Is the nation’s largest telco having an identity crisis? No, they’re just now seeing the bigger picture, says its Chief.
Oonagh Reidy
$999 Acer Revo PC Hits Oz April
The notebook maker’s first ever full HD media PC centre to retail at $999, the Revo 100, is a collision of media functions in one – including Hi-Def viewing, Smart TV, clear-fi media sharing system and Blu-Ray player.
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The new machine is also configurable with an internal TV tuner and boasts 3 USB ports, a multi-in-one card reader, wireless and wired LAN and is preloaded with a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system.
It is powered by AMD Athlon II Neo dual-core processor and also has featuring NVIDIA ION graphics.
Acer’s Revo will also automatically “discover” compatible devices including Smartphones and netbooks and media players around the house allowing enjoyment of other media content regardless of the source on 1080P full HD entertainment solution.
The Revo can sit two ways – on its removable vertical stand or be placed flat like a game console.
Its dual-mode wireless touchpad fits into the machine and slides out into either a multi gesture pad or QWERTY keyboard, with lit up keys. The RevoPad is small, highly portable and can be hand held.
Additional features include support for up to 4 GB of DDR3 memory and large storage capacity of up to 750GB. It has a multittude of connectivity options including HDMI, dual USB ports and Ethernet audio out.
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Sporting a matte black finish, the slim device adds “sleek modern style to your living room,” says its maker.
“The Revo touchpad/keyboard simply pops out of the chassis giving you hands-on control and frees you to enjoy Smart TV functionality, share your media, all from the comfort of your couch,” says Acer’s Desktop Product Manager, Aaron Jambrovic.
Optus Do U Turn On NBN, Call For Special Discounts
The Telco is demanding special treatment from the NBN Co due to its large buying power despite previous calls for true competition.
Apple Give Gaming, Hard Drives The Chop
Now the tech giant is getting personal. Well, in its retail outfits at least.
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They are dumping many of their retail stores’ staples: printers, scanners and hard drives to make way for their personal set up service for Mac’s which kicked off in January.
When a Mac is purchased, staff set up e-mail, iTunes and other functions in-store, a service which has proved hugely popular and is expanding further, forcing the tech giant to chop some of its displays.
The maker also run tutorials from their store helping users to learn more about how to use devices..
Many products will be available on request but won’t be displayed in-house and limited stocks will be kept on the premises.
32 out of 40 games have also been cut from their offering, a section of the business which was said to have been unprofitable for the company, according to The Loop.
However, gaming ain’t dead and gone – they have been migrated over to the Mac App Store for purchase.
Its not clear how well this area will do selling only through online although its game Pixelmator grossed $1m in its first three weeks on sale earlier this year, Steve Jobs’ company said.
This also means the crowds and queues that are synonymous with Apple stores may die down…..for now.
NBN V 4G? No Competition, Says Telstra
Telstra has dismissed the idea of 4G as a threat to fixed line broadband, calling it a “complimentary” source. And the devil is in the detail as far as network management goes, it also revealed.
“We see LTE as just another wireless technology and essentially just another means of carrying traffic,” Mike Wright, Telstra director of network and access technologies, told journalists in Sydney yesterday.
This is despite Telstra recently launching their 4G LTE service, viewed by many as a possible rival to the yet to be built $36bn fibre cable network.
“If you talk about NBN and you talk about wireless, they’re absolutely complementary to each other,” he added.
The country’s biggest telco provider recently said the upgrade of its Next G network to LTE will happen by the end of 2011.
Long Term Evolution/HSPA+ mobile broadband devices that operate across the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum ranges would give customers the benefits of 4G in select locations, allowing speeds as high as 150 megabits a second, the telco said at the LTE launch earlier this year.
“The technology can provide many Australians with faster data speeds, high-quality video conferencing and faster response times when using mobile applications or accessing the internet,” said CEO David Thodey.
The NBN said last month the purchase of spectrum licences would allow peak speeds of at least 12 megabits per second but will be 50Mbps or 100Mbps at consistent levels.
Opposition spokesman on communications Malcolm Turnbull claims LTE and other 4G wireless services make the National Broadband a less viable option given the lower cost and speeds available.
Last week, the telco also revealed their plan B if the NBN fails to see the light of day, admitting it would still take a “blended” approach, using both fibre and wireless technology .
“We would perhaps use some fibre to the premises in some circumstances, we would use fibre to the node in some circumstances, and we would continue broadband over copper in some circumstances.”
Rival carriers VividWireless and Optus are also currently working on development of similar LTE networks.
Just 12 per cent of Telstra’s customer base currently use wireless as their primary broadband source, although they admit demand is growing.
This comes as Telstra revealed its other major secret: the Devil.
Nicknamed Devil, the software developed by the University of Adelaide, helps the carrier identify potential bottlenecks in its network, thus avoid problems which has plagued rival operators including Vodafone, due to over capacity.
Myer Chase Bargain Lovers From China
They go by the slogan “my store” but now Myer has decided to go after bargain bin lovers with a new site.
The myfind.com website, operating out of China, which went live on 28 February, is seeking to offer “great value and one-off special buys for online shoppers,” a position that the retailer previously felt was denied to them by the government’s refusal to levy GST on goods sold by competing online rivals under $1000.
The store, which was never affiliated with heavily discounted goods, appears to be performing a U-turn in its sales strategy, facilitated by the online revolution.
Canberra’s refusal to budge on the issue led them to set up shop out of China.
“If we can’t beat them we will join them,” lamented Mr Bernie Brookes, Myer’s CEO last year.
“We just want a level playing field. We will take jobs offshore and we will ship product out of China through our internet site, it’s a bloody shame.”
At the moment, there are only two laptop devices on offer, an Acer Aspire 5742 as well as an eMachine, eME732Z , but say they are testing the waters before the discounting site is unleashed fully to consumers.
It is thus a safe bet to expect more discount devices will bolster its online offering in the coming weeks. The new site is a value-focused online business that is quite different to its existing department store offering, says the retailer.
The eMachine model is priced very competitively at $498 – over $100 cheaper than other online IT retailers including Techbuy.com or iTech.
The Acer 5742, priced at $697, matches, and in a few cases undercuts rivals, when compared on getprice.com.au, and could see the beginning of the high street retailer carving itself a bigger slice of the Oz electronics market if it maintains this huge price assault.
Indeed, the high street seller says the site will be a testing ground for selling new “low cost ” products and allows it to operate at a far lower cost out of China.
“Myfind.com presents Myer with the opportunity to test new merchandise and the potential for product and range extensions of our existing department store offering at a lower cost of doing business and working capital investment,” Jo Lynch, Myer’s Corporate Affairs, General Manager told Smarthouse.
“This is an exciting new business for Myer targeting a different, growing consumer segment,” she added.
Over coming weeks the myfind.com site will be fine-tuned before a formal launch supported by marketing activity to drive traffic to the site.
Myfind.com is run from offices in both Hong Kong and China.
The new site is offering delivery for just $10 and is facilitated within 3-5 days via its relationship with China Post in conjunction with Australia Post.
Can Samsung ‘Boombox’ Player 4 Touch iPod?
The Korean brand’s answer to the iPod touch is coming, the Galaxy Player 4 and 5.
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And it looks set to give Apple a run for its money, if the video reports from Samsung’s Spring Product Showcase in the US are anything to go by.
The 8GB Android Galaxy Player 4, which comes in white, has a 4 inch touch screen (Galaxy 5 is 5 inch LCD screen) and according to reports out of New York, is essentially a Galaxy S but without the phone.
Music wise, it has built-in stereo speakers with surround sound, SoundAlive post-processing technology, and audio support for MP3, WMA, AAC, Ogg, and Flac. It comes with MicroSD slot for 32 GB of extra storage.
“The Galaxy Player is a portable boombox to enliven any occasion,” its makers said yesterday. However, this multifunctional device is far from just simply a music player and allows games and e-books.
Running on Android 2.2, (which can be upgraded to 2.3 Gingerbread, say Samsung) it offers Google Maps, Search by voice, GPS and a slew of other tools like Gmail and thousands of apps at its disposal.
Specs wise the player is Bluetooth enabled, with WiFi, dual camera, camcorder, Skype and has flash support (Adobe Flash 10.1).
It also has flight mode for music lovers who don’t want to switch off and has Facebook and Twitter applications for social networking lovers.
However, at this point there is no release date for Australia, although it will hit the US this spring.
No pricetag has been divulged either.
HP To Unleash WebOS On PC & Tablet: Chief
The ‘polar bear’ has arrived: PC giant’s new head honcho confirms it will release its own platform on all models from next year.
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Every PC with the HP logo “will include the ability to run WebOS” its new Chief Executive, Leo Apotheker, told Bloomberg.
The platform will run along existing Windows software meaning Microsoft can breathe a sigh of relief. For now.
However, the software giant will have to up the ante of its forthcoming Windows 8 in a bid to keep possible transgressers to HP’s new offering at bay.
The world’s largest computer maker acquired Palm, the creators of WebOS, last year for US$1.2 billion and clearly wants to put its money to good use helping to differentiate it from rivals Android and Apple’s iOS.
The OS will also run on its upcoming TouchPad tablet, Pre3 business smartphone as well as the Veer.
The fledgling platform currently has just over 6000 apps, which pales in comparison to the 350,000 currently available on Apple’s ecosystem.
However, Apotheker also recognised the major shortfall HP has in the software arena and feels he can build on what already there and through strategic acquisitions to help expand its current portfolio.
“You create a massive platform,” he said, referring to WebOS. “I happen to know something about software,” he added, hinting the future direction the maker, whose core PC business is worth US$41 billion, might take.
The former Chief of software giant SAP, who’s nickname is ‘polar bear’ is also said to be on a mission to boost innovation and in house talent at his new employer as it looks to diversify in the future.
And he recently took to the skies to break the ice with staff visiting Hewlett Packard’s regional offices worldwide.
“HP has lost its soul,” Apotheker said, referring to his predecessor Mark Hurt’s cost cutting drive.
“You don’t mandate innovation,” said the German born CEO. “People need to be a little more empowered in this place.”
This is of particular significance to Australia, considering HP is now the nations biggest selling PC, as revealed by IDC last week.
The Palo Alto based maker pushed Acer off the top spot, emerging as the market leader among Aussie consumers with a 22 percent share, taking over from Acer, who slipped back to second place at 15 percent.
The computer market here grew 20 percent last year selling 5.7 million units.
Known for his hot temper, the German seeks to reassure he has his emotions in check.
“The one thing I’ve learned is to try to manage my temper better and get rid of cynics sooner,” he said.
Facebook Gets Serious: Unleash Deals To Rival Groupon
First there was Jump on It, Groupon and Deals. Now Facebook is looking to jump on the bargain bandwagon and launch a similar service from their ubiquitous social networking site.
And who can blame them? With over 550 million consumers at their fingertips, it could be one of the most strategically sound moves the social network could make as it looks to further monetise its operation.
And it’s not only consumers Facebook has in abundance.
Mark Zuckerburg’s operation also has millions of business at its fingertips who it can entice to sell its services. Its latest announcement reads as an intent to expand its deal service and work more closely with business.
“Local businesses will be able to sign up to use this feature soon, and people will be able to find Deals in the coming weeks,” it announced yesterday.
The groups deals service will allow users to share discounted deals with friends with hundreds of their friends.
Its current deals service operates on a location base only and is more focused towards mobile users based on its ‘check in service”. Earlier this month it released new metrics that tell business ‘place owners’ the number of times people checked in or claimed a deal at their place.
Although online group deals are hot property right now, the network are testing the service in US cities of Atlanta, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas and Austin, Texas, according to Bloomberg report.
And growth of edeals looks set to explode from a million dollar to that of a billion dollar industry, predicted to be worth almost $4 billion by 2015 in the US alone, over a 400 percent jump to what it was worth last year, at $873m.
And it is an industry already well established here in Australia, with
US owned Groupon the most recent addition operating under the name
stardeals.com, joining the likes of Living Social, and Cudo.
Chicago based Groupon was prevented from using its name here as an existing Aussie company, Scoopon, holds use of the name.
Confirmed: iPhone Goes Pale In Spring
It has been said white is the new black.
And it looks like Apple could feel the same as its ubiquitous iPhone looks set to sport a paler demeanour from this summer season onwards, which has been confirmed by Apple’s VP of Marketing.
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“The white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!).” Phil Schiller confirmed.
The newly released iPad2, which is available in white, sold 1 million in its first days of release, and could have spurred the maker on into going for a pale shade for phones sooner rather than later.
The white model was first announced by Steve Jobs at WWDC 2010, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference back in June last.