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Windows Phone beats iPhone to 4G LTE

Publié: janvier 9, 2012, 11:13pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Currently there are 11 4G LTE phones -- two from AT&T and 9 from Verizon -- available from major US Carriers, and they're all Androids. Even more are coming, some this month, and again they're all Androids. There is no LTE iPhone and until today's HTC Titan II announcement, nothing running a Microsoft operating system. Finally, prospective Windows Phone buyers can get super-fast cellular data. iPhone users are out of luck. Well, maybe. HTC says the LTE Windows Phone is coming to AT&T "in the coming months". Who knows, iPhone 5 LTE could come sooner.

Like its predecessor, Titan II will be available from AT&T, which is good for HTC, Microsoft and Windows Phone. The brawny 4.7-inch-display smartphone will only compete with two other LTE handsets there -- HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. Better to be one of three at AT&T than one of 10+ at Verizon. That's assuming AT&T adds no other LTE smarphones "in the coming months", before Titan II goes on sale. Last week I posted the "7 things I really don't want to see at CES". Among them: Products announced that don't ship for many months later.

That's too bad, because Titan II packs some other exciting new features, such as a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with dual-LED flash and physical shutter button. But strangely, the smartphone only captures 720p video, an oddity when 1080p is standard for smartphones of this class and Microsoft bought Skype last year. Shouldn't video be a much bigger priority?

Other features include 1.5GHz Snapdragon S2 processor and 1730 mAh battery. That's a single-core processor in a dual- and quad-core world, by the way.

"HTC's history of innovation in 4G technology includes delivering the first 4G-powered devices to each major carrier in the U.S., so it is exciting today to continue that leadership with our first 4G LTE Windows Phone, the HTC TITAN II", CEO Peter Chou says.

Would you buy Titan II?
Monster debuts Android, iOS, Windows Phone app for home power control

Publié: janvier 9, 2012, 8:58pm CET par Tim Conneally

CES Press Day is also known as the day of back to back press conferences, when journalists are served a giant hype sundae topped with sprinkles of actual news.

It's an important day for companies to tell the consumer electronics press (and by extension, consumers) what to expect from them for the year, so at every CES, I spend the day darting in and out of rooms and trying to keep up with the deluge of announcements.

This year, I thought I'd take it easy.

I ended up in the Monster Cable Products press conference this morning more or less by accident. I wanted to go to the Intel press conference which was going on at the same time, but absentmindedly walked in the wrong door.

Once inside, I decided I'd stick around because this year is going to be different.

Fortunately, one of the topics I'm trying to devote more energy to is...well...energy, and among the ridiculous "high fashion" headphones that Monster concentrated on today (shown above, I will let that picture speak for itself), there was a welcome announcement about the company's home energy management line and a new mobile app for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone that Monster is debuting this year.

The App, called Monster Power Control, was designed by People Power, and it lets users control Monster's PRT line of PowerCenter solutions from their smartphone. It combines monitoring and metering, with scheduled power control for all of the devices connected to the system.

Monster's products that use the app include the PRT 100M ($59.95), PRT 100MC ($69.95) and PRT 300MC ($119.95). These outlets must be hooked up to Monster's Gateway GTW 100 ($59.95), which lets them communicate with the mobile app. There is also an all-in-one PRT 300 MC Kit for $149.95, which includes both the PRT300MC and the GTW 100.

The company's main thrust is still audio, but its offerings in home power control and PC storage solutions show that the company is growing its non-core businesses in meaningful and compelling ways.
Ahead of CES, health of the consumer electronics industry questioned

Publié: janvier 9, 2012, 8:01am CET par Ed Oswald

As the technology industry gears up for its yearly confab in Las Vegas this week, new data suggests the consumer electronics industry is primed for significant contraction. Research firm NPD says sales fell 5.9 percent in the five weeks ending on Christmas Eve. This data confirms news out of various retailers indicating weak sales in electronics last month.

Sears Holdings used poor sales of consumer electronics in both its Sears and Kmart stores as part of a reason behind closing underperforming locations. Target and Costco warned of disappointing numbers due to slower than expected sales, and Best Buy reported same-store sales down 1.2 percent year-over-year for the month of December.

It's difficult to pinpoint an exact reason for the weakness. One possible argument is the replacement cycles for consumer electronics is becoming longer now that consumers have less disposable income. Another possible reason along those lines could be a larger number of budget conscious shoppers, waiting for the maximum discount before making a purchase. Best Buy's data shows this "wait and see" attitude: the company reports sales picked up in the final week before Christmas.

Regardless, this is not the news you want out right before the Consumer Electronics Show. A glut of new products is about to hit the shelves soon: these companies are facing a substantially smaller market.

Last year CES was awash in tablets, leading several pundits -- including myself -- to speculate that the holiday season would be filled with closeout inventory. Were were right. This year though the price slashing may run far deeper, though.

NPD reports that the hardest hit sectors were camcorders, down 43 percent year over year. Digital picture frame sales also plummeted, down 38 percent. GPS sales were down a third, while MP3 players fell 20 percent and Blu-ray players 17 percent.

PC and TV sales are also down slightly (four percent), but this is a sector that has been underperforming for several years now. "2011 was the first year in quite awhile where the real drags on the core (consumer electronics) marketplace were not TVs and PCs", NPD industry analysis chief Stephen Baker adds.

What are consumer electronics manufacturers to do? The simplest answer is to make compelling products. Like any retail business, when sales fall those in charge of buying will buy less and be much more discerning in what they carry.

This could have the unintended benefit of far less crap making it to store shelves, but it will likely create the domino effect of causing further contraction in the industry, I'd think. One thing is certain: even as the US economy shows signs of improving -- finally -- the real pain for the tech sector is still to come.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox