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Tag: Samsung

Samsung Acquires Sony’s Stake in S-LCD for $939 million

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 9:43 AM on December 26, 2011
Sony

Sony

Back in 2004, Samsung and Sony joined together to produce Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD). More than TV’s and computer monitors, these LCD’s were also in phones, cars, appliances and other items needing a display. Two months after Sony announced it was reorganizing due to a 1.2 billion dollar loss, Sony has sold their part in the LCD venture for $939 million (1.08 trillion Korean won).

In the agreement, Samsung will acquire all of Sony’s shares (329,999,999) of the S-LCD Corporation. They will still cooperate in engineering efforts on LCD panel technology.

Transaction close date is expected on 1/19/2012

Sony Press Release

Samsung Press Release

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Posted in Sony

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O2 Offers 12 Month Smartphone Lease

Posted by Andrew at 6:25 PM on December 12, 2011

O2 LogoIn a change to the mobile phone contract status quo, UK mobile telco O2 has announced a 12 month smartphone leasing service. For £55 per month, you get a 16 GB smartphone, 750 minutes, unlimited text, a paltry 500 MB of data and insurance. Allegedly unique in the UK market, both consumers and business will be able to take advantage of O2 Lease.

If you are wondering what the difference is between a 12 month lease and 12 month contract, it’s simply that the smartphone doesn’t belong to you and must be returned in reasonable condition at the end of the lease. That’s why insurance is included in the cost of the lease so that the smartphone can be replaced in the event of damage or loss.

O2 extols the benefits of a 12 month lease, tying it into the upgrade cycles of the smartphone models and giving you the latest model without a long contract. The choice of smartphone models isn’t mentioned but O2 offers all the premium smartphones – Apple iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nokia Lumia 800 and Blackberry Torch. 32GB models cost an extra £10 per month. Update – O2 Lease is specifically mentioned against the iPhone 4S here.

If you really want the latest phone and you’re a big talker or texter, this scheme might be worth considering but the tiny data allowance really makes it all a bit of a farce. My monthly data usage is between 600-800 MB and I don’t think that I’m a particularly heavy user. Yes, I might download the odd podcast but it’s mostly email, web browsing, Twitter and RSS feeds.

Personally, I tend to buy my smartphones SIM-free as there are far better tariffs out there and you can easily sell the smartphone after 12 months to part-fund your next purchase. Do the maths for yourself and see what works for you.

The full press release is here.

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Posted in Android, Apple, blackberry, iOS, iPhone, smartphone

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Price of Chromebook Drops. Will You Buy it Now?

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 1:00 PM on November 21, 2011
Chromebook Display at Google Places Event

Chromebook Display at Google Places Event

Google announced they are dropping the price of the Chromebook by 30%. Some Chromebooks will be as low as $299. But questions still arise if a Chromebook is in your holiday wish list, when you can get a Kindle Fire, nook Color for less. Even the iPad could be in more stockings than the ultra-portable laptop.

Chromebook came out back in June as Google’s answer to a PC that didn’t have a complicated OS to it. You would load the Chromebook up to a Chrome browser; inside, all your applications would be in the cloud and the data you create would also mostly reside in a cloud drive. However, if you were in a 3G deadspot or didn’t have Wifi, then your work would be rather limited.

Competing with a Tablet

Chromebook’s price drop is pretty much an attempt to counter the prices of the Kindle Fire and nook color tablets, which debuted to the general public last week at $199 and $249 respectively. The tablet – which you could connect a bluetooth keyboard and mouse – could technically become a more functional notebook than a Chromebook itself. And with prices at $100 lower than the device,  will a Samsung or Acer Chromebook even be in your holiday purchase radar?

What is Chromebook’s Market?

Google Chair at SF Airport

Google Chair at SF Airport

Chromebook has to figure out where their niche is going to be. Maybe as a laptop for the kids, or a machine you can keep in the kitchen to call up recipes or as a kiosk in a public place? Back in September, I saw the Chromebook lounge in the San Francisco Airport. Those kiosks would be great for people that have hours to wait but don’t have a computer to check their Facebook profiles or email on.

Remember when the Netbook was a popular item two years ago? What happened to that? The answer is the netbook disappeared fast. You can still get a netbook, but just like the Chromebook, why should you spend $300 or more for a device that is the same speed and power as a Kindle Fire or nook Color?

So now we can start to see the impact of these two new tablets are bringing to the holiday shopping season. Chromebook has to compete with something more compact and useable. Google has not released any data regarding Chromebooks sold, but a DigiTimes report (premium content site) says it all:

“In June 2011, Acer and Samsung launched their Chromebooks ahead of other PC brand vendors, but by the end of July, Acer had reportedly only sold 5,000 units and Samsung was said to have had even lower sales than Acer, according to sources from the PC industry.”

What does that mean to Chromebook? Simply: It’s time to drop prices and hope the Chromebook will sell well in Q4.

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Posted in Chrome

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TCS #6 The Show is Finally Back

Posted by geeknews at 6:11 PM on November 13, 2011

After weeks of no success, I finally found a replacement power supply for the Samsung Chrome Book. I have a link to the only one I know that is available in the show notes below. It is great to be back and I share with you some great tips. In a complete shocker I find out that you now can do a Hangout with your Google Chromebook. This was not possible just a few weeks ago so it is nice to see that Google has this functionality ready for us.

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Apps Covered:
LastPass
XMarks
ADBlocks
Google+ Hangouts Native Chromebook Support
Samsung Chrome Book Power Supply Replacement!

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Posted in Chrome Show

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Android Leads UK Smartphone Race

Posted by Andrew at 1:40 PM on November 1, 2011

Android LogoIn the UK, Android is beginning to dominate the smartphone space, with 50% of handsets sold in the last quarter running Android. RIM (Blackberry) and Apple are almost level pegging on 22% and 18% and with half of UK adults now owning a smartphone, Android has an impressive lead.

Breaking the Android figures down, HTC is the top dog, with nearly 45% of Android handsets sold. Samsung is picking up the pace at 38% but Sony Ericsson is the big loser, falling to 8.5% of the Android market.

Surprisingly, this means that HTC, Samsung, RIM and Apple are each taking about a quarter of the market. Compared with mindshare that Apple generally has and the dominance in the tablet market, it’s clear that the iPhone is under performing.

Personally, I would agree with the figures. Looking round the office, Android phones are definitely in the majority followed by iPhones and Blackberries. I think Blackberries are popular with younger people as both my nephews have that brand of phone. The breakdown of the Android shares also rings true. This time last year, it would have been exclusively HTC smartphones but now there are quite a few people sporting Samsung devices.

The research was carried out by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech over the past 12 weeks. To be fair, this probably means that iPhone sales were down as people waited for new model but there’s no doubt that Android is the no.1 smartphone OS in the UK.

 

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Posted in Android, Apple, blackberry, HTC, iOS, IPAD, iPhone, Operating Systems, RIM, smartphone, Sony

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Sony TV is Splitting to Three – LCD, Outsourcing, Next Generation TV

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 11:09 AM on October 31, 2011
Sony

Sony

Sony announced that starting tomorrow, they will be re-organizing their TV division into three parts. The LCD TV, outsourcing, and next generation TV divisions. The idea is to better define the market to make better TVs.

Sony missed their July-September results last Wednesday, and analysts outlook is going to be under 200 bn yen (2.63 billion). It’s an eighth annual loss, Reuters reports.

Sony and Samsung Joint Venture in Jeopardy?

The LCD division is a joint venture with Samsung. As Market Watch is reporting, Sony might end this alliance that they had since 2004. Since LCD is changing to LED technologies, it is unknown how this partnership will stay fruitful.

Outsourcing Project

The outsourcing division is just that – certain TV parts are outsourced to reduce production costs. Sony began outsourcing in 2009 – which was odd for the electronics giant to do.  By outsourcing, they were able to compact their factories to bring profits up.

Next generation TV division researches the current trends of the TV. From Over the Top Television standards, to screen resolutions, OLED technology and sound breakthroughs.

Sony and Google TV

Of course, earlier in the week, Google announced upgrades to Google TV (which Sony produces for televisions and Blu-Ray players). With a better interface and the additional Android market, it breathes new life into the TV. While last years launch was not heralded, Google hopes this revamp will get Google TV in the right direction. Therefore, Sony could see a good bump in the market.

Whether this split will provide stability is to be seen. The division shakeup will happen on November 1st.

 

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Posted in Information

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Samsung Bests Apple in Worldwide Smartphone Sales

Posted by Jeffrey Powers at 8:05 AM on October 28, 2011

Samsung Electronics overtook Apple in Q3 in smartphone sales worldwide. Shipping 27.8 million smartphones, Samsung took 23.8 percent of the market. This is a report by Milton Keynes, a UK based strategy analyst reported.

This was a large overtaking, as Apple shipped 17.1 million smartphones (14.6 percent). But this is not surprising. As Apple says, they are in it for quality, not quantity. With Samsung smartphones, you have a bigger choice:

  • Samsung Galaxy S

    Samsung Galaxy S

    Samsung Stratosphere (Verizon [CDMA/LTE], 1 GHz processor, Android 2.3, 5 MP rear, 1.3 MP front camera) $149 with contract

  • Samsung Galaxy S II Epic (Sprint [CDMA/WiMax] or AT&T [GSM] , Android 2.3.4, 1.2GHz dual-core, 8 MP read, 2 MP front face camera) $199 with contract
  • Samsung Fascinate (Verizon [CDMA], Android 2.1, 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, 5 MP camera) free with contract
  • Samsung 4G Android (T-Mobile, 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird, 5MP rear, VGA front facing camera) $99
  • Samsung Captivate (AT&T [GSM Quad Band, UMTS Tri-band], 1GHz Cortex A8 hummingbird, Android 2.2,  5 MP camera) 0.01 cent
  • Samsung Vibrant (T-Mobile [GSM & AWS Dualband], Android 2.2,  1 GHz Cortex, 5 MP camera)
  • Samsung Mesmerize i599 (US Cellular, Android 2.1, 5MP camera) $49
  • Samsung Showcase (C-Spire, Galaxy S series, CDMA, Android 2.2,  5 MP camera, Super AMOLED display) $99
  • Samsung Galaxy Prevail (Boost Mobile, Android 2.2, 2MP camera, microSD), under $200
  • Samsung Showcase i500 (C-Spire, Android 2.2, 5MP camera) $99

It shows which carrier in the US carries each phone. Carriers on other continents will have these phones tailored to their networks. Since the majority of the world works in a GSM / LTE standard, you can guess which phones you might get in your area.

Although Apple just introduced the 4S, with CDMA and GSM support, it’s still a limited flavor phone. The lower end model 3GS only comes in GSM. You still have a limitation on CDMA with Voice and Data at the same time.

So with that all said, you can see how Samsung can overtake Apple. More choices with more carriers. The C-Spire carrier is in Greenland.

In the end, an Apple iPhone might still have quality, but we are in a world where phones are disposable. People can switch their smartphone every year – I even know people that get a new phone every 4-5 months. They just can’t keep a phone for longer.

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Posted in Information, smartphone

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