Activist investor Carl Icahn sued Dell Incand its board on Thursday, his
latest attempt to derail a $24.4 billion buyout bid by the computer maker's
founder and CEO Michael Dell.
Icahn asked a court to block rule changes Michael Dell has proposed ahead
of a shareholder vote set for Friday. Icahn and his affiliates also want the
court to stop Dell from changing the record date by which shareholders must have
purchased their shares in order to vote.
They want to stop Michael Dell from voting any Dell shares acquired since
February 5 at any annual shareholder meeting. The February 5 date was when his
buyout bid was announced. The lawsuit also seeks the court to bar the company
from changing any shareholder voting requirements.
The lawsuit, filed in the Court of Chancery of Delaware, seeks to force the
company to call an annual shareholder meeting on the same day as the special
meeting on the buyout in case Dell Inc sets a new record date.
"My personal reaction, bombastic," said Larry Hamermesh, a professor at the
Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware, referring to the
lawsuit. "The linchpin of it seems to be that it's inappropriate to move or
create a new record date because that takes advantage of a cynical effort to put
shares in the hands of arbitrageurs who will want to vote for the deal."
Hamermesh pointed out that the judge who is likely to take this case, Leo
Strine, often made the point in the takeover battle by industrial gases
companies Air Products of rival Airgas that arbitrageurs are shareholders with
the same rights.
Icahn, who views Michael Dell's offer as too low, has amassed an 8.7
percent stake in Dell and is leading a charge with Southeastern Asset Management
against the buyout with an offer of his own. He has been campaigning to get Dell
to set a date for the annual shareholder meeting so he can put up his own slate
of directors for the company.
A spokesman for Dell Inc declined to comment on the suit but said Dell
board has always sought to act in accordance with its fiduciary duties.
"Tenuous" talks between the buyout group and Dell's special board committee
for a higher bid are continuing and they're "making progress," CNBC said on
Thursday.
The debate over the go-private transaction has dragged on for months,
jeopardizing the future of the computer maker facing a decline in its core
business of personal computers amid the growing popularity of tablets. Michael
Dell has said a turnaround of Dell should be done away from the scrutiny of
public investors.
THIRD ATTEMPT AT VOTE
A vote on the buyout, which has been postponed twice, is now scheduled for
Friday and sources familiar with the matter have said another adjournment is
unlikely.
The special committee has said it would put the original buyout offer of
$13.65 per share up for a shareholder vote.
Dell's special board committee rejected new voting terms in a revised bid
by Michael Dell and Silver Lake, which raised their offer price last week by 10
cents to $13.75 per share on the condition the voting rules were changed.
Currently, shareholders who abstain are counted as voting against the deal,
but the buyout group wanted those investors to be excluded from the tally.
Michael Dell's unusual demand sparked outrage among major investors, but
the buyout group had said about 27 percent of the unaffiliated shares had not
yet been voted and the presumption that these shares should be treated as if
they had voted against the transaction was unfair.
The votes that have come in so far are split evenly between yes and no,
sources have said, but there appears to be some signs that Michael Dell could
get more votes.
Some of Dell's largest investors, who have abstained from voting on the
buyout, told the company's board this week that they would back the deal at the
buyout group's latest offer price, three sources close to the matter have told
Reuters.
Dell's shares closed up 2.3 percent at $12.96 on the Nasdaq.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
That kind of cross-platform expertise is definitely
Greater than nine months into the terrific revamping known as Windows
eight, a clear vision of its core is lastly beginning to emerge. The baked-in
apps have been streamlined and Windows eight.1 looms, able to polish the a lot
of rough edges located within the original release of your operating technique.
But Microsoft alone can not enhance what exactly is definitely the beating heart
of Windows eight: The Windows Shop.
Windows eight revolves around the Windows Store. Each and every Live Tile that glimmers on the modern-style Begin screen could be the iconic representation of a Windows eight app-and you may only snag Windows 8 apps in Microsoft’s own Windows Retailer. As the Windows Shop goes, so goes the Windows eight knowledge.
How, specifically, is the Windows Shop performing? The apparent indicators are mixed. Windows RT devices can run only modern-style apps, not desktop apps, and they’re tanking difficult. But app submissions picked up steam about the time of Microsoft’s Build conference, culminating in the shattering on the 100,000-app barrier in early July, and they’re still going (relatively) sturdy.
That’s an awesome milestone for Microsoft, but it is nevertheless paltry in comparison with the roughly 1 million apps in Google Play and 900,000 apps in Apple’s App Retailer. So it’s a great time to take the pulse with the Windows Retailer once again: Is one hundred,000 apps sufficient to keep a body pleased? As I did final February, I spent days scouring the Windows Store and taking notes in 5 big categories: games, music apps, video apps, social apps, in addition to a catch-all “other” category-to see how nicely Microsoft covered each. Here’s how they all measured up.
In my original Windows Retailer evaluation, I noted that the game choice was an early highlight-and it has only gotten stronger considering the fact that February. The amount of obtainable apps has tripled in that time. While the roughly 13,500 out there games do not hold a candle for the vast Android and iOS libraries, there's more than sufficient to keep you distracted for months to come. A great deal of them are ports from other platforms, but, hey, they play just as nicely on Windows.
In actual fact, they play so nicely that we’ve had two separate roundups of killer Windows 8 games, with pretty small overlap. In case you open the Games tab in the Windows Store and sort by "noteworthy," you will find dozens and dozens of high-quality titles. (I’ve been playing Royal Revolt nonstop recently.) Microsoft Studios in particular has released a bevy of bodacious games like Pinball FX2, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, along with the Gunstringer.
Speaking of which, two games from Microsoft Studios-Skulls in the Shogun and Halo: Spartan Assault-aren’t just a blast-they’re also far-reaching, letting you play with gamers on Windows Telephone and Xbox Reside as well as with fellow Windows Store shoppers. That kind of cross-platform expertise is definitely an exciting tease of your potential of Windows eight gaming in a One Microsoft sort of planet. Here’s hoping it continues.
That is to not say that all is well in Winny’s globe, nonetheless. As pointed out, although the Windows Retailer game selection is impressive, it can not evaluate to the selections for iOS or Android-you will not obtain any mobile Walking Dead games or Grand Theft Auto ports right here.
Windows eight revolves around the Windows Store. Each and every Live Tile that glimmers on the modern-style Begin screen could be the iconic representation of a Windows eight app-and you may only snag Windows 8 apps in Microsoft’s own Windows Retailer. As the Windows Shop goes, so goes the Windows eight knowledge.
How, specifically, is the Windows Shop performing? The apparent indicators are mixed. Windows RT devices can run only modern-style apps, not desktop apps, and they’re tanking difficult. But app submissions picked up steam about the time of Microsoft’s Build conference, culminating in the shattering on the 100,000-app barrier in early July, and they’re still going (relatively) sturdy.
That’s an awesome milestone for Microsoft, but it is nevertheless paltry in comparison with the roughly 1 million apps in Google Play and 900,000 apps in Apple’s App Retailer. So it’s a great time to take the pulse with the Windows Retailer once again: Is one hundred,000 apps sufficient to keep a body pleased? As I did final February, I spent days scouring the Windows Store and taking notes in 5 big categories: games, music apps, video apps, social apps, in addition to a catch-all “other” category-to see how nicely Microsoft covered each. Here’s how they all measured up.
In my original Windows Retailer evaluation, I noted that the game choice was an early highlight-and it has only gotten stronger considering the fact that February. The amount of obtainable apps has tripled in that time. While the roughly 13,500 out there games do not hold a candle for the vast Android and iOS libraries, there's more than sufficient to keep you distracted for months to come. A great deal of them are ports from other platforms, but, hey, they play just as nicely on Windows.
In actual fact, they play so nicely that we’ve had two separate roundups of killer Windows 8 games, with pretty small overlap. In case you open the Games tab in the Windows Store and sort by "noteworthy," you will find dozens and dozens of high-quality titles. (I’ve been playing Royal Revolt nonstop recently.) Microsoft Studios in particular has released a bevy of bodacious games like Pinball FX2, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, along with the Gunstringer.
Speaking of which, two games from Microsoft Studios-Skulls in the Shogun and Halo: Spartan Assault-aren’t just a blast-they’re also far-reaching, letting you play with gamers on Windows Telephone and Xbox Reside as well as with fellow Windows Store shoppers. That kind of cross-platform expertise is definitely an exciting tease of your potential of Windows eight gaming in a One Microsoft sort of planet. Here’s hoping it continues.
That is to not say that all is well in Winny’s globe, nonetheless. As pointed out, although the Windows Retailer game selection is impressive, it can not evaluate to the selections for iOS or Android-you will not obtain any mobile Walking Dead games or Grand Theft Auto ports right here.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Microsoft slashes Surface RT price by $150
Microsoft Corp. is slashing the price of its Surface RT tablet by $150 as
it fights to increase its tiny share of the booming tablet market.
The cut brings the price of the Surface RT with 32 gigabytes of memory to $349 without a cover, which also acts as a keyboard. Including a cover with a touch-sensitive keyboard, the device comes to $449. The Surface has a 10.1-inch (25.6-centimeter) screen measured diagonally.
According to market research firm IDC, Microsoft shipped about 900,000 tablets in the first quarter of 2013. That includes both the slimmed-down RT version and the Pro version of Surface, which is compatible with older Windows programs.
That gave Microsoft a slim 1.8 percent share of the 49.2 million tablets shipped worldwide. Apple remained the leader with 39.6 percent and was followed by Samsung Electronics Co., AsusTek Computer Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Microsoft was No. 5. For the first time in IDC's quarterly report, Microsoft crept into the top five manufacturers, displacing Barnes & Noble Inc., which makes the Nook. Second-quarter figures are not yet out.
The cut, implemented Sunday, comes just days after Microsoft reorganized its corporate structure to become more of a "devices and services" company.
Microsoft has manufactured devices before, such as its Xbox gaming console, but when it began selling Surface tablets in October, the company became a competitor to its many manufacturing partners, who rely on its Windows operating system to power their machines.
The cut brings the price of the Surface RT with 32 gigabytes of memory to $349 without a cover, which also acts as a keyboard. Including a cover with a touch-sensitive keyboard, the device comes to $449. The Surface has a 10.1-inch (25.6-centimeter) screen measured diagonally.
According to market research firm IDC, Microsoft shipped about 900,000 tablets in the first quarter of 2013. That includes both the slimmed-down RT version and the Pro version of Surface, which is compatible with older Windows programs.
That gave Microsoft a slim 1.8 percent share of the 49.2 million tablets shipped worldwide. Apple remained the leader with 39.6 percent and was followed by Samsung Electronics Co., AsusTek Computer Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Microsoft was No. 5. For the first time in IDC's quarterly report, Microsoft crept into the top five manufacturers, displacing Barnes & Noble Inc., which makes the Nook. Second-quarter figures are not yet out.
The cut, implemented Sunday, comes just days after Microsoft reorganized its corporate structure to become more of a "devices and services" company.
Microsoft has manufactured devices before, such as its Xbox gaming console, but when it began selling Surface tablets in October, the company became a competitor to its many manufacturing partners, who rely on its Windows operating system to power their machines.
You ought to see a list of recently made use
Microsoft currently released an update to OneNote for Windows RT and
Windows eight, adding Workplace 365 assistance and creating the on-screen
keyboard dismissible. You are able to download the new version now directly from
the Windows Retailer.
The greatest addition with this release is undoubtedly the capability to sign in along with your Workplace 365 account. This implies you are able to now conveniently open your operate notes.
To complete so, tap around the A lot more Notebooks drop-down menu inside
the left pane, tap the plus button that says “Add a work or school account to
find out additional notebooks,” and sign in together with your operate or
college account. You ought to see a list of recently made use of notebooks
appear in the left pane; tapping any of them need to open it.
Next up around the list is often a tiny but vital tweak towards the way OneNote’s touch keyboard works. While the function has constantly allow you to type anywhere, Microsoft has lastly admitted that “you do not need to variety.”
Because of this, you could now dismiss the on-screen keyboard so you could see the whole screen for reading. In Windows eight and Windows RT, the on-screen keyboard shows up once you tap into a text box and goes away after you tap outdoors. Tapping “outside” in OneNote implies tapping into any empty space.
Some may perhaps see this as a minor detail, but it’s in fact quite critical in the touchscreen planet that Microsoft has suddenly discovered itself in. Tweaks like this one particular make the distinction between a very good app along with a wonderful a single.
Whilst these are the only two improvements Microsoft chose to highlight, the app has received a little extra in this release. The complete changelog is as follows.
In building Windows 8, Microsoft made a massive bet that adding touch capabilities to private computers would assist revive an business that was finding eaten away by smartphones and tablets. But Creative Techniques president Tim Bajarin, writing over at Time, says his analysis has discovered that creating touch such a crucial part of individual computer systems was a significant strategic error on Microsoft’s component. The reason, he says, is that Pc users are so employed to making use of mice and keyboards that they see no benefit to touching their screens to get operate done. So even though touch interfaces make great sense for smaller, portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, they make little sense for individual computers that have bigger displays and that currently include trackpads or mice.
“While adding touch input to screens is not a terrible factor, individuals becoming capable to adapt rapidly to touch as a key type of user interface input on bigger PCs does not come about overnight,” Bajarin writes. “Early on, Apple’s scientists studied the kinesiology of arm movements in partnership to keyboards and mice, and concluded that implementing any gestures into the user interface worked greatest by means of a trackpad. The firm also determined that selecting the hand up from the keyboard region and moving it to touch the screen was unnatural, and factored that in to the final choice to add gestures for the Magic Trackpad rather.”
http://www.windows7mart.com/windows-7-home-basic-product-key-p-3530.html
The greatest addition with this release is undoubtedly the capability to sign in along with your Workplace 365 account. This implies you are able to now conveniently open your operate notes.
Next up around the list is often a tiny but vital tweak towards the way OneNote’s touch keyboard works. While the function has constantly allow you to type anywhere, Microsoft has lastly admitted that “you do not need to variety.”
Because of this, you could now dismiss the on-screen keyboard so you could see the whole screen for reading. In Windows eight and Windows RT, the on-screen keyboard shows up once you tap into a text box and goes away after you tap outdoors. Tapping “outside” in OneNote implies tapping into any empty space.
Some may perhaps see this as a minor detail, but it’s in fact quite critical in the touchscreen planet that Microsoft has suddenly discovered itself in. Tweaks like this one particular make the distinction between a very good app along with a wonderful a single.
Whilst these are the only two improvements Microsoft chose to highlight, the app has received a little extra in this release. The complete changelog is as follows.
In building Windows 8, Microsoft made a massive bet that adding touch capabilities to private computers would assist revive an business that was finding eaten away by smartphones and tablets. But Creative Techniques president Tim Bajarin, writing over at Time, says his analysis has discovered that creating touch such a crucial part of individual computer systems was a significant strategic error on Microsoft’s component. The reason, he says, is that Pc users are so employed to making use of mice and keyboards that they see no benefit to touching their screens to get operate done. So even though touch interfaces make great sense for smaller, portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, they make little sense for individual computers that have bigger displays and that currently include trackpads or mice.
“While adding touch input to screens is not a terrible factor, individuals becoming capable to adapt rapidly to touch as a key type of user interface input on bigger PCs does not come about overnight,” Bajarin writes. “Early on, Apple’s scientists studied the kinesiology of arm movements in partnership to keyboards and mice, and concluded that implementing any gestures into the user interface worked greatest by means of a trackpad. The firm also determined that selecting the hand up from the keyboard region and moving it to touch the screen was unnatural, and factored that in to the final choice to add gestures for the Magic Trackpad rather.”
http://www.windows7mart.com/windows-7-home-basic-product-key-p-3530.html
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Microsoft spreads Office Store to 22 new markets, intros business intelligence tool
It's only been a few days since Build, and the Redmond giant already has
some extra news to announce. Previously only available in the US, Microsoft's
Office and SharePoint Store is now open in 22 new markets with added language
support for French, German, Spanish and Japanese. Countries with new storefronts
include Australia, Canada, the UK, Japan, India, South Africa, Germany, Spain,
Mexico, Argentina, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, Belgium and Switzerland
(there are sometimes several language markets per country).
Next on Microsoft's announcement list is the introduction of Power BI for Office 365, a cloud-based business intelligence suite that uses Excel to analyze and visualize data with a variety of enterprise-centric tools. Data-minded professionals will be able to snag Power BI as an add-on for their current Office 365 package, or get it as a stand-alone product. While Power BI won't be available until later this year, international Office users can browse that brand-spanking new storefront ahora mismo at the source link below.
Next on Microsoft's announcement list is the introduction of Power BI for Office 365, a cloud-based business intelligence suite that uses Excel to analyze and visualize data with a variety of enterprise-centric tools. Data-minded professionals will be able to snag Power BI as an add-on for their current Office 365 package, or get it as a stand-alone product. While Power BI won't be available until later this year, international Office users can browse that brand-spanking new storefront ahora mismo at the source link below.
Microsoft straddles the public and private cloud
Microsoft will hand over its newest variation on the functioning technique,
Windows eight.1, to OEMs in late August, Microsoft’s Home windows advertising
main advised its associates on Monday morning.
Talking at its Around the world Associate Convention (WPC), Tami Reller, company vp and main advertising and marketing officer for Windows, said that Microsoft would make the RTM (launch to producing) model of Windows eight.1 to OEMs by late August. Microsoft did not say when Home windows 8.one can be introduced to people in its last kind, but background indicates that Microsoft must at least be on course to ship by Oct.
Microsoft’s WPC, as its identify implies, is Microsoft’s chance to communicate its roadmaps to its partners; Microsoft began its partner application about twenty years ago. In accordance to chief executive Steve Ballmer, 90 % from the income Microsoft realizes “in a way, condition or form” is generated from the companions Ballmer tackled right now as a part of a three.5-hour keynote address.
In aggregate, all those associates had “quite a superb yr,” Ballmer mentioned, with all of its partners growing six.five p.c over very last calendar year, on foundation gross sales of $650 billion.
Ballmer’s concept, as it is, was that Microsoft has reinvented by itself being a units and solutions organization, as opposed to simply a computer software firm. “Windows has normally been much more a device than a piece of application; it outlined a category of product known as the Computer system,” he said, irrespective of whether they be, tablets, all-in-ones, convertibles, and much more.
Ballmer stated that Microsoft’s partners might be proven how Microsoft has enhanced during the cloud, particularly how Microsoft straddles the public and private cloud; “big info,” including how Microsoft strategies to share Bing lookup details with builders and provide community facts to personal clouds using the Azure Information Market; how Microsoft’s social initiatives straddle a number of solutions; and mobile, specifically how Microsoft supports its individual items from alone and other folks.
Talking at its Around the world Associate Convention (WPC), Tami Reller, company vp and main advertising and marketing officer for Windows, said that Microsoft would make the RTM (launch to producing) model of Windows eight.1 to OEMs by late August. Microsoft did not say when Home windows 8.one can be introduced to people in its last kind, but background indicates that Microsoft must at least be on course to ship by Oct.
Microsoft’s WPC, as its identify implies, is Microsoft’s chance to communicate its roadmaps to its partners; Microsoft began its partner application about twenty years ago. In accordance to chief executive Steve Ballmer, 90 % from the income Microsoft realizes “in a way, condition or form” is generated from the companions Ballmer tackled right now as a part of a three.5-hour keynote address.
In aggregate, all those associates had “quite a superb yr,” Ballmer mentioned, with all of its partners growing six.five p.c over very last calendar year, on foundation gross sales of $650 billion.
Ballmer’s concept, as it is, was that Microsoft has reinvented by itself being a units and solutions organization, as opposed to simply a computer software firm. “Windows has normally been much more a device than a piece of application; it outlined a category of product known as the Computer system,” he said, irrespective of whether they be, tablets, all-in-ones, convertibles, and much more.
Ballmer stated that Microsoft’s partners might be proven how Microsoft has enhanced during the cloud, particularly how Microsoft straddles the public and private cloud; “big info,” including how Microsoft strategies to share Bing lookup details with builders and provide community facts to personal clouds using the Azure Information Market; how Microsoft’s social initiatives straddle a number of solutions; and mobile, specifically how Microsoft supports its individual items from alone and other folks.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Instagram update brings landscape image capture support, Cinema for front-facing camera
While not a major version change, Instagram 4.0.2 now rotates the
viewfinder when a user switches to landscape mode, a feature that has been
absent since the app was first released in 2010.
The added support works with both photos and the newly released video function, which lets users share 15-second clips through the service.
Those using the video feature, dubbed "Cinema," can now capture clips with the front-facing camera. The app's software-based image stabilization is also applied to videos taken with the FaceTime lenser.
Finally, the latest version includes various bug fixes and performance improvements.
Instagram is available as a free 14.5MB download from the App Store.
The added support works with both photos and the newly released video function, which lets users share 15-second clips through the service.
Those using the video feature, dubbed "Cinema," can now capture clips with the front-facing camera. The app's software-based image stabilization is also applied to videos taken with the FaceTime lenser.
Finally, the latest version includes various bug fixes and performance improvements.
Instagram is available as a free 14.5MB download from the App Store.
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