Other Sites
What Were 15.4 Million iPad Fans Thinking?
Is This RIM's Macintosh Moment?
HP to Commit webOS to Open Source by Fall 2012
iPad takes 96% of tablets, iPhone 53% Of Phones In Good Mobile Enterprise Study
Poll Finds Consumer Confusion Over Where Apple Devices Are Made
Soaring iPad Sales Again Fuel Talk of Fading PCs
Apple CEO Tim Cook: Tablets Will Be Bigger Than Pcs And Why Kindle Fire Isn't Hurting The iPad
The Best Tablets You Can Buy This Year
100 Percent of Surveyed Consumers Bought an Electronic Device over the Holidays - Market Force Study Reveals
Tablets Market & its Future Analysed in New Euromonitor Study Available at MarketPublishers.com
iFixit Transparent Glass iPhone 4S Back Panel
Kodak Gallery Shares its Valentine's Day Card Collections
Pringgle Media Releases First Relationship Bank Account App for iPhone
What Were 15.4 Million iPad Fans Thinking?
Motley Fool's Rick Aristotle Munarriz is gobsmacked that more than 15 million bought iPad 2's in the recent holiday quarter, with it pretty widely anticipated that an iPad 3 (or 2S) will land in March, a phenomenon that he says is really stunning the market, and a sucker punch to the gut of every Apple cynic.
Munarriz notes that prior to the release of Apple's fiscal Q1 earnings report this week, analysts had been scaling back iPad sales projections in recent weeks, it being difficult to see Apple moving as many tablets with Amazon.com's Kindle Fire selling robustly and deep discounts on RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook
Given the markdown madness, he says you have to wonder what the 15.4 million buyers of iPads at $499 or higher were thinking, with the the iPad 3 rolling out sometime between February and April of this year - at the same price of an iPad 2 - why rush into an iPad 2 purchase just months or weeks before it's obsolete?
Would it have hurt these 15.4 million new iPad 2 owners to wait a couple of months for either a better price on their own gadget or at the very least a chance to spend the same amount on something better?
I'm not asking iPad buyers to "think different" he says, as much as just to "think," period.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/y0Xj2n
Is This RIM's Macintosh Moment?
Low End Mac's Dan Knight notes that before the iPhone debuted in 2007, Research In Motion's BlackBerry had become the smartphone of choice for businesses because it was designed especially for email - and its network was secure, separate from the Internet.
However, he notes that RIM made some very bad moves in 2011, such as releasing its PlayBook tablet with absolutely no support for email unless it was tethered to a BlackBerry smartphone. This past week, its co-CEOs resigned, and there are rumors that RIM is trying to find a white knight to swoop in and rescue the company.
Dan says that if you were following Apple's trajectory back in 1996, a lot of this should sound familiar. Starting in 1995, Apple had attempted to grow the Mac market by licensing the Mac OS and authorizing Macintosh clones, a move that ended up eating into the most profitable part of the Macintosh product line....
The term "beleaguered" was widely applied to Apple, and prior to Steve Jobs' return at the end of 1986, the big question was whether Apple would close its doors or be bought out by Sony or IBM or Sun Microsystems or Oracle or Motorola.
Instead of that happening, Apple made a $400 million gamble on NeXT, bringing Steve Jobs back to the company he helped found, and the rest is history. Jobs eliminated unprofitable products, streamlined the Macintosh product line, slowly growing Mac sales and turning the company from quarterly losses to profits.
Dan Knight says that if RIM is going to survive without being acquired, it needs to follow Apple's example and go back to creating the best possible experience for its users.... No more following the market, but learning to lead it again.
The operative question is can new RIM CEO Thorsten Heins pull it off? Is he any kind of visionary at all? Or will he watch helplessly as RIM become the next tech failure?
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/yk2LzS
HP to Commit webOS to Open Source by Fall 2012
HP has announced that it's begun executing its plan to deliver an open webOS by committing to a schedule for making the platforms source code available under an open source license.
The company aims to complete this milestone in its entirety by September.
HP also announced it is releasing version 2.0 of webOSs innovative developer tool, Enyo. Enyo 2.0 enables developers to write a single application that works across mobile devices and desktop web browsers, from the webOS, iOS and Android platforms to the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and more. The source code for Enyo is available today, giving the open source community immediate access to the acclaimed application framework for webOS.
By contributing webOS to the open source community, HP unleashes the creativity of hardware and software developers to build a new generation of applications and devices.
"HP is bringing the innovation of the webOS platform to the open source community, says Bill Veghte, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, HP. "This is a decisive step toward meeting our goal of accelerating the platforms development and ensuring that its benefits will be delivered to the entire ecosystem of web applications."
The webOS code will be made available under the Apache License, Version 2.0, beginning with the source code for Enyo.
webOS roadmap
Over the first half of the year, HP will make individual elements of webOS source code available from core applications like Mail and Calendar to its Linux kernel until the full code base is contributed to the open source community by September.
Enyo 2.0 and Enyo source code
Enyo 1.0 made it simple to write apps that worked on a variety of webOS form factors. Version 2.0 extends this write once, run anywhere capability to a range of other platforms, including mobile and desktop web browsers.
More information about Enyo and the source code is available at"
http://developer.palm.com/blog
For more information, visit:
http://www.hp.com
iPad takes 96% of tablets, iPhone 53% Of Phones In Good Mobile Enterprise Study
Appleinsider's Daniel Eran Dilger reports:
Enterprise mobile services vendor Good Technology reported that iPad accounted for 96 percent of tablets and iPhone 53 percent of smartphones activated by the more than 2,000 companies using its services in the fourth quarter, giving iOS a 71 percent share of all mobile devices.
For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/zopRHk
You can download the full Good Technology report here (PDF):
http://bit.ly/zL2o8R
Poll Finds Consumer Confusion Over Where Apple Devices Are Made
The New York Times's Marjorie Connelly reports that
outsourcing of manufacturing jobs remains a major sore point for most Americans, but owners of some of the nation's most popular electronics including iPhones and iPads are less concerned than other Americans about where their purchases are made, according to a nationwide survey conducted by The Times.
Ms. Connelly says that while overall, 52 percent of poll respondents said it was very important to them that products they buy are made in the United States; only 42 percent of Apple product owners agreed.
For the full report visit here:
http://nyti.ms/yHeN9p
Soaring iPad Sales Again Fuel Talk of Fading PCs
Sci-Tech Today's Adam Dickter observing that Apple sold 15.43 million iPads in the fourth quarter, more than all the PCs sold by HP in that interval, and overall, worldwide PC shipments declined slightly, by 1.4 percent, to 92.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with the same period of 2010, after two quarters of positive growth, leading to specualtion that the "post-PC era" is indeed upon us. But is it?
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/xTfwDO
Apple CEO Tim Cook: Tablets Will Be Bigger Than Pcs And Why Kindle Fire Isn't Hurting The iPad
GeekWire cites an excerpt from Apple CEO Tim Cook remarks in response to a question from an analyst at Goldman Sachs during Apple's financials conference call this week:
"We are really happy with the 15.4 million iPads that we were able to sell This is consistent with our long-term belief that weve had since before we introduced the product that this is a huge opportunity for Apple over time. As I've said before, I really believe - as do many others in the company believe - that there will come a day when the tablet market, in units, is larger than the PC market. In fact, it is interesting to note that in the U.S., and it is clear from IDC's recent data on desktops in the U.S., that tablets exceeded desktops last quarter.
"And so I think you can already see different indicators that there is significant momentum in this space.
"In terms of our competitiveness, the ecosystem for the iPad is in a class by itself. We strongly believe in optimizing applications from day one to take advantage of the larger canvas and we now have apps totaling over 170,000 available for customers, and that compares to be what appears to be only a few hundred for the competition.
"And so, I think people really want to do multiple things with their tablets and therefore we dont really see the limited function tablets and e-readers as being in the same category. There are clearly customers who will buy both and I think they will sell a fair number of units, but I dont think people that want an iPad will settle for a limited function.
"And, in terms of other tablets, last year was supposed to be the year of the tablet, and I think most people would agree that it was the year of the iPad, for the second year in a row.
"So, we are just going to continue to innovate like crazy in this area, and we think we can continue to compete with anyone that is currently shipping tablets or that might enter in the future."
Via: http://bit.ly/wsLxeu
The Best Tablets You Can Buy This Year
BusinessInsider's Steve Kovach says that just because Apple still has the tablet market locked up with the iPad, doesn't mean there are some decent competitors out there, with competing tablet makers beefing up their offerings with better design, software, and speed. At the Consumer Electronics Show this month, Kovach got a good look at a bunch of excellent tablets arriving later this year. Those, along with some rumored devices and great new tablets from late last year make our list for the best you can buy.
You can check it out at:
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-tablets-2012-2012-1
100 Percent of Surveyed Consumers Bought an Electronic Device over the Holidays - Market Force Study Reveals
Electronics were at the top of everyone's shopping list over the holidays. In a new consumer electronics study by Market Force Information, 100% of survey respondents reported purchasing a consumer electronic device for themselves or others during the holiday season. Video games and gear were the most popular items, followed by TVs.
The survey of more than 4,200 consumers by Market Force, a worldwide leader in customer intelligence solutions, was designed to uncover which electronics were most popular among holiday shoppers in 2011, what factors influenced their buying decisions and where they made their purchases.
Brick-and-mortar dominates for CE
Surprisingly, more holiday shoppers got into their cars than logged into their computers to shop for electronics. Of those surveyed, only 35% said they bought an electronic device online, while 100% said they bought at least one device from a retail store.
Why brick-and-mortar and not online? More than half said they bought from a retail location because of the immediacy of the purchase, and 46% were lured by special in-store promotions. Another 39% wanted to avoid shipping costs, while 35% wanted an in-person demonstration of the device.
Best Buy was the most popular retailer for pricey consumer electronics, followed by Walmart and Target. Wireless phone stores, Apple Stores, Staples and GameStop were also called out, although none received more than 5% of the mentions.
Sales Associates Wield Retail Power
The survey also discovered that retail sales associates wield enormous clout during the electronics buying process. More than three-quarters of shoppers said they were helped by a sales person, 44% received a specific product recommendation from the associate and, of those, 85% bought the product that was recommended.
We discovered that the human factor in the retail process is incredibly powerful when consumer electronics are concerned, said Janet Eden-Harris, chief marketing officer for Market Force. Not only do shoppers value and trust the opinions of electronics salespeople, they also tend to follow their advice, which tells us this role carries more weight than in other industries.
Game On For Holiday Electronics Sales
In the blazing battle of consumer electronics dominance, the video game industry proved victorious. Thirty-two percent of survey respondents reported buying gaming gear for themselves or others, just edging out the 31% who bought TVs, DVD players and other TV components. There was a tie for third between smart phones and digital cameras, each with 24%, while 23% bought a computer. Despite the hype, tablet computers like iPads and e-readers like Kindle were only purchased by 21% and 20%, respectively.
Market Force conducted the consumer electronics survey in January 2012. The pool of 4,206 survey respondents ranged in age from 18 to more than 65, and reflected a broad spectrum of income levels, with half reporting household incomes of $25,000 - $50,000 a year. Seventy-two percent were women, the primary household consumer purchasers. More than two-thirds are married.
For more information on Market Forces customer intelligence solutions for the retail industry, visit:
http://www.marketforce.com/industries/retail
Tablets Market & its Future Analysed in New Euromonitor Study Available at MarketPublishers.com
The tablets market is growing at unprecedented rates. In 2010 when Apple introduced its iPad, it boomingly gained the public eye and consumers interest. Today iPad accounts for approximately 69% of the total tablet market.
New market research report "The Future of Tablets: Segmentation, Forecasts and Implications for Related Products" developed by Euromonitor International has been published by Market Publishers Ltd.
Report Details:
Title: The Future of Tablets: Segmentation, Forecasts and Implications for Related Products
Published: January, 2012
Pages: 39
Price: US$ 2,000
http://bit.ly/zPIlMu
The report examines the development of the global market for tablets and other portable computers over the 2011-2015 period. It includes analysis of market segmentation, target demographics, competitive analysis, and forecasts to 2015. The report also highlights key implications for other categories in consumer electronics, and the consequences and opportunities for industries like travel and tourism, consumer appliances and retailing.
Report Contents:
Introduction
Usage Scenarios and Target Demographics
Market Segmentation
Competitive Factors
Market Forecasts
Implications for Consumer Electronics
Cross-Industry Implications
Conclusions
Report Definitions
For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/zPIlMu
iFixit Transparent Glass iPhone 4S Back Panel
Apple designs amazing products - inside and out. The internals of the iPhone are absolutely gorgeous, but Apple keeps them covered up! iFixIt has announced their iPhone 4S transparent back panel. Now you can have the coolest iPhone on the block.
You can see the transparent panel in action here:
http://bit.ly/w0jAxD
For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/sLIuHD
If you haven't upgraded to a 4S yet, they've also got a package with iPhone 4 GSM panels:
http://bit.ly/tVBa19
Installing the panel takes seconds - just remove two screws with the included screwdriver, slide the back panel off, and slide the new one on. They've even made step-by-step instructions to show you the way:
http://bit.ly/p9xv2y
This is a very visual way to show that great design is more than skin deep.
iPhone 4S Transparent Rear Glass Panel Product Overview
For installation, you'll need a Pentalobe P2 screwdriver. A P2 screwdriver and replacement Phillips screws are included in our popular Liberation Kit.
This part only fits the iPhone 4S. It looks great on both white and black iPhones. We have the equivalent product available for the iPhone 4 GSM/AT&T here.
Apple designs amazing products - inside and out. The internals of the iPhone are absolutely gorgeous, but Apple keeps them covered up! Now you can have the coolest iPhone on the block! The glass panel looks absolutely gorgeous, and we can't wait to see them on iPhones everywhere.
As it turns out, the best method of opening the iPhone 4 is not to bypass the pentalobe screws and smash the rear panel. Au contraire - you are a pioneer on the Oregon Trail of DIY. A simple rear panel transplant might be the cure for a cracked case, but would ignore the more serious malady that has hindered the case of every iPhone to date: opacity.
It's often said on the trail: "No Guts, No Glory." What's keeping you from glory? Mere opacity? Let the transparent rear panel unleash the glory within, while still keeping its guts safe from the incorrigible oxen, sinister buffalo, and rushing rivers that lie ahead on the trail before you.
This replacement rear panel is complete with all the necessary parts including camera lens, flash diffuser and bezel.
$29.95
For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/yrLP4R
Kodak Gallery Shares its Valentine's Day Card Collections
Kodak Gallery ( http://www.Kodakgallery.com ), the only online photo service uniquely designed for celebrating Kodak Moments together, announces their Valentine's Day card collection that includes vintage and flourish designs. Kodak Gallery is also announcing for that the first time, greeting cards will include square boxed collage photo layouts perfect for social networking and mobile phone photos.
According to the US Census Bureau, 180 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion behind Christmas. With Kodak Gallery's robust card collection of more than a few dozen designs, shoppers will be sure to find many choices that complement their own personal style.
Kodak Gallery card designers took in account that many designs could be used throughout the year, and created this years collection with styles that could be perfect for Weddings, Birthdays, Anniversaries or Just Because.
Kodak Gallery's Love Flourish design is a great take on Sophisticated Script. With these designs spreading across everything from notepads, to mugs, and dozens of gifts, users will be able to create complete gift sets in no time.
Kodak Gallery's Modern Love Valentine's Day card designs are simple and clean with fresh and clean white backgrounds with Iconic Hearts. The design is a cool and funky take on the traditional collage layout. With these cards, the square photo-holes and smaller size work great with the customers FACEBOOK and mobile photos.
Adapting for Photos from Mobile Devices
"We've seen such a large percentage of photos being uploaded from mobile phones. Like many of our products, we are looking to adapt to the trend. Users can create magnificent Valentine's Day cards from their cell phone photos, without worrying about the picture quality," says Rahnel Romasanta, Senior Manager of Design and Merchandising for Kodak Gallery.
This is the first time Kodak Gallery has utilized square boxed collage photo layouts thats easier for social networking photos and mobile phone photos. With these designs spreading across photos books, cards, notebooks, and Wall Art, Valentines Day shoppers will find the perfect gift set for that special someone in their life.
Valentine's Day Gift Guide
From premium leather to wine bottle stoppers, Kodak Gallerys personalized products can help shoppers say, I love you with style.
Kodak Gallery's Valentines Day Gift Guide will provide inspiration for that special day with unique personalized products that will be sure to warm hearts. This inspirational Gift Guide includes Kodak Gallerys exclusive cases for iPhone devices, leather tote bag, sterling silver jewelry and photo books.
New to gifts this season is the Kodak Gallery purse charm that comes with a pewter crystal heart charm and personalized photo calendars with personalized dates and text cells. Also new to Kodak Gallery is Wall Art with personalized text on select styles.
The shipping deadline for most Kodak Gallery products starts on January 27. For more information visit Kodak Gallery online for details.
'
To learn more, visit http://www.Kodak.com and follow Kodak's blogs and more at:
http://www.Kodak.com/go/followus.\
More than 75 million people come together to manage and share photos, and create photo products, gifts and more at Kodak Galleryjoin today at:
http://www.Kodakgallery.com
Pringgle Media Releases First Relationship Bank Account App for iPhone
Pringgle Media has released iRelations 1.0, the first relationship bank account app for iPhone. iRelations, is now available exclusively for iPhone and iPod touch. iRelations is the first relationship bank account app in iTunes App Store. It helps users to manage and improve their relationships with people who are important to them such as their spouse, children, parents, siblings, relatives, friends, and close business associates.
iRelations allows users to keep 4 lists related to people who are important to them:
1. Relationship bank accounts containing deposit and withdrawal transactions based on positive or negative interactions with other people.
2. Things that people like or prefer which are possible deposits, and to make in the future.
3. Things that people dislike or hate which are possible withdrawals, and avoid doing such things.
4. Promises to keep and tasks to do for other people, and to actually keep or do.
Relationship bank account is a metaphor for the amount of trust that has been built up in a relationship. Such account keeps tracks of deposit and withdrawal transactions that are based on positive or negative interactions that one has with another person. "Deposits such as being loyal and keeping promises increase trust in relationships. Withdrawals such as being arrogant and breaking promises decrease trust in relationships." said Waihon Yew, founder of Pringgle Media.
iRelations has the following advantages over a normal notepad:
(*) Importing contacts who are important from the built-in Contacts app
(*) Creating a new contact or editing an imported contract from within iRelations
(*) Organizing contacts into groups and viewing all contacts associated with a group
(*) Adding a new group or changing the name of an existing group
(*) Adding a new or existing contact to one or more groups
(*) Searching contacts by any part of their name
(*) Sorting contacts by their name or company name
(*) Keeping a list of things that contacts like or prefer
(*) Keeping a list of things that contacts dislike or hate
(*) Managing a list of promises to keep and tasks to do sorted by due date
(*) Maintaining relationship bank accounts that contain deposits and withdrawals sorted by transaction date
(*) Automatic calculation and display of each relationship bank account's balance
In addition to the core functions described above, iRelations also has a list of web resources that educate users how to manage and grow their relationships more effectively. "We plan to add more web resources in the future releases of iRelations." said Yew.
Device Requirements:
(*) Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
(*) Requires iOS 3.0 or later
(*) 1.1 MB
iRelations 1.0 is now available for $3.99 (USD) in the U.S. and is priced accordingly in other regions. iRelations is available world-wide from iTunes App Store in the Productivity category for iPhone and iPod touch.
Pringgle Media:
http://www.pringgle.com/
iRelations 1.0:
http://irelations.pringgle.com/
Purchase and Download:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/irelations/id492247018
Screenshots:
http://pringgle.com/irelations/screenshots
Tags: News ď Tech-Industry ď iPhone ď iPhone News ď
