Archive for March, 2011
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
HTC is now valued at 22.2 times reported earnings, compared with 10.6 for Acer. Only in February last year, HTC had a PE ratio of 11 times, while Acer was at 22.
Taipei-based HTC is the world’s largest maker of handsets using operating systems from Google and Microsoft. Acer is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of personal computers.
The wheel of fortune for the two companies seems to have turned as sales of smartphones and tablet computers grew at the expense of notebooks and personal computers.
Prior to the explosive growth, set off by Apple, of the smartphone and tablet sector, Acer had snatched the lead from Asus for a similarly explosive growth in the netbook sector.
From HTC’s low in February last year, it has rallied some 264 percent, while Acer has fallen by 36 percent. According to Kevin Chang from Citigroup, Acer is the biggest seller of consumer notebooks in the developed world.
In a report dated March 28, Chang wrote that “Consumers are not buying notebooks because they have already spent money on new tablet PCs or on upgrading their handsets from feature phones to smartphones.” He adds that Acer could become “a much smaller company in the next few years,” if tablet PC sales grow to exceed those for notebooks.
Not surprisingly, Chang has a “sell” rating on Acer’s stock and a “buy” recommendation on HTC.
A March 24 report from the Goldman Sachs Group estimates that HTC’s market worth may reach $100 billion in the next three to five years from $30 billion now, as the company ships a possible 200 million smartphones and 30 million tablet computers a year.
HTC’s value has quadrupled since reaching a low of $7.4 billion in February last year, while Acer’s market capitalization has declined to $5.6 billion from a peak of $9.4 billion reached in January 2010.
Tags:Acer, HTC, netbooks, smartphones, tablets
Posted in Acer, Android, Figures, Gadgets, HTC, Notebooks, Phones, Tablets, Tech news, Windows Phone 7 | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Amazon launches the service ahead of rivals Apple and Google who are both preparing to release similar services.
Amazon unveiled Cloud Player – its music streaming service that allows users to buy tracks, store them on the company’s servers and play them on Android smartphones and browsers on computers.
Music libraries can be uploaded to Amazon’s new Cloud Drive, which provides 5 gigabytes of free memory space. Users who purchase an album from Amazon.com will have their Cloud Drive space upgraded to 20 gigabytes. This can can be used to store music, photos, videos and other digital files.
The service targets users who find it a hassle to download music to their work computer or phones because they find it hard to move music around to different devices.
It is unlikely that the service will win over existing customers of iTunes since Apple’s own music streaming service will likely be launched soon.
Observers believe Amazon’s sights are well beyond the music arena. It is hoping to capture market share of users storing their data online. They want to get – not just music – but the user’s entire hard drives on its cloud.
Tags:Amazon, Apple, Google, iTunes, music
Posted in Amazon, Android, Apple, Google | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
As expected, tickets for the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year were sold out even faster than last year’s 8 days. Tickets, priced at US$1,599, were sold out almost immediately when sales commenced.
Slated to be held from June 6 – 10 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, there is much speculation on whether the iPhone 5 will be launched during the conference. There is also chatter on whether the iOS5 and new Mac OS Lion will be released during the conference.
At any rate, the rapid sell-out of the tickets indicate that the popularity of the Apple ecosystem is showing no signs of losing its momentum, even in the face of competition from Android-based devices and the resurgence of devices based on Windows Phone 7, HP’s webOS and RIM’s BlackBerry Playbook.
Tags:Apple, iOS, Mac OS, Windows Phone 7, WWDC 2011
Posted in Android, Apple, Events, iOS, Mac OS, Operating Systems, webOS, Windows Phone 7 | No Comments »
Monday, March 28th, 2011
Last year’s conference tickets were sold out in a record 8 days. I expect the tickets will sell out even faster given its focus on the iOS and the Mac OS, and how to harness them for churning out sizzling hot apps.
The annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will be held this year from June 6 – 10 at San Francisco’s Moscone West.
Apple announced that during the five-day conference, it “will unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS, including exciting demonstrations of the new kinds of apps that developers can build using Apple’s advanced frameworks.”
“At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.”
Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. Mac developers will see and learn how to develop Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Developers can bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers, applying development techniques and best-practices to enhance their apps.
Activities at Apple’s WWDC 2011 include:
- more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and Mac OS technologies.
- over 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques, and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and Mac OS technologies in their apps.
- the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPad, iPhone and Mac developers from around the world.
- Apple Design Awards which recognize iPad, iPhone and Mac apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.
Tickets are priced at US$1,599 – same as last year. Go to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 website to purchase tickets, as well as for updates and more information.
Tags:Apple, iOS, Lion, Mac OS, WWDC 2011
Posted in Apple, Events, iOS, Mac OS, Operating Systems | 2 Comments »
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
At last, the death toll from the triple disaster in Japan has passed 10,000 – with 17,000 more unaccounted for. Many people like myself are tremendously saddened by the tragedy.
Here’s a simple collection of photos that I’ve taken over the years in Japan – photos that bring back pleasant memories of a beautiful country with a wonderful culture, and most importantly hospitable and kind people that I’ve had the privilege of encountering.
In the sea of depressing scenes depicting the horrors of the disasters, hopefully these photos will help remind us of the beautiful Japan.
I love visiting Japan. It is a wonderful place to bring a family with young kids. It is clean, safe and systematic. No need to worry about food poisoning, walking late at night, or the trains to be late.
As you can guess from the many photos taken in Japan that I’ve used as illustrations for my photo-editing stories, I visit Japan an awful lot – almost every year with the family. My wife and I have lived in Japan before and we love the culture and the food, and especially – the sincerity of the people we’d met during our stay.
Most of the photos had appeared in previous photo-editing articles. I know there are a lot of workers and volunteers out there risking life and limb to help with disaster relief right now. This is just a little something that I’d like to contribute in my own way.
Each of the photo contains a link to a charity for victims of the disasters to make it convenient for you to make a contribution should you wish to. None of the charities linked to are related to me in any way. Please do your own checks on those charities before contributing.
Tags:contribute, earthquake, Japan, nuclear accident, photo editor, tsunami
Posted in Opinion, Photos | 5 Comments »
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
The pent-up demand arising from the delay of its launch from November last year has resulted in a whopping 8.75 million downloads in the first 24-hours following its launch earlier this week on March 22.
It easily trounced the 2.35 million downloads that Internet Explorer 9 garnered in the first 24-hours of its launch just a week prior.
The number of Firefox 4 downloads in the first 24 hours surpassed the previous record set by Firefox 3 when the predecessor captured a cool 8 million downloads during the first 24 hours after its launch in June 2008.
Firefox 4 is available on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It supports Windows XP while IE9 doesn’t. Many observers see that as the main reason why it has drawn more than 3 times the number of downloads that IE9 recorded in its first 24 hours.
Windows XP accounts for more than 61 percent of all windows-based machines that went online in February, according to web metrics firm Net Applications.
While Mozilla has chided Microsoft for leaving Windows XP users stuck with the two-and-a-half year old IE8, the latter supports only Windows 7, Vista and Windows Server based PCs because it wants to leverage the more advanced technology available in these newer operating systems and does not want IE9 to be constrained by the older technology in 10-year-old Windows XP.
In the meantime, visit http://glow.mozilla.org/ for a live status of the number of Firefox 4 downloads worldwide.
And for some statistics of the market share of the various browsers, checkout this wikipedia page. Below are some download statistics updated from my earlier posting for the IE9 launch:
Browser/
App/
Plug-in |
Claimed downloads |
Time period |
Launch Date |
| Mozilla Firefox 4.0 |
8.75 |
1 day |
Mar 2011 |
| Mozilla Firefox 3.0 |
8 million |
1 day |
Jun 2008 |
| Opera 11 |
6.7 million |
1 day |
Dec 2010 |
| IE 9 |
2.35 million |
1 day |
Mar 2011 |
| Apple Safari 4.0 |
6 million |
3 days |
Jun 2009 |
| IE9 beta |
2 million |
2 days |
Sep 2010 |
| IE8 beta |
1.3 million |
5 days |
Aug 2008 |
| Angry Birds |
5 million |
1 month |
Dec 2010 |
| Mac App Store |
1 million |
1 day |
Jan 2011 |
| Nokia Ovi |
3 million |
Daily |
Ongoing |
| Adobe Flash Player |
8 million |
Daily |
Ongoing |
Tags:Adobe, Apple Safari, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera
Posted in Browser, Chrome, Figures, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Software, Tech news | No Comments »
Friday, March 25th, 2011
Research In Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry smartphones, has forecast first-quarter revenues and profits that fail to meet analysts’ estimates. Its launch of new models like the Torch has failed to stop a slide in its market share.
The average of analysts’ estimates were compiled by Bloomberg for comparison. Below are the key numbers:
| First Quarter Forecast |
RIM |
Analysts average estimate |
| Profit per share |
$1.47 – $1.55 |
$1.66 |
| Revenue |
$5.2 – 5.6 billion |
$5.65 billion |
| Gross Margin (% sales after production costs) |
41.5% |
42.7% |
| BlackBerrys shipped (4th Qtr) |
14.9 million |
15 million |
In the meantime, Bloomberg quotes Pierre Ferragu from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co as saying that “The company’s sales in the high end have been shrinking for the last 12 months, even if the launch of the Torch has slowed down the trend in the last two quarters.”
Although RIM has traditionally been the darling of large corporations because of its secure messaging, it has seen customers adopting rival devices.
Hugo Miller of Bloomberg reports that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup are some of the banks that has begun testing iPhones and Android devices late last year, according to at least three people familiar with the trials.
The table below summarises how RIM’s share of worldwide smartphone sales has slipped from a year earlier, compared to its rivals.
| Worldwide smartphone marketshare |
RIM |
Apple |
Android |
| 4th Qtr 2010 |
14% |
16% |
< 11% |
| 4th Qtr 2009 |
20% |
16% |
16% |
RIM PlayBook debuts in US on April 19
RIM will be launching the PlayBook in the US on April 19, while the company is already taking orders.The company revealed that the tablet would be able to play apps from Google’s Android.
The PlayBook will strive to chip at the huge market share that Apple has enjoyed with its iPad and iPad2.
The iPad has has a full year’s headstart over the PlayBook and has sold over 15 million units so far. Apple also claims that 65 percent of Fortune 100 companies are testing or deploying the iPad, including Procter & Gamble.
This is the same market sector that RIM targets.
Tags:BlackBerry, Playbook, RIM, Torch
Posted in BlackBerry, Figures, Gadgets, PlayBook, RIM, Tablets, Torch | No Comments »
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
As the dust settles on the aftermath of the massive 9.0 earthquake, 10 metre tsunami and nuclear accident, more positive news are trickling out for the recovery of supply lines for companies around the world.
Canon has resumed partial production at two plants last week. It is the biggest camera-maker in the world.
Gota Fumoto, a spokesman for Canon, told Bloomberg by phone that the two plants are at Ami and Toride. The company has closed a factory at Miyazaki prefecture, that makes compact digital cameras.
Tags:camera, Canon, disaster, earthquake, Japan, nuclear, tsunami
Posted in Cameras, Canon, Gadgets, Tech news | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
The next major version of Adobe Creative Suite will arrive in 2012, Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen revealed. This is in line with the 18 – 24 month product renewal cycle the suite has followed in the past.
In the meantime, Adobe plans to release an HTML5 update to the current version. The update will make it easier for designers and developers to build websites using the HTML5 Internet standard.
Adobe released the current Creative Suite 5, which includes the Photoshop and Illustrator programs, in April 2010. The version before that, Creative Suite 4, was released in October 2008.
The HTML5 standard is supported by both Apple and Google and competes with Adobe’s Flash Internet video and animation software. Apple bans Flash on the iPad tablet computer and iPhone handset.
Adobe believes that selling HTML5 development tools and working with software developers who create applications for smartphones and tablets can help Adobe assert the importance of its tools.
By embracing HTML5, Adobe gives Web developers more options and positions itself to benefit whether programmers decide to use Flash or HTML5. It is a win-win situation for the company whether developers choose to work with Flash or HTML5.
Tags:Adobe, Creative Suite, CS5, Photoshop
Posted in Adobe, Creative Suite, Photoshop, Software, Tech news | 1 Comment »
