A Credit Suisse report states that, Netbooks, or low-cost laptops would significantly contribute to the high sales of personal computers (PCs – both desktops and laptops).
According to the report, over the next three to five years, these cheap laptops and netbooks could add 170-250 million units globally to the current figure of around 300 million units. Infact, Netbooks sales, alone, could be 25 million units in 2009.
The report highlights the fact that the sale of handsets in countries like India shed light on the fact that volumes increase when infrastructure and device affordability improve.
The new small-form factor, better affordability, better design, and most importantly improving data connectivity and changing consumer attitude towards connectedness and internet communities would mean that a truly mobile PC will become more of a personal device.
In India, low-cost PCs are finding takers and the numbers say it all. For the first quarter of 2009, the total netbook unit shipment touched 35,000 units, according to research firm Gartner. This is not all; vendors are also improving this category by introducing better features.
Information about Microsoft’s new hardware is doing the rounds. The new hardware is dubbed Zune HD. Apple had earlier removed the wheel from iPodand introduced touchscreen iPod Touch and likewise Microsoft has removed the round wheel from Zune and is set to launch Microsoft Zune HD, equipped with a thick click button.
Microsoft Zune HD promises HD quality videos on Microsoft’s portable media player. But for a human eye to take notice of the difference between 720p and 1080p video on 3.5-inch screen is quite daunting. Microsoft Zune HD will have a camera that allows shooting videos in HD with enhanced storage of about 32GB or 64GB.
The price of the Zune HD would be higher than 2nd Generation iPod Touch, which costs around Rs. 21,000. But confirmation regarding the images of Zune HD is yet to be received from Microsoft.
Turkish operator Avea will introduce high-speed mobilebroadband services to its more than 12 million subscribers with the help of WCDMA/HSPA and mobile backhaul technology from Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC). The companies have signed a four-year contract for HSPA-enabled network.
Under the agreement, Ericssonwill be one of the main suppliers and will integrate and deploy WCDMA/HSPA radio access and packet core networks, as well as a complete mobile-backhaul solution based on microwave transmission and optical transport.
The new HSPA-enabled network will ensuremobile broadbandwithout bottlenecks, allowing Avea to offer innovative multimedia services and high-speed mobile internet access. Additionally, Ericsson will expand and upgrade the speed and capacity of Avea’s existing GSM network.
Acer plans to launch 10 Tempo-series smartphones as well as the entry-level L1 and C1 series 3G lineups in 2009, according to company and industry sources.Taiwan-based handset maker Arima communication has landed orders for four Tempo smartphones – the Acer M900, F900, X960 and DX900, which Acer is exhibiting at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC), said market sources.
The first four Tempo-family lineup, to be available starting March-April, are powered by 3G solutions from ST-Ericsson and run on Windows Mobile OS (operating system), the sources indicated. Acer plans to roll out the entry-level L1 and C1 smartphones in the second half of 2009 and the company will outsource the production of the L1 and C1 lineups to another Taiwan handset maker CompalCommunications, the sources said.
The L1 and C1 smartphones will be built with 3G solutions from Qualcomm instead of ST-Ericsson, and those entry-level smartphones are likely to come with a price tag below 50 euro, the sources projected.
Motorola is working on a low-end clamshell called W530. Apparently, the new device will be sold in the ever growing Chinese market and will sport such things as quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio, 220×176 pixels internal screen, 1.3 megapixel camera, an FM radio, 20MB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot.
Samsung plans to strengthen its CDMA market segment as it launches stylish and advanced MPower series M569 and M309 CDMA phones in India. This latest series of CDMA phones will be launched through Samsung’s distributors like SSK in Western Region and Bright point for the rest of the country. These stylish phones can inter operate on Reliance Mobile, Tata Indicom and Virgin Mobile. On changing the SIM card, these phones easily adapt to the network settings of the respective service provider.
The multimedia enabled M569 packs in a 2.1-inch Colour LCD screen, 2MP camera, FM Recording on Micro SD Card, expandable memory up to 4GB, Bluetooth with Stereo Headset function, Equalizer and Surround Sound, video recording, MMS support and document viewer. This phone carries a price tag worth Rs 9,900.
The Samsung MPower 309 bundles up a 1.9″ TFT screen, 1.3 MP camera, Bluetooth enabled with Stereo headset function, MicroSD card support upto 4GB, video recording and MMS support. You can purchase it for Rs. 6,300.
Verizon BlackBerry9530 Storm all set for launch on November 24. As the company’s first touchscreen BlackBerry handset, the BlackBerry Storm 9530 boasts a new kind of touchscreen that actually “clicks.”
Rather than relying solely on resistive (pressure-based, “squishy” touchscreens) or capacitance (touch-based, “hard” touchscreens) touchscreen technology, RIM has endowed their new touchy-feely BlackBerry Storm with a touchscreen display capable of “clicking” like a mouse button. BlackBerry Storm users will have the distinction of not only owning the first touchscreen BlackBerry smartphone but will also be among the first to give the “clickable” touchscreen a whirl.
Asus is currently working on releasing a new range of notebooks next year which will feature a touch panel. This notebook is said to take advantage of the upcoming Windows 7 operating system as well, and this could very well be true considering the Taiwanese company has already paraded a couple of touch panels at this year’s Computex.
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