The Google 7-inch tablet is on the way, according to a fresh report -- the latest in a long line of reports dating back to the beginning of the year.

The tablet will hit the market in July, according to a Thursday report from DigiTimes. Shipments -- about 600,000 initially -- are set to begin in June, the Taipei-based publication claimed.

Asus is expected to manufacture the device.

NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim told CNET previously that a 7-inch Goggle tablet was in the works, though a June shipment date means that an original projection of an April production … Read more

SAP America is looking to develop "the business network of the future" with the acquisition of cloud-based business commerce network Ariba at the price of $45 per share. That rounds out to roughly approximately $4.3 billion.

Each party brings something significant to the table here. Ariba already has the buyer-seller collaboration network, which is intended to compliment SAP's existing customer base as well as its B2B solutions. Thus, this really gives SAP a big push in the cloud space.

SAP will also be bringing its own resources to boost Ariba. For example, SAP is integrating its … Read more

Steve Jobs had a lot of input into the design of the upcoming the iPhone, according to a report.

The Apple co-founder and former CEO "worked closely on the redesigned phone before his death in October," according to a report from Bloomberg, which did not identify the source.

The Phone's design was in the works before the release of the iPhone 4S, giving Jobs plenty of opportunity to contribute, the report added.

Apple's next iteration of the iPhone, with a rumored 4-inch screen is due by October, according to various analysts.

Other key features of the … Read more

Nvidia announced graphics-chip based cloud tech today, claiming to deliver fast gaming to almost any device.

"GeForce GRID represents a massive disruption in how games are delivered and played," said Phil Eisler, general manager of cloud gaming at Nvidia, in a statement.

The trick is to power the games remotely with brawny servers that tap into Nvidia's new Kepler graphics processing units (GPUs).

Each Kepler chip has 3,072 Nvidia "CUDA" processor cores and packs 4.7 teraflops (trillion floating point operations per second) of 3D shader performance. Shaders are instrumental in rendering realistic effects … Read more

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Alex Yoder's bio below.

We are living in "the age of big data," according to The World Economic Forum. Renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil agrees. I do too.

As the likes of Google, Facebook, Adobe Systems, and IBM embrace big data with gusto, startups are also popping up with the promise to help companies discover what one of the most valuable assets in the world can accomplish for them. No industry is untouched by big data, which is notably transforming the way social networks work today. However, the key factor … Read more

LOS ALTOS, Calif.--It may be known to some as the Dropbox-for-the-enterprise, but Box.com could be forgiven for insisting on its own identity.

With more than 120,000 customers, including 82 percent of the Fortune 500, the company has made a name for itself as one of the leaders in the enterprise cloud storage and data management space. And though Box.com has Microsoft, and more recently, Google breathing down its neck, CEO Aaron Levie doesn't appear the least bit nervous.

That may be because the company has spent seven years building its business and solidifying a technology … Read more

Intel has a message for investors and the rest of the tech industry: We're dead serious about smartphone chips now. (Finally, wags might add.)

At its annual investor day on Thursday, Intel reiterated that its first dual-core smartphone processor, the "Medfield" Z2580, is coming later this year and will be offered with Intel-branded 4G LTE silicon.

And to drive home its commitment to phones, CEO Paul Otellini said that phone chip development will move ahead at "twice the rate of Moore's Law." Put another way, chip development that would ordinarily take six years will … Read more

Qualcomm is ready to take on all comers in the smartphone and tablet performance race, a company executive told CNET.

The company's newest Snapdragon S4 chip has appeared most prominently in the U.S. version of the HTC One X smartphone. And performance reviews have been positive.

But Qualcomm has yet to bring out a quad-core version like its silicon rivals Nvidia and Samsung. This recently got some attention when HTC announced a quad-core variant of its One X in Europe and a dual-core version in the U.S. -- the latter based on the Snapdragon S4.

Qualcomm claims … Read more

Microsoft is pitting its SkyDrive cloud storage against Apple's iCloud and makes many valid points. However, cloud services aren't a zero-sum game.

The software giant has launched a SkyDrive vs. iCloud comparison and makes a bevy of good points. As far as marketing SkyDrive goes, Microsoft's effort is good for awareness.

But the idea that any one cloud storage service will dominate is pure folly. The reality is that most of us will use multiple cloud services. Small businesses will too. This cloud service multiplication will become more prevalent as uploading content -- say an iTunes library … Read more