Tablet Sales Rise Again

No matter where you look today, somebody is using a tablet.  Some are using them to read books, some to surf the web, many to play games.  Now and again you might find somebody trying to do some work.

The work capability is the elephant in the boardroom problem - outside of Microsoft tablets, you can't do real work on a tablet.  You can draft a blog, perhaps, but it's not an easy write.  Not if you're used to typing on a keyboard and formatting your text.  Writing a report or a novel - well I do both on a regular basis, but I'd rather not attempt it on my Nexus 7, thank you very much.  I've looked at the word processors available on the Play store and I'm totally underwhelmed at the free options and quite cautious about the paid for variants.   I may be judging software I haven't tried, but I don't have money to throw around on unproven products and I've yet to find a product listing that convinces me.

And what is it about printing?  Apple try to pretend you can print from the iPad and  we did manage to print something once using the AirPrint software, but we've really struggled since.  Checking out the Nexus 7 on-line manual, searching for 'print' returned zero results.  I don't doubt someone will have developed an App for it, like the multiple Apps we bought for the iPad that didn't work.

But, despite the lack of business tools for any of the tablets (apart from the Microsoft products) tablet sales are booming.  The increase in sales over the last quarter compared to the same quarter last year is more than 140% and we bought more tablets in the last quarter than we did in the first half of 2012.  It seems a love affair destined to run and run.  At least that's what I think.

Mind you, the boss of Blackberry, Thorsten Heins, thinks tablets are a flash in the pan and gives them five years.  He may be right, but he hasn't proposed what will fill the space they occupy - I doubt it will be Blackberrys.  He does point out that tablets are not good business options - it's all work, work, work with Blackberry I guess - but he neatly sidestepped the Microsoft option, much as I did at the top of this posting.

Microsoft have seen some growth in the tablet market - nowhere near as much as they hoped, I'd wager.  Compared to Apple, which saw record sales in the last quarter with over 19 million tablets, Microsoft were sub 1 million.  The total sales over the quarter were over 49 million tablets, so Apple are seeing their total market share shrink while their total sales increase.  That must make interesting conversations over the water cooler at Apple - are we doing well or are we doing badly?  It's a bit like my conundrum at work.  Last year the boss said I had a thin chance of a pay rise, now he tells me I've a fat chance and I don't know if things are getting better or worse.

Microsoft, I suspect, are going to push aggressively on price and features - you know, Office software and the ability to print plus the chance to join Microsoft networks effortlessly - well for models above the Surface range anyway - they're not Exchange compatible.  But now that Apple have shown that tablet computing is a viable way forward, it only takes a handful of people using tablets to write a few reports that  don't look like they've been drafted on Facebook and Microsoft might be looking at more than the odd million sales a quarter.  Maybe they'll stop showing adverts showing college kids discovering the mystery of magnets and actually show real people, with real jobs, using their tablets to do the kind of stuff that iPads can't.

And Thorsten Heins - I can't help wondering if that's his porn star name or his real one - will have to get used to the idea that people will have business tablets that will let them access their business emails on the move in a package that is small enough to be portable yet big enough to do meaningful work on.  It will unchain the office PC in a way that laptops don't, and that should be a frighting prospect for Blackberry, because once you've done that, what have they got to offer other than as an over-specified mobile phone?

I guess that's another interesting conversation over the water cooler.

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All Charged Up

One of the side effects of the modern world is the increasing amount of mobile products we have to keep charged up - every night in our household we charge an iPhone, a HTC android phone, an iPad and a Google Nexus 7.  Luckily for us, I built a long breakfast bar and had an electrician festoon it with sockets a couple of years ago - before we went tablet and smart phone crazy we didn't have any outlets that side of the kitchen.

Of course, when we go travelling on holiday we have to take four separate chargers and often take a multi-socket extension lead with us as most hotels and guest houses don't have four spare sockets in the rooms we stay in.  Travel outside of the UK and we have to include US or European power adaptors as well - that's where the extension cable comes in - one adaptor for four  devices.

But the rats' nest of trailing cables strung across the breakfast bar is unsightly and when travelling - well, forget one of the power adaptors then expect a lot of wrath!  There has to be a better solution.

Well, we've been reading about remote charging a lot lately.  It would appear that many of the next generation of smart phones and tablets are going to be built with remote charging capabilities,  so that you can wander into your nearest favourite coffee shop and charge your phone and tablet for free while it's lying on the table.  Except unless you are with an engaging partner, then you're likely to be surfing the internet on the free WiFi while supping your over-priced latte - did I say the charging was free?  To take maximum advantage of this new style of charging you might as well build a remote charger into your breakfast bar so that you can charge your devices overnight while you sleep.

Except I don't know yet if these devices will charge four devices concurrently and even if they do, how much they will cost.

More importantly, there's at least two competing and incompatible systems being primed for launch right now.  Choose the wrong coffee shop and you might as well surf the internet, no matter how engaging your partner is.  And what's the betting that Google, HTC and Apple will fail to agree on a common standard between them.  Plus, and this is getting real negative now, there's the issue about legacy hardware - I'm not planning on changing my phone anytime soon, and even when we upgrade our phones and tablets I'm sure the old devices will have some uses at home.

In short, plugging your smart phone and tablet overnight isn't going away in a rush.  Is there a solution to the spaghetti nest of cables in the kitchen?  Well, at least one British company thinks there is.  Cambrionix, a Cambridge based electronics company, has developed a solution that should be hitting the shelves real soon. I stumbled across them at their stand at the Gadget Show Live, at the National Exhibition Centre this week.

Their solution is a smart USB hub of eight outlets.  Unlike a normal hub, this one contains a trick circuit.  You see, take a look on your smart phone and tablet chargers and you'll notice that they are multi voltage and multi frequency - Europe and the US having settled on different values for both parameters a long time ago - and critically they will all draw different amounts of current.  Plug your smart phone into your tablet charger via the identical USB lead and you might not have a problem, or perhaps your device won't charge fully.  Worst case scenario is that acrid smell of electronic circuits melting.  I'm not an electronics engineer so I'm not placed to suggest how likely the last scenario is, but we've fried at least one mobile phone by using the wrong charger in our house before.

Cambrionix's circuits are intelligent enough to work out the correct charging values for any device attached to it - I don't know how hard or easy that is to do - did I mention I'm not an electronics engineer?  I'm guessing it's pretty tricky.  Their unit will connect up to four smart phones and four tablet computers concurrently - the  tablets are the limiting factor, apparently.  It should be enough for most households, but just in case there's a decidedly industrial 16 port model in their range.

The plus points are obvious - one socket to charge all of your phones and tablets; no need to worry about connecting the wrong device up to the wrong USB, no need to take multiple chargers on holiday.  Additionally, there's a safety angle that isn't immediately apparent - not at home, but in the workplace.  If you run a business and allow your staff to charge their personal mobile phones and tablets in work, then how do you control the safety of those devices?  Your insurance company probably expects you to take reasonable steps to ensure all electrical devices are safe to use in the company and the normal control measures are to have all electrical items tested for electrical safety periodically - sometimes referred to as Portable Appliance Testing (PAT).  Your office equipment probably undergoes suitable periodic PAT testing (yes, I know the 'testing' is redundant, but it's conventional to mangle the English language when using this acronym)- but the  phone chargers belonging to your staff?  One of these devices in the office would obviate the need for staff to bring their own phone chargers in and could be used for legitimate office purposes too.

The downside?  Well, Cambrionix are pricing this item at £179 each, which is steep for a domestic charger.  And that's a special pre-order price linked to the Gadget Show, apparently.  Perhaps a business might feel that such a premium is acceptable to demonstrate due diligence.  I suspect that domestic users will baulk at the price, however this is likely to be cheaper than a remote charger for under the breakfast bar, suitable for up to four or more devices - I've just remembered my Kindle as well.  It's certainly cheaper than replacing your iPad and most smart phones.  If you travel a lot internationally, it may also be worth considering.

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Apple case weakens

The rumbling court battle between Apple and, well anyone prepared to make a mobile phone or a tablet computer but mainly Samsung right now has hit a new stumbling block.

It's not the first stumbling block since Apple were awarded a paltry $1 billion in damages for alleged patent infringements  but it is a significant one.  You see, the basis of the argument is that Samsung infringed six specific patents.  Many hours of legal argument have been spent on this topic in three different countries with three different results, but the US result that awarded the eye watering fine is the most spectacular.

That result is being challenged at the moment because the Jury foreman at the trial is alleged to have failed to declare an incident that may have prejudiced his opinion about Samsung.  Apparently Seagate, a company Samsung bought into a year or so ago, dismissed the man about ten years earlier resulting in his bankruptcy.  From what I have read, the man wasn't asked a direct question that would have revealed the link, but that's one for the lawyers to work out for certain.

Then there are the two non-US court cases over the patents; the South Korean courts found that both Apple and Samsung had stolen ideas from each other and awarded each fairly trivial damages.  The UK high court, in a ruling that is applicable across the whole European Union, found no case to answer.  In fact, they forced Apple to make a statement on its UK website and in selected UK newspapers stating that no infringement had taken place, a statement Apple made eventually after some prodding from the court.

And now the US Patent Office have decided that at least one of the six patents Apple claim were infringed was not a unique patent, that is, there were earlier patents that covered the same ground.  Probably not identical, but close enough to demonstrate that it wasn't a unique idea.  The patent was for the  'pinch to zoom' feature that is popular in many smartphones and tablets, and increasingly used in crime dramas on oversized capacitance screens - like public law enforcement agencies can afford that level of technology in this current economy!

And the other patents?  Well, one appears to be around the concept of a rectangular shaped device with rounded corners.  I think Hershey or Cadbury could challenge that idea quite easily.  OK, they never used the shape on a mobile phone but they did make objects that shape that people wanted to put near their mouths and loved.  Certainly the UK courts weren't too supportive to Apple on this matter, stating that Apple's products were cooler than Samsung's, but not infringed.

And there was the App bounce-back that Apple use to show you've reached the last page of Apps.  Somewhere between Newton's Laws of Motion and Einstein's Theory of Relativity sits the model for a dimensionless, massless image travelling towards an implied theoretical wall.  Another failure to impress the UK courts, it seems.

This is probably a hiccup in this long running saga that doesn't give many clues to the ultimate outcome.  I suspect that by the time a final binding decision is made the technology being argued about will be as relevant as a Betamax recorder is today and $1 billion won't be enough to buy a round of coffees at Starbucks.  In fact, I suspect we're almost at that threshold right now.

At least, as far as the round at Starbucks is concerned.

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How To Judge An Industry By Its Cover

I caught a segment on the BBC programme 'The One Show' on Tuesday about book covers - you may be able to watch the segment on the BBC iPlayer if you are interested.  Like most of the segments on this programme the subject matter was presented well but was ultimately shallow, such is the nature of a magazine style TV programme.

Inevitably the focus was on the conventional book industry and discussed how publishers make us choose their books over others - of course I'm interested as I realise the well entrenched belief that we tend to judge books initially by their covers is essentially true.  And it also reflects how people browse eBooks, I would suggest.  So that made the segment worth the time investment even if ultimately I don't think they actually said anything earth shattering or revealing.

Just as the segment was grinding to a halt the interviewer slipped in a sneaky question to an unsuspecting representative of, I seem to recall, Bloomsbury. The question was about whether all the skill needed to produce a good book cover is going to die off with the advent of eBooks.  Or something like that, it slipped in without any warning and I think it caught the publisher's rep off guard because there wasn't any natural reason for the question to slip in other than curiosity.

Anyway, said representative was duly defensive about the industry that feeds and clothes his family, for some unexplained reason.  After nearly choking on a creme de menthe he spluttered that there will always be books and, after recovering he added that 'they said TV would spell the end of Cinema'.  At that point the interview moved into wrap up and the programme moved on.

I thought he'd made a valid point for a while - to be fair there was some validity in what he'd said - but then I rationalised a bit more.  TV was touted to destroy cinema and in fact it very nearly did - there are whole swathes of the cinema industry that no longer exist.  After a period of decline cinema did reinvent itself - it produced fewer, bigger productions, the like that TV couldn't afford to produce.  So it survived, but it had to change to do so.

So it will be with books.  If we take the unreasonable view that eBook reading technology, effectively tablet computing, stands still then on current trends there will be a few books that will never work well electronically.  But most books are as good in electronic format as in print.  I know there is a sentimentality about books that transcends all the logic about cutting down perfectly healthy trees, logging, pulping, bleaching, printing, binding, shipping and finally remaindering and repulping them, a sentimentality helped by the eBook industry trying to price eBooks as if all the costs associated with real books needed to be applied to eBooks.  Some books, though, benefit from the print format - generally the large format coffee table books that actually few people own many of and even fewer read. However, the technology won't stand still, so even those books will, in time, be good candidates for converting to eBooks.

The other issue with the industry rep's comparison is that TV is arguably a poorer medium compared to film - or at least it was until high definition large screen TVs became affordable.  There still does appear to be an immersive quality to cinema that TV doesn't cut yet, but that differential is being eroded all the time.  There isn't really a comparable differential between print and eBooks - many eReaders and tablets have similar tactile qualities to books and generally those who complain that eReaders and tablets are inferior reading media are not generally found to have tried eReaders.  Once they do, the conversion rate is staggering.

So, do try to catch the segment using iPlayer but don't expect to learn a great deal about book cover design. But if you catch the programme you may learn quite a bit about the print industry fears.

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
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Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

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Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Last Chance for Christmas

Still looking for that elusive last Christmas present?  Well, if the target of your generosity is a reader then now is the time to consider the options.

I'm wasn't going to look at mini tablet computers in this posting, but if your budget does stretch that far then I guess the choice is between the iPad Mini, the Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7.  The Apple's the most costly choice out of the three, but you probably knew that already.  It's getting mixed reviews, largely because its screen is 'only as good as the iPad 2 screen', the screen on arguably the most popular variant of the full sized tablet.  My view is that is if the recipient is already embedded in Apple technology then this has to be a contender.  After that its between the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7.  Google have just raised the bar by upping the memory to 32Gb on their flagship model, but pricewise these two devices are running neck and neck.  Behind them is the Nook HD with only 8Gb of memory and an almost unknown market presence in this country.  For those prepared to tough it out until Christmas Eve you may find the Nook being discounted.  Of course, if you're spending this kind of money you may want to make sure the gift can be returned in the case of multiple tablets being bought for the same person - in the  UK most high street retailers will issue a gift receipt that will allow the recipient to return the item for a full refund until mid January.

For dedicated eReading devices the choices are bewildering.  As I pointed out in a recent blog entry, dedicated eReaders are past their peak, being usurped by the rise of the multi-tasking tablets.  However, right now, there are so many new models on sale in the UK it is inconceivable that some of these won't be discounted.  So if your in the market to buy one for someone, waiting is probably as smart as it gets.  They're not going to run out and they're not going to rise in price.  Choose a price point and stick with it, but be prepared to shop around the various brands.  Unlike tablets, the dedicated eReaders tend to be stuck to one eBook store, although most use the same format of book (EPUB) which is readily available through Smashwords, as are Kindle format books.  Again, gift receipts might be a good idea in case of duplication.

If your gift options don't run to a bit of technology then consider vouchers.  Apple do them for the iBook store (strictly for anything on iTunes, but if the recipient is a reader then perhaps it will be used for your intended purpose).  Amazon also do vouchers, which like the iTunes vouchers can be bought in stores around the country or can be downloaded to your own computer for you to print off.  Add a fancy card, a nice message and your shopping is done.  The only limitation with this is that the voucher can be used against any Amazon purchase - or put another way, against anything that can be bought on this planet.  So don't get too excited if your intention is to persuade your recipient to download that book you've been raving about.

If you do want to gift 'that book' then you could try Smashwords - they have a gifting option, read about it here.  The only downside I can see with the Smashwords version is that the gift will be emailed to the recipient the second you pay, but I guess you can do it on Christmas day.  If you're stuck for books to gift, may I suggest you cast your eyes to the top of the this page - all six books are listed on Smashwords and are currently $0.99 each in my December promotion.

If eBooks are too radical for the target of your generosity then print books are still available and, heck, may be for a few years more.  Just don't let anyone know I said that.  Again, all those books at the top of this blog are available from your local Amazon outlet and are printed to order.  Better be quick, though, because it can take a couple of days from placing an order to Amazon and the Post Office getting it to your front door.  I don't think Amazon supply gift receipts, but trust me on this one, I doubt your present will be duplicated (I've seen the Amazon sales figures for my books!).

Enjoy the holidays.

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

How Big is the Tablet Market?

Given that three years ago the tablet market was a euphemism for drug dealing, it's remarkable that we now regard the iPad, Kindle Fire and Nexus tablets as part of the technical equipment furniture.  Thanks to Amazon's notorious reluctance to talk numbers even with shareholders  - how irritating that must be - we don't know how many Kindle Fires have been sold but we do know it must be a few by the amount we see turning up in public.  However we do know that Apple have shifted over 100 million iPads of various designs so that sets the baseline down.  Various industry estimates suggest that there are about 140 million tablets in use today worldwide and recent figures suggest that between Apple, Amazon and Google they hope to shift between 15 and 30 million units before Christmas day.  Looking at the adverts on TV and the conversations I seem to drift into they are probably correct.

My instinct is that some of these purchases are going to be at the expense of dedicated eReaders, another market that didn't exist until relatively recently and one that seems about to disappear at the very point that it matures.  Many potential eReader customers are eyeing the lower cost tablets and deciding that the extra utility and marginal extra cost is worth sacrificing the battery life and sunlight reading benefits for.  I've said on several occasions that eReaders will sell well this year, after all there are some real good budget models available for cash strapped consumers to buy, but this will be their peak.  From January, it'll be tablets we'll see being read on the bus and tube.

So how big is this market?  One analyst has recently suggested that it is already at saturation point based on the contention that there are only so many people prepared to use a tablet in lieu of a conventional computer. I disagree, but I see where he was coming from.  You see, tablets are not a replacement for laptops, not yet.  Sure you can type on an iPad or Nexus, I've written blog entries on mine before now, but for most of my writing, either this blog or my novel writing, I turn to my trusty laptop with MS Word loaded on.  When I balance the home accounts I don't try and do that on an iPad, I need Excel.  And if I want to print something off, regardless of where it came from, how it originated, I don't even consider the Nexus.

But these are technological hurdles that will be overcome in the next couple of years and it isn't the case that the tablets are short of capability - email is a breeze, watching movies, all those apps, surfing the Net, jotting down notes, engaging on Twitter, abusing on Facebook - in fact most of the things we do on our laptops for  a large part of their life, only more conveniently - no long winded boot sequences for starters, always on and ready to roll.

In fact tablets and traditional computers can sit side by side and actually complement each other nicely, thank you.  It's probable that future generations of tablets will render the traditional computer redundant, but for now they not only co-exist harmoniously, they complement each other.  Which means that probably everyone who uses a computer will find a use for a tablet.  And many of those who don't generally use a  computer will still find a tablet useful - witness the growing number of silver surfers who have eschewed the use of computers who are now engaging with iPads, surfing the Net and poking each other on Facebook.  And there's evidence to suggest that kids are being given tablets for their own use by grandparents who hope they will help with the homework.  Parents know better, but hey ho.

And let's not forget the eBook market which is fast approaching parity with the print market and will overtake it in a couple of years. We may prefer to write our books on laptops, but tablets are how they will be read.

So how big is the tablet market?  Well, at least as big as the home computer market has been up to now with the addition of the reluctant pensioners and the kids who wouldn't traditionally have been given their own PC.  That's one big market that is going to keep on growing through 2013 and probably won't stabilise until 2014 or beyond.

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Are Tablets the Future or Just a Signpost?

There's no doubt that tablets are coming into their own.  Compared to comparable technologies from the past their adoption has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Apple, of course, kicked it off with the iPad.  Well, if you ignore the tablet devices that were used on Star Trek, which I understand inspired the Kindle family that are now adding to the tablet expansion.  And definitely if you ignore the 1981 radio/book/TV and eventually cinematic phenomenon, the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.  I think Douglas Adams should really get some credit for inventing the genre, but hey, that's life, I guess.

So have we finished with the old forms of computing?  Well I suspect the bottom has fallen out of the desktop market to a significant degree.  Of course there's a lot of roles for computing that don't require portable devices and some would suggest that office equipment have their advantages for not being portable.  Plus, I think it's fair to say that although tablet screens can be fast, sharp and very intuitive with their capacitive stretch and slide they're also too small for some applications.

Now I'm a moderate computer user - in my day job I use Word, Excel, Outlook plus some proprietary programs.  As a preference I extend my desktop screen from my laptop computer to increase the real estate I can use as I often have multiple Word, Excel and Outlook windows open.  I could double the size on both screens and still want more.  Tablet screens are great if you're able to do just one task on a screen at a time, but true multi-tasking is currently a challenge for the genre.

I think that tablets will increase in functionality over the next year and we may start to see iPad+ sized screens arriving - the Microsoft Surface pushes the size boundaries slightly but loses something with its unusual screen format.  However, who knows what Surface 2 will look like? There will inevitably be a bleed across the technologies, and again the Surface has nodded towards this.  I don't think Microsoft have got it right, but I'm sure we're going to see a lot of innovation in the near future.

What would work for me would be a tablet computer I can take out to business meetings, capable of running   MS Office applications, connectable to a projector and able to run proprietary software.  Back at the office it would be able to hook up to a full keyboard and mouse plus a full size screen that is also a capacitative screen.  As a minimum it would be possible to use the extended screen setup in the same way I use my current setup, but able to drag windows across to other parts of the screen, stretch images to get a better detailed view and generally have an enhanced experience that brings the benefits of both paradigms.

Can Apple or Google deliver this level of functionality coupled with the security required of a business level computing system?  Of course, all it takes is cash and time.  Can they beat Microsoft to the table?  Unless they are working towards this standard already, and are quite a long way down the development route, probably not.  Will Microsoft regain its market position if it is the only company pursuing this route? Probably not fully and I expect that one or both of Apple and Google will be barking at Microsoft's shirt tails pretty soon anyway.

So tablets aren't the end-game, in my opinion, although I fully believe they are pointing towards the future. We're in for an exciting time ahead in the next two years and I think that all tablet makers should prepare their customers for the ride.  Taking a leaf out of Douglas Adams I would support all tablets sold from now on having the words 'Don't Panic' emblazoned across the front screen.  It might just help.

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Black Friday Sees Tablets Take the Lead

According to some analysts, the Black Friday sales saw tablets overtake laptop sales for the first time in the US.  Of course, we'll have to wait for the sales figures to be returned and ratified but the projections are indicating a 3:2 ratio.

I can't say I'm surprised and if you've been reading my blog for the last year you would know why - I've been saying that this is going to be the year of the tablet, forecasting a surge before the holidays since last January.

And of course, it's not only the Apple iPad that is pushing the concept forward now - over 100 million units strong - but also the iPad mini, the Amazon Fire and the Google Nexus.  The consumer is spoilt for choice across all price points as we lunge towards the Christmas period.

But it's not just the sexy attractiveness of the tablets that has pushed them ahead of the laptops, nor the convenience of using a hand-held device anywhere to do, well, pretty much anything apart from word processing, crunching numbers in a spreadsheet and printing off the results.  So, OK, tablets still have a few challenges to overcome but they're pretty cool and great fun to use.  They're also great for reading books and magazines as well as watching movies so their utility is pretty much unbeatable.

The real kicker in the laptop/tablet race that I hadn't realised was taking place is that we all pretty much have laptops, netbooks and even some dust gathering desktops at home already.  Outside of the serious gamer applications, the laptops are now keeping pace with technology better than ever.  Sure, Microsoft are still trying to develop operating systems that suck every last megabyte of RAM, ROM and hard drive capacity but most of us are finding that whatever legacy version we are using is adequate, or have moved over to Linux.  Even the old chestnut of needing to upgrade on a regular basis because of hard drive capacity being overtaken by software and file storage is becoming a thing of the past as the low cost flash drives and cloud based storage becomes mainstream.

So the real reason that tablets overtook laptops is that everyone has a laptop or two - some new, many getting on a bit (maybe two years' old?), grandparents have them, for goodness sake and even their grandchildren have their cast-offs (grief).  But not everyone has a tablet, not yet. OK, some folks will be on their second iPad - some will be on their fourth, for no other reason that there have been four iterations, but despite Apple's best endeavours there are plenty of people who don't have a tablet yet.

I knew that tablets would take off, the Kindle Fire last year sounded the challenge loud and clear.  I've been quite upfront with my contention that this will be both the best year for dedicated eReaders and their peak as well, but I didn't guess that laptop sales would be a casualty.  But I guess when we look back, it was inevitable.

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

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How Many Lawyers Does It Take to Design A Mobile Phone?

Plenty, if your company name is Apple. Or Samsung.  Probably also Google, judging by the current wind direction.  The list used to include HTC too, but that looks like water under the bridge for now.

There's been a lot of suing and counter-suing going on lately.  Most of it appears to be around who thought of flat, rectangular mobile phones with rounded corners first.  Gene Roddenberry, probably, but like Steve Jobs he's not with us any more so isn't in a position to counter-sue.  Steve left a legacy for that eventuality. In case you missed it, here's a potted round up.

Apple and HTC have been popping in and out of court for years, keeping the lawyers gainfully engaged in the process.  Apparently they have come to an agreement recently, although the suspicion on the street is that HTC have seen the eye watering judgement against Samsung earlier this year and decided to cooperate with Apple rather than face them down.  Apple have entered into the spirit of things and shelved their litigation for now.

Of course that Samsung case is still rolling.  A US court awarded over $1billion against Samsung for infringement of its designs.  A UK court didn't come to the same decision, but then again they didn't have a jury foreman who might have had a grudge against Samsung.  You see, the foreman in the US case had been sued by his former employer, Seagate, a company that Samsung now are a major shareholder in.  He ended up a bankrupt as a result of the litigation and Samsung are now suggesting that he may not have been unbiased in the Apple case.  Add that to the fact that Apple have chosen, under a certain amount of judicial duress, to state publicly that the Samsung design did not infringe its designs and you've got a case that will roll on for years - literally as the appeal isn't due to be heard until 2014.

But Google could be the big target of Apple's wrath.  Apple have already had a pot shot at the Android operating system, claiming that it stole a chunk of ideas from them.  Now Google own the Android system, have done for years - from before either they or Apple had launched a mobile phone operating system.  Now, of course, Google are venturing into the mobile phone market directly with the Nexus 4, the iPad mini market with the Nexus 7 and the iPad grown up market with the Nexus 10, so the dynamic is changing.

Apple have several beefs with Google, one being that for now they need the company.  Virtually every search on the web today starts with Google.  Sure there's Bing and a few others, but Google is the search engine of choice for most of the planet, which means Apple have to include it on their devices.  Which means they have to pay Google for that right.  Google maps is another predominant mapping technology and up to now Apple have had to pay Google a pretty penny for the privilege.   Apple have consequently invested vast sums of money in developing their own version, but screwed up big time by rushing it out - that's the reason for the recent iOS6 upgrade.  Unfortunately the mapping  didn't work and in fact, for the few who actually saw them in action, behaved terribly.  That's why they rushed out iOS6.01 which reverted to Google maps - most of us hadn't got around to upgrading the OS  by then hence we never saw the maps in action.  However people keep on mentioning them in their blogs, so it isn't going away.

If only those pesky bloggers would let it go.

My guess is that Apple will have fixed the problems by now, but they will have to be really certain before they re-release the mapping routine.  You can only make a first impression once and they squandered that with iOS6.  The re-launch needs to be perfect and probably will need to be wrapped around something really tasty to take everyone's eyes off the past.

All of this legal activity could have been better directed.  We all know about how Apple missed a vital detail when buying the iPad name from a failing Chinese company, not noticing that China wasn't included in the deal.  That cost them about $60M for the oversight.  Now they've paid a Swiss clock firm $21M for using their clockface in iOS 6 without permission - that could have been a lot cheaper, given a little foresight and some decent legal eye for detail.

But perhaps if they sat down with all the tech companies they are suing, with the lawyers out of the room, perhaps they could hammer out a deal that didn't involve suing everyone else stupid.  Then the lawyers could get back to what they do best - oh, I don't know.  Changing lightbulbs?

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Is iOS 6 the iOS From Hell?

Operating systems are never popular subjects on the message boards.  If your OS is working well then you probably don't even notice, but when they play up, everybody notices.

Apple have had a busy quarter, what with launching a new phone and a mini tablet as well as a new notebook.  They've also launched a new version of their popular iOS, now in version 6. They are a predictable bunch, those guys over at Apple, and when they have decided to upgrade the iOS previously it was generally seen as a Good Thing.

But the release of iOS 6 seems to have raised the ire of a few users.  Like I say above, those not experiencing problems have no reason to say anything but it seems that there is a significant group, who may or may not be a minority, who have gripes about this release.

We have noticed at home that managing the data in iTunes has become a pain - dragging tunes and albums off a device so that other music can replace them used to be straightforward, allowing users to use the iPhone/iPad/Touch as a kind of jukebox.  Since loading iOS the process has become a real pain in the proverbial, requiring a lot of hoop jumping and much swiping of screens.  Now this could be just tardy software testing by Apple or it could be a sneaky way to make iTunes Match seem like a good idea.  If so, I hate to mention to Apple that screwing your customers around is hardly the way to get them to pay £22 a year.

But then again, the net is filling up with people who are using iOS 6 and iTunes Match that are running into problems such as zero length running times, so perhaps this is genuine cock up, not a cynical attempt to persuade users to start using the paid for service (which is about to be matched itself by Google for free).

Other users are reporting that their iPhone battery consumption has rocketed since downloading the latest version.  What is clear is that this isn't universal.  It is also apparently reversible by making changes to settings in iOS and with certain apps.  It could simply be that you have to ensure all your apps are updated to make them compatible with the new version; hardly sinister but then again hardly customer friendly either.

Another issue that keeps on rearing its head on the forums is WiFi connectivity, or rather the occasional lack of it.  It seems that since the new version was launched, some users have experienced flaky WiFi, with their devices losing the plot.  So much like real life.  There is a strong rumour that a feature that was in the beta version but didn't make it to the release, dropped at the last minute by all accounts, may be to blame.  The feature was called Wi-Fi Plus Cellular and it was designed to augment flaky Wi-Fi so that users could continue receiving data whenever the wireless got choked in public places.  The rumour is that part of the code is still in the iOS and some apps may be trying to use it, dragging down the Wi-Fi in the process.  If so, perhaps Apple could market it as iRony.

None of this is going to help you if you run into problems with iOS 6 - we spent a night trawling message boards for guidance on how to clear a few albums off an iPhone to replace them with three new ones and although we managed it eventually, we're really not sure which advice worked in the end.  It's the same with all the other potential issues, apart from a common thread about resetting - eek - and, of course, turning it off and back on again.  And that advice should only be dispensed by an IT professional, right?

What may, possibly, help is that the guy who oversaw the launch of iOS 6 and the abysmal mapping app that allegedly allowed one to start a journey on the Golden Gate Bridge and exit on the other side in Widnes, a good deal for those hoping to escape Widnes but a nightmare for San Franciscans  Anyway the guy involved, Scott Forstall, has been given the boot.  That won't help most of us day-to-day, I'm fairly certain he didn't get too close to the code anyway, but he's being replaced by the guy who is responsible for much of Apple's hardware designs.  Think sleek, unfussy and you might glimpse a fragment of his approach to design.  Whether he can tidy up iOS 6 into a less buggy, neater iOS 7 remains to be seen, but if the complaints on the net keep on increasing I guess we'll get the chance to judge sooner rather than later.

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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Apple and Gap to Merge

Analysts at Apple are pouring over the latest demographic data gleaned following the launch of the iPad Mini.

'You can only glean so much information by drilling down on credit card purchases,' said an Apple spokesperson.  'And anyway, we kind of knew that Apple consumers were predominantly middle earning aspirational Caucasians,' he added with a shrug. 'After all, that's the only demographic that can afford our products right now.  Anyone earning less than middle should be looking at the Google Nexus 7,' he said, without an ounce of irony.

But the computing giant has one trick up its sleeve that isn't available to its competitors.

'Apple customers just love to queue,' he said, pointing out that there were queues around the block when they released IOS 6. 'And that was just a download,' he grinned. He went on to explain that Apple use the queues to discover things about their customers that would be impossible by any other means.

'We've even put out a new version of iPhone before now just for the research opportunity,' he said, wiping a tear from his eye as he fondly recalled the pointless release of an iPhone model. 'No, I can't tell you which version, they all seem pretty pointless,' he said, neatly avoiding our question.

 It beggared the obvious query, though. What information does Apple learn about its customers as they queue for hours in all weathers.

'Well, it says something about their fortitude, resilience, disposable income and evidently even more disposible time,' he suggested, waving his arm sweepingly across the queue of potential Apple iPad Mini purchasers. 'And it tells you something about their shopping habits,' he said, pointing out the preponderance of brightly coloured pullovers. 'Gap, every last one,' he said.  'Apple noticed that virtually all of their customers shopped at Gap, even to the the point that Apple and Gap are considering a tactical merger, with the new company name GApple', he added, showing a prototype logo to us.

We were, of course, sworn to absolute secrecy about that one.  But we were interested to know if Apple had any hard knowledge about their competitors' research into their customer base shopping habits. The spokesman was very forthcoming.

'Well, we know that Microsoft have worked out what fans of their products wear.  Corporate Wear, apparently,' he sniggered, ensuring we understood he wasn't talking about any old Corporate Wear, but Microsoft Corporate Wear.  Or jeans and tee shirts to everyone else.  We pointed out that Microsoft wasn't Apple's only competitor in this new age of tablet computing.  For example, what about Apple's biggest competitor, the upstart from Seattle.

'OMG, you mean Amazon?' asked our incredulous insider.  'That's unknowable, they don't release any data about their customers to anyone,' he said.  We decided that although in essence he was correct, we'd apply our journalistic skills to reveal the answer by the end of the article.  Or we'd just make something up.  We decided to give the Apple spokesperson one last chance at selling his industry short.  What about Google?  The spokesperson knew what to do this time.  He whipped his iPad Mini out and Googled the question into it.  Of course, Google knew the answer and within 0.3 seconds had returned 3,458,214 answers, all different.

As we'd nearly reached the front of the queue we bid our spokesman farewell and, straightening our Gap pullovers, we braced to enter the glass fronted hallowed halls.

And the answer to the question, what do Amazon shoppers wear when shopping?  Pyjamas, we think.


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I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Apple Apologises - Eventually

It can't have missed your notice that Apple and Samsung have been falling out with each other recently.  I blogged a week or so ago about the various court cases they have had (and I understand one or a thousand others may have mentioned it too).

the upshot is that the Korean courts think both companies are pretty much as bad as each other for copying ideas, the US courts (including 12 American jurors) thought that the American company Apple was great and wronged by the non-American company Samsung, awarding costs of $1 billion.  The UK courts agreed that Apple was cooler than Samsung, but that was all.  They ruled that Apple had been bad-mouthing their competitor and insisted that Apple place the following statement on their UK website and post it in a number of UK newspapers.

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html. That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal's judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

Apple appealed the decision but was over-ruled.  However they posted a modified version of the ruling that went like this:

Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following linkwww.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."

"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.

The UK courts, understandably, had a dicky fit over this statement, which effectively appears to attempt to divert the reader away from the judgement.  It probably implies that the UK courts were wrong, seeing as other courts appear to have differed in opinion.  Given that Apple started the whole issue by bringing Samsung to a UK court they felt that Apple hadn't been listening to them, so the courts hauled the Apple lawyers back in and gave them a fair old dressing down.  Consequently the original statement, as directed by the UK courts, has now replaced the modified statement.

Is this just a semantic spat?  Will it convert people who may have been swayed by the court case and any statements made before or during to consider Samsung devices?  I doubt it; in fact, most of us just watch these arguments going on out of curiosity and then buy whatever we were going to buy anyway.  I live in a household where Apple and Android devices (admittedly not Samsung badged, but possibly manufactured) live harmoniously side-by-side and I'm sure I'm not the only one.  The only real opinion the user will have is that the net effect of all the court actions and punitive fines is going to be passed on to us eventually, and we'll still buy the device we fancy.  Even if it is an uncool Samsung device.

But the real problem for Apple is that Samsung are probably going to go back to the US courts and make the not unreasonable challenge to their $1 billion charge.  They will probably argue that as Apple had recourse to one more layer of judiciary in the UK, the UK Supreme Court, but clearly chose to place the retraction on their website and in several newspapers instead, it demonstrates that they did not believe they had an absolutely correct argument regarding infringements.  That action alone should compel the US courts to reconsider their previous judgement.  Hopefully both companies will be told to go away, stop wasting court time and the consumer might find that the next generation of Apple and Samsung devices are a little bit more affordable than they might have been.

Here's hoping.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!