Tag Archive for Apple

| November 13, 2014
Comments Off on Tablet Trouble

Tablet Trouble

Tablet TroubleThere has been a shocking long-term trend in Apple (AAPL) iPad tablet sales. Despite the much bally hoed launch of the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, sales of Apple’s iPad have sunk to their lowest level since the 2011 introduction of the iDevice.This chart from Business Insider shows the decline of iPad sales.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was unfazed about the iPad’s plunging sales. During Apple’s latest earnings call Apple’s Cook said, “I’m very bullish on where we can take iPad over time.”Apple Quarterly Revenue

Users don’t want a tablet

Despite CEO Cook’s optimism, research from Kantar Worldpanel Comtech is not so sure. In an analysis of the tablet market, they found that consumers believe that they need the latest iPad. Or any tablet for that matter.

Their conclusion is based on research which found:

  • A majority of U.S. non-tablet owners said they would not buy a tablet in the next 12 months.
  • Of those who will not buy a tablet, 725 said that their PC or laptop was “good enough” as the reason why they are not buying a tablet in the next year.
  • Tablets are not seen as an alternative to smartphones.

Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel laid out four reasons why tablets sales are not growing at the rate many had expected.

  1. current tablet owners plan to keep their tablets even after upgrading to a new oneReplacement cycles are longer for tablets than smartphones. Ms. Milanesi explains,”Software upgrades help refresh the devices, and carriers do not provide incentives/subsidies to encourage replacements every two years, as they do with smartphones.“
  2. Tablets are not as personal as smartphones. “While there is no question that tablets are more personal than PCs, if less personal than smartphones, they still land in between the two,” the Kantar chief of research says.
  3. Tablet owners hang on to their old tablet when they get a new one. Smartphone users tend to turn in their old smartphone when they upgrade to a newer one according to Kantar Worldpanel data:
    • 36% of current tablet owners plan to keep their tablets even after upgrading to a new one.
    • 18% plan to pass their old ones on to a friend or relative, according to Kantar Worldpanel data.
  4. Finally, the value proposition of tablets remains weak.They report that only 3% of U.S. non-tablet owners said they will definitely buy a tablet in the next 12 months.

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I thought that tablets were going to take over the world.

So what is the use case for tablets?

If the Apple fanboyz and gurls aren’t buying new iPads why should anyone else?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Tablet computing | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
| November 2, 2014
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Tech Giant Lobbying

Tech Giant LobbyingIn honor of election day, here is some unsettling info from IDG. The research firm reports that 2013 was a record year for computer and internet company spending on lobbying in the U.S., and 2014 is looking set to continue that trend. They presented an infographic that tracks information technology firms’ money spent buying, corrupting, lobbying politicians.

record year for computer and internet company spending on lobbying in the U.S.The article says that advertising, privacy, cybersecurity, patents & IP, tax, immigration, energy, drones, and mobile payments are all issues the tech industry wants to control, dominate influence on Capitol Hill. IDG’s research says that Google was the biggest spender; the search giant spent $3.94M in Q3, an increase from this time last year.

IDG reports that many well-known tech firms have increased their political spending when compared to last year. They report that social networking giant Facebook (FB) has already surpassed its lobbying spend compared to all of last year. Other tech mega-firms that have increased their attempts to buy political power lobbying include:

tech mega-firms have increased their lobbyingMicrosoft (MSFT), historically one of the biggest spenders in this area, was one of the few companies to actually decrease its spending from this time last year, down by a quarter to $1.66M according to the report. It seems a lot of the other legacy enterprise companies are also cutting back. Other companies reducing lobbying spend compared to this time last year are:

Don’t worry about the fat-cats, IDG says there are plenty of other companies also lining politicians pockets spending +/- $1M each on lobbying including the likes of:

2014 Tecch Lobby Spending - IDG

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No wonder Washington is broken, how much of this money goes into the stupid TV ads you can’t escape. Maybe if these firms paid their proper taxes they would not have so much cash to spend buying congress. Oh right – IBM is a person who has rights.

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| October 21, 2014
Comments Off on Are Your Earbuds Twisted?

Are Your Earbuds Twisted?

Are Your Earbuds Twisted?Does this sound familiar? You are about to walk the dog, grab your iPod and have to spend the next 5 minutes untangling the $%*&@ earbuds. It seems to happen to everyone who owns an Apple iPod or iPhone your “EarPods.” (even though Apple has shipped its white in-ear headphones with every iDevice since the iPod in 2001, they updated its earbuds to “EarPods” in 2012)

Your earbuds have conspired against you. Whatever you call them, the earbuds have mysteriously tangled themselves into a knot so vicious that you risk snapping the wire to get them undone. Especially the little thin wires that go to each earpiece.

Tangled earphonesTo be fair, Jim Edwards at the Business Insider says it happens to all earbuds, not just Apple’s (AAPL). But iPhone tangles seem more visibly conspicuous because their wires are white as part of Apple’s branding. BI observes that the knots even occur when you coil them carefully before putting them away. Typically the headphone wires will knot themselves on a daily basis.

Earbuds tangle for a reason

Mr. Edwards explains that tangling happens for a reason, and it has been the subject of scientific research. Dorian M. Raymer and Douglas E. Smith of the University of California at San Diego Department of Physics proved that iPhone earbud tangles are predictable. The tangle is a function of the length of the wire and the amount of “agitation” the wire is subjected to. The author explains that when — length versus agitation — are plotted against each other, the rate of knots and tangles obeys a statistical pattern that describes a curve.

angles are a function of the length of the wire and the amount of "agitation"The physicists published a paper titled “Spontaneous knotting of an agitated string” (PDF). Their research revealed that the length of a cord influences how much it will tangle when sealed inside a rotating box. The length of Apple’s iPhone earbuds is 55 inches long and right at the 50% tangle-rate-sweet-spot of the curve.

BI provided a schematic showing how a cord that starts off neatly coiled and quickly becomes tangled. The tangle test shows that one end of a wire only has to cross another part of the wire twice to start spontaneously knotting itself. The research shows that your earphones are indeed spontaneously knotting themselves. The knots really do form as a matter of physics, so it is an unstoppable force of nature that can’t be prevented.

That is until Professor Robert Matthews of Aston University in England saved the day. Rebecca Borison at BI says the physicist has developed a surefire way to end all earbud tangling: clip them together.

spontaneous knottingProfessor Matthews suggests that you clip the two earbuds together and attach them near the audio jack to create a loop. He claims that this will reduce tangling tenfold. He told ABC News,

First, by forming the loop you’ve effectively reduced the length of string able to explore the 3-D space by 50%, which makes a big difference. Second, you’ve also eliminated the two ends, which are the prime movers of knot formation.

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CNET says the tangled earbuds research has attracted interest from biochemists concerned with the tendency of thread-like DNA to get itself tangled. The new study suggests nature may form loops in DNA to prevent this from happening.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| October 7, 2014
Comments Off on Patent Wars Are Pointless

Patent Wars Are Pointless

Patent Wars Are PointlessThe Business Insider has new data about the value of the patent wars. BI cites Florian Mueller, the founder of the FOSS Patents blog. He says patent litigation is a waste of resources. His research found that the patent wars cost companies millions of dollars in time and lawyer fees. Mr. Mueller analyzed 222 Android smartphone patent assertions. He found that 90% of those cases have gone absolutely nowhere.

Patent trollAccording to BI Intelligence, Mr. Mueller’s data says that 49% of the assertions have failed thus far. Another 42% of assertions were dropped without a comprehensive settlement or a “comparably negative fate.” It turns out that only 9% of the patent assertions were able to establish liability. Even in that small sample, only 50% of those cases resulted in “lasting injunctive relief.” Mr. Mueller says that number would be even smaller if “the patents underlying Nokia’s German injunctions against HTC (2498) had come to judgment in the Federal Patent Court.”

Business Insier chart

In other words, based on patent cases brought to court by Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Samsung (005930), Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia (NOK), Motorola (MSI), and a host of others, litigation is, more often than not, a serious waste of time and money for all parties involved.

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Back in 2012 Boston University estimated that patent shenanigans have cost the US economy $29 Billion annually, now there is evidence it is a total waste of time and money and only funds the lawyers.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| September 30, 2014
Comments Off on Don’t Drain iPhone 6 Batteries

Don’t Drain iPhone 6 Batteries

Don't Drain iPhone 6 BatteriesIf you are one of the 10 million who just got their brand new waterproof flex-iPhone 6, charged it in the microwave got your network and WiFi connectivity back and updated it again. There is another rumor surrounding the smartphone that was not-right. Many people still believe it’s always best for the life of the iPhone 6 battery to let it drain fully before charging it again.

AppleNo so fast. Caroline Moss at Business Insider explains that there was a time when cell-phones and most electronics ran on Nickel-Cadmium batteries. When a device uses a Nickel-Cadmium battery, you’d want to let your feature-phone fully drain before charging it again. Why? Nickel-Cadmium batteries, suffer from what’s known as “memory effect.” When they are charged and discharged hundreds of times, they start to lose the ability to charge up to 100%, draining your battery life significantly over time.

In 2006, Lithium-Ion batteries replaced most NiCd batteries. Ms. Moss says these new batteries can be found in all Apple (AAPL) devices and do not suffer from “memory effect” the way NiCd batteries do. Apple says on its website:

Lithium-ion polymer batteries have a high power density, and you can recharge a lithium-ion polymer battery whenever convenient, without requiring a full charge or discharge cycle.

BatteryApple does recommend, however, that you should let the device go through at least one charge cycle each month to help keep the electrons moving (as opposed to a NiCd battery which needs to go through a full charge cycle every few days). Letting the device drain from 100% to fully shutting off at 0% helps to maintain the life of the battery.

Robin Lim at The Android Guy wrote that the typical modern lithium-ion battery you find in a mobile device should last for 500 charge and discharge cycles depending. Five hundred cycles should be enough to get you through two years.

Five hundred cycles is more than it sounds. A battery cycle means a full charge and discharge. So if you charge your battery before it is empty, it will not count as a full cycle. Ms. Kim claims that if you usually charge battery when it gets to 30%, it should be good for over 700 charges.

BatteryThe battery does naturally degrade over time. While the battery is designed to last 500 cycles, it does not mean that the battery will maintain a 100% charge throughout the 500 cycles. It also does not mean that after 500 cycles, the battery will die. After 500 charge and discharge cycles, your battery would be at about 70% of its original battery life. Your phone will still report that it is 100% fully charged, but it will really be at about only 70%. Basically, your battery deteriorates about 30%, gradually, over the 500 charge and discharge cycles according to the article.

Ms.Lim offers tips to maintain LI-on batteries.

Lithum Ion battery

  1. Avoid letting the battery drain below 20-30%. Partial discharges are actually better for your battery. The old rule that you had to fully discharge your battery, does not apply to the Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer used in smartphones today. Battery University tests have shown one full discharge your battery once results in more wear and tear than charging it twice when it hits 30%.
  2. Recharge often. Given that recharging at higher levels of remaining battery life results in less wear and tear, it makes sense to recharge frequently.
  3. Partial charge is okay. Plugging in the battery for your new iPhone 6 for even half an hour will keep your remaining battery level higher at the end of the day.
  4. Calibrate once every month or two. The Android Guy says continuous partial discharges create a condition called digital memory. Your smartphone does not really measure battery life, but really just estimates the remaining charge. Partial discharges decrease the accuracy of the device’s battery gauge. So once every month, or every other month, let the battery discharge to the cut-off point and then recharge. Once fully charged, leave it plug to the wall charging for another two hours. The power gauge will be re-calibrated.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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