Category: Computers, Science & Technology

HP discontinues it’s tablet sales, but guess what? Technically they are currently number two behind Apple in tablet sales.

HP surprisingly emerges as No. 2 tablet maker

“At least for now, Hewlett-Packard can lay claim as the second most popular tablet manufacturer behind Apple.

Too bad, it’ll be a short-lived reign.

Despite all of the attention focused on Apple’s iPad, other tablet makers have seen some adoption this year. In total, the U.S. tablet market–excluding Apple–saw sales of more than 1.2 million units and retail revenue of $415 million from January through October, according to a new study from NPD. HP stood on top of that non-iPad hill, closely followed by Samsung Electronics.

Of course, the market is still tiny when compared with Apple, which moved 11.1 million iPads in the last quarter alone.

That a fluke like the short-lived TouchPad–which launched July 1 for $499 but only sold well amid a fire sale in mid-August–was able to capture the No. 2 spot speaks to the fragmentation of the tablet market beyond Apple.

Despite Apple’s dominance, NPD believes there is an opportunity for alternatives.

‘According to NPD’s consumer tracking service, 76 percent of consumers who purchased a non-Apple tablet didn’t even consider the iPad, an indication that a large group of consumers are looking for alternatives, and an opportunity for the rest of the market to grow their business,’ said NPD analyst Stephen Baker.

HP managed to grab 17 percent of the share. Its TouchPad was snapped up quickly this summer when HP discontinued the tablet. The TouchPad’s price cratered to $99, and retailers moved quickly to unload the tablets. Of course, the phenomenon was only temporary; HP has since run out of TouchPads and has no apparent plans to start up production again.

Samsung has been in the tablet business longer than anyone outside of Apple, moving quickly to release the 7-inch Galaxy Tab a year ago. Since then, the company has released a variety of tablet sizes, including a 10.1-inch version that is able to connect to a high-speed wireless network. As a result, it had 16 percent of the non-iPad market and is poised to overtake HP in the coming months for the No. 2 spot.”

YouTube is leaning toward HTML5 as well! Last week we had a story about Revision3 moving toward HTML5 and away from Flash… now, YouTube is pushing the envelope that way as well!

YouTube’s HTML5 Player Gets Better

“YouTube’s HTML5 player has improved a lot lately and it’s almost ready to replace the Flash player. You can enable annotations and captions, the contextual menu lets you copy the embedding code and the video’s URL, YouTube now offers 480p and 1080p options for WebM videos and there’s native full-screen support if you use a Firefox nightly build or Chrome’s dev channel.

I’ve also noticed that sometimes embedded videos use the HTML5 player even if you’ve already installed Flash and you haven’t enabled the HTML5 trial.”

There’s an old joke about the vendor in New York that bragged that he sold his wares cheaper than anyone else. “Yeah,” said his competitor, “but you are selling BELOW the actual cost of the item!” “Ha!,” said the vendor, “I make it up in volume!” Get it? Selling below cost, even at volume, nets you no profit! However, that is what Amazon is doing! But they WILL make it up in volume of books sold!

Kindle Fire teardown puts build cost at less than $3 above retail price

Computerworld – Teardown experts at IHS iSuppli found that it costs $201.70 to build Amazon’s new Kindle Fire — that’s almost $3 more than the device’s $199 retail price.

Many analysts expected Amazon to take a much larger loss on the Kindle Fire, if only to better compete against other tablets such as the iPad 2, which has a starting price of $499, or the Nook Tablet, which starts at $249. Amazon is expected to make up the loss through sales of products and apps to Kindle users.

According to iSuppli’s tally the Kindle Fire’s hardware costs $185.60 and the cost of manufacturing the device is $16.10.

The $201.70 figure is an actual teardown cost estimate that was derived from taking apart one of the Kindle Fire tablets, which were released Monday. That total is $7.83 less than the $209.63 virtual estimate that iSuppli made in September.”

HTML5 and Webm video rocks! It is smaller in size, streams well… and is simple! So, let’s all move to it!

Revision3 bets on HTML5, drops Flash player development

“Revision3 was faced with a dilemma: Its Flash player was getting a bit long in the tooth, but Flash isn’t supported by a growing number of devices that its viewers are using to watch its videos on. The company had already built an HTML5 player to be used by viewers with iPads and other HTML5-compatible devices, but it wasn’t as advanced as what the startup had built into Flash. As a company with limited resources, updating both players wasn’t really an option, so it had to choose between updating its Flash player, or placing more emphasis on HTML5.

So what did it do? It bet on the future.

Revision3 rolled out a new, HTML5-based video player Thursday to help standardize the video experience across web browsers online and those on new mobile and connected devices. At the same time, Revision3 made a strategic decision to phase out support of Flash and throw more development resources behind HTML5 instead.

The new player went live on Thursday, as the default option for Revision3 viewers. In addition to being available on more devices, Rev3 CTO Rob DeMillo told us in a phone interview that the new player has some other immediate benefits: The new player loads more quickly than its Flash player, and scrubbing through a video is much more responsive. It also supports all the same advertising and analytics that Revision3 had from the Flash player.”

Cable content via the Internet. I want it! I would love to be able to “tune it in” on my Roku. I am sure that Time Warner, DirecTV, etc. are not thrilled, however!

Sony Weighs Assault on Cable TV

“Sony is considering launching an internet-based alternative to cable TV, according to people familiar with the situation, the latest threat to cable and satellite operators that now dominate pay television.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment company approached several big media companies that own TV channels to negotiate the rights to offer TV channels over the web to US consumers, the people said.
Sony is proposing to beam the channels over internet connections to Sony-made devices including PlayStation gaming consoles, television sets and Blu-ray players.

Sony has sold approximately 18.1 million PlayStation 3 consoles in the US, according to the latest data from tracker NPD Group, and many homes have other internet-connected Sony devices.
The biggest US cable operator, Comcast, has about 22.4 million video subscribers and serves a geographic area with over 52 million homes.”

Ouch… Facebook is supposed to be pretty much “family friendly.” But ugly porn images sent by anti-Facebook spammers have hit the web site, and cluttered up user’s “walls” with porn images.

Facebook users reel from porn spam attack

“Computerworld – After being bombarded with hard-core pornographic and violent images on their news feeds, some Facebook users may change how and if they use the social network, according to industry analysts.

For the past few days, Facebook has battled an attack that flooded the site with explicit and distressing images. A Facebook spokeswoman told Computerworld that its security team has identified ‘many of the actors responsible’ and is working on an ‘appropriate action.’

And while the social network’s lawyers are looking for ways to handle the spammers, many users are reeling from the images they saw in their news feeds. Some of them took to Twitter to vent their frustrations and connect with others.

‘Facebook use to be friends and family, now Facebook = porn site,’ XtinaSayWhat tweeted, And kimpoyfeliciano also tweeted, ‘That awkward moment when your Facebook Newsfeed turned into a porn site.’

Others went further and said they might quit Facebook altogether over the spam assault.

‘I’m considering deleting my facebook because of all the porn/ dead animals and babies. its disgusting,’ tweeted sarahjacobss. And UP4RUNWAY tweeted, ‘I might deactivate my Facebook soon…all these porn going around and ending up on my wall…it’s ridiculous.’

Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst with ZK Research, isn’t surprised that users would consider dropping Facebook over the attack. If similar attacks follow, many may do it.”

However, Facebook now claims that they have stopped the attack. The Star-Tribune now reports: “Facebook said that it has stopped most of the spam that has flooded many users’ pages with pictures showing graphic sex and violence. The social-networking company urged its 800 million-plus users to remain vigilant to keep their accounts from being hijacked. That includes reporting suspicious links on friends’ pages and not clicking on links that offer deals that are too good to be true.”

Looks like the “Music Wars” are heating up… now Google is getting into the fray. What will this mean (ultimately) for Apple?

Google launches music service

“(Reuters) – Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company’s online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music – a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others – will limit the appeal of Google Music.

‘They’ve got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly,’ said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. ‘It’s a launch, but it’s kind of like a work-in-progress.’

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group; Sony Corp’s Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar’s Banquet label group, home to the year’s biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google’s revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world’s No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in ‘the cloud’ rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

‘Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems,’ he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a ‘free, full-play’ of songs purchased by their friends.

‘Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior,’ said Zahavah Levine, Google’s director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday’s event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.”

Now what to do with it? Ideas?

Dr. Bill Bailey.NET on Google +

Join me there! We’ll figure it our together! Dr. Bill Bailey.NET is the “company” (really just me) behind all the shows I do. Our netcasts (podcasts for the non-Leo Laporte fans) are: Dr. Bill.TV (the main show), VirtZine (The On-Line Magazine of Virtualization and Cloud Computing), Hand Held Hack, The Traditional Naturopath Podcast (audio only), The Word of Faith Netcast, and the Word of Faith Broadcast! Whew! I stay busy!

So… I am somewhat less “sociable” than some… I am struggling with it a bit… so, it may take a while to suss it all out!

I like Mint… it is not the distro I run on my own system, that is Ubuntu, but I am VERY impressed with Mint. This new version looks very cool. Time to play!

New Features in Linux Mint 12

“Linux Mint 12 comes with a brand new desktop, built with Gnome 3 and MGSE.

‘MGSE’ (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions) is a desktop layer on top of Gnome 3 that makes it possible for you to use Gnome 3 in a traditional way. You can disable all components within MGSE to get a pure Gnome 3 experience, or you can enable all of them to get a Gnome 3 desktop that is similar to what you’ve been using before. Of course you can also pick and only enable the components you like to design your own desktop.

The main features in MGSE are:

• The bottom panel
• The application menu
• The window list
• A task-centric desktop (i.e. you switch between windows, not applications)
• Visible system tray icons

MGSE also includes additional extensions such as a media player indicator, and multiple enhancements to Gnome 3.

The Linux Mint 12 desktop is a mix of old and new. It’s a brand new desktop but with traditional components. The new technology in Gnome 3 is exciting but the components contributed by MGSE make users feel at home. Linux Mint 12, like previous releases, and despite the fact that it’s based on Gnome 3, looks and behaves like a Mint desktop. You can launch applications from the bottom left, easily switch between applications and workspaces using the window list or keyboard shortcuts, keep an eye on your notifications at the top and access Gnome 3 features like “activities” from the top-left corner.

MATE

MATE is a fork of Gnome 2 which is compatible with Gnome 3. Thanks to MATE, you can run both versions of Gnome on the same system.

MATE is present on the DVD edition of Linux Mint 12. Users of the CD edition can install it via the mint-meta-mate package.

MATE is brand new, it’s not completely stable yet, and it’s missing a few parts. It’s being actively maintained and with close collaboration between the MATE developers and Linux Mint. With time the project will gain maturity and provide users with a traditional and solid desktop experience.

Eventually, MATE will be in every way identical to Gnome 2 and represent the future of traditional desktops within Linux.

In Linux Mint 12, both mintDesktop (in the RC) and mintMenu (in the stable release) are adapted and receive full support to work with MATE.

Artwork Improvements

Linux Mint 12 uses a new theme called Mint-Z which is based on Mint-X and Zukitwo.

Backgrounds: Like in the previous release, the default background shows a 3D scene featuring the Linux Mint logo. The original artwork comes from an artist called Gelsan. Additional quality backgrounds are also available, including fantastic photographs from India and the Yellowstone National Park.

Search Engines

Duck Duck Go: The new default search engine is Duck Duck Go. It doesn’t show different results depending on who’s making the search, it doesn’t track or record user information, it provides you with optmized results and it’s built on and contributes to Open Source.

Development of a new business model: Search engines will share with Linux Mint the revenue generated for them by Linux Mint users. Some search engines partnered with Linux Mint already and are present in Linux Mint 12.

Easy installation of other engines: The way you install search engines in Linux Mint 12 is radically different than in previous releases. Clear explanations and easy instructions are there for the user to understand how search engines help Linux Mint and to decide what to do. The installation of additional search engines is also now much easier than before.

Upstream Components

Linux Mint 12 features the following upstream components: Ubuntu 11.10, Linux 3.0, Gnome 3.2.”

Jeffery Powers had this on Google +

“For some, you have already celebrated. But I wish you all a Happy 00110001001100010010110100110001001100010010110100110001001100010010
00000011000100110001001110100011000100110001”

Binary. Very geeky!

Mashable says that, “One group of hackers has dubbed it ‘Nerd New Year.’ They’ll be lining the streets of Redwood City, in the heart of Silicon Valley, for an outdoor hackathon and party, including the countdown to Nerd New Year itself at 11:11 p.m. ‘It is ON,’ organizer Adam Rifkin told Patch. (That’s a binary joke, by the way.)”