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Oonagh Reidy

iWatch V SamWatch V Windows – SmartWatch War… A Ticking Timebomb?

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Samsung are doing it, Apple and Windows are rumoured to be doing it. And Jawbone have it done.
And last week, we reported Jawbone, the makers of UP “revolutionary bracelet,” is seeing demand for its new device which goes on sale for $149 next week.

Now the rumour mill has been in overdrive about the release of a rumoured iWatch from Apple, as rival Samsung have already confirmed it is getting into the watches game. Also, reports suggest Microsoft, too, is ”working on designs for a touch-enabled watch device” with 1.5″ display.

Even LG are said to be looking into the market.

Read: JawBone: Get Up OZ

Microsoft released a Smart Watch nine years ago so they are no strangers to wearable techs that promise to be your best mate, motivator, mood gauge and even alert you when your eating crap food (Jawbone UP), but some boast more advanced smartphone functions like text, Facebook, and real time info like train times, a la Google Glass. 

Sony smartwatch launched in Us last year.

Web reports about a possible Apple iWatch, along with a rival to Google’s Glass wearable project, may be worth listening to, according to CNet.

The report suggests recent remarks from Bill Campbell, an Apple board member and close friend of the late Steve Jobs as well as chairman at Intuit, suggest something along those lines could be in the wind.

At an event for Intuit staff late last week, Campbell stressed that he couldn’t offer any specifics on future Apple products, but said people could anticipate “a lot of things going on with the application of technology to really intimate things.” 

He called Google Glass a “phenomenal breakthrough” and added in what’s being interpreted as a significant statement: “When you start to think about glasses or watches, they become as intimate as the cell phone was.

“Financial news service Bloomberg has previously claimed that Apple has about 100 people working on a smartwatch project.

Apple has also filed patent applications for watch-relevant flexible displays and for a Glass-sounding “head-mounted display apparatus.”

“We’ve seen a lot of anticipation and excitement for UP from the Australian community, and our Australian retail partners Apple, Telstra, and Optus have been eager to bring UP to their customers,” Jawbone Head of Channel and Partner Development EMEA, Jorgen Nordin told SmartHouse last week.

“There’s a lot of demand and interest in the wearables category right now.”

But “it’s hard to say” if smartwatches are really going to be the new ‘IT’ device as analysts are saying,  JB HiFi Marketing Manger Scott Browning told SmartHouse yesterday,

“There’s a lot of horizon categories” out there – smartwatches are just one of them. 

Does 4G = Bill Shock?

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Its tipped as the be-all and end-all of mobile networks – but is really worth it?The rapid takeup of 4G may give rise to ‘bill shock’, warns telco No. 2 Optus. 

There has “rapid takeup of 4G,” Clare Gill, Optus Head of Government and Corporate Affairs told Smarthouse.  
“Consumers are proactively upgrading to a high speed network.”  

But when subscribers move up from 3G to 4G, users often double their data usage, says Gill. 

There’s no buffering on 4G mobile services, greater speed and capacity, downloads are faster and apps work far quicker. 
Fast as lightening, 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, thatTelstra, Vodafone, Optus all now operate, give a” better experience ..so consumers use more data,” says Gill.   
On average, when people move from 3G to 4G they go through an extra 300Mb per month, she says. 
This means far higher bill, and thus ‘bill shock’, where subscribers receive far higher bills than anticipated is a likely outcome. 
“Bill shock is a real thing… users need to be able to use their smartphone data without fear,” something Optus hopes to eradicate with My Plan billing system.  
 New research from Optus suggests one in three Aussie parents have been hit with massive mobile bills from their kids. 
A shocking one in three received a whopper bill of $300 or more, according to the survey. Take note, the ‘kids’ were aged between 10, and as old as 21. 
There has been other reports of shocker mobile bills going “into the thousands”. 
Optus new My Plan billing system offers “transparency” so consumers “won’t get stung” with shockingly high bills, says Gill.  
Australia’s telco No. 2 are hoping the “revolutionary” Myplans will encourage other telcos to follow suit. 
Myplan automatically bumps users up to the next level – so say if data allowance is exceeded, users are charged $10 for an additional 1GB, as opposed to $250 under the previous regime. 
And ditto if customers go over their monthly call allowance. 
The mobile plans start at $35 a month to $100. However, the $35 and $50 plans both have frugal Internet data allowances, so it appears very likely mobile users will have to bump up to next level, anyway.  
“We hope it changes the way the industry charges” for data , says Gill. 
Existing Optus consumers can proactively move on to it for free, even mid contract. 
 

However, the biggest shock about the Optus survey, announced last week, was most parents (76%) don’t place limits on the bills they’re paying for their kids, aged up to 21. 

But no one in the telco industry disputes the fact, data prices are going up. One senior exec from a  major Aussie telco told Smarthouse the cost of data costs will inevitably rise, as telcos invest billions in upgrading networks to 4G. 
“Customers need to realise they have to pay more for data,” the exec said.  

Australia Post Jump To E-Shoppers Beat

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OZ Post has shed its cobwebs and come into the 21st century, revamping its parcels service to make way for the e-shopper.


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In what has been described as “the most significant changes” parcel operations 200 year history, Post Office is about to answer online shoppers prayers, with round the clock parcels service.

The new services offers extended hours, locations for parcel collection, with some even open the weekends, and sending customers email and SMS notifications when goods arrive.

24 hour access electronic parcel lockers will be trialled in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in November, with more to follow – meaning nuisances trip to the Post Office for pick-up may be a thing of the past.

Australia Post/eBay new low cost satchels and boxes are priced at a low flat rate to anywhere in Australia, it said today.

A new ‘Pack and Track international’ which is a “significantly cheaper option” offers tracked delivery between the US and Australia with more destinations to be added in the future.

But its not just consumers the Post Office is looking to please, it is also supporting retailers bid to “get online” by launching online ordering and payments through SecurePay and  Shop In A Box.

It has also upgraded 60 outlets to ‘business hubs’ across the country focusing on SMB’s, with the first to be opened in Mount Waverley, Victoria next month and 20 to be launched by the end of 2012.

A flagship concept store opening in Brisbane in December, which will have a dedicated online shopping area, 24/7 parcel pick up zone and vending machines with stamps and packaging.

 

These new measures come in response to a 10.9% increase in parcel volumes over the last financial year – with Aussies taking up online shopping in “record numbers,” said Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour.

“We’re listening to our customers. Australians are receiving more parcels than ever and many of our customers are rarely at home during the day and find it increasingly hard to get to a post office.”

Conroy: Do Your Homework, Or Else

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Minister Conroy want Aussie businesses to do their homework. But forget the pens and paper of old, the NBN is the tool of choice.

Australia is lagging behind other developed countries in harnessing the Net for business and badly needed to catch up, Minister for Broadband, Senator Stephen Conroy told a Telework Forum in Sydney yesterday. 

Businesses need to change their attitudes about staff working from home, he warned, and said teleworking was the next big thing in the modern workplace. 

To date, just 6% of Aussie employers have such arrangements. 

“In Australia the number of people with an arrangement with their employer to work from home has been low by international standards,” Senator Conroy told the forum, AAP reports.

However, the advent of the $36 billion NBN project, will help “revolutionise” telework here, and “promises to transform who is able to work, when you can work, where you can work and how you can work.”

 

Conroy also cited the US were 10% of employees telework at least once a month and likewise in Europe. 

Microsoft Mini + Pro 3 To Surface Next Week

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Report suggests a new Intel-based Surface 3 Pro will be launched next week alongside Surface Mini on May 20, when Microsoft are holding a US press briefing.

It is believed Microsoft will use a variant of Intel Haswell processors used in Surface 2 Pro for the third installment of the Pro, running Windows 8.1. The hugely popular Pro 2 has a 1.6″ Full HD screen and Intel Core i5 4th gen processor, inside. 

A recently published Microsoft support document made a reference to Surface Pro 3, although Redmond giant has since corrected the “typo.” 
Samsung are also said to be launching a 13″ tablet, soon. 
Mini 
“Join us for a small gathering,” the Microsoft media invite declared, suggesting something small is to be unveiled on the 20th. 
Microsoft watchers believe the New York-based event could mark the unveiling of a 7.5″ or 8.5″ Surface mini tablet, riding the recent wave of popularity from the Microsoft Windows tablets, which are selling well here in Oz. 
“Surface mini will be based on an ARM chipset and will run Windows RT 8.1” a Windows IT blog suggests and a “high quality stylus for note-taking and OneNote integration.” 

Virgin Grab Porn Richard Branson.XXX

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Richard Branson… the porn star? Sir Richard has just won the rights to his porn site domain, Richard Branson.XXX, after a battle with an Aussie.


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Virgin entrepreneur Branson took Australian man, Sean Truman, to a US arbitration court in a bid to seize control of the Richard Branson.XXX porn website, after the cheeky Aussie registered the online domain name in December.

Truman “should have recognized that his registration and control of ‘richardbranson.xxx’ would serve to vex or embarrass” Sir Richard, the US National Arbitration Forum (NAF) ruled this week.

“Registering and holding a .xxx domain name identical to [Sir Richard’s] mark without having any rights or interests therein is evidence of bad faith registration and use,” the NAF said.

However, Truman argued Sir Richard had “ample opportunity” to register his name in .XXX  domain and that his name was “neither unique nor unusual.”

Branson is the second person only to have sued over .XXX domain name, the other was a Texan supermarket chain, according to The Independent.

The sponsored top level domain .XXX for porn sites went live in December last, designed as a legitimate domain portal which would be instantly discernable as containing “adult” entertainment material.

Sean Truman registered the name in December last but does not have any links with the porn industry he told the court, but rather wanted it as a “souvenir.”

He also argued Sir Richard uses the “sex sells” principal himself with his Virgin brand.

However, anyone registering an .XXX name must be involved in the porn industry, according to the domain rules.

Angelina Jolie, Beyonce and former British PM Margaret Thatcher along with 4000 other celebs are all banned as .XXX domain names, as are brand names, although is seems the savvy Sir Richard  missed the boat on this occasion.

Read: Its Coming: .XXX Porn Names Open, Thousands Celebs Banned

Although Sir Richard himself declined to comment, a spokesperson said:

 

Virgin Group treats the use of its and Sir Richard’s name on the web very seriously and we ensure that there are no unauthorised sites operating that will confuse customers.

“ICANN has ordered the transfer of the richardbranson.xxx domain name to Virgin. We are pleased with the outcome of this dispute.”

Once the site is handed over to Virgin Group, it will be deactivated.

REVEALED: iPad Worst Enemy…iPhone 4S

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The iPhone 4S gobbles iPad sales – but Amazon are on your tails too, Apple.
That’s according to new figures from analysts IHS, which show Apple’s grand share of the tab pie has dropped to 57% in Q4 – down from highs of around 73% – while new entrant Amazon Fire has soared to No. 2 spot with 14%.

Although “soaring sales” of Amazon’s Fire and low-priced tabs trimmed Apple’s market share, “it was [Apple’s] own newly introduced iPhone 4S that proved to be the strongest competitor for the iPad” in Q4, said IHS iSuppli.

In other words, Apple’s biggest tablet enemy was ..itself.

The $199 7″ Kindle Fire also played a strong role in the iPad’s downfall, particularly in the U.S, accounting for an astonishing 50% plus of tablet sales globally in Q4 last, despite its limited availability.
 
“Shipments of the iPad line fell short of IHS estimates in the fourth quarter as many loyal Apple customers devoted their dollars to shiny new alternatives,” said Rhoda Alexander, IHS researcher.

Apple shipped over 40 million tabs last year (up 168%) and 15.4m iPads and iPad 2s in Q4, meaning it held 62% market domination in 2011, but marks a fall from grace from the cult tab, which enjoyed global market share of 87% in 2010.

Ouch.


Ouch: iPad’s are hurting due to iPhone 4S

“The rollout of the iPhone 4S in October generated intense competition for Apple purchasers’ disposable income, doing more to limit iPad shipment growth than competition from the Kindle Fire and other media tablets.”

The low priced Android Kindle Fire’s shipments hit 3.9 million units in last three months of 2011, pushing Samsung Galaxy Tab’s off the number 2 spot, although the brand held on to the second highest spot for the year as a whole with 9.4%.

Barnes and Noble’s Nook tab came 4th, while Asus with its Eee line up came 5th in the global tablet race last year, although its share of the tabs pie slipped in Q4 compared to the previous quarter.

Kindle Fire shipments was in line with the IHS early December forecast, representing a “respectable start for the Fire” Alexander noted.

“However, the long-term viability of [Fire] will hinge on the success of Amazon’s business gamble, which depends on tablet sales driving substantial new online merchandise sales at Amazon.com,” the analyst warned.

 

But the surge in Android tabs came at a high costs, say analysts as budget tablets, like Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, created “chaos” in the the Android tablet market, forcing competitors to slash prices.

“The surge in non-iPad shipments in the fourth quarter was achieved at considerable financial cost, with sharp price reductions across most of the competing Android tablets and actual product giveaways from a number of vendors as part of promotional efforts for other electronic products,” said Alexander.

In turn, vendors could be turning their backs on Android OS tabs as the price race to the bottom battle intensifies (and Google’s acquisition of Motorola) and are now looking to Windows 8 tablets due this year as a more “profitable alternative.”

“Watch for a surge of Windows 8 and ARM microprocessor-based tablets in late 2012 and early 2013,” say IHS.

But the US analysts also predicts iPad 3 due in Q2, will sell like hot cakes, reported to feature a QXGA retina display and Siri voice assistant.

IHS also expect demand to outstrip supply as Apple fans jostle to get their mitts on the third gen pad.

Read IHS full report here.

 

Samsung Q1 Profit Soar On Galaxy

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Samsung quarterly guidance spells goods news as operating profits rise over 50%
The world’s biggest phone maker’s January-March Q1 ’13 operating profit rose 53 percent to an estimated 8.7 trillion won  (US$7.7 billion) thanks to huge sales of mid-tier smartphones, according to its latest guidance.

Samsung said it expects operating profit to fall within the range of 8.5 – 8.9 trillion Korean won, beating analysts estimates of 8.3 tr won, report Reuters.

Will this phone drive Samsung profits even higher?

Samsung said total sales were approximately 52 trillion won, and is said to have sold 68-70 million smartphones alone in the first quarter – up from previous quarters.

Analysts estimate Samsung sold  63.7 million smartphones in the last quarter of 2012, nabbing almost 30% of the phone market.

It will release full results at the end of the month, April 26.

Earlier today, Samsung announced it would be launching the Galaxy S4 in Oz on Tuesday 23 April, the same day as rival HTC One goes on sale, which could send Samsung profits even hgiher if its enjoys teh same popularity as its predecessor, SIII.

Hello Lumia: Nokia Windows 7.5 Phone Hits March (BUT Can It Smash iPhone?)

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Nokia Windows Phone – Lumia 800 – is hitting a telco near you in March…but can it shine light?


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The 3.7 AMOLED display smartphone with Windows’ tile grid will be sold in Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and all “major retailers” from March, Nokia confirmed today.

The Nokia Lumia 800 on Windows Phone 7.5 has an 8 MP camera with 28mm Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens and HD video.

The camera has instant photo share capabilities and touch-to-focus, which Nokia claim is unique to its brand, which is false, since Samsung S II, HTC Velocity, Moto Razr, iPhone 4 all have this feature.

Memory wise, Lumia has 16GB of internal user memory plus 5GB of additional free SkyDrive storage.

The Lumia 800 home screen is a grid of live, animated tiles tailored to a user’s liking.

So, what are in the tiles? “Up-to-the-minute” Facebook, Twitter updates, news and weather feeds, email notifications and calendar alerts.

And for gamers, the Microsoft Windows Phone offers Xbox gaming.

The touch phone also features a People Hub, which combines all your contacts and feeds from Facebook, Linked-in and Twitter into one thread pinned to the homescreen.

The Lumia 800 was released in Europe last year, is tall and thin with sports sleek, curved casing.

The smartie is also best in class business with its 30+ year Windows software heritage, say Nokia, plus apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint and OneNote Bing, Internet Explorer 9, HTML5 and Wi-Fi.


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And for radio lovers, Mix Radio, streams hours of music for free via WiFi, and Gigfinder, which lets you search for live local music events, shares your discoveries and buy concert tickets online.

On the GPS front, Nokia Drive – available in more than 100 countries – turns Lumia 800 into a fully-featured sat nav with voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, info on traffic, speed limits and cameras.

Nokia’s Windows gamble is a game changer and demand is strong here, says Nokia Australia MD.

 

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 “Nokia Lumia will change the way people think about Nokia.  It signifies a new beginning for the company, bringing together the very best of Nokia’s handset design and services with the latest Windows Phone software,” said Chris Carr.
 
“Interest locally for Nokia Lumia, our first range of Nokia with Windows Phone devices, has been extremely positive, with a significant appetite from operators and retailers looking to offer consumers a real smartphone alternative.”

“With uptake from all Australian operators and major retailers, the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800 signals our intent to regain leadership in smartphone design and usability,” Carr said.

Nokia’s Lumia 800 comes in black, blue (Cyan), pink (Magenta) and white.

No word on pricing yet.