John Lewis up. Debenhams down

Posted on January 2, 2014 by - News

tablet-POS-cash-registerHigh street stores showed mixed results in their bids to win the hearts, souls and wallets of people over the Yuletide season.

Debenhams didn’t do at all well and that caused its chief beancounter, Simon Herrick, to fall on his sword this morning.

The John Lewis Partnership, which is a sort of cooperative, said its sales for the period were up 6.9 percent from the same Christmas period the year before. But it did particularly well on the interwibble front – in the five weeks to the 28th of December last its sales rose by over 22 percent.

Debenhams is in the slough of despond, however. It issued a profits warning for the next six months.

Obliquely, the John Lewis news is bad news for chip giant Intel too. Many people are using smartphones and tablets to buy online rather than wait for their X86 based machines to boot up.

Yuletide greetings to all

Posted on December 24, 2013 by - News

yuleHave a great time, if you’re capable of having a great time. Abnormal service will be resumed as soon as possible after the hostilities.

Intel ultrabooks face Apple threat

Posted on December 23, 2013 by - News

Intel-logoSamsung and Apple both have plans to release tablets with screen as large as 12 or 13 inches, putting further pressure on ultrabooks powered by Intel X86 processors.

Digitimes claims that the Apple unit will be made by Quanta with the likelihood that it will have a 12.9 inch screen, come out in October next year and will target the educational market.

Samsung, which is giving Apple a run for its money, is also rumoured to be releasing 12 or 13-inch tablets next year.

The same wire reports that Apple will introduce a large iPhone in May next year using a 20 nanometre microprocessor, with TSMC the foundry that has the win.

Acer takes axe to management

Posted on December 23, 2013 by - Moving People, News

acer-logo-ceStan Shih, who came out of retirement to rescue Acer from its parlous state, has apparently been busy since his return.

Smartphone supremo Chen Guowei has apparently left Acer to spend more time with his family.  Guowei was in charge of Acer’s business unit in mainland China.

And the net has spread wider, according to Taiwanese wire Digitimes, the head of EMEA operations, Walter Deppeler, is set to leave the company too.

The company plans to cut as many as seven percent of its global workforce.  Like other PC manufacturers, Acer has been hit by a drop in demand for X86 based systems and a widespread move to smartphones and tablets that aren’t Acer tablets.

Big tab sales close to 300 million

Posted on December 20, 2013 by - News

ipad3A report from ABI Research said that something like 285 million big tablet brands will have shipped by the time Hogmanay happens.

The US market has shipped 70 million tablets from the likes of Apple and Samsung – representing a tablet for every four people.

But Apple’s big chunk of the market is showing some signs of erosion. In 2013, 51 percent of the installed base is represented by Apple’s OS and 40 percent Android.

Samsung had 20 percent growth in the third quarter of 2013, said ABI Research.

Apple upped its ASPs by one percent but shipments fell by four percent compared to the previous quarter and revenues fell about three percent.

Big Data will bring bonanza

Posted on December 18, 2013 by - News

clouds3The market for Big Data tech and services is expected to be worth $32.4 billion by 2017, growing between then and now at a CAGR of 27 percent.

That’s what market research company IDC is projecting, in a report that says that growth is about six times the growth rate of the ICT market.

Dan Vesset, a VP at IDC, said that the Big Data market is growing fast as startups and large IT company attempt to take market share and fold in customers.

Cloud infrastructure has the highest CAGR in individual segments, at 49 percent until 2017.  And automation based on Big Data tech is set to affect knowledge worker roles.

And datacentres are likely to suffer too, because it will either be discarded or archived to the cloud, meaning the storage market will be affected.

AMOLED market set to take off

Posted on December 18, 2013 by - News

tv58The global market for materials to construct active matrix organic light emitting (AMOLED) panels next year will grow by 27 percent.

That’s according to a report from IHS, which predicts the market will be worth an estimated $445 million in 2014.

The leader of the AMOLED pack is Samsung which has pioneered the technique over the last five years by making three inch to five inch smartphone panels, according to Doo Kim, a principal analyst at IHS.

However, Kim says other manufacturers will “cash in” on growing demand for smartphones, telephones and other gizmos.

This LG Display introduced a TV panel and a flexible AMOLED panel, but Taiwanese firm AU Optronics have also entered the game.  Increased production of panels means the market will be more diverse with Samsung facing competitive challenges.

Governments need to go cloud busting

Posted on December 17, 2013 by - News

cloudbustA report from Gartner said that by 2017 public cloud offerings will account for over 25 percent of government business services, not counting defence and security.

But CIOs need to get themselves into the debate on public cloud sourcing, and kick of sourcing strategies with politicos.

By 2017, predicted Gartner, 35 percent of government shared service organisations will be managed by private sector companies. Public private partnerships are already embracing infrastructure as a service but governments will move to integration and software as a service.

And, Gartner predicts, by 2017 as many as 60 percent plus of government open data programmes that do not use open data internally will be discontinued.

And if you’ve a job in government software development, mind your back, because at least 25 percent of such jobs will be axed while governments hire data analysts from outside.  Data analysis is now a high priority.

Business to go for smart specs

Posted on December 17, 2013 by - News, Products

spyspexA company claims that enterprises will adopt smart glasses faster than your average geek.

APX Labs, which makes Skylight software, claims that Google, Epson and others are making devices which in conjunction with apps will be adopted by large corporations.

Skylight, it claims, will let workers share their view with remote colleagues, continuously monitor important information, control devices, sensors and equipments remotely and find and track objects and people.

Vertical sectors adopting smart glasses are likely to include nurses, doctors, fieldservice technicians, warehouse workers, and factory workers.

Skylight is already being used in multiple large businesses in a beta programme while the software officially launches next January.

Ed English, product manager at APX Labs, gives a little demo in a video here. He isn’t wearing smart glasses.

ARM servers are on the rise

Posted on December 16, 2013 by - News

arm_chipThere’s more gloomy news for chip giant Intel.

A report by Digitimes Research estimates that a total of 20,000 units of ARM-based servers ship this year. And while that’s hardly made a dent in Chipzilla’s armour yet, only representing 0.2 percent of that market, that’s set to change.

By 2017 the volume will grow to 1.06 million with a CAGR of 170 percent.

ARM itself thinks that by 2016, chips based on its technology with account for five to 10 percent while that percentage will grow to 10 or 15 points by 2017.

A lot depends, according to Digitimes Research, on support from Microsoft on the Windows Server front.

Home workers are up in internet arms

Posted on December 16, 2013 by - News

cloud 1Thinkbroadband surveyed close to 900 British workers and has discovered a large percentage have gripes about using the internet from home.

While the majority of people working from home feel that it’s important to their job, their ability to do their job is marred by defects with their broadband conection.

Buffering (23%), slow download and upload speeds (34%) and service loss (16%) are their major gripes.

Thinkbroad believes companies should offer a second line, testing the service, paying attention to upload speeds, use the same cloud based sharing systems, and ensure employees test access if they only work from home when the weather’s bad, and the like.

Google to design its own chips

Posted on December 13, 2013 by - News

google-ICThe hegemony of Intel looks to be under further threat after a report that search giant Google is to design its own chips.

That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which speculates that because it buys more servers than anyone else in the world, it could dictate prices to component makers.

The newspaper says that the chips it may design will be based on ARM technology.

Google has, apparently been recruiting a number of chip designers and it’s certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility that it may well have a stab at chip design.

If it does, the question will be which fab company it chooses to create the microprocessors.  Although Intel is attempting to become yet another foundry, many vendors are reluctant to put their fate into the chip giant’s hands.

Capita signs on the Microsoft dotted line

Posted on December 12, 2013 by - News

datacentrebatteriesMicrosoft has signed up Capita to its global Cloud OS Network.

And Capita, as a result, has introduced a private cloud product called Capita Productivity Hub – yu can get it using the existing Capita Private Cloud infrastructure.

It lets UK customers using Outlook, Lync, Sharepoint, Word, Excel and Powerpoint to increase productivity, Capita claims.

The apps are used in a secure setting with data held in Capita’s UK data centres.

Microsoft man Maurice Martin said his firm is offering people the ability to use hybrid stuff working with local service providers like Capita.

Ingram Micro sponsors cloud event

Posted on December 12, 2013 by - Events, News

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeThe first UK Cloud awards are to be sponsored by Ingram Micro UK.

The awards have been created by the Cloud Industry Forum in conjunction with techUK and Cloud Pro.

The jamboree is set to take place in February 2014, giving gongs to vendors, customers and individuals notable for pushing the edge of the cloud industry.

Apay Obang-Oyway, general maner at Ingrom UK said he wanted to encourage his company’s partners to submit products, projects and services that could win gongs.

Alex Hilton, CEO of the Cloud Industry Forum, added that the organisation created the UK awards and to showcase the best examples of what the IT world can deliver.

Judges include journos Max Cooter, Maggie Holland and Clive Longbottom of Quocirca.

You can enter the awards by scooting over to www.ukcloudawards.co.uk

Innovaphone signs up Ingram

Posted on December 11, 2013 by - News

ingram-mico-hqGerman Voice over IP phone company Innovaphone says it has signed up Ingram to distribute its products through Europe.

The aim is to use Ingram’s Micro Unified division to sell its VOiP Unified Communication Solutions products.

Ingram senior manager Cristophe Mory said that the firm’s products are easy to use and will provide its customers – resellers – with a “best of breed” communication tool.

He said that the company was one of the first manufacturers to use the Energy Efficient ethernet 802.3az which means that the port only uses power when data is transferred.

Konstantin Kruse, head of international sales said the agreement will let Innovaphone work with Ingram to educate resellers about the importance of VoIP.