Time to say goodbye to Windows RT tablets?
Windows RT tablets grabbed just 0.4% of the tablet market in the first quarter, a dismal result that led some tech experts to urge Microsoft to scrap the platform that's in its six-month infancy.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they do streamline and do drop [Windows RT]," said Brian Proffitt, an adjunct instructor of management at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business , in an interview. "Microsoft is going to remain heavily invested in its Surface tablet strategy, but that doesn't preclude them from making changes and cutting. Cutting Windows RT would be a smart move, unless the number of shipments suddenly improves." Read more...
Google’s Schmidt Promises Serious iPad Rival
A battle between Google and Apple over the mobile communications market will get brutal next year as the search and operating-system giant launches its own branded device to take on the iPad.
That's what Google CEO Eric Schmidt promises, telling an Italian newspaper that "in the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality." The comments in Corriere della Serra are widely believed to signal that a tablet based on the pure-Google Nexus phone model is in the works.
'Leading Edge of Google Technology'
There are already dozens of tablets made by other manufacturers that run Google's Android operating system, including Samsung's Galaxy Tab and Motorola's Xoom. Given the increasingly cozy relationship between the Mountain View, Calif.-based company and South Korean electronics giant Samsung, it might be a safe bet that's who is building it. Read more...
Apple rumor watch: iPad 3 March, iPhone 5 LTE
The Apple [AAPL] rumor machine kicks into high gear this weekend, as veteran iWebsite, iLounge, claims a well-sourced rumor: that the iPad 3 ships in March while the iPhone 5 will boast a metal back and LTE support.
Can I take a little salt with that?
"It is certain because it is possible," wrote Tertullian way back in c.160AD. And that's the thing about rumor -- as he also wrote, "It is certain because it is impossible." Do these directly contrasting phrases offer enough subliminal suggestion that all these rumors could be misconstrued or false?
Let's take a look at the claims, first for the iPad 3:
The report claims the next iPad will be slightly thicker (an additional 0.7mm) but this thickness will be to hold a twin light bar system for the much higher-resolution display. The report claims we may see the device take a bow in January for a March release. Read more...
iPad Success Floating Other Tablets To Sales Boom, IDC Says
Could Apple's utter domination of the tablet market actually be good for the competition in the long term?
Market research firm IDC believes so, raising its forecast of tablet shipments for the year to 62.5 million units, up from 53.5 million units, based on global media tablet shipments rising 88.9 percent on a sequential basis and 303.8 percent year over year in the second quarter to 13.6 million units.
That demand was heavily fueled by the release of Apple's iPad 2 in February, which saw shipments reach 9.3 million units, or a whopping 68.3 percent share of the worldwide market, up from 65.7 percent the previous quarter. Read more...
iPad will reign supreme through 2013
Apple's iPad will retain its dominance of the tablet market through at least 2013, research firm IHS iSuppli said today.
El Segundo, Calif.-based iSuppli upped its iPad sales forecast for 2011 from an earlier estimate of 43.7 million to 44.2 million, citing Apple's ability to solve its supply issues and the blunders by rivals, including Hewlett-Packard.
"Apple has resolved the iPad supply issues," said Rhoda Alexander, senior manager of tablet and monitor research in an interview today. "It was never a demand problem." Read more...
AMD enters tablet market with new chip
Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday broke its silence around its tablet strategy, announcing its first low-power chip designed for these devices.
The Z-series chips, which is based on the Fusion architecture, will deliver a full PC client experience in tablets, said Chris Cloran, vice president and general manager of the computing solutions group, client division at AMD, at a press conference at the Computex trade show in Taipei.
AMD has been criticized for not moving quickly enough to deliver chips for the booming tablet market, at one point fueling speculation that it might license chip technology from ARM for this market. With the Z-series chips, AMD will compete with ARM, whose processors go into most tablets, and Intel, whose Atom processor code-named Oak Trail is being shown in many tablets at Computex. Read more...