OEMs

You can almost picture Microsoft's longtime hardware partners offering up polite, but terse, applause for the newly unveiled Surface tablets. Most were mum yesterday after the event.

How else are they supposed to react? For companies such as Hewlett-Packard or Acer, which have depended on Microsoft and its Windows operating system for its PCs and laptops, this is a slap in the face.

At best, Microsoft's Surface is implicit commentary that the original equipment manufacturers can't cut it in the tablet arena. At worst, Microsoft means to stake a dominant position, leaving even less room in a … Read more

While just about any navigation system on the market will get you where you're going, not all of them are created equally. This is especially true in the world of OEM in-car navigation systems where screen size, interface design, feature sets, and (most importantly) price vary wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some automakers offer cutting-edge GPS navigators with innovative features that you'll wonder how you ever got along without. Others will make you wish you'd skipped the pricey navigation package and just packed a smartphone.

We've taken a look back on the most recent OEM navigation systems to have graced the Car Tech garage and picked out a few manufacturers, in no particular order, that consistently knock it out of the park when it comes offering the best in-dash technology for getting from where you are to wherever you want to be. … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO-- Google Senior Vice President Andy Rubin made yet another appearance at the Oracle v. Google trial at the U.S. District Court of Northern California here this afternoon.

Called by Oracle, the focus this time was to learn more about Rubin's knowledge related to patents belonging to Sun Microsystems.

Right from the beginning, the tension in the courtroom bumped up a notch as Oracle attorney Michael Jacobs began his questioning. Similar to his first few appearances on the stand in this case, Rubin responded by evading most of the questions throughout his testimony.

When Jacobs commenced by … Read more

Going through lists of amps, speakers, and subwoofers in a quest to upgrade your car's audio can be baffling. OEM Audio Plus removes the confusion, at least for Scion owners, by providing a complete package.

CNET tested the company's audio upgrade in the Scion tC. OEM Audio Plus also offers sound system upgrades for the xB and iQ, and is working on a package for the FR-S and xD.

The upgrade consists of replacements for all the existing speakers, and the addition of an eight-channel 360-watt amp and an 8-inch subwoofer with a 130-watt amp to power it. … Read more

A Taipei-based technology news site has been publishing a steady stream of flak centered on Intel's Ultrabook laptop strategy. Intel counters, however, that this is little more than rumor and speculation.

Over the last week or so, DigiTimes has been offering up almost a daily dose of grievances, seemingly emanating from that region's suppliers, including ODMs (original design manufacturers) and OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

For example, on its front door as of Tuesday night PT, the publication has three articles critical of Intel's Ultrabook strategy.

The Ultrabook is defined roughly as an ultraportable laptop under 0.8 … Read more

This week we try to help a listener replace her wagon, a Honda Accord owner wants to ditch his busted CD changer, and we explain what the heck "satellite based navigation" means.

• LOL Cars

Microsoft said today that it had sent the first service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to original equipment manufacturers, with a consumer release to follow later this month.

The news comes several weeks after Microsoft's Russian Windows localization team had reported the update as being finalized from its first and only release candidate, and released to manufacturers.

Microsoft says the update will go out to consumers through Windows Update on February 22. TechNet subscribers and Microsoft's volume license customers will get their hands on it a week earlier, on the 16th.

SP1 includes an … Read more

A class action lawsuit against Microsoft has been filed in Italy by a group claiming that it's too difficult to procure a refund for the copies of Windows that come bundled in new PCs.

The case, which was filed in Milan by the Associazione per i Diritti degli Utenti e Consumatori (ADUC), and picked up by The Register earlier today, points to Microsoft's end user license agreement (EULA)--as outlined in various copies of Windows--noting that once users turn their computer on and begin to use it, they are no longer able to return the software for a … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Generally, OEM software isn't of particular interest to consumer product reviewers, but I couldn't help but be drawn in by the sweet-looking user interface (UI) development being shown off by SPB Software at the CTIA Fall 2010 show. This multiplatform solution, called Mobile Shell, is currently up to version 5.0, which is compatible with Windows Mobile, Android, and Symbian operating systems.

The software is aimed at providing carriers with a way to offer a standardized UI across mobile devices, but the truly compelling part is the front-end user experience, which is pretty fantastic from what I'… Read more