the guy who created Might and Magic is on his team? Yeah, I got to meet him J that was really cool.
FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about HP's plans for PC gaming?
Rahul Sood: I have always held nothing but the utmost respect for my competition. The big problem is that everyone is doing the same stuff these days. There’s nothing different happening out there. There is only so many ways you can paint a PC before you have to ask yourself “WTF am I doing here?”
Historically Voodoo has always been a leader. We were the company that changed the way the industry built PCs – taking the detail from the inside out. We were the company that first introduced liquid cooling in production (in fact, we introduced Cool-it to the world and now everyone is using them). We were the company that first introduced a fanless-PC to the market, which we played a key role in the development. We have always tried to differentiate and sometimes it’s been challenging.
Now, under HP, the possibilities are endless. Thanks to the management team you can literally feel the positive energy in our research and manufacturing facilities. HP is buzzing again, and it feels great to be on a winning team. Did I mention we’re hiring?
In the meantime here is another interview that we did with the Firing Squad after the HP Gaming Summit in San Francisco.
-------------------------------------
Earlier this month PC maker HP had a press event that showed off several technology prototypes that were promoted for gaming purposes. FiringSquad got in touch with Rahul Sood, founder of VoodooPC and HP's Chief Technology Officer for their gaming unit to find out more about these new prototypes and how they will improve PC gaming:
FiringSquad: First, HP has decided to really get into gaming for the PC, first with the purchase of your company VoodooPC. Why do you think HP believes gaming is an important part of their strategy?
Rahul Sood: HP has been a quiet leader in the gaming space for a long time with our blade servers and workstations, and being a strong player in the gaming space has long been a part of HP’s strategy. The acquisition of VoodooPC has locked HP into the market even tighter – merging the gaming DNA from Voodoo with the R&D in HP Labs gives us a more focused strategy to be a more visible leader.
One of the key reasons HP has put gaming at the forefront is we recognize that gamers are early adopters love leading edge technologies. HP can commercialize our innovative technologies for gamers, and then spread them to our other products as they scale and become more economical. Voodoo gives HP a strategic position in the gaming market to move on this strategy, along with the DNA to do it exceptionally well. …and as you know, HP Labs is one of the leading sources of innovation in the world.
FiringSquad: At the press event earlier in April HP showed off prototypes of several upcoming technologies. One of them was the curved display that was simulated at CES. What can you tell us about this product?
Rahul Sood: Using multiple, inexpensive projectors, Panoply creates a seamless, curved display that fills a gamer’s field of view, increasing realism and immersion. The image is created using a fast, automatic, camera-assisted calibration process that avoids the need for precise projector aiming. Beyond gaming, Panoply could be used for a wide range of other applications, including remote collaboration, home theater and scientific visualization. It is being considered for use in HP’s Halo telepresence product. The bottom line is what you saw was a prototype – and we have the ability to scale this to any size we want. This is where dreams become reality.
FiringSquad: How hard will it be for game developers to make games that will support this technology and has HP talked with developers about having games that will take advantage of the technology?
Rahul Sood: Well, let’s just say it’s as easy as creating additional content for a wider screen display. The display drivers work without an issue, now it’s up to the game developers if they want to create more content and tools for the gamer. At the same time we have the ability to use multiple inputs on this display so the possibilities are endless. Again this is a prototype, we are still exploring ideas.
FiringSquad: The press event also revealed a new projector that is being marketed to gamers. Can you talk more about this technology?
Rahul Sood: Pluribus is a core enabling technology that combines the power of multiple inexpensive projectors to quickly and automatically create a scalable “super-projector” capable of high resolution, great brightness, deep contrast, high frame rate and a wide color gamut. Pluribus could have a significant impact on display markets including gaming, digital cinema, event projection, collaboration and visualization. Again we can scale this to any size we want.
FiringSquad: HP also showed a handheld unit that can be used to create a kind of virtual world via real world locations. Can you talk more about this device?
Rahul Sood: Essentially we have a long term vision that mobile will become more physical, more interactive, and more immersive. What better way to experience such immersion than with your own physical being? The fact is kids are starting gaming at a much younger age than when we were growing up, and games are more addictive. It’s time to get them off the couch.
Mscape is a way to lay multimedia digital experiences – including text, audio and video -- on a physical landscape, creating a “mediascape” that enriches the experience of interacting with a specific location. Pocket PCs or cell phones equipped with GPS or other sensing technologies provide users with a way to detect and access information from the world around them. Applications could include gaming, education, tourism and location-based services.
FiringSquad: Are there any games in the works that will actually use this handheld technology?
Rahul Sood: We have some prototype games that we’ve developed at HP Labs to conceptually demonstrate the possibilities of the Mscape technology. Again, this is a prototype and we’re showcasing the possibilities to our partners.
FiringSquad: When will the curved display, the projector and the handheld unit be released for consumers?
Rahul Sood: We have pulled some IP out of HP Labs for demonstration purposes only, to show a vision of virtual worlds merging with reality, coffee tables that are also gaming surfaces using touch, and high-end racing simulators with immersive curved displays. These demonstrations are concepts and we have not announced any products yet.
FiringSquad: HP also announced plans to launch a more affordable series of gaming PC products. Can you tell us more about the reasoning behind launching a new product line and how will it differ from VoodooPC’s products besides its price?
Rahul Sood: At the HP Gaming Summit in April, we did not announce any new products. What I did say is that we have recognized a gap between the HP branded and the Voodoo branded product lines and we plan to fill that gap in the near future. As I said, we are looking for ways to pull IP out of HP Labs and commercialize our innovative technologies for the enthusiast market. We believe our roadmap is compelling, and when we start to launch products you will see and feel the difference.
The reason we are confident that our roadmap is pretty tight is simple: HP did not put a bunch of middle age men in a room (picture it) and say “hey fellas, let’s start being cool and edgy” …. Instead they acquired VoodooPC, and under Phil McKinney we at the HP Gaming team have inspired one-another to believe that it can be done – and now we’re really doing cool things. I mean really frickin cool.
FiringSquad: At a panel during the press event Trion World Network founder Lars Butler stated, "I believe the days of the console are numbered. There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that's it." Do you also believe that improving PCs for gaming will also spell the death of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo's game business?
Rahul Sood: Almost all of our customers own consoles as well as personal computers. HP is working with mobile, online and computer gaming technologies and we have no intentions to compete with video game consoles made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo.
I think Lars has a very compelling vision for connected gaming – I have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times, and he has a unique perspective of the industry. We expect big things from his company in the future – did you know the guy who created Might and Magic is on his team? Yeah, I got to meet him J that was really cool.
FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about HP's plans for PC gaming?
Rahul Sood: I have always held nothing but the utmost respect for my competition. The big problem is that everyone is doing the same stuff these days. There’s nothing different happening out there. There is only so many ways you can paint a PC before you have to ask yourself “WTF am I doing here?”
Historically Voodoo has always been a leader. We were the company that changed the way the industry built PCs – taking the detail from the inside out. We were the company that first introduced liquid cooling in production (in fact, we introduced Cool-it to the world and now everyone is using them). We were the company that first introduced a fanless-PC to the market, which we played a key role in the development. We have always tried to differentiate and sometimes it’s been challenging.
Now, under HP, the possibilities are endless. Thanks to the management team you can literally feel the positive energy in our research and manufacturing facilities. HP is buzzing again, and it feels great to be on a winning team. Did I mention we’re hiring?
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4.11.2007
Swimming with the Sharks...
I am currently on vacation with my family. Yesterday we were diving with some friends and on the last dive we were surrounded by 30+ extremely large sharks! -- needless to say it was quite an unforgettable experience. That's me in the picture keeping my hands together to keep them from getting bitten. So, I'm still here until next week, and I doubt I'll be doing any major updates until then.
In the meantime, please enjoy the complete interview that I had with Dailytech recently;
What is the most underserved market in PCs, and what does HP-Voodoo plan to do about it?
There are a number of areas which are underserved in the PC market, but honestly we don’t want to give our competition any more advice on how to run their business. At this point we’ll have to leave it up to them to figure out.
That said; a better question might be “How does HP-Voodoo view the PC industry, and how do you plan to change it?”
The fact is things have been stale – Kristopher you know it as well as I do. Let’s face it, there are only so many ways you can “paint a box” before you have to ask yourself “WTF am I doing here?”
Sure there has been consolidation both on the chipset side and the OEM side, but as of yet things have been quiet. Well that’s all about to change – last week in San Francisco HP put together a bit of a technology shaker where we showcased some of the innovative technologies coming out of HP Labs. It became clear that there has been work going on even prior to the Voodoo acquisition and now the wheels are spinning freely, and things are anything but status quo.
How do we plan to change things? Well, we are pretty confident that our roadmap is solid. The reason we are confident is simple: HP did not put a bunch of middle age men in a room and say “hey fellas, let’s start being cool and edgy – yeah! we’ll use words like dude and diddy!” ….
Instead they acquired VoodooPC, and under leaders like Todd Bradley and Phil McKinney we at the HP Gaming team have inspired one-another to believe that it can be done – and now we’re really doing cool things. I mean really frickin cool.
In the meantime, please enjoy the complete interview that I had with Dailytech recently;
What is the most underserved market in PCs, and what does HP-Voodoo plan to do about it?
There are a number of areas which are underserved in the PC market, but honestly we don’t want to give our competition any more advice on how to run their business. At this point we’ll have to leave it up to them to figure out.
That said; a better question might be “How does HP-Voodoo view the PC industry, and how do you plan to change it?”
The fact is things have been stale – Kristopher you know it as well as I do. Let’s face it, there are only so many ways you can “paint a box” before you have to ask yourself “WTF am I doing here?”
Sure there has been consolidation both on the chipset side and the OEM side, but as of yet things have been quiet. Well that’s all about to change – last week in San Francisco HP put together a bit of a technology shaker where we showcased some of the innovative technologies coming out of HP Labs. It became clear that there has been work going on even prior to the Voodoo acquisition and now the wheels are spinning freely, and things are anything but status quo.
How do we plan to change things? Well, we are pretty confident that our roadmap is solid. The reason we are confident is simple: HP did not put a bunch of middle age men in a room and say “hey fellas, let’s start being cool and edgy – yeah! we’ll use words like dude and diddy!” ….
Instead they acquired VoodooPC, and under leaders like Todd Bradley and Phil McKinney we at the HP Gaming team have inspired one-another to believe that it can be done – and now we’re really doing cool things. I mean really frickin cool.
Can you give us more info about this fourth brand slated below Voodoo and above HP?
We recognized that there is a gap between HP and Voodoo – and we believe this gap is significant enough that we need to jump into the sandbox and draw the line. We never said anything about creating a fourth brand but there is indeed speculation. Stay tuned to find out what’s really going on.
I can confirm that HP is taking this space seriously, and the gloves are off – we’re ready for a cage match.
What other Voodoo projects have you been working on at HP since the 2006 acquisition?
Well, we have been exploring all types of technologies which pertain to gaming, including handheld, display, interface, and many others. We have enough intellectual property within HP to wallpaper the building. These research scientists within HP Labs are absolute geniuses, they have some interesting projects yet to be unveiled. The interesting thing is many of the projects they are working on are not specific to gaming - we have recognized these areas and the creative juices are flowing.
Gaming has created new excitement within HP – you can literally feel the energy in the building. The hallways are buzzing with excitement, and people are talking.
There are many new projects we are working on, and many more to come. Overall we have been relatively quiet - but I assure you we are not getting any sleep.
When will we see a shipping HP-Voodoo project?
As I said at the event in San Francisco, our funnel is full of ideas; you’ll see some new stuff as early as this year. Stay tuned.
Why did Voodoo opt to skip over the CableCard PCs that we are seeing at other boutique vendors right now?
Well, first of all CableCard technology sucks in its current form. I can only assume that anyone selling it now is probably doing it for the P.R. - Maybe it’s just me, but I believe being the first to launch a POS isn’t exactly good P.R.
Also, from what I understand some companies who claim to “have it ready” are shipping machines without the cards and a coupon to get the cards when they are available. That’s a pretty unique customer experience.
I also hate the way cable & satellite signals are handled on the PC – I know there are better ways to make it easier on the consumer.
It should also be known that we have been working on this technology far and away before any of the boutique vendors currently, and as of yet we aren’t yet satisfied. That’s not to say that the existing technology won’t improve, because it should – and when it does we’ll let you know when/if a new ARIA will be ready.
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4.04.2007
It was a joke! April Fools!
Gizmodo posted a message on a new HP Maybach notebook. The original text from Text2.Ru Russian to English translation is:
"HP and Maybach joined luxury notebook
One of the Tech2.ru reporters managed to take a picture of a new HP subnotebook model. The most surprising about this model is that it was created in collaboration with Maybach designers. Maybach is famous for its splendid automobiles.
One of the Tech2.ru reporters managed to take a picture of a new HP subnotebook model. The most surprising about this model is that it was created in collaboration with Maybach designers. Maybach is famous for its splendid automobiles.
Through reliable source we learned that the idea of collaboration came to marketers’ mind when their business rivals put on the market premium-level notebooks Acer Ferrari and ASUS Lamborghini. But unlike these models HP machine will be produced only in notebook format. Probably HP Maybach ns42 will become the official name. The frame is decorated with genuine leather and classic Maybach labels. Sensory buttons with amber-colored highlight are disposed under the touchpad. Configuration is not certain but the new model is supplied with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, built in SSD-store 64Gb and video adapter (presumably GeForce Go 7ххх or 8ххх).
The full package contains special case for transportation, Bluetooth mouse and additional battery. The price is unannounced yet, but to all appearance it will work out at not less than $4000."
It caught many people by surprise, but here's the thing - it was a joke. We weren't behind it, I don't know who was, but I'm quite sure it's not happenening. :)
The original link is over here.
The original link is over here.
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