Microsoft thinks it might be. In reporting record revenues, the software giant sunk this nugget: netbooks represented 8 percent of the company’s PC sales a twelvemonth ago. Now, it’s down to 2 percent.
That casts a dim light on Microsoft’s Windows 7 Starter Edition, the low-cost version of Windows 7 that effectively killed away the Linux-based netbook. Just isn’t it in Microsoft’s best interest to see the netbook fade away, regardless?
Patrick Moorhead, a former corporate fellow with AMD and instantly main at Moor Insights and Strategy, has watched the traditional netbook an Atom-based, small-form-factor notebook that costs almost $399 vanish from shop shelves. Netbooks experience been relegated to Best Buy’s online shelves, for example, while higher-margin, recurring-revenue productions like smartphones dominate its floors. Desktops are a thing of the past.
You may forgive Moorhead for thinking that the AMD Brazos platform, combined with a 10.6-inch screen and a good keyboard “crushed” the netbook market. But what’s gain is that consumers loved the price point, just wanted more for their money.
“In the end, and I receive been very gain on this since daytime one, is that netbooks are but inexpensive notebooks that went popular,” Moorhead said. “They went replaced by higher-quality notebooks that were fulfilled by a selfsame similar cost and post in the market.”
According to Moorhead, the future of the netbook isn’t the tablet, equally Acer seemed to imply with its decision to throw its chapeau into the tablet market lastly year. Instead, the next is something alike the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which oscillates between a tablet and a notebook, depending on whether it’s in a docked or undocked configuration.
Lenovo on Sun declared the 10-inch IdeaTab K2 gaming and multimedia tablet, which has a quad-core Weapon processor and a premium IPS display similar to the one found on Apple’s iPad.
The tablet has Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Google’s Android 4.0 OS, pronounced Nick Reynolds, director at Lenovo. The tablet likewise packs some new technologies such equally DDR3 memory and SRS environs sound, making it one of Lenovo’s fastest and feature-rich tablets to watch video or play high-definition games, Reynolds said.
The price was not instantly available, and it will initially be launched in China “soon”, Reynolds said. He refused to comment on international availability, just the device will exist evinced at this week’s Consumer Electronics Prove in Las Vegas.
“Lenovo continually assesses the international market dynamics and consumer needs and we may view launching outside of China afterward in 2012,” Reynolds said.
Tablets with strong brand recognition alike Apple’s iPad 2 and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab got with dual-core processors, and the IdeaTab K2 will be one of the few with a quad-core processor. The combined processing power of four cores should let the K2 to flowed multimedia and applications faster than its dual-core counterparts.
“It’s a high-performance, premium device,” Reynolds said.
The tablet’s closest competitor will be Asus’ Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which shipped in November and was the foremost tablet available with a quad-core processor. The Asus tablet was dubbed the fastest tablet on the market and had positive reviews, partially due to long battery life.
K2 will display images at a 1200 by 800 pixel resolution, and will get cameras on the front and back. Other features include an HDMI port to connect the tablet to high-definition TVs and a full-size USB port. The tablet will come with 1GB or 2GB of DDR3 memory, and up to 64GB of storage. In the future, the tablet will likewise receive 3G and 4G LTE mobile broadband capabilities.
RIM’s frenzied attempts to offload bags of its unpopular PlayBook tablets continues, with prices on completely models in the US slashed to $299.
Lucky Americans may instantly buy a 16GB, 32GB or 64GB version of the fondleslab from the US BlackBerry store website at the reduced price (obviously there’s no point opting for less remembering when you could induce one with the almost remembering for the same cost – until stock starts running out, of course).
On the 64GB model, that gives a saving of a massive $400 choke the original retail cost of $699.
However, in the UK, prices rest at the same reduced rate from RIM as they had in October, putting a British 16GB tablet at £249 maneuver from the BlackBerry shop, 32GB at £329 and 64GB at £409 ($637).
While RIM isn’t bighearted Brits any keen savings, other retailers in the state are even knocking down the prices.
Dixons has the 64GB fondleslab at the same cost equally RIM’s, just the 16GB is down to £169 (there’s no 32GB on offer). Meanwhile, Amazon UK is offering the 16GB at £197.99, the 32GB at £244.99 and the 64GB at £339.90, and warning that stocks of wholly three are flowing out.
The price-cutting in the US is the latest endeavour by RIM to realize massive stockpiles of the PlayBook, which has neglected to spark much stake in the slab-fondling community.
The Canadian house took a $485m charge at the conclusion of lastly year on the tablets, money it articulated it taken to increase promotional activity in order to “drive sell-through to ending customers”.
HP grappled to ignite some interest in its beleaguered Touchpad when it dropped prices to stone undersurface and infixed diverse promotional gimmicks to shift the tablets.
So far, RIM has sought dropping prices and offer its PlayBooks on a buy-one-get-one-free basis, merely it looks similar the house hasn’t got far decent nevertheless to encourage anyone willing to buy a soon-to-be-discontinued item to pull away their wallets.
Apple on Thursday provided more points most the international availability of its iTunes Match and iTunes in the Dapple services.
In two charts posted on the Apple abide forums, the fellowship revealed down which types of files could exist downloaded via iTunes in the Dapple and which countries receive access to iTunes Match.
At this point, users in 17 countries can usage iTunes Match: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Republic of Malta, Mexico, Young Zealand, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The iTunes Match service became alive in the U.S. on Nov. 14. It allows users to shop their entire music library in the cloud, or iCloud, for on-the-go access to music from any iOS device or computer—for $24.99 per year. With iTunes in the Cloud, meanwhile, substance purchased via iTunes is stored in the mottle and accessible for free, much alike Amazon’s Dapple Player.
In Apple’s iTunes in the Dapple chart, the society outlines which types of purchases could exist downloaded again on a young iOS device in a given country: music, music videos, TV shows, apps, and books.
“If music, apps, or books are available in your country, you could enable Automatic Downloads on your computers and iOS devices to automatically download new purchases created from other devices,” Apple said. “This feature is exclusively available for music, apps, and books.”
At this point, solely four countries let re-downloads for totally five types of content: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Many countries, however, have everything just TV shows, including France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, and more. Completely of the more than 100 countries listed include access for apps and books.
Apple is actively regarding employing fuel cell technology to powerfulness portable devices which could last for ‘weeks’ from a single charge.
A pair of patents uncovered by AppleInsider, the companionship asserts that hydrogen-powered fuel cells would see smaller and lighter MacBooks with unheard of battery life.
Significantly reduces size weight and cost
Apple’s filing says: “This fuel cell arrangement includes a fuel cell plenty which converts fuel into electric power. It also includes a controller which controls operation of the fuel cell system.”
“This eliminates the need for a bulky and heavy battery within the fuel cell system, which could significantly reduce the size, weight and price of the fuel cell system.”
The company adds: “Hydrogen fuel cells have a bit of advantages. Such fuel cells and associated fuels can potentially achieve high volumetric and gravimetric energy densities, which could potentially enable proceeded surgery of portable electronic devices for days or eve weeks without refueling.
“However, it is extremely challenging to design hydrogen fuel cell systems which are sufficiently portable and cost-effective to be utilised with portable electronic devices.”
Eco-friendly
Apple’s filing besides items out the public’s want for tech companies to explore renewable energy sources and conclusion reliance on fossil fuels.
“As a outcome of increased consumer awareness, electronics manufacturers get got selfsame interested in renewable energy sources for their products, and they experience been exploring a bit of promising renewable energy sources such as hydrogen fuel which is applied in hydrogen fuel cells,” pronounced the papers.
Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Flame tablet has helped Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android ad impressions to the 50 percentage mark in November, though that pattern is still down from 56 percent in Oct and September, granting to Millennial Media.
Apple’s iOS was moment with 30 percent, up from 28 percentage the prior month, according to the mobile ad network. Android’s ad percentage falls and Apple’s ad part rise is no accident.
One corollary may exist the launch of the iPhone 4S in mid-October, propelling ads to Millennial. Another is the rise of Inquiry In Motion’s BlackBerry Os ad share, which climbed from 13 percentage00 to 17 percentage11 for November.
Apple iOS, including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, has a total impression of 26 percent, compared to 29 percentage333 for Android, spanning 14 handsets. Moreover, the iPhone grew 8 percentage44 month-over-month and still controls the No. 1 mobile telephone ranking, accounting for 14 percentage77 impression share alone.
Smartphones commanded 70 percentage999999 of Millennial’s smartphone, lineament telephone connected device impression mix. Connected devices caught 16 percent of the impressions.
But the Kindle Fire’s emergence equally a credible Android tablet is the genuine development floor for the month.
Millennial, which instantly counts ad impressions for connected devices such equally tablets and smartphones together, articulated Kindle Flame impressions receive grown at an average daily rate of 19 percentage since the e-commerce launched the $199 tablet Nov. 15.
Millennial enunciated the Kindle Flaming is reckoning a “monthly coursed rate of hundreds of millions of impressions,” slenderly outpacing impressions from the foremost iPad’s launch in 2010.
Online hunt and advertising giant Google is teaming with investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. to develop four solar energy farms serving the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California.
Google articulated Tuesday on its Commons Blog that it will drop $94 million on the projects. They also will have equity from SunTap Energy RE LLC, a venture formed by KKR to invest in U.S. solar projects.
The projects are expected to provide enough energy to powerfulness more than 13,000 ordinary U.S. homes. Energy produced by three of the projects is contracted for 20 years with the utility district, Google said.
Construction on three of the four projects will exist consummate early succeeding year, with the fourth coming on occupation after in the year.
KKR enunciated SunTap represents its first U.S. renewable energy investment. It also has invested in a Gallic wind green operator and a Spanish solar energy company.
Google enunciated it has invested more than $915 million in clean energy projects, including $800 million this year. The Sacramento raft represents its foremost U.S. investment in a large-scale solar contrive that generates energy for a grid, rather than someone rooftops.
The investment comes as the solar manufacture wraps up a difficult yr in which it has been striking difficult by slower economic growth around the world, including the U.S., where government funding for alternative energy projects has been squeezed.
First Solar, the nation’s largest solar company, has cut remuneration and revenue estimates for 2011. The company, based in Tempe, Ariz., expects to report charges of 85 centimes per share related to a series of cost-cutting moves this year, including layoffs of nearly 100 people.
In September, California solar panel maker Solyndra LLC, which had a $528 million federal loan and was touted by the Obama administration equally a “green jobs” creator, filed for bankruptcy courtroom protection. A Massachusetts company, Beacon Power, has since blamed its bankruptcy filing on the political fallout from Solyndra’s failure.
Santa has a young assistant this yr to assistant him deliver gifts to good children about the world, allotting to the latest Apple TV ad. Ahead he comes slinking down your chimney, Santa makes utilisation of Siri, the iPhone 4S voice-controlled helper to find your address and local brave weather at his pitch items on Xmas Eve.
“Go slow on the cookies,” says a substance in the ad from Mrs. Claus, read aloud to Santa by Siri on his iPhone 4S. When he asks how his daytime looks like, Siri reports he has 3.7 billion appointments to construct it to, rounding up Santa’s employment of the iPhone 4S in the Apple TV ad (embedded below).
Although the iPhone does not induce a mention in the ad, it’s earn Apple is expecting the iPhone 4S to exist a very popular gift this year. The iPhone 4S has nearly no intention changes over the previous model, thus Apple is pushing Siri equally the chief selling channelise for the young phone, a feature exclusive to the device.
Google’s Zeitgeist crunched billions of searches in 2011 to discover the nearly popular and fastest-rising hunt terms. The consequence of the 11th annual survey is the online equivalent of climbing into a time machine.
Web celeb Rebecca Blackamoor was the fastest-rising query with singer Adele, reality principal Ryan Dunn and Casey Anthony following quickly behind. Google+ nabbed the No. 2 spot.
But eventide equally Hurricane Irene struck the U.S. and earthquakes shook Christchurch, New Zealand, and Japan, zippo took a collation out of Google’s Zeitgeist like Apple (as GigaOm pointed out).
Three Apple queries appear in the list of the summit 10 fastest-rising searches, including Apple’s iPhone 5 (which even has still to construct an appearance), the iPad 2 (which did build an appearance and is burning up holiday sales) and the serviceman who helped build it all possible: Steve Jobs, who peaked equally a hunt0000 term in Oct when he died.
Apple makes other appearances equally well. The briskly selling iPhone 4S, for instance, is second-fastest in the consumer electronics category (the iPad2 and the iPad3 besides ranked). Just it was bested by Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
Sure to get a big bump in Google searches today: Google Zeitgeist.
A few years back, Intel prognosticated that NVIDIA‘s CUDA technology was destined to exist a “footnote” in computing history. Since that time, Jen-Hsun Huang’s low point virtual automobile (LLVM) has more than proven its worth in several supercomputers, and directly NVIDIA has released the CUDA author code to further ranch the parallel computing gospel. This movement opens up the LLVM to be employed with more programming languages and processors (x86 or otherwise) than ever before, which the company hopes will spur maturation of “next-generation higher performance computing platforms.” Academics and taken developers may cause their hands on the code by registering with NVIDIA at the source below, thus brain on down and cause begun — petaflop parallel processing supercomputers don’t make themselves, you know.