TechFast: Peak Animation, HP in the Cloud, Costly Chips

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Good morning! Want some tech headlines to chew on while you sip your coffee? You got it.

Have we reached peak animation?

Disney’s latest computer animated spectacular Mars Needs Moms has been spectacular in only one respect: the way it has flopped at the box office. Now, according to the New York Times, questions are being asked. Now that almost every kids film is computer animated, have people just had enough? Is it time for some new new ideas?

Link: New York Times

HP looks to the clouds

Meanwhile, that other computer giant Hewlett Packard is making some plans for the future. Chief executive Leo Apotheker said the company was going to focus on online services, and connecting all its products together. There will be an Apple-esque tablet (the TouchPad), and an application store, but there will also be an Amazon-esque platform for developers to run software and put data in the cloud.

Link: Bloomberg

Chip prices up

Yesterday we reported on the closure of many factories and offices by Japanese tech firms; today we’re seeing the consequences. Manufacturers of chips and other computer parts are seeing major disruption to output. That means fewer items for sale, which means prices going up. Your next gadget may be more expensive than you expected. Moore’s Law doesn’t account for earthquakes.

Link: Reuters

iPads don’t make good skateboards

This and other gems of gadget wisdom can be picked up from this gallery of ideas on the theme: what can you do with your old iPad? Obviously, now that iPad 2 is here, your old iPad is suddenly transformed from yesterday’s must-have gadget to today’s worthless junk. You’ll learn that it isn’t much good for skateboarding on (who’d have thought it?), but there are one or two other things it can manage…

Link: PC World