HP to lay off about 27,000, profit slides 31 percent

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Co said on Wednesday it would lay off roughly 27,000 employees or about 8 percent of its workforce to jumpstart growth, and its shares rose 11 percent. The company said the layoffs would be made mainly through early retirement and would generate annual savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion as it exits fiscal year 2014. The world's No. ...

A look at recent tech-industry earnings
Here is a summary of recent earnings and reports for selected technology companies and what they reveal about the state of spending and the overall economy:

Apple: U.S. e-book lawsuit "fundamentally flawed"

(Reuters) - Apple Inc is rejecting charges that it conspired to fix prices of electronic books, calling the U.S. government's antitrust lawsuit a "fundamentally flawed" endeavor that could discourage competition and harm consumers. In a filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan late Tuesday, Apple said it has not conspired with anyone or fixed prices for e-books in an effort to thwart Amazon.com Inc's dominance of that fast-growing market. ...

Incredibly wealthy Silicon Valley exec arrested for complicated high-tech Lego theft at Target
Was it compulsion, a desire to beat the system, or just pure greed? Authorities — and indeed, the public at large — are struggling to understand the "why" behind a complicated theft scheme where wealthy Silicon Valley executive Thomas Langenbach … Continue reading →

Hewlett-Packard's employment count over the years

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s payroll has grown over the past decade, partly because of its purchase of computer maker Compaq in 2002 and technology-services provider Electronic Data Systems in 2008.

First Earth-Size Planets Found in Space
Scientists using NASA's Kepler space telescope say they have found two planets orbiting a distant star -- and say the planets are the first ever that are the size of Earth or smaller. That could be critical in the search for extraterrestrial life.