By Poornima Gupta and Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard stunned Wall Street by alleging a massive accounting scandal at its British software unit Autonomy that will cost the company the majority of $8.8 billion in charges.

It was the latest in a string of reversals that have renewed questions about the basic competence of the storied company’s board and senior managers.

Nov 20 (Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co said on
Tuesday it took an $8.8 billion charge related to its
acquisition of software firm Autonomy, citing “serious
accounting improprieties,” as it swung to a fourth-quarter loss.

HP said personal computer sales shrank again and its
quarterly revenue fell 6.7 percent.

By Poornima Gupta and Nicola Leske

(Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co said on Tuesday it took an $8.8 billion charge related to its acquisition of software firm Autonomy, citing “serious accounting improprieties,” as it swung to a fourth-quarter loss.

HP said personal computer sales shrank again and its quarterly revenue fell 6.7 percent.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16 (Reuters) – When Apple Inc
and HTC Corp last week ended their worldwide legal
battles with a 10-year patent licensing agreement, they declined
to answer a critical question: whether all of Apple’s patents
were covered by the deal.

It’s an enormously important issue for the broader
smartphone patent wars. If all the Apple patents are included
-including the “user experience” patents that the company has
previously insisted it would not license – it could undermine
the iPhone makers efforts to permanently ban the sale of
products that copy its technology.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When Apple Inc and HTC Corp last week ended their worldwide legal battles with a 10-year patent licensing agreement, they declined to answer a critical question: whether all of Apple’s patents were covered by the deal.

It’s an enormously important issue for the broader smartphone patent wars. If all the Apple patents are included -including the “user experience” patents that the company has previously insisted it would not license – it could undermine the iPhone makers efforts to permanently ban the sale of products that copy its technology.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Dell Inc’s third-quarter profit slid 47 percent, hurt by lower PC sales, weaker demand from large corporations and the shift to mobile computing.

Dell’s consumer PC business is struggling as more and more consumers are using smartphones and tablets to do basic computing, and the company’s corporate customers continue to defer spending due to the uncertain state of the economy.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Dell Inc’s profit fell 47 percent, hurt by lower PC sales and weaker demand from large corporations, but the No. 3 personal computer maker said it expects revenue to grow as much as 5 percent in the current quarter.

Dell shares fell 2.3 percent to $9.36 in after-market trade from its close of $9.56. The shares initially rose following the release of the results.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Mapping software company TomTom has made its vast mapping data available to apps developers, providing an alternative to companies that now use maps from Google Inc and Apple Inc.

Dutch-based TomTom, best-known for its car navigation systems, launched its location-based services platform on Thursday as it looks to compete in a crowded marketplace for Web and mobile maps.

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) slid almost 4 percent on Wednesday to a five-month low as investors grew more uncertain about its ability to fend off unprecedented competition and untangle a snarled iPhone 5 supply chain.

Apple’s slide outpaced the S&P 500′s drop of about 2.4 percent the day after the U.S. election, putting the world’s most valuable technology company into bearish territory.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Apple Inc slid more than 4 percent on Wednesday to a five-month low as investors grew more uncertain about its ability to fend off unprecedented competition and untangle a snarled iPhone 5 supply chain.

Apple’s slide was steeper than the S&P 500′s drop of about 2 percent the day after the U.S. election, putting the world’s most valuable technology company into bearish territory.