Archives for January 2012

Fujitsu Contest Shows Flexible Design Concepts for All-in-One Device Combos

January 26, 2012 by Greg Quick Leave a Comment

Want a quick glimpse of the future of high tech gear? Maybe these products will not see the light of day but a recent concept contest by Fujitsu has shown some great product ideas for a range of technologies.

Naturally a number caught my eye but one combo product really had me thinking that it would be interesting to own. The product was a combination notebook computer, tablet, smartphone and digital camera-but not as an all-in-one solution but rather as removable parts of a whole.

The concept design, which is on the short list in the Fujitsu Design Competition 2011 was created by designer Prashant Chandra which he named “Lifebook 2013”. It is designed to both provide a user with all of the tech tools that they might be carrying and put them into one slim, highly integrated package.

The drive behind the design is not just a gimmicky form factor that enables users to have a convenient place to keep all of their devices together. As additional devices are added their functions and capabilities are added as well.
Add the camera and get a high end digital imaging device as part of your notebook.

Add your phone you have communications, possibly your MP3 collection and other features. A tablet could serve as a second display or as a keyboard, helping to keep the weight down. Syncing all of a users devices should be a snap under a design like this.

But a key differentiator would be that the processors that are stored in the individual devices could also be tasked with some of the laptop’s functions as well.

If this device did manage to come to market in some form in the near future Fujitsu would have to exercise absolute control over both software and hardware design. Code would need to be written to enable programs to take advantage of the different processors, and to adapt when some processors or hardware are not present.

It would also have to be aware of what is and is not present so that it can alter its abilities in real time. A user would not want to constantly change settings when using a phone.

One hidden advantage is that a user might be able to use their smartphone as the communications device for the notebook and tablet without getting contracts for those devices. If nothing else it might serve to push telcos to offer better bundles so that a person can reasonably afford to have cellular capabilities on multiple devices with a reasonable contract covering them all. Ah to dream.

Filed Under: Fujitsu, Smartphone, Tablets Tagged With: camera, notebook computer, Smartphones, Tablet

Dear NFL: We Want On-Field Tweets, Not Just Sideline Stuff! C’mon, Man!

January 25, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 5 Comments

The game that nobody watches, aka this weekend’s NFL Pro Bowl, is all of a sudden more compelling because — in the No Fun League — players will be allowed to use Twitter during the game, for those random on-field thoughts that us fans just can’t do without.

In typical NFL fashion (see: instant replay) however the apparent way-cool thing is gummed up with controls — players won’t be able to use their mobile device of choice, but will instead be forced to use sideline computers to send their tweets out to the tweetosphere. Putting aside the obvious misstep and head-scratching decision to usurp potential mobile device sponsors (“Ray Lewis here on the Motorola Droid RAZR, LOL!”) the bigger question is if you are going to allow Twitter during games, why not go all the way?

Get coach Ditka on the line for a big C’MON MAN! Commish Rog, here’s the message: WANT LIVE TWEETS! Tweets from the bottom of the pile. Tweets during the snap count. (“One thousand one, Aaron Rodgers! Double-check this blitz!”) Tweets during the play (any wide receiver: “IM OPEN MOFOA!!!”) If anything the league should go completely in the other direction and REQUIRE all players to be using mobile devices at all times, while on the field of play. That would introduce a degree of difficulty that might make the Pro Bowl entertaining, instead of the flag football snoozefest it regularly becomes.

The possibility for new rules are endless… you have to send a tweet while the punt is in the air before you can catch it… if you want to blitz the entire D-line or the blitzing player has to send a DM to the quarterback before the ball is snapped… but instead we have the sanitized, red flag for coaches thinking from the NFL. (And get real: these guys are going to SHARE a computer? Riiiight.) Here’s the money quote on this “innovative” twist:

“This is an innovative way to further engage our fans who have an insatiable appetite for football,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “NFL players have been very active on social media and enjoying talking to fans. The nature of the Pro Bowl enables us to have players tweet during the game.”

If we get some uncensored sideline emotion (like Tom Brady’s outburst earlier this year) then maybe the experiment will be worthwhile. But our guess is that the “sideline tweets” will be as useless as the Pro Bowl itself. #bringbackthecollegeallstars.

Filed Under: NFL, Twitter Tagged With: NFL, Twitter

Elemental Technologies Lands Stanford for its Sports Replay Solution

January 25, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Elemental Technologies, a startup developing an array of technologies including instant replay for mobile devices, has signed a deal with Stanford University’s athletic department to show replays for events played at the school’s Maples Pavilion and Stanford Stadium.

Stanford is using the Elemental Live product as the basis for its Wi-Fi Instant Replay system that it is deploying on campus. The system will enable fans at events to view an instant replay immediately after the play occurred.

The solution takes input from four different camera sources that is continuously encoded in real time and immediately stores them on a local web server where clips are created and then pushed to fans within seconds after the play. Stanford fans can access the replays on their mobile devices via the school’s Stanford Gameday Live website.

This is just the latest in a line of strategic partners the company has signed deals with, but the first where its technology will be put in front of a cadre of experienced sports fans that have been weaned on instant replay and will know if it meets their needs or not.

The Portland, Ore.-based company was founded in 2006 and has had several rounds of venture funding. The first was in Dec. 2007 when it received $1.05 million from the Oregon Angle Fund. The Series A round of funding closed in July, 2008 with $7.1 million being raised in a round led by General Catalyst Partners and Voyager Capital.

The second round, in July, 2010, raised $7.5 million in Series B funding with Steamboat Ventures, a venture capital firm affiliated with The Walt Disney Co., joined existing venture funds General Catalyst and Voyager Capital in round.

The company is led by a trio of co-founders starting with CEO Sam Blackman. Blackman had previously has held a variety of positions in the industry including designing integrated circuits for Pixelworks and engineering positions at Intel and Silicon Graphics

Jesse Rosenzweig, the second co-founder, serves as Elemental’s chief technology officer. He also is a former Pixelworks employee and worked on developing software applications at that company. To fill out the triad of co-founders is Brian Lewis, who is the company’s chief architect. He also hails from Pixelworks and previously, he worked as an engineer and team leader at Rockwell Collins developing navigation, guidance and sensor control software for military transport aircraft.

The company has tested its technology with a range of companies in the high tech space and has a number of big-named partners including Amazon Web Services, Intel, nVidia, Adobe, Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Microsoft. Apple has been an important partner in helping with the live streaming technology.

Just as important it has a growing range of big name corporate and media customers that now number over 100. In that group are ABC, CBS Interactive, BTN, National Geographic, PBS, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, Comcast, HBO, and ESPN.

Filed Under: Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, NCAA Football, PBS, Startup

Apple has Record Quarter, iPhones, iPad Sales Soar

January 25, 2012 by Greg Quick 2 Comments

Apple continues to see strong sales for its mobile products as iPhones and iPads witnessed record sales, as did its Macintosh computers, in its fiscal first quarter that ended December 31, 2011. The company had quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and a quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion.

It is interesting to note that in its product lineup Apple’s computers come in a far third place in terms of unit sales with only its iPod platform showing a decline, most likely because its iPhones, with their large storage capacity can easily double as a dedicated music player.

The company sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter, a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Those figures are all time highs for the company. It only sold 15.4 million iPods, a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Another fact that stands out from the results is that Apple admitted that its tablets are cannibalizing sales of its Macintosh computers, even when it has a record setting quarter for the computer.

It will be interesting to see how this phenomenon carries over to the Intel-based PC space. Will the ultrabooks stave off declining sales? If not Intel had better ramp up its push to establish its Atom processor in the tablet and smartphone space.

Apple also reported that it did not believe that the Kindle Fire, and other smaller form factor ebook readers that also had very strong holiday sales, had any material impact on its iPad sales.

While analysts had expected a strong quarter from the company some admitted that they were staggered by the results and predict that the company will be able to maintain its momentum going forward, at least in the near term, as it has just started to expand into the Chinese market. It is also expected to release at least one new generation of iPads as well as a new iPhone later this year, moves that should also help see a surge in demand for its products.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Barnes & Noble, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Tablets Tagged With: Apple, Earnings, iPad, iPhone

Super Cellular Battle II: AT&T, T-Mobile Beef Up Indy Coverage; But What About Twitter?

January 24, 2012 by Paul Kapustka 6 Comments

If your call, text or tweet doesn’t get through from the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, you probably won’t be able to blame the phone companies. Today AT&T and T-Mobile joined Verizon Wireless and Sprint in announcing special plans to increase wireless capacity for the Feb. 5 showdown between New England and New York, which is expected to attract enough folks to completely fill the 70,000-seat Lucas Oil Stadium.

From the info provided so far it looks like AT&T has done the most in terms of bringing wireless resources to the Indy table: According to the press release AT&T is not only expanding the DAS antenna coverage inside the arena, it is also firing up a public Wi-Fi hot zone in the adjacent neighborhood, while also adding some outside DAS deployments as well as driving nine COWs (cell towers on wheels) in for the party. Indy is also one of the select cities where AT&T has launched its new 4G LTE network, so it’s a good guess that the infrastructure there is new and ready to rock. Safe to say, AT&T probably isn’t going to experience a SXSW style cellular fail at the Super Bowl this year.

T-Mobile, the nation’s fourth largest wireless provider, had sort of a me-too feel to its announcement but things like free charging stations (at the T-Mobile store that is near the stadium) and a T-Mobile sponsored relaxation zone with couches and hot beverages might come in handy if you are in the area. T-Mobile says it has also beefed up backhaul inside the stadium and throughout Indianapolis in general, so if you are a T-Mobile customer you should be OK come game day.

Still unanswered is the question of whether or not popular Internet sites like Twitter are making similar infrastructure preparations for the expected surge in traffic. We still haven’t seen any explanation or mea culpas from Twitter in regards to Sunday’s multiple fail whale appearances, other than a small status report that says everything got fixed. As Jim Rome says, better head to Fry’s, guys, and beef up that server farm.

Awesome day for the NFL, terrible day for Twitter. Better hit up Fry’s for a server or two before the Super Bowl.

January 22, 2012 10:24 pm via webReply RetweetFavorite

@jimrome

Jim Rome

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, NFL, Sprint, Super Bowl, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: AT&T, Indianapolis, NFL, Sprint, Super Bowl, Twitter, Verizon, Wi-Fi

Restructuring Management at RIM, Corporate Restructure Next?

January 24, 2012 by Greg Quick 1 Comment

Co-CEOs step down, New CEO Named

The top management picture of wireless developer Research in Motion (RIM) has been completely redrawn this week with its cofounders surrendering the position of CEO and the board implementing a new top executive.

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, the co-chief executives and co-chairmen of the company announced that they were stepping down and submitted a succession plan to the company’s Board of Directors that included promoting one of the company’s two Chief Operating Officers, Thorston Heins, as the new CEO and president.

Lazaridis was the company’s founder and he has worked very closely with Balsillie as it grew to a $20 bn player and developer of the first popular smartphone, the BlackBerry.

However both Balsillie and Lazaridis will remain with the company in prominent roles. Lazaridis was named vice chairman of the board while Balsillie will remain as a director. Barbara Stymiest, who formerly served as a member of Royal Bank of Canada’s Group Executive and has been a member of RIM’s Board since 2007, has been named the independent Board Chair. John Richardson, formerly Lead Director, will remain on the Board. Prem Watsa, Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings, also was named to the Board, expanding it to 11 members.

Declining Market Cap, Revenue and Market Share

The move comes as the once high flying developer of the BlackBerry is facing losses that are expected to extend across the current fiscal year and possibly beyond as demand for its technology continues to wane and the current generation of smartphones and tablets siphon away business.

It suffered a very bad 2011. Its market share has been plummeting in the smartphone segment, dropping from an estimated 30.4% to 16.6% as Android and to a lesser extent Apple iPhones have both expanded the overall market and at the same time eroded RIMs position in it.

The decline in market share has been accompanies by an even greater stock price decline, with a 75% decline in its stock value over the course of the year. It reported a 71% decline in earnings in its 3rd Quarter, it’s most recent. It has been hurt also by a delay in its next generation phones, the BlackBerry 10, now due late this year, and the fact that its tablet, the Playbook, has been a non-starter.

There have been increasingly growing demand from shareholders for vigorous action by the company, up to and including breaking it up or selling it in the last months. The promotion of Heins has not been met with universal approval by shareholders and analysts and is likely to fuel even more negative comments as Heins tries to turn around the company.

Fortune called Heins the wrong choice for CEO. Investopedia wonders if his appointment is simply ‘old wine in a new bottle’ and The New York Times led off with the headline ‘Markets Are Not Convinced by a New Leader at RIM’.

Yet he does have a number of assets in his favor- the company has new generation phones and tablets in the pipeline, it has $1.5bn in cash in the bank and a loyal core of customers that still claim it has the best tools for business. So while Heins has a tough road ahead of him, he has some props to help him along the way.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, BlackBerry, iPhone, The New York Times Tagged With: RIM, Smartphones, Tablet