Wed August 04 2004
Symbian Grabs Bigger Market Share |
04:48 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones According to latest research figures published in WSJ, Symbian (consortium backed by Nokia) has widened its lead against Microsoft in the race to dominate the global market for software used in high-end handsets: "Software supplied by Symbian controlled 41% of the personal organizers and smart phones shipped world-wide in the second quarter, compared with 37% in the same quarter a year ago, according to research firm canalys.com Ltd., of Reading, England. A smart phone is a cellphone that can run computer-style programs, such as three-dimensional videogames or spreadsheets. The research figures show that Microsoft's share remained steady at 23%, while the share of PalmSource Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., fell to 23% from 31%." |
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Tue August 03 2004
New version of ubook available (0.8o) |
08:48 PM by cbarnett in E-Book Software | Reading and Management The latest version of ubook (IMHO the best book reading software for the PPC) is now abvailable at http://www.gowerpoint.com/uBook_down_nf.html The latest version (0.8o) has the following changes: - Added new default Simpler BookStart.usk skin. ubook is available for PPC and windows 95 (or better) OS. Craig. |
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Wireless LAN Sales to Jump 20% in 2004 |
10:47 AM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones According to a newly published report, Dell'Oro Group predicts that sales of wireless LAN products will grow 20 percent in 2004 to $2.1 billion. According to the Dell'Oro Group report, enterprise-class access point shipments are forecast to increase dramatically by 75 percent in 2004, growing at an average annual rate of 47 percent through 2008. In contrast, small office / home office (SOHO) products such as access points, gateways, and network interface cards, are forecast to peak in the near term as users opt for DSL and cable modems with embedded wireless LAN and notebook computers with integrated wireless LAN. "Until recently, corporations have been reluctant to adopt wireless LANs, primarily because of security concerns," commented Greg Collins, Senior Director of wireless LAN research at Dell'Oro Group. "Now with the improvements in management, encryption, and user authentication, wireless LAN will penetrate larger corporations because the technology improves productivity by allowing users to connect to the network from anywhere." The result of this study is in line with predictions made by other research houses. For instance, as we reported earlier, Yankee Group predicts that about 27% of the world's population will use wireless services by 2007! |
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Mon August 02 2004
the dark side gets cheaper: Dell Axim X5 for $100 |
02:56 PM by ignatz in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones [From Ben's Bargains] |
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Thu July 29 2004
gizmodo: how can ebooks compete? |
04:37 PM by ignatz in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No... Gizmodo has a good article on what it will take to get wide adoption of ebooks. It's well thought out, though I don't completely agree with all his points. The author focuses on devices that are designed solely for ebooks. All those folks reading on their PDAs (like us) go unmentioned, which I found odd. Still, worthwhile reading... [Link from Slashdot] |
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Wed July 28 2004
Embedded Software Market: Linux vs. Microsoft |
06:05 PM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Lounge Linuxdevices.com has a great article which they're calling the "Great Embedded Device Smack-Down", to see whether Linux or Windows Embedded powers the best and coolest devices. The Smack-Down highlights more than 350 gadgets in nine categories running either Linux or Windows. So far, the two are having a close run. Which one do you think will be the winner, and more importantly, why? |
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Sony NW-HD1 - Sony's iPod Killer? |
05:49 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Portable Audio/Video According to WSJ, Sony's new digital walkman could (not) be the new iPod Killer. The NW-HD1 is a sleek, slim, silvery, magnesium-clad gadget inelegantly called the "Network Walkman NW-HD1," which holds 20 gigabytes of music and is set to go on sale in mid-August for $399. Sony plans a massive ad campaign to back the new Walkman, and to try and revive the once grand, but now faded, Walkman brand.. So far so good. But the reviewer goes on: While the new Sony is smaller than the iPod and has much better battery life, it is markedly inferior overall. It has a confusing, complex user interface that makes it hard to use; weak software for the PC; an oddball music format [yes, it CANNOT play MP3s or any of the other standard formats!] that makes loading it with songs tedious; and a companion music download service that offers less than Apple's. The iPod wins this round, and remains champion. At least, the Sony is a bit smaller and lighter (3.8 ounces vs. 5.6 ounce) and has a better battery life (27-22hrs play compared to iPod's 12 hrs). |
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Worldwide PDA market slump continues |
02:58 AM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge Besieged by competition from mobile telephones and other wireless devices, worldwide shipments of handheld computing devices declined 2.2 percent to 2.20 million in the second quarter of 2004, down from 2.27 million units during the same quarter in 2003, according to research from industry firm IDC. The market for handheld devices has been in decline since 2001, hurt by a general slump in technology purchasing, competition from wireless devices that perform PDA functions, and by a lack of new applications, said David Linsalata, an analyst with IDC, based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Interestingly, while Sony dropped out completely, and PalmOne sold 0.6% fewer devices (924,000 devices) in the second quarter of 2004 (compared to 2003), PPC-based HP saw its shipments increase by 39.2 percent (530,000 devices) year-over-year. |
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