Articles by Charles King

The finals of its highly publicized "Jeopardy" tournament found IBM's "Watson" computer system handily winning with a total of US$77,147 -- upwards of $50,000 more than the sums amassed by Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, its grand champion adversaries. Watson's $1 million grand prize will be split equally between World Vision, a community developmen...

Anyone in the technology industry not captivated by recent events in North Africa and the Middle East needs to consider a change in career. First in Tunisia and then in Egypt, Internet-connected mobile devices and social networking sites were reportedly leveraged by protesters to effectively exchange information with one another and offer insights regarding events in their countries to a spellbound world.

EMC CEO and Chairman Joe Tucci called the company's "Smartest System" launch event in New York City, "not just largest in the history of the company but of the industry" -- but was that a fact or mere PR-speak? For my money, it was the former. The event found EMC playing at the top of its game with an impressive number (41) of new and upgraded pro...

I can't claim any sort of deep attachment to or experience with the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) since my business IT interests typically fall well outside its typical focus. But I've attended the past couple of shows for two simple reasons. First, vendors are increasingly attempting to inextricably link consumer products to business IT. Apple's...

Annual summing-ups are common currency during this season, but for some industries and some years they seem particularly valuable, such as business IT in 2010. Following 2009's devastating financial meltdown (whose repercussions continue to rattle global economies and millions of people), many in IT hoped the new year might spark a partial recover...

By any measure, IBM Connect, the annual IT analyst summit hosted by the company's Software Group (SWG), should have been a walk in the park. After all, the event followed close on the heels of IBM's System and Technology (STG) analyst briefing, and the central purpose of both events was to punctuate the company's 2009 decision to unite SWG and STG under a single banner and leader -- SVP and Group Executive Steve Mills.

Aiming at the needs of business IT users is no new thing for Dell. The company's groundbreaking use of online sales and "just in time" manufacturing processes were designed for organizations that knew what they wanted in IT solutions but were struggling with the logistics of deploying and managing hundreds or thousands of new systems. Radically si...

System migration efforts among IT vendors are no surprise. On a daily basis, virtually every vendor actively tries to poach competitors' customers directly, through partners and via numerous incentive programs and product discounts. In addition, the decision to migrate is no simple technological issue, but one affected by a numerous mitigating fac...

Last week's announcements centering on Intel's "Cloud 2015" vision represent one of the more intriguing cloud computing efforts to date. How so? First, out of the gate Cloud 2015 is resolutely client-facing. The related Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) boasts over 70 large enterprise members such as BMW, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lockheed ...

The IT industry purely loves "innovation," especially when it is steeped in a bit of controversy, and last November's announcement of Cisco, EMC and VMware's VCE coalition set enough tongues wagging to cause a minor blip in Silicon Valley's Richter scale readings. Why so? First, because the effort offered proof that Cisco's highly publicized unified computing system (UCS) was no empty threat.

IT conferences come in all shapes and sizes, with participants ranging from tens of thousands of general technology enthusiasts to mere hundreds of professionals with highly specialized skills. Intel's annual Developer Forum (IDF) is relatively small compared to CES and Oracle OpenWorld, but attendees include the crucial partners who create and bring to market innovative new products based on Intel's silicon...

First a caveat: As part of my work, I attend a lot of IT vendor conferences and high-tech trade shows. Objectively speaking, most shows provide the means to literally and figuratively peek under the hood of usually interesting, sometimes intriguing vendor products and solutions. But conferences also have a subjective side; along with trumpeting the latest/greatest IT advances, they provide an ideal opportunity to consider how much buzz a given vendor or technology is generating.

Consolidation is a common theme in the IT sector, with IBM's purchase of Unica, Dell and HP's pursuit of 3PAR, and Intel's planned acquisition of security specialist McAfee standing as the most recent moves. Do such deals have anything in common? Sometimes. Large IT vendors tend to grow in two ways; by developing new products and technologies them...

There's interesting food for thought in Intel and GE's 50/50 joint venture focused on developing management solutions for people in independent and assisted living situations, as well as those with chronic diseases. The new company will combine assets of Intel's digital health group and GE Healthcare's home health division and build on the healthc...

For most systems vendors, the launch of a next-generation server platform qualifies as a pretty big deal. After all, such occasions provide vendors multiple opportunities to strut their visionary stuff, roll out a host of satisfied customers, and highlight their current/future strategies. However, some next-gen platforms are -- literally and figuratively -- bigger than others, and in the world of enterprise computing, there is no bigger Kahuna in the data center than IBM's System z mainframe...

Microsoft's launch of its Windows Azure platform appliance included more than a handful of significant partners. On the end user side, eBay said it will use the Azure platform appliance to manage and deliver customer services for its signature auction site. Considering eBay's high profile, requirements and user traffic, the company's implicit endorsement of Windows Azure qualifies as a major endorsement by any measure.

In opening its new Mass Lab on June 16, IBM stated that the facility that will focus energy and attention on mobile computing technologies. For me, that point recalled Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?, Louis Gerstner's memoir of his time at IBM. Hired when the company was on the brink of collapse, Gerstner forced the company to shift its navel-gazing attention outward to customers and the rapidly evolving computing market.

Here's what HP says its new Web-enabled ePrint all-in-one printers will allow people to do: print from any email-enabled device;...

News of Dell's upcoming Streak device arrived as the news about tablet computing heated up. Apple's iPad continues to sell like hotcakes, passing the 2 million milestone and leading analysts to suggest that total 2010 iPad sales will reach between 5 and 7 million units. Apple CEO Steve Jobs and other luminaries at Walt Mossberg's All Things Digita...

Intel's next-gen Atom processor-based platform (formerly "Moorestown") caused quite a stir in the news and among mobile computing aficionados. On the technical side, Intel seems to have delivered the goods. The platform includes Intel's Atom processor Z6xx Series Family (formerly "Lincroft"), the Platform Controller Hub MP20 (formerly "Langwell") and a dedicated Mixed Signal IC (MSIC) (formerly "Briertown").