Author Archive | Ed Oswald

Lenovo To Release an Android Tablet This Summer

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 25, 2011 at 4:25 pm

The ThinkPad brand–one of the most iconic names from the world of PCs–is coming to tablets. This is My New’s Joanna Stern reports that she’s obtained a PowerPoint presentation from Lenovo dealing with the planned launch of a Android 3.0 Honeycomb-based tablet this summer apparently aimed at business users. And it doesn’t look too shabby.

Stern expects the device to sport a 10.1-inch display and front and rear facing cameras, and to come in 16, 32, and 64GB versions. Pretty average for today’s tablets. Lenovo also plans to include a stylus for input and offer a folio case with included keyboard (no word on whether that case would include ThinkPad’s famous red pointing stick).

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Android About to Enlist in the US Army?

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 22, 2011 at 6:03 pm

The US Army wants to equip every soldier with a smartphone in the battlefield, and it appears as if Google’s Android could be the solution. According to Wired’s Spencer Ackerman, the military has been working over the past year to realize that goal. What’s behind its choice? Likely the fact that the operating system can run across a range of third-party devices, unlike the iPhone.

Officials haven’t settled on Android just yet it seems, but it seems like it certainly has a leg up on other solutions due to its “open” nature.

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Smartphone Users are Concerned About Privacy

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 21, 2011 at 2:51 pm

In light of the news that iOS4 likes to track your every move, Nielsen’s poll results released Thursday appear especially prescient. The firm found that a majority of both women and men have privacy concerns when it comes to check-ins and location-based apps on their smartphones.

Women appear a bit more concerned about the issue, with 59 percent saying so versus 52 percent of men. Concerns about big brother watching you seemed to build with age: those 25-34 showed the least concern (half of all respondents), which increased to 63 percent of those 55 and older.

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So, Amazon’s Building An Android Tablet…

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 21, 2011 at 2:47 pm

Amazon is said to be in the process of developing its own Android tablet, according to gdgt’s Peter Rojas. Calling it an “open secret,” Rojas believes that the device may not be yet another garden-variety Android tablet, but rather akin to what Barnes & Noble did with the new Nook. There, Android was used as the core of a customized experience.

Like B&N, Amazon has a vested interest in seeing you buy things from them: thus the device itself would probably not be as expensive as most Android tablets. However the retailer sells music and movies as well as e-books: this means the company potentially would have multiple revenue streams to lean on for its “tablet.” And that new Android App Store? And all those Android developer hires? Is it making sense now?

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Surprise! RIM’s PlayBook Launch a Success

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 21, 2011 at 11:37 am

Bet you weren’t expecting this news. Despite the multitude of negative reviews in the press (Harry has a nice roundup here and gave the tablet a decidedly mixed review over at TIME.com), The PlayBook’s launch was not a bust at all. In fact, one could argue that it even was a success. Estimates put the sales numbers on launch day at about 50,000 units.

Now before Apple fanboys come out in force and laugh at RIM’s minor victory, lets put this into perspective. That number is more than either the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the Motorola XOOM. While the latter appears to have pretty much flopped so far, the Tab is the single biggest competitor to Apple’s tablet dominance.

Could it be that the technorati was too full of themselves in believing we had the final judgement on the PlayBook, sending it to a premature death? Quite possibly. While its still early it does kind of look like we (well, most of us) may have been wrong to say this would be a flop.

RIM, the ball is now in your court. Fix the obvious issues with your tablet and get your act together with the apps: soon we may be discussing the PlayBook in the same sentence as the Tab and the iPad.

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AT&T Is Just Fine in the Verizon iPhone Era, Thank You

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 20, 2011 at 11:17 pm

AT&T reported its quarterly numbers Wednesday morning, and they certainly showed that the iPhone is still a significant driver of growth for the carrier. 3.6 million iPhones were activated during the quarter, and iPhone subscriber churn (customers with the device who left for a competitor) was unchanged from the same period last year.

This is significant for one reason: it was the first quarter that the Verizon iPhone was available. Being able to keep churn flat is quite an accomplishment, considering that so many analysts said that Verizon would siphon customers away from Big Blue.

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Blu-ray’s New Format War: The Old School DVD

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 20, 2011 at 6:40 pm

Win the battle, lose the war. The saying might as well apply to Sony’s Blu-ray high definition disc format (I’ve used it before on this topic), which continues to struggle for relevancy. Even with player prices now as low as $70 through Walmart, consumers are still taking their good old time in adopting the format.

Strategy Analytics researcher Peter King told Foxnews.com that even through Sony won the format war against Toshiba and HD DVD more than three years ago, only now has the format been able to equally split the 20 million disc players sold evenly with standard DVD.

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Amazon To Offer Kindle Local Library Lending

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 20, 2011 at 12:30 pm

It’s a sign of the times. Amazon on Wednesday said that it will allow Kindle users to borrow e-books from their local libraries. The service would be available at about 11,000 locations nationwide, and will also be open to those using Kindle applications.

The offering is part of a partnership with OverDrive, which already offers digital content solutions for libraries (and which has had a similar relationship with Sony for the latter’s Reader e-readers since 2009). Head to OverDrive’s website to see if your local library may be one of them — mine is!

Unlike regular library books, you’ll be able to annotate titles just like you can with purchased Kindle books. The notes will not appear to the next person checking out the book. But if you check it out again or even purchase the title from Amazon, your notes will still be there.

Amazon doesn’t have a solid release date for this, only saying in a press release that it would be available “later this year.” We’ll keep an eye on this and let you know when its available.

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iOS Still King, Regardless of Smartphone Market

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 19, 2011 at 9:44 pm

Data coming out of research firm comScore validates what many have been saying about the battle between Android and iOS: that across all devices, Google’s mobile operating system still has a long ways to go to supplant Apple’s dominant position overall, despite analyst claims.

Across an estimated install base of some 236 million “connected media devices” — that would include phones, tablets, music devices with Internet connectivity and app support, etc. — Apple has a 16.2 percent share or about 37.9 million devices. Android trails with a 10.2 percent share or about 23.8 million devices.

In other words, Apple has a 59 percent larger market for its devices right now compared to Android — highlighting its strong position for iOS outside of smartphones.

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