Bill Buxton demonstrates “The Active Desk,” a touch-screen device developed in 1992 at the University of Toronto. Buxton explains: “It used rear projection, and had a high-resolution stylus for input. What is easy to miss in the photo is the fact that I am working with two remote collaborators. Each has a presence by way of a small camera/monitor/speaker/microphone [you can see one in the photo]. The idea was that all three of us had a shared view of the design that I am shown working on. Fundamental to the idea, contrary to most desktop video, is that there should be a differentiation between person space and task space. (Full article ‘Image gallery: Touch-screen tech comes of age’)

Microsoft Corp. is expected to report a sharp rise in quarterly profit this week, boosted by surging revenue as strong computer sales drive demand for its Windows operating system and Office software.

Investors will also look at its full-year outlook to see if the world’s largest software maker can maintain momentum from a strong first quarter in the face of growing concerns over the U.S. economy. Microsoft will reports fiscal second-quarter results tomorrow.

Economic concerns and stock market declines have erased the share price gains that followed its first-quarter results, but analysts said PC sales figures last week suggest any economic softness did not weigh on year-end demand.

“We’re looking for Microsoft to continue to have positive results.

(Full article ‘Microsoft expected to post sharp profit rise’)

For the second quarter in a row, the global PC processor market hit a record number of unit shipments in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to IDC. At the same time, the Framingham, Mass.-based market research company predicts that a slowing economy will likely lead to declining sales in the first months of 2008.

“While processor shipments typically decline about 6% to 7% between the fourth quarter and the first quarter, economic concerns in the U.S. and the effects on corporate and consumer systems purchases could mean a stronger sequential decline in 1Q08,” noted IDC analyst Shane Rau in a statement. “However, the weakness in the U.S. dollar effectively means a price discount for overseas markets that are driving PC unit demand, so this could have a mitigating effect.”

IDC reported on Tuesday that PC microprocessor shipments grew 8.5% sequentially in Q4.

(Full article ‘IDC warns of PC chip slowdown after sales hit record in Q4′)

The dynamic RAM (DRAM) chip next in line to become mainstream for PC users, DDR3 (double data rate, third generation), will start to find its place in significantly more PCs by the third quarter of this year, Taiwanese DRAM executives said today.

Inotera Memories Inc., a DRAM joint venture by Qimonda AG and Nanya Technology Corp., started pilot production of 1GB DDR3 DRAM this year, and plans to have the chips in mass production by the third quarter to meet growing demand.

“There is already demand for DDR3, and it will increase as the year goes on,” said Charles Kau, president of Inotera, during a news conference in Kuei Shan, Taiwan.

Pai Pei-lin, a vice president at Nanya Technology, forecast that 30% of DRAM demand in the fourth quarter will be for DDR3.

(Full article ‘Memory makers expect DDR3 demand to rise by year’s end’)

Intel Corp.’s financial results for the fourth quarter of 2007 fell short of analysts’ estimates in part because of weak prices for memory chips.

The company recorded revenue of quarterly $10.7 billion, up 10.5% from the same period a year earlier, but lower than the $10.8 billion consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue from computing-related products was as expected, but revenue related to NAND memory was lower than expected, Intel said in a statement (pdf format).

The company reported quarterly net income of $2.27 billion, below analysts’ estimates of $2.38 billion. Earnings per share were 38 cents.

Intel in November rolled out its next-generation Penryn processors, which the company claims provide better power efficiency and graphics performance than its earlier chips did.

(Full article ‘Weak memory pricing hurts Intel Q4 revenue’)