Hewlett-Packard raised its takeover offer for data-storage maker 3Par Inc. to about $1.69 billion US on Thursday.

That topped the bid from rival Dell Inc. just hours after it was made public.

HP's new offer is $27 US a share in cash, up from its $24-per-share offer, on Aug. 23rd. (Paul Sakuma/The Associated Press)

HP's new offer amounts to $27 per share in cash. Earlier, Dell had said 3Par had accepted its second offer of $24.30 per share in cash, or $1.52 billion.

Dell's first bid, for $18 a share, was made Aug. 16. HP countered that a week later with $24.

The contest demonstrates how the makers of personal computers are extending their business into "cloud computing," where users pay to have software delivered to them over the internet.

In after hours trading, HP shares were down 17 cents to $38.05 while Dell's lost a dime to $11.65 and 3Par's gained $1.77, or 6.8 per cent, to $27.80.

With files from The Associated Press