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Not everyone is waiting for iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S II sales top 10 million

Publié: septembre 25, 2011, 10:20pm CEST par Joe Wilcox
Samsung announced the internal sales record today. But how many really depends on your definition of sold. Samsung certainly shipped 10 million Galaxy S2s since the smartphone's launch in April. But is that sold into the channel, or out to consumers? Samsung's self-congratulatory announcement suggests sales-in rather than sales-out.

Still, the number is a stunning achievement for one of the best smartphones available anywhere and arguable top-of-class among Android handsets (I'm judging by the rave reviews, since I don't have the S2). Galaxy S II sales reached 3 million units during first the 55 days of sales and 5 million after 85 days. But because Samsung reiterated the 5 million number when announcing US availability on August 30, I asked if the company was being honest about the numbers. Today's announcement, really tomorrow in South Korea, puts the answer at yes.

But there remains the cagey question of sold-in or sold-out of the channel. Samsung's disclosed sales figures answer that question, I believe. According to Samsung, Galaxy S II sales breakdown as:
- South Korea: 3.6 million
- Europe: 3.4 million
- Asia: 2.3 million
Perhaps my math skills are challenged, because I count 9.3 million units. So, either Samsung left some region out, sales aren't 10 million or the missing 700,000 represents sell-in to somewhere else. If Samsung didn't reveal all regional figures, sales would be more likely going out of the channel to consumers. If sales-in, those 700k units would be to stock the channel in a new market. Could that be here? In these old United States? Sprint started selling the Galaxy S II as the Epic 4G Touch less than 10 days ago, and AT&T's model goes on sale October 2.

I don't have an answer, just speculation. But I have put the question to Samsung, which may not respond today. In the official statement released earlier Samsung says that "with this record, Galaxy S2 has become the fastest ten million sold Samsung phone in all time, breaking the records of the company’s previous international hit models Star Phone and Galaxy S which took 6 and 7 months respectively for ten million sales".

The reviews of the international Galaxy S2 glowed. For example: "The finest Android phone we've seen so far, the Samsung Galaxy S II isn't just a competitor to the current iPhone. It competes with the next iPhone", writes Sascha Segan for PC Mag.com, giving the smartphone an "Editor's Choice" rating. That last statement is the clincher. Samsung already is one generation ahead of Apple.

"The Galaxy S II's screen is nothing short of spectacular", writes Vlad Savov for Engadget. Praise continues -- from the "onscreen keyboard is terrific" to "general responsiveness is absolutely exemplary". Savov concludes: "It's the best Android smartphone yet, but more importantly, it might well be the best smartphone, period".

The first reviews of the US models are just last week appearing. "The Super AMOLED Plus that comes with the Galaxy S II is simply stunning", Cory Gunther writes for SlashGear. "Between the brilliant display, fast and extremely fluid performance of the dual-core processor, and the overall sleek and thin design I can tell you from my initial hands-on I’m going to love this phone".

Kevin Tofel, writing for GigaOM: "The phone is a speed demon; I haven’t yet used an Android phone this fast. You tap the screen, and the phone reacts". Betanews reader Joseph LoRe reviews the Sprint model, in an exhaustive first-look posted two days ago. He writes: "It is easy to see why Samsung sold 5 million Galaxy S IIs in 85 days in Europe and Asia. The phone, due to its size, speed, and screen quality, absolutely demands your attention. In fact, come to think of it, it demands your attention in a way that is different than the first time you laid eyes on an iPhone".

Someone is paying attention. More than 4,300 people have responded to Betanews' poll asking "Will you buy Galaxy S II?" More than 80 percent of respondents say they will buy within 6 months -- 76 percent within 3 months.

Will you be among them?

Photo Credit: Samsung
Will you cancel Netflix?

Publié: septembre 25, 2011, 8:39pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

It's time to ask that question, following last Sunday's stunning news -- that Netflix would separate into two companies, one offering monthly streaming subscriptions and the other by-mail DVD rentals. Actually, I asked the question a few days ago, and 55 percent of you say you will "cancel account". But the number of respondents is too low to be reliable. Additionally, peoples' initial anger might subside after a few days. So I'm reposting the poll, to increase the sample and to measure response after a few days emotional cool down.

Netflix will continue but as the streamer. The core DVD-rental business that made Netflix a household name will go to new company Qwikster. If I still rented DVDs, I would drop both because the companies will bill separately for services that were once one. I started renting from Netflix in February 1999, when watching DVDs, particularly on laptops, was sheer novelty. But long ago I stopped renting DVDs, switching to streaming instead. I'll keep Netflix for that. So there is one person's answer to prime your response to our poll and also to explain your reasons for yeah or nay in comments.

So far, Betanews commenters have offered mixed reaction to Netflix/Qwikster, which is another reason to expand the poll's sample. "People are too easily inconvenienced", Renée Marrano writes. "We get DVDs. We get streaming. It's still a good deal".

Jason 'Zeus' Brown: "Lack of integration means that there's no motivation for me to keep both. Most likely I'll drop Qwikster and use Redbox for movies that aren't available on Netflix. If I could expect the proposed game aspect to compete with GameFly I might consider dropping GameFly instead, but I expect it to be over-priced and under-featured, being new to the game side of things".

"Netflix should keep the two together, separating is a big mistake", mshulman comments. "It certainly isn't something that would make me go back to either".

Mark Young sees the split as further enabling the streaming business:

This is indeed an odd move--inconvenient to customers who both stream and get discs (and Netflix still has a far larger title inventory of discs than streams), but it makes perfect sense if Netflix plans to sell off the DVD operations to raise cash to buy more streaming content; the two operations have to be decoupled to be able to sell one of them. I just don't think there will be a shutdown of the disc operations any time soon because one doesn't just suddenly cut off 14.2 million paying customers -- that's too much revenue to blindly ignore".

But there's risk, too. I have AT&T, which recently instituted data caps. What happens if the broadband carriers turn against Netflix, demanding fees for carrying competing content across their networks?

Netflix will separate into two companies -- original for streaming and the new Qwikster for DVD rentals. How will you respond?

Bryan Lee will "probably keep subscribintg to DVDs via Netflix (or that silly name they'll switch it to which I won't type here). At least for now. I would have just used Netflix streaming by default too, but now that it's going to be a separate service, I might have to look into this Amazon Instant Video".

Rusty Shano:

Sticking with both for now (and I stress for now). Once our Qwikster queue is devoid of older TV series, etc., we'll have to evaluate if it's worth it. If it comes down to just new releases then Redbox will probably earn my business. I've read that video game rentals will also be available. I'm guessing it will be a miracle if that doesn't cost extra.

Streaming just isn't up to snuff with new releases. It's been convenient for immediate gratification, but 9 times out of 10, a movie we're interested in watching isn't available. I see streaming being the future, BUT, it's still the present.

PC_Tool is sarcastic: "Qwikster and Netflix should totally combine forces and become Qwikflix. Can you imagine both a DVD rental AND streaming provider? How awesome would that be?? it would be EPIC!"

Please answer the poll(s) directly and explain your reasons in comments.

Update:

Did you cancel your Netflix account?

Several commenters observed there should be an option in the poll for "already cancelled". Adding that now would ruin any validity to the results. So I've created a new poll, asking if you cancelled. The dates are deliberately chosen to coincide with recent Netflix events: Price increase announcement; price increase taking effect; Startz streaming contract cancellation (announced but not effective until February 2012); and split into two separate companies. Please spread the word, and take the new poll.
Weekly roundup: 17 downloads you won't want to miss

Publié: septembre 25, 2011, 1:25am CEST par Mark Wilson

Another busy week of software updates has passed. What could you possibly have missed?

Right Click Enhancer 2.0 is a handy tool that gives you the chance to add new option to Windows’ context menu. There are a number of pre-defined examples that you can add by simply selecting from a list, or you can go to the effort of creating menu links of your own as well as adding and removing entries from the Send To menu.

It has been another busy week for Windows 8 tools, with both Windows 8 Transformation Pack 1.0 and UX Pack 3.0 seeing the light of day. The former can be used to give the look and feel of Windows 8 to any previous version of Windows from XP upwards, while the latter has been designed specifically with Windows 7 users in mind. As we wait for the completed version of Microsoft’s next operating system to be released, there is Microsoft WebMatrix 2 Beta from the same stables to take a look at. The tool can be used to create a website using any of a number tool including Joomla!, WordPress and Drupal.

If you prefer to build your websites from scratch, or you are involved in application design, WireframeSketcher 2.7.0 is likely to be of interest. The program is a sketchy, doodle-style way of piecing together web layouts and interface ideas quickly and easily, and it is available for not only Windows but also Mac and Linux. For anyone with a website of their own looking for a way to display photographs effectively, Jalbum 10.0 is an impressive tool. In next to no time you will be able to put together a photo gallery that can be easily added to your existing site or blog, and support for xmp metadata means that image information can be shared between applications.

Moving into the field of system tools, WinBuilder 082 can be used to create custom Windows boot discs. Ideal for creating diagnostic and fix-it discs, handy extra tools can be added to your disc that can be helpful in fixing a problematic computer. Autoruns 11.0 enables you to easily, and freely, analyze and fix startup problems. This Microsoft tool can be used to probe startup files and processes so you can determine where problems stem from before setting about the task of fixing them.

On the subject of system maintenance and improvement, O&O Defrag 15 -- available in both 32- and 64-bit versions -- makes it easy to keep your hard drive in good shape. The program can be used to automatically defrag your hard drive on a schedule, while Explorer integration means that individual files can be defragmented when required. The move to version 15 brings dramatic program performance improvements in a program that could dramatically improve the performance of your system.

PeaZip 4.0 is a free archiving tool that can be used to open and create a variety of compressed files formats. As well as the usual performance enhancements and big fixes, the latest version of the program adds thumbnail support for images contained in archives. There is also a 64-bit version of the program available.

On the browser front, there has been the usual flurry of activity. Comodo Dragon 14.0 is the latest version of the Chromium based web browser, focusing one performance and security. Google Chrome 15.0.874.24 Beta, Google Chrome 16.0.889.0 Dev and Google Chrome 14.0.835.186 FINAL all saw the light of day, as did Firefox 7.0 Beta 6.

SecretSync 1.261, despite the version number, finally came out of beta this week. The free version of this tool, will enable you to encrypt up to 2GB of data using your Dropbox account. You can also use other backup/synchronization tools such as SugarSync or SpiderOak. Alternatively use the free TrueCrypt to encrypt your Dropbox content.

Finally, take a look at the freeware Free Studio 5.2.1. This toolbox offers you a a suite of video and audio conversion tools and, from what we’ve told, this won’t be free for much longer. Grab it now whilst you can.