Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Co cut its 2011 earnings forecast while its rival Dell Inc reported another profit growth.

HP CEO Leo Apotheker vowed to invest heavily on hiring and expanding its services division -- everything from computer maintenance to consulting -- to recover from "missed opportunities" under predecessor Mark Hurd.

However, it did little good to the company shares which dropped more than 7% as investors fear that costs that had been previously controlled under Hurd would balloon and erase profits.

Hewlett-Packard has come to a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice to pay the US government US$55 million. The fine comes as HP allegedly defrauded the U.S. General Service Administration and other agencies by paying kickbacks to systems integrators in exchange for recommendations that agencies purchase HP products.

Apart from this, the settlement also resolves government claims that a 2002 contract HP had with the GSA was defectively priced because the company provided incomplete information to GSA contracting officers during negotiations, the DOJ said.

Hewlett-Packard has acquired an iTunes jailbreaker Melodio. The computer maker has purchased the music start-up for an undisclosed amount. Melodio's nuTsie software checks users’ iTunes library, including the playlists, and after that matches it against a catalog of music on its own servers, from where the music is then streamed.

nuTsie offers a legally acceptable way of migrating a user base away from iTunes. The software supports Apple, RIM and some other smartphones.

As last year Hewlett-Packard Co launched its first Web-tethered home printer with a touchsreen the company plans to expand its idea further to make it easier to print images and information from the Internet. HP is now building an iPhone-style apps market, the company reported this week.

Late last year the company unveiled its Web-connected printer which can download applications so that a user could more easily print out for example, a daily crossword puzzle or children's coloring page without using a separate computer.

Having intrigued the public for some time yesterday Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co at last unveiled their partnership for providing cloud computing services to companies. The two companies will integrate their software and hardware offerings for companies looking to move their applications and data online.

Small and inexpensive "netbooks" were some of the most popular computers in the recession, wooing consumers with their portability and prices that were often below $400. Now with the economy improving, consumers are introduced with new styles of computers, including some costing a bit more.

 One of the US largest computer-makers Hewlett-Packard is acquiring the networking equipment company 3Com for about $2.7 billion, in a deal that is expected to improve H.P.’s business in China and expand its network gear business.

Hewlett-Packard is to pay $7.90 in cash for each share of 3Com, representing a 39% over 3Com’s closing price of $5.62 a share on Wednesday.