HP will lay off 9,000

In today's podcast: HP will lay off 9,000; protesters picket Computex; and Pixel Qi shows touch-sensitive reflective display.

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes!

Hewlett-Packard will cut 9,000 jobs as it restructures its enterprise services business and automates the services it offers enterprise customers. The move will cost it around 1 billion dollars. After spending the last 20 months integrating EDS, the consultancy and services business it acquired in 2008, HP is counting on automation to boost profits from its service business.

Visitors to Taiwan's Computex trade show received a loud welcome on Tuesday morning as labor unions and environmental groups demonstrated against some of the biggest names in the IT industry. They targeted companies such as Apple and Foxconn Electronics, which makes products for Apple, Dell and other companies. Foxcon is under scrutiny after a string of apparent suicides among its production line workers. Some of its biggest customers have said they will work together to investigate working conditions at the factories.

Pixel Qi showed off a prototype touchpanel version of its laptop display at Computex. The start-up generated buzz at last year’s show with a reflective display that can be read easily outdoors in bright daylight, yet also has a backlight for indoor use. That combination has many laptop and tablet PC vendors evaluating the screens for use in their products. Adding a touch-sensitive layer to the display without reducing its brightness has been difficult, but the effort has paid off, as a number of manufacturers at Computex are showing prototypes with Pixel Qi screens.

Google is moving its employees off the Microsoft Windows operating system as part of its efforts to improve security. Many of its 10,000 employees are being urged to move to alternative systems including Mac OS or Linux, according to U.K. media reports.

And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I’m Peter Sayer in Paris. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.