WWWorld.ru · Темы дня · Разделы дня · Интересы дня · 2012 · Свежие новости

Apple Inc.'s stock touched $600 for the first time, the day before the company's latest iPad goes on sale. The stock reached $600.01 just after the market opened and was up $3.76 at $593.34 after the half-hour of trading. Apple is the world's most valuable company, with a market capitalization of nearly $555 billion. It topped $500 billion for the first time in late February, a market value peak where few companies have ventured. Anticipation is high for Apple's latest creation. Some industry experts believe the Cupertino, California, company could sell 1 million of the new iPad on Friday, when it becomes available to the public. Apple has already stopped taking advance orders for Friday and said customers should expect a two- to three-week wait for purchases made through its online store. There were 15.4 million iPads shipped in Apple's most recent quarter, which included the critical holiday season. That amount was more than double its iPad sales the year before. The updated iPad will not have a new name. Upgrades include a sharper screen, driven by a faster processing chip that acts as the "brains" of the device. The new features will make the tablet computer slightly thicker and heavier than the iPad 2, because it needs a larger battery to power the high-resolution screen. Prices aren't changing from the previous models. They will start at $499. Versions capable of accessing cellular networks will cost $629 to $829. The new iPad will go on sale Friday in the U.S., Canada and 10 other countries. It will go on sale in 25 more countries next week. newsfactor.com »

Хабы: Я пиарюсь У кого из вас, после появления смартфона возникала идея создать собственное приложение для него и покорить топы Android Market или AppStore? Сколько читателей Хабра, после прочтения очередной статьи о разработке, вскакивало из-за компьютера и быстро ходило по комнате? Потому что адреналин и мысли бурлили, и не было сил сидеть? Или начинало скачивать Андроид или iOS SDK, чтобы начать свой первый проект? Мое знакомство с Андроидом произошло задолго до того, как у меня появился первый смартфон. Я давно пишу на Java и использую IDE Eclipse. Поэтому, кода узнал о том, что Google создал ОС для мобильных устройств, тут же скачал SDK, построил и запустил в эмуляторе свой первый HelloWorld. Но дальше этого ритуального действия дело не пошло. Потом, спустя несколько лет появился он, мой первый смартфон. Покупая его, я уже задумывался о том, что обязательно захочется создать для него что-нибудь свое. В этой статье я хочу рассказать вам свою историю. Историю создания приложения для Андроид, общения с фрилансерами и выпуска приложения на Маркет. Те, кому все это интересно, добро пожаловать под кат. Читать дальше → habrahabr.ru »

Apple CEO Tim Cook noted Monday that tablet sales are ramping quickly and predicted that the global tablet market would eventually surpass the PC market in size. "It is only a question of when," Cook told investors during a conference call. Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Douglas Clinton agree with Cook's assessment. Apple's iPad growth appears to be ramping at an accelerating rate of an estimated 156 percent in the quarter under way compared with 111 percent in the final quarter of 2011, they wrote in a Tuesday investor note. "We believe the unprecedented ramp of the iPad over the past year is evidence that the tablet market will be measurably larger than the PC market," Munster and Clinton told Apple's investors. Apple announced late Monday that the company had sold 3 million third-generation iPads since the new model's launch Friday -- including pre-orders. "We have increased confidence in our 176 million iPad unit estimate in calendar year 2015 compared to our 66 million unit estimate in calendar year 2012," Munster and Clinton said. A More Conservative Outlook IDC recently released more conservative estimates for global tablet sales through 2016, when the firm's analysts expect 198.2 million unit shipments overall. Vendors worldwide are forecast to ship 100.8 million Android-based tablets in 2016, compared with 94.7 million iOS-based tablet models from Apple. On the other hand, IDC's latest tablet forecast does not include any device estimates for products running Microsoft's coming Windows 8 operating system. Instead, Win 8 tablets will be classified as PCs in IDC's PC future tracker forecasts. "The short answer is Win 8 is not classified as a media tablet [OS] by IDC," said IDC Vice President Al Gillen in an e-mail. As the sole vendor shipping iOS tablet products, Apple will remain dominant in terms of... newsfactor.com »

Компания Доктор Веб предупреждает пользователей мобильных устройств, работающих под управлением операционной системы Android, о новой схеме мошенничества. Злоумышленники используют неосведомленность пользователей об изменениях, произошедших в применяемой Google схеме дистрибуции ПО для этой системной платформы. 6 марта 2012 года корпорация Google заявила о глобальном ребрендинге основного интернет-ресурса, распространявшего программы и игры для мобильной платформы Android, - Android Market. Сайт был не только переименован в Google Play и получил новый адрес play.google.com, но и объединил в себе такие проекты, как сервис просмотра видео, Android Market, Google Music и Google eBookstore. Злоумышленники не преминули воспользоваться этим событием: в сети стали один за другим появляться веб-сайты, копирующие своим оформлением официальный Google Play. Некоторые из них были замечены в распространении вредоносного ПО для мобильной платформы Android. Существуют специально разработанные партнерские программы, позволяющие создавать сайты-подделки, с которых посетителям раздаются различные вредоносные приложения, в том числе троянцы семейства Android.SmsSend. Например, в рамках партнерской программы владельцам веб-сайтов предлагается добавить на свои страницы специальный скрипт, осуществляющий переадресацию посетителей, использующих мобильные устройства, на партнерский ресурс - для этого обычно используется язык JavaScript или специальные директивы в файле .htaccess. Вместе с тем далеко не все пользователи Android в курсе, что ресурса под названием Android Market больше не существует. В Интернете опубликовано огромное количество статей, написанных различными экспертами, в которых владельцам мобильных устройств рекомендуется скачивать ПО только с официального сайта Android Market. Пользователи обращаются с соответствующими запросами к поисковым системам и получают в выдаче ссылки на веб-сайты, подражающие своим оформлением оригинальному порталу Android Market. Часть из них предлагает для загрузки вполне безопасные программы и игры, однако встречаются среди подобных ресурсов и сайты, распространяющие вредоносное ПО. #vk ixbt.com »

Компания "Яндекс" объявила о том, что обновила "Яндекс.Маркет" для iPhone. Новая версия приложения умеет показывать магазины на встроенной карте и сортировать товары по расстоянию до них. "Обновленное приложение поможет быстро "сгонять" за покупкой в магазин, расположенный недалеко от дома, работы или квартиры бабушки, у которой неожиданно сломался электрочайник. Отсортируйте результаты поиска по расстоянию и сразу поймете, есть ли рядом нужные магазины. А если вдруг окажется, что самые привлекательные электрочайники продаются в другом конце города - не расстраивайтесь и, как и раньше, сделайте заказ, позвонив продавцу прямо из приложения", - говорится в сообщении компании. Скачать или обновить приложение можно в App Store, а... CNews »

AT&T is poised to launch Nokia's new flagship Windows smartphone, which is compatible with the U.S. wireless carrier's high-speed 4G LTE network. Available for pre-order on March 30 and delivery beginning April 8, the Nokia Lumia 900 will be priced at $100 for customers signing new two-year wireless service agreements. The Lumia 900's exclusive U.S. launch on AT&T's network gives Nokia a significant opportunity to grow its North American market share after several years of humdrum regional sales. The goal is to quickly build on the modicum of success that Nokia has already achieved through T-Mobile's introduction of the entry-level Lumia 710 last January. The Lumia 710 has quickly become one of T-Mobile's most popular smartphones offerings. On the other hand, Nokia's first Windows Phone 7.5 model for the U.S. market has been priced at $50 or even offered by third-party vendors for free when subscribers sign up for new two-year service commitments at T-Mobile. What sets AT&T's $100 Lumia 900 apart from T-Mobile's $50 Lumia model is the flagship device's 8-megapixel camera, which includes exclusive Carl Zeiss optics. "The Lumia 900 is impeccably designed with clean lines and a camera that rivals stand-alone digital cameras on the market today," said AT&T Senior Vice President Jeff Bradley. Designed with the U.S. in Mind The Lumia 900 represents a major change in Nokia's philosophy because it is a smartphone expressly designed for the North American market. This is a huge departure from Nokia's past policy of building new products for sale in Europe and other overseas markets, and with the U.S. introduction coming significantly later down the pike. "The Nokia Lumia 900 is designed specifically with the U.S. in mind, and the announcement of this collaboration with AT&T, in addition to other recent announcements, signifies a new dawn for Nokia in the U.S.," said Nokia... newsfactor.com »

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Social-networking site Facebook is halting the sale of its shares on secondary markets effective next week as the company prepares to hold its initial public offering in May, according to a person familiar with the matter. Reuters: Internet News »

Cowboys need broadband, too. Internet providers that beam broadband connections to rural America via satellites are expanding their services as the need for faster video and downloads is becoming universal. ViaSat and HughesNet are launching new satellites that take up the slack of lagging landline-based services and promise to increase capacity and delivery speeds. "If there is broadband wireless or wired connection, that's going to win every time," says Chris Baugh, an industry analyst at research firm NSR. "But unserved customers (are) a sizable market." The companies have traditionally marketed to non-urban regions too far out for cable and DSL providers. But rural satellite service has remained a limited slice of the business because DSL and cable companies have expanded. Costly pricing, data-consumption caps and slow transmission speeds have also limited their growth. But with satellite technology improving, the companies are hoping to attract customers who receive slow DSL service -- 15 million to 20 million, according to a ViaSat estimate -- to consider switching. But persuading this market to try satellite service will be a challenge, Baugh says. "There is a market there, but it's a secondary market. They have DSL and, if they are to switch, they have to buy satellite equipment. It's not free." The satellite companies also face competition from wireless carriers that are rolling out faster 4G service that rivals landline broadband in speed. ViaSat. The California company bought WildBlue, a satellite broadband provider, in 2009 with plans to broaden coverage. But hampered by the old satellite's limited capacity and slow transmission speed, WildBlue's growth stalled at about 400,000 customers. "It wasn't a service we were proud of," says ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg. With a new satellite launched last year, ViaSat began selling the new service in January under a new brand, "Exede." The download speed will increase to about 12 megabits... newsfactor.com »

Dell has put the kibosh on its smartphone sales stateside. The PC maker will instead focus on selling mobile devices in emerging markets, at least for now. Specifically, Dell is ending sales of the Venue and Venue Pro smartphones in the U.S. According to AllThingsD, Dell is planning to introduce other mobile devices in the U.S. and other markets in near-term but the company is not offering definite plans. We asked Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis, his take on the decision. "I think Dell sees barriers to entry lower in other nations, so they can compete based upon price rather than on access to carriers," he said. "But China is a challenging market as well, so they certainly have their work cut out for them there, too." Dell's Dismal Failures Dell has not done well in the mobile market. Dell killed its Dell Streak tablet, which came in 5-inch and 7-inch models, last year. The Dell Streak joined HP's TouchPad as two of the tablet failures in 2011 while Apple continued to dominate the scene with its category-defining iPad. At January's Consumer Electronics Show, Dell told Reuters it plans to re-enter the tablet market later this year. Dell's chief commercial officer, Steve Felice, told Reuters in an interview that the company better understands how consumers value the ecosystem as much as the tablet hardware. And Dell will push stronger into the consumer arena with its next effort. Most analysts agree that success depends largely on the operating system and the apps. Dell didn't perform too well using the Android operating system. There has been some speculation that Dell will roll out Windows Phone devices. But the application ecosystem is yet lacking for Microsoft products, despite a $24 million investment Redmond and Nokia are making into an app development program in Finland, announced this... newsfactor.com »

Despite failing in the smartphone market, Google is looking to enter the hardware business once again with a tablet powered by its own Android operating system. Google appears to be aiming square between the eyes of the market-dominant Apple iPad. The Wall Street Journal cites "people familiar with the matter" revealing that Google will sell co-branded tablets directly to consumers through online stores like Amazon.com. Google reportedly hopes to boost sales of Android-based tablets. Google's tablet move could be a tie-in with its $12.5 billion Motorola acquisition. Federal regulators in both the U.S. and Europe have already approved the merger. Google now waits on China. Motorola tablets could be among the first fruits of the deal. Apple's Hard Lesson We spoke with Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, to get his thoughts on the rumors. In short, he believes it's a bad idea. "It seems like Google is doing everything they possibly can to piss off their Android licensees," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "The Nexus phone upset them, and coming out with a Google tablet, even if it's marginally successful, will kill the ecosystem because nobody wants to license from a company that they are competing with." Enderle said market history proves that competing with licensees doesn't work. Either the licensor dominates the market or the licensee overtakes the licensor. Apple found this out the hard way when then-CEO Gil Amelio decided to license the Mac operating system. Apple's licensees proved much more successful than Apple and the company brought Steve Jobs back to fix the mess. "The rule of thumb is you never license from a company you are competing with because there's no way you can win," Enderle said. "Companies that license the technology are always going to have the advantage and, if they don't, they will... newsfactor.com »

With Google's Android and Apple's iPhones hogging most of the market share, partners Nokia and Microsoft need a big hit phone to help their Windows Phone 7 gain a foothold in the market. The well-reviewed Lumia 900 is widely seen as a strong contender, but the current market makes it hard to predict if the Windows Phone 7 device can be hot. The latest figures from Nielsen Research on the U.S. market placed Windows in the "other" category, not strong enough for its own listing, part of the 8 percent of sales of devices not powered by Android, iOS or Research In Motion's BlackBerry. comScore's latest report on the U.S. market didn't list Nokia among the top five original equipment manufacturers and estimated Microsoft's share at 3.9 percent, down 1.3 percent from November. Could This Be the Magic? The $99, Lumia 900, will launch Friday night for availability Sunday with great fanfare at a Times Square event in New York City. The phone is 4G LTE compatible and comes with an 8-megapixel camera, but a single-core processor (1.4 GHz Scorpion) at a time when some rivals are already packing quad-core CPUs. Some analysts are raising flags. Deutsche Bank's Kai Korschelt, in a research note cited by Business Week, said success in the U.S. will depend on carrier AT&T's commitment to the device; without its support sales could be as little as 140,000 per quarter, as opposed to a potential of 680,000. In an interview with C|Net, Jeff Bradley, the vice president of AT&T's wireless department, said the carrier was making the Lumia 900 a centerpiece of its marketing, saying "Before you walk into the store, you know this is our hero phone." We asked Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team who has already had a hands-on look at the Lumia... newsfactor.com »

Research In Motion is reporting a silver lining in the dark cloud that's been hanging over its smartphones: Sales to government agencies are on the rise. In fact, there are plenty of BlackBerry sightings in the White House. RIM will take any encouragement it can get in its battle against the iPhone and Android-powered devices. RIM saw sales decline a whopping 57 percent last quarter as consumers opted for devices with faster browsers and larger touchscreens than the BlackBerry currently offers. "Compared to the enterprise over the last year and a half or so, the federal business on whole is up," said Scott Totzke, senior vice president of BlackBerry security, told Bloomberg. "The employee base is shrinking, so if we're looking at a market with fewer employees and our install base is stable to slightly up, that would seem to indicate that we have an increasing market share." Innovating MDM One of the ways RIM is working to hold on to government clients is via a new Mobile Device Management solution aimed at the market. Last week, RIM announced Mobile Fusion, which integrates the government-friendly features and security architecture of BlackBerry Enterprise Server with other IT management tools and enforceable IT policies. "For businesses and government, managing a mix of mobile devices on any scale is chaotic. Organizations face pressure to allow employees to bring their own devices into the workplace," said Alan Panezic, vice president of Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion. Panezic said BlackBerry Mobile Fusion allows organizations to manage a mixed environment of devices in a secure and cost-efficient manner without having to move to the lowest common denominator on security for all managed devices. That should be good news for 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies using BlackBerry smartphones -- and government agencies. Pirated Android Apps Michael Disabato, managing... newsfactor.com »

An article posted by the Chinese Web site NetEase on Monday continued to stoke rumors about Apple's possible third-quarter release of a so-called iPad Mini equipped with a 7.7-inch display and a price tag in the $249 to $299 range. According to unnamed sources based in Taiwan, supply-chain arrangements with Chinese manufacturers such as the Hon Hai Group have already been made final for delivery of as many as 6 million units in this year's September-ending quarter. Many industry observers believe a so-called iPad Mini makes sense for Apple because the iconic device maker will be facing potential threats to its tablet market supremacy throughout the remainder of 2012. For example, device-makers are expected to begin rolling out new tablet models based on Microsoft's dual-mode Windows 8 operating system for both PC and tablet form factors in time for this year's holiday shopping season. Furthermore, Samsung Electronics recently unveiled a new lineup of lower-priced Galaxy Tab 2 and Galaxy Player devices that represents a more immediate challenge to Apple's domination of the tablet market. For example, Samsung's new 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 model will be priced at $249.99 when it launches in the United States next week. Though Piper Jaffray agrees with industrywide expectations that Apple will need to eventually release a lower-cost iPad with a 7.7-inch screen, the investment firm's analysts continue to believe that the so-called iPad Mini will not hit the tablet market until 2013. "Our thoughts on the timing of the smaller iPad remain unchanged despite Samsung's [latest] Galaxy releases," said Piper Jaffray analyst Douglas Clinton in an e-mail Thursday. The Tablet Screen Size Issue Meanwhile, Samsung is testing the lower limits of the tablet market with respect to screen size. The mobile device maker is introducing two new Galaxy Player models with 3.6-inch and 4.2-inch screens that... newsfactor.com »

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Eight men charged with running an elaborate online narcotics market that sold drugs to 3,000 people in the United States and 34 other countries have been arrested following a two-year investigation dubbed "Operation Adam Bomb," prosecutors said on Monday. Reuters: Internet News »

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim plans to enter the online gaming market in his home country, offering more than 600 free titles to some 8 million users of his high-speed broadband for a month, with the aim of charging for the service afterward. Reuters: Internet News »

Cisco has reinforced its commitment to the industrialization of the Internet with a new series of switches aimed squarely at the industrial market. The networking giant just rolled out the Industrial Ethernet 2000 switch series. Cisco called the IE 2000 switches a cornerstone of its Connected Industries Business unit and industrial network offerings. The new switch series aims to help customers build intelligent networks for industrial automation with highly secure, scalable connectivity from plant floor to enterprise network. "Major sectors of the economy are undergoing a transformation driven by new requirements around production and factory automation, traffic management, data analytics and machine-to-machine communication," said Maciej Kranz, vice president and general manager, Connected Industries business unit. Targeting a Niche Market Cisco's timing seems right to forge ahead with new products. By 2016, there will be nearly 2 billion machine-to-machine wireless connections -- including GPS systems in cars and asset tracking systems in shipping and manufacturing sectors -- demonstrating the need to more tightly connect and integrate devices, machines and vehicles with traditional enterprise networks, according to Cisco's Visual Networking Index. Cisco predicts that the resulting transition, which it refers to as "The Industrialization of the Internet," will accelerate the networking industry beyond the IT and service provider networks in industries such as manufacturing and transportation. Cisco said it is ready to address these new demands on industrial networks and its IE 2000 switch series is part of the mix. We caught up with Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, to get his insights on the new switches -- and the niche market they serve. Kerravala told us the industrial market is probably no more than 5 percent of the overall switching market. "It's a niche for sure," he said. "It's still probably about a $1 billion market. That's nothing to sneeze at. When you look at... newsfactor.com »

First-quarter results show that Samsung has become the king of both the smartphone and handset market globally, taking the top handset slot away from Nokia after a 14-year reign. In the smartphone market, Samsung surpassed Apple with a 31 percent market share compared with the iPhone's 24 percent market share. Overall, the handset market grew by a modest 3 percent while the smartphone market grew by a more substantial 41 percent compared with the first quarter of 2011. With winning devices such as the Galaxy Note, Google Nexus, Droid Charge and Galaxy S II, Samsung smartphone shipments rose by a whopping 253 percent to 44.5 million, while handset unit shipments totaled 93 million, a 36 percent spike from the first quarter of last year. Nokia's handset market share fell annually from 30.4 percent to 22.5 percent while its smartphone market share plummeted from 23.5 percent to 8.25 percent. The results leave Apple and Samsung together controlling more than half the smartphone market. We spoke to Strategy Analytics Associate Director Alex Spektor about these findings, which are based on polls of vendors. Q: Were you surprised by the growth of Samsung's market share? A: Just five years ago Samsung took the No. 2 spot from Motorola, and at the time it seemed like it was impossible for anyone to overtake Nokia. But times have really changed. The smartphone market took off and Nokia was not able to react to the market quickly enough. Q: How did this happen to Nokia? A: The historic leaders in the smartphone market were Nokia and BlackBerry. They already had a strategy and market position and a product portfolio. When you already have something in the market you are playing defensive games as opposed to Samsung, who really went on the offensive for the past few years, which enabled them to move... newsfactor.com »

Обновлено приложение Яндекс.Маркет для платформы Windows Phone. Маркет для Windows Phone позволяет узнать о характеристиках товара, сравнить цены в различных магазинах и почитать отзывы покупателей. Для этого достаточно сфотографировать штрихкод или ввести первые буквы названия товара в строке поиска, а подсказки помогут быстро перейти к нужной модели. В новой версии приложения можно сортировать товары по расстоянию до них и видеть магазины на встроенной карте. Если вы - владелец телефона на платформе Windows Phone 7 и хотите обзавестись, например, новыми наушниками взамен сломанных, приложение покажет все возможные цены на понравившуюся модель. Чтобы узнать, где ближе всего купить или забрать покупку, отсортируйте результаты поиска по расстоянию или найдите на карте магазин рядом с домом. А если вы предпочитаете, чтобы покупки приходили к вам сами, закажите доставку звонком прямо из приложения. Кстати, теперь вы можете добавить информацию о выбранном товаре или точке самовывоза магазина, в котором сделали заказ, на главный экран телефона. Так вы точно не забудете, где именно ждут вас ваши новые наушники. Приложение Яндекс.Маркет для пользователей устройств с Windows Phone доступно для загрузки здесь . #vk ixbt.com »

The global tablet computer market was "robust" in the first quarter, but fell shy of projections as shipments of Android-based devices and Amazon's Kindle slowed, according to new data from market research firm IDC. The Framingham, Mass.,-based firm had predicted that tablets would fall by 34 percent after the busy holiday season, but its Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker instead found a steeper 38.4 percent slump, or 1.2 million fewer units. iPad Still Rules Overall, worldwide shipments of tablets reached 17.4 million units in the quarter, a growth of 120 percent, up from 7.9 million units in the first quarter of 2011, the report said. But 11.8 million of those units were Apple's iPads, down from 15.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011. The Cupertino powerhouse's worldwide share of the market grew from 54.7 percent to 68 percent sequentially. "Apple reasserted its dominance in the market this quarter, driving huge shipment totals at a time when all but a few Android vendors saw their numbers drop precipitously after posting big gains during the holiday buying season," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at IDC, in a statement. He said the company was reaping benefits from its decision to keep making the iPad 2 after introducing its successor in March. Excitement over the new iPad version also figures into the results, as it was introduced near the end of the quarter. Amazon.com, on the other hand, saw declining post-holiday interest in its Kindle Fire devices, dropping from 16.8 percent of the market at the end of 2011 with 4.8 million shipments to "just over 4 percent" and third place in the market behind Samsung, maker of the Galaxy Tab, IDC said. Filling in the No. 4 and 5 spots were Lenovo and Barnes & Noble, respectively. IDC Vice President Bob O'Donnell told... newsfactor.com »

Sales of tablets will overtake notebooks by 2016, and Apple's dominance of the category will start dropping within two years. Those are some of the conclusions in a new report from NPD DisplaySearch. The report, released Thursday, predicts that sales of tablets will grow from 81.6 million units last year to about 424 million by 2017. Key factors cited for the growth in demand include increasing diversity of operating systems, new features, and an increase in the capacity of component manufacturing. 'Opportunities to Break New Ground' Richard Shim, NPD DisplaySearch senior analyst, said in a statement that, to date, the category has been dominated by Apple and "a number of competing products that are similarly configured to the iPad." But he added that the market is maturing and showing "opportunities to break new ground," thus providing more choices that are driving demand. One such example of breaking new ground cited in the report is Amazon's Kindle Fire, a low-priced device whose appeal and business model is built on the availability of content from that massive online retailer. Another area of differentiation noted in the report is operating systems, which now include Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and soon will include Microsoft's Windows 8 RT for ARM devices. Apple's platform, which has overwhelmingly dominated the picture, is expected to drop from 72.1 percent market share this year to just slightly above 50 percent by 2017. One reason for the drop will be Android's continued rise, from 22.5 percent now to 40.5 percent. Windows 8 RT, released later this year, is expected to grow to 7.5 percent within five years. The report predicts that RT will greatly overshadow market share by Intel-based, Windows 8 tablets. The NPD report comes on the heels of several other studies of the tablet market which offer different perspectives. iPad as 'All-Purpose Tablet' At the... newsfactor.com »

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - It took decades for music delivery to evolve from vinyl records to CDs and years to go from CDs to MP3 players. Reuters: Internet News »

Investors knew it would take awhile before the IPO market shook off the tech wreck. But not 12 years. That's how long, though, it's taken for the initial public offering market to show signs of life after the dot-com IPO boom and subsequent spectacular bust. After being almost comatose for years, the IPO market has hosted 63 deals this year and is expected to launch nine more this week, which would be the best start to a year since 2000, says Renaissance Capital. Add to that the biggest-ever technology IPO in Facebook -- which is expected next week -- and 2012 looks like the year IPO investors' bruises from the 2000 debacle may finally fade. "There's a huge pipeline" of IPOs, says Kathy Smith of Renaissance Capital. "There's lots to choose from for investors." Even some entrepreneurs say the reception their IPOs are getting exceeded their expectations. "It's a surprise how much demand and interest there was" for the IPO of Infoblox, says CEO Robert Thomas. Shares of Infoblox, which helps companies find patterns in corporate data, jumped 33% their first day of trading in April. The recovery of the IPO market has profound meaning not just for investors in newly public companies, but for the U.S. economy and all its participants. Since the stock market is a main pool of capital that allows companies to fund their expansion, grow and ultimately hire, a robust IPO market is critical to keeping money moving into new ideas. Venture capitalists, too, need a robust IPO market to allow them to cash in on their winners so they can move on to fund the next big idea. The IPO market is regaining its swagger thanks to a bevy of fortunate coincidences working in concert to give investors the courage to step in and buy. The strong stock market is... newsfactor.com »

SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in Samsung Electronics Co slumped more than 6 percent on Wednesday, wiping $10 billion off the electronics giant's market value, on a report that Apple placed huge chip orders with troubled Japanese chip rival Elpida. Reuters: Internet News »

Two much-anticipated games, Max Payne 3 and Diablo III, [could] bring respite from a five-month slump in video game retail sales. The arrival of the third-person action game and the PC-based fantasy role-playing game will be welcomed by game fans and retailers, because the release schedule of potential hits so far in 2012 has been underwhelming. Another sign of slumping sales: Retailer GameStop reported last week that first-quarter sales fell 12.5% on a drop in store traffic due to fewer blockbuster titles. Overall April retail sales were $630.4 million, down 32% from $930.9 million in April 2011, reports market tracker the NPD Group. "When we see compelling content come into the market, the games are still selling as well as ever," says NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "We just saw a lot less this April as compared to last." Other factors in the slump: growth in sales of downloadable games and add-on content, as well as a casual gamer shift to mobile and Web games. Some developers have turned design efforts to the next generation of video game consoles, even though only Nintendo's Wii U has been announced, says Geoff Keighley, host of Spike network's GameTrailers TV. "Really, the only big game this year," he says, "has been Mass Effect 3," BioWare's science-fiction role-playing game, which has sold about 4 million copies in two months. With Max Payne 3 ($60, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs, ages 17 and older), developer Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto) revived the police detective from two popular computer games out in 2001 and 2003. The success of the new game, coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs, "is critical for the video game market, not just for Rockstar," says EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. Since the impact of mobile games on interest in premium-price console games is hard to quantify,... newsfactor.com »

Samsung is king of mobile phones, while Apple owns a not-too shabby 7.9 percent of the global phone market. And Android remains the top operating system, with more than half the market. Those are some of the findings of a report on the global mobile market in the first quarter of the year by Gartner. Nokia Is Slipping South Korea-based Samsung's sales to end users amounted to 20.7 percent of the worldwide total in the quarter, up from 16.1 percent in the same quarter last year, Gartner said. That growth comes at the expense of Nokia, the Finnish company that saw its share shrink from 25.1 percent to 19.8 percent. California-based Apple received its accustomed dose of good news with a share that doubled from 3.9 percent to 7.8 quarter over quarter. Considering that Apple makes only a single smartphone (in varying generations and storage capacity), the news is impressive. Research In Motion dropped from 3.0 percent to 2.4 percent. The Canadian BlackBerry maker lags behind China's ZTE, South Korea's LG and China's Huawei to take up seventh place. Gartner's report follows one by Strategy Analytics based on vendor surveys that put Samsung at the top of the market with a 31 percent share, toppling Nokia's 14-year reign at the top spot. Google's Android OS saw substantial growth year over year, from 36.4 percent to 56.1 percent, while Apple's iOS also grew from 16.9 percent to 22.9 percent, according to Gartner. Nokia's fading Symbian platform dropped significantly as the company switches to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, dropping from 27.7 percent to just 8.6 percent. Research In Motion's platforms fell from 13.0 percent to 6.9 percent. Windows Phone also dropped, from 2.6 percent to 1.9 percent. Overall, mobile phone sales reached 419.1 million units in the quarter, a decline of 2 percent, Gartner said, marking the first decline in sales... newsfactor.com »

Before you get too excited about Facebook's initial public offering on Friday, remember that technology IPOs aren't always a long-term investor's best friend. Facebook plans to sell 337.4 million shares to the public on Friday, aiming to raise more than $12 billion. The buzz has crowded out most other IPOs this week. "The circus is coming to town," says John Fitzgibbons, founder of IPO Scoop.com. Facebook is a big deal -- not just in terms of its stock, but in terms of its reach and clout. The Menlo Park, Calif., company, founded in 2004, claims 901 million monthly active users worldwide. IPOs typically underperform stocks with the same market value for three years after their debut, according to Jay Ritter, professor of finance at the University of Florida. "But Facebook isn't your typical IPO," Ritter says. "It is the small companies that are most likely to be disappointments for investors." Companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue typically match the broad market's performance the following three years, not including the first day's run-up, Ritter says. One definite point of excitement will be Facebook's first day of trading. First-day run-ups can be huge. Visa, one of the largest IPOs ever, priced its shares at $44. The stock finished its opening day at $56.50, a 28.4% gain, according to IPO Scoop.com. Splunk.com, a software company, soared 108.7% on its first day last month. Unless you're a big institutional investor or an insider, however, you probably won't get to call in rich for work on Friday. Investment bankers, who are the people who take IPOs to market, typically dole out hot IPO shares to their best clients. Those clients are mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds. New technology stocks can be tricky, especially for long-term buy-and-hold investors. Remember Pets.com? An Internet favorite during the dot-com boom, Pets.com... newsfactor.com »

Apple led the global media tablet market during the first quarter with a 62.8 percent share by shipping 13.6 million iPads and posting 162 percent year-over-year growth, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Samsung was a distant second (7.5 percent), followed by Amazon (4 percent), Research In Motion (2.3 percent) and Asus (2.3 percent). Unlike research firms IDC and Gartner, which consider PCs and media tablets to be separate product categories, DisplaySearch regards media tablets as a product subcategory within the mobile PC market overall. Under the firm's distinct methodology, Apple also led the global mobile PC market with a 22.5 percent share. During the first quarter, Apple shipped 17.2 million mobile PC units overall -- equivalent to 118 percent year-over-year growth. Nearly 80 percent of Apple's mobile PC shipments during the quarter were iPads. Apple's mobile PC shipments were nearly double those of its nearest competitor. During the first quarter, No. 2 mobile PC vendor Hewlett-Packard shipped 8.9 million units and achieved an 11.6 percent market share, DisplaySearch noted Tuesday. Excluding Tablets, HP Retains Lead When subtracting media tablet unit shipments from the mix, however, HP stayed atop the global mobile PC market with a 16.2 percent share. Acer was second at 11.9 percent, followed by Lenovo (10.6 percent), Dell (10.2 percent) and Asus (8.1 percent). Though Acer enjoyed robust sales in China during the first quarter, DisplaySearch noted that Lenovo was the chief beneficiary of the China region's strong shipment growth. What's more, Lenovo's notebook and mini-note sales succeeded in gaining more traction in North America at the expense of Dell, which has been shifting its focus to the commercial market segment in the region. Asus succeeded in gaining market share across all regions after a weak fourth quarter in 2011. According to DisplaySearch, the Taiwan-based PC maker was the most aggressive of the top... newsfactor.com »

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