Category: Products

Samsung to launch smartphone accessory business

Posted on June 12, 2013 by - News, Products

Samsung rules the roostSamsung might be about to step up its retail game. According to Korean tech site Etnews, the smartphone giant is going to launch an online shopping mall for phone accessories. Aside from making more cash, Samsung hopes the new service will help it grow consumer loyalty.

The online shopping mall is set to debut in Europe in early July. It will then expand to the rest of the world, with a bit of help from Best Buy stateside. Android Community reports Samsung and Best Buy will open around 1,400 retail locations, both online and offline, but the European push seems to be centred on online.

Of course, most of the accessories will be manufactured by Samsung, although some of them will be supplied by its partners. The details of the plan are still unclear, though. Samsung will probably focus on pricey accessories like wireless charging devices and docks, but there is a chance it will start peddling everything, including cheap screen protector films. The service will also carry some Samsung flagship phones.

The global phone accessory market is worth an estimated $44 billion. With Samsung’s huge market share, it is clearly a burgeoning market that needs to be tapped.

Lenovo rebrands storage gear

Posted on June 12, 2013 by - News, Products

lenovo_hqLenovo and EMC recently cuddled up in a joint venture and the first LenovoEMC branded products are already hitting the market. However, as a side effect Lenovo is also rebranding some of its other storage products.

The Iomega brand seems destined for the bargain bin. It appears that it will be used solely for low-end storage solutions. The good stuff will feature the LenovoEMC brand.

“Effective immediately, the former Iomega-branded network storage products are available worldwide with new branding that reflects the LenovoEMC business while continuing to utilize the Iomega mark on entry-level consumer network storage products,” Lenovo said.

Lenovo’s high performance StorCenter px series is now the LenovoEMC px series, while the EZ Media series storage solutions and NAS gear will retain Iomega branding.

“With the transition from the highly successful stand alone Iomega brand to the power of the combined Lenovo and EMC brands, our Lenovo network storage solutions from the LenovoEMC joint venture will continue to evolve in features and capabilities as world class network storage that complements server products from the Lenovo Enterprise Product Group. This is an important element in Lenovo’s continued growth in the PC Plus world,” said Roy Guillen, vice president, Enterprise Product Group, Lenovo.

LenovoEMC today also announced an agreement with Acronis to provide True Image 2013 Lite PC backup software with all Lenovo EMC network storage products. The Lenovo EMC px series include three licenses for ATI Lite per product and Acronis will offer special pricing for additional upgrades and licences.

EMEA server market slides 10.5 percent

Posted on June 11, 2013 by - News, Products

server-racksThe EMEA server market seems unable to regain its footing. Following several consecutive quarters of lacklustre results, the negative trend seems set to continue, according to the latest IDC figures.

Revenue dropped 10.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 year-on-year. Shipments also dropped by 5.7 percent, to 520,000 units. This is the sixth quarter in the red and the market has been contracting since the fourth quarter of 2011.

IDC EMEA Enterprise Server Group research manager Giorgio Nebuloni said yearly revenue declined by more than 40 percent.

“Part of the spending intended to keep core business applications running is now absorbed by new integrated system offerings combining x86 and lower-end RISC/EPIC blades with storage and networking back-ends,” Nebuloni said.

The non-x86 market was especially hard hit, with a revenue decline of 34.8 percent. Revenues generated by x86 server dropped by 1.5 percent. Demand for x86 servers in developed European economies is flat, while demand for non-x86 gear is plummeting.

“RISC sales were particularly hit, down by 49.8% year on year, whereas mainframe revenue suffered single-digit declines of 4.8%” said IDC EMEA Enterprise Server Group senior research analyst Beatriz Valle. “Big organisations in the corporate space and government are consolidating existing infrastructure using high-end x86 servers, with demand for legacy architectures at an all time low.”

Demand is evaporating in the CEMA region as well, with a third consecutive drop in the first quarter. Shipments were down 9.7 percent, although some positive trends were seen in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile the share of modular server shipments increased from 19.9 percent to 22.7 percent in the first quarter of the year. The growth was driven by the increasing popularity of density optimised servers in the HPC area.

Club 3D dumps Nvidia for AMD

Posted on June 11, 2013 by - News, Products

club3d-logoDutch add-in-board partner Club 3D has ditched Nvidia and decided to become an AMD exclusive partner. The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise, since Club 3D was practically the only big AIB that did not launch Geforce 700 desktop boards last month.

The company confirmed that it is an AMD-only players in a press release late Monday. Acting CEO of Club 3D Judith Ma Tseng said Club 3D believes AMD is “uniquely positioned to deliver a complete solution concept” for its customers.

“We firmly believe that we can offer a better solution, if we proceed with AMD alone,” said Ma Tseng.

Unsurprisingly, AMD welcomed Club 3D’s turncoat antics.

“Their decision to join AMD as an exclusive hardware partner is a powerful acknowledgement of our leadership in the graphics space, and a tremendous contribution to the technical expertise in the AMD Radeon graphics ecosystem,” said Zvika Greenstein, Director of Desktop Product Management, AMD Graphics.

This isn’t the first time that an AIB has chosen to switch sides, or go exclusive. Back in 2010 XFX also ditched Nvidia and became an AMD exclusive partner. Gainward did the exact opposite, when it stopped selling Radeons to focus on Nvidia products.

However, it should be noted that all AIBs, especially smaller ones like Club 3D, are facing a lot of pressure. Sales of desktop PCs have been tumbling for years, while at the same time powerful integrated graphics are slowly killing off the high-volume, low-margin market for entry level discrete graphics.

EE boasts 500,000 4G customers

Posted on June 6, 2013 by - News, Products

eeEE has reached another 4G milestone. After becoming the first UK telco to roll out a commercial 4G network, it is now proudly proclaiming that it already has 500,000 customers. This makes it one of the leading European 4G operators and Britain is expected to become the largest 4G market later this year.

Nissan recalls 841,000 cars

Posted on May 23, 2013 by - News, Products

nissan-qashqai-steeringNissan said that it is planning to recall 841,000 vehicles worldwide due to a faulty steering wheel. The recall will affect thousands of Micras, Qashqais and Cubes. But Nissan is trying to downplay the problem, but then again it would, wouldn’t it?

Although a faulty steering wheel does sound a bit alarming in case you’ve grown overly attached to your limbs, the company claims there is no danger of sudden failure. It seems that the culprit was a simple bolt used to secure the steering wheel and it can be sorted out with a bit of elbow grease, or quick replacement of the entire unit. In any case Nissan says the fix should take less than 20 minutes and the recall is voluntary, which means most cars will be sorted out during routine inspection.

None of the affected cars have been involved in crashes due to faulty steering and Nissan claims drivers should notice if their steering wheel starts to go loose. It will not fail catastrophically, or at least that’s what Nissan is betting on.

Although it doesn’t sound too scary, it is more bad PR for the company, as Nissan was already forced to recall 500,000 vehicles earlier this year due to an airbag defect.

Bloke comes up with pear brandy ice cream

Posted on May 22, 2013 by - Fun Stuff, News, Products

wine-cellar-slavoniaA small Croatian sweet shop located in the picturesque town of Beli Manastir has come up with a rather innovative take on ice cream. Shop owner Ismet Alija has stirred up something special – what appears to be the world’s first pear brandy ice cream.

The ice cream is based on the same pear variety used to produce brandy throughout the region. However, to spice it up a notch, Alija adds about 16 ounces of brandy per four litres of ice cream, which sounds like a lot. As a result he can’t sell the ice cream to minors, but he is attracting a new crowd, eager to try out an age old local specialty in a new, hipper guise.

“Nobody can get drunk from a single serving, not even two,” he told Glas Slavonije. “We don’t serve it to minors, but older folks are thrilled.”

Most customers seem to be opting for a serving of vanilla ice cream on the side, which serves as a mixer.

Emboldened by his success, Alija says he won’t stop at a single variety of boozed up ice cream. He is currently working on an ice cream based on Grasevina, a famous white wine produced in Croatia’s Baranja and Slavonia regions. He hopes to roll it out in time for the local Wine Days Festival later this year and steal the show.

 

Apple retail revenue is $58 per customer

Posted on May 21, 2013 by - News, Products

iPad-miniApple has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. Its falling share price has been a source of concern for Wall Street, the lack of revolutionary products is another, and a big gap in the update cycle is yet another. However, Apple’s retail operations are going from strength to strength.

In fact, the average Apple consumer who happens to walk into a retail store nets the company $57.6, twice as much as shoppers who enter Tiffany shops, minus those who ask for breakfast. According to Apple’s latest financials, retail numbers are still going strong, reports Hot Hardware.

The number of average visitors per store was about 250,000 per quarter, up from 170,000 in the same period three years ago. It is worth noting that the iPad launched three years ago, which should explain the sudden spike in numbers. However, the iPad mini was introduced last year and it does not seem to have had much of a negative impact on retail spending, despite the fact that it is significantly cheaper than the full size iPad.

In addition to the second generation iPad mini with a high resolution display, Apple is widely expected to introduce a cheaper version of the iPhone later this year. Although it is supposed to be designed with emerging markets in mind, a cheaper iPhone could also cannibalize sales of the flagship iPhone in developed markets. The exact same trend was observed in the quarters following the iPad mini launch.

With that in mind, the average Apple retail consumer might start to spend a bit less, as more and more of them are likely to opt for the iPad mini and cheaper iPhone over their bigger and pricier siblings.