Thursday, 24 July 2014

Android tablet market share hits 70% in Q2, iPads slip to 25%: Survey

7/24/2014 12:19:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Android tablet market share hits 70% in Q2, iPads slip to 25%: Survey

Android tablet sales rose 11% to 36.8 million in the March-June period, the Strategy Analytics survey found, and grabbed a 70% market share.

WASHINGTON: Global sales of tablets edged higher in the second quarter, in the slowest growth since 2009, research firm Strategy Analytics said Wednesday.

The research firm said global tablet shipments reached 52.9 million units, up just 6% from the same period a year ago.

Growth was led by devices using the Android operating system. Android tablet sales rose 11% to 36.8 million in the March-June period, the survey found, and grabbed a 70% market share.

Apple sales fell from a year earlier to 13.3 million, according to Strategy Analytics's figures which were above Apple's own report this week showing 12.3 million.

The research firm said Apple's market share slipped to 25% based on the latest decline.

Windows-powered tablets accounted for 5% of the market, with unit sales up some 28% at 2.7 million, the survey found.

"Android consolidation continued as it was the chosen OS (operating system) for seven out of 10 tablets shipped in the market," says Strategy Analytics researcher Peter King.

"Android is continuing to make steady progress due to the wide range of vendors and wide range of screen sizes and price-points."

Several analysts have said the tablet market has become saturated in many developed countries and that large-screen smartphones or "phablets" are often being used instead.

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Social networking's new twist: Get paid for posts

7/24/2014 11:57:00 am TECHNOLOGY No comments

Social networking's new twist: Get paid for posts

Bubblews, a social network that came out of out of an extended test phase last week, pays users for posts that attract traffic and advertisers.

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook and most other social networks are built on the premise that just about everything should be shared-except the money those posts produce.

At least two services are trying to change that. Bubblews, a social network that came out of out of an extended test phase last week, pays users for posts that attract traffic and advertisers. Another company, Bonzo Me, has been doing something similar since early July.

"I just feel like everyone on social networks has been taken advantage of for long enough," says Michael Nusbaum, a Morristown, New Jersey surgeon who created Bonzo Me. "Facebook has been making a ton of money, and the people providing the content aren't getting anything."

Bonzo Me is paying its users up to 80% of its ad revenue for the most popular posts.

Bubblews' compensation formula is more complex. It's based on the number of times that each post is clicked on or provokes some other kind of networking activity. To start, the payments are expected to translate into just a penny per view, comment or like. Bubblews plans to pay its users in $50 increments, meaning it could take a while for most users to qualify for their first paycheck unless they post material that that goes viral.

"No one should come to our site in anticipation of being able to quit their day job," Bubblews CEO Arvind Dixit says. "But we are trying to be fair with our users. Social networks don't have to be places where you feel like you're being exploited."

Bubblews is also trying to make its service worthwhile for users by encouraging deeper, thoughtful posts instead of musings about trifling subjects. To do that, it requires each post to span at least 400 characters, or roughly the opening two paragraphs of this story.

Technology analyst Rob Enderle believes Bubblews, or something like it, eventually will catch on.

"I don't think this free-content model is sustainable," Enderle says. "You can't sustain the quality of the product if you aren't paying people for the content that they are creating. And you can't pay your bills if all you are getting are `likes.'"

Gerry Kelly of San Francisco has already earned nearly $100 from Bubblews since he began using a test version in January. His Bubblews feed serves as a journal about the lessons he has learned in life, as well as a forum for his clothing brand, Sonas Denim.

Though Facebook is by far the largest social network, it has a history of irking users. People have complained when Facebook changed privacy settings in ways that exposed posts to a wider audience. They have criticized Facebook for circulating ads containing endorsements from users who didn't authorize the marketing messages.

More recently, people were upset over a 2012 experiment in which Facebook manipulated the accounts of about 700,000 users to analyze how their moods were affected by the emotional tenor of the posts flowing through their pages. Facebook apologized.

Kelly still regularly posts on his Facebook page to stay in touch with friends and family, but says he is more leery of the service.

"They just take all your information and make all the money for themselves. It's insane," Kelly says.

Despite the occasional uproar, Facebook has been thriving while feeding off the free content of its 1.3 billion users. The Menlo Park, California, company now has a market value of about $180 billion, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ranks among the world's wealthiest people with a fortune of about $30 billion, based on the latest estimates from Forbes magazine.

Advertisers, meanwhile, are pouring more money into social networks because that is where people are spending more time, particularly on smartphones. Facebook's share of the $140 billion worldwide market for digital ads this year is expected to climb to nearly 8%, or $11 billion, up from a market share of roughly 6%, or $7 billion last year, according to the research firm eMarketer.

Although it still isn't profitable, short-messaging service Twitter is also becoming a bigger advertising magnet, thanks largely to its 255 million users who also provide a steady flow of free content. Twitter's digital ad revenue this year is expected to rise to $1.1 billion, nearly doubling from $600 million last year, according to eMarketer.

Facebook and Twitter have become such important marketing tools that celebrities and other users with large social-media followings are being paid by advertisers to mention and promote products on their accounts.

Bubblews wants to make money, too, but it also wants to ensure that everyone using it gets at least a small slice of the advertising pie.

Dixit, 26, who started Bubblews with his college buddy Jason Zuccari, says the service got about 200,000 users during a "beta" test phase that began in September 2012. The service unveiled a redesigned website last week as it finally moved out of testing.

Bonzo Me is even smaller, with just a few thousand users since the release of apps for the Web, iPhones and Android devices in early July. The service has paid about $30,000 in ad revenue to users so far, according to Nusbaum.

Sandy Youssef of New Brunswick, New Jersey, likes being on Facebook, but she also intends to start posting video on Bonzo Me just in case she shares something that becomes a big hit.

"We are living in an age when the things you post on the internet can go viral, so you may as well get paid for it," she says. "It's time to spread the wealth.
"

Engineer: Dhoni's ploy of standing back to Jadeja baffling

7/24/2014 11:51:00 am CRICKET No comments

Engineer: Dhoni's ploy of standing back to Jadeja baffling

London: Former Indian wicket-keeping great Farokh Engineer has questioned skipperMahendra Singh Dhoni's ploy to stand back against spinner Ravindra Jadeja during the second Test at Lord's.

India won by 95 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series against England.

"Standing back to Ravindra Jadeja didn't make sense at all," said Engineer.

"I just couldn't fathom why he was doing so. There were times when the other fielder behind the wickets, Virat Kohli, was standing next to Dhoni and it looked like there were two wicket-keepers in there. I have never seen anything like this in international cricket. It was baffling and mind boggling. He is a far better wicketkeeper than he showed at Lord's."

After the match, Dhoni had gone on to explain this particular ploy.

"Actually I wanted to have a fielder there (behind the wicket on leg-side). But according to the rules, you can't have three fielders there. So I wanted Virat to stand slightly wide from where he was standing because anything like a snick or a faint edge on the leg side would have gone between me and him. So the plan was to stand behind and cover that," he had said.

The game has really changed in the current scenario and it is more about what suits you at this point of time," he had added, when asked if this move was in sync with proper wicket-keeping.

Clearly, Engineer, one of the classic-era wicketkeepers, counted amongst one of India's best behind the stumps, didn't really appreciate it.

"I am a huge fan of Dhoni. He reminds me of my own playing days, my own cricket," said Engineer.

"But that reasoning is not valid. What would he have done if he was keeping to Bhagwath Chandrasekhar who used to give the ball a rip without too much rough on the wickets? Thank God he never kept to that legendary leg-spinner."

"Of course there was rough at Lord's pitch, have you ever seen a pitch without some rough areas on day four and five. But was it a lack of confidence that he couldn't stand up to stumps and catch them? In fact if I compare from the 2011 series, he has really improve his wicket-keeping skills.

"So this standing back to the spinner was absolutely unnecessary in what was otherwise a magnificent win," he added.

Indeed, for India won their first-ever Test at Lord's since 1986. It was only their second win ever in 17 attempts at this hallowed ground. In fact India have only won six Tests out of 54 matches played in England since they first toured in 1932.

For someone who was part of the historic 1971 side that won its first-ever Test and then the first-ever series victory in England, Engineer knows how rare Test victories are in this country for any Indian team.

"It was a really happy day for Indian cricket," said the rank old-timer about a young Indian team's triumph at Lord's.

"Dhoni has been a fantastic captain over the years. He is India's most successful captain and he is doing a wonderful job leading this young Indian team. I have been very impressed with Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Murali Vijay so far on tour."

"All cards were in England's favour since this Test match began. Right from the time they won the toss and inserted India on a green-top wicket. And then they just failed to take advantage.

"Ajinkya Rahane played a marvellous knock at Lord's. It doesn't get better than that innings. He was supported well by the tail-enders and that was the difference between the two sides. India fought back valiantly in that first innings," he added.

Needless to say, England are in trouble. They haven't won a single Test in the last ten matches played, home or away. Their captain and leading century-maker in the longest format is struggling to score runs. Their senior batsmen aren't scoring runs either. Matt Priorhas excused himself and there is a threat of suspension hanging over James Anderson.

"England are very much in trouble. It is a total mess at the moment. They need to change their captain. They need to regroup. They need to select players who can perform in the next Test and the two after that.

"It is a long series. Soon they will be considering rest of their over-worked bowlers and Stuart Broad might need some rest as well (on account of his knee injuries). It is a total mess at the moment," he said.

"And Virat Kohli hasn't even fired yet. If he starts scoring, he will just pile up the pressure on the England team. Anyone would rather be in the Indian camp at the moment," he signed off.

Intel Launches New Core i7, Core i5, Pentium and Celeron Laptop CPUs

7/23/2014 12:31:00 pm TECHNOLOGY 1 comment

Intel Launches New Core i7, Core i5, Pentium and Celeron Laptop CPUs

Intel has introduced new CPUs for laptops based on its mainstream Haswell and low-power Bay Trail architectures. The new chips are updates to existing products in Intel's lineup, and bring slight speed improvements at the same prices as the models they supersede.

The move is in line with Intel's recent refresh of the desktop Haswell range. While these are not brand new chips based on a new architecture, they represent improvements in Intel's fabrication processes since the initial launch of processors based on Haswell and Bay Trail.

According to CPU World, there are three new processors branded Celeron and one new Pentium at the low end. The Celeron N2808 and N2840 have two cores with 1MB L2 caches, while the Celeron 2940 and Pentium N33540 feature four cores with 2MB L2 caches. All four lack Hyper Threading and are rated with 7.5W TDPs except for the Celeron N2808 which has a much lower 4.3W TDP rating.

Three new Core i5 models and four new Core i7 models have also been introduced. The Core i5-4278U and i5-4308U as well as the Core i7-4578U are low-voltage dual-core U-series parts with 28W TDP ratings and Intel's Iris 5100 integrated graphics. The three H-series i7 models - 4770HQ, 4870HQ and 4980HQ are quad-core parts with Intel's Iris Pro 5200 integrated graphics and a more standard 47W rating. The lowest-end Core i5-4210H has two cores and a 47W TDP rating but makes do with Intel's less capable HD 4600 graphics.

All seven i5 and i7 CPUs feature Hyper Threading, which allows each core to run up to two threads at a time for up to eight simultaneous threads on the quad-core SKUs.

OEM tray prices range from $107 (approximately Rs. 6,435) for the Celeron N2808 to $623 (approximately Rs. 367,467) for the Core i7-4980HQ.

Asus ZenFone 4 A400CG vs. Motorola Moto E: Budget Battle

7/23/2014 12:24:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Asus ZenFone 4 A400CG vs. Motorola Moto E: Budget Battle

Asus launched the ZenFone 4 in India on Wednesday, priced at Rs. 5,999 for the 4-inch variant (A400CG). We decided to compare it to its closest competitor in the Indian market, the Moto E (Rs. 6,999), which has a very similar feature set.

Comparing the Asus ZenFone 4 A400CG and the popular Motorola Moto E, we see the Moto E has a slightly larger display (4.3-inch) and a slightly better resolution (540x960 pixels), and this also means the pixel density of the ZenFone 4's display is lower (233ppi vs the Moto E's 256ppi).

The Asus ZenFone 4 A400CG and Motorola Moto E are both dual-SIM devices, and both feature slots for Micro-SIM cards. Both the phones feature 1.2GHz dual-core SoCs, with ZenFone 4's Intel-based chipset providing 4 threads, compared to the 2 threads the Snapdragon 200 onboard the Moto E offers. Both feature 1GB of RAM.

While on paper this might mean the ZenFone 4 comes out ahead in terms of the chipset, we'll have to compare benchmark scores once the device comes in for review to see if it actually performs better than the Moto E.

The ZenFone 4 also features more inbuilt storage at 8GB, compared to the Moto E's 4GB. Notably, the Zenfone 4 offers microSD expandability up to 64GB, unlike the Moto E, which allows for a maximum of 32GB.

Another bone of contention, is the Android version onboard. The ZenFone 4 ships with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, with a promised Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade (but no timeline provided). The Motorola Moto E on the other hand, comes with Android 4.4 out-of-the-box, and has already received an update to Android 4.4.4 KitKat, and may just be in line for the Android L update.

An important point of consideration, with the prevalence of selfies and video-calling, is the front-facing camera, and the ZenFone here comes out on top, featuring a 0.3-megapixel offering, while the Moto E has does not have one. Both phones feature 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.

In terms of connectivity options, both the Asus ZenFone 4 and Motorola Moto E are nearly identical, however, a big difference is the lack of FM radio connectivity on the ZenFone 4. This is an important feature for a country like India, where with the lack of widespread data connectivity, users look to radio airwaves for their news and entertainment. The Moto E has this feature.

Coming to the battery, the Moto E is the clear winner, featuring a 1980mAh battery compared to the Asus ZenFone 4's 1600mAh battery. Another small difference is the lack of an ambient light sensor on the ZenFone 4, or at least, the lack of a listing of the same. The Moto E does have the feature.

Another really minor difference is lack of colour options on the Moto E, which only comes in Black and White variants, while the ZenFone 4 comes in Black, White, Red, Gold and Blue. Of course, the Moto E does come with the option of interchangeable back covers, however, these are relatively expensive, currently retailing for Rs. 660 on Flipkart.

Asus ZenFone 4 A400CG

Display

4.00-inch

Processor

1.2GHz

Front Camera

0.3-megapixel

Resolution

480x800 pixels

RAM

1GB

OS

Android 4.3

Storage

8GB

Rear Camera

5-megapixel

Battery capacity

1600mAh

See full Asus ZenFone 4 A400CG specifications

Motorola Moto E

Rs. 6999

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery life
Camera
Value for money

Good
Superb pricing
Great performance
Premium looks

Bad
Bad camera
Average battery life

Read detailed Motorola Moto E review

Lenovo S850 With Android 4.4 KitKat Launched at Rs. 15,499

7/23/2014 12:17:00 pm TECHNOLOGY 1 comment

Lenovo S850 With Android 4.4 KitKat Launched at Rs. 15,499

Lenovo, expanding its S-series of mid-range Android smartphones, has launched the S850 for the Indian market at Rs. 15,499. The company has announced that the latest Lenovo S850 will be hitting market shelves by the end of this month.

Notably, the smartphone is now up for pre-order at the company's official The Do Store at a discounted price of Rs. 15,299 and a shipping date of July 28.

The Lenovo S850 was globally unveiled at MWC this year, alongside the Lenovo S660 (Review |Pictures) which was launched earlier this year in India at Rs. 13,999, and the Lenovo S860 which wasunveiled recently at Rs. 21,500.

According to the company, the S850 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat out-of-the-box; however, the company's official site still lists the smartphone running the dated Android 4.2. It supports dual-SIM (Micro-SIM) functionality and notably, 3G connectivity is supported for both SIMs.

(Also see: Lenovo S850 vs. Lenovo S860)

The smartphone comes with a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display and boasts an all-glass exterior. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek (MT6582) processor along with 1GB of RAM. It sports a 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera and also packs a 5-megapixel fixed focus front-facing camera. The smartphone includes 16GB of inbuilt storage, with no word on expandable storage support. Apart from 3G, the S850 includes Wi-Fi, GPRS/ EDGE, Bluetooth and Micro-USB connectivity options.

The S850 packs a 2000mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 336 hours of standby time, and 13 hours of talk time. The smartphone comes preloaded with apps such as SECUREit, which is security software; SHAREit that offers phone-to-phone data transfer without Wi-Fi or mobile network, and SYNCit, offers permanent backup of all data the device.

Commenting on the launch of Lenovo S850, Sudhin Mathur, Director, Smartphones, Lenovo India said, "As smartphones become more mainstream, consumers expect intuitive and fast products from all premium brands. The need is to go beyond the expected and provide extraordinary design that reflects their personality. Launched at MWC early this year, the Lenovo S850 has been widely-recognised as a stylish and a powerful device that signifies Lenovo's best in-class design."

Mobiles launched in July 2014