Category: Industry News

Apple Is Third Largest PC Vendor In US

Global PC shipments are shifting to modest but steady growth of 2.3 to 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2011 after four years of strong sales on the back of weak consumer demand in certain markets and Apple has now risen to become the third largest vendor in the U.S. PC market just behind HP and Dell. Apple has experienced a solid 8.5% year-over-year growth in the U.S. market and Apple having a much higher year-over-year growth at 14.7% with Toshiba having 3.7%……………….

Worldwide PC shipments increased 2.6% in the second quarter of 2011 (2Q11), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. The results are just short of IDC’s May projections for 2.9% growth and represent a combination of a hangover from the more than 20% growth in the first half of 2010 as well as competition from smartphones, other consumer products and pressure from lackluster economic conditions. As in 1Q11, the United States and Western Europe were among the weaker regions, reflecting constrained demand in more mature markets, while emerging regions – particularly Latin America and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) – fared better. “These preliminary results continue to reflect pressure from competing consumer and business products as well as cautious spending,” said Jay Chou, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. “Nevertheless, product refreshes and promotions in the second half of the year as well as easier year-ago data should boost growth in the second half of the year.” “The U.S. PC market continued to contract in 2Q11, largely as a result of three factors. The first is an ongoing contraction in the Mini Notebook (Netbook) market and related inventories. The second is the impact of 2Q10’s difficult-to-sustain 12% growth. And third, demand has softened as corporate buyers continue to focus on increasing share of their IT budget in new IT solutions such as cloud and virtualization, and consumer interest shifts to media tablets,” says Rajani Singh, research analyst, United States Quarterly PC Tracker. “Given the weakness of 2H10, we expect a better market environment in 2H11 with mid-single digit growth rates in the third quarter’s back to school and fourth quarter’s holiday season.”

Regional Outlook:

United States – With a decline of 4.2% year over year, the market was still downcast from a combination of exuberant consumption a year ago and a tenuous economic recovery, but the quarter also marked substantial growth from 1Q11, and total shipments topped over 17.8 million.

Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) – The EMEA PC market continued to contract in 2Q11, in line with IDC’s forecast, as sustained high levels of inventory prevented stronger sell-in, particularly in Western Europe, where budget cannibalization from media tablets and smartphones continued to contribute to weak consumer demand and slow stock depletion. However, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) continued to expand and enjoyed positive growth overall.

Japan – The impact of the earthquake on PC buying proved to be limited, thus the market produced stronger results than expected, with 3% growth. Many commercial projects commenced as earlier fears of inventory shortage did not materialize. Coupled with continued average selling price (ASP) declines since the beginning of 2011, consumer shipments also fared better than expected.

Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) – returned to double-digit growth of just over 12% as the market came in slightly above forecasts. A weak consumer market weighed down India, but other key markets like China continued their momentum to help offset this, despite the ongoing inflation challenges there.

Vendor Outlook:

HP grew 3% compared to the second quarter of 2010. The vendor saw good growth in key emerging markets and also EMEA, but also had a slight drop in volume compared to the previous quarter.

Dell saw growth of 2.8% worldwide. It managed to slow the pace of declines in key markets compared to the first quarter, with good gains in key emerging markets.

Lenovo outpaced Acer Group to become the number 3 vendor worldwide. It continued to reap the results of its channel expansion in markets outside of Asia/Pacific, garnering notable gains in the U.S. and Japan. All regions saw positive growth and total volume increased by nearly 23% on the year.

Acer shipments continued to decline from a year ago, but at a slower pace than in the first quarter as the company was affected by a review of inventory handling, as well uncertainties from its recent management shake-up.

ASUS grew 6% to overtake Toshiba for the number 5 spot. While the vendor has had some difficulties adjusting for the decline in Mini Notebook PCs, it mainstream notebooks did well, especially in emerging markets.

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide PC Shipments, Second Quarter 2011 (Preliminary)

(Units Shipments are in thousands)

Rank	Vendor	2Q11 Shipments	Market Share	2Q10 Shipments	Market Share	2Q11/2Q10 Growth

1	HP	15,263	18.1%	14,823	18.0%	3.0%
2	Dell	10,927	12.9%	10,626	12.9%	2.8%
3	Lenovo	10,276	12.2%	8,363	10.2%	22.9%
4	Acer Group	9,160	10.9%	10,190	12.4%	-10.1%
5	ASUS	4,468	5.3%	4,216	5.1%	6.0%

	Others	34,320	40.7%	34,070	41.4%	0.7%

	All Vendors	84,413	100.0%	82,289	100.0%	2.6%

Top 5 Vendors, United States PC Shipments, Second Quarter 2011 (Preliminary)

(Units Shipments are in thousands)

Rank	Vendor	2Q11 Shipments	Market Share	2Q10 Shipments	Market Share	2Q11/2Q10 Growth
1	HP	4,692	26.3%	4,721	25.3%	-0.6%
2	Dell	3,959	22.2%	4,408	23.7%	-10.2%
3	Apple	1,917	10.7%	1,671	9.0%	14.7%
4	Toshiba	1,617	9.1%	1,560	8.4%	3.7%
5	Acer Group	1,513	8.5%	2,028	10.9%	-25.4%

	Others	4,159	23.3%	4,243	22.8%	-2.0%

	All Vendors	17,857	100.0%	18,632	100.0%	-4.2%

Source

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July 15, 2011

Nokia Partnered With MCB Bank To Offer Low Cost Financial Services
World’s leading mobile phone manufacturer Nokia and one of the leading financial institutions of Pakistan, MCB Bank have reached a momentous cooperation agreement to provide extensive & needful financial services to millions of mobile phone users in Pakistan. The deal was signed on 13th July, 2011 in Karachi. This agreement opens the door for both the companies to provide more user-friendly services to the mobile phone users. Both of them are committed to offer low cost financial services.
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July 15, 2011
Microsoft Licenses GeoVector
Microsoft licenses GeoVector’s augmented reality search for local guidance and potentially opening the door to pointing-based local search being included in future mobile devices like Windows Phone handsets. While much of the technology relies on GPS and a compass for directional-based discovery, the licensor also holds intellectual property for object recognition and it’s unclear whether this element falls within the agreement…………..

Microsoft has entered into a licensing agreement with GeoVector Corporation, the world leader in Augmented Reality and pointing-based local search solutions for mobile devices. The non-exclusive multi-year agreement gives Microsoft rights to use concepts covered by GeoVector‘s patents. “We are thrilled to have Microsoft join the growing number of GeoVector licensees,” said John Ellenby, GeoVector’s President and CEO. “This agreement further validates GeoVector’s industry-leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on additional licensing opportunities as we bring our location-based technology to market through our partners and licensees.” The patents included in the agreement cover Augmented Reality, pointing-based local search and other aspects of spatially aware mobile computing. Other terms of the agreement were not released.

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July 15, 2011
Microsoft Invests Billion Into Partners
Microsoft announced that it will invest 5.8 billion dollars into the Microsoft Partner Network in fiscal year 2012 and the expenditure will be a combination of tools, training and incentives. Microsoft is also starting a new communications competency in which partners can obtain Gold or Silver competencies and offering monetary incentives and license mobility through Microsoft Software Assurance for Hyper-V, System Center and SQL Server to help software hosting partners boost sales by allowing customers to deploy server application licenses with Software Assurance either on-premise or in the cloud………….

Microsoft unveiled updates to the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) to better help partners grow their businesses and meet evolving technology needs of customers around the globe through tools, training and incentives totaling $5.8 billion for fiscal year 2012. “Winning together with our partners today, and long into the future, means delivering incredible world-class technologies to meet customer needs, as well as the right partner incentives, tools and training, which will ultimately drive business growth for them,” said Jon Roskill, corporate vice president of the Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft, speaking before more than 15,000 attendees from around the globe at the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference. “We are bringing our partners to the cloud with us — they can use the tools and skills they have now to take their clients to the cloud.” Roskill announced new or extended solutions and online service incentives that are available and aligned to key priorities such as customer projects, accelerated growth of public and private cloud adoption and tools demonstrating a broad commitment to partners’ success. Partners are encouraged to engage through the Microsoft Partner Network to benefit from the incentives.

Align Partner Competencies to Customer Projects:
- The newly separated Messaging competency and Communications competency help differentiate companies with the explicit skill set and depth of experience to provide a holistic unified communications solution that includes voice and video. The competency split also will enhance recognition for partners’ investments in advanced capabilities with Exchange, Lync and Microsoft Office 365.
- The merger of the Systems Management and Virtualization competencies in May 2012 will strengthen partners’ ability to help customers realize the benefits of cloud computing on their terms with Microsoft private cloud solutions. Partners can prepare now by attaining the current competencies for System Center management and Windows Server Hyper-V virtualization.
Incentives to Accelerate Cloud Adoption:
- New Software Assurance Planning Services will be available in August, paying qualified partners to deliver deployment services to Microsoft Software Assurance customers for Microsoft private cloud, Windows Azure public cloud, SQL Server and software development. These opportunities will help partners grow their client base, strengthen customer relationships and increase service revenues.
- Windows Azure Incentives reward qualified partners in the Windows Azure Circle program that influence customer adoption of Microsoft’s public cloud platform. As a result, partners can build new, sustainable revenue streams by helping customers benefit from the public cloud.
- Private Cloud Incentives. The Management and Virtualization Solution Incentive Program will reward qualified Gold Certified partners that influence sales of Microsoft private cloud technologies. This complements the Hyper-V Cloud Accelerate program that will fund partner and customer private cloud assessments, proofs of concept, and production deployments.
- The SQL Server Solution Incentive Program delivers rewards to Gold Certified partners that drive application platform and business intelligence solutions to customers, particularly with the upcoming cloud-ready information platform, SQL Server “Denali.”
- Monetary incentives and license mobilityavailable through Microsoft Software Assurance for Microsoft Hyper-V, System Center and SQL Server will help hosting solution providers grow their businesses by enabling customers to deploy their Server Application licenses with Software Assurance on-premises or in the cloud within hosting partners’ shared hardware environments.
- Microsoft is investing in scaled business model transformation approaches for high-potential partners (from in-person coaching to online self-serve), which will help business decision-makers within partner organizations build specific plans, analyze the change implications of integrating cloud (e.g., profit and loss shifts, staffing needs, etc.), and define commitments and a timeframe to execute the shift.
- To continue spurring the growth of Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft is offering eligible partners an increased Microsoft Dynamics CRM Software Advisor Program (CSA) compensation of 40 percent on new subscription sales of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online as part of the existing CSA.
Enhanced Partner Tools and Benefits:
- Expanded Internal Use Rights will offer increased Lync and Windows Intune licenses for partners. The number of licenses allotted to Cloud Accelerate partners will grow to 100 from 25 and those to Cloud Essentials partners will grow to 25 from 10.
- New partner toolkits and opportunity guides will help partners start paving a path to profitability with public and private solutions for the following four markets: small business, midmarket segment, enterprise and public sector.
Wrapping up the keynotes, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner addressed the overall theme of the conference, Winning Together. “We understand that partners have a choice in working with us,” Turner said. “As they evolve their businesses to embrace cloud technologies, partners can count on Microsoft to provide the tools for cloud training, the resources to generate sales leads, and the ability to boost revenue and increase value for customers. We’re committed to our partners’ profitability and long-term business success.”

Via
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July 14, 2011
Google Being Sued For Infringing Patents
Purple Leaf has filed a patent infringement suit against Google Inc in the Texas Eastern District Court, which include Google Checkout and current information on the patent infringement suit against Google does not mention the patent number……………

Purple Leaf claims that a patent related to online payments and receipts is being infringed upon by Google’s online payment systems, including Google Checkout. Purple Leaf claims that “Google, Inc. has been and now is infringing the ‘311 Patent in the State of Texas, in this judicial district, and elsewhere in the United States by making, using, importing, selling or offering to sell services and products that practice methods and utilize devices for conducting a transaction using a medium based on a receipt having payment remittance information.” The company then goes on to target Google Checkout stating, Google services that practice such methods and products that employ such devices include, but are not limited to Google Checkout , a service which allows a transaction to be conducted using a medium based on a receipt having payment remittance information. Because the suit applies to Google Checkout, which is used across Google’s empire, it would also apply to all Android phones and tablets. Note that the claims mention Google Checkout specifically, but also say that the patent may be infringed by other products that Google offers in the online payment space. Purple Leaf is looking to recoup damages related to loss of profits as well as court costs for pursuing the infringement case. Purple Leaf LLC is also involved in patent suits with American Express, CitiGroup, Inc., Fiserv, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., PNC Bank, N.A. and SAP America, Inc. over what appears to be claims of infringement due to the same ’311 patent.
Complaint
Via
July 14, 2011
Apple Acquires iPhone4.com
Apple has at long last purchased the domain name iPhone4.com on an official basis and this has been a long time in coming, considering the 4th generation iPhone was rolled out to the masses last year. It seemed as though the Whois record for iPhone4.com actually was transferred from Whois Privacy Services to Apple Inc just a couple of days ago and the domain name would expire in 19 years’ time, it’s interesting to note that Apple does not own iPhone5.com, iPhone6.com or so on and so forth…………..

Apple has officially acquired the domain name iPhone4.com, the fourth generation of its iPhone that was released in 2010 and iPhone 4 has been one of Apple’s more controversial devices. Whois listings for the new domains now point to Apple as the owner with brand protection firm MarkMonitor appearing as the registrar as is customary for Apple‘s domains and for iPhone4.com switched from Whois Privacy Services to Apple Inc on July 11. Apple last month took control of iCloud.com just ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote where it rolled out the service and later registered fifty additional domain names related to the announcements made at the event. Apple may now own iPhone4.com, but according to registrant records the company still doesn’t own iPhone5.com, iPhone6.com, iPhone7.com, iPhone8.com. Apple acquired iPhone.com for an undisclosed amount in 2007, which many speculate the company paid over $1 million to acquire the name. This week Apple also acquired the domain name WhiteiPhone.com for an undisclosed amount.

Registrant:
        Apple Inc.
        Apple Inc.
        1 Infinite Loop
         Cupertino CA 95014
    Domain Name: iphone4.com
        Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
        Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
    Administrative Contact:
        Apple Inc.
        Apple Inc.
        1 Infinite Loop
         Cupertino CA 95014
        US
    Created on…………..: 2006-08-11.
    Expires on…………..: 2020-08-11.
    Record last updated on..: 2011-07-11.

Source
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July 14, 2011
One Million Registered Twitter Apps Announces For Developer
Application developers play a fundamental role in helping people get the best out of Twitter. As an ecosystem, Twitter have just crossed one million registered applications, built by more than 750,000 developers around the world. This is a huge increase over the only 150,000 apps that were plugged into Twitter a year ago. This is also a marked increase of 100,000 from numbers that were released by Twitter in May. Twitter says that a new app is registered every 1.5 seconds. Thenextweb has shared a details on this. Lets Checkout their findings bellow.
Twitter has also announced a brand new Twitter Developer site that developers that integrate Twitter can use to talk to Twitter team members, converse with fellow developers and access resources.
In the posting Twitter notes that more than $500 million has been invested in companies that are using the Twitter ecosystem and that more than $1B has been spend on acquiring companies that do so. Twitter says that this is indicative of the opportunities that entrepreneurs have to build successful businesses as part of the Twitter platform.
Twitter goes on to provide several examples of companies that are using Twitter to build or enhance their business. Among these is social statistics company Mass Relevance, which powered the recent Twitter Town Hall where President Barack Obama answered questions curated live from Twitter. There are companies which build their business completely around Twitter, like Poptweets, an iPhone trivia game as well as companies like Radian6, a social media analysis company that was recently acquired by Salesforce.
The announcement of the new site for Twitter developers appears to be an effort by Twitter to ensure companies using its platform that they can build with confidence. The social network wants people to take full advantage of the service in their products without the fear that access to it may be blocked in the future due to a change in policy. This posting seems to address mostly companies that are using the Twitter API in ways other than as standalone clients or “hole fillers.”
This would fit with the advice that Twitter gave to developers to stop building clients that just access Twitter. This advice caused major ripples among the community of developers making third-party clients for Twitter, who felt threatened by the announcement. Many of Twitter’s features like retweets actually grew out of third-party client features and user behavior. Twitter officially responded to developers in an attempt to allay fears that alternative clients would be blocked from the service entirely. In that response, Twitter’s Ryan Sarver said that he believes that an ‘open dialog’ is important. Perhaps this new site dedicated to Twitter developers will help give the services policies regarding API’s and applications some transparency, helping to rebuild the developer relationship.
Regardless, the numbers presented here are seriously impressive and it’s good to see the Twitter ecosystem growing well. But it’s worthwhile noting this is still on a much smaller scale than rival network Facebook, whose users install some 20 million applications every day.
Source
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July 12, 2011
Apple Files Another Lawsuit Against HTC
Apple and Samsung are currently embroiled in a lengthy lawsuit over the iPhone and several popular Android handsets and both manufacturers claim their other is infringing on their IP and are asking the courts to block/ban the import of the offending hardware. Apple took aim at smaller rival HTC with filling a claim with the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the sales of the competing smartphones and tablets, this is the second complaint against HTC with the ITC…………….

Apple files second ITC patent infringement complaint against HTC and said that HTC was infringing on groundbreaking that Apple developed for its iPod, iPhone and iPad products. The complaint, filed on July 8, asks the commission to conduct an investigation under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, regarding certain portable electronic devices and related software, according to a notice on the ITC website. Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits unfair import competition, which may threaten a U.S. industry, preventing its establishment or trade in the U.S. It also prevents the importation of things that infringe on U.S. patents and trademarks. The U.S. International Trade Commission can issue cease and desist or exclusion orders to those found in violation. The move comes more than a year after Apple filed suit against HTC, alleging 20 instances of patent infringement, all dealing with various elements of the iPhone. “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it,” Steve Jobs said at the time. “We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

The move marks Apple‘s second ITC complaint against HTC; the first also included Nokia. ITC staff recommended that the commission side with HTC and Nokia in that case, but the recommendation isn’t binding, and the judge will issue his decision on August 5. This suit marks the latest in Apple’s battle to fend off competitors with legal tactics. In below you will find the smartphones and tablet device by HTC, which are sued :
- Smartphones
  - HTC Droid Incredible
  - HTC Droid Incredible 2
  - HTC Wildfire
  - HTC T-Mobile mytouch 3G
  - HTC T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide
  - HTC T-Mobile G1
  - HTC T-Mobile G2
  - HTC Evo 4G
  - HTC Aria
  - HTC Desire
  - HtC Hero
  - HTC Merge
  - HTC Inspire 4G
  - HTC Evo 4G
  - HTC Thunderbolt
  - HTC Thunderbolt 4G
- Tablet computer
  - HTC Flyer
Source
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July 12, 2011
Mini DisplayPort To HDMI Cables Declared Illegal
The fine folks at HDMI.org, aka the group responsible for keeping the HDMI Specifications in check, have declared that the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable to be unlicensed and that ALL UNITS must be withdrawn. HDMI Org has confirmed that manufacturers of Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables have been told that their product is unlicensed and should not be sold.
TechRadar brought you the news last week that it was rumoured that hundreds of thousands of Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables are to be recalled because HDMI Org has deemed the cable system to be out of HDMI spec.
“The HDMI specification defines an HDMI cable as having only HDMI connectors on the ends. Anything else is not a licensed use of the specification and therefore, not allowed. All HDMI products undergo compliance testing as defined by the Compliance Testing Specification. The CTS clearly defines necessary tests for all products defined in the HDMI Specification. Since this new cable product is undefined in the Specification, there are no tests associated with this product. It cannot be tested against the Specification.” – HDMI Org
This move will reduce the cords currently in production to non-moveable units, while it does still appear that dongles with DisplayPort socket on one side and HDMI female receiver socket on the other side will remain in production for the time being. HDMI Org notes that this is because a licensed HDMI cord can be slotted into them. From what we understand, it is the absence altogether of an officially licensed HDMI cord that makes the HDMI to Mini DisplayPort Cables illegal.
HDMI Org does go on to note that it may be possible to license the now-illegal cords in the future:
“We do recognise that there may be a market need for a cable solution rather than a dongle solution. However, at this time, there is no way to produce these cable products in a licensed manner.” – HDMI Org
This will be little consolation, though, for the companies set to lose a lot of money from the HDMI Org’s decision.
Source: 1. 2, 3
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July 11, 2011
Apple’s plans To Introduce A New Way To Share Content Between iOS Devices
An interesting Apple patent filing submitted in October 2010 (before the original iPad was unveiled) but only just published, appears to show the future of multitouch and it’s a major leap from the simple pinch and spread motions we’re currently used to. If that caught your attention, that’s pretty much what Apple has in mind with this patent.
As seen in the diagram above, it pictures an iPhone that is being held over an iPad, with its contents being “poured” into the latter device, along with the possibility of sounds accompanying the action, for example “the sound of liquid pouring, a tablet fizzing, gas through a valve and a sci-fi teleporter to represent the transfer from one point to another.”

Example: A Pouring Motion
Apple’s patent FIG. 1B illustrates an iPhone (device 110) in motion relative to the iPad (device 120). Here, the user has rotated their iPhone above the iPad’s interface (122) in a manner similar to tipping a glass of water. This angular motion can be detected by one or more onboard motion sensors.
As shown in FIG. 1B, detached objects 114a-114d could be animated to simulate the effect of gravity by “sliding” toward the lowermost portion of interface 112 as device 110 is rotated. The animation of the objects creates the appearance that the objects have mass and are reacting to forces of a real world, physical environment. In FIG. 1C, we see that the iPad could interpret the rotation of the iPhone as a pouring motion as an indication of the user’s intent to transfer the files represented by selected objects 114a-114d.
Upon determining that the user of the iPhone intends to transfer the files, the iPhone (device 110) determines if the iPad (device 120) is present and available to receive the files. After a link is established between the two devices by Bluetooth or RFID and authenticated, the iPhone could request that the iPad accept a file transfer.
Not shown in the diagram, Apple also describes how flicking gesture can be used to share files with multiple devices in the same room, solely based on the angle of the gesture, which means it’s time to start brushing up on your aiming skills.
Some pretty far out ideas by Apple, although we have to admit that we like the idea of being able to “pour” the contents of our iOS device into another. Unfortunately, most of Apple’s patents rarely make it to the finished product, but this is one feature we hope we will eventually see.
Source: 1, 2
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July 10, 2011