Apple expanding in Texas with $304 million investment

Apple is planning a major investment in Texas, the governor's office has announced.According to Gov. Rick Perry, Apple plans to drop $304 million into a new campus in Austin. The new facility, the governor's office said Friday, will create over 3,600 jobs in the state over the next decade and double the size of Apple's workforce across Texas. The state didn't divulge too many details but did say the facility will be used to expand "customer support, sales, and accounting functions."Apple's major investment might lend a bit more credence to the company's claims earlier this month that it has been a key source of jobs across the U.S. Citing a survey from Analysis Group, Apple said it has either "created or supported" 514,000 positions across the U.S. Out of that, 47,000 people are actually employed by the company. "We've created or supported more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. workers: from the engineer who helped invent the iPad to the delivery person who brings it to your door," Apple said at the time.To help sweeten the pot for its latest deal, Apple was given $21 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund. The fund, which is used to close deals that bring companies to the state, has awarded over $443.4 million to firms since its inception in 2003. Perry's office claims these companies have created over 62,000 new jobs and more than $15.4 billion in capital investment for the state.

Apple envy? Microsoft exec cites MacBook Air design

At least one Microsoft executive believes that Apple designs are good enough to cite as a yardstick. After revealing that Windows Blue would officially be called 8.1 at the JP Morgan Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference on Tuesday, Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Tami Reller moved on to the topic of tablets, convertibles, and detachables. "The HP envy x2 is a classic example of a beautiful detachable.When the tablet and base are together it looks like a MacBook Air competitor," she said. How good is the Envy x2's design? "This 11-inch ultraportable laptop is cute, well-constructed in largely brushed aluminum, and, yes, pretty sexy," said CNET Reviews.Related storiesCNET's HP Envy x2 reviewAnd it definitely trumps the Air in one respect: it's a true hybrid. As Reller said, it can be both a standalone tablet (it weighs in at 1.5 pounds as a tablet) and laptop. But not all the comparisons are favorable. The Envy uses a relatively slow Intel Atom processor (the Air packs a faster Ivy Bridge chip) and in laptop mode it weighs 3.1 pounds versus the comparable 11.6-inch Air, which weighs 2.4 pounds. Some might also dispute a comparison to the MacBook Air on aesthetic grounds. That said, HP is on to something.The Envy x2 with Intel's upcoming quad-core Bay Trail Atom chip -- a complete redesign of the Atom micro-architecture -- might be worth a closer look. MacBook Air.Apple