If you’ve been following the Broadcom takeover – some would say hostile takeover – of chipmaker Qualcomm, it suddenly looks like there’s a major new player in the mix. According to the Wall Street Journal, Intel may insert itself into the ongoing punching match by actually buying Broadcom, which is trying to buy Qualcomm for $117 billion, which would make it one of the largest tech takeovers/buyouts on record.
So why Intel’s sudden interest in the deal? A successful play by Broadcom for Qualcomm – which makes the hugely popular Snapdragon 835 and 845 mobile phone and PC chips – would create a new chipmaking giant that would, of course, rival Intel on almost every level, but especially in the now all-important mobile processor segment. If Intel could buy up both in a Broadcom deal, that would both kill the competition and bring all that mobile tech home to Intel. Stay tuned.
There’s no Slack in Team
Who would’ve thought that the once-lowly “chat app” would figure so prominently in today’s business climate? Well, it does, with nearly every large organization out there using Slack, Wire, Flock, Yammer, Google and so on. One recent entry to the fray: Microsoft Teams, the chat app from Redmond, which is now going to incorporate Cortana AI tech to help with transcription, translation and numerous other duties.
Also reportedly in the works: Facial recognition tech so Cortana can attribute who said what to the correct person.
Sorry, no floppy drive on this one
There are a lot of cutting-edge laptops out there, but for many people, the familiar look and feel of the classic ThinkPad is still their favorite flavor.
Good news: There’s a new ThinkPad X1 Carbon just out, and we’ve just tortured tested it to see how it holds up against the best of the best. Result? Another strong showing for the machine in black and carbon fiber. The latest X1 Carbon is actually made from even more of the lightweight woven super-material, and that definitely keeps the weight down. And while the newest ThinkPad is light, slim and powerful, it’s still… familiar.
You get the little red pointy device, a classic-feel clickity keyboard, and lots of ports, along with some newer features, like a touchscreen and Thunderbolt 3 connections. Do we like it? We like it. But is it as good as, say, the new MacBook Pro? Glad you asked.
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
