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Friday Grab Bag: Apple Refutes Multiple Product Rumors

April 26, 2013 by

Market research firm Strategy Analytics is reporting that Apple had a 48% market share of the estimated 40.6 million tablets that were shipped in the first quarter of 2013, followed by tablets that ran the Android operating system which own a 43% market share. Tablets that ran Windows had a 7.5% market share.

Overall the market has seen tremendous growth, surging 117% compared to the 18.7 million tablets that were sold in the same period a year ago.

Will Windows 8 Refresh Refresh Microsoft?
Microsoft has taken a beating in recent weeks as analysts and OEMs have pointed a finger at the company’s Windows 8 release as being a disaster and hurt both PC and tablet sales by Windows licensees.

The refresh of the operating system, called ‘Blue’ is reported to have changes to the UI and some subcomponent fixes. How it does will be very important, analysts told IT World, but it also needs to address a host of other issues including app shortage, pricing and enterprise adoption rates.

Apple’s Cook fries rumors
Apple has long been one of the companies that is always surrounded by a host of rumors. Will there be a new, cheap iPhone, is a new tablet coming out this month? You know the drill.

Now the company’s CEO Tim Cook refuted a few during his comments during Apple’s Q2 earnings call. So do not expect a new iPhone or iPad release soon, don’t look for a cheap iPhone and don’t expect a large format iPhone any time soon. For a fuller explanation of his comments head over here.

Speaking of Apple the company’s most recent earnings report showed that profits declined for the first time in almost 10 years. While that is bad the company did have $9.5 billion in profits from a total revenue of $43.6 billion. Last year’s first quarter saw the company report $11.6 billion profit on $39.2 billion in revenue.

LG becoming a factor in the smartphone world
While most of the talk in the smartphone market centers around a rare few, you can now add LG to the list as a player making an impact. The company reported that it sold 10.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year. It could see strong additional sales in the near future as it plans to ship its flagship Optimus G Pro in the U.S. next month.

Will 2013 be the year of the Android malware app?
An interesting piece in Forbes talks about how the slow rise of malware on smartphones is starting to gain momentum and all of that momentum appears pointed at the Android market. One security company reported that the Google Play Store had 35 apps that were infected with by a malware called BadNews.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Google, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, Smartphone, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , ,

NBA Playoffs: Available in Live TV, Mobile and Online

April 18, 2013 by

nba

The NBA Playoffs are around the corner and an onslaught of information and games are out there waiting for you, and the NBA along with its digital partners has organized it so that users can watch live games, catch highlights online and get full information while mobile.

The push is being orchestrated by NBA Digital, and if the name does not mean that much to you, you are are still likely to know a number of the components that make up that entity which include NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com, and WNBA.com. It is jointly managed by the NBA and Turner Sports.

First up is NBA TV which will be broadcasting approximately 1,500 hours of game coverage and will offer the possibility of multi-screen coverage and as many as nine first round games as well as pre- and post-game programming. The network’s live game telecasts will tip off with the Miami Heat hosting the Milwaukee Bucks (first round, Game 2) on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

However it should be noted that not all of the games will be on NBA TV, and if you are looking for additional information about games you have watched and others that were played that you did not see then the NBA’s web site, NBA.Com, is the place to look as it will serve as a centralized point for all playoff information including both live video coverage and video highlights.

Among the many offerings at the site a key feature will is the ability to see live games and overtime on TNT Overtime, which also includes some unique camera angles for a different view of the game. For social media fans there is also a section called Social Spotlight where you can track and contribute tweets, photos and other media.

The mobile users have a great deal of access to all of the NBA.Com features as well as ones tailored for mobile platforms. The app, NBA Game Time, is available for both Android and Apple iOS users and provides a bracket view, series dashboards, live scoring, and game alerts, among other features. A version for iPad users, NBA Game Time Sponsored by State Farm also offers synchronized video, scores and updates delivered in real-time.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Basketball, iOS, iPad, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NBA, NBA Game Time, NBC Sports, Smartphone, TNT, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Microsoft Goes Small and MLB hits it Big

April 12, 2013 by

People seem drawn to March Madness pools like moths to a flame, and this year ESPN’s mammoth pool, 8.15 million strong had a surprise winner, Lanny Kekua. If that name does not ring a bell it is the fake dead girlfriend of Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o.

The name was used as an alias by a fan named Craig Gilmore, who won the tournament and successfully selected Louisville to defeat Michigan in the final. He is now entered into a drawing for a $10,000 Best Buy gift card.

Reebok Spartan Race hits the baseball circuit
Last year the Sparta Race held an event at a baseball park, and it proved to be very popular. So this year it is upping the ante and will be holding a series of events at ballyards, and it has announced the first four venues.

Athletes living near The New York Mets’ Citi Field, The Philadelphia Phillies’ Citizen Bank Park, The Milwaukee Brewers’ Miller Park or The Boston Red Sox Fenway Park can start practicing for the event near you.

Did Windows 8 Launch hurt PC sales?
Market research firm IDC has reported that sales of personal computers continued a downward fall, and is ascribing part of the blame to the latest operating system release from Microsoft, Windows 8. The most recent IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report shows that in the first quarter of 2013 there was a total average drop in PC shipments of 13.9% compared to the previous quarter.

Bob O’Donnell, IDC Program Vice President, Clients and Displays said that the company’s research showed that not only did Windows 8 not provide the hoped for boost in sales that many had been planning on, it actually served as a major detriment to sales.

At Bat Starts off with hot streak
Major League Baseball’s popular At Bat program for mobile device users has been a hot download at the start of this year’s season. The program surpassed the 4 million download mark last week, five days into the season.

Last year, when the app was also on a record setting pace, it took it 45 days to reach the 4 million milestone. For the year the app was downloaded 6.7 million times in 2012. MLB’s other two major apps At the Ballpark and Beat the Streak had roughly a million additional downloads.

The Rumor Mill

Tom’s Hardware is showing what is reportedly the next generation tablet from Acer, the Iconia tab A1-810 that had been accidentally briefly advertised by a French retailer. The 7.9-inch tablet is said to be powered by a 1.2GHz Cortex A9 processor featuring 1GB of RAM.

Newly leaked images of the forthcoming iPad from Apple appear to show a device that is thinner than previous releases and has reinforced the rumor that Apple is completely redesigning the popular tablet, currently reported to have the name iPad 5.

To the surprise of no one it has been reported that Microsoft has a 7-inch tablet in the works. With the rapidly growing popularity of this form factor a better issue might be what took them so long? The Wall Street Journal, via The Hispanic Business.com said that the tablets are expected to go into production later this year.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, ESPN, iPad, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Microsoft, NCAA Hoops, Smartphone, Spartan Race, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: The Cost of Hot Dogs and New Nexus Coming?

April 5, 2013 by

If you cannot get enough of Facebook on your mobile devices this will be very good news. The company has delivered an app called ‘Facebook Home’ that is an Android program which replaces your normal Android home screen.

Scheduled to be launched within the next two weeks the app will also come preinstalled on new HTC First Phones that will be available from AT&T. Facebook is working to launch a version for tablets in the near future. Head over to TechCrunch to see what the new features will be.

Next Gen Nexus rumored for July
The latest in the tablet rumors is that Google’s popular Nexus tablet will be seeing a platform refresh this coming July, according to a report in Reuters, and from the sounds of the report the company plans to be very aggressive in its pricing.

The new Nexus would feature greater screen resolution, a thinner bezel and a new processor, dropping Nvidia in favor of Qualcomm. It is reported the company will be seeking to sell 8 million tablets in the second half of the year.

Speaking of Google rumors another has it building an Android powered notebook that it is planning to launch as early as in the third quarter of this year.

Amazon Kindle Phone on the way?
Computerworld is reporting that Amazon is looking at developing and delivering a smartphone that it would deliver later this year. It is not clear of Amazon would make it a type of Kindle phone or if it would be a more traditional Android device.

Amazon recently hired Charles Kindel who had formerly headed up Microsoft’s Windows Phone application and platform developer relations. Apparently Kindel has been blogging that he was hired by Amazon to ‘do something secret” I am sure blogging will help keep it a secret.

Ematic delivers low cost Android tablet
If you are looking for a low cost tablet, possibly as a single use device or one that you are not afraid to have damaged you might want to look at the latest offering from Ematic and its $79.99 7-inch Genesis Prime tablet.

While certainly not designed to set the world on fire with its features it does have a 1.1GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 4GB on-board storage, 5GB cloud storage, 512MB of RAM, front-facing VGA camera and 4.5 hours of battery life.

No peanuts or crackerjacks here
Sports fans are always competitive and now they can see how they rank in two very important categories- how much they are spending on beer and on hot dogs at the ball yard, thanks to a survey by CNN Money.

I have to say I surprised at the differences. You can buy six hot dogs at Cincinnati’s Great American Park for the price of one at the New York Met’s Citi Field, for instance. Beer is most expensive in Washington D.C. and cheapest in Cleveland.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, AT&T, Baseball, Google, Intel, iPad, Kindle, Major League Baseball, Microsoft, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , ,

PCs Sales Suffer as Tablets and Smartphone Sales continue to Soar

March 27, 2013 by

ipad4

A recent press release from market research company IDC highlights the growing importance of tablets to users seeking to stay connected with a smart device as they have become a driving force in a huge and growing market.

The latest results from IDC’s Smart Connected Device Tracker shows that overall shipments of smart connected devices grew 29.1% last year and that units edged past the 1 billion shipped level for the first time, with a value of $576.9 billion.

Tablet sales grew 78.4% compared to 2011, reaching 128 million units for the year. Smartphones continued to also see strong growth, increasing by 46.1% while the big loser were PCs, both desktop and notebooks, with drops in sales of 4.1% and 3.4% respectively.

And the forecast is rosy for tablets and not so good for the old stalwarts in the PC market. As the tablet space starts to mature sales will slow as a percentage of growth, dropping to an estimated 48.7% this year and 10.6% by 2017 while smartphones will drop to 27.2% growth this year and 9.8% in 2017. On the flip side of the coin desktop PC sales will continue to drop, seeing a 4.3% decline this year and a 1.0% in 2017 while notebook sales are expected to see some rebound to an increase of 0.9% this year and a 3.7% increase in 2017.

Part of notebooks’ issues can be seen in that tablets are now emerging as the go-to device in developing markets, but IDC estimates that users will often move onto, or add, notebook computers at some point in the future.

Amidst this shift, maintaining the functionality of these mobile devices is crucial, especially as they become integral to everyday life. A common issue faced by many users is screen damage, which can significantly hinder the usability of tablets and smartphones. This is where services like Mobile Screen Fix come into play, providing essential repairs that ensure devices remain in optimal condition. By addressing screen damage promptly, users can continue to enjoy the full capabilities of their tablets and smartphones, making these devices reliable tools for both personal and professional use. As the demand for mobile technology grows, so does the importance of accessible and efficient repair services.

IDC estimates that worldwide shipments will continue to remain very strong overall and should reach 2.2 billion units and $814.3 billion by 2017.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Intel, iPad, Market Research, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: , , ,

Low Cost Lenovo 7-inch Tablet Almost Here

March 26, 2013 by

lenovo

If you are ever wondering how news services and even blogs get advanced information about upcoming products it is often because the devices have to go through approval at the FCC, which has to make the records of approvals public. The forthcoming Lenovo A1000 is no exception.

The A1000 is no secret, the company talked about it and two additional tablets last month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but the fact that it is now getting approval to be shipped into the U.S. shows how close the device is to reaching the market.

The low-cost 7-inch tablet is an entry level device that the company is targeting at two different groups, first time buyers and music enthusiasts. When Apple hit the market with its iPad the market quickly responded with a list of me-too offerings, few of which gained any sales. The entry level was particularly weak as everybody compared the devices to the iPad.

Now the market has started to mature and people have a much better idea of what they want a tablet for and are starting to understand the differences that different price points represent in terms of display size, processor capabilities, storage and other features.

One of the key differentiators on the A1000 is its audio, which features Dolby Digital Plus and the large front facing speakers as part of its attempt to appeal to music fans. The tablet runs the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It will ship with 8GB or 16GB of storage that is expandable to 32GB with a micro-SD slot.

There are a few features that the company has not yet released such as screen resolution. Pricing has also not yet been released and that will be key as the 7-inch space has been heating up and is expected to quickly catch up to the 10-inch display space. The other two tablets that were discussed last month, the 10.1-inch S6000 and the 7-inch A3000 appear to be further out but both are expected in the second quarter.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Google, iPad, Lenovo, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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