Today's news of Dell's Alienware acquisition is significant, if hardly surprising. When the rumours first hit, Alienware's representatives coyly responded with a somewhat self-congratulatory release ...

Michael Kanellos is editor at large at CNET News.com, where he covers hardware, research and development, start-ups and the tech industry overseas. It finally happened, just not the way many thought.

The Round Rock, Texas-based vendor said Wednesday it plans to acquire Alienware, a maker of high-end desktop and notebook PCs that use processors from both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Dell is a ...