Intel is to promote its chief operating officer Brian Krzanich to the role of CEO from 16 May, a move which brings to an end the chip giant’s search for a replacement for Paul Otellini, Mobileworldlive.com reported. Krzanich, 52, will become the sixth CEO in Intel’s history and has been with the world’s largest semiconductor company since 1982.

Apple announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 10 through June 14 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At the five-day conference, developers from around the world will learn about the future of iOS and OS X, enabling them to create incredible new apps with innovative features. WWDC will also feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by over 1,000 Apple engineers, hands-on labs to help developers integrate new technologies, as well as the popular Apple Design Awards, a showcase of the most outstanding apps available through the App Store and Mac App Store. According to reports, tickets were sold out in 2 minutes!

And we don't mean home router or switch, but a complete company. In order to sell Linksys division, Cisco has hired Barclays, Bloomberg reports. Potential sale will probably be far less than $500 million that Cisco originally paid in 2003, as Linksys is a "mature business" with low profit margins. Cisco wants to sell Linksys as part of its strategy to exit consumer businesses while expanding in corporate software and technology services.

Starting December 6, there will be no more free Google Apps for business users. Instead of two versions, there will be one, said Clay Bavor, Director of Product Management, Google Apps in official blog post. Companies of all sizes will sign up for Google premium version, Google Apps for Business, which includes 24/7 phone support for any issue, a 25GB inbox, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee with no scheduled downtime. Pricing is still $50 per user, per year. This change has no impact on existing customers, including those using the free version. Google Apps for Education will be available as a free service for schools and universities.

100 employees). There are two categories: one for students and one for companies. The purpose of the theme "Apps for City Life" is to promote innovations towards the Networked Society by connecting people, things and places to empower individuals and society.

Microsoft has published results of it's "Operation b70", an action to detect and interecept a huge botnet being spread through new PC sales. It sounds scary enough, but this might be the future. Supply chain, with most of the production in China, has proved to be least secure part of the new PC sales. We have fought for better OS, then for additional PC software to protect it, and now we hear that PCs get infected before we even open them.

Intel Developer Forum started on Sept. 11, 2012. As usual, San Francisco event is the biggest of three annual IDF events. This year more than 5000 people attended the opening keynote. David Perlmutter, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Intel Architecture Group (IAG) and Chief Product Officer, gave an introduction speech how its future low-power processors will set a new standard for mobile computing experiences. Next year we should be able to witness the advances of 4th generation Intel Core processors and new concepts for Ultrabook and tablet design. Next generation "Haswell" microarchitecture will reduce the platform idle power by more than 20 times over the 2nd generation, while delivering outstanding performance. Intel will add a new line of even lower-power processors based on the same microarchitecture to its roadmap starting in 2013. These products empasize company's focus to lower the power consumption, enable longer battery life and enable new platform designs, for future mobile devices.

IFA is one of the biggest consumer electronics events in the World. It's held in Berlin, right at the end of the summer. Or, right on time for Back to School shopping spree. Anyway, lots of gadgets are here, some already available, some just as teasers.

Acer founder, Stan Shih, has publicly expressed that Microsoft should stick with its core business—software.  He “recommends” that Microsoft should withdraw from the hardware market because it will have a negative impact on the OEMs that are partnering with Microsoft. “I think Microsoft's getting involved in the hardware business is designed to promote its Win8 OS. But I sincerely recommend they withdraw from the hardware market when they get what they want,” Shih said. Contrary to Shih’s belief that Microsoft’s entrance into the hardware market will hurt OEMs, Bill Gates believes that OEMs and Microsoft can share an eco-system.   Gates wants the Surface to eliminate boundaries between PCs and tablets. The PC market has slowed down in recent years due to increasing consumer interests in tablets.  Shih believes, however, that laptop PCs can remain competitive in the personal computing sector—specifically for students. “For students, laptops with keyboards will still be the best choice,” he said, pointing out that many current tablets lack a physical keyboard.

Fulfilling a promise it made in January, Apple has reworked its employee discount program to include $500 off Mac computers and $250 off of iPads. According to 9to5Mac, this discount stacks with an existing 25 percent off which Apple employees already enjoy. Apple employees, rejoice! While certainly a very generous offer, there do exist some specific limitations. Each employee may only use their discount once every three years and must have been employed at least 90 days. Despite those stipulations, this sounds like a solid way for those who work for Apple to maintain a modern computer throughout their years of service. Interestingly, the discounts specifically exclude the Mac Mini -- presumably because it would be completely free after a 25 percent discount and $500 off. Given that the Apple employs about 47,000 people, there is little doubt it would be giving away quite a few Mac Minis if that weren't the case. Additionally, the brand new Retina display Macbook, a laptop which starts at $2200, appears to be missing from the internal employee portal. Although it hasn't been expressly stricken from purchase, employees won't be able to buy until it appears in the portal -- which may be never. 9to5Mac is also hearing reports of retail store employees getting raises -- in some cases as much as 30 percent more. If what we heard in December was true about Apple Store workers bringing in an average of $278 per hour in revenue, they probably deserve it. The Apple-centric website reckons the average raise is between $2 and $4 per hour, according to their sources.

Source: techspot