no one will use tablets

BlackBerry CEO says no one will use tablets five years from now

Anupam Saxena, May 01, 2013

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins is in the news again. After firing salvos at Apple and Samsung, he has come out in the open against the business case for tablets.

During an interview at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles, Heins said that he does't think there'll be a reason to have a tablet in five years and that tablets were not a good business model. The interview was reported by Bloomberg. 

 "In five years I don't think there'll be a reason to have a tablet anymore," said Heins. "Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model."

It's not the first time that Heins has questioned the tablet business. However, the new comment indicates that the company is not looking at tablets, at all.

In a previous interview Heins had talked about the company's stand on introducing a new tablet and had said that the business case for re-entering the tablets market was not compelling at least in the near term. 

Heins had also admitted that with the PlayBook, which did not turn out to be a success, the company took the plunge a little too early as it was excited to show off its new operating system and majorly missed out on the app ecosystem. 

"I wouldn't want to do it the same way again, if I do something around tablets, I want it to be really substantial and meaningful, and quite frankly it would need to be profitable as well," he had said.

"I think the profit pool is very very thin. Kudos to Apple, I think they really managed to own that space, so it doesn't make sense for me to just take this head on. I need to figure out, for my enterprise customers, for my consumers, for my BB10 audience, what can I do that provides them a mobile computing experience in the form factor of a tablet, which goes beyond just the puristic tablet experience." 

So it looks like we're not going to see new tablets based on BlackBerry 10, if you consider the CEO's voice to be the determinant of the company's future strategy. Users are still waiting for a BlackBerry 10 update for the PlayBook, which the company had promised earlier.

Galaxy Tab 3

Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab 3 with Android 4.1, voice calling

April 29, 2013

Samsung has announced the launch of Galaxy Tab 3 7-inch tablet with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The tablet will be available in two variants, Wi-Fi only and a 3G variant with voice calling.

Under the hood, Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM. The 7-inch screen has a rather disappointing 1024x600 resolution at a paltry 169ppi. The tablet will be available in 8GB/ 16GB storage options, expandable by another 64GB via microSD card. Connectivity options on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB and A-GPS/ GLONASS.

Galaxy Tab 3 is the successor to the Galaxy Tab 2 that recently received a price cut in India and is now available for Rs. 12,750 and Rs. 16,250 for Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi plus 3G variants respectively.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Wi-Fi version will be available globally beginning May and 3G version will follow in June. The product availability varies by market and will be rolled out gradually. There's no word on pricing yet, though it is expected to be priced similar to the Galaxy Tab 2.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 technical specifications

Network	WiFi - 3G : HSPA+21 / 5.76 Quad 850/900/1900/2100 - 2G : EDGE/GPRS Quad 850/900/1800/1900
Processor	1.2 GHz Dual Core processor
Display	7 inch WSVGA(1024 x 600, 169 PPI) TFT
OS	Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Camera	Main(Rear): 3-megapixel camera Sub (Front): 1.3-megapixel camera
Video	Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV Playback: 1080p Full HD @30fps
Audio	Codec: MP3, OGG, AC3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WAV, FLAC
Services and Additional Features	Samsung Apps
	Samsung Hub - Music Hub/ Game Hub/ Video Hub/ Learning Hub
	Samsung Kies, Samsung Kies Air (Downloadable via Samsung Apps)
	Samsung ChatON mobile communication service
	Google Mobile Services: Google Search, Gmail, Google Play Store, Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Maps (Turn-by-turn Navigation), Google Now
Connectivity	WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz), WiFi Channel Bonding, WiFi Direct Bluetooth 3.0 USB 2.0
GPS	A-GPS + GLONASS
Sensor	WiFi: Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Light 3G: Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Light, Proximity
Memory	8/16GB Internal Storage + 1GB (RAM) microSD slot (up to 64GB)
Dimension	111.1 x 188.0 x 9.9mm 302g(Wi-Fi), 306g (3G)
Battery	Standard battery, Li-ion 4,000 mAh

iPhone 5S

iPhone 5S, cheaper iPhone and new iPad mini reportedly delayed

Surbhi Chawla, April 12, 2013

In the recent months there has been a lot of speculation regarding the tentative launch dates for the next generation iPhone, the 'supposedly' low-cost iPhone and the next generation iPad mini.

As per a recent report by Mac Rumours, Apple is facing a lot of challenges in producing its forthcoming line-ups and these challenges may delay the launch of the new iPhone and iPad mini models.

The website is quoting KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who till a month ago was expecting Apple to launch a new iPhone model by June or July. However, on Thursday he came out with a new research report that cites the company may not be as busy as he had earlier predicted.

Earlier we estimated that shipments of the new iPhone would begin in July (FDD version) and September (TDD version), while iPad mini 2 would hit the market in August. Currently, market consensus for shipments of iPhone 5S, low-cost iPhone and iPad mini 2 is July, July, and August, respectively. But in light of publicly available information and our knowledge of technological trends, we now think all three products will begin shipments later than our previous expectation and market consensus.

Ming-Chi Kuo in his research note has not shared any specific time frame by when Apple may launch its new iPhone, the low cost iPhone or the new iPad mini Furthermore, Mac rumours via KGI Securities notes that Apple is currently facing three major challenges that is causing the delay. The first being production difficulties for the 'retina display for iPad mini'. Kuo believes that the next generation iPad will come with a Retina display, and the company is facing various and technical challenges related to its design and manufacturing.

The second challenge is being cited as 'colour coatings for lower-cost iPhone'. As per Kuo, the economically priced iPhone is likely to come with plastic shell, which will be available in numerous colour options. He opines that Apple is finding it difficult to keep the plastic shell of this iPhone as thin as it would like.

Lastly, Kuo notes that Apple is finding it challenging to manufacture iPhone 5S because of its purported fingerprint sensor. He further states that finding the right colour coatings to prevent interference with the sensor is proving to be a big challenge.

This news report by Mac Rumours comes a day after DigiTimes reported that Apple will be commencing production of its fifth generation iPad in July or August. DigiTimes news report was based on the information that the website had garnered from its sources in the Taiwan-based supply chain.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty has released a report, in which she predicted that Apple will launch the new iPhone in September 2013 after previewing the iOS 7 in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). This is in contradiction to what we had heard days earlier, when a report indicated Apple will launch the iPhone 5S in August in more than two colour options.

Lenovo

Lenovo posts record profit boosted by smartphones, tablets

Associated Press, January 30, 2013

Personal computer maker Lenovo Group said Wednesday its quarterly profit rose 34 percent to a record high on strong sales of smartphones and tablet computers.

The company, vying with Hewlett-Packard Co. to become the world's biggest PC maker, said it earned $205 million in the three months ending in December. Revenue rose 12 percent to $9.4 billion, also a record.

The results reflect a rapid shift in global consumer tastes toward mobile services. That is forcing traditional technology leaders to scramble to roll out new products and diversify into services as well as hardware.

Sales by Lenovo's mobile and digital home unit soared 77 percent to $998 million, though that was only 11 percent of total revenue.

The company said its smartphone business in China was profitable for the first time and handsets were launched in India, Indonesia, Russia and other markets. Shipments of media tablets rose 77 percent to 800,000 units.

"The strong performance of our mobile Internet business is a significant strength that we believe will help us drive sustainable growth even in challenging market conditions," said chief financial officer Wong Wai Ming in a conference call with reporters.

Lenovo shipped 9.4 million smartphones during the quarter, all but about 400,000 of them in China, according to chairman Yang Yuanqing. He said the smartphone business outside China is "still in the first stage" and Lenovo needs to invest to gain market share before focusing on profitability.

Revenues in the bigger but slower-growing PC market rose 7 percent to $7.9 billion.

Lenovo, which is based in Beijing and in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, warned PC demand "remains challenging" due to weakening global economic conditions but said it plans to expand its cloud, services and other businesses.

In its home China market, PC shipments rose 2 percent, down from the previous quarter's 8 percent. Lenovo said that was still better than an industry-wide decline of 2 percent in China, raising its market share by 1.4 percentage points to a record 36.7 percent.

Shipments in the United States and the rest of North America rose 11 percent over a year earlier.

Lenovo released a new version of its ThinkPad notebook computer, the X1 Carbon, in August that it said was lighter and quicker to mimic the convenience of a tablet. Lenovo acquired the ThinkPad brand with IBM Corp.'s personal computer unit in 2005.