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Intel, EU spar over probe, Dell makes a big buy

25.09.2009
Dell hopes to beef up its IT services after it revealed plans to buy Perot Systems this week. Dell hopes the purchase will give Perot Systems an international presence and provide the PC manufacturer with more customers for its hardware. The European Union's antitrust probe against Intel became interesting this week when the E.U. released e-mails detailing the deals the chip maker made to control the market. Finally, Google's Android celebrated its first birthday this week. Instead of cake, we have an analysis on how it is faring in the competitive and crowded mobile-phone space.

1. , and

: Dell will spend US$3.9 billion to buy Perot Systems and expand its IT service offerings. The deal, announced Monday, further increases the rivalry between Dell and Hewlett-Packard. The companies currently face off in the hardware market and will now compete on services. HP purchased Electronic Data Systems in 2008 to bolster its services division. Some analysts praised the deal, saying Dell needs additional revenue streams as hardware sales are decreasing.

2. and : The E.U. and Intel on Monday squared off on the government's antitrust probe against the company. The E.U. revealed e-mails from computer makers showing how Intel tried to block rival Advanced Micro Devices from the hardware market. One e-mail discussed a deal between Lenovo and Intel that resulted in AMD's chips being excluded from Lenovo notebooks. Intel responded the same day and accused European regulators of trying to find the company guilty and ignoring evidence that went against its "predisposed view."

3. and : The U.S. Federal Communications Commission chairman will seek to formalize net neutrality rules that bar Internet service providers from blocking or hindering traffic on their networks. Current FCC broadband policy allows the regulator to investigate supposed net neutrality violations on a situational basis, but official regulations are lacking. In a new move, applying net neutrality to mobile broadband would be studied under the FCC's proposed terms. Predictably, telecom carriers questioned the need for regulation and claimed the rules would stifle innovation while public-advocacy groups cheered the measure.

4. : A Google plug-in speeds up the way Internet Explorer (IE) handles JavaScript, according to a test Computerworld conducted. Results showed that Microsoft's IE 8 worked 9.6 times faster with the Chrome Frame plug-in, which uses the WebKit rendering and JavaScript engines from Google's Chrome browser to give a speed boost. Google claimed that the plug-in will speed up the lethargic IE and allow it to support additional standards, both of which are necessary for running Google's online collaboration applications.