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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: , , , , , , , ,

Android Tablets See Growth at iPad’s Expense

March 13, 2013 by
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

The market for tablets is changing as both Android-powered devices gather additional market share and the smaller form factor tablets, sub-8 inches, are seeing extremely strong growth, according to the most recent study from market research from International Data Corp.

Overall the tablet market is strong and growing, and IDC has upgraded its forecast to reflect this trend, now estimating that there will be 190.9 million, up from its previous forecast of 172.4 million units sold in 2013. It is also expecting the market to grow at an average increase of 11% a year between 2013 and 2016, with estimated shipments in 2017 to reach 350 million units according to the company’s most recent Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.

Smaller form factor tablets, those smaller than 8 inches, now account for half of all tablet sales and it expects that this trend will continue as consumers have found that smaller tablets often work better for daily usage compared to their larger brethren.

Tablets powered by the Android operating system grew its market share to 48.8% of the market, at the expense of Apple’s iPad family which witnessed a 5% market share drop to 46% of the market. However both are expected to see continual share erosion going forward as Windows, which combined RT and Pro, will gain an estimated 4.7% of the market this year but should grow to 10.1% by 2017, according to the report.

Another loser is ereaders, which are expected to lose market share due to the growing presence of low cost tablets that can both serve as an ereader and for a wide variety of additional uses as well. IDC has reduced its forecast by an average of 14% a year between 2013 and 2016. It estimates that there was 26.4 million sold in 2011 and that number represents the platform’s peak, declining to 18.2 million the following year. IDC expects modest gains this year and next before a permanent decline sets in.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Google, iOS, iPad, Microsoft, Samsung, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Microsoft Surface Pro Sells Out — More this Weekend

February 13, 2013 by

surface

After the lackluster news about the holiday sales of its first generation tablet, the Surface RT, and then more bad news about its Pro version just prior to shipping Microsoft has some good news to report. It’s sold out!
It was reported that just a day into its widespread availability Microsoft was out of its 128GB version of its Surface Pro tablet, although its 64GB version remained on the shelves for prospective customers.

Well that might not be so great since it could mean loss of sales but it looks to be a short term issue as the company has a new round of tablets on the way and they are expected to hit store shelves as well as Microsoft’s own online store by this weekend.

Some have questioned if the tablets actually sold out, or if it was an artificial shortage designed to get solid publicity for the company by showing demand for the tablet. PCWorld posed that question and has provided similar comments from others.

Still it is hard to say for sure since it is doubtful that Microsoft is going to provide its roadmap and strategic plans for use to look at. The question I have is if the demand for the highest capacity tablets was driven by the news of how little space was actually available for users?

I guess we will see the true popularity of the tablets, both from Microsoft and others when IDC releases its next quarterly tablet report. Other Windows tablets have received popular acclaim, such as the most recent offering from Lenovo. This should help break open the market even more, providing Samsung, Apple, Google and Amazon with a new generation of competition.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Google, iPad, Kindle, Lenovo, Microsoft, PCWorld, Samsung, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Apple Expands Storage Capacity with Latest iPad Upgrade

January 29, 2013 by

ipad

Apple has said that it has expanded the storage capacity options on its flagship iPad platform with the addition of models that will now have feature 128GB of storage, doubling what had been previously available.

The 128GB iPad with Wi-Fi and iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be available starting next Tuesday, Feb. 5, and will be available in both black or white models. The MSRP for the iPad with Wi-Fi model is $799 and will be $929 (US) for the iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

The models will have what is expected of this generation iPads including a 9.7-inch Retina display, Apple’s iOS 6.1 operating system that includes built-in support for LTE networks. It will be powered by the company’s A6X dual core processor and will include the FaceTime HD camera.

The move could be seen as designed to counter Microsoft which is planning to release its Windows Surface 8 Pro tablet on Feb. 9, a tablet that will also have a 128GB capacity. The Surface RT that was released late last year currently supports 64GBs of storage.

At the upcoming World Mobile Congress next month in Barcelona a number of tablets are expected to be shown, including four from Samsung. It will be interesting to see if that company follows along and has its latest offering available with 128GBs as well.

Apple has been under increased pressure from its competitors in the second half of last year and continuing into 2013 as they have started bringing out significantly better developed and built products that they had previously. Samsung and Amazon have been the two most aggressive but Microsoft has also entered the game late last year with its Surface platform, and is expanding that soon with a model that is expected to be much better received that its Surface RT.

While this move is certainly more evolutionary rather than revolutionary it will help it keep its products features at the top of the charts.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Amazon, Apple, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, iOS, iOS 6, iPad, Microsoft, Samsung, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Friday Grab Bag: Samsung to Launch 4 Tablets at MWC?

January 25, 2013 by

Microsoft had less than stellar numbers with its Surface RT tablet but now it’s time to see how well it will do focusing more on its basic operating system. The Surface Windows 8 Pro is expected to be released Feb. 8, an interesting choice since the first quarter of the year is traditionally the slowest time in consumer electronics retail sales.

The first tablet from Microsoft in this branch of the Surface family is designed to be integrated into a corporate infrastructure and has wider browser support than the RT version, which only had Internet Explorer support. The Surface Pro will be powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, dual band Wi-Fi, dual 720p HD webcams, a full-sized USB 3.0 port, microSDXC slot, and mini DisplayPort. The 64GB version will list for $899 and the 128GB for $999. The tablets will be available from Microsoft’s retail stores as well as from Staples and Best Buy.

Amazon adds speech-recognition developer Ivona Software to its portfolio
Amazon has announced that it has purchased text-to-speech technology developer Ivona Software. The terms of the acquisition were not revealed. Amazon has a history with the company as Ivona already has a number of features that are included in Amazon’s products including the “Text-to-Speech,” “Voice Guide” and “Explore by Touch” features on Kindle Fire tablets.

Ivona is a 10-year-old company that currently has voice and language technology that includes 44 voices and support for 17 languages. Founded as IVO Software in 2001 by Łukasz Osowski and Michał Kaszczuk, a pair of graduates from the Gdansk University of Technology, they remain active in the company.


Samsung looks to have a busy Mobile World Congress with 4 new tablets
According to a report from SamMobile that was repeated in Tech Digest, Samsung will unveil four tablets at the show in Barcelona next month. Leading off will be the Galaxy Tab 3, with a 7-inch and 10.1-inch member of the family. These are expected to have 3G and Wi-Fi versions.

Then there is the already reported Galaxy Note 8, code-named Kona, also in 3G and Wi-Fi versions and it will be available in 16GB and 32GB versions. The last model, and the one with the fewest details is a high end model code-named Roma that is reported to have 16GB and 32GB versions.

Apple’s earnings disappoints Wall Street
It always seems odd to write a headline like that when a company posts record revenue and sales, but then it is not me who was disappointed. For Apple’s first quarter 2013, which ended Dec. 29, 2012 it posted quarterly revenue of $54.5 billion and a quarterly net profit of $13.1 billion.

It sold a record 47.8 million iPhones in the quarter, up from the same quarter a year ago when it sold 37 million. It also sold a record number of iPads, hitting the 22.9 million mark, compared to 15.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Nike teams up for tradition post-holiday drive with Lose It!
As anyone who has gone to the gym after New Years knows, it is now the season to lose all of the weight that somehow managed to tag along for the ride amid the Egg Nogs and holiday cheer.

The Lose It! App is now connected to the Nike+ API and so users of NikeFuel can integrated data between the two. Lose It! Is designed to be set up as a personalized weight loss program that helps users by not only tracking calories but offering healthy choices in their diet.

Users can earn back calories into their daily diet with a seamless connection between the user’s NikeFuel and their daily calorie budget. The Nike+ FuelBand connection is available for free to all existing and new Lose It! users who have a Nike+ FuelBand. New users can join Lose It! at LoseIt.com or by downloading the Lose It! app from iTunes or Google Play.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apps, Galaxy Note, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, Nike, Samsung, Surface, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Asus Goes Small With 7-inch Memo Pad Tablet

January 16, 2013 by

Asus avoided the glitter of CES by waiting until after the show had closed its doors before quietly expanding its tablet offerings with the Asus Memo Pad ME172V, a 7-inch tablet that will be priced just under $150.

The tablet will have a 1GHz processor powering the device that will include the Android 4.1 operating system and will feature 1024 x 600 dpi screen resolution and will initially be available with either 8GB or 16GB of storage. It has a 1MP front facing camera and has the ability to expand its storage by as much as double via the use of a 16GB microSD card and also includes a microUSB port for additional peripherals.

The company has not given a definitive release date for the tablet in the United States but has said that it will release it in select markets later this month. It has been speculated that this means the US, but that is not clear yet. It will be available in three colors

It will be in a very competitive space where rivals are more entrenched including the Nexus 7 which has a better screen and a more powerful processor. However the move by Asus has been long anticipated, and is just its first move into the 7-inch space. It came after a flurry of additional tablet news from earlier in the month.

A Pair of Tablets Unveiled at the Show
This follows a bigger splash from Asus at the CES show, where it took the wraps off a pair of tablets as well as an ultrabook. The first of the tablets was the Vivo Tab Smart, one of the first tablets that will be available running Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating systems and powered by an Intel Z2760 dual core Atom processor. The 10-inch tablet features a 1366 x 768 dpi display and includes an 8MP rear focus camera as well as the 2MP front facing camera. So far the company has not revealed when it will be shipping or at what price.

The company also revealed additional details of its Transformer AiO tablet, a large form devices that it has designed to run both Windows 8 as well as Android. It features a 18.4-inch screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. As befits a device designed to run dual operating systems it has both an Intel Atom and an nVidia processor, one to run each OS apparently. Delivery date is still unannounced but an entry level device is expected to start at $1,300.

Filed Under: Android, Asus, Intel, Microsoft, Tablets, Windows 8 Tagged With: , , , ,
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