Category Archives: Competitors

Oct
31
2012
29
comments
 

Wrong, Amazon: iPad Mini Has Stereo Speakers

Posted by at 12:38 pm

Although it is certainly not the most important feature of the iPad mini, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller has made sure to debunk Amazon’s Kindle Fire comparison advertisement that lists the iPad mini as having mono speakers. Schiller, in response to a question emailed by a customer, said that “it is stereo” when asked if the iPad mini has mono or stereo speakers.

Amazon had attempted to advertise the Kindle Fire HD as having dual stereo speakers over the iPad mini’s so-called mono speaker, however that comparison now appears to be false. Amazon has since pulled the ad from its website, replacing it with a new spot that promotes the all-new Kindle family, consisting of the Kindle Paperwite, Kindle Fire HD and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD.  (more…)

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Oct
30
2012
20
comments
 

Microsoft Has Sold 4 Million Copies of Windows 8

Posted by at 12:00 pm

Microsoft Has Sold 4 Million Copies of Windows 8

Alex Wilhelm for The Next Web writes:

Microsoft has sold 4 million upgrades for Windows 8 in the last three days, the company announced this morning during its Build 2012 conference.

According to the its CEO, Steve Ballmer, enthusiasm is “very high” for the product. This figure includes both individual purchases, and those units sold to stores that they expect to sell.

Microsoft adds that it has also sold “tens of millions” of copies of Windows 8, a $39.99 upgrade, to its manufacturing partners.

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Oct
29
2012
19
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Introducing Windows Phone 8

Posted by at 12:32 pm

Microsoft today released its new Windows Phone 8 platform for smartphones, partnering with Nokia, Samsung and HTC to offer a lineup of flagship handsets powered by the tile-based operating system. AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile will begin carrying Windows Phone 8 devices in November in the United States, the same time when numerous carriers and retailers will begin to sell the smartphones across the world.

Windows Phone 8 brings a number of features with it, most notably Live Tiles. Unlike traditional grid home screens, like the iPhone has, Live Tiles allows you to choose from different sized and colored tiles and organize them how you please. The home screen can be rearranged on Windows Phone 8, allowing you to pin favorite people, music, games, photos and more. And with live apps, information is brought right to the home screen.  (more…)

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Oct
29
2012
68
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Google Introduces Nexus 4, Nexus 7 with Cellular Data and Nexus 10

Posted by at 11:39 am

Although it had to cancel its special media event today in New York City due to an approaching hurricane in the region, Google today went ahead with announcing three new Nexus devices alongside the Android 4.2 update on its official blog. The new devices include the Nexus 4, the thin and light Nexus 7 with cellular data and the powerful Nexus 10 flagship handset.

The Nexus 4 features a quad-core processor, 4.7-inch display with 320 pixels-per-inch, wireless charging and more, while the Nexus 7 will now be available in a 32 GB model with Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi plus cellular data over HSPA+ networks. Last, the Nexus 10 is Google’s new flagship tablet with the highest resolution screen ever, sporting a 10.055-inch display at 2,560 x 1,600 pixels — that’s a remarkable 300 pixels-per-inch and over 4 million pixels altogether.  (more…)

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Oct
29
2012
25
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Perpetually Incomplete: Microsoft’s Greatest Weakness

Posted by at 7:30 am

Last week marked a turning point for Microsoft. Finally, after three years, the Redmond juggernaut has a direct, plausible answer to the iPad. At the head of this newly-declared war on Apple is the Surface running Windows RT. In many ways, the Surface has been well-reviewed. People generally like the construction, and find the Metro interface to be an interesting departure from the well-trodden UI of iOS and the iPad. They also find the innovative Type Cover to be a brilliant way to turn a tablet from a consumption-only machine in to something that can legitimately produce content.

But there’s something that all of these reviews agree upon. Windows RT is not complete. Whether it’s the lackluster performance experienced when diving in to the third-party apps, the laggy transitions when rotating the tablet, or the odd way swiping gestures that enact the Charms Bar, Microsoft’s Windows RT was widely reviewed as showing promise, but not quite finished.

This perpetual state of incompleteness is the largest issue currently plaguing Microsoft’s products. (more…)

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Oct
29
2012
35
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Amazon Confident About Kindle Fire in Light of the iPad Mini

Posted by at 6:30 am

With the full details of the iPad mini now known to the public, Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener told AllThingsD that “Wednesday was the $199 Kindle Fire HD’s biggest day of sales since launch and up 3x week over week,” and that the company is still very confident in their updated Kindle Fire lineup’s ability to compete with Apple’s smaller iPad.

Given the iPad mini’s relatively high starting price of $329, budget-conscious tablet consumers may indeed look to Amazon’s recently-refreshed Kindle Fire HD lineup, which starts at $199. Amazon’s tablet offerings feature some high-end specs, such as an “HD” display, dual-band WiFi, and a powerful processor. In many ways, the iPad mini and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD are on equal footing. Apple is relying on its vast library of iOS apps to help push the higher-priced mini over Amazon’s offering. Amazon, in turn, is relying on its subscription “Amazon Prime” service to offset the low price of the Kindle Fire hardware.

For the first time since the second-generation of tablets launched with the iPad, there is serious competition from nearly all sides in nearly all sizes – the holidays should make for an interesting battleground as juggernauts such as Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft make massive moves against each other.

Update: Seeing this hole, Amazon has pounced on Apple – hard. Amazon’s homepage, starting today, displays the following image, which depicts a direct comparison to Apple’s iPad mini. Props to Amazon for not holding back – serious competition, indeed. (more…)

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Oct
27
2012
60
comments
 

Marco Arment: “The Surface is For Microsoft’s World of Denial”

Posted by at 10:14 pm

Marco Arment: “The Surface is For Microsoft’s World of Denial”

On his way to the Apple Store on Friday, Instapaper creator Marco Arment stopped by the Microsoft Store during the launch of its Surface tablet with Windows RT. Here is Arment’s lasting impression:

The Surface is partially for Microsoft’s world of denial: the world in which this store contains no elephants and Microsoft invented the silver store with the glass front and the glowing logo and blue shirts and white lanyards and these table layouts and the modern tablet and its magnetic power cable. In that world, this is a groundbreaking new tablet that you can finally use at work and leave your big creaky plastic Dell laptop behind when you go to the conference room to have a conference call on the starfish phone with all of the wires and dysfunctional communication.

I definitely recommend reading the entire article. The part where Arment drills the Microsoft salesman with questions about the Surface tablet is hilarious.

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Oct
27
2012
47
comments
 

Google’s Nexus Event Canceled Due to Hurricane Sandy

Posted by at 11:34 am

 

Looking forward to some interesting new Android flagship devices? Looks as if the playground is closed, and Google’s announcements will have to take place at a later date.

Google had previously scheduled an event for October 29th (this coming Monday) in New York City.

Google has notified the press that their event has been canceled due to their venue being inside the evacuation zone. They also say that they will update the press as soon as they have details on another event. So, hopefully fans of Android and the Nexus line won’t have long to wait to see what Google has up its sleeve.

On a related note to anyone in the storm’s path, be safe!

[Android Central]

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Oct
26
2012
2
comments
 

Amazon Posts Quarterly Results

Posted by at 12:45 pm

Amazon Posts Quarterly Results

Amazon yesterday posted their quarterly results, and they also missed expectations set by Wall Street. However, Amazon also didn’t turn a profit, posting losses of $274 million. This is likely due to increased costs on the R&D side to create new devices, as well as costs incurred while trying to purchase the rights to music, movies, and books that can be accessed via Amazon’s growing tablet base. In other words, this likely isn’t an accurate look in to how Amazon’s model of selling devices at cost, and then trying to make money off of content sales is panning out. For that, the public will likely have to wait at least a year.

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Oct
26
2012
36
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Samsung Airs Provocative TV Ad For Galaxy S III

Posted by at 11:00 am

Samsung has released a new TV advertisement for its flagship Galaxy S III that, like several other of its ads, promotes the handset’s S Beam feature. S Beam uses NFC technology to enable two Samsung devices to share videos and other files by tapping them against each other momentarily. However, this latest advertisement in particular is quite different than the rest. In fact, it’s quite provocative.

The ad starts out with a man saying goodbye to his wife and two young daughters as he gets into a taxi. The daughters stop their father before he leaves and tell him that they made a video that they would like him to watch on the airplane. The wife then adds that she has her own video that she would like to share with her husband, although she suggests that he not watch it on the airplane and raises an eyebrow at the same time. Sex sells, after all. Video is after the break.  (more…)

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