| Tablet shipments set to topple PCs in Q4 2013, says IDC forecast Sep 12th 2013, 02:33, by Juan Carlos Torres We know that the adoption of tablets and smartphones are growing at a rapid rate, and it seems there will be no slowing down as IDC predicts that the total number of tablets shipped in the last quarter of 2013 will surpass that of personal computers. Furthermore, things might get even more interesting by the end of 2015, at least for tablet manufacturers and vendors. 
“Smart connected devices”, which is what IDC calls the category of electronics that include PCs, tablets, and smartphones, have been experiencing a steady period of growth over the past years, despite the growth rate of 27.8% this year being slightly lower than 2012′s 30.3%. And the largest driving force of the growth of these devices are not the conventional, or even the new hybrid, PCs. IDC has lowered its outlook on PCs by as much as 10% for 2013 and according to its forecasts, tablet shipments will surpass the total number of PC shipments, both desktop and portable, in the fourth quarter of this year. On an annual basis, PCs will still reign supreme, but IDC predicts that by the end of 2015, tablet shipments will have also overtaken the annual total PC shipment figures. 
The one category that remains king of the hill is that of smartphones, which already accounts for 65% of total shipments of smart connected devices. Moreover, the IDC foresees another period of device cannibalization, with smartphones bearing 5-inch screens or greater eating into the space of smaller tablets with 7-8 inch displays. |  | AT&T Galaxy Note II receives OTA update Sep 12th 2013, 01:37, by Juan Carlos Torres With the announcement of the Samsung’s new Galaxy Note III, it would seem almost unusual that the Galaxy Note II from AT&T would be receiving a large-ish update today. But users of Samsung‘s current S Pen phablet shouldn’t be rejoicing just yes, as this update seems to contain nothing significant. 
The Galaxy Note II is just a year old, but as far as current mobile trends go, it’s just about on its way out. Especially with the announcement of a successor, the chances of the older model receiving updates or new features are quite slim. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that AT&T would be rolling out a large, in terms of file size, update over the air to its Galaxy Note II customers. But as they say, looks can be deceiving. The 165 MB update apparently doesn’t include anything new or anything that immediately looks important. The Galaxy Note II will still remain on Android 4.1 and the release notes only mention updates to Google apps and AT&T’s own preloaded software. Still, the update could contain small fixes or improvements here and there, or maybe some hidden gems (or problems) that we don’t know about yet. If you’re an owner of such a device from AT&T, you could either wait for the update notification to hit your device, or manually check via Software Updates. The usual backup precautions apply to updates this big, even if seemingly unimportant. SOURCE: AT&T
VIA: Android Police | | Google Chrome OS gets new lineup of Haswell-powered devices Sep 12th 2013, 00:54, by Juan Carlos Torres The Intel Developers Forum was filled not just with revelations of the manufacturer’s upcoming chips but also with announcements of new devices, including a series of notebooks and a PC box running Google‘s Chrome OS and powered by Intel‘s latest fourth generation “Haswell” Core processors. This time, ASUS and Toshiba are joining the fray of companies touting Chrome OS devices which now totals six manufacturers. 
Of the group, HP‘s new Chromebook 14 boasts the largest display, sporting a 14″ WLED BrightView screen with a 1366×768 resolution and a weight of 1.847 kg (4.07 lbs) and a variety of connectivity and expansion options such as two USB 3.0 ports, optional WWAN, and a micro-USB slot. HP is also throwing 100 GB of storage on Google Drive as part of the package, which starts at a price of $299. Acer‘s ace is that its Chromebook might be the most lightweight among the newly unveiled devices. On the other hand, Google is marketing Toshiba‘s Chromebook as versatile and portable, but somewhat leaves it to the imagination to determine what that really means. 
ASUS has also produced a Chrome OS-powered device, but it’s not exactly what you’d call portable. Following in the footsteps of Samsung, ASUS has outed a new Chromebox, which is basically a mini PC running the web-centric operating system. Details on the ASUS Chromebox are a bit sparse but it probably wouldn’t stray too far from Samsung’s own specifications, which is already enjoying it’s third iteration, although it seems that ASUS has designed its box to be smaller and will come in a black color instead. 
Toshiba’s Chromebook will be coming in a silver color while Acer’s will be black. HP will be offering its Chromebook 14 in a number of colors. If the you’re part of that market segment that finds productivity and untethered power in Google’s operating system offering and have been swayed over by Intel’s Haswell spiel, then you might want to check out these new devices when they come out, probably around the holiday season this year. 
VIA: SlashGear | |
No comments:
Post a Comment