(Press Release) Toys R Us Inc. said on Wednesday that its online store sold out its first batch of XBox video game units in 30 minutes on Tuesday. Toysrus.com and its online partner Amazon.com Inc. began preselling the new XBox video game console this week, but only in a bundle for $200 above the suggested retail price. The XBox, from Microsoft Corp. , will be available at retail outlets on Nov. 8 with a suggested price of $299. However, Amazon and Toysrus.com sell the XBox for $499 with a number of games and accessories included. A spokesman for Toysrus.com said that its entire batch sold out online in about 30 minutes, but would not disclose exactly how many such bundled units had been sold. He said the next pre-sale offer opens Sept. 11.
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(Reuters) Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina Wednesday defended her company's plans to buy rival Compaq Computer Corp., even as the shares of both companies plummeted, knocking the deal's value down by 22 percent over the past two days. The deal, which was announced late Monday night, has driven down both Hewlett and Compaq shares, pushing the value of the deal down to just over $19 billion from the $25 billion price tag it was valued at when it was announced late on Labor Day. HP shares fell 66 cents, or more than 3 percent, to $18.21, and Compaq fell 67 cents, or 6 percent, to $10.41 in heavy trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Speaking to investors at a conference sponsored by SG Cowen in Boston, Fiorina said the deal shouldn't have given Wall Street such a shock, given the increasing demands for a wider range of products and services from computer customers.
"We think this combination is not only a clear creator of shareholder value in the relatively short-term, realistic conservative synergies that would make this accretive in the first full year of operation and synergies that we know how to direct,'' Fiorina said. "But, more importantly, we think that it provides us with a very compelling platform for growth as this industry evolves and as customer buying patterns continue to change,'' she added.
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(Product Announcement) Adaptec, Inc. has announced at RetailVision a new line of desktop products that bring consumers easy-to-use, high-speed multimedia solutions. Adaptec's launching three new FireWire/1394 products: DVpics Plus, FireConnect for Notebooks and DuoConnect at RetailVision that allow consumers to easily capture, edit and create DVD movies on their CD-R/W or DVD recordable drives in a short amount of time. At this event, Adaptec plans to meet with industry leading brick/mortar and virtual click/mortar retailers. Adaptec will also be showcasing its new consumer-oriented FireWire/1394 digital video and USB 2.0 solutions. Demonstrations will also be provided of Adaptec's SCSI, Macintosh, laptop and other connectivity technologies.
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(Reuters) Hewlett-Packard said on Wednesday it could cut up to 356 jobs in France under its $20 billion merger with Compaq, a deal which is likely to lead to 15,000 job cuts worldwide. U.S. Hewlett-Packard, which employs 5,020 people in France and is based just outside Paris, said it met with staff representatives to discuss two possible plans. One would lead to cutting around 200 jobs at its Grenoble site, 30 at Isle d'Abeau and around 120 marketing positions. The other plan would involve closing its PC plant at Isle d'Abeau in Isere, although the company didn't say how many people work at the site.
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(Product Announcement) Today, consumers can find 17-inch LCD flat panel displays for $799. Available at Wal-Mart and Microcenter stores, radius Rad-7 monitor is the newest addition to the KDS line of color monitors, notebook computers and consumer electronics. A true manufacturer, KDS is able to be a technology partner to consumers by providing quality technology at an affordable price.
The radius Rad-7 includes a custom mouse and keyboard that match the silver-colored monitor. Like all KDS products, the monitor is included in the KDS Advanced Replacement Express Service (KARES) program that reduces a user's downtime by providing a replacement unit in the unlikely event that service is needed. In addition, the radius Rad-7 is protected by a three-year warranty, which includes parts and labor.
Measuring 16.3 inches wide by 16.5 inches high by 6.9 inches deep, and carrying a net weight of 13.2 pounds, the Rad-7 takes up less than half the space of standard 17-inch CRT displays. The 17-inch viewable screen has a maximum resolution of 1280 by 1024 at 75 hertz and is virtually emission free. This new flat screen retains a more even focus from edge-to-edge and catches less glare than curved screens.
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Elsewhere on the web today:
AcidHardware has posted a new PC2100 DDR Round-up:
"DDR RAM whilst only offering about a 15% performance increase over SDRAM has seen a surge in popularity ever since its mainstream integration on the original Nvidia Geforce 256 graphics card. Ever since then, DDR has only really been seen as an option for AMD equipped systems. Although there has been the option of the VIA Apollo Pro 266 chipset which allows you to utilize DDR ram on Socket370 motherboards it has yet to catch on."
3d Retreat takes a look at the GearGrip CRT:
"CaseAce, the same company that brought the great LAN party product GearGrip Pro, has come up with another great product, a monitor carrying harness. The new product is the GearGrip CRT."
Review-Zone has a new ASUS A7M266 Motherboard Review:
"So are you building a new PC powered by the all powerful AMD Athlon? Or maybe your thinking about upgrading your old Athlon motherboard, so you can use that fast DDR RAM? We review the ASUS A7M266 motherboard if it can win the competition with the other DDR based motherboards out there."
T-break reviews Gainward's GeForce 2 PRO/450 card:
"The Gainward GeForce 2 Pro / 450 came without any ram sinks. We wondered how much it would affect the overclocking potential of the card. The cooler on the GPU is basically a trimmed down version of the Thermaltake BlueOrb."
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