Apparently not inclined to let Amazon dominate the smaller-screen tablet market
Officials at some of Apple's suppliers, who declined to be named, said the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has shown them screen designs for a new device with a screen size of around 8-inches, and said it is qualifying suppliers for it. Apple's latest tablet, the iPad 2, comes with a 9.7-inch screen. It was launched last year.
One person said the smaller device will have a similar resolution screen as the iPad 2.
It’ll be fascinating to see what remains of Motorola Mobility a year from now
The deal, worth $12.5 billion, still needs a few more regional approvals but has cleared the biggest hurdles. It would bring Google 19,000 new employees, the lower margins of a manufacturing enterprise and the challenge of extending its very successful cellphone software business.
Google’s Deal for Motorola Mobility Gets Clearance - NYTimes.com
Leading by example
Corporate analysts say Apple’s shifts could incite widespread changes throughout the electronics industry, since a lot of companies use the same suppliers. They also said it seemed calculated to forestall the kind of public relations problems over labor issues that in previous decades afflicted companies like Nike, Gap and Disney. “This is a really big deal,” said Sasha Lezhnev at the Enough Project, a group focused on corporate accountability. “The whole industry has to follow whatever Apple does.”
Still room for Apple to grow…
By now it’s a truism that Apple’s killing it in the United States consumer electronics industry, but here’s one more piece of data to drive that point home: NPD says Apple captured 19 percent of all sales dollars of consumer electronics in the U.S. in the holiday quarter of 2011. That’s nearly twice the percentage captured by Hewlett-Packard, which ranked second on NPD’s list of the top five CE brands.
The post continues with more Samsung Note “phablet” analysis and speculation about a 7” iPad (via Sameer Patel)
The real object of attraction for some users will be the phone’s giant screen. At 5.3 inches diagonally, the screen is one of the largest on the market. (By comparison, the iPhone’s is a 3.5-inch screen.) The device’s 800 x 1280 pixel resolution makes it seem even roomier than the diagonal measurement might suggest.
There are three classes of users who will be attracted to the big screen. The first is people who want a tablet, but one that fits in a pocket or purse and doesn’t require a second purchase. The Galaxy Note falls into a form factor called a “phablet” — both phone and tablet.
The second class is serious phone enthusiasts who download a lot of apps, games and eBooks and want the biggest screen possible.
And the third is older people who struggle with normal-sized phones and their tiny screens and type sizes.
The Real Reasons Apple Will Ship a 7-Inch iPad | Cult of Mac
Check the full article for a useful WOA summary
Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft’s Windows business, on Thursday expended more than 8,000 words in a blog post about what he called WOA, a version of the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system that will work on new hardware using cellphone-style chips licensed by ARM Holdings.
The document is likely to be studied for months for clues about the company’s intentions. But here are some key messages:
Whoa, A Lot Of Words From Microsoft on 'WOA' PCs - Digits - WSJ
Excerpt from an overview of the emerging battle of the ecosystems
“It’s not about brands or devices or platforms anymore,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner. “It’s about the ecosystem. The idea is to get consumers tied into that ecosystem as tightly as possible so they and their content are locked into one system.”
So Facebook, which has half of its users accessing it from mobile devices, has dabbled in phones and is said to be moving even more firmly in that direction. Apple, once just a computer maker, already gets most of its profit from mobile devices and is eyeing televisions, which would play content from iTunes.
A more positive take on the Lumia 800
When you hold one in your hand, it’s clear that the smartphone wars are far from over. It is too easy to dismiss Windows Phone 7 as being too little, too late. (That was our first reaction too). No, it’s clear that Windows Phone has more than a fighting chance. Microsoft will make sure that the economics are much more attractive to the carriers than the iPhone’s so that they push Windows Phone. If consumers bite, Windows Phone could emerge as a very strong smartphone platform.
Fly Or Die: The Nokia Lumia 800 “Flagship” Windows Phone | TechCrunch
Excerpt from an extensive
This is a well-made, elegantly designed, and capable phone. But let’s return to The Question: Is this the Killer Phone? Will the Lumia 800 and its siblings put Nokia and Microsoft back in contention? My answer is, regretfully, No.
The Lumia contains neither the revolutionary new features nor the fresh approach that any serious smartphone needs to compete with the two new giants, Samsung and Apple. The Korean company is very, very determined; it takes no prisoners — ask Sony. And Apple is no longer Little David fighting the Microsoft Goliath: Last quarter, the iPhone alone generated more revenue and profit than all of Microsoft.
Sign of the times
Apple’s been having a great week in the stock market and is now hovering at $495 per share as of noon Friday. The rally on the market also gave the Cupertino, Calif.-based company some additional bragging rights: As of Thursday morning, Apple’s market cap was bigger than the values of Google and Microsoft combined.
You read that right. Apple’s market cap is around $462 billion as of mid-Friday. Microsoft’s is about $257 billion and Google’s weighs in at about $197 billion.
Apple worth more than Google, Microsoft combined - The Washington Post
Too much friends’ personal information = bad for you
Shelly [sic] Turkle, a psychologist and author of “Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other,” spoke of the effects. “People pay a psychological price for seeing information about former friends and spouses and colleagues that they really shouldn’t be seeing,” she said. It’s not good for our emotional health and, she said, “It makes people feel bad because they know they shouldn’t look at this stuff — but they can’t help it!”
A study published last month in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking found that the more time people spent on Facebook, the happier they perceived their friends to be and the sadder they felt as a consequence.
Check the full article for some extreme travel tips
What might have once sounded like the behavior of a paranoid is now standard operating procedure for officials at American government agencies, research groups and companies that do business in China and Russia — like Google, the State Department and the Internet security giant McAfee. Digital espionage in these countries, security experts say, is a real and growing threat — whether in pursuit of confidential government information or corporate trade secrets.
“If a company has significant intellectual property that the Chinese and Russians are interested in, and you go over there with mobile devices, your devices will get penetrated,” said Joel F. Brenner, formerly the top counterintelligence official in the office of the director of national intelligence.
Electronic Security a Worry in an Age of Digital Espionage - NYTimes.com
Paul Thurrott summarizes the best-case for Microsoft, but imho far from likely, Windows 8 ARM tablet scenario (i.e., Windows 8 ARM tablets do to the iPad what Windows did to the Mac, many years ago); I do agree, in any case, that Office 15 (especially OneNote) appears to be Microsoft’s best hope for Windows tablet momentum-building
After months of silly silence in the face of hundreds of legitimate questions from customers, businesses, developers, and the tech press, Microsoft suddenly and unexpected unveiled (most of) its plans for ARM-based Windows 8 tablets. I've got the details (of course) in Microsoft Finally Explains Windows 8 on ARM: Desktop and Office 15 Applications Will Be Included, as well as an accompanying screenshot gallery. But the big takeaway here is simple. Windows on ARM, or "WOA," as Microsoft calls it, looks like more than a credible answer to the iPad. In fact, it looks like something that will relegate the iPad to the backwater of the tablet market, much as Windows did to the Mac. And they will ship with full, but touch-enabled, versions of the coming Office 15 apps, which should be a neat final nail in the coffin of those overpriced luxury items from Cupertino. Last year, the Kindle Fire proved that a low-priced device could quickly chip away at the iPad's dominance. This year, ARM-based Windows 8 tablets are going to accelerate the iPad's decline. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. This is a big deal, people. The only question is why Microsoft sat on this for so long. Windows on ARM looks awesome.
An intriguing Office 15 reality check from Mary Jo Foley; also see Microsoft unveils Office 15 Metro design look and feel (The Verge)
My biggest question after reading today’s post is what does “include” mean here, in terms of these four Office apps being “included” with Windows 8? Will these four Office 15 apps will be bundled on Windows 8 ARM PCs and tablets? Will they be free? Will these simply be new versions of the existing Office Web Apps — the Webified versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote that Microsoft already offers for free?
Microsoft: Windows 8 on ARM to 'include' some Office 15 apps | ZDNet
Excerpt from another Google magical-hardware reality check
Google has never successfully sold anything to consumers. Not a single thing.
Google is really good at building fast, useful, responsive software that runs at Internet scale, and at hooking up the users of that software with advertisers to make gobs of money.
That's a great business. Google utterly dominates it. There are untapped adjacent markets, too -- what about getting serious about Apps, taking its expertise in delivering online services and really applying them to the enterprise? (Is Google really going to cede that market to Box.net? Really?)
Or building YouTube into the cable TV system for the Internet?
Or even coming up with new forms of advertising for other kinds of media?
But adding a business in which it has demonstrated none of the characteristics necessary to succeed just seems utterly mad.
Google's Foray Into Hardware Will Be A Total Disaster — Here's Why
Inspirational; also see Steven Levy’s perspective
Google's first hired employee, Craig Silverstein, is leaving the tech giant where he's worked since its founding to sign on with the rising education start-up Khan Academy.
[…]
Google emailed a statement confirming Silverstein's departure from the company:
"Craig's been with Google since the early days. He was instrumental in the development of search and made numerous contributions to Google over the years. We wish him all the best at the Khan Academy and know that he will do great things to help them promote education around the world."
Shantanu Sinha, the president and COO of Khan Academy, also emailed a statement on the group's latest hire, saying:
"We are thrilled to have Craig Silverstein join our team. His deep technical knowledge and organization-building experience will be extremely valuable to us as we grow as an organization. We are excited that talented individuals like Craig believe so passionately in our mission and are willing to join us in our quest of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere."
Google's first hire, Craig Silverstein, leaves for start-up - latimes.com
Be afraid, be very afraid…
Undaunted by fear of safety regulations, auto makers are piling new technologies into their vehicles: everything from 17-inch dashboard screens to services that check Facebook and buy movie tickets.
This newfound confidence comes as a push for national regulations governing driving and cellphone use—including the suggestion of a total ban—has petered out.
My initial inclination, upon seeing this storyline in the NYT, WSJ, and Bloomberg Businessweek this morning, was to make a snarky comment about the lackluster-to-date leading indicators in Google TV 1.0, Google Music, and Google Books, but there is a subtly significant dimension: Motorola’s set-top box business, which will likely soon become Google’s set-top box business
Google is developing a home entertainment device, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans, in a move that would bring it more broadly into consumer electronics.
The device, which exists as a prototype and will eventually be sold as a branded item to consumers, is the company’s most significant venture into hardware. While the initial purpose of the device will be for streaming music, the eventual use could be much wider.
Considering my experience with my Kindle 2 over the last couple years, and my initial Kindle Fire impressions (mostly from a distance; I don’t own one), I’d prefer a more svelte ~7: Kindle Fire than one super-sized to iPad dimensions, at this point (in part because I also expect to continue being an iPad user…). I’m also still tempted by the Samsung Note smartphone/tablet tweener… In any case, it’s not surprising that Amazon wishes to avoid pulling an Osborne, and likely won’t announce the next wave of Kindle Fire devices until they’re ready to ship. Tangentially, I won’t be surprised if the next wave of Kindle Fire devices is based on Samsung hardware, but that’s just a hunch.
Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartley this week raised his Fire sales estimate for this very reason. “We are raising our 2012 sales forecasts to 14.9 million from 12.7 million,” he wrote. “But we believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new 7- and 9-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012.”
It’s been speculated upon before, but it’s interesting to hear that Amazon may have a 9-inch version of the Fire headed to market later this year, particularly now that we know Apple’s iPad 3 will debut next month. Makes you wonder how the retailer’s loss-leader strategy will translate to the larger-screen tablet market that Apple dominates.
Amazon Prepping New 7- and 9-Inch Kindle Fires for Midyear? - John Paczkowski - Mobile - AllThingsD
Fortuitous timing for Facebook IPO fans
LinkedIn Corp.’s profit jumped 30 percent and its revenue more than doubled in its latest quarter, providing a lift to the young social-networking industry ahead of Facebook Inc.’s public offering later this year.
LinkedIn Profit Jumps 30 Percent as Revenue More Than Doubles - John Letzing - Social - AllThingsD
