SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that is has appointed D. Scott Mercer to its board of directors. Mr. Mercer brings to SanDisk more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry, in both senior executive and board positions. "We are pleased to welcome such a recognized industry executive to SanDisk's board," said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief executive officer, SanDisk. "Scott further deepens and strengthens the leadership capabilities of our board, and brings valuable experience in the storage industry."

Mr. Mercer also currently serves as a Director of Polycom, Inc. and QLogic Corporation. Previously, Mr. Mercer was the Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman of the Board of Conexant Systems, Inc., interim Chief Executive Officer and Director at Adaptec, Inc., and served as the Chief Financial Officer of Western Digital Corporation. Mr. Mercer also held senior operating and finance roles at Dell, Inc., LSI Corporation and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mercer has previously held board positions at Palm, Inc., SMART Modular Technologies (WWH), Inc., Alantec Corporation, NetRatings, Inc., and several private companies. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from California Polytechnic University.

At this year's IBC (International Broadcasting Convention), AMD is collaborating with outstanding industry leaders -- Adobe, Autodesk, Blackmagic Design, Dell, Fusion-io, and Supermicro -- to showcase video production workflows with a variety of 4K sources using AMD FirePro professional graphics. These demonstrations feature compute- and graphics-intensive animation, display, and content creation supported by a host of creative hardware and software collaborations.

AMD is pleased to showcase ground breaking demonstrations at IBC 2013 powered by AMD FirePro graphics:

• First public showing of real-time 4K color correction with Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 10 and Supermicro with multiple GPU support;
• First implementation of edge blending, image warping, and color correction with Scalable Display solution based on AMD FirePro DOPP (Display Output Post-Processing) feature;
• New Direct Graphics-Memory Access features for low-latency SDI input or output directly from AMD FirePro W-series graphics;
• New Dell mobile workstation lineup with AMD FirePro graphics;
• 4K color calibration, 2D / 3D video effects and post production using OpenCL in Adobe Premiere Pro CC;
• Integrated stereo camera within Autodesk 3ds Max with support for Active Stereo;
• OpenCL-accelerated Bullet Physics extension for Autodesk Maya 2014.

Dell today announced that, based on a preliminary vote tally from the special meeting of stockholders, Dell stockholders have approved the proposal in which Michael Dell, Dell's Founder, Chairman and CEO, will acquire Dell in partnership with global technology investment firm Silver Lake Partners.

In connection with the transaction, Dell stockholders will receive $13.75 in cash for each share of Dell common stock they hold, plus payment of a special cash dividend of $0.13 per share to stockholders of record as of a date prior to the effective time of the merger, for total consideration of $13.88 per share in cash. The agreement also guarantees the regular quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share for the fiscal third quarter would be paid to holders of record as of a date prior to closing. The total transaction is valued at approximately $24.9 billion.

Alienware, the pioneer in high-performance gaming systems, announced today that its flagship gaming desktop, the Alienware Aurora, has been reinvigorated with the latest performance processors and graphics to provide gamers with the ultimate gaming experience. Consistent with the Alienware heritage of always pushing the boundaries with technology and performance, the new Aurora desktop will inspire hardcore gamers around the world to push their own limits and achieve higher scores with its compelling features, innovative and bold design, and extreme performance.

The Aurora is now available with the latest Intel Core i7 processors including an Extreme Edition option, processors with as many as 6 cores and 15 MB of cache, and overclock speeds up to 4.3 GHz with Turbo Boost technology. These new options are part of Intel's new Ivy Bridge-E 4000-series family of processors announced at the Intel Developer Forum 2013 in San Francisco.

Dell today announced it has expanded its workstation portfolio with the most powerful mobile and tower workstations, the Dell Precision M4800, M6800, T3610, T5610 and T7610, designed to seamlessly run the leading content creation, engineering, scientific and other professional software applications.

Updated with the latest high-performance, workstation-class processors, graphics, storage, display and other technologies, the new systems demonstrate Dell's continued commitment to delivering unparalleled performance and reliability that creative, engineering and scientific professionals require to quickly develop and realize innovative ideas.

Dell today introduced a boldly reimagined monitor experience with the launch of its Dell 20 Touch Monitor (E2014T), Dell 23 Touch Monitor (P2314T) and Dell 27 Touch Monitor (P2714T). Offering a wide range of features and great price points, Dell's new monitors bring the touch experience to a broad selection of users. The Dell 20 Touch Monitor, Dell 23 Touch Monitor, and Dell 27 Touch Monitor enable intuitive interaction with content onscreen by tapping, sliding, swiping, turning, pinching and stretching with their fingers - it is that simple and natural with Windows 8.

MHL connectivity allows users to easily display content from smartphones and tablets directly onscreen. From the engaging touch experience to seamless connectivity, these new Dell touch monitors provide exceptional reliability with excellent screen performance.

Dell today unveiled the newest additions to its secure, manageable and reliable line of commercial PCs: the Latitude 7000 Series Ultrabooks, Latitude 5000 Series and Latitude 3000 Series laptops. With this new suite, Dell balances sophisticated design, quality construction and uncompromised durability to offer businesses of all sizes a wide variety of solutions. The Latitude 7000, 5000, and 3000 Series are available with touch display options, leading the way for business touch devices that enable better interaction with customers, enhanced student engagement, improved patient care, and collaboration among knowledge workers.

"These exciting new additions to the Latitude line provide our commercial customers what they've been asking for by bringing touch capability to the workspace at desirable price points," said Kirk Schell, vice president, commercial computing group at Dell. "The new Latitude 7000 Series builds on the success of the award-winning XPS and Latitude 6430u to redefine the corporate laptop, complete with security, manageability, reliability and beautiful design. And with the Latitude 5000 and 3000 Series, we've addressed the needs of today's dynamic workforce by enabling easy entry into business-class computing."

Dell today announced fiscal 2014 second quarter results, with revenue of $14.5 billion, GAAP earnings of $0.12 per share and non-GAAP earnings of $0.25 per share. The company's Enterprise Solutions, Services and Software (ES&S) revenue was $5.8 billion, growing 9 percent year over year, including the benefit of the Quest acquisition. In End User Computing, revenue was down 5 percent year over year.

"In a challenging environment, we remain committed to our strategy and our customers, and we're encouraged by increasing customer interest in our end-to-end solutions offerings and continued growth in our Enterprise Solutions, Services and Software businesses," said Brian Gladden, Dell chief financial officer.

Dell unveiled its newest line of Ultrabooks, the Latitude 7000 series, which includes the 12.5-inch E7240, and 14-inch E7440. Both feature otherwise similar specs, which should narrow your search down to how big your Ultrabook should really be. Both are about 20 mm thick, feature 1366 x 768 pixels resolution with their displays, Core i3 "Haswell" 1.70 GHz dual-core processors, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD storage on the E7240, and 320 GB HDD storage on the E7440. The Latitude E7240 is priced at US $1,169, while the E7440 goes for $1,049.

Last week we had reported that Dell is working on a new power-packed mobile workstation dubbed the Precision M3800. At SIGGRAPH, Dell will take the wraps off their next-generation portable workstation. On their corporate blog, the company confirmed much of the rumored specifications which include:

• 4th Generation Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU
• NVIDIA Quadro GPU
• 16GB RAM
• QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) multi-touch display
• 1TB HDD, or 512GB SSD

Despite being loaded to the brim, the Dell Precision M3800 will compress everything into a 0.7" thick body, which weighs in at 4.5 pounds. There's still no word on the pricing, but that should slip out soon. Whatever it'll be, it sure won't be cheap.

At SIGGRAPH, Dell unveiled its first UltraSharp monitor featuring Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) native resolution. The new UltraSharp 32 from Dell, as the name suggests, is a 32-incher. Based on an indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) panel, its color gamut spans across a gargantuan 1.07 billion colors, a 64 times increase over what conventional monitors offer, 16.7 million. The monitor will include software that lets you calibrate it including hardware access to the LUT (lookup table). Dell plans a commercial roll-out of the UltraSharp 32 in Q4-2013.

Dutch site Tweakers.net has reported that Dell is planning to introduce a new Precision series mobile workstation laptop. Dubbed the Precision M3800, this workstation on-the-go will pack a super high resolution display to the tune of 3,200 x 1,800 pixels. Phew, that's a lot of pixels, and all of them will be spread across 15.6-inches of diagonal real estate. Also in tow is a powerful Intel Core i7-4702MQ quad-core Haswell processor, 16 gigs of RAM, option between a 1 TB HDD or 512 GB SSD (hint, pick the SSD) and of course, the 15.6" 3,200 x 1,800 display (which can also be swapped with a 1080p panel... Right!)

The Dell Precision M3800 will reportedly measure just 18mm in thickness (0.7 inches) and weigh less than an average newborn, in just 2KG (about 4.4 pounds). The publication mentions that the starting price of the workstation will be $1,699, but could go up to $1,999 (you got to pay for the pixels). Of course, nothing's official. All we can do is wait for Dell to go official with the device, and hope that the specifications mentioned come true.

Dell today announced an expanded and stronger Dell Precision workstation portfolio that includes the smallest tower workstation chassis in its class, the Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor, and the world's most powerful rack workstation, the Dell Precision R7610. In addition, the Dell Precision family features a more powerful and reliable Dell Precision T1700 Mini-Tower rounding out a workstation portfolio that offers increased performance, dependability and smart design for entry-level and high-end workstation users.

Industry's Smallest Entry-Level Tower Workstations
Offering powerful workstation performance at near desktop PC prices, the new Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor (SFF) is the smallest, approximately 30 percent smaller than competitive systems, and lightest workstation in its class allowing IT to easily deploy an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certified workstation almost anywhere, regardless of space constraints.

DGM (aka Digimate) rolled out a trio of IPS LED PC monitors covering the 24-inch, 27-inch, and 30-inch categories. The best part? These aren't the usual 1080p tripe. The 24-inch IPS-2402WDH features a scrollwheel-pleasing 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution, 178°/178° viewing angles, 350 cd/m² brightness, 1000:1 static contrast ratio with dynamic mega-contrast, and 5 ms response time. It features in-built stereo speakers, display inputs include DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub.

Moving on, the 27-inch IPS-2703WPH features a reinforced glass surface (we're guessing some Corning Gorilla magic at play here), 2560 x 1440-pixel resolution, 6 ms response time, and other vital-stats identical to its little sibling. Display inputs include dual-link DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, and D-Sub. Lastly there's the pack-leading IPS-3004WPH. This 30-incher features 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution, 6 ms response time, 370 cd/m² maximum brightness, and the same connectivity as its 27-inch sibling. Internally, it features the same IPS panel used in Dell U3014, which features GB-LED backlighting. DGM didn't finalize pricing.

Even as Corsair is looking to raise $78 million through an initial public offering (IPO), with a share price of $13, the company is reportedly in talks with Francisco Partners, a tech startup-focused venture capital company, over its possible acquisition. Francisco Partners was part of the consortium, which was led by Blackstone Group, to acquire Dell. This came to light when CNN unearthed an regulatory filing (PDF). Another theory doing rounds states that Corsair and Francisco Partners could be exploring other options than a buyout. In 2011, Corsair reported a revenue of $455 million, with net income of $19 million. In Q1 2012, it reported $132 million revenue, with $3 million net income. Corsair specializes in a wide range of gaming- and enthusiast-PC hardware, and peripherals.

Dell today launched the Latitude 3330, designed to help schools and educators teach tomorrow's leaders while providing excellent value school districts. The new laptop offers the robust computing features required to maximize learning productivity, compatibility with Dell's existing solutions and services for education and support for personalized learning opportunities in the classroom.

A snap to deploy, the Latitude 3330 easily integrates into a school's existing IT infrastructure, speeding up time to classroom and saving time and money. It's sleek, lightweight, and sturdy design stands up to the demands of even the youngest of students, fits easily on classroom desks and in backpacks and moves easily from classroom to classroom or home and back. The new laptop offers no compromise performance with full laptop productivity and all day battery life with a 6-cell battery.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 76.3 million units in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), down -13.9% compared to the same quarter in 2012 and worse than the forecast decline of -7.7%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. The extent of the year-on-year contraction marked the worst quarter since IDC began tracking the PC market quarterly in 1994. The results also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment declines.

Despite some mild improvement in the economic environment and some new PC models offering Windows 8, PC shipments were down significantly across all regions compared to a year ago. Fading Mini Notebook shipments have taken a big chunk out of the low-end market while tablets and smartphones continue to divert consumer spending. PC industry efforts to offer touch capabilities and ultraslim systems have been hampered by traditional barriers of price and component supply, as well as a weak reception for Windows 8. The PC industry is struggling to identify innovations that differentiate PCs from other products and inspire consumers to buy, and instead is meeting significant resistance to changes perceived as cumbersome or costly.

Dell today announced the availability of three flagship monitors designed to provide users with an exceptional visual experience and outstanding screen performance. The new U3014, U2713H and U2413 displays each offer one of the industry's highest-quality and most advanced technology experiences, with uncompromising screen performance, precise, consistent colors, great usability and a wide array of connectivity options. The U3014 is Dell's largest screen size to date, while all three monitors come with PremierColor for true-to life, accurate, customizable colors that cover industry standards. Dell also announced a Single Monitor Arm (MSA14) and Dual Monitor Stand (MDS14), the first arm and stand optimized for Dell monitors with Dell Quick Release mounts.

Dell Inc. today announced it has signed a definitive merger agreement under which Michael Dell, Dell's Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in partnership with global technology investment firm Silver Lake, will acquire Dell.

Under the terms of the agreement, Dell stockholders will receive $13.65 in cash for each share of Dell common stock they hold, in a transaction valued at approximately $24.4 billion. The price represents a premium of 25 percent over Dell's closing share price of $10.88 on Jan. 11, 2013, the last trading day before rumors of a possible going-private transaction were first published; a premium of approximately 35 percent over Dell's enterprise value as of Jan. 11, 2013; and a premium of approximately 37 percent over the average closing share price during the previous 90 calendar days ending Jan. 11, 2013. The buyers will acquire for cash all of the outstanding shares of Dell not held by Mr. Dell and certain other members of management.

According to a new market research report, "Global Micro Servers Market (2013 - 2018), By Processor Type (Intel, Arm, Amd), Component (Hardware, Software, Operating System), Application (Media Storage, Data Centers, Analytics, Cloud Computing) & Geography (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Row)", published by MarketsandMarkets, the total market for next generation memory is expected to reach $26.55 billion by 2018 at an estimated CAGR of 62.3% from 2013 to 2018.

In a simpler terminology, micro servers can be termed as servers that multiple mobile processor chips, consume low power, use less space and are specifically used by small to medium - sized businesses. Micro servers find their major application in media storage and internet data centre especially for applications like lightweight web serving, simple content delivery nodes and low end dedicated hosting. It was identified that cloud computing and analytics are some other applications of micro servers which are growing rapidly. Micro servers presently account for 2.3% of the total server sales however looking at the current growth rate, in the next five years it is expected to reach 25 to 30% per cent of the global server market.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 89.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012 (4Q12), down 6.4% compared to the same quarter in 2011 and worse than the forecasted decline of 4.4%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Although the quarter marked the beginning of a new stage in the PC industry with the launch of Windows 8, its impact did not quickly change recently sluggish PC demand, and the PC market continued to take a back seat to competing devices and sustained economic woes. As a result, the fourth quarter of 2012 marked the first time in more than five years that the PC market has seen a year-on-year decline during the holiday season.

The lackluster fourth quarter results were not entirely surprising given the spate of challenges the PC market faced over the course of 2012. IDC had expected the second half of 2012 to be difficult. Consumers as well as PC vendors and distribution channels continued to be diverted from PC sales by ongoing demand for tablets and smartphones. In addition, questions about the use of touch on Windows PCs vs. tablets slowed commercial spending on PCs.

Expanding upon the success of the Latitude 10 standard configuration launched in October 2012, Dell today announced the Latitude 10 essentials configuration to offer a secure, manageable and durable enterprise-ready tablet option to budget-conscious customers. Ideal for organizations such as schools and small businesses, the new configuration offers outstanding value with essential productivity and collaboration features and a full-featured Windows 8 tablet experience. The new Latitude 10 offers consumer customers rich entertainment features for movies, books and games, as well as compatibility with familiar applications and accessories to transition seamlessly between work and play.

"Dell's heritage is rooted in meeting the needs of our customers with cost effective, tailored solutions that empower them to reach their potential, be it in the office, classroom or hospital," said Neil Hand, vice president, Dell end user computing products. "This legacy, combined with our portfolio of new enterprise services and product offerings, such as the Latitude 10, enables our customers to deploy the latest technology while balancing IT control and end-user productivity."

Dell today unveiled a solution that extends the value of cloud client computing to the next level, enabling people to manage the increasing convergence of their work lives and personal lives by using a compact, portable device to access not only secured professional assets, but also personal content via the cloud. The ultra-compact multimedia-capable device, called Dell Wyse "Project Ophelia," is slightly larger than a USB memory stick and enables users to convert any capable TV or monitor into a functioning interactive personal display device without using a computer, tablet or smartphone.

Dell's XPS 13 Ultrabook is all set to get a 1080p (1920 x 1080 resolution) screen option, without changes in its size, later this month, according to a company spokesperson. The 13-incher has been sticking around with drab 1366 x 768 resolution, and will join several other Ultrabook manufacturers in making 1080p a norm for notebooks with over 11.6-inch screen size. It remains to be seen how the 1080p screen option is priced over the current base model's $790 price-tag.

Dell today detailed its strategy for developing and deploying PCs that enable new user experiences while also meeting enterprise IT demands around security, manageability and reliability. The company recently introduced a completely redesigned portfolio of personal computing devices, services and solutions that let people move easily between work and personal applications. The devices also help enterprise IT departments deliver solutions that enable personal productivity while also protecting sensitive corporate data.

New Client Devices
Dell has recently introduced a completely redesigned platform of new commercial and consumer tablets and PCs that combine a consumer-friendly aesthetic with advanced business client functionality. These new form factors were created to capitalize on the advances in new operating systems such as Windows 8 and make touch computing available to more end-users than ever before.