Year of the tablet

Projected figures suggest devices such as iPads will overtake notebook sales for the first time next year.

The latest research by Digitimes shows that tablet shipments are expected to hit 210 million units by 2013 -- a 38.3 percent increase on this year's figures. Passing the 200

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million mark will also take the devices past notebooks in terms of popularity. Notebook sales have so far suffered in 2012. Many people have been put off by the high prices of super-light, super-thin ‘ultrabook' portables while others have chosen to wait until after the release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, which didn't hit the shops until November. However, figures from MIC, the China-based marketing intelligence and consulting company, show that although notebook sales should improve over the coming year, they're expected to peak at 205 million.
The most interesting figures in Digitimes's findings are those for Android tablets. The report predicts that 2013 will be the year that Google will start to capitalize on its Nexus devices, potentially selling as many as 19 million tablets. It also expects Apple's share of the market to fall significantly to 55.6 percent from more than 60 percent this year due to the growth of Android tablets from Google, Amazon, Samsung and white-box (ie, unbranded) manufacturers.
This growing demand for unbranded tablets could see Android surpass Apple's iOS as the tablet world's leading operating system (as for smartphones) within two years.

Bing grabs market share from Google

Software giant Microsoft’s search engine Bing has increased its share of the search market at the expense of Google, according to a new report. Experian Hitwise, an online data measurement company however revealed, that Google is still the most popular search engine, accounting for 65

percent of the US market. The latest data covering May 2012, however, said that the search giant’s share decreased on the year by five per cent from 68.1 percent.
It also revealed that Bing’s share increased by five per cent during the same period, rising to 28.1 percent from 26.79 percent last May, the Telegraph reports.
According to the report, Yahoo’s search engine, which has fused business operations with Microsoft, accounts for 14.9 percent of the share.
Experian Hitwise bases its monthly search share reports on a sample of ten million web users’ behaviour.
The figures, however, do not include mobile search data.

Two new Kindle tablets

Online retailer Amazon reportedly has two new Kindle tablets in the works: a new and improved 7” Kindle Fire tablet and a bigger 10” tablet.

The 7” Kindle Fire reportedly features a “vastly improved” exterior design said technology blog BGR, which first reported that Amazon was

 

working on the tablets back in May.

“Our source says that the new models feature a metal casing in place of the current-generation model’s soft-touch plastic body. The back of the devices are said to include a chrome-look ‘rib’ that adds contrast against the black matte finish, and the feature reportedly improves the feel of the tablets and the appearance as well. This area of the new Kindle Fire models also houses the tablets’ speakers, we’re told,” wrote BGR.
The bigger 10” tablet, dubbed Hollywood, looks like a “thinner version of the first-generation iPad” devoid of front-facing buttons. It will run on a fast quad-core processor and has a front-facing camera.
While the iPad still rules supreme in the tablet market, Microsoft, Google and Amazon look like they are gearing up to put on a good fight in the coming years with launch of the Windows 8-powered Surface, and the Android-powered Nexus 7 and rumored new Kindle Fire tablets.

Sony’s Google TV set-top box

Sony’s NSZ-GS7 Internet Player with Google TV will go on sale in the US on July 22. A global release will follow in countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico and the UK. The set-top box was first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. It enables

consumers to browse the Internet and to download apps from the Google Play Store on their existing TV. "Expanding the reach and interoperability of the powerful Android platform with Sony's smartphones, tablets and renowned Audio & Video products, we are proud to continue our relationship with Google through the introduction of the new Google TV set-top-box," said Phil Molyneux, president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics. "Entertainment content is available through so many channels and sites, and Google TV helps consumers easily find what they want to watch, listen to or play using familiar search engine technology, enhancing the viewer experience. TV will never be the same."
Sony’s new Google TV enhanced NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player with voice search capabilities is also due to arrive on the market in time for the holiday season. The NSZ-GP9 will be priced at $299.
Both the NSZ-GP9 and the NSZ-GS7 come with a redesign remote control that features a QWERTY keyboard, a touch panel and three-axis motion sensors for playing games.
In February Samsung, the world’s top TV maker, launched its flagship ES8000 Smart TV in Korea. The high-end HDTV packs in next-generation features such as voice and gesture controls and the ability to recognize faces. The TV also comes with a smart evolution kit which enables users to upgrade the TV processor.
Meanwhile, Samsung is also said to be working on a new Google TV that will rival Sony’s existing Google TV and LG’s recently launched 3D-enabled Google TV. In February Kim Hyun-suk, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business, told The Korea Herald Samsung plans to release the Google TV by the end of 2012.
The NSZ-GS7 Internet Player with Google TV will be available in the United Kingdom in July. The set-top box will then see a wider roll out in Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, and Mexico. The NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray Disc player with Google TV will be available from fall in the United States, followed later by Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Netherlands.

Google, Facebook's consumer privacy strategy faces hard sell

Emboldened by their victory in quashing online piracy legislation, U.S. Internet companies are gearing up for a battle over whether consumers should be able to restrict efforts to gather personal data. 

Google Inc, Facebook, Apple Inc and other tech companies have lobbied against 
congressional and federal agency proposals that would let Internet users press "do not track" buttons on their browsers to block targeted advertising. Consumers could also edit personal information that has been stored about them. 

With the privacy issue, the multibillion-dollar Internet industry faces a challenge larger than potentially harmful legislation or regulations that could limit their advertising and corporate growth. Their efforts to self-regulate continue to suffer setbacks amidst accusations of privacy violations and last year's Federal Trade Commission findings that Facebook and Google engaged in deceptive privacy practices. 

The FTC is expected to issue new privacy recommendations in the coming days, and companies are watching several legislative proposals on Capitol Hill. 

Privacy advocates are pushing to give consumers greater control over data collection. The companies must convince consumers that they benefit by allowing personal data to be collected and shared. 

Their pitch - in efforts like Google's current "Good to Know" advertising campaign - argues that data collection lets companies offer faster, smarter products, like better search results and customized mapping. 

Internet companies successfully fought legislation to limit Internet piracy. Medley Global Advisors analyst Jeffrey Silva said Web companies may feel confident that they can tackle other government intervention. 

"I think the lesson they've learned is if they don't like a certain bill, they can organize and create a lot of static and pushback," Silva said. 

A Multibillion-Dollar Business Internet data collection allows advertisers to target users in a demographic who are more likely to buy their product. These ads often subsidize Web content. 

Google, for example, has come under fire for a new policy that took effect March 1 that treats information from most of its products, including Gmail, YouTube and Google+, as a single trove of data for advertisers. 

Google contends the change will benefit customers. The company would be able to spot a signed-on user looking for recipes and seamlessly direct them to YouTube cooking videos. 

"When we talk about how the Internet will improve and grow for consumers, that's coming from online behavioral advertising," said Daniel Castro, senior analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. 

Strict privacy rules could lead to substantial cuts in online advertising dollars and an even larger hit to growth over the next five to 10 years, Castro said. 

A 2010 study by University of Toronto professor Avi Goldfarb and MIT professor Catherine Tucker revealed a 65 percent decrease in ad effectiveness after European countries implemented data collection rules for targeted advertising. 

Around 96 percent of Google's $37.9 billion revenue comes from advertising, financial statements showed. 

Filings ahead of Facebook's much-discussed initial public offering revealed 85 percent of its $3.71 billion in revenue last year came from advertising. 

Nearly two-thirds of Apple's fiscal year 2011 net sales came from its iPhone, iPad and related products and services that rely on tracking a user's exact location. 

New government data collection policies could have huge implications. "If Google got 65 percent less revenue than it got last year, that would be a big upset to a company like that," Castro said. 

Multi-Pronged Attack The industry got a break last month when the White House released a blueprint "privacy bill of rights" giving consumers more data control, but relying heavily on voluntary compliance by Internet companies. 

The FTC's expected recommendations are causing more anxiety. 

Analysts and privacy advocates predict that the FTC report will have more teeth, in part because FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz recently described Google's new privacy policy as a "somewhat brutal choice" for consumers. 

The FTC report may call for strict enforcement to ensure firms adhere to their privacy policies, according to sources familiar with the agency's thinking. 

It may also try to accelerate firms' adoption of the "do not track" technology, which could work like the "do not call" registry that caused telemarketing industry havoc. 

Silva said the FTC recommendations come from "people that live and breathe privacy policy and have a greater knowledge of the law, companies' practices and an institutional knowledge of what's happened before. They probably have a better feel for the degree to which self-regulation works or doesn't." 

As for legislation, numerous privacy bills are winding their way through Congress. 

A notable one is a bipartisan privacy framework from Senators John Kerry and John McCain. It would require companies to reassess their privacy practices for both personally identifiable information and online behavioral advertising profiles. 

Critics say it could force more companies to start charging for services like e-mail, social networks and other content currently subsidized by advertising. 

"I'm talking about American companies having rules that control their own destiny, before Europe or other trading partners impose their policies on all our companies," Kerry said. "Hell, establishing minimum privacy protections in law can help build consumer trust in the marketplace and in turn increase economic activity." 

Tech companies have argued that government regulations could cut its revenues, reduce job growth and hurt the broader economy. 

Lawmakers are looking for the "sweet spot" between too much regulation and none at all, Representative Mary Bono Mack, chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing and trade, said. 

"Any knee-jerk reactions could have a chilling impact on innovation and e-commerce in the United States and threaten our economic recovery," she said. 

Web firms' foothold Internet companies are well-positioned in Washington to push back against regulatory proposals. 

With the piracy debate, they came together to argue that bills designed to shut down access to overseas websites trafficking in stolen content or counterfeit goods were too broad. They argued that they could undermine innovation and free speech and compromise the Internet's functioning. 

What followed was an unprecedented online protest that saw Wikipedia and other sites go dark while bigger players like Google and Facebook displayed censorship bars and arguments against the bills on their sites. 

The effort was supported with 3.9 million tweets, 2,000 people a second trying to call their elected representatives and more than 5,000 people a minute signing petitions opposing the legislation. 

Privacy regulations are a harder sell, said privacy expert Amy Mushahwar, an attorney with Reed Smith.

"Consumers might not be able to immediately recognize that increased privacy obligations could lead to a lesser amount of content on the Web, which is really what the advertising industry is concerned about," said Mushahwar, a registered lobbyist for the Association of National Advertisers. 

Internet companies have tried to get ahead of mandatory reforms by adopting their own policies. 

The Digital Advertising Alliance rolled out new data collection principles that take effect this year. They explicitly prohibit collection and use of a person's Internet surfing data for determining their eligibility for employment, credit, insurance and medical treatment. 

The industry is also using old-school lobbying tactics.

Apple's next iPad to have 4G support?

Apple Inc is betting a 4G-equipped iPad will tempt more U.S. consumers to pay extra to watch high-quality video on the go, and in turn, give Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc a revenue boost. Until now, Apple's fan legion has been reluctant to shell out extra money even for iPads with 3G 

connections. The cheaper Wi-Fi-only model -- with more limited Web access -- is by far the top-selling one today.

The newest iPad will be capable of operating on a high-speed 4G "LTE," or Long-Term Evolution network, according to a source familiar with the product. At speeds roughly 10 times faster than current 3G technology, that may go a long way toward banishing the sometimes shaky video quality of older devices.

Such a juiced-up device would help boost the telecoms market if consumers catch on and can be enticed to pay more, some analysts said. The global tablet user base already reached 67 million in 2011, according to researcher Strategy Analytics.

"It's going to dramatically improve video consumption," said UBS analyst John Hodulik. "This is the device people want. They want the fastest speed. They want high resolution."

Apple, AT&T and Verizon declined to comment.

The Cupertino, California-based consumer device company is gearing up to unveil the iPad 3 on Wednesday, a faster and better-equipped version intended to thwart increasing competition from rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co and Amazon.com.

The new iPad will be "critical" to Apple if it is to continue to dominate the global tablet market, said Frost & Sullivan's analyst, Phil Harpur.

"A lot will depend how receptive the market is to the new features offered by iPad 3, two of which are believed to be quad-core processing and 4G-LTE capabilities," he said. "While iPad 2 offered only minor incremental upgrades, this time the market will be expecting a lot more."

The unveiling at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where the company also introduced the last two iPad generations, will be Chief Executive Tim Cook's second major product launch, after the iPhone 4S unveiling last year at the company's headquarters.

The smartphone was initially a disappointment as it was perceived to be mostly a software upgrade, but "Siri," its voice-enabled personal assistant technology, helped to make it a bestseller.

Cook will again be flanked by Apple's top cadres on Wednesday, when he kicks off a typically tightly choreographed show scrutinized by investors and industry insiders. On hand will likely be Apple's top marketing executive Phil Schiller, its head of Internet services Eddy Cue and software chief Scott Forstall -- the standard cast for major launches following the death of founder and consummate showman Steve Jobs last year.

UPGRADE TO APPLE TV IN WORKS?

The company, legendary for keeping its agenda under wraps, has not said what it plans to reveal but invited speculation with its cryptic event invitation, graced by a partial image of an iPad screen and the tagline: "We have something you really have to see. And touch."

Some predict an upgrade of the Apple TV, one of the rare company products that has not seen mass adoption.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said the "see and touch" reference was "very curious."

"An upgrade of the Apple TV set-top-box is possible as well as a remote chance for an iTV television set due to a reference to a large screen size," Misek said in a note to clients, adding that it was possible that Apple could also announce an actual TV despite not having a finished product.

Until then, it is the iPad 3's 4G capabilities that may be commanding the firmest speculation.

iPad sales doubled in the December quarter to 15.43 million units. The company has sold about 55 million iPads since it was introduced in 2010, and recorded more than $20 billion in sales and related services and accessories in fiscal 2011.

But dozens of new devices are set to launch this year, so Apple needs to stay a step ahead of its deep-pocketed rivals.

Handset makers including Samsung and Motorola Mobility already have LTE-capable tablets available, so in a way Apple is already late to the game.

The Samsung and Motorola tablets run on Google Inc's Android software, which is fast gaining ground on Apple's iOS.

Market share of Android-based tablets in the fourth quarter rose to 39 percent from 29 percent a year ago, while the iPad's market share slipped to 58 percent from 68 percent, according to Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston.

But the early high-speed tablets have not caught on. They accounted for a mere 1 percent of total tablet sales in 2011, partly because they were expensive, Mawston said.

While Apple is not breaking new ground with LTE, it may play a big hand in the technology's take off on tablets, because of the popularity of its iPad platform. The iPad 3 may also be helped by recent expansion in the availability of LTE services, according to Mawston.

Both Verizon and AT&T have been upgrading their networks with LTE but since Verizon Wireless had a head start in rolling out LTE -- its first markets came on line in late 2010 -- it should have an advantage over AT&T, which launched its first LTE markets last Summer.

Verizon's LTE network covers markets with a population of 200 million while AT&T's covers 74 million. Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. operator, will offer LTE later this year.

One impediment to the success of the iPad 3 with the faster connectivity could be rising data service charges.

Carriers charge customers for data on a per-usage basis, which can quickly add up. For example, watching 30 minutes of video a day on Verizon could add up to almost twice as much data downloads as its monthly $30 service package provides for.

If people really like how the new device works, UBS's Hodulik said they may not mind the charges. Even if only 10 percent more iPad users bought the 4G instead of the Wi-Fi version, it would help service providers, which do not subsidize the price of the iPad, Macquarie analyst Kevin Smithen said.

"Generally it should be incremental revenue for the carriers," Smithen said.

So far the most popular version of the current iPad is the cheapest -- the one that works only on Wi-Fi, a short-range wireless connection, and does not connect to service providers networks. So it could still be an uphill task to convince most buyers to pay for iPad services even with faster speeds.

"It's very important for a decent size subset of the users, probably somewhere in the 10 to 15 percent range," Gartner analyst Van Baker said. "For 85 to 90 percent of people, it's just not going to matter."

Google syncs recent searches to mobile devices

Google is enticing users to forget about their online privacy and web search tracking concerns in favor of convenience and functionality.

When users log on to their Google accounts and enable Web History, Google will now sync recent searches across platforms. The feature means you can search 

for a place on your laptop before you leave home and find out more detailed information on your mobile phone (without even having to remember the name or address of the place you were looking for) while you are on the go.

“How often are you doing a Google search from your computer to find information about a place before going there?” asks Google Software Engineer Junichi Uekawa in a post on the company’s Google Mobile Blog. “Now, next time you go to Google.com on your Android phone or iPhone, information about that place will be conveniently available under the new ‘Recent’ icon. Calling, getting directions or seeing details about the places you just searched for is now only one tap away.”

Users can locate recent searches in the new “Recent” icon on the Google.com mobile homepage (when they are logged into their account). Recent cross-platform search results will be available for approximately 24 hours.

Mobile apps such as Firefox Home provide a similar function, enabling signed in users to sync bookmarks and already opened websites between PCs and mobile devices.
Google has come under fire for its recent privacy policy changes. Under the new policy the web giant is able to combine user information gathered from different Google products to build a more complete user profile. Google says this will “enable us to build a better, more intuitive user experience across Google for signed-in users.”