HP CEO to decide if it will keep making PCs by November

Meg Whitman, HP's newly minted CEO, has confirmed that the company aims to make a decision about whether or not to spin the PC unit off by the end of October.

Her predecessor, Leo Apotheker, had said that HP was considering moving the PC unit into a separate business or selling it off entirely, but wasn't necessarily going to make the call until the end of the year.

Whitman reckons time is of the essence, though, telling delegates at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit on Tuesday, "Uncertainty is not our friend here."

Decisions decisions

Whitman explained that it is "a decision I'd like to make… certainly by the end of October".

She later admitted that the October timescale "may slip a little bit", but that she intends the process to be "much more accelerated" than it has been to date.

The CEO contends that she's currently "open minded" about the options for the PC unit, so although analysts have been quick to predict the end of HP PCs, there could be a chance for them yet.

Related Stories

• Dell: Why we won't follow HP
• Tutorial: 5 ways Windows secretly tracks your activities
• HP's new CEO will take a $1 salary
• Google launches Chrome Zone in London store
• Michael Dell: HP should keep making PCs

L.A. Noire Coming to PCs This November

L.A. Noire, Rockstar’s gritty 1940s crime drama adventure from developer Team Bondi, is headed to PCs next month. It will release in North America on November 8 and in Europe on November 11 for $49.99. No word yet on a Mac version, though Mac players will be able to access the game via OnLive.

Dubbed L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, this package includes all downloadable content previously released on consoles. It will also add support for NVIDIA 3D vision and will be controllable with either keyboard/mouse or a gamepad. Rockstar claims it will run on a “wide range of PCs,” though you may want to double-check their specifications to be sure your PC is up to snuff:

· Operating System: Windows 7 / Windows Vista Service Pack 1 / Windows XP Service Pack 3 / OnLive for PC or Mac
· Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.2GHz to Quad Core 3.2GHz / AMD Dual Core 2.4Ghz to Quad Core 3.2Ghz
· RAM: 2GB to 8GB
· Hard drive space: 16GB
· Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512MB to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1536MB / Radeon HD 3000 512MB to Radeon HD 6850 1024MB
· Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9 Compatible

L.A. Noire was an impressive but uneven experience on consoles, dragging at times and sometimes resorting to prolonged periods of frustrating trial-and-error gameplay. It's still a game worth trying for its modern take on the adventure game and remarkable facial animations, and the additional content for the price makes The Complete Edition an appealing offer.

Source: Joystiq

]]>