Thursday, January 3, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Acer Says Touchscreen Laptops Will Soon Be Everywhere
6:17:00 PM
Unknown
It may be a few years before touch-based notebooks actually dominate the market.
In a recent interview with DigiTimes, Acer president Jim Wong said that laptops with touchscreens should soon be widely available, taking over the market. He also noted that the launch of Windows 8 in October was bad timing for manufacturers, as there was only a short time to promote related products before the holiday season. Thus, it was difficult to determine consumer interest which in turn affected strategy planning for the remainder of the year and on into 2013.
Wong told the site that Acer is currently watching the Windows 8 market to see what happens. While there's already some data to sift, most of it is related to acceptance by early adopters and doesn't represent the whole market. Acer is also evaluating the non-x86 market given that the ARM architecture has seen rapid growth, but the company's forecast will focus on x86-based solutions since the major demand from Windows customers is still related to data management.
The Acer chief went on to state that many of the concerns and criticisms surrounding Windows 8 have been "rather unfair". He said that in the past, market observers have criticized Microsoft of lacking innovation. But now the OS has an entirely new touch-based interface fit for both the desktop and mobile form factors. This innovation is leading to talk that the change will dramatically delay adoption by consumers. But a move such as the new Modern UI is a risk Microsoft has taken, and right now it's just too early to tell if that risk was a failure or a success.
"Acer's internal research points out that a consumer, after controlling a touchscreen product for more than 20 minutes, would want to use his or her fingers to touch any display he or she sees," Wong said via DigiTimes. "This indicates that touchscreen control is an irreversible trend. Acer believes touchscreen control will be a strong selling point, but it still needs more time to take off."
As for the touchscreen dominance in the notebook market, this will likely take two to three years due to the high costs of touchscreen modules. For 13- and 14-inch models, currently touchscreen modules increase the final price by more than $100 USD. However this market is "worth investing in" because there's an audience that wants a touch-based machine that serves both work and entertainment environments.
"The supply of touch panel will also be a major factor affecting the penetration of touchscreen notebooks in the PC market. PC brand vendors already started securing touch panel supply six months before Windows 8's launch to ensure of sufficient supply," Wong said. "Most PC brand vendors are expected to join the touchscreen notebook market in 2013, and vendors that have stronger control over touch panel supply will have a bigger chance of success in the market."
To read the full interview, head here.
Source: tomshardware.com
In a recent interview with DigiTimes, Acer president Jim Wong said that laptops with touchscreens should soon be widely available, taking over the market. He also noted that the launch of Windows 8 in October was bad timing for manufacturers, as there was only a short time to promote related products before the holiday season. Thus, it was difficult to determine consumer interest which in turn affected strategy planning for the remainder of the year and on into 2013.
Wong told the site that Acer is currently watching the Windows 8 market to see what happens. While there's already some data to sift, most of it is related to acceptance by early adopters and doesn't represent the whole market. Acer is also evaluating the non-x86 market given that the ARM architecture has seen rapid growth, but the company's forecast will focus on x86-based solutions since the major demand from Windows customers is still related to data management.
The Acer chief went on to state that many of the concerns and criticisms surrounding Windows 8 have been "rather unfair". He said that in the past, market observers have criticized Microsoft of lacking innovation. But now the OS has an entirely new touch-based interface fit for both the desktop and mobile form factors. This innovation is leading to talk that the change will dramatically delay adoption by consumers. But a move such as the new Modern UI is a risk Microsoft has taken, and right now it's just too early to tell if that risk was a failure or a success.
"Acer's internal research points out that a consumer, after controlling a touchscreen product for more than 20 minutes, would want to use his or her fingers to touch any display he or she sees," Wong said via DigiTimes. "This indicates that touchscreen control is an irreversible trend. Acer believes touchscreen control will be a strong selling point, but it still needs more time to take off."
As for the touchscreen dominance in the notebook market, this will likely take two to three years due to the high costs of touchscreen modules. For 13- and 14-inch models, currently touchscreen modules increase the final price by more than $100 USD. However this market is "worth investing in" because there's an audience that wants a touch-based machine that serves both work and entertainment environments.
"The supply of touch panel will also be a major factor affecting the penetration of touchscreen notebooks in the PC market. PC brand vendors already started securing touch panel supply six months before Windows 8's launch to ensure of sufficient supply," Wong said. "Most PC brand vendors are expected to join the touchscreen notebook market in 2013, and vendors that have stronger control over touch panel supply will have a bigger chance of success in the market."
To read the full interview, head here.
Source: tomshardware.com
REPORT: Apple Is Working On A Bigger iPhone That Will Be Out In June
6:14:00 PM
Unknown
Apple is preparing a new iPhone in multiple colors and sizes, analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital reports.
Thus far, Apple has only released one model of the iPhone, with one screen size, at a time.
"We believe this is about to change with the next iPhone offering different screen sizes that we believe will allow Apple to better bifurcate the market and expand its reach," says White.
He thinks Apple could have three screen sizes. The small iPhone with a 3.5-inch screen, the medium iPhone with a 4-inch screen, and then a bigger iPhone with a bigger screen.
The next iPhone is going to come out in the May-June time frame, says White.
White thinks Apple makes the next iPhone more colorful, similar to what it's done with the iPod Touch, which available in a wide variety of colors. He's not the only one saying this. Jefferies also thinks the next iPhone comes in colors.
Almost every other smartphone maker offers bigger screens than the iPhone, so it makes sense for Apple to increase the size of the iPhone screen. While the 4-inch iPhone is nice, it would be nicer if it was even bigger.
The risk for Apple is that it introduces a mess of fragmentation for developers. When it introduced the iPhone 5, with a taller screen and new proportions, developers had to update their apps. We're not sure how developers would handle working on three screens, but we supposed it's possible a bigger screen could have the same proportions as the iPhone 4, making life easier for developers. Or, maybe Apple can create a software solution to eradicate the fragmentation problem.
Here's White's exact quote on screen sizes:
Our checks are also indicating that the
next iPhone will offer customers more choice in terms of screen size.
Although Apple offers a 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5 and a 3.5-inch
screen on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, the Company has never offered
multiple screen sizes for a single model. We believe this is about to
change with the next iPhone offering different screen sizes that we
believe will allow Apple to better bifurcate the market and expand its
reach. This eventually opens up the possibility for a lower-priced
iPhone (i.e., iPhone mini) with a smaller screen size that could allow
Apple to further penetrate markets such as China and open up
opportunities in India. At the same time, Apple could unveil a larger
screen size compared to the recently updated 4-inch screen on the iPhone
5. Clearly, there are many smartphone models that are now larger than 4
inches and even some bigger than five inches on the market.
The iWatch Could Be The First Step In Apple's Plan To Kill The iPhone
6:11:00 PM
Unknown
Apple is reportedly exploring development of a watch-like product.
Small-minded people will scoff at the idea of Apple building a watch. After all, who needs watches when you have a smartphone. Further, Apple is a company with $200 billion in annual revenue. A $100 watch which will sell in limited quantity is barely going to move the needle.
While all of those are fair points, they're missing a much bigger picture.
There is a line of thinking that the smartphone era will perish almost as quickly as it began.
This is, after all, the natural way of technology. It's defined by creative destruction. Just as the smartphone killed the flip phone, and the iPad is killing the traditional PC, something is going to come along and kill the smartphone.
The early bet on what kills the smartphone is something like Google Glass. Wearable computers are widely believed to be the next computing fad.
For Apple, an iWatch could be a way to test the wearable computer market, says Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray. He says, "We believe that longer term (over the next 10+ years), wearable computers could eventually replace the iPhone and smartphones in general."
He continues, "We believe technology could progress to a point where consumers have a tablet plus wearable computers, like watches or glasses, that enable simple things like voice calls, texting, quick searches, navigation, etc. through voice control."
Much like the current Apple TV is a "hobby" for Apple that lays the groundwork for it to ultimately release a full-blown television, an iWatch could be the "hobby" that lets Apple explore wearable computing.
After all, just because some people think the smartphone will be consumed by wearable computers, doesn't actually make it so. This could give Apple a good testing device.
And, to be clear, we're not saying an iWatch kills the iPhone. We're saying the iWatch could be a peripheral gadget that complements the iPhone. And down the road, the evolution of the iWatch, or other wearable computers, could alter what we currently think of as a smartphone.
If an iWatch is real, it won't come out until 2014 or later, says Munster.
Melinda Gates Tells UK Radio About Family Ban on Apple Products
11:26:00 AM
valgeo
On Friday, Melinda Gates, the wife of Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates, was interviewed during the Today show on Radio 4 in the UK. She revealed that Apple products are not allowed in the Gates household, even if their two daughters (Jennifer, Phoebe) and one son (Rory) ask for an iPod or some other i-gadget for Christmas.
Wait! Do they even dare ask for such products given that they live in the House That Windows Built? Of course they do, she said. "But they get Windows technology," she added. "The wealth from our family came from Microsoft so why would we invest in a competitor?"
True that, but even Melinda Gates understands the temptation of an Apple gadget. Back in 2009, before Microsoft finally retaliated against Apple's iPhone with the revamped Windows Phone 7 platform, she admitted to Vogue magazine that the iPhone looked rather tasty.
"Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone’," she said.
As she indicated, there was no real personal rivalry between the House of Gates and the House of Jobs – it was two brilliant men leading two companies making competitive products. It was about making money, and finding ways to win over the hearts and wallets of consumers. Even Bill Gates said there was no rivalry shortly after Steve Jobs' passing late last year.
"We spent literally hours reminiscing and talking about the future," he said. "I told Steve about how he should feel great about what he had done and the company he had built. There was no peace to make. We were not at war. We made great products, and competition was always a positive thing."
Steve Jobs and Apple changed the computing world as we know it with the introduction of the iPhone and the iPad. Both products have left Microsoft scrambling to find its place in the computing market as consumers have ditched their desktops and flocked to both products like magnets. Windows 8 is a direct result, bringing a touch-based app environment to multiple Microsoft-controlled screens including the desktop, tablet, smartphone and gaming console.
With a new touch-focused Microsoft platform now out on the market, it would seem that the temptation for the Gates family to switch over to Apple products would be less aggressive. But rules are prone to be broken nevertheless, especially by 16-year-olds hell bent on having their way. Just last year, despite the no Apple rule, their oldest daughter Jennifer was caught jogging in Sydney, clutching an iPhone.
So much for not investing in a competitor. Maybe it was a gift from a friend or grandparent?
Source : tomshardware
The modern internet turns 30
11:10:00 AM
valgeo
Today might be the day that’s considered New
Year’s Day, and where millions of people around the world are recovering
from a long night of partying, but it’s also the anniversary of when the modern internet was born. 30 years ago today, the ARPANET officially changed to using the Internet Protocol, creating the internet as we know it today.
Of course, the actual internet was said to be born several years
earlier in the early 1960s, but the transition from Network Control
Protocol to Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol happened
on January 1, 1983, and while it may not have been the biggest moment
in internet history, it was a key transition that paved the way for
today’s internet.
The Network Control Protocol had some limitations, including how many
computers it could connect together. Back then, the ARPANET only had
about 1,000 computers interlinked, but as the years progressed and more
computers were being added, admins realized they would need a new
protocol to accommodate the much larger and more complicated network.
Vint Cerf is credited with co-designing the TCP/IP protocol with
along with Robert Kahn, and the two began working on the new technology
ten years before its grand debut. British computer scientist Tim
Berners-Lee later used the new protocol to host a system of interlinked
hypertext documents in 1989, known as the World Wide Web.
Source : slashgear
2013: The year of the Ubuntu Linux tablet and smartphone?
10:12:00 AM
valgeo
Canonical, Ubuntu Linux's parent company, is hinting in big, bright letters that's its about to release a fully touch-enabled version of Ubuntu Unity. The site's banner headline now reads "So close, you can almost touch it." with a clock counting down to 1 PM Eastern time, January 2nd. If this is indeed what Canonical is planning, can Ubuntu-powered tablet and smartphones be far behind?
Canonical has been planning to bring Ubuntu to tablets since it first introduced its controversial Unity interface in 2010. Then, in conversations with Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu's founder, I was told that Unity was meant to be Ubuntu's master interface for desktops, netbooks, and tablets.
At the time, while a tablet version of Ubuntu wasn't in Canonical's immediate plans, Jono Bacon, the Ubuntu Community Manager, told me that "all the pieces are in place to create an Ubuntu tablet." Even then, before Unity was launched, I was shown the first baby steps to multi-touch Unity.
Since then, Ubuntu has been working hard to incorporate full-featured touch functionality into Unity. In late 2011, Shuttleworth confirmed that Canonical would be bringing Ubuntu Linux to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.
Shuttleworth said at the time that, "This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it's important for us to reach out to out community on these platforms. So, we'll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens."
In a December 2012 Slashdot interview, Shuttleworth made it clear that Ubuntu on mobile was still in their plans. "Let's make one OS that runs on the phone AND on your supercomputer. We're close to that now - we know Ubuntu makes a great cloud OS and a great server OS and a great desktop. So I think the next frontier is to create a seamless experience from the embedded world to the cloud," said Shuttleworth.
Shuttleworth continued, the "mobile world is crucial to the future of the PC. This month, for example, it became clear that the traditional PC is shrinking in favor of tablets. So if we want to be relevant on the PC, we have to figure out how to be relevant in the mobile world first."
He plans to do this by focusing on establishing "a great story around Ubuntu and mobile form factors - the tablet and the phone - on which we can build deeper relationships with everyday consumers. All the major PC companies [such as Dell] now ship PC's with Ubuntu pre-installed. So we have a very solid set of working engagements in the industry. But those PC companies are nervous to promote something new to PC buyers. If we can get PC buyers familiar with Ubuntu as a phone and tablet experience, then they may be more willing buy it on the PC too."
So what can we expect tomorrow? I think Shuttleworth already told us part of it in the Slashdot interview. He said, "we've said clearly that the phone and tablet are key stories we need to tell by 14.04 LTS [Long Term Support]."
It that wasn't clear enough for you, on his own blog Shuttleworth recently wrote, "Unity in 2013 will be all about mobile--bringing Ubuntu to phones and tablets."
That's all well and good, but I think Canonical will actually have bigger news than just fully embracing phones and tablets with the April 2014 release of Ubuntu. First, I expect Ubuntu to announce that it will more fully support the ARM processor. Today, only the older Ubuntu 12.04 is fully supported on the ARM architecture.
The big news I hope to see tomorrow, and here I'm speculating, is the announcement of Ubuntu hardware tablet and smartphone partners. I feel pretty certain we'll see such news.
After all, without ready-to-run Ubuntu mobile devices, only hardcore Ubuntu hackers will bother with it, and Shuttleworth clearly has much bigger plans for Ubuntu on mobile than to be another alternative firmware such as Android CyanogenMod. Shuttleworth wants Ubuntu on phones and tablets to be as big a player as Android or iOS, not a mere hobbyist operating system. It won't be easy, but I'm sure that's his goal.
Source : zdnet
PlayStation 4 release tipped by Sony event invite
3:30:00 AM
valgeo
This week the event known as Destination PlayStation (2013) has been confirmed in an invitation to the press (and retail executives, of course) with promise of more 2013 action than the game-loving public can handle. This event is set to show off games, primarily, but attendees will also be “treated to food, drink, play, and a first look at all the amazing new releases coming from Sony Computer Entertainment America Entertainment in 2013.” An announcement of the next-generation PlayStation gaming console would fit with the scheduling of a release to the public in 2014 given past release trends from Sony. This event will be taking place starting on the 25th of February and will last until February the 28th, and you can make a bet that all the most important points will be covered by SlashGear in full. While it’s only a guess at this point that Sony will bring the real fire, we’ve had more than a few tips and rumors surrounding at least an acknowledgement that they’re working on the console of the future.
The PlayStation 4 will take on the Xbox 360 or whatever has replaced
it by the time it’s out, the name “Xbox 720″ being tossed about over the
past few months as the most likely title. Next-generation connections
will be with Sony’s ever-growing network of devices and software
including Android smartphones and Smart TV. As it stands now, the
PlayStation 2 has only just stopped being produced in Japan, so you can
either take this as a tip that the next version is coming or that Sony
has finally concentrated its full efforts on the PlayStation 3.
Have a peek at the timeline below to see all recent mentions of the
PlayStation’s evolution toward the future – and let us know what you
think the next-generation console will be all about. And remember to
join us near the end of February to see if Sony is ready to take on the
future or if they’re doubling-down on the present with games galore for
the 3.
Source : slashgear
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Apple Granted SIM Connector Patent
12:38:00 PM
Unknown
Proposed technology would allow SIM cards to be easily swapped into mobile devices.
Apple has been granted a patent for connectors that are utilized to replace or remove SIM cards in mobile devices.
The patent relates to connectors that allow for multiple methods of inserting a SIM card. One such method is the "plunger system," where a user pushes on a plunger rod to reject the SIM card.
Apple said that the connector patent covers a number of SIM cards, which would supposedly range from the larger standard cards to the company's own micro-SIM cards for its iPhone (nano-SIM card for the iPhone 5).
The filing mentions iOS devices including the iPhone and iPad, but it can also apply to MacBooks and media centers, Apple said.
Source: tomshardware.com
Apple has been granted a patent for connectors that are utilized to replace or remove SIM cards in mobile devices.
The patent relates to connectors that allow for multiple methods of inserting a SIM card. One such method is the "plunger system," where a user pushes on a plunger rod to reject the SIM card.
Apple said that the connector patent covers a number of SIM cards, which would supposedly range from the larger standard cards to the company's own micro-SIM cards for its iPhone (nano-SIM card for the iPhone 5).
The filing mentions iOS devices including the iPhone and iPad, but it can also apply to MacBooks and media centers, Apple said.
Source: tomshardware.com
Evernote Food App Adds Recipe Features, Finally Comes to iPad
11:30:00 AM
valgeo
Evernote is updating its food app for iPhone and releasing an iPad version just in time for the holidays.
Evernote Food, which launched on the iPhone a year ago, is expanding from its core feature of sharing pictures and notes about meals to being more of a tool to discover recipes. Users can now search through thousands of recipes from food blogs and save them to a personalized cookbook within the app.
In this way, Evernote is competing more closely with the current crop of recipe apps for iOS like Epicurious, Food Network's In the Kitchen and Foodgawker. The perk of using Evernote's app is that it automatically syncs up across your devices, so you can save a recipe on one device and refer back to it from another when you go food shopping.
