14
Dec
2006
Engadget: Microsoft has produced yet another rather clever parody pitting a Zune-toting PC with an iPod-carrying Mac, and apparently screened the ad at a recent company meeting.
The sticking point is how “difficult” it is to get music onto the iPod versus how “simple” it is on the Zune.
14
Dec
2006
T3: iPod fanatics hoping to make their first calls on the fabled iPhone might have to wait a little longer… According to our friends in low places – OK, it’s the Sydney Morning Herald but they are at the bottom of the world from where we’re sitting – the iPhone won’t be making its debut at the MacWorld Expo in January as rumours had suggested.
According to an analyst working for CIBC World Markets, the phone won’t be popping its head up like a meerkat until March at the earliest. “Based on our checks, we believe the timing of Apple’s iPhone commercial launch is around late first quarter 2007 to early second quarter 2007,” analyst Ittai Kidron told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Spoilsport Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research, said that speculation about the product is “starting to get out of hand”. “Is it possible to call a product that hasn’t been acknowledged, much less shipped, delayed?” Gartenberg wrote on his blog.
However, even without an official line from Apple the iPhone is having an impact and Wall Street analysts believe any speculation of a delay could affect the company’s share price. (…)
14
Dec
2006
TechDigest: A new website, MyThings.com, which offers a way for consumers to register, organise and manage their domestic valuables, including purchases made from high street stores, has launched in the UK.
The concept is fairly simple. Consumers create an online portfolio containing details of their belongings, which can then be used to manage and project them.
Consumers can store images, vital statistics and product details, look for product information, accessories, downloads and guides, and report lost or stolen items.
Members can keep their lists private or share them with other people online (what a good idea, tell people what expensive things you have in your home…)
Retailers can also get a look in, because if they’ve signed up to be a MyThings partner then they can offer customers automatic entry of their purchases into their portfolio. Then, later down the line, the retailer can see who has bought what, and possibly offer timely offers (for example, upgrades or spare parts). An interesting way of getting more personalised marketing to existing customers.
Some big name companies are already on board, including John Lewis, Tesco Direct, Casio, Jessops, and Halfords.
MyThings also offers Trace, an online service that helps members search
for and recover stolen goods anywhere in the world.
13
Dec
2006
BBC: Apple has denied a report which claims US sales at its iTunes Music Store fell by 65% in the first half of 2006.
Research group Forrester said it was too soon to say whether its findings showed that buyers were “reaching their saturation level for digital music”.
Apple said the report is “simply incorrect”, but will not divulge iTunes financial figures. Forrester said Apple users may be put off since iTunes songs can only be played on iPods or via iTunes itself. (…)
While Apple does not give separate financial data for the store, it has said that it made a profit in the three months to the end of September. (…)
13
Dec
2006
Navigadget: (…) one of the cheapest portable navigation systems out there: Medion GoPal 210 which you can apparently pick up for £99 (euro). This entry level device has a 3.5″ screen and uses a SiRF Star III GPS chipset. The device lacks some features such as no rechargeable battery. But no worries; it uses 4AA batteries instead or it can be powered by cigarette lighter. There isn’t many buttons on the Medion GoPal 210, you’ll be controlling everything through the touchscreen.
Included in the price is Navteq maps of the UK and Ireland and a photo viewer however there’s no mp3 player on board. Additional European maps can be added – for a fee – using an SD or MMC card. (…)
On first use it located a satellite pretty quickly, and seemed as intuitive as other sat-nav devices. We had no problems with its directions, which on the whole were clear and timely. It also supports eight-digit postcodes.
13
Dec
2006
Next-Gen: A European videogame trade site has confirmed that the Wii sold 105,000 units over its first weekend of availability in the UK, becoming the fastest-selling console on record in the region.
Next-Gen European media partner MCV confirmed the figures with Nintendo and ChartTrack. MCV said the Wii is the first console to ever break 100,000 units sold over an opening weekend in the UK.
The system launched Friday, December 8 in the region.The prior UK record holder was the Xbox 360 with 70,000 units sold during its opening weekend.
Shortly after Wii’s European launch, Nintendo announced that it sold 50,000 units in the Wii’s first 12 hours of availability in the UK.
13
Dec
2006
Mobile Mentalism: Concept Phones are great, as they show what designers can do when they don’t have to worry about the mundane stuff, like actually fitting electronics into their designs. I mean, just ake alook at this: this is a new Sony Ericsson CyberShot concept phone that looks simply breathtaking. As slim as a credit card with a 3.2 megapixel camera, sleek slider design, and OLED touch sensitive keypad, this is a phone that would sell by the bucket load.
So will we ever see this glorious phone in production? Well, not yet. 3.2 megapixels is a great dream to have in such a glorious looking phone, but today’s electronics are just to bulky to squeeze such megapixellage into such a beautiful form. (…) give it a year or two and who knows. (…)
13
Dec
2006
Cellular News: Wireless messaging is the most successful mainstream mobile data service to have emerged during the 30-year history of the cellular telecom industry. New research from Gartner shows that an estimated 936 billion messages were sent worldwide in 2005 via SMS. Gartner predicts this will reach 2.3 trillion by 2010. (…)
Faced with declining margins on basic cellular voice and text services, as well as lackluster demand for other data applications, mobile operators are now revisiting wireless messaging in an effort to build on the success of SMS.
According to Nick Ingelbrecht, research analyst at Gartner, “Nobody could have could have predicted the phenomenal success of SMS and the race is on to find its successor. Without a doubt new services are needed, but a clear leader has yet to emerge from the messaging services currently being deployed such as mobile IM (instant messaging), video messaging, mobile email and unified and integrated messaging.” (…)
13
Dec
2006
DigiTimes: LG.Philips LCD yesterday issued a press release stating officials from the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) visited the panel maker’s offices in Seoul, Korea as part of an investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct in the LCD industry.
In addition, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) issued a notice to LPL’s offices in Tokyo, Japan and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a subpoena to LPL’s offices in San Jose, California.
LG.Philips LCD stated that it takes this matter very seriously and will cooperate fully with regulatory authorities. While these investigations continue, LG.Philips LCD is committed to running its business as usual, the company said.
According to Korea-based Yonhap News, LPL and Samsung Electronics are being investigated on suspicions they rigged LCD prices and controlled supply during an industry boom in 2003-2004.
In 2004, the two South Korea-based makers together shipped 58.4 million large-size panels, capturing about 42% of the global market, while Taiwan shipped 56.5 million large-size panels and accounted for about 40% of global shipments, according to DisplaySearch.
This year, Taiwan is expected to supply 140 million panels, for a worldwide market share of 50%, while Korea will supply 109 million panels for a 39% worldwide market share, according to Taiwan’s Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK)
13
Dec
2006
The Register: Apple’s iTunes has experienced a collapse in sales revenues this year according to analyst company Forrester Research.
Secretive Apple doesn’t break out revenues from iTunes, but Forrester conducted an analysis of credit card transactions over a 27-month period. And this year’s numbers aren’t good.
While the iTunes service saw healthy growth for much of the period, since January the monthly revenue has fallen by 65 per cent, with the average transaction size falling 17 per cent. The previous spring’s rebound wasn’t repeated this year.
And it isn’t just Apple’s problem. Nielsen Soundscan has grimmer news for prospective digital download services, indicating three consecutive quarters of flat or declining revenues for the sector as a whole.
13
Dec
2006
ZDNet: LCD and plasma screen prices are dropping faster than expected, and Sony’s not too happy about it.
Prices for liquid crystal display TVs should drop between 25 percent and 30 percent this year. That’s between 5 percent and 7 percent more than Sony anticipated, Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics, said in a meeting with reporters in San Francisco last week.
While this is good for consumers, and it would be hard to find a thrifty buyer sympathetic to Sony’s concerns, the quick plunge in prices could hurt the industry as a whole because it could leave consumer electronics manufacturers financially weakened and less able to invest in future technologies, Glasgow argued.
“LCDs will continue to experience heavy price erosion, but not at this level,” he said. “It is hard to see that business model (of drastic price cuts) sustaining itself.”
A variety of factors have played a role in the dramatic drop. LCD and plasma TV makers are engaged in a turf war for the key 40-inch to 49-inch TV market, Baker said. Many manufacturers are also trying to get rid of excess supplies of TVs shipped to Europe in anticipation of a big selling binge before the summer’s World Cup soccer tournament. Not as many sets sold as expected.
13
Dec
2006
Newlaunches: When it comes to home entertainment we do have a lot of options. These options narrow down as we pick out wireless entertainment systems as an option. And for those who need a perfect iPod speaker system, the Eos wireless system is something made for you.
The Eos system has four speakers that connect wirelessly and produce a kicking 48KHz sound output. The iPod dock in between accepts your tiny music houses (iPods) and amplifies the sound to enchant a thrilling multimedia experience. The base station blessed with a couple of stereo drivers, a subwoofer and SRS WOW technology, used to provide fantastic clarity and high quality sound, and it does just that. The whole system is detachable by removing power supply from the back of the cabinet. The wireless speakers also have two stereo drivers of their own to give you a clearer feel of the music you are hearing.
The Eos Wireless iPod Speaker System will be out by March 2007 and the entire system (the docking system plus a single wireless speaker) ca cost you about $300 (226 euro). If you intend to purchase additional speaker remotes, a wireless weather proof amp and a stand alone transmitter/receiver unit then it would cost you about $129 (97 euro) to get them separately.
