Given the current economic climate, businesses have had to trim the fat in every way possible. One of the key areas of concentration for quite some time has been a growing need to make the most efficient use of technical resources, in the form of increased output with less energy consumption and a smaller footprint. This has attributed to the current push towards technical innovation in the forms of virtualization, cloud computing, and hardware efficiency.Intel and Sun have teamed together in creating midmarketinnovators.com

The new Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard (non-touchscreen) Samsung Propel Pro i627 smartphone is now available from AT&T Wireless. 

The phone’s direct AT&T price is $149 after a two-year service agreement and a mail-in rebate, but there are better deals to be had. 

Amazon has the Propel Pro for $99, no mail-in rebate required, but doesn’t yet have any units in stock.  You can place an order for the Propel Pro at Amazon and the phone will ship when in stock.

LetsTalk.com has the best deal going: the Propel Pro is free after a $100 mail-in rebate (and the obligatory service agreement).  To view this deal, click the link, then scroll to the bottom of the page.

Back in February, Verizon sought to revolution the home phone with the introduction of its Hub. Half telephone, half Internet tablet, the Hub really was a huge departure from the norm for Verizon Wireless and a unique device overall.Today, we’re learning that the carrier is hoping to add a bit of oomph already by preparing an application market for the Hub, and we’re even told that a Hub 2 (which detaches the phone from the screen) is in the works. The Hub will soon come bundled with a specialized app mart,

After Time Warner proposed what would amount to a $150/month unlimited Internet plan, the company has received a massive influx of complaints from customers. As a result, Time Warner has decided to delay the rollout of the tiered pricing plan in both Texas cities by a few months. Originally, Time Warner planned to roll out tiered pricing tests in San Antonio and Austin this summer. As a result of customers’ reactions, Time Warner now plans to delay the meter program until October. San Antonio and Austin customers

Many positive commentaries have been written about Intel’s current flagship Core i7 processors and its companion X58 Express chipset, due to the solid performance gains offered by the platform. In addition to the increased performance offered by Core i7 processors though, the X58 chipset also brings with it native support for ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU technologies–provided support is available in the BIOS–as well as support for the flexible triple channel memory controller integrated into the

We knew that spam e-mails drained our time, resources, and productivity, but apparently spam is also contributing to global warming. Security-technology company, McAfee, and the technology-research company, ICF International, have just released a joint study that claims that the 62 trillion spam e-mails sent in 2008 generated approximately 33 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy per year. To put that in perspective, the study states that is the “equivalent to the electricity used in 2.4 million homes in the United

In a move that signals a firm and ongoing commitment to advanced semiconductor technology leadership, IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon Technologies, Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., and STMicroelectronics have defined and are jointly developing a 28-nanometer (nm), high-k metal gate (HKMG), low-power bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology. GLOBALFOUNDRIES sent me an e-mail already this morning that states they plan to accept 28nm designs in 2H10 in Fab 1 in Dresden with production shortly thereafter. Looks like processors are about to get much smaller in the years to come.

Preliminary results working with early access clients and partners indicate that the 28nm technology platform can provide a 40 percent performance improvement and a more than 20 percent reduction in power all in a chip that is half the size compared with 45nm technology. The high-k metal gate implementation allows one of the industrys smallest SRAM cells at 0.120 square microns, with low minimum voltage operation and competitive performance, leakage and stability.

MSI officially announced the X340 Ultra-Slim notebook. According to MSI, the X340 is the world’s lightest and slimmest 13-inch notebook. To back that claim up, the X340 measures just 6 mm at its thinnest point and 19.8 mm at its widest point. The notebook weighs 1.3 kilograms (approx. 2.87 pounds) with the battery installed. The notebook incorporates an Intel Core2 Solo ULV Processor, up to 2GB of DDR2 667/800Mhz memory, up to a 500GB hard drive, and integrated GMA 4500MHD graphics. The X340’s casing features

Nero Adds NVIDIA CUDA AccelerationNero Move it utilizes NVIDIA CUDA architecture to accelerate video encoding time, decrease CPU usage Nero, creators of liquid media technology, today previewed the latest version of Nero Move it, which now features support for the NVIDIA CUDA architecture, at the CeBIT trade fair. Available as a free update to current Nero Move it customers in April, this new version includes impressive accelerated video encoding times and a decrease in CPU usage to enable users to enjoy even

The first quarter of the year was rough for computer sales, but the growing appeal of lower-priced laptops and netbooks kept demand from sinking even lower. Those low-end models also helped propel Hewlett-Packard into the position of No. 1 vendor in the United States, as the Palo Alto company surpassed Dell in this country for the first time since at least 2001.

HP, which has long been the worldwide leader in PC sales, saw growth in overall shipment volume and improved its share of both the global and U.S. markets. Gartner analysts credited the company's broad portfolio of desktops, laptops and mini-notebooks, which appealed to cash-strapped consumers looking for a bargain, as well as an aggressive distribution network that helped improve sales to business customers. IDC's O'Donnell agreed, while offering another observation: He said his research shows HP has a stronger appeal to younger buyers than Dell. Younger customers may have been more inclined to buy a new laptop despite the recession.