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BetaNews.Com (8 non lus)

Don't blame tablets for slow PC sales

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 11:09pm CET par Mike Feibus

This is one of the more uncomfortable years the PC ecosystem has ever endured. It started out sluggish, and never really recovered. Early on, Intel’s CEO chided market researchers who didn’t echo his call for double-digit unit growth. (Full disclosure: so did I.) AMD’s board booted its leader in part for taking much the same stand.

Slow growth alone, though, isn’t what draped 2011 in a soot-colored hue. The industry has seen its share of ups and downs. But this year is different. Because while PC sales were under-performing, shipments of these new things, media tablets, skyrocketed. Coincidence?

Yes, actually. It’s tempting to witness the appearance of one thing and a change in fortunes of another and assume that the former caused the latter. Our ability to draw a line connecting two points in space is a trait that enables us humans to discover great things. It’s also a quality that can land us in deep trouble if we’re not careful. (Tip: taking a shot at the president will not impress Jodi Foster.)

For a time, the PC industry appeared immune to the financial calamities that cut deep into sales and profits for many businesses around the globe. PC vendors actually eked out shipments growth in 2009, the first full year of the recession -- and things got better from there.

PC shipments grew 27.4 percent and 20.7 percent in first and second quarters 2010, respectively, according to Gartner. In the following quarter, though, growth suddenly plunged to just 7.6 percent. That period also happened to be the first full quarter of iPad shipments.

The results from that quarter ignited a flurry of dire predictions for the end of the PC market at the hands of tablets. These forecasts sounded uncomfortably familiar to industry veterans. After all, it was barely 30 years ago that the PC appeared on the scene, and quickly began to push aside Big Iron, the last king of computing.

The fallacy with those ominous forecasts, though, is that they centered on the wrong inflection point. It was the fourth quarter of 2009 that marked an industry disruption, not the third quarter of 2010. Let me explain.

In the third quarter of 2009, Microsoft began shipping Windows 7. After enduring 18 months of Windows Vista, the consumer PC market was hungry for computers built around a quality OS. So people flocked to stores to buy. PC shipments climbed an impressive 22.1 percent that quarter, compared to just 0.5 percent in third quarter 2009 (again, according to Gartner). The sales fest continued for another six months.

See, it’s not that third quarter was so bad. It’s that the three prior quarters were so good.

I’ve always been a believer in the Field-of-Dreams approach to the consumer market. Every time we build it, consumers come. If we don’t, well, they don’t. Or they buy something else.

In the third quarter of 2010, Apple built the iPad. And consumers came. The PC ecosystem, meanwhile, blew through its vein of new and shiny over the preceding nine months and had nothing much exciting to offer for the second half of 2010. Ditto for this year’s selling season.

You can agree or not, obviously. One thing’s for sure: we won’t have to wait long for this forecast to prove out. See, the PC ecosystem’s next new and shiny is slated for the fourth quarter of 2012. That’s when system vendors will be pairing Windows 8 with some exciting new hardware, systems that mash the best of the PC together with the tablet’s touch interface, sexy form factor and long battery life.

Who knows, maybe a year from now the industry will buzz about the end of media tablets, as surging Windows 8 PC sales ignite another upgrade cycle.

Photo Credit: dencg/Shutterstock

Mike Feibus is principal analyst at TechKnowledge Strategies, a Scottsdale, Ariz., market research firm focusing on client technologies. You can reach him at mike at techknowledge-group dot com.
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime arrives in two weeks

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 10:19pm CET par Tim Conneally

Taiwanese PC maker Asus has announced its quad-core Eee Pad Transformer Prime Android tablet will be available for order December 12th online and December 19th in physical retail stores.

The tablet is the first device to be built on Nvidia's new Tegra 3 system on a chip, and will carry a pricetag of $499 for the version with 32GB of storage, and $599 for the 64GB version. The Eee Station keyboard dock adds $149 to the total, but comes with the benefit of an additional battery that expands the life of the Transformer Prime by approximately six hours, bringing it to a total of 18 hours of battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which uses the Tegra 2 has a 9 hour battery life, by comparison.

So in terms of raw Android tablet specs, the Transformer Prime is pretty remarkable. It has a 10.1" (1280 x 800) LED backlit screen with Corning Gorilla Glass, the aforementioned Tegra 3 Quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, Android 3.1 with an update to Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) pending soon after release, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, an 8 megapixel flash camera and 1.2 megapixel chat camera, microSD slot, and a microHDMI output jack.

Asus backs up the Transformer Prime with its own cloud service platform including the unlimited cloud storage for one year, the @vibe multimedia store, MyDesktop remote desktop access, and MyNet DLNA home media sharing.

And also...the Website for the Transformer Prime is really cool, too.

The only thing the Transformer Prime will launch without is a mobile broadband version. There is a 3G/4G version expected, but its availability hasn't yet been announced.
Safari browser usage suddenly tumbles

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 8:20pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Microsoft shouldn't break out the champagne just yet, but there's still reason to celebrate even if no trend is yet evident. Internet Explorer usage share nudged up ever so slightly in November, according to new data Network Applications released today. Meanwhile, Chrome kept its relentless march upward -- for the 13th consecutive month. Firefox is still No. 2, contrary to reports today from StatCounter. I trust NetApps data more.

Safari was by far the month's biggest loser, with usage share falling to 5 percent from 5.43 percent in October. The loss is no small matter. Safari is integral to Apple's broader digital lifestyle push, where synchronization is vital component -- and that includes Safari. Related: Apple shipped record number of Macs during third calendar quarter, launched iPhone 4S and iCloud and saw global PC share top 5 percent. By that reckoning, Safari share should be up, not down.

Mobile is perhaps the Webkit-based browser's redemption, however, or so it seems at first glance. There, Safari share is 55.03 percent, followed by Opera (20.09 percent) and Android's browser (16.36). But there's downward trend, and it's much more pronounced. Mobile Safari usage share fell from 62.03 percent, while Opera surged from 13.09 percent. That said, mobile stats are fairly inconsistent month-to-month, unlike those for desktop browsers.

There, Safari usage share consistently rose -- from 4.15 percent in January until November's sudden drop. Is this start of a new trend? Here's something to consider: Chrome, Firefox and Opera are all on fast-development tracks -- typically six weeks between major milestones. Safari is not. If anything, Safari development looks more like Internet Explorer 6 in the early Noughties. New development and introduction of new features moves at a snail's pace compared to competing browsers.

That's not surprising considering Apple's priority is nurturing its apps ecosystem from separate iOS and Mac OS X stores. Browser isn't as high priority. Something else to consider: Apple disdains Adobe Flash, which is no longer installed by default and isn't available at all on mobile. Perhaps the market sees Flash as necessary after all.

Safari's pain is Internet Explorer's gain, if ever so slightly. IE usage share was 52.64 percent in November, up .01 percent a month earlier. That's still down from two years ago, when IE usage share was 60.35 percent. Meanwhile Chrome continues its relentless gains, which are slowing. Chrome share was 18.18 percent in November, up from 17.62 a month earlier and 9.5 percent in November 2010.

Microsoft's newest shipping browser simply cannot keep pace. IE9 usage share is a meager 10.25 percent, well behind Chrome 15 (14.58 percent) and IE8 (28.2 percent). However, IE9 is on steady upward trajectory, moving up from 1.08 percent share in March.

Firefox usage share fell for the fifth consecutive month -- to 22.14 percent share from 22.52 in October. Competing data from StatCounter puts Chrome ahead of Firefox. I'm predisposed to NetApps data, so I'm calling it Firefox second place and still solid over Chrome.

But I'll add this: If not for Mozilla ramping up development cycles to match Google's, I'm convinced Chrome would have passed Firefox months ago. That said, rapid development, which also means half dozen or so new browser versions a year and fast retirement of older ones, holds back adoption for both browsers. Many larger businesses can't test and deploy current Chrome and Firefox versions before they're outdated. Internet Explorer and Safari are more stable options, from that perspective.

As for Safari, only another couple months of data will reveal whether November was a hiccup or beginning of trouble.
Windows Phone in China: Lenovo on board for launch

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 6:50pm CET par Tim Conneally

Reports from Chinese media this week have been talking up the impending launch of Windows Phone in China. Microsoft's mobile operating system is expected to land in China some time in the first half of 2012, and Lenovo may be the first "unofficially announced" OEM partner.

Lenovo doesn't steal headlines with unconventional and groundbreaking designs or new sexy hardware. Instead, the company makes simple, functional devices that encompass a massive part of the workforce. In short, Lenovo makes kick ass black boxes.

Since acquiring IBM's PC division back in 2005, Chinese company Lenovo has stuck closely to the black box formula with the legacy ThinkPad line in the United States, added a little shininess to it with the IdeaPad line, and branched out nicely into HTPCs with the IdeaCentre, and into Android-powered slates with the IdeaPad and ThinkPad Tablet lines.

The company's large catalog of mobile phones and smartphones, however, diverges quite a bit from the standard "black box" design. These devices have remained available mostly in China, where the company understands the demands of its consumers, and has very specific brand foci. Its S Series, for example targets females, its P Series targets businesspeople, its I series targets students, its A series targets the cost-conscious consumer, and its E Series targets (I'm not making this up) farmers.

The company has released a few flagship Android-powered phones, including the LePhone, and the newest Music Phone S2. At a press conference for the new Android phone, however, Music Phone Product Manager Yue Chen said that a Windows Phone-powered version is expected in the second half of 2012, Chinese blog iMobile reports.

Naturally, Lenovo and Microsoft work together often, and Lenovo has released Windows Mobile powered smartphones in the past, so the partnership is no surprise.

But the reason this is significant is that Windows Phone still hasn't made an entry into the profitable and booming Chinese market. Earlier this week, Chinese blog QQ reported that Microsoft had selected Suning Appliance as a potential retail partner for its official Windows 8 and Windows Phone launch in China some time next year.

Microsoft has not announced this launch yet, but Nokia has also been rumored to be planning a Windows Phone device for the Chinese market as well.
Protect your kids online with AVG Family Safety

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 5:19pm CET par Mark Wilson

Anyone with children will know that it can be difficult to police use of the Internet. The fact that you have young children means that you are naturally concerned about web content, and many parents would love to be able to use the Internet with their offspring to ensure that they don’t stray into unwanted territory.

But in reality, this is often impractical as there are few people who have the time spare to be able to monitor their children, however much they may want to do so. AVG Family Safety is a software alternative to a parent’s watchful eye, making it possible to not only monitor but also control what your children use the Internet for.

The app comes from the company more readily associated with antivirus software, but it has ventured into numerous other areas of life online, too. Tackling the issue of Internet access control is a tricky battle, but AVG Family Safety has a number of tools that can be used in combination to meet the needs of you and your family. You can control access to websites based on URL or content type, and place restrictions on when the Internet can be used. If there is an attempt to access blocked content, alerts can be sent out in the form of emails or SMS (in the United States).

Obviously there are problems associated with blocking websites. The first major issue: In order for a website to be blocked based on subject matter or content they must be checked and categorized - the sheer number of websites that exist mean that this is somewhat impractical. The program offers the chance to block or permit access to sites in a large number of categories, and settings can be manually configured or you can use the pre-defined age settings to speed things up. Similar age restrictions can be used to control access to online media. Industry standard age rating systems are supported so you can choose the type of music your children can listen to and the type of streaming video they can watch; it is also possible to block access to online games, but again this is dependent on ratings having been assigned to them.

AVG Family Safety can also be used to filter web searches, so you can choose to block certain keywords in a number of popular search engines including Google, Yahoo and Bing. If there are websites you are aware of that you would prefer your kids did not access, you can add them to a blacklist that will be blocked without question. Conversely, it is also possible to set up a whitelist, and anyone looking to be particularly restrictive with the Internet may want to use this option. This is a great way to introduce younger children to the Internet as it enables you to specify a list of sites that are permitted to be accessed. Providing other settings are correctly configured, it is possible to only allow access to sites that appear in this list, and this means that children can be left to use the Internet unattended safe in the knowledge that they will not be able to venture to other sites.

Having a computer connected to the Internet means more than having to think about what is going on in a web browser; there are also chat clients and social networking clients to consider. AVG Family Safety includes the option to prevent programs of your choice from running, and this including proxy tools that could be used to bypass any restrictions you may have put in pace. It is also worth taking a look at the iOS version of the app, AVG Family Safety 10.1.7, which enables you to place restrictions on how the Internet is used on your iPhone or iPad.

Multiple Profiles

Many households have more than one child, and with this in mind AVG Family Safety includes the option to create multiple profiles each of which can have settings of their own. This is great for home in which there are children of different ages for whom different levels of restriction and control are needed. Another interesting option is the ability to restrict the times at which the Internet can be used. To avoid the risk of your children changing the Windows clock to bypass this, the time restrictions are implemented using an online time server.

In terms of configuration, AVG Family Safety is hard to criticize. All of the settings you could possibly need are easily accessed, but you may find that getting things fine-tuned to your liking may take some time. As well as putting restrictions in place, the software can also be used to monitor how the Internet is being used. AVG Family Safety can log not only the websites that are visited, but also the searches that are performed, so even if you decide to give your children unfettered access to the Internet you can still keep an eye on what they’re up to online. You can also log instant messaging conversations and check logs that will reveal which programs have been used and for how long.

A very nice touch is the ability to view all of the program logs and even change application settings online. This means that you are able to monitor and control Internet usage even when you are not at home. AVG Family Safety is easy to use, even if satisfactory configuration could take a little while to complete. It is a tool that not only offers peace of mind but also helps to keep children safe without being too intrusive. The annual fee covers up to three computers making this great value for money.

AVG Family Saftey lists for $19.95 and runs on Windows XP, Vista or 7.

Photo Credit: NinaMalyna/Shutterstock
Carrier IQ is stupid

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 4:38pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Okay, the stupidity lies with cellular carriers who let the tracking software onto their phones. Their actions will irreparably tarnish the industry's image and quite likely lead to unwanted government intervention. I'm assuming, of course, that Carrier IQ really is as bad as Android developer Trevor Eckhart claims. My God, what if it's worse?

Carrier IQ is tracking software that behaves every bit like a keylogger -- installed at a low-level like a rootkit would be. It logs all activities. That's right. Everything, even when the phone is disconnected from the network, or when using WiFi, and it continues its privacy-violating ways even after a cellular subscriber's contract has expired. Simply put: It's an abomination. It's a violation of privacy in the worst way, because cell phones are the most personal tech devices and used to maintain the most intimate relationships.

For those paranoid people worried someone is watching them, somebody is. It reminds me of Police song "Every Breath You Take", which contrary to popular convention is not a love song. Songwriter Sting says it's about stalking:

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you

Carrier IQ is watching you.

This scandal is much worse than the Sony rootkit, installed on music CDs, Mark Russinovich uncovered six years ago. That privacy invasion led to numerous lawsuits subsequent settlement in 39 states and another with the Federal Trade Commission. Sony rootkit is a single car crash, while Carrier IQ is a plane smashing into a crowded Interstate highway during rush hour.

Ongoing Facebook privacy issues, including this week's FTC settlement and agreement to 20 years oversight, pale in comparison to Carrier IQ. Because the question isn't how many people is Carrier IQ watching but how few. The number of global cellular subscribers is enormous. Severity really depends on the scope of Carrier IQ usage -- how many carriers in how many locales.

For Americans, the Carrier IQ scandal is invitation for increased government intervention to protect their privacy and security -- that of federal agencies, too. Six years ago, savvy hackers used the Sony rootkit to hide Trojans. What security problems lay in wait -- if they haven't been exploited already -- from software so deeply hidden and running at such low levels in Android and iOS, and who knows where else? Surely, any cybercriminal delights in such opportunity -- tapping into a running process that tracks everything done on hundreds of millions of handsets. "Merry Christmas!" What a present! Government has as much concern protecting its own security (and privacy) as citizens.

The tech industry has long held a hand up to government, promising to self-police, self-regulate. "We will be responsible. You can trust us". But Carrier IQ sends a different message: "You can't be trusted". Not when there is potentially so much money to be made tracking people's behavior. That has been the concern about Facebook or Google. But Carrier IQ is so much worse because it acts like a keylogger.

Carrier IQ is the perfect election-year scandal, particularly when Democrats and Republicans can't seem to agree on anything or with state attorneys general up for re-election. It's ready-made for both sides to rally behind a common cause: Protecting Americans' privacy. Surely the FTC will intervene. Capitol Hill hearings are likely. Perhaps the tech industry will come under new scrutiny -- and even new legislation -- as lawmakers and regulators realize their worst fears: That companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have more control over Americans' privacy than they do. Wireless carriers make matters much worse.

Carrier IQ is an evolving scandal. The extent of tracking may increase, or decrease, as there is more investigation. It's still not 100 percent clear how many carriers use the software, which handsets are infected, the full number of operating systems affected or what exceptions there are. On the latter point, for example, it looks like pure Google devices, such as Samsung Nexus S or Motorola XOOM, are Carrier IQ-free.

I'll end simply by asking for your reaction, which you can give in comments.

Photo Credit: Arman Zhenikeyev/Shutterstock
Microsoft drops Windows Security Essentials 4 beta -- pick it up now!

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 1:54am CET par Mark Wilson

Microsoft has released a public beta version of its Windows Security Essentials package, giving users a sneak glimpse of what to expect from future releases. There are not a huge number of changes to speak of, but the release is an important advancement for a home-user friendly security suite that has gained a large following since it debuted. Windows Security Essentials 4 beta is available right now to anyone with a Windows Live ID.

There are some minor interface tweaks to be seen in the application, but it is the improvements to performance and the detection process that are most interesting. One of the concerns with running any security software is the potential for it to impact on system performance -- and this is one reason why many people simply do not bother installing security software. Performance tweaks help to reduce the strain on your system while it is protected.

But the purpose of the program is to offer protection against a range of threats and in addition to the general performance enhancements, there are improvements made to the detection engine. No security app is able to promise 100 percent protection, but Windows Security Essentials 4 improvements bring great levels of protection to Windows users.

There is a strong focus on ease of use, and as well as the redesigned and cleaned up interface, changes have also been made to the way the app handles threats that are detected. The program now deals with a greater number of threats automatically without the need for user intervention, and there is also the ability to configure on-demand and scheduled system scans in addition to the all-important real-time protection.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the Microsoft Security Essentials 4 Beta review page.

Photo Credit: Julien Tromeur/Shutterstock
Windows Phone 7 needs a Christmas miracle

Publié: décembre 1, 2011, 1:27am CET par Joe Wilcox

I've got a soft spot for Windows Phone. The operating system is classy, vibrant, intuitive and refreshing -- the latter particularly compared to Android and iOS. Windows Phone also is a bleeding failure, as I predicted it would be in February 2010 -- when calling the platform a "lost cause". I grudgingly admit to being right. Ah hum. Only Nokia can save Windows Phone now. They swim for land or drown together.

Yesterday, Nielsen released US smartphone operating system share at end of third quarter. For Android and iOS: 42.8 percent and 28.3 percent, respectively. Windows Phone: 1.2 percent, which is less than Symbian (1.7 percent) -- the operating system WP will replace on Nokia handsets, which have far less visibility than does WP7 in the United States; that's sadist commentary of all. Windows Mobile share is 6.1 percent, and that's a good place for Microsoft to really target. Imagine if all those customers could convert to smartphones running the newer software.

Maybe the holidays will be good to Microsoft, which needs a little Christmas miracle to lift Windows Phone 7 from last place. The share numbers explain why Microsoft has invested so much to churn up buzz, such as erecting a six-story Windows Phone in a New York City park or touring the country showing off WP 7.5 handsets over cocktails. The advertising looks pretty good, but Microsoft needs more of it. As BetaNews reader Robert Johnson explained two days ago, "Microsoft is in trouble", because of negative perceptions or little to no visibility against Apple and Google.

The reasons I stated 21 months ago for Windows Phone's problems are little different today. Briefly recapping and expanding #2 and adding #5:

1. There is no Windows monopoly leverage to jumpstart the platform. The opposite is true. Android and iOS leverage against Microsoft's mobile OS. They're anti-Windows monopolies, with beaucoup developers, hundreds of thousands of applications, thousands of third-party distribution partners (including major carriers globally) and a hugely expanding base platform.

On the last point: Forty-four percent of US cellular subscribers have smartphones -- that's up 5 points in three months, says Nielsen. IDC predicts that global smartphone shipments will reach 1 billion units by 2015, which is larger than the current PC install base and about three times annual shipments. Good for Microsoft: That's a big pie. The bad news, at least in the United States: Androids and iPhone already have 71 percent subscriber share.

2. Windows Phone 7 doesn't have enough developer momentum. But it's better, with something like 40,000 applications available. No platform succeeds without apps. WP7 doesn't need numbers just more of the right apps.

3. Android adoption -- by manufacturers and mobile users -- is too great. You need look no further than Verizon here in the United States. The nation's largest carrier is pushing 4G LTE like the Mayan predictions are right and the world ends four days before Christmas next year. "Get real 4G before it's too late!" Verizon sells eight LTE phones, all running Android, and forthcoming Galaxy Nexus will make nine.

4. Microsoft doesn't have an end-to-end software plus hardware plus services platform. Stated differently there's no Windows Phone. But Microsoft could come close with Nokia, which has made Windows Phone its primary operating system. The first Nokia WP smartphones are shipping in major markets other than the United States. Nokia could save Windows Phone, if you believe IDC, which predicts about 20 percent market share by 2015 -- but Android more than twice that.

5. Windows Phone doesn't have global reach. While Nokia is beginning to broaden availability, WP is a long way from being available in as many geographies and from as many carriers as Androids and iPhone.

Sadly, these are pretty much the same reasons as I stated 21 months ago, just condensed from the originals. Sometimes, I really hate being right.

Still, there could be a Christmas miracle in Windows Phone's future, if you buy a handset. Will you?

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox