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Electronix Express Newsletter
February 2008 Issue
Welcome to the February 2008 Issue of the Electronix Express Newsletter
1. How Flash Will Change PCs
Faster, less power-hungry flash drives will see wider use as costs fall and capacity rises.
Unlike the clunky floppy-disk-based computers of yore, these are speedy laptops equipped with a new hard-disk alternative called a solid-state drive (SSD), which someday may challenge the hard drive's long run as the storage king.
The SSD is based on the same flash-memory technology found in the widely used USB memory keys. SSD is basically a handful of chips with no moving parts as opposed to a conventional hard drive which stores data on a magnetic disk that spins at up to 7,200 RPM. Flash has been around for years, but two considerations blocked its use for mass storage. One factor was cost and the other was the fact that you could only rewrite your data a limited number of times. Even now, flash memory costs far more per megabyte than magnetic storage, but chip prices have been plunging. As for the limits on rewrites, manufacturers have greatly improved the situation by updating the semiconductors and adding software that makes sure the data in any one chip location aren't changed too often.
From a PC user's point of view, the benefits of moving to flash include greater reliability, lower power consumption, and faster performance, especially at startup. The shift to SSD could also enable the design of smaller laptops. And there would be side benefits: A ramp-up in flash memory across the tech sector would bring chip prices even lower, which would inevitably beef up the storage capacity of mobile phones, music players, and other handheld devices.
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2. The World's Thinnest Notebook
Is thin in? If Intel has anything to say about it, yes thin PCs are in. Intel's sleek laptop could be a game changer for PCs. When Intel asked designers to build a better laptop, its instructions were really simple. The machine has to be fashionable, able to connect to all manner of wireless networks, and full of the latest, fastest computing capabilities. Oh yes, and make it as thin as Motorola's Razr. The result, code-named Intel mobile Metro notebook, is less than 0.7 inches thick, about one-quarter of an inch thicker than Motorola's (MOT) iconic cell phone, making it the world's thinnest notebook. It weighs a mere 2.25 pounds making it one of the lightest small-sized portable computers. Other features include always on Internet connectivity via various wireless technologies. The user might appreciate this device's always-on wireless connectivity. Today's laptops can connect to Wi-Fi wireless networks but require special cards to surf the Web via cellular networks. This model's embedded chips let users access cellular, Wi-Fi, or WiMax wireless broadband networks.
And unlike other computer prototypes, including some from Intel, this one actually may line the shelves of a retailer before long. Intel hasn't announced an official release date but people familiar with the matter say a PC maker will announce plans to start manufacturing the machine later this year. The laptop is the only notebook design expected to come out of Intel (INTC) this year. Its debut was at an Intel Developer Forum in Beijing in April. If manufactured and sold on a wide scale, the creation could have a lasting impact on computer design, use, and marketing.
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3. The Mall in the Palm of Your Hand
What's known as mobile commerce or "m-commerce" -- the ability to shop and buy using a mobile device -- is still in its infancy. The mobile facility of particularly young customers has also left retailers with a lot of catching up to do. Some major retailers, including Nordstrom and Macy's in some regions, don't have their full store inventories available for mobile searches, and some products pop up as available only online. It's not that stores aren't trying to go higher-tech. Mobile retailing site mPoria is rapidly signing up retailers, going from eight to more than 130 since the start of 2007. Mobile couponing company Cellfire's discounts can now be used at more than 250 merchants, including retail and restaurant chains, up from 10 in January.
While mobile company Slifter helps shoppers find items in a geographic area, NearbyNow helps them search anywhere in its 200 member malls. All the mall retailers are part of NearbyNow for at least basic searches, for brands of jeans, but not individual styles or products, for instance, and more than 70 percent offer full access to their inventories. Retailers are experimenting with a variety of text-message campaigns to see what best draws in the young crowds.
Laura Evans, retail practice chief for the digital marketing agency Resource Interactive says "While the technology is there and phones are enabled to do a lot of these types of things, when it comes to using it to make a purchase, the infrastructures with retailers are not built or established yet. This is a point of contention with many young people who would like to use their mobile phone like some kind of mobile wallet. Nonetheless, the fact is that the tech savvy younger generation is more comfortable with technology and is definitely pushing technology.
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4. Just Ahead: A Wider Wireless World
In the year ahead, a long-heralded revolution in wireless communications will finally come to pass. It may throw handset makers and service providers into turmoil, but over time it should be great for consumers. Fast, wireless data will become more widely available, the choice of data devices and mobile handsets will expand, and service just might get cheaper. The biggest driver of change is an event slated for February, 2009. It is, of all things, the shutdown of analog television broadcasting. The conversion to digital TV will free up space now occupied by UHF channels 52 to 69. A chunk is being turned over to police and fire departments, and the rest will be auctioned off in January, 2008. There are three reasons this spectrum will change the wireless landscape. First, it increases the total bandwidth available for wireless networks. Second, the relatively low frequency-around 700 MHz-penetrates buildings well. That means it will work as an alternative to cable or DSL Internet service to homes as well as for mobile phones. Finally, the Federal Communications Commission will require the buyers of a large piece of the spectrum to give customers much greater freedom in their choice of devices than carriers have traditionally allowed. What does all this mean to consumers? For starters, an end to the requirement that customers choose from the limited array of handsets carriers typically offer. Increased competition and the availability of more spectrum should put downward pressure on prices, especially for data service. So, on balance, the wireless revolution of 2008-2009 will win a thumbs-up from users.
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5. Can Amazon Kindle Digital Book Fever?
If CEO Jeff Bezos has any say, bookstores could eventually be a thing of the past. Just turn on your Kindle and get the new Stephen King. The Kindle is a handheld book reader that Bezo hopes will help usher books into the digital age. On Nov. 19, Bezos unveiled the long-awaited device at the W Union Square hotel in New York. Kindle, available on Amazon for $399, holds about 200 books in a paperback-sized package and displays pages on a screen that appears more akin to paper than a backlit LCD screen. Part portable library, part bookstore, Kindle is wirelessly hooked up to the Internet via Sprint Nextel's high-speed cellular network, letting users download books at a moment's notice. Users can purchase books-some 90,000 titles are currently available-for about $10 apiece, and there are no connection-subscription fees. While other media, including music, are readily available over digital delivery devices such as Apple's iPod, the book has stuck with its hardbound and softbound covers and dog-eared pages for hundreds of years. Amazon spent some three years on Kindle's design in hopes of creating a product so user-friendly that it will not only compete with printed books but also encourage users to choose it over reading the newspaper on handheld Web-connected devices such as smartphones. Kindle easily connects to the online dictionary Wikipedia and has a browser that lets users visit other Web sites. However, it only delivers those sites in black-and-white, and Web surfing is not intended to be its main function. "It's a single-purpose reading device," says Steve Kessel, Amazon's senior vice-president of worldwide digital media.
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6. Gartner says worldwide PC market grew 13 percent in 2007
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 271.2 million units in 2007, a 13.4 percent increase from 2006, according to preliminary results by Gartner Inc. The industry ended the year with fourth quarter PC shipments of 75.9 million units, a 13.1 percent increase. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region continued to be the largest PC market in 2007, helped by robust Eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa growth. Asia/Pacific took over as the second largest PC market during the fourth quarter. 2007 showed a clear indication of the worldwide PC market landscape: Strong growth in emerging regions such as Asia/Pacific and slower growth in markets such as the United States. Hewlett-Packard was in a virtual tie with Dell for the number one position in worldwide PC shipments in 2006, and HP extended its lead in 2007 as it accounted for 18.2 percent of global PC shipments.
On the whole, the U.S. PC market grew 5.3 percent in 2007 with shipments reaching 64.2 million units. The market ended the year better than expected with shipments in the fourth quarter totaling 17 million units, a 7.2 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2006. The results exceeded Gartner's expectations. Mobile PC shipments exceeded desk-based PC shipments for the second consecutive quarter. And Apple experienced another good quarter in the U.S. market as the company is pegged to grow at a rate of 40 percent in 2008.
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