Microsoft and HP show off 'slate' PC

Microsoft and HP have teamed up to introduce a slate computer ahead of Apple's much rumoured device launch.

The firms unveiled the Windows 7 powered touchscreen machine, also known as a tablet, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The aim of the device is to bridge the gap between laptops and smartphones.

Apple are also reported to be gearing up to launch a slate device in late January to go on sale in March, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The HP device is also expected to go on sale later this year.

"It's a beautiful little product," said Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer.

During his keynote address at CES, Mr Ballmer demonstrated the machine in front of an audience of over 3,500 press, bloggers, analysts and industry peers.

He also showed off two other tablet computers - one made by Archos and the other by Pegatron Corp.

Muted reaction

Reaction to the as yet unnamed device was somewhat subdued.

"What we saw confirmed my worst suspicions that this is your standard Microsoft software in a slate form," Paul Miller, senior associate editor of technology website Engadget,
"It's an interesting product in itself but Microsoft could have gone further. It's not anything new in terms of software and that is what you really need to make a device like this make people want to buy it."
However, technology blogger Devin Connors of Tom's Hardware did not agree.


"It looked really good given the short amount of time we saw it for and it has Windows 7. Everyone loves Windows 7 and putting it in a device the size of an e-reader is probably going to be a winning combination."

The lack of enthusiasm for the product was in part due to speculation about what - if anything - Apple may launch.

Rumours of a Apple slate - dubbed the iSlate - has dominated the blogosphere in recent weeks, although there has been no formal announcement by the Cupertino-based company.

"Apple tends to change the game and this Microsoft/HP tablet didn't blow them out of the water," said Dean Takahashi of tech blog VentureBeat.com.

"How successful it will be is up in the air, but HP is the biggest technology company in the world and can certainly put a lot of muscle behind the device," he told.

Microsoft is the world's biggest software company.

Market boost

This is not Microsoft's first attempt to introduce a tablet or slate-like computer.

Back in 2002, the company introduced a tablet PC version of Windows XP, which failed to take off.
The form factor is around 10 years old.
Analysts however believe these new entries should give the middling $950m (£597m) US market for tablets a much needed jolt.

"Apple could do for the tablet market what it did for smartphones with the iPhone," analyst David Daoud of IDC told USA Today.

Other industry watchers fear that consumers might be a little wary with so many companies all rushing at once to bring out new devices.

"With this market awash in products, customer confusion is what we have for certain," said Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.

In his address, Mr Ballmer also focused on new PCs, software and the success of Windows 7 which was released last October.

"The biggest hit of the year was Windows 7," said Mr Ballmer.

"Windows 7 is by far the fastest selling operating system in history."

The software boss cited figures from the market analysis firm NPD that said that since the launch of Windows 7, sales of consumer PCs in the US over the latest holiday period were up more than 50% from the year before.

Charlie Sheen dropped from Hanes underwear ads

Charlie Sheen has been dropped from an underwear advertising campaign in the US following his arrest for allegedly putting a knife to his wife's throat.
Clothing brand Hanes said it was a "straightforward call" given the "magnitude" of the allegations.
The actor, 44, spent much of Christmas Day in jail after his wife told police he threatened to kill her during a row in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado.
A decision on whether charges will be filed is not expected before February.
Hanes spokesman Matt Hall said: "It's a pretty standard, straightforward call when somebody who's in your commercials is arrested on suspicion of something of this magnitude.
"And we would suspend the ads, both for the company and, really, for Mr Sheen and his family as well."
Bail release
In the series of TV adverts, Sheen is seen in various settings telling basketball star Michael Jordan about the underwear he is wearing.

"Given the publicity, it makes sense to not air those ads during that time," Mr Hall said.
"We have other commercials," he added. "We have commercials for our socks and so we'll probably push those commercials some more."
On Christmas Day, the actor's wife, Brooke Mueller Sheen, 32, told police the argument started after she said she wanted a divorce.
Arrest papers quote her as saying he held her down on the bed, put a knife to her throat and told her: "You better be in fear. If you tell anybody, I'll kill you."
He was arrested on suspicion of assault, menacing and criminal mischief before he was released on $8,500 (£5,300) bail.
Mr Sheen denies threatening his wife with a knife and told officers they had slapped each other on the arms and he had snapped two pairs of her glasses in front of her.

Boeing aircraft orders fall 61%

Aircraft maker Boeing has reported a 61% drop in commercial aircraft orders for 2009.
The US-based company said a total of 263 airplanes were ordered last year, down from 662 in 2008.
But the number of commercial aircraft it actually delivered last year rose 28% to 481.
Boeing said the global recession and the resulting fall in demand for air travel was to blame for the decline in orders.

Net orders - which take into account cancellations - were down to 142 for the year.
Boeing's chief executive Jim Albaugh said that 2009 had been "not without its challenges", but said that the future was brighter.
"With signs of economic recovery emerging in 2010, we look forward to better days ahead," he said.
Unfulfilled orders stood at 3,375 by the end of the year, with 851 of those for the 787 Dreamliner.
The Dreamliner, which saw its first flight in 2009, is now slated for first deliveries at the end of 2010 following numerous delays.
Boeing's European competitor Airbus is due to report its order figures on 12 January.

Obama to address nation over bomb plot report findings

The White House is set to make public an unclassified account of the alleged attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.
President Barack Obama is then expected to address the nation about its findings and recommendations.
National Security Adviser James Jones has said Americans who read the report will feel "a certain shock".

The alleged bomber is reported to have met a radical US Muslim cleric after being recruited by al-Qaeda in London.
Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister Rashad al-Alimi said on Thursday Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab met Anwar al-Awlaki in the cleric's ancestral home province of Shabwa, having been recruited while a student at the University College London (UCL).

Mr Awlaki has been linked to an attack by a US Army major on the Fort Hood base in Texas in November, in which 13 people died.

UCL has said there is no evidence to suggest Mr Abdulmutallab was radicalised while he was studying with them.

Responding to Mr Alimi's statement, UK officials have said they still believed the recruitment of Mr Abdulmutallab occurred in Yemen in the months before the attack.

Mr Abdulmutallab - a 23-year-old Nigerian - was arrested and charged for allegedly attempting to set off explosives hidden in his underpants on the Northwest Airlines flight, with 290 people on board.
Following the near-disaster, President Obama ordered a report into the security lapses that allowed it to happen, and has since made five public statements.
James Jones warned, in an interview with USA Today, that people would feel "a certain shock" that clues about Mr Abdulmutallab's role were not acted on.
"The man on the street... will be surprised that these correlations weren't made," he said.
But he also suggested that the report will show the Obama administration is in control of the situation.
"We know what happened, we know what didn't happen, and we know how to fix it," he said.
"That should be an encouraging aspect. We don't have to reinvent anything to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Following publication of the report, Mr Obama is expected to unveil new steps aimed at avoiding further attacks.

Gunman on rampage at Missouri factory

Three people have been killed and four wounded after a gunman stormed a factory in the city of St Louis, Missouri, US police said.
Reports say workers at the ABB Power factory are hiding in offices and on the roof awaiting rescue.
Police teams are scouring the factory but it is unclear if the gunman has been killed or is still at large.
Of the injured, two were in a critical condition and one was seriously hurt, a fire department spokesman said.
The fourth had minor injuries, Bob Keuss added.
The shooting began at 0630 local time (1230 GMT) police said.
Local radio reported that the man had opened fire in the car park and then stormed the factory.
Initial reports said one person had been killed but the death toll was later updated.

Earlier, police Captain Sam Dotson said: "We believe (the suspect is) in the complex right now.
"That is why tactical (teams) are going room by room. It's a very large complex, very compartmentalised.
"It's a very large complex and it's connected to an even larger complex so it's a very slow and methodical process and it will take several hours," he added.
ABB spokesman Bob Fesmire could not confirm reports that the gunman was a former employee.
"We can confirm that there was a shooting, but the information is still unclear," he told AFP news agency.
He said there may have been fewer workers at the plant on Thursday due to a blizzard and temperatures plunging to -11C (12F).
The St Louis Post-Dispatch reported that at least one worker had barricaded himself in a maintenance room.
The factory is part of Swiss-based ABB engineering and makes power transformers.

Clashes in Egyptian town after Coptic killings

Clashes have broken out in the southern Egyptian town where seven people died in a drive-by shooting outside a church after a Coptic Christmas Eve Mass. Protesters clashed with police at the hospital in the town of Naga Hamady.The shooting happened as churchgoers left midnight Mass to welcome in the Coptic Christmas on 7 January.

The attack is thought to be in revenge for the alleged rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man.Following the reported rape in November there were five days of riots in the town, with Christian properties set on fire and damaged.
The Yolande Knell, in Cairo, said more than 1,000 Christians had gathered at the hospital to collect the bodies of six of the victimsStones were thrown at security forces and ambulances were smashed as they vented their anger, she added.Three people are reported to have pulled up outside the church in Naga Hamady on Wednesday evening, killing at least six Coptic Christians and a security official and injuring 10 others, including two Muslim passers-by.Police say the chief attacker in Wednesday's shooting has been identified but no arrests have yet been made.
The church's Bishop Kirollos said there had been threats in the days leading up to the Christmas Eve service - a reason he decided to end his Mass an hour earlier than normal."For days, I had expected something to happen on Christmas Eve," he told the Associated Press.He said he left the church minutes before the attack."A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door," he said. "By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine-gun shots."Witness Youssef Sidhom told that the attack shocked everyone, including police guarding the church.Harassment claimsNaga Hamady is 40 miles (64km) from Luxor, southern Egypt's biggest city.
Coptic Christians - who make up 10% of Egypt's 80 million population - have complained of harassment and discrimination.Some Copts argue that previous attacks on them have gone unpunished or have resulted in light sentences.Most Christians in Egypt are Copts - Christians descended from the ancient Egyptians.Their church split from the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in AD451 because of a theological dispute over the nature of Christ, but is now, on most issues, doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox Church.