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Wednesday, 6 November 2013
Comparing the cost of a country's citizenship - Times of Malta
via "spain" "residency" "visa" - Google News www.residentvisaspain.com
Tablets To Grow 53.4% This Year, Says Gartner, As The Traditional PC declines ...
The tablet category is continuing to eat the PC's lunch, albeit it's a large lunch so the feast is taking a while. Analyst Gartner expects worldwide tablet shipments to grow 42.7% 53.4% [ Gartner has issued a correction to its earlier figures] this year, with shipments reaching 184 million units. And while traditional PCs are still shipping a lot more units (303,100 forecast for this year), those shipments are continuing to decline - predicted to be down 11.2% on 2012 shipments.
That's lower even than Gartner's prior forecast, back in April, when it said it expected PCs to decline 7.3% this year.
Growth in the so-called ultramobile category - aka lightweight laptops and portables running a full desktop OS such as Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet - is offsetting the traditional PC decline somewhat. But even adding in that category, overall PCs plus ultramobiles are forecast to decline 8.4% this year. Gartner previously said it expects tablets to be outshipping desktop computers and ultramobiles combined by 2017.
By 2014, it now expects the gap between traditional PCs and tablet shipments to have narrowed to just over 18,000 more PCs than tablets shipped, although it expects ultramobiles to have grown to close to 40,000 units shipped by then (up from around 18,600 this year).
Growth in the ultramobile category will be down to serving users that need to 'balance work and play' considerations in a single device, said Gartner - thereby allowing hybrid ultramobiles to step in and offer the functionality of a PC in the form factor of a tablet.
Turning to tablets proper, smaller and cheaper is the order of the day - with consumers' preference for the 7-inch form factor causing continued price decline in premium tablets. The raft of cheaper priced tablet hardware - from the likes of Amazon with its Kindle Fire line and Google with its Nexus-branded slates - is clearly helping to underpin overall tablet growth, taking share away from Apple's more expensive iPad line.
Smaller tablets are also going to put a dent in the smartphone's holiday appeal, according to Gartner. 'Continuing on the trend we saw last year, we expect this holiday season to be all about smaller tablets as even the long-term holiday favourite - the smartphone - loses its appeal,' said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement.
More generally, while the mobile phone market is expected to continue to experience steady growth, Gartner is calling time on the 'opportunity for high average selling price (ASP) smartphones'. It expects growth in the mobile segment to be powered by mid-tier smartphones in mature markets, and low-end Android smartphones in emerging markets. So again, cheap devices are winning out. The wider point there is that many developed markets are saturated - pushing smartphone growth to emerging countries where lower ASP devices are required.
Gartner's forecast for worldwide device shipments by operating system this year and next (rounded up percentage marketshares below) shows Android continuing to build out its empire - helped by growth in cheaper tablets and smartphones. Android will be approaching a half-market share across all the device types by 2014, while Windows/Windows Phone and iOS/Mac OS manage only marginal growth:
2013
2014
On the wearables front, Gartner expects the market opportunity to remain primarily about companion devices that are used in conjunction with mobile phones, rather than replacing them. Gartner predicts that less than 1% of consumers will replace their mobile phones with a combination of a wearable device and a tablet by 2017.
'In the short term, we expect consumers to look at wearables as nice to have rather than a 'must have', leaving smartphones to play the role of our faithful companion throughout the day,' added Milanesi. 'For wearables to be successful, they need to add to the user experience by complementing and enhancing what other devices already offer. They also need to be stylish yet practical, and most of all hit the right price.'
www.best-budget-tablet.com For tablet reviews of the best budget tablets
Samsung aims to topple Apple as No. 1 maker of tablet computers
SEOUL (AP) - Samsung Electronics has a new goal after overtaking Apple in smartphones: It wants to be world No. 1 in tablet computers too.
A top executive, Mr Shin Jong Kyun, told analysts on Wednesday Samsung's tablet business is growing rapidly, and the company will become the biggest maker of tablet computers. He did not give a timeframe. Mr Shin said Samsung's tablet sales will exceed 40 million units this year, more than double sales last year.
'Samsung tablet shipments started to grow remarkably since the second half of last year,' he said.
Research group IDC estimates that Samsung sold 16.6 million tablets last year, lagging far behind Apple, which sold 65.7 million iPads. But while Apple's tablet market share declined to 30 per cent in the July-September quarter, Samsung is on the rise, capturing 20 per cent market share.
www.best-budget-tablet.com For tablet reviews of the best budget tablets
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
A "Sea of Death" for migrants - Socialist Worker Online
via "spain" "residency" "visa" - Google News www.residentvisaspain.com
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Realpolitik has nothing to do with Islam Western concepts of freedom, openness ... - Arab Times Kuwait English Daily
via "spain" "residency" "visa" - Google News www.residentvisaspain.com
Coming this Christmas: Invasion of the tablet computers
The growing popularity of tablet computers is clear evidence that the pre-Christmas shopping epidemic is about to reach fever pitch. Erkki Tallgren of electronics retailer Tekniset Oy said that new touch screen devices have fired up consumers' interest in technology.
'Overall sales increase mostly due to new innovations. Tablets and touch screen computers are new and powerful so people are interested in them. The trend is the same in other parts of Finland,' he added.
Tablet cachet growing
Tallgren said that while older generations aren't necessarily used to touch screen devices, younger users have embraced tablets, especially for entertainment purposes.
Tablets are also attractive because they are fast and easy to use online, although you get more bang for your buck with more traditional computers.
'Tablets have dominated the field and nowadays they are major information technology devices. However laptops are still top of the list for the more mature crowd and they don't necessarily like the user interface on tablets. For the younger, more mobile crowd, the tablet is ideal especially for leisure usage,' Tallgren explained.
The electronics retailer said shoppers can choose tablets depending on their intended usage. There are devices with integrated keyboards and others for which a separate keyboard can be obtained. The deciding factor in a purchase decision is what the user wants to do with the device.
Laptops still rule in the workplace
However in spite of the buzz around super-portable tablets, the laptop still reigns supreme in the workplace.
'The more traditional laptop computer is used by those who need internet access as well as special software for accounting and other work-related tasks. The specific software may not even work on a tablet. There are also hardcore gamers who want to build their own computers and order the required parts online,' Tallgren pointed out.
www.best-budget-tablet.com For tablet reviews of the best budget tablets
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