Microsoft rolls out a trio of big data products to help customers make further use of data gathered from any source-- SQL Server 2014, the Analytics Platform System (APS) and the Azure Intelligent Systems Service.

SQL Server 2014 brings in-memory capability to OLTP, data warehousing and business intelligence workloads. Microsoft describes it as a "breakthrough product," and claims it processes online transactions up to 30x faster than previous SQL Server versions.

It also runs workloads on the Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud, meaning organisations can tier SQL workloads for high availability in the cloud.

Meanwhile the APS promises "big data in a box." It combines SQL Server and Hadoop technology in a single, lower-cost offering. It allows customers to do queries across transactional systems and servers, as well as website logs and social data streams.

Barcode printer and reader maker Zebra Technologies buys the Motorola Solutions enterprise scanner business-- an acquisition worth $3.5 billion, higher than its market value.

Zebra might be a little known name, but the company is actually one of the biggest in the barcode business, and counts big name customers such as WalMart and Amazon. It develops own software (ZPL) and its technology finds retail, health care, government and other specific applications.

Recently the company has been prodding Internet of Things waters in effort to replace the traditional bar code with (pricier) RFID tags.

Intel reports Q1 2014 revenues are up by 1% Y-o-Y (or down -8% Q-o-Q) to $12.8 billion, with net income falling by -5% Y-o-Y to $1.9bn as Chipzilla's PC and Mobile groups continue seeing losses.

Such results do beat analyst estimates, but only slightly.

"In Q1 2014 we saw solid growth in the data center, signs of improvement in the PC business, and we shipped 5 million tablet processors, making strong progress on our goal of 40 million tablets for 2014," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says. "Additionally, we demonstrated our further commitment to grow in the enterprise with a strategic technology and business collaboration with Cloudera, we introduced our second-generation LTE platform with CAT6 and other advanced features, and we shipped our first Quark products for the Internet of Things."

HP coughs up $108 million to resolve a US government investigation claiming its Polish and Russian units bribed government officials to obtain lucrative contracts, Reuters reports.

The company stands accused of breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law barring US firms from bribing government officials outside the US.

In the Polish case, HP is accused of handing bags of cash and products worth over $600000 to a former National Police agency official in order to win technology contracts worth a total of $39.71 million during 2006-2010.

Reportedly an HP Poland exec named Tomasz Z. (last name withheld in accordance to Polish law) involved with the bribes evaded detection via anonymous email addresses and pre-paid mobile phones.

Despite being a wonder material for future electronics graphene is yet to achieve commercial reality-- at least until now Samsung claims as it announces a "breakthrough synthesis method" for the manufacture of the material.

The word "graphene" refers to a one-atom thick layer of graphite, the stuff pencils are made of. It has 100 times the electron mobility of silicon, the durability of steel, high heat conductivity and flexibility, making it perfect for smaller and flexible devices and displays. However large-scale production causes it to lose the properties making it so potentially useful.

A partnership between the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and SungkySungkyungkwan University hopes to change the situation. Researchers discovered a means of "growing" large-area single crystal wafer scale graphene (or big, thin sheets of the material, in layman's terms) on a semiconductor, allowing it to maintain its electrical and mechanical properties.

Microsoft has a busy week as CEO Satya Nadella promotes Cloud and Enterprise acting leader Scott Guthrie to group executive VP before detailing the Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 updates at BUILD 2014.

Guthrie joined Microsoft in 1997 and is credited with "critical contributions" to .NET, Azure  and other part sof the Microsoft ecosystem. His promotion is part of yet another Microsoft exec reshuffle, one seeing ex-Nokia CEO Stephen Elop named Devices Group executive VP and the formation of a new Xbox division led by Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer.

Later the company details the post-Steve Sinofsky future of Windows at BUILD 2014. The upcoming Windows 8.1 Update sees the touch-friendly OS return to a more keyboard- and mouse-friendly UI, since the Start button makes a much demanded comeback.

Further UI refinements include a booth straight to desktop feature and a redesigned Windows Store pre-pinned to the taskbar.