Sep

17

Apple - Sixth Largest PC Manufacturer (and Rising)

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In today’s day and age, when Apple is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is usually between iPod, iPhone and Steve Jobs. Despite this, Apple has now risen to the 6th largest PC manufacturer in the world, and 3rd largest in the United States, behind Dell and HP, according to Gartner’s latest report on the topic. In the United States, Apple recorded a staggering 38% growth between 2Q07 and 2Q08.

In late 2004, Gartner predicted that 30% of the top PC manufacturers will not survive. In other words, 3 of the top 10 will not survive by 2007-08. Back then, the top 10 was Dell, HP, IBM, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Toshiba, NEC, Apple, Lenovo and Gateway. That prediction was quite accurate. IBM sold their desktop and laptop division to Lenovo. NEC is struggling. So is Fujitsu-Siemens.

Apple may well be on their way to #2. But, to overtake Dell is a tall order. Apple has to do more - especially in the pricing department. Dell’s aggressive pricing is probably the largest contribution towards their #1 position. But, do they want to be that big? At present, it is cool to own an Apple computer. If it become ubiquitous, will it retain the coolness factor? Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Sep

14

iTunes to sell 1 billion Apps faster than songs : TechCrunch

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According to Don Reisinger at TechCrunch, Apple is projected to sell 1 billion Apps quicker than 1 billion songs.

Steve Jobs recently indicated that over 100 million downloads of apps have already been recorded, with 70 million in August. At this rate, 1 billion will occur sometime in 2009, within a year of the app store opening. Songs reached that landmark in its second year of existence.

Why are apps more popular? Aren’t there more iPods and other portable MP3 players out there? Songs can be played on PCs and Macs too. With the hundreds of millions of computers and portable media players owned by people of the planet, why are apps, which are restricted to the iPhone and iPod touch (the number of these sold are a mere fraction of computers and media players) more popular?
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Sep

2

Google Chrome - Initial Review and Comments

Filed Under Browsers, Google Chrome | 4 Comments

So, I managed to snag Google Chrome 8 minutes before noon PDT (the official release time). The link was live, and I downloaded it in a flash. Currently, people are reporting that the server is under extreme load and they are not able to download it.

Initial thoughts:

- The installation imported my bookmarks automatically without my permission. It only notified me. I’m disappointed with that. If it was a confirmation, it didn’t follow the usability standards.

- The browser opened up quick, unlike most others which take time.

- The rendering of pages was quick, but the fonts on many pages were not smooth - they had jagged edges and were a strain to read. I checked sites like cnn.com, cnbc.com and even Google’s search engine. I’m using Windows XP SP3, on a Dell Latitude D820 with a resolution of 1280×800

- It was a bit difficult to find the task manager built-in to the browser.

- The Acid 2 test passed. The Acid 3 test failed, with a score of 61/100.
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Nov

12

iPhone = hype-phone. Check out HTC Touch Cruise

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HTC Touch CruiseSince the Motorola RAZR, no phone has generated so much buzz as the iPhone. Congratulations to Steve Jobs & Co. for once again showing off their marketing skills and generating so much hype. Ordinarily, when one thinks of a two-year data plan contract with a cellular carrier, they are not willing to spend much on the phone itself. Not only does the iPhone aka Jesusphone cost an arm and a leg, but you would have to sell your kidney to pay 2 years worth of AT&T subscription fees. If you travel a lot internationally, add roaming fees to that and you’re not left with much.

So, why did people spend so much on the iPhone? I guess it’s the cool factor. The phone has an attractive user interface (credit must be given where due - iPhone probably has one of the best interfaces I’ve seen on a mobile device), and consumers seem to like things which look good, irrespective of whether there is a better alternative or not. OK, so the iPhone has touch-navigation and during Steve Jobs’ demo of the phone, the sliding of his finger over the display of the phone to unlock it generated so many ooh’s and aah’s. Come on people, you can do better than that.
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