PC Shipments Showing Signs of Recovery, Gartner Says
The PC market is showing signs of recovery, with the freefall of PC shipments skidding to a halt thanks to competitive PC prices and a continued interest in netbooks, Gartner said on Thursday
Gartner said that PC shipments will decline due to the continued effects of the global recession, but at a slower rate than originally expected. Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by 6 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year, an upgrade from the 6.6 percent decrease earlier projected by Gartner.
That will set the stage for a healthy market recovery in 2010, when PC shipments will grow by 10.3 percent, said George Shiffler, principal analyst at Gartner. A strong first quarter helped stabilize PC shipments in 2009, and Gartner is projecting a strong fourth quarter.
“By that time we expect the global economy to be on the recovery path. Once the economy is on a sounder footing, the demand will be strengthened,” Shiffler said. Demand for PCs has been more resilient than originally thought, with buyers responding to the falling prices of PCs, he said.
“We’ve pierced new price points for laptops, and not surprisingly, people are responding to that,” Shiffler said.
Netbooks triggered new lows in laptop prices of under US$300, Shiffler said. That pricing pressure is now trickling into mainstream laptops, which have seen prices hover around $500, dropping below $400 in some instances, he said.
Netbooks are looking more like mainstream laptops as they get more expensive with larger screen sizes and keyboards, Shiffler said. At the same time, the prices of mainstream laptops are falling, which blurs the line between both the laptop categories.
But anecdotal evidence also suggests that people are finding out that netbooks have limited capabilities and are not substitutes for full-screen laptops, Shiffler said. That could drive some people back to buying mainstream laptops, he said.
Also challenging netbooks are ultrathin laptops, which are low-end, thin and light laptops priced starting at $500. However, ultrathin laptops have just hit the market, so their impact on netbooks cannot be assessed.
“There’s a market for a low-end notebooks, it’s just not clear if it’s only the mini-notebook. It’s going to get very interesting to see what happens,” Shiffler said. The shipment of netbooks — which Gartner refers to as mini-notebooks — will reach 21 million this year and 30 million next year, he said.
Microsoft’s new Windows 7 OS, which is due for release on Oct. 22, will not be a major factor in the recovery of PC shipments, Shiffler said. On Thursday, Microsoft said that it planned to let people who buy PCs with Windows Vista starting this Friday upgrade to Windows 7 for free, once it becomes available in October.
“People aren’t going to buy a new PC because of a new operating system,” Shiffler said. Microsoft could try to counter the PC slowdown by launching a campaign to show that the OS is offering something new in PCs, but that may still not get consumers to spend on the OS, he said. Enterprise users will put off adopting Windows 7 for at least a year until all the kinks of the OS have been ironed out, he said.
China Stands by Web Filter Program Despite Protests
China’s deadline for the installation of Web filtering software on new PCs hasn’t changed, it said Tuesday, despite growing protests from the U.S. government and Chinese Internet users.
Foreign and domestic PC makers are still required to ship the filter program with all PCs sold in China beginning July 1, the state-run China Daily said, citing an unnamed source in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
China first issued the mandate last month and has said the software is meant to protect children from pornographic and other “harmful” content online. But the program, called Green Dam Youth Escort, also blocks political content including Web sites that mention Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned as a cult in China.
The mandate could escalate into a serious trade dispute if China actually bars foreign PC makers from selling computers without the software, said Simon Ye, a Gartner analyst. State media last week cited an unnamed official saying foreign PC makers like Dell might not be able to meet the deadline.
Some kind of compromise is much more likely before the deadline, said Ye. Barring sales by a company like Dell would disrupt China’s PC market and could trigger protectionist responses by the U.S., he said.
Hewlett-Packard and Dell were the second- and third-largest PC vendors in China in the final quarter last year, claiming over one-fifth of PC shipments in the country, according to IDC statistics.
Dell is still reviewing the government mandate, a company spokeswoman said, declining to comment further.
Resistance to China’s mandate has grown in the few weeks since it became public. Representatives from multiple U.S. government offices met with Chinese officials last Friday to express concerns about the requirement to ship the software, said Susan Stevenson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Embassy officials representing the State Department, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department met with officials at China’s MIIT and commerce ministry, she said.
The U.S. has asked China for a dialogue about the potential impact of the mandate on trade, effects on the free flow of information and “serious technical issues” raised by use of the software, Stevenson said.
Chinese Internet users have also mounted resistance to the mandate. Ai Weiwei, a well-known artist and dissident, was using Twitter messages on Tuesday to call for an Internet boycott the day of the government deadline. Ai urged Internet users not to go online on July 1 for work, email, news or other purposes.
“Do not give any explanation of your actions,” Ai wrote in his Twitter feed. “Make July 1 a day of commemoration for the Internet.”
Calls to China’s MIIT went unanswered Tuesday morning.
Could Netbooks Be the Ultimate Thin Client?
After a decade or so of talking about it, we’re finally approaching a world where your applications and data are no longer tethered to the personal hardware you use. Today this is mainly confined to Web e-mail and a couple of other browser-based apps (and maybe remote access to your desktop PC at work via VPN). But I’m convinced that desktop virtualization is on the cusp of becoming the next big craze, and if the client hardware is more or less immaterial, why not use a cheap netbook?
The argument for desktop virtualization is basically this: What you spend on back-end servers to maintain end-user desktops is made up for by a lower total cost of ownership, 24/7 employee access to desktop work environments, and low desktop horsepower requirements. Not to mention that all user data stays in the datacenter where it can be secured. There are still hurdles — applying desktop management to the server side is a new and evolving area, for example — but I have little doubt that they will be overcome.
[ Check out Business netbooks: IT revolution or contradiction in terms? for a review of four netbooks by InfoWorld contributor Randall Kennedy. ]
So why netbooks? Well, not only are they the cheapest, lowest-power-consuming PCs you can buy, but they’re also the smallest devices with which you can get heads-down productive work done on the road. Back at your desk you can plug one into a $150 LCD and a full-size keyboard. These days it’s hard to find Linux netbooks anymore — but who cares if all you can get is XP Home or Vista preinstalled? Go ahead, use Home as your terminal OS. Remember, the client OS is completely isolated from the virtual desktop.
To me, netbooks are just coincidentally good candidates for thin clients, in part because they’re selling better than any other personal computer in this crummy economy. Worried about what happens when a $300 piece of “plastic junk” breaks? No problem: Hand the user another netbook and work resumes without disruption. Ultimately, the greatest cost savings may be that you escape the hardware upgrade treadmill. New OS versions and fatter desktop apps may require a server upgrade, but the requirements for clients remain constant.
Client hardware aside, those who doubt the economies of scale offered by desktop virtualization should take note of the announcement IBM made last week. This year, IBM will offer a new Smart Business Desktop Cloud service, where IBM will maintain virtual desktop images accessible by customers via thin client. And yes, we’re talking about Windows and Office desktops (although you can opt for Lotus stuff if you want).
If investing in desktop virtualization still seems prohibitive, consider this: Some companies, including Google and BP, have explored the idea of enabling users to choose and maintain their own PCs. With desktop virtualization in place, employees could actually own (or co-own) their own netbooks in the same way people own mobile devices that access company e-mail.
The ramp-up to widespread desktop virtualization will take a few years, by which time netbooks may no longer be hot. But by then, who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to buy smartphones with little video and keyboard ports.
For more IT analysis and commentary on emerging technologies, visit InfoWorld.com. Story copyright © 2007 InfoWorld Media Group. All rights reserved.
Could Netbooks Be the Ultimate Thin Client?
After a decade or so of talking about it, we’re finally approaching a world where your applications and data are no longer tethered to the personal hardware you use. Today this is mainly confined to Web e-mail and a couple of other browser-based apps (and maybe remote access to your desktop PC at work via VPN). But I’m convinced that desktop virtualization is on the cusp of becoming the next big craze, and if the client hardware is more or less immaterial, why not use a cheap netbook?
The argument for desktop virtualization is basically this: What you spend on back-end servers to maintain end-user desktops is made up for by a lower total cost of ownership, 24/7 employee access to desktop work environments, and low desktop horsepower requirements. Not to mention that all user data stays in the datacenter where it can be secured. There are still hurdles — applying desktop management to the server side is a new and evolving area, for example — but I have little doubt that they will be overcome.
[ Check out Business netbooks: IT revolution or contradiction in terms? for a review of four netbooks by InfoWorld contributor Randall Kennedy. ]
So why netbooks? Well, not only are they the cheapest, lowest-power-consuming PCs you can buy, but they’re also the smallest devices with which you can get heads-down productive work done on the road. Back at your desk you can plug one into a $150 LCD and a full-size keyboard. These days it’s hard to find Linux netbooks anymore — but who cares if all you can get is XP Home or Vista preinstalled? Go ahead, use Home as your terminal OS. Remember, the client OS is completely isolated from the virtual desktop.
To me, netbooks are just coincidentally good candidates for thin clients, in part because they’re selling better than any other personal computer in this crummy economy. Worried about what happens when a $300 piece of “plastic junk” breaks? No problem: Hand the user another netbook and work resumes without disruption. Ultimately, the greatest cost savings may be that you escape the hardware upgrade treadmill. New OS versions and fatter desktop apps may require a server upgrade, but the requirements for clients remain constant.
Client hardware aside, those who doubt the economies of scale offered by desktop virtualization should take note of the announcement IBM made last week. This year, IBM will offer a new Smart Business Desktop Cloud service, where IBM will maintain virtual desktop images accessible by customers via thin client. And yes, we’re talking about Windows and Office desktops (although you can opt for Lotus stuff if you want).
If investing in desktop virtualization still seems prohibitive, consider this: Some companies, including Google and BP, have explored the idea of enabling users to choose and maintain their own PCs. With desktop virtualization in place, employees could actually own (or co-own) their own netbooks in the same way people own mobile devices that access company e-mail.
The ramp-up to widespread desktop virtualization will take a few years, by which time netbooks may no longer be hot. But by then, who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to buy smartphones with little video and keyboard ports.
For more IT analysis and commentary on emerging technologies, visit InfoWorld.com. Story copyright © 2007 InfoWorld Media Group. All rights reserved.
Ready to Swap your Laptop for a Smartphone?
Have you ever wanted to ditch your clunky laptop? Perhaps you were meeting a client for dinner or friends at a bar after work. Or you were trying to catch a flight in the morning and had to fumble with your laptop at the airport security check.
Sure, laptops have become lighter, thinner and less cumbersome (think: MacBook Air, Dell Adamo and netbooks). But a laptop still needs to be carried around town in a backpack or other carrying case (or so that’s what IT says). And this means checking it at coat-checks, making sure you don’t forget it inside taxi cabs, and keeping a constant eye out for laptop thieves.
[ Laptops don't feel the love, reports CIO. | Reviewers weigh in on iPhone 3.0. ]
But help is on the way: As smartphones grow in functionality (the iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3.0), you might be able to forego the laptop in favor of a smartphone. Imagine the freedom that comes with a computer on your hip, not strapped to your back.
Before we get carried away, though, it should be noted that a smartphone can’t replace a computer-at least, not yet. “Smartphones are still content consumption devices, not content creation ones,” says Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney. “Every knowledge worker has to do content creation, so you’ve got to have a desktop or a laptop to do it.”
Today, a smartphone might be able to replace a laptop when you’re on the road and then sync to a desktop at the home or office where you’ll do most of your content creation. “That’s a very valid scenario in some cases,” Dulaney says.
In the past, mobile laptops replaced desktops even though desktops were cheaper and more powerful. Now desktops-thanks to smartphones-have an opportunity to turn the tables on laptops.
How to Make the Scenario Work
That’s what Don MacRae, a former investment bank executive and avid laptop user, hopes to do. He’s making the leap: dumping his old laptop, buying a cheap PC and hoping his BlackBerry 8330 will handle all his computing needs when he’s on the road.
One of the reasons for the decision, MacRae says, is that his BlackBerry now runs “critical” apps comparable to those on his laptop. His critical BlackBerry apps include: Opera Mini, reQuall, Documents to Go, Yahoo Go, Viigo, among others. He’s also getting a Bluetooth portable keyboard to keep in his suitcase for content-creation emergencies.
“If you’re going to be crunching numbers on an Excel spreadsheet or writing documents all day long, you’re not going to want to do that on a BlackBerry,” MacRae says. “But if you’re managing people and on the phone a lot, or in sales and going on a quick overnighter to see a client, you could make a good case for traveling light with just a BlackBerry.”
It’s still early in MacRae’s big experiment, but he can already see problem areas. For instance, MacRae worries that he might one day need a document or e-mail from the archives that aren’t on his BlackBerry but on his computer back home. Or he might be unable to modify an important attachment.
Compatibility Is Where You Run Afoul
Dulaney says that MacRae’s worries are the tip of the iceberg. Gartner recommends companies don’t go this route, in part because users may run afoul of IT policies and face compatibility and performance issues.
As to IT policy, Gartner tells companies to require users to view all company e-mails and attachments on a PC or laptop. That’s because smartphones might not convert attachments properly. Even Documents to Go doesn’t run all the macros, Dulaney says, and thus you might not be able to see the document fully.
With performance, just try giving presentations on a BlackBerry. “Performance is going to be slow,” Dulaney says, “and you won’t be able to run all the software.” Hiccups in a sales presentation, of course, can be deal killers.
The biggest problem, though, concerns compatibility. Consider iPhone OS, which runs a shrunken version of OS X. There are some layers of OS X that simply don’t run on the iPhone. “Compatibility is always a problem because of the nature of running different operating systems with different utilities on different platforms,” Dulaney says.
Data in slideshows, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents might be viewable on a smartphone, but the additional extensions and functionality may not be there. Even the viewing of Windows Office content can be tricky because Windows Office wasn’t built to be scaled down and viewed on a small smartphone screen.
“Sure you could hook up a keyboard, power supply and larger screen to an iPhone and run Office-in theory, at least-but have you gained anything?” Dulaney asks. “You’d probably be better off with a laptop or netbook.”
But Dulaney does say that the smartphone-desktop combo can work in some cases, particularly for European business folks who do a lot of day trips and have access to Internet kiosks. Here in the U.S., though, business folks tend to do more overnight trips.
“The more you stay away from your desk,” Dulaney says, “the more difficulty you’re going to have.”
Got a different take? Send me an email at tkaneshige@cio.com. Or follow me on Twitter @kaneshige. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline.
Eyes on Iran, Lines for IPhone, Jury Award
The re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over challenger Mir Hussein Moussavi sparked demonstrations, and coverage of the protests led to the ouster of Western journalists. Twitter users stepped into the information gap, providing real-time updates. But the popular microblogging site also became a vehicle for protesters to launch denial-of-service attacks. While the conflict in Iran and the role of technology in keeping the world informed about it is our top story, for a whole lot of people the focus of the week was on — what else? — Apple’s new iPhone 3G S, which went on sale Friday. We confess to momentary early morning confusion about the line on Boston’s Boylston Street until we realized it was outside of an AT&T store. D’oh.
1. Twitter becomes a lifeline to an Iran in turmoil, Twitter plays key role in DoS attacks in Iran, In Iran, cyber-activism without the middleman and Iran rocked by cyberattacks during unrest: The Internet has become a prominent aspect of all important news stories, of course, but it has played a particularly vital role in helping to keep the world informed about what’s going on in Iran in the wake of the contentious presidential election.
2. Apple fans flock to buy iPhone 3G S: We’re not sure what more there is to say about the new iPhone 3G S, other than that a lot of people decided to forgo sleep to be among the first to buy one.
3. Jury orders music swapper to pay $1.92 million: We reckon that Jammie Thomas-Rasset wishes she had stuck with the US$220,000 fine after she was found guilty of online music trading and copyright infringement at her first trial. The Minnesota jury that heard the retrial of her case ordered her to pay a whopping $1.92 million, or $80,000 for each of the 24 songs she was found to have illegally traded over the Kazaa online service. The ruling undoubtedly bolsters the efforts of the Recording Industry Association of America, which has gone after thousands of people in an effort to stop such music trading.
4. Senators challenge AT&T’s exclusive iPhone deal and FCC to probe exclusive mobile handset deals: U.S. senators questioned exclusive deals between mobile handset makers and carriers, notably AT&T’s deal as the sole iPhone provider in the U.S. By week’s end the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s acting chairman said he ordered staff there to look into the deals and whether they stifle innovation or (and?) harm consumers.
5. MySpace cuts ‘bloated’ workforce by 30 percent: The once high-flying MySpace, which has been dethroned by Facebook as the top U.S. social-networking site, axed almost 30 percent of its employees.
6. China orders Google to suspend foreign site searches and Fight against China’s Web-filtering software grows: In case there was any doubt, China showed that it means business when it comes to cracking down on Internet pornography, ordering Google to cease its foreign Web site search service because its filtering is weak. In related news, Solid Oak Software, which makes Web-filtering software, sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of U.S. and Chinese companies, contending that its code was copied by a Chinese Internet filtering program. Solid Oak demanded that the companies stop distributing the Chinese software.
7. Sun reportedly cancels 16-core Rock processors and Why Rock was doomed: Sun has bailed out on its 16-core Rock processor project, which had been a top priority. But an analysis of the project shows it was doomed even before Oracle swooped in to buy Sun, emphasizing its interest in the Solaris OS and Java.
8. Business netbooks: IT revolution or contradiction in terms?: For those who are contemplating using netbooks for business purposes, InfoWorld put together this handy comparison of four popular models, complete with a Test Center scorecard.
9. GhostNet cyber espionage probe still has loose ends: Many of the 103 countries whose computer systems were hacked in what has been labeled the “GhostNet” cybercrime operation, which was publicly revealed three months ago, may not yet have been formally notified that they were victims, according to a 53-page report.
10. Google trying for more Gmail security: Google is testing the use of HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Service) with Gmail to make the webmail service more secure. The move comes in response to privacy advocates urging Google to improve Gmail security.
New iPhones, New MacBook Pros, Snow Leopard, and iPhone 3.0 Unveiled at WWDC
Today at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, the Cupertino computer maker announced a host of new products before an audience of developers and media. Among other announcements, the company has updated its MacBook Pro product line, launched a new version of its Safari Web browser, offered a preview of its upcoming Snow Leopard operating system, and readied iPhone 3.0 for market.
New Notebooks
First up in its presentation, Apple showed off new MacBook Pro laptops, including a new version of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. With a longer-lasting battery (similar to that featured in the existing 17-inch model), the new machine will have a battery life of up to seven hours, two hours longer than its predecessor. It also features a nicer display, an SD card slot in place of the former Express Card slot, and support for up to 8GB of RAM. It will be available with processor speeds up to 3.06GHz abd 6MB L2 cache, making it the fastest notebook Apple has made to date.
The 17-inch MacBook Pro has also been refreshed with a 2.8GHz processor and a 500GB hard drive.
The 13-inch unibody aluminum MacBook has received a bump up in status, making it a MacBook Pro. Unlike its predecessors, it will now feature support for 8GB of RAM and 500GB of storage, with the option of a 256GB SSD drive.
Apple has dropped the prices of its notebook line as well. The 13-inch MacBook pro will range from $1,199 to $1,499, the 15-inch model will range from $1,699 to $2,299, and the 17-inch model will cost $2,499. All models begin shipping today.
Snow Leopard
The long-anticipated update to Apple’s OS X Leopard operating system, dubbed Snow Leopard, made an appearance in the demo. Coming in September, Snow Leopard will run faster than the current operating system, and will include updates to all of its apps. Mail will run faster, as will Preview and other integrated apps.
Business users will be able to use Microsoft Exchange servers with Mail, iCal, and Address Book. In a demo of the new features, Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet explained that the three built-in contact, scheduling, and e-mail apps will now feature Exchange configuration as a standard option. Users can simply enter their Exchange e-mail address and password, and Snow Leopard will automatically configure all three apps at once.
Snow Leopard will also include updates to Expose, Quicktime, and its underlying graphics technology, which will be based on the OpenCL standard.
Come September, Snow Leopard will sell for $129, with an upgrade for existing Leopard users available for $29.
Apple’s Web browser, Safari, has also received a refresh, and ships today in version 4 for Leopard, Tiger, and Windows. Safari 4 includes better handling of browser plug-ins, which will allow the browser to continue functioning if a plug-in such as Flash crashes while viewing a page.
iPhone 3.0
The most talked-about bunch of updates Apple unveiled at WWDC came from its iPhone 3.0 software upgrade, which purportedly adds 100 new features to the iPhone. Critics have long stressed the need for cut, copy, and paste features across the iPhone OS, and those features are now built in. Also, all key apps in the iPhone now feature landscape mode to maximize screen width. And in the U.S., iPhones on the AT&T network will finally feature MMS support later this summer.
Search features have also been enhanced in iPhone 3.0 with the addition of Spotlight. This will enable users to search not only their contacts, but also calendar entries, notes, e-mail, and even apps on the device.
iTunes will now allow iPhone users to purchase or rent movies directly from the device, and Apple has added parental controls that will restrict the kinds of movies, shows, and apps that children can run on the phone or iPod touch.
For Mobile Me customers, Apple will offer a service called Find My iPhone, which will locate a lost or stolen device (if it’s turned on).
As promised in a previous iPhone announcement, iPhone 3.0 includes push notification for instant messaging and other applications.
Perhaps the most exciting update for iPhone 3.0 is the addition of tethering capabilities. At last, users who are away from their Wi-Fi network will be able to use the iPhone’s cellular broadband connections to connect their laptop to the Internet. This feature will work via USB or Bluetooth, and is supported by 22 carriers in 44 countries.Unfortunately, AT&T is not one of the carriers supporting this feature, which leaves U.S. iPhone customers wanting.
The iPhone 3.0 software is available to developers today, and ships to customers next Wednesday.
Along with the updates iPhone software, Apple is releasing new iPhone hardware. The iPhone 3GS will sell for $199 in a 16GB version and $299 in a 32GB version. The existing iPhone 3G will continue to be available at a price of $99. (All prices with a 2-year AT&T contract.)
The iPhone 3GS will be faster than the iPhone 3G, and will include video capture, voice control, built-in support for Nike+ accessories, hardware encryption for Exchange users, and improved battery life. The phone will be available on June 19.
Apple’s WWDC — Few Surprises, Few Innovations
Apple delivered a variety of hardware and software news today at the opening keynote for its Worldwide Developers Conference, but the company took its time building up to the big news: The new iPhone 3GS will be available in stores on June 19, and the current iPhone 3G will drop in price to $99 as of today. Unfortunately, I found the keynote offered empty calories: The lack of a significant hardware upgrade for the iPhone was especially underwhelming. (See the transcript of PC World’s live blog report of the keynote)
The keynote — the company’s first marquee event since CEO Steve Jobs took a medical leave in early 2009 — actually played out more like a MacWorld keynote than a WWDC keynote, from when the company announced products at the show. And since the start of the year, its product announcements have been minimal.
Smartphones for All
Apple’s announcements today underscore the company’s plans to expand its scope as a smartphone maker. NPD Group data puts Apple as the number two smartphone maker today, second to Research in Motion; surely, the company has its eyes set on that top spot.
“We want to reach even more customers,” noted Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, who led the presentation in Jobs’s absence, during the keynote.
To achieve that end, Apple reduced the current 8GB iPhone 3G to $99, half the price it sold for when it was first introduced last year. “There really has never been a smartphone at this price,” says Schiller. That price was long-rumored; now, it’s confirmed.
Certainly, never a smartphone that’s held wide appeal has carried that price tag. In our database, the iPhone’s new price ties the Nokia E71x for the least expensive smartphone we’ve seen (street price, not including rebates). Though that phone has a reasonable degree of usability, it can’t compare to the simplicity and sexy “It Phone” factor of the iPhone.
The new phone, the iPhone 3G S, will be go on sale nationwide and in select countries (including the France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom) on June 19. In keeping with previous trends, the phone’s pricing tiers stay the same, only you get more memory for your money: 16GB for $199, and 32GB for $299.
You may need that extra space: Two of the big features for iPhone 3G S are the camera (upgraded to 3.0 megapixels), and the inclusion of video recording (finally) at 640 by 480 pixel resolution, 30 frames per second.
Modest Hardware Boost
The camera and the inclusion of hardware encryption — a welcome feature for business environments — are the only new features that clearly mark a hardware change, though. Even though Schiller said during the keynote that “everything inside” the phone had changed, when asked, Apple representatives declined to specify what hardware had actually changed, and instead pointed to the spec sheet on its Web site (an Apple spokesperson indicated that we could “infer” what had or hadn’t changed based on those published specs). Winks and nods offline away from the glare of the WWDC spotlight indicate that the iPhone 3G S has a faster processor, and more memory, too, as compared with the original iPhone 3G.
As such, it’s easy to point to most of the iPhone 3G S’s improvements being in software and not hardware. Some, like the addition of white balance controls on the camera, are obvious. Others, like the inclusion of voice control, for example, are less so: Apple didn’t indicate this feature would be available on earlier generation iPhones, but it also didn’t say what specifically in the new hardware enables this feature.
Likewise, some of the performance enhancements could be attributed to the new iPhone OS 3.0, available for free download to any generation iPhone (and $10 download for any generation iPod Touch) on June 17. This is especially true if one were to assume that the new OS has the same kernel core as the forthcoming Snow Leopard operating system for Mac computers; Snow Leopard also features performance enhancements.
Apple does claim a speed boost from the iPhone 3G to iPhone 3G S. According to Apple’s benchmarks, messaging will be more than twice as fast, loading Sim City 2.4x as fast, and loading the The New York Times’ home page 2.9 times as fast. Battery life improvements point to factors other than the hardware, as well. (3G S talk time, sadly, remains the same as the 3G, but data over Wi-Fi, for example, can muster an additional three hours on the iPhone 3G S as compared with the iPhone 3G-and Wi-Fi battery improvements could be due to a new chipset, or to a new software stack for the existing chipset).
Apple: Standing Still, But Reaching Deep
It was surprising to see the iPhone 3G S’s hardware be outwardly identical to its predecessor. At a time when competitors are making headlines with fresh designs, Apple instead appears to be marching in place. Recent rumors indicate this could be part of Apple’s long-term strategy, a strategy that could prove a mistake over time.
The announced features in iPhone 3G S are a modest upgrade, not a must-have upgrade — which in turn keeps users from considering a new handset purchase. Thus far, Apple has conditioned users to look forward to dramatic hardware improvements once a year. While the iPhone 3G remains a pleasing device, nearly as much as a year ago, that doesn’t mean the hardware didn’t have room to evolve. That Apple hasn’t innovated and improved upon its existing hardware and design leaves room for others to ratchet up the competition. And, it also opens room for speculation that innovation may stall without Jobs at the helm.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro notebooks don’t help promote the company’s position as an innovator. The company announced a refresh today of its 13.3-inch and 15-inch models, with lower prices, and more powerful components. Although it brought back FireWire 800 and introduced an SD Card slot, these models lacked the wow factor we’ve come to expect from Apple hardware.
Where Apple continues to hit it out of the park, though, is its App Store. As of April, more than 1 billion apps have been downloaded, and more than 50,000 are available for download. The competing App Store numbers remain modest and negligible by comparison.
The App Store juggernaut may well be the reason Apple feels it can rest easy for the moment, but Apple will have to tread carefully to keep the iPhone from becoming less an innovation and more a presumption and commodity among mainstream consumers.
Casio’s Latest Exilim Snaps 1,000 Pictures Before a Recharge
Swimwear and suntan lotion? Check. Camera? Check. Camera charger? No need. There’s a lot to remember when packing for vacation but a new digital camera from Casio could mean one less thing in your baggage.
The Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-H10 can shoot 1,000 images on a single battery charge — enough, says Casio, to last most people through their vacation so packing the charger and additional cables and adapters could be a thing of the past.
The camera’s battery life, measured against a Japanese industry benchmark, is about three times longer than other cameras in the same class. So, for example, a user could shoot 140 images a day over a week-long trip and still have enough juice for a couple of snaps on the trip home from the airport.
The Camera and Imaging Products Association battery benchmark is designed to mirror actual use and involves zooming in and out and setting the flash on and off between many images so the results are hoped to be close to what users can actually attain.
It should be noted that the Casio camera isn’t the first to manage a 1,000 images. Digital SLR (single lens reflex) cameras can do the same but they’re bulky and heavy and not aimed at the same market as the new Exilim. Nikon offered a compact camera, the Coolpix L14, in 2007 that managed the same battery life and compared to that Casio’s camera offers newer features that you’d expect on a newer model.
Casio has also built a couple of other functions into the camera that could appeal to vacationers.
For close-up shots of large buildings or scenic views the lens has a wide-angle starting at 24mm, which allows for a wider shot than many competing cameras that start at 28mm.
And a button on top of the camera allows one-touch access to “landscape mode,” which invokes digital processing in the camera to enhance landscape images and has been improved from an earlier version of the technology. The previous generation system applied a uniform enhancement across the entire picture but the new version picks and chooses which areas are enhanced and by what degree so, for example, trees in a shot of a valley are made to appear a more vibrant green while dark areas of shade are left untouched to maintain contrast.
The landscape mode also works to great effect in cleaning up a lot of the effects of mist or smog that hangs over many cities so a city scape looks brighter and clearer. It’s the kind of thing that can be done in Photoshop or similar photo retouching software but now it’s in the camera.
The camera shoots 12-megapixel resolution images, has a 3-inch display on the rear and can also record 1,280 by 720 resolution high-def video in the Motion JPEG format at 24 frames per second. However, there’s no HDMI-output for hooking up to a high-def TV so users will have to view the files on the camera’s monitor or transfer them via a PC.
The new Exilim measures 102mm by 62mm by 24mm and weighs 164 grams without the battery.
It will launch in Japan on July 3 and will cost around ¥40,000 (US$408). Launch plans for other markets are due to be announced soon.
iPhone 3G S, New MacBook Pros, and Snow Leopard on PC World Podcast 33
PC World editors Tim Moynihan and Robert Strohmeyer sit down with Macworld editorial director Jason Snell for a breakdown of all this week’s Apple news from WWDC. In the mix: What to expect from the iPhone 3G S, long-awaited features on the new MacBook Pro laptops, and how Snow Leopard will improve the Mac experience. Yes, it’s all Apple stuff this week, and our editors don’t pull their punches.
Listen in on iTunes or via the PC World Podcast RSS feed.
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