Mac notebook and other portable computing is covered in The 'Book Review, and general Mac news is in
Mac News Review.
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News, Reviews, & Opinion
Rumor Roundup
The Competition
Accessories
iPod Deals
These price trackers are updated every month.
News, Reviews, & Opinion
Bill Gates: There Is 'a Strong Possibility' Apple
Needs a Surface-like Device
AppleInsider's Mikey Campbell reports that during a PBS Charlie Rose Show
interview on Monday night, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that
Surface may prompt Apple to shift its iPad strategy in order to compete
with the capabilities offered by the upcoming Windows 8
tablet.
"You don't have to make a compromise," Gates is quoted observing.
"You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you
like about a PC all in one device. And so that should change the way
people look at things."
Editor's note: I agree that it should; whether it will
remains to be seen. cm
Publisher's note: There are numerous ways of adding a keyboard to an
iPad and making it work as a "Surface-like device", but by designing
the iPad as a touch-only device it is optimized for use when a keyboard
is not an option. The other big difference is that the Surface is
designed as a PC replacement and normally used in landscape
orientation, while the iPad is more commonly used in portrait
orientation. dk
Link: Bill Gates: There
Is 'a Strong Possibility' Apple Needs a Surface-like Device
Is iPad 2 Stealing the New iPad's Profits?
GigaOm's Rags Srinivasan says Apple's fiscal 2012 Q3 earnings
report, due in about a month, will reveal the number of iPads sold and
revenue from the iPad product line, with these two metrics to determine
the fate of of the $399 iPad 2,
whose days, he suggests, may be numbered.
He notes that despite being well into its second year of production,
the iPad 2 still offers power and features that other tablets don't
come close to matching, helping it lure new customers who might
otherwise have bought a
Kindle Fire, but with its $399 price point also attractive to those
who otherwise would have bought the New
iPad at higher price points, estimating that for every customer who
chooses to buy the iPad 2 instead of the New iPad, Apple loses
$100-plus in pure profit, since he contends that production costs are
little different for the two machines.
[Editor's note: It may not be quite that cut-and-dried, as the new
iPad's Retina Display, larger battery, and quad-core graphics engine
must have somewhat higher OEM costs than the iPad 2's corresponding
components. cm]
A rumor has the iPad 2 being replaced by a 16 GB 7.85" iPad Mini
later this year (see below). The iPad 2's
production life extension has been a bonus to those of us who bought
them last year, as well as a great deal for folks who bought the
(mildly upgraded with a more efficient variant of the A5 CPU) $399
holdover version.
Link: Is iPad 2
Cannibalizing the New iPad's Profits?
comScore: iPhone Smartphone Market Share Approaches
One in Three Subscribers
PR: comScore, Inc. a leader in measuring the digital world,
this week released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting
key trends in the US mobile phone industry during the three month
average period ending May 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 US
mobile subscribers. and found Samsung to be the top handset
manufacturer overall with 25.7% market share. Google Android continued
to grow its share in the US smartphone market, accounting for 50.9% of
smartphone subscribers, while Apple captured 31.9%.
OEM Market
Share
For the three-month average period ending in May, 234 million
Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer
Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.7% of US mobile subscribers (up
0.1 percentage points), followed by LG with 19.1% share. Apple
continued to grow its share in the OEM market, ranking third with 15.0%
(up 1.5 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 12.0% and HTC
with 6.1%.
Smartphone
Platform Market Share
Nearly 110 million people in the US owned smartphones during the
three months ending in May, up 5% versus February. Google Android
ranked as the top smartphone platform with 50.9% market share (up 0.8
percentage points). Five years after the release of the first iPhone,
Apple's share of the smartphone market reached 31.9% in May (up 1.7
percentage points). RIM ranked third with 11.4% share, followed by
Microsoft (4.0%) and Symbian (1.1%).
Mobile
Content Usage
In May, 74.8% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their
mobile device. Downloaded applications were used by 51.1% of
subscribers (up 1.6 percentage points), while browsers were used by
49.8% (up 0.6 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites
or blogs increased 0.6 percentage points to 36.7% of mobile
subscribers. Game-playing was done by 33.5% of the mobile audience (up
1.3 percentage points), while 27.0% listened to music on their phones
(up 2.2 percentage points).
MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a
nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and
older. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondents primary
mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondents
secondary device. comScore, Inc. is a global leader in measuring the
digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics.
Link:
comScore Reports May 2012 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share
21% of iOS Users Say They Wouldn't Leave Apple at
any Price
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes reports that iPhone and iPad users are so
loyal to Apple and unlikely to switch to another platform that one
analyst has pegged their total collective value at nearly $295 billion,
noting that Bill Shope with Goldman Sachs said in a note to investors
on Friday that he believes the average single iOS customer is worth
$1,053.
Goldman Sachs recently conducted a consumer survey of over 1,000
respondents, finding that 21% of respondents said no discount,
regardless of the amount, would make it worthwhile to leave Apple's
platform.
Link: 21% of iOS Users
Say They Wouldn't Leave Apple at any Price
Remember, iOS Wasn't Made for Geeks
iMore's Rene Ritchie says now that Google's Chrome browser has hit
the App Store, there's renewed consternation in geek circles over iOS'
inability to set something other than Safari as the default web
browser. (Unless you jailbreak). Ritchie notes that those of us with
geekish tendencies want control of how we use computer devices, but the
thing is that iOS is not now, nor has it ever been, made or meant for
us geeks, but mainly for Steve Jobs, mainstream market consumers for
whom previous computing devices were inaccessible and/or off-putting,
enterprise and education people, who make up the bulk-buying
market.
This is the reason, says Ritchie, why year after year, geeks rate
iOS preview events like iOS 6 at WWDC 2012 underwhelming, and jailbreak
remains popular. Geeks are just not a high priority for Apple on the
iOS (and somewhat alarmingly, not so much on OS X any more either).
Link: Remember Geeks, iOS Wasn't Made for Us (sorry, the link
goes to a "page not found" message)
Tablet Shipments to Surpass Notebooks in 2016
PR: Tablet PCs, such as Apple's iPad, are expected to be the
growth driver for the mobile PC market over the next few years. Tablet
shipments will surpass notebook shipments in 2016, according to the
latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast
Report. Overall mobile PC shipments will grow from 347M units in 2012
to over 809M units by 2017.
While notebook PC shipments are expected to increase from 208M units
in 2012 to 393M units by 2017, tablet PC shipments are expected to grow
from 121M units to 416M units in this period, for a compound annual
growth rate of 28%. A key driver for tablet PC growth is adoption in
mature markets (including North America, Japan and Western Europe),
which will account for 66% of shipments in 2012 and remain in the 60%
range throughout the forecast period. Tablet PC shipments into mature
markets will grow from 80M units in 2012 to 254M units by 2017.
"Consumer preference for mobile computing devices is shifting from
notebook to tablet PCs, particularly in mature markets," says Richard
Shim, senior analyst at NPD DisplaySearch. "While the lines between
tablet and notebook PCs are blurring, we expect mature markets to be
the primary regions for tablet PC adoption. New entrants are tending to
launch their initial products in mature markets. Services and
infrastructure needed to create compelling new usage models are often
better established in mature markets."
Building on convenience-oriented features including instant-on
capability, long battery life, and extreme portability, tablet PCs are
expected to evolve in form factor and performance, making them a
compelling alternative to notebook PCs. Tablet PCs are expected to
incorporate multicore processors, increasingly stable operating
systems, growing app libraries, and higher resolution displays.
In addition, notebook PCs are also evolving to meet the challenge
from tablet PCs, with thinner form factors, higher resolution displays,
and touch functionality features are expected to increase. The notebook
PC market is projected to remain the largest part of the mobile PC
market during the forecast period, accounting for 60% of mobile PC
shipments in 2012, declining to 49% by 2017.
The DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report
covers the entire range of mobile PC products shipped worldwide and
regionally. With analysis of global and regional brands, the Quarterly
Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report provides an objective, expert
view of the market with insight into historical shipments, revenues,
forecasts and more.
Link:
Tablet Shipments to Surpass Notebook Shipments in 2016
Gartner: Top 5 Daily Uses of Tablets
PR: People are rapidly adopting media tablets for daily
personal activities, according to a new survey by Gartner, Inc.,
finding that the main activities moving from PCs to media tablets are
checking email (81% of respondents), reading the news (69%), checking
the weather forecast (63%), social networking (62%), and gaming
(60%).
Gartner conducted the study at the end of 2011 in the US, UK, and
Australia to gain a better understanding of how early adopters of media
tablets were using personal connected devices. The survey was run as an
online seven-day diary in which respondents recorded what they did with
their three most used devices (media tablets, mobile phones and PCs
[desk-based or mobile]) on a daily basis.
"The rapid adoption of media tablets is substantively changing how
consumers access, create and share content," says Carolina Milanesi,
research vice president at Gartner. "The survey found that more than
50% of media tablet owners prefer to read news, magazines, and books on
screen, rather than on paper. On average, one in three respondents used
their media tablets to read a book, compared with 13% for mobile PCs
and 7% for mobile phones."
"At present, the shift from paper to screen-based consumption is not
yet a straight substitution of one medium for another. We do not
believe that the paperless home will prevail, but it is clear that the
less-paper model is the new reality," says Meike Escherich, principal
research analyst at Gartner.
"The ongoing convergence of previously distinct devices seems to be
turning the market for consumer devices from hardware-centric to
usage-centric," says Ms. Escherich. "Other than their tablets, most
respondents also owned PCs, TVs, and mobile phones. The respondents,
early adopters of media tablets, said they use their multiple devices
interchangeably, rather than substituting one device for another. They
seek to use whichever device is at hand or the most convenient to use
at a particular time and for a specific task. However, respondents use
their PCs (desk-based or mobile) 20% less at weekends."
"Media tablets play a more dominant role in the home than mobile
phones or PCs, with the highest usage taking place in the living room
(87%), the bedroom (65%) and the kitchen (47%). Weekday evenings are
the most popular time to use media tablets, and this usage flattens out
during the weekend as people tend to be away from home," adds Ms.
Milanesi.
The survey confirmed that the main reason for buying a media tablet
is the form factor. More specifically, respondents purchase a media
tablet, in preference to a PC, for its convenience, small size, and
light weight. The survey also found that 45% of respondents do not
share their tablet at all. This confirms that a media tablet is almost
as personal as a mobile phone in terms of usage and consumer attitude.
The survey showed a trend for men to purchase their own media tablets
and for women to receive them as gifts.
The Mobile Phone Is the Device Most Used Throughout the Day
"The mobile phone is the most personal device in the hands of users,
and it enables more private activities," says Annette Zimmermann,
principal research analyst at Gartner. "It is the device that the
respondents use most throughout the day, with the average user in the
survey using it eight times a day for tasks requiring connectivity.
This compares with an average usage frequency of twice a day for media
tablets and three times a day for mobile PCs."
Mobile phones play a role both inside and outside the home. Within
the home, users recorded the most activities on their phones when in
their living room (78%). 65% used them outside the home or while in
transit, and 66% used them at work. This aligns with Gartner's scenario
for screen usage in the living rooms of today and tomorrow: even though
the TV remains the largest screen in the living room, it shares users'
attention with other devices with smaller screens, often used
simultaneously, as people access complementary or distinctively
different services.
Across all activities conducted on the Internet, checking email
(74%), and social networking (57%) are the most common activities on
mobile phones. Gaming is in fourth place (42%), and appears more
popular than checking the news (40%) and listening to music (40%).
Watching live TV remains a very limited activity for mobile phone users
(5%), but on-demand content has a slightly broader reach (15%).
The survey also found that both male and female adopters show
similar attitudes toward the use of mobile devices. Both groups use the
Internet more at home than elsewhere, and they use it for research,
shopping, learning and socialising. However, the women in the study
connect significantly less than the men when outside the home, and the
difference in location might be partly linked to gender-specific usage
patterns. While men seem to prefer to gather information, women use
their devices more for personalised entertainment activities like
gaming and socialising via Facebook or Twitter.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Survey
Analysis: Early Tablet Adopters and Their Daily Use of Connected
Devices." The report is available on Gartner's website.
Link: Survey Analysis: Early Tablet
Adopters and Their Daily Use of Connected Devices
TomTom and Fiat Expand Partnership with Connected
Navigation for the New Fiat 500L
PR: TomTom will supply Fiat the semi-integrated TomTom GO
LIVE for the new Fiat 500L, delivering navigation with our
award-winning real-time services. 
The TomTom GO LIVE navigation solution features a special
cradle and dashboard system that enables clear visibility for the
driver allowing for a safer driving experience. With the connected
TomTom device, Fiat 500L drivers will enjoy a stress-free navigation
experience while leveraging HD Traffic to save time and money.
Additionally, drivers can leverage social media apps to access
restaurant reviews, hotel options and tweet location updates - all from
the TomTom device in the Fiat 500L.
"An increasing number of drivers recognize the benefits of connected
navigation; TomTom HD Traffic provides a dynamic navigation experience
which has become essential for OEMs to meet the demands of their
drivers," says Charles Cautley, Managing Director of TomTom Automotive.
"By extending our partnership, Fiat is now able to offer this
navigation experience to an even broader range of drivers."
Key features of the TomTom GO
LIVE for Fiat 500L include:
- TomTom HD Traffic - delivers the quickest routes through traffic,
with more coverage and more frequent updates than any other
provider
- Search & Go integration with Expedia, Trip Advisor and Twitter
allows users to not only access reviews to make informed decisions but
also navigate to friends, places and events more easily (Available in
Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and UK)
- TomTom Speed Cameras - gives drivers access to fixed and mobile
speed camera alerts, keeping them informed and improving safety
throughout their journey
Founded in 1991, TomTom is a world's leading supplier of in-car
location and navigation products and services focused on providing all
drivers with the world's best navigation experience. Headquartered in
Amsterdam, TomTom has 3,500 employees and sells its products in over 40
countries.
Link: TomTom GO
LIVE
Link: Fiat
500L
Rumor Roundup
7.85" iPad Mini to Cost $249-299, Come
with Sharp IGZO Display
Unwired View's Vlad Bobleanta says that the iPad Mini is now,
alongside Amazon's Kindle Fire 2, pretty much the only tablet left for
rumor-mongerers to focus on since the Google Nexus 7 was unveiled
(see last week's iOS News
Review), noting that the rumor du jour, coming from those
oh-so-reliable various analysts, says that Apple will launch a smaller
tablet priced at $249 to $299, and that also confirmed apparently, via
the even more reliable anonymous industry sources, is that the iPad
Mini will have 7.85" IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display panels
made by Sharp. IGZO is a thin-film transistor (TFT) tech that allows
the tablet to be thinner than similar models, while increasing
endurance and display quality.
Link: iPad Mini to Cost
$249-299, Will Come with 7.85-inch Sharp IGZO Display Panel
Analyst: Apple Could Sell $10B Worth of iPad Minis
in Fiscal 2013
Forbes reports that anticipating huge demand for an Apple iPad Mini
that is as yet rumored vaporware, Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves
has upped his EPS forecast for the September 2013 fiscal year to $55 a
share from $53, estimating that Apple can sell 35 million iPad Minis in
fiscal 2013 at $299, with 25% cannibalization of the larger version of
the tablet, and that a lower level of cannibalization or a higher
average selling price could drive his estimates higher still.
The report says Hargreaves also anticipates a mild refresh for the
current 9.7" New iPad in October, with slightly tweaked screen
technology, a repositioned camera, and a lighter battery, with the iPad
2 likely to be end-of-lifed to make room for the $399 price point to be
filled by a 16 GB mini or even an 8 GB New iPad.
Link: Apple Could
Sell $10B of iPad Minis in FY '13, Analyst Says
The Competition
Gartner: Windows 8 Marks the Beginning of the
Window RT Era, Beginning of the End of the Windows NT Era
PR: Windows 8 marks the beginning of the new WinRT (Windows
Runtime) computing era and the beginning of the end of the WinNT era,
according to Gartner, Inc. The combination of the WinRT programming
model, a new user interface (UI), and legacy WinNT support will allow
users to continue running their Win32*
programs alongside new WinRT apps.
Gartner analysts said WinRT is a new platform designed to keep
Microsoft relevant in a future that will be dominated by mobile
devices. Microsoft will position WinRT as its strategic platform for
new development, but most users will continue to run Win32 applications
for ten or more years.
"Windows 8 is the start of Microsoft's effort to respond to market
demands and competitors, as it provides a common interface and
programming API set from phones to servers. It is also the beginning of
the end of Win32 applications on the desktop," says Michael Silver,
vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "Microsoft will
continue to support Win32, but it will encourage developers to write
more manageable and engaging applications using WinRT."
Gartner expects that the Windows Desktop and legacy Windows
applications will decline in importance in future Windows client
releases. Metro is a new interface model that will lock organizations
into the next generation of Windows. However, Mr. Silver said that
enterprises will take many years to move their applications to the new
model, and it will take at least five years for significant traction of
Metro-style apps to pervade all areas of user-facing enterprise apps.
Organizations planning to develop new Win32 applications should switch
to Metro for all new user-facing applications beginning in 2013 and
should focus on external apps first and internal apps later.
"Windows 8 is more than a major upgrade to Windows - it's a
technology shift. We don't see technology shifts too often; the only
other one Microsoft's client OS has gone through was the move from DOS
technology to Windows NT technology, which began in 1993 and took eight
years, ending with the introduction of Windows XP in 2001," said Steve
Kleynhans, vice president for client and mobile computing.
While Microsoft is not forcing anyone to eliminate Win32
applications or preventing developers from writing them, Gartner
believes that Win32 and the Windows Desktop will become less strategic
over time. Most business users who adopt Windows 8 through to 2015 will
spend most of their time in the desktop running Win32 applications and
the desktop browser. However, by 2020, analysts believe enterprise end
users will spend less than 10% of their time in Win32 applications.
Most applications (including OS-neutral ones) and the browser will be
run from Metro. Eventually, most Win32 desktop applications are likely
to be run using server-based computing (SBC) or from hosted virtual
desktops.
"The user computing world is changing. PCs, although still critical
components of the computing landscape, are no longer the only devices
for delivering services and applications to users. Smartphones and
tablets are fulfilling the role of the primary device for an increasing
group of users, and most of these devices are from vendors other than
Microsoft," says Mr. Kleynhans. "In this environment, Microsoft needs
to move to a platform that enables a new type of application, and
embraces new types of user experiences. Microsoft is responding to
competitive pressures that have made it rethink not only how its
products should look, but also how they should be architected for
security and manageability."
* Publisher's note: The Windows API (application
programming interface) has its roots in the 16-bit Windows 1.0 released
in late 1985. The 32-bit version (informally Win32) arrived with
Windows NT 3.1 in mid 1993, and Win64 has been slowly displacing it
since the
first 64-bit versions of Windows XP shipped in 2002 (for Itanium)
and 2003 (for x86). Windows apps created using the Win32 API cannot be
compiled for (and thus not run on) Windows 8 RT. Additionally, software
for Windows 8 should be designed to use the new Metro interface,
which is included with both versions of Windows 8 and the only
interface on Windows RT.
Link: Windows 8 Changes Windows as We
Know It
Google's Nexus 7 Tablet a Great Device for the
Price
MIT Technology Review's Rachel Metz says Google's Nexus 7 tablet
(see last week's iOS News
Review) developed by Taiwanese computer maker Asus and announced
last week at Google's annual I/O conference in San Francisco for
release this month, combined with Google's ability to control the
hardware, software, and app ecosystem make the Nexus 7 a great value at
$199.
While the Nexus is (necessarily at that price) a few frills device,
Metz says it feels strong and solid in your hands, has a bright, crisp
screen, and at 12 ounces, is lighter than Amazon's 14.6 ounce Kindle
Fire, and also includes near-field communications (NFC) capabilities
that will enable users to beam content like photos and videos to other
NFC-enabled Android devices directly, while the combination of
Android's latest version Jelly Bean and Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3
processor makes the Nexus 7 a fast machine, supporting Google's Google
Now answer to Apple's personal assistant, Siri, and rated for up to
eight hours of battery life during what Google terms "active use."
On the downside, the 8 GB of storage capacity is pretty stingy, and
Metz thinks (and your editor agrees) that it will be wise to pony up
the extra $50 to get the 16 GB version.
In summary, no iPad challenger, but probably the best choice on the
market in a cheap tablet.
Link: Review: Google's
Nexus 7 Tablet
Accessories
Speck's New CandyShell International Collection
for iPhone
PR: To help show support as your country goes for Olympic
gold in London this summer, Speck has released a collection of limited
edition iPhone cases featuring national flags from around the
world.
Available now are cases designed around the country flags
of Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain,
England, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Russia,
Canada, China and the USA. New cases are being added daily in the
run-up to the summer games in London, and you can find them all
online.
The cases are debuting at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials
going on now in Eugene, Oregon. A Speck popup store is onsite for fans
who want to outfit their favorite gadgets, and Speck is outfitting
athletes with the USA case to protect their iPhones from bumps and
drops. For the latest from Hayward Field in Beaverton, visit Speck on Facebook.
The CandyShell International Collection is for iPhone 4/4S and
sports colorful flag patterns on the back and sides. The cases are made
of a formfitting one-piece construction that combines the flexibility
of a skin with the durability of a hard shell. Like all Speck iPhone
cases, the CandyShell International Collection is built for superior
protection with reinforced perimeters, shock-absorbent corners,
rubberized button covers and a raised bezel that protects the
screen.
Visit speckproducts.com to see the complete collection of CandyShell
Flag cases, and all of Speck's other smartphone, e-reader, iPhone, and
iPad products. Whether the priority is secure protection, enhanced
function, sweet style, or all of the above, Speck has gadget
enthusiasts covered.
Link:
Speck CandyShell Flag Cases for iPhone 4 (also
available through Amazon.com)
