Sometimes you find exactly what you want – even if you didn’t know what it was until you saw it.
I realized soon after I began using my Kindle Fire tablet that I would need some sort of stand for it.
I’m also considering buying a new iPad – and I know I’ll need a stand to use that for any length of time. I tested several of the 10-inch tablets and they’re cumbersome to hold in the hands for any length of time.
So I was browsing the local Tiger Direct and Radio Shack stores when I found the Targus Lap Lounge Stand (on sale with a lot of other stands and tablet cases I looked at – so I got it for $10 off the $39.99 retail price. I will say that the prices on tablet stands and covers seem quite high. I expect we’ll see lots more bargain pricing on them in the future).
Fits multiple tablet sizes
The Lounge stand has an adjustable stand grip that fits tablets from the 7-inch Kindle Fire (0r similarly sized devices) to the 10″ larger tablets. The stand adjusts to the angle most comfortable for a given use – typing or watching video or browsing the web.
As soon as I fitted it to my Kindle Fire and started using it, I knew it was exactly right for the job. I don’t know about you, but most of the time when I use the Kindle Fire or for that matter, my Kindle Wi-fi e-reader, I’m sitting back in a chair, lounging on the couch, or in bed at home.
This Lap Lounge – a fancy name for a lap desk with a bean filled-cushion – could have been a tad wider and I might have chosen black instead of white for the plastic desktop. But it is much handier than something you have to sit on a desk or table top. It has a plastic-lined zippered pocket that includes a cloth handle, a loop for a pen or stylus, and a sturdy construction.
You can hold the tablet firmly in the stand horizontally or vertically.
Lots of other stands are out there, and the Targus Blue Tooth Keyboard stand for the new iPad may be one of my next purchases if I actually buy the Apple tablet. From what I’ve read, the iPads require some protection.
Tests of the new one showed it shattered when dropped from waist height without protection. But I’d want something protective to use when attending events – as well as a stand-alone keyboard, since using a virtual keyboard is not my idea of a good time.
The Lap Lounge was not my first Targus purchase.
A good case
Targus 10.2-inch Citygear case.
I bought my first Targus product, it’s CityGear 10.2 inch netbook case, with multiple pockets front and back and inside, all designed for the types of digital equipment many of us actually carry – cell phone, tablet or notebook computer, mp3 player, small camera, batteries, and so on. It sells for around $34.00. A Google search will turn up any of these products.
It’s an ideal size for carrying your equipment when you’re buzzing around doing chores or when you’re attending events. It’s also tough and shrugs off rough handling while protecting your equipment.
All too often, products we buy seem just a bit inadequate, lack proper human engineering so that ordinary functions are a pain, or look as if they were cobbled together by blind elves.
So, when I find a company making innovative products that have design savvy – besides Apple’s – the company gets a loyal customer.
These Targus products seem to be everywhere. I bought the notebook/tablet sized case at WalMart, the Lap Lounge at Radio Shack, and have seen their products at Best Buy and other retail stores. They’re also sold through many online venues.
The iPhone 4S voice-activated personal assistant has many features seldom used, survey says
Siri, the personal voice-activated assistant on the iPhone 4S, pleases 55 percent of users and 87 percent say they use it every month, according to a survey by Parks Associates, a market research firm.
Close to a third use it only for limited purposes such as making calls, sending texts, or searching the Internet.
Siri is touted for much more, though. Apple boasts it can schedule calendar events, invite people to meetings and play music with voice commands.
But while 26 percent of users surveyed say they use it to send email, 30 percent say they would never use it for that. Another 35 percent say they would never use it to schedule meetings and 32 percent say they wouldn’t use it to play music.
Questionable advertising
Siri, still in beta and Apple plans tweaks, but that didn’t stop one iPhone buyer, Fraank M. Fazio, from initiating a class action suit saying Apple misrepresented what Siri can do in its commercials.
Personally, we’ve found recent TV advertising for a number of Internet services or digital products somewhat misleading. An online penny auction site company – where users bid on products – suggests buyers can always get great deals. Consumer Reports took a look at several of those sites, including hte advertiser, not long ago and found that the old adage that “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t,” still stands. (See: Many bidders at penny auction sites go empty-handed).
Another product, Dragon Naturally Speaking, which we use, suggests in a TV ad that it is much easier to use than it actually is. Now we like Dragon, it’s a real help in transcribing recorded interviews and in doing some work with text. But as the firm’s own manual says, it works best when supplemented by using the keyboard.
Not as seamless an experience as shown
It does not work as seamlessly as suggested in the commercials even on my high end machines and is less useful on laptops I used – and all my equipment is fairly high-powered with 4 to 6 gigs of RAM, multiple core processors, and more drive space than I ever use. A senior who might be working on older equipment or a student using a low-end laptop is apt to find using Dragon a bit frustrating.
Interacting with our digital devices via voice is still a developing technology. Dragon, for instance, continually improves the accuracy and responsiveness of its product, though it has a way to go.
The ability to operate a device with voice certainly desirable for touchscreen devices such as smartphones and computers, but it also requires some hefty processing power to work well.
We suspect that advertisers in the digital space, whether for devices, services, or software, need to clean up their advertising to make it more accurate, or their may be more class action suits in the offing. People don’t like to be fooled. — Allan Maurer
While I’m no Apple fan boy, I have been considering getting the new iPad for its high resolution Retina display and its dictation feature.
Some people seem to think they could get along without some of their other digital equipment once they have the new iPad. I’m not one of them. I certainly wouldn’t give a good digital camera to take photos and videos solely with a nearly 10-inch tablet device, even if the cameras on the device are decent.
I’m hoping that the dictation feature will make doing some actual work on the device easier, because virtual keyboards don’t cut it for me when I have to write a blog post or anything much longer than a password or light texting.
I’m also a bit concerned about how easily the device breaks when dropped from waist height (The LA Times did this good piece listing the gripes already coming in about the device, such as its hot running temperature when used intensively and the breakage problem). Still, the dictation feature and Retina screen alone make it appealing to me, and I feel that I should use at least one Apple device regularly, since I have to write about them so often.
Here’s an infographic more on the positive side, suggesting that some users, at least, may be able to subsidize buying the new iPad by unloading dedicated devices and even a laptop or PC. –Allan Maurer
Ultrabooks are the latest addition to the list of portable computers in the segment where Apple MacBook Air existed as a light weight, ultraportable, thin, high performance notebook which we see more and more often in the hands of business travelers.
Intel has specified the same physical specifications for Ultrabooks design with a price tag lower than the cheapest MacBook Air. Six players have already launched their Ultrabooks within 6 months of Intel’s announcement of Ultrabooks.
To date around 10 models of Ultrabooks are already present in the market. With the increasing availability of choices for the consumers and better affordable prices, the market is set to explode in the coming years.
Combined together the Global Ultrathin Portables market was around US$ 6.04 Billion in 2011. Smartphones have captured the biggest market share in the global computing devices market but are not directly competitive to Apple MacBook Air or Intel’s Ultrabooks.
According to the recently published report by TechSci Research “Global Ultrathin Portables (Ultrabooks & MacBook Air) Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2017,” the market for these light weight ultra portable notebooks will expand enormously in the coming years. Globally, the Ultrabooks & MacBook Air Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 92 percent till 2017.
Apple is still perceived to be a luxury brand and Ultrabooks are not perceived to be a competition to the same.
However the entire market size of Ultrathin Portables will increase as more number of retailers enter the market and offer competitive products at competitive prices.
Personally, we would buy an ultrabook if the price were right. For anyone who travels a lot, though, the light weight ultrabooks might be a good buy even at higher prices.
This move is expected to decrease the average selling price which was around US$ 960 in 2011. Acer was the first player to launch an Ultrabook as per Intel’s specifications. Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, LG & HP, followed the league.
Apple’s strategy of winning on profit margin instead of number of sales has restricted the potential buyers for its MacBook Air and thus, the market size. The Ultrathin Portables are expected to penetrate up to 61 percent by 2017 in the global computing devices market.
Tablets are still gaining traction in the mobile device market, with Apple selling a record 3 million new iPads within days of its launch. Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the online retail giant’s best seller, and a host of new tablet devices are slated for release this year.
While Apple currently dominates the tablet market – we’re about to buy one of the new iPads – it will lose its dominance to Android devices by 2016, according to forecasts by IDC.
Apple’s mobile device dominance is not overstated, but use of new technologies like video chat and LTE are not as popular as mobile operator ads might have you think – at least for now – according to the results of the first Mobile Life survey, published by UBM TechWeb’s Light Reading.
Light Reading surveyed 550 telecom professionals, including 120 service providers, and found that the average person has a rich mobile life made up of mobile device ownership and daily use of technologies like mobile video, mobile apps and Wi-Fi,” says Sarah Reedy, Light Reading Senior Reporter and the report’s author.
Of the survey respondents:
Thirty-four percent say they use more than 1GB of mobile data per month and 12 percent say they use over 3GB
Sixty-three percent update their status on a social network at least once a day, and 41 percent use up to six mobile apps on a regular basis
Fifteen percent of respondents are planning to buy an LTE-capable tablet this year; only 3 percent own one
“We weren’t surprised at all to see mobile data usage soaring, but it is interesting that mobile video and LTE aren’t yet as popular with consumers as the latest mobile operator ad campaigns would suggest,” says Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief of Light Reading.
Light Reading‘s 2012 Mobile Life survey report is free to all registered members of Light Reading. You can become a registered member of Light Reading by visiting: http://www.lightreading.com/register.asp
Apple says it has sold three million of its new iPad since its launch on Friday, March 16.
The new iPad features a new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life while remaining thin and light.
iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.
Although we used Apple products almost exclusively in our print publishing career from the early to mid-1990s, we moved to PCs when the price/performance difference between them and Apple products grew bigger than we cared for.
We’re tempted to get the new iPad, though – primarily for the dictation feature. We’re convinced that voice operated devices are the future of mobile computing. Touchscreens, for all their convenience, are never going to be a pleasure to type on with a virtual keyboard, and if you have to carry an external keyboard around, it reduces the convenience of a device.
In fact, the one disappointment early reviewers of the new iPad have expressed is that it does not have all of the iPhone4S Siri features. It won’t let you search the Web via voice, for instance.
We’re also interested in the Retina display that reviewers have found so amazing. We’re also tempted to wait for user reviews of the new iPad to start showing up before buying. It often takes real use by consumers to discover any glitches in a product.
But there is no question whatsoever that the new iPad is a major hit for Apple Inc.
“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet”
“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
“Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.”
The new iPad is already available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands and will be available in 24 more countries starting at 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday, March 23 through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Would you bank with Apple Inc.? Toluna, a global pioneer in online polls, surveys and opinions, has revealed the startling findings of a new research study into the opinions of consumers towards the potential of technology giant, Apple, breaking into the banking sector.
The survey, using Toluna’s global research panel community of 4 million consumers worldwide, collected data from over 5,000 respondents, across the US and UK, and revealed that one in ten people (10%) would consider banking with Apple. Of those who are already Apple customers, 43% would consider switching to Apple for their day to day banking needs.
The impressive levels of trust generated between Apple and their customers was the main reason given for a possible switch to an Apple Bank, with around two-thirds citing their trust in the brand (66%) as the primary reason, and just over half claiming they think Apple would make their account easy to access and manage, as well as providing a reliable service.
It comes as no surprise that the majority (81%) of people who would bank with Apple are technology savvy and currently do their banking online.
Of those surveyed in the UK, almost one in five currently bank with Lloyds Banking Group (18%) or Barclays (14%), while in the US almost a quarter (23%) are with Bank of America and around one in ten with JP Morgan Chase (11%).
In terms of overall attitudes towards banking, the study also found that these consumers display great interest in using their smartphone for personal banking (62%), and are even of the opinion that call centres may not exist in the future as everything will be done online (53%).
MD of KAE, David Rankin, commented: “Apple would face no capital constraints in building a deposits base. With a proven ability to cross-sell additional products, along with the highest sales per square foot of any retailer and an affluent customer base, it wouldn’t take long for Apple to become one of the most profitable consumer banks in recent times.
Power of the Apple brand
“Once the power of the Apple brand and its options for growth are understood, it tends to prompt one of three responses from financial institutions: accelerated invention, defensive benchmarking or blissful issue avoidance. We know that not everyone would be impressed by the arrival of an ‘iBank’; we also know that the boldness of the next big Apple move will inspire and terrify in equal measure”.
“The strength of Apple’s relationship with consumers is a result of its ability to redefine the terms of competition in an industry and design emotionally rich ‘human’ experiences”, said Lee Powney, Chief Commercial Officer at KAE.
“This research tells us Apple customers perceive a fit where at first glance we would assume the brand could not travel. To observe a ‘wrong’ and ‘make right’ is a core characteristic of this business. Apple’s ethos, its way of being and way of doing is instinctively understood by its customers. This makes it a truly dangerous animal to a startling array of sectors”
On the likelihood of Apple entering into this sector, Powney also added “When you look at the possible cross fertilisation effects on purchases of moving this amount of cash into the model, and the resulting increases in preference for its platform from developers and content owners, it would take a remarkable display of discipline to resist. However it would be very ‘un-Apple’ to simply enter into a market without changing the terms of competition”.
David Pogue writes in the New York Times that the new Apple iPad should have been called the iPad 2S, because it makes only incremental changes to the iPad 2, like the iPhone 4S. The technical improvements in the new device, which is available Friday, “keep it at the forefront of desirability – just ahead of the snapping jaws of its Android competion.”
Like most reviewers, he’s dazzled by the “very, very sharp screen.” The new Retina dispaly is four times sharper than that of the iPad 2. Apps rewritten for the new screen are “incredibly sharp,” he says and high definition videos are “dazzling.”
He praises the new 5 megapixel back camera that will also shoot hi-def video.
The feature we’re personally most interested in – the new iPad’s ability to translate speaking to text – is unfortunately more limited than Siri in the iPhone 4S. It allows users to type email or in text apps, but not to set alarms or “snag facts from the Web” by asking out loud. Pogue suggests that may be an Apple marketing department hold-back. He notes it does work accurately with good Internet connections.
In any event, it’s a shame it doesn’t have the full range of Siri capabilities.
The major problem we have will all tablets and touch screen products, personally, is that typing on virtual keyboards is a real pain in multiple body parts. We would buy it just to be able to search the Web orally instead of via touchscreen typing.
Pixels, pixels, pixels, speed, speed, speed
John Gruper at Daringfireball.net, writes, “Pixels, pixels, pixels, battery, battery, battery, speed, speed, speed. That’s the new iPad. He also notes that RAM has been doubled (from 512MB to 1MB), which is mostly dedicated to the improved display -which is double the resolution of the iPad 2, but still makes apps feel faster.
He describes the retina display as similar to that of high end glossy magazine print – “Except that it updates live. It’s living, breathing print.”
Gruber says the new iPad reveals what is important about Apple’s priorities: how things look, feel, which means fast graphics processing.
He notes that Apple does not generally make devices that have less battery life than former models, so the new iPad is slightly thicker and heavier than the other models to accommodate a larger battery, since the high resolution display and more speed mean more battery drain.
Apple says the new iPad, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, will arrive at Apple’s retail stores and the Apple Online Store on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The new iPad features a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos.
It also has 1080p HD video and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life while remaining amazingly thin and light. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.** Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price starting at just $399.
Free personal setup service
Every customer who buys a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPad by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store™ and more, so they’ll be up and running with their new iPad before they leave the store.
Personal Pickup, available at Apple retail stores in the US and a feature of the free Apple Store app, lets iPad customers shop and buy from anywhere they are, then pick up their purchase at any Apple retail store.
In the US the new iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart.
Pricing & Availability
The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white starting on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers.
Additionally, the iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. iOS 5.1 and iTunes 10.6 are currently available as free software updates. iPhoto®, iMovie® 1.3 and GarageBand® 1.2 are now available for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store (www.itunes.com/appstore). Keynote® 1.6, Pages® 1.6 and Numbers® 1.6 are available for $9.99 (US) each from the App Store.
Updates are available for free to existing customers.
Frugal Dad notes that development of mobile apps has created a half million new jobs, but that’s just part of the incredible growth of the “app economy.”
Anyone using a mobile device, smartphone, tablet, or even ultra books and laptops, these days, sees new apps showing up daily to do everything from keep your grocery list to checking local gas prices. Games are a big deal (how many zombie game apps are on the market – that’s a statistic we’d like to see.)
But so are financial calculators, news fetchers, photo apps and hundreds of thousands of others, with more on the way. Personally, we enjoy the Pulse news app, several versions of Angry Birds, and our social media apps on our Kindle Fire tablet. We are occasionally frustrated by an app (the Tumblr app on the Kindle Fire refuses to sign us in). — Allan Maurer
But all in all, mobile apps free us from the PC while keeping us productive and connected in ways never before possible. Frugal Dad created this inforgraphic to provide a statistical look at this radically growing app economy:
Apple has again met expectations and upped the ante with the added features in place for the new iPad.
The new device is the first Apple product to include 4G LTE Technology. Together with the HD retina display that is four times the number of pixels in the iPad 2 screen, Apple is trying hard to ensure that it remains the dominant market player in the tablet space.
Jayesh Easwaramony, vice president, ICT Practice, Asia Pacific, Frost & Sullivan said, “The new iPad is a global product that caters to an evolved market of mobile internet users with strong purchasing power; it will attract consumers in the more developed markets of the Asia Pacific region like South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.”
He added, “iPad currently rules the tablet category by a wide margin with a close to 70% market share. The new iPad further protects its interests by building in more attractive features such as the HD display and more processing power to continue its dominance as the ‘defacto’ tablet of choice.”
The Tablet PC market is still a relatively nascent one, which is good for Apple.
The overall market is still growing at a rapid rate so the size of the revenue pie will increase strongly in a market which Apple is clearly dominating. In contrast, the smartphone market which continues to grow is now starting to mature, so replacement handsets now make up a lot of purchases whereas first time buyers still occupy a large slice of the Tablet PC market.
Smartphone market more of a challenge
Phil Harpur, senior research manager, ICT Practice, Australia & New Zealand, Frost & Sullivan said, ”The smartphone market is becoming more and more of a challenge for them as the market matures and competition grows, mainly from smartphones running the android platform.”
Harpur also noted that competitors are still behind Apple in terms of features and functionality though he commented that Samsung and Asus have some interesting releases. Yet no brand has really produced anything that truly challenges Apple in the Tablet PC market that would significantly eat into Apple’s market share. This may change over the next year or two as it did in the smartphone market, but it will be a gradual process.
Phil added, “Competition is constantly heating up and market expectations are no doubt much higher. While Apple will be able to, to a significant degree, ride the strong wave of momentum it has built in the market with this new iPad release, with each release the market will be expecting more and more.
“Apple is already facing challenges in the smartphone market from competitors with functionality which is getter closer and closer to theirs. Such challenges will continue over the next two to five years. However one trump card that Apple does have in its favor is its domination of the application market with its App Store for its iPhone, iPad and iPod.”
With almost $200 billion in combined 2011 revenues, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are well positioned to take the lead in mobile payments landscape.
However, the top mobile payments spot is still up for grabs, as consumers trust PayPal, Visa, and their own banks for making financial transactions compared to mobile networks, social media, and online retailers.
“Companies will need to understand how their brand resonates with consumers in the three key areas of trust, innovation and privacy. Brands must partner with companies to achieve complementary strengths and widespread adoption in mobile payments.”
The report reveals the shift in consumer mobile behaviors over the past two years and spotlights emerging market opportunities for mobile wallets.
Mobile purchases skyrocketed
In 2011, consumers’ mobile purchases of physical goods skyrocketed to 41% from 14% in 2009, while those of ringtones, which once dominated the market, decreased significantly. This shift from “nice to have” to “needs” indicates how consumers are beginning to find more value in purchasing via mobile devices.
Using its TIP (Trust-Innovation-Privacy) Model, Javelin scored brand effects of social media, mobile networks, and financial institutions (FIs) on trust, innovation, and privacy.
While PayPal came closest to reaching “Gold Zone”, the high trust-high innovation-high privacy position, no brand placed in the coveted spot.
However, despite overall low scores in all three categories, FIs scored extremely well among their own customers, receiving the highest rankings for trust in security, protecting private information, and even innovation. Facebook and Sprint were the least trusted brands for financial transacting.
“Although consumers rate Apple as the greatest innovator, no brand will reach the Gold Zone without the right alliance,” said Mary Monahan, executive vice president and research director, Mobile at Javelin. “Companies will need to understand how their brand resonates with consumers in the three key areas of trust, innovation and privacy. Brands must partner with companies to achieve complementary strengths and widespread adoption in mobile payments.”
“Don’t count out banks, which are well respected in their geographic markets,” said Jim Van Dyke, president, Javelin. “Our data shows that banks’ own consumers ranked them higher on trust and privacy than payment providers, mobile network carriers, other banks, and the Gang of Four. FIs are viable partners for these mobile payment vendors.”
Javelin’s Gang of Four (and Possibly Five) Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon – and PayPal report analyzes consumer perceptions of mobile payments players of trust, innovation, and privacy and recommends strategies for social media and mobile companies and FIs to succeed in the mobile purchasing market. The report is based on survey data collected online from more than 5,800 consumers.
Selected Key Report Findings
Mobile technology usage is on the rise, paving the way for increased mobile purchasing. By 2016, 72% of adults will use smartphones, while 40% of mobile phone owners will use tablets.
Consumers’ mobile purchases of physical goods skyrocketed to 41% from 14% in 2009, while purchasing of ringtones significantly decreased.
Consumers with primary banking relationships at FIs gave their own banks the highest trust and privacy scores over Visa, which received top scores among all consumers.
As Apple prepares to further redefine personal and business computing with the introduction of the iPad 3, Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD)has disclosed results of a survey of 120 IT decision-makers, many of whom expect iPad 3 and other mobile devices to directly impact their campus LANs.
Survey result highlights include:
BYOD or Not, Here They Come: Almost 40 percent of respondents indicated that employees use mobile devices to access their campus LANs regardless of an official Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy.
iPad 3′s Immediate Impact: More than 30 percent of decision-makers expect traffic on their networks to increase as a direct result of the iPad 3.
Long-term Investing for Mobility: 65 percent of survey respondents said they have invested in campus LANs since 2009 to address tablet and smartphone usage.
Multivendor Strategy Rules: 60 percent of the respondents said their organization relies on networking solutions from multiple vendors to achieve their goals.
Regardless of whether companies have official BYOD policies, mobile device proliferation signifies the potential for a dramatic rise in campus LAN traffic in the years to come.
Brocade’s survey of 120 IT decision-makers was conducted from Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 through Monday, March 5, 2012 via Zoomerang. Click here to read the full results of the summary and download a full report on the findings.
When it comes to buying a tablet computer, consumers are interested in two things: price and content. Moreover, the vast majority of those interested in a tablet only want one — the Apple iPad — according to a new study by wireless and mobile market research consultancy iGR.
In 2011, Apple sold about 19.63 million iPads in the U.S. The total market in 2011 was just over 28.1 million units. Android-based tablet sales in 2011 totaled approximately 7.7 million — a substantial number, certainly — but 47 percent of those sales happened in the fourth quarter and 61 percent of those 4Q sales were generated by Amazon.
Put another way, Amazon sold more Android-based tablets in the last two months of the year than any other Android tablet OEM did in all of 2011.
“Clearly, this study shows that the Apple iPad continues to dominate the U.S. tablet market, even after the launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire,” said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR, a market research consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry.
“While Amazon has made some inroads into the market, the other OEMs have had little impact to date. That said, there are signs in the consumer base of potential acceptance of alternative platforms. For Apple’s competitors, now is the time to rethink the tablet market and attack the opportunity again.”
Throughout the forecast period, we expect Apple to continue dominating tablet sales.
But we do expect that competing platforms — Android and Windows — will sell in significant volumes through 2016. In 2016, for example, iGR forecasts tablet sales in the U.S. to reach approximately 45.3 million. On an OS basis, we are forecasting that Apple will sell approximately 27.3 million tablets in 2016; Android-based tablet sales will reach about 13.9 million.
A Kindle Fire tablet computer
As compared to the market for smartphones, the current monthly sales of tablets are relatively modest. Our research suggests that tablets are, at present, primarily purchased as an additional computing device, not necessarily a true replacement device. Over the forecast period, this is anticipated to change, creating more market opportunity for tablet OEMs.
iGR’s new market research report, U.S. Tablet Sales Forecast: 2011-2016, provides an analysis of the overall tablet market in the U.S. and discusses the survey data and analysis which led to its conclusion. The report includes an overview of tablet market drivers, including pricing and content, as well as quarterly U.S. tablet sales estimates and forecast by platform and OEM.
Advanced findings from the BrandFinance Global 500, due to be launched on 19th March, show that Apple has leapfroggedGoogle to be named the world’s most valuable brand.
The Californian tech giant enjoys the highest ever valuation by Brand Finance plc (US $70.6 billion) almost one third greater than its closest rival Google (currently valued at US$47.5 billion).
Apple rose a staggering seven places from eighth in the 2011 table after a year which has seen the Californian tech giant assert its position as the preeminent consumer tech brand with the launch of the iPad 2, iPhone 4s, Mountain Lion operating system and the eagerly anticipated launch of the iPad3.
The announcement comes as Apple announces its 25th billion mobile download dwarfing its competitors in this evolving market.
Commenting on this year’s report from the Brand Finance New York office, David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance Inc, said “The meteoric rise we have witnessed over the last 12 months is nothing short of staggering. Apple is the classic American corporation that was once the alternative quirky brand for designers and creatives. Now their products are accepted by major corporations and are used by the mainstream corporate industry.
“Companies like Apple are built on strong Intellectual Property and are the engine for growth in a new era. Apple is a great example of how IP can be used to leverage high profits. As Apple continues to develop it seems set to dominate the technology industry in 2012 and beyond.”
The Brand Finance Global 500 Top Five Most Valuable Technology Brands
Rank Rank Brand Value
2012 2011 Brand Country (USD) Brand Rating
1 4 Apple United States $70.6 billion AAA+
2 1 Google United States $47.5 billion AAA+
3 2 Microsoft United States $45.8 billion AAA+
4 3 IBM United States $39.1 billion AA+
5 5 Amazon United States $26.7 billion AA+
Intel, Apple, and Cisco, provide the best product and relationship experience in the tech industry, according to a new research report published by Temkin Group, Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, rates the experiences delivered by 60 large technology providers.
The research, which is based on a survey of 800 IT professionals from companies with at least $500 million in annual sales, examines how large enterprises rate IT vendors’ products and relationships.
Looking across the two key areas, products and relationships, Intel, Apple, and Cisco earned the highest average ratings. While the average rating across all 60 tech vendors was 50%, eight vendors fell below 40%: Compuware, Wipro, Capgemini, Tata Consulting Services, Unisys, Novell, Qualcomm, and SunGard.
“The research uncovered a wide range of experience delivered by tech vendors when it comes to both products and relationships,” states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.
To evaluate the relationship experience provided by tech vendors, Temkin Group asked IT professionals to rate the companies in four areas: cost of ownership, innovation, account team support, and technical support.
The vendors with the highest relationship ratings are Intel, Apple, Cisco, Google, Microsoft servers, and IBM IT services. The tech vendors that received the lowest relationship ratings are Compuware, Wipro, and Unisys.
To evaluate the product experience provided by tech vendors, Temkin Group asked IT professionals to rate the companies in four areas: ease of use, features, flexibility, and quality.
The vendors with the highest product ratings are Intel, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft business applications, Microsoft desktop software, Microsoft servers, Google, Oracle database software, Oracle business applications, and VMWare.
The tech vendors that received the lowest product ratings are Compuware, Capgemini, and Wipro.
Highlights from the eight evaluation criteria:
Cost of ownership: Two tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher - Google and Intel.
Innovation: 16 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher, while four were above 70% - Apple, Intel, Cisco, andGoogle.
Account team support: Seven tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher, led by Apple, Intel, and Cisco.
Technical support: Nine tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and only Intel is above 70%.
Product ease-of-use: 13 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and two are above 70% - Intel and Apple.
Product features: 17 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and two are above 70% - Cisco and Intel.
Product flexibility: 12 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and only Intel is above 70%.
Product quality: 17 tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher and four are above 70% - Intel, Apple, Cisco, andAdobe.
Android and iOS together make up 91 percent of the mobile OS market. Based on data from the Jumptap network of more than 95 million monthly users, both operating systems reached new heights in January, according to the February MobileSTAT, from Jumptap, a targeted mobile advertising firm.
Android hit 58.8 percent and iOS reached 32.2 percent market share respectively. Blackberry, on the other hand, sunk to a record low of 6.7 percent.
The data nicely complimentsNielsen’s recent report, showing 89 percent of smartphones that were acquired in Q4 2011 were Android or iOS, and only 6 percent were Blackberry.
Jumptap predicts that Blackberry, Symbian and Windows have an uphill battle just to retain OS market share in 2012.“With Google activating 850,000 mobile devices daily, it’s no surprise that Android has continued to outpace every other OS on the market”
Personally, here at the TechJournal, we’ve tested several android devices and two Windows phones. We actually found the Windows phones the most intuitive and easiest to use. Their late arrival on the market may keep them from gaining traction, but they’re worthy entrants.
“With Google activating 850,000 mobile devices daily, it’s no surprise that Android has continued to outpace every other OS on the market,” said Paran Johar, Chief Marketing Officer, Jumptap.
“What advertisers should take away from this data is the importance of advertising cross-platform. Both the Android and iOS operating systems continue to grow while the remaining competitors represent only a fraction of the market.
Additional February MobileSTAT Findings:
Exponential Tablet Growth: The launch of the Kindle Fire has helped fuel exponential tablet growth in the last few months. Overall tablet traffic on the Jumptap network has increased over 50 percent since December. In that same time period, Kindle Fire has grown from holding a 4 percent share of tablet traffic to a 33 percent share. Jumptap predicts that 2012 will be a year of heavy competition between the iPad3 – launching in March – the Kindle Fire, and other low-cost tablets.
Top Picks for Mobile Devices of CES Attendees: The largest consumer electronics show in the world, CES, brought hundreds of the best and brightest in media and tech to Las Vegas — and with them, their mobile devices. In analyzing the types of devices used in Las Vegas during the event vs. devices normally used in the area, the Jumptap February MobileSTAT found that Apple and Blackberry made the strongest showing. Additionally, iPad traffic increased 100 percent and Blackberry traffic increased 111 percent during the show. To no surprise, the report also found that tech-focused CES attendees were less likely to use feature phones as compared to Las Vegas locals.
All Politics is Mobile: Political candidates aren’t the only ones using mobile for the primaries. Mobile users in South Carolina took to their phones to check results of the state’s primary election on January 21. Significant spikes on the Jumptap network ‘News Channel’ occurred on the day of the primary resulting in a 35 percent increase in traffic at 7 p.m. ET when the polls closed, and a 40 percent spike at 10 p.m. when results were announced.
MobileSTAT (Simple Targeting & Audience Trends) is a monthly view of the top targeting and audience trends in mobile advertising. Jumptap strives to better understand mobile audience and educate the entire mobile ecosystem through its insight reports. MobileSTAT contains analysis of hundreds of gigabytes of log data, run through Jumptap’s analytics technology. To download a full copy of the Jumptap MobileSTAT report, visit jumptap.com/STAT.
On the eve of Apple’s launch of the iPad 3, a new national study among small and mid-sized business (SMB) owners reveals how critical the iPad and other mobile devices have become to this business segment.
According to the findings from a study by Charlotte, NC – based The Business Journals, iPad usage has nearly quadrupled among the SMB market over the past year, growing from nine percent in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011, indicating that the iPad is the fastest growing technology among the SMB market.
In addition, since the iPad’s launch in April 2010, familiarity with the product has reached incredibly high levels in its less than two year life span with 75 percent of SMB owners report now being “very or somewhat familiar” with the device.
Anytime anywhere data access driving use
Godfrey Phillips, vice [resident of Research at The Business Journals, hypothesizes that the growth of the iPad is part of a new phenomenon overtaking the SMB market.
“Our research has shown that for SMB owners, productivity and efficiency, which used to be the central benefits of technology, are now declining in importance compared to accessibility. Now, it’s crucial that business owners have access to their business information and data, anytime and anywhere. The iPad, as well as smartphones and cloud computing, are all part of this new trend and are experiencing significant growth as a result of that need.”
The study also identified that iPad users in the SMB community – 34 percent – are tech-savvy and financially successful. In addition to being highly educated with 72 percent having a college education, this segment’s annual household incomes (HHI) averages $176,000.
Their companies are also well-established, having existed for an average of 28 years and averaging$9.2M in annual sales.
The study, which will be available March 31st, was undertaken by The Business Journals, surveying a nationally representative sample of over 1,400 business owners, CEOs and presidents of companies with 5-499 employees. It provides numerous insights into the SMB market and identifies leading business brands, segmented opportunities, and details annual expenditures, economic viewpoints, technology and social marketing trends.
Apple and other high growth companies share five key behaviors.
Apple says that more than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by the users of the more than 315 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices worldwide.
The company justly touts the revolutionary effects its app store and its touch screen devices have had on the digital world. They have made the company among the world’s most valuable despite intense competition.
The 25 billionth app downloaded, Where’s My Water? Free, was downloaded by Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps, Chunli Fu will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said, “When we launched the App Store less than four years ago, we never imagined that mobile apps would become the phenomenon they have, or that developers would create such an incredible selection of apps for iOS users.”
The revolutionary App Store offers more than 550,000 apps to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users in 123 countries around the world, with more than 170,000 native iPad apps available.
App Store customers can choose from a range of apps in 21 categories, including Newsstand, games, business, news, sports, health & fitness and travel. The App Store has paid out more than four billion dollars to developers.
While I’m no Apple fan boy, I have been considering getting the new iPad for its high resolution Retina display and its dictation feature.
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Intel, Apple, and Cisco, provide the best product and relationship experience in the tech industry, according to a new research report published by Temkin Group, Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, rates the experiences delivered by 60 large technology providers.
The vendors with the highest relationship ratings are Intel, Apple, Cisco, Google, Microsoft servers, and IBM IT services. The tech vendors that received the lowest relationship ratings are Compuware, Wipro, and Unisys.
Cost of ownership: Two tech vendors received ratings of 60% or higher - Google and Intel.
Android and iOS together make up 91 percent of the mobile OS market. Based on data from the Jumptap network of more than 95 million monthly users, both operating systems reached new heights in January, according to the 
