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All the entries posted on September 05, 2007.
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Home > Plugged In > Archives > 2007 > September > 05
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Michael Dell says he had no role in accounting scandal
In his first public comments addressing his knowledge of the Dell Inc. accounting scandal, CEO Michael Dell said Wednesday that he was in the dark while others were cooking books to reach performance targets.
“I was not involved in or aware of any of the accounting irregularities,” Dell told investors at the Citigroup global technology conference in New York. “Certainly I’m not proud of what occurred at our company, but I am proud of the company overall and I take responsibility for making sure those issues are addressed.”
The company plans to restate four years of earnings, a move that could cost $150 million in net income.
“Our company has undertaken a set of extraordinary processes to discover and root this out,” Dell said. “What you have now at Dell is really a new team that is addressing all of the issues that were raised in the investigation.”
(File Photo of Michael Dell by David Ho)
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Live from Apple’s iPod event in San Francisco
Apple is refreshing its entire line of iPods beginning today including a new Wi-Fi capable, touch-screen version modeled after its iPhone, Steve Jobs just announced. Apple is also slashing the price of its 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399 to try and boost holiday sales.
The newest member of the iPod family - called iPod “Touch” - will have the same size screen of the iPhone - 3.5 inches - but is much thinner. The device looks exactly like an iPhone - but minus the cell phone features. It will have Wi-Fi capabilities, however, and will come with Apple’s Safari Web browser, a direct link to online video site YouTube and also a link to a new “iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store” so you can buy songs anywhere, anytime with the device. Through an interesting deal with coffee retailer Starbucks, the device will also let users of the new iPod Touch and iPhone to automatically download songs as they’re playing at most Starbucks locations.
The 8GB model will cost $299; the 16GB model will cost $399. Battery life is 22 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video playback. Both models will be available later this month.
The new and improved iPod “Nano,” meanwhile, is about half the size of the current version and significantly thinner. It comes with a 2-inch screen for video and photos (compared to 2.5 inches on the bigger versions) an updated user interface. The new nanos will cost $199 for an 8 GB version and $149 for a 4 GB version. The battery will last 24 hours for audio playback and 5 hours for video, according to Jobs. Also included with the new nano are three video games; others will be avaialble for download from iTunes.
The iPod “Classic” - as Jobs just renamed it- will be thinner and come with more space and better battery life. The new 80 GB version will cost $249. A new 160 GB version - which Jobs says will hold 40,000 songs - will cost $349.
Apple is also refreshing its screen-less “Shuffle” with new colors, including green, blue, gray, red. They’ll still cost $79.
Earlier, Steve Jobs took the stage at San Francisco’s Moscone West convention center to talk about Apple Inc.’s much-anticipated new iPods and updates to its iTunes music and video online store.
Beginning tonight, Jobs says, Apple will release a new downloadable version of iTunes that among other things will let user download ringtones from songs and sync them to their iPhones. Ringtones will cost $1.98 or 99 cents if users already own the song. They’ll be available next week through the new iTunes.
Jobs also showed off some pretty impressive growth numbers for iTunes. Customers have downloaded 600 million copies of iTunes and downloaded 3 billion songs and 100 million TV shows, he said.
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At the technology bazaar in Singapore
SINGAPORE — Imagine Fry’s Electronics, only four stories high and with dozens of vendors competing to snag your business. Welcome to Sim Lim Square, one of the technology malls in Singapore.
This is not your neighborhood U.S. mall. Rather than a one-stop shopping center — a place to get your jeans, an iPhone and a slice of California pizza (whatever that is) — malls in Singapore tend to focus on one set of products. A furniture mall here, a technology mall there.
Sim Lim is a geek’s paradise; for example, it has everything you could possibly need to build a computer. While many of the vendors sell finished, brand-name computers, they also sell all the parts to put together a so-called “white box” PC. Buy a chassis in one stall, get your memory in the next, pick out your hard drive a floor below.
With a little haggling, one can visit a dozen different stores and put together a souped-up machine for a scaled-back price. Up to you to fix it if it breaks down, though.
As for brand names, there’s Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Lenovo, Packard Bell, and NEC. There’s even an Apple authorized reseller (displaying a Macbook that was running Windows XP, by the way).
But no sign of Dell at Sim Lim. My guide, IDC analyst Reuben Tan, said the company is in talks with Singapore electronics store chains to get their PCs on store shelves. One of those chains, Harvey Norman, looks a lot more like Best Buy than a market. Somehow, it seems to fit Dell better.
Meanwhile, I sampled some Singaporean cuisine — fish-head curry.
Passed on the eyeball. Like pretty much all the food around Singapore, it was outstanding.
I decided not to risk the quality experience — I’m not sure I had a rule against eating any food that comes out of a “socket,” — but I adopted one when Reuben Tan, a tech analyst with IDC, offered it up.
Reuben says it’s a delicacy, and people will joust for the eyeball. Of course, he didn’t eat it, either.