More Consumer Electronics in Cars
With US drivers spending an average of nearly 17 hours each week in their cars, it's no surprise that consumers want their vehicles equipped with the latest gadgets.
The Consumer Electronics Association anticipates strong sales for in-vehicle consumer electronics in 2008, with sales growing 13% to $12.8 billion.
According to a study conducted in December 2007, the CEA found that 38% of drivers surveyed intended to purchase an in-vehicle consumer electronics product in the next year.
Remote starters were the most-wanted items, cited by 15% of respondents, while navigation devices and car alarms followed closely behind, cited by 13% and 12% respectively.
Other devices such as satellite radio, HD radio and DVD players also showed a strong purchase intent.
One finding of the study was that there was less demand for permanently-installed devices.
“Consumers want to the flexibility to take their CE devices in and out of the car,” said Steve Koenig of the CEA. “They also want to be able to switch out devices easily as technology shifts and advances. Cars that include solutions that make it easy to connect and power portable CE devices will do well with consumers.” [eMarketer]
Asians Research Gadgets Online
The Internet was cited as the most important source of information, particularly for information about consumer electronics, according to a survey of 10,000 MSN/ Windows Live service users in Asia, conducted by Synovate.
The study, commissioned by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, found 86% of respondents use the Internet to research consumer electronics. Newspapers and word of mouth were far behind, used by only 37%.
The products most often researched were mobile phones, followed by digital cameras, laptops and televisions.
These consumers plan to spend an average $1,800 on electronics in the next 12 months. A quarter of those surveyed had purchased a consumer electronics device in the past 12 months and 35% planned on buying one online in the next 12 months.
“Today, instead of making a trip to the mall for product guidance, or settling for a product choice based on limited reviews from family and friends – smarter consumers are conducting research on their own online, where a multitude of product comparisons, reviews and recommendations are freely available,” said Celia Fan, media analyst at Synovate. [eMarketer]
Inside The $44.6 Billion Microsoft offering for Yahoo
Microsoft announced Friday a $44.6 billion cash and stock offer to acquire beleaguered Yahoo, a deal that would consolidate the web's largest portal with MSN, the fifth-largest.
Microsoft's $31 per-share bid represents a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's closing stock price on Thursday -- if ratified, the acquisition would herald the biggest Internet deal since the Time Warner/AOL merger, and create a viable threat to the growing web search and advertising supremacy of mutual rival Google.
"Microsoft's consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers," writes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement to the Yahoo board.
In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo that we are proposing."
Ballmer's argument for corporate synergy hinges on four areas: Scale economics, expanded R&D capacity, operational efficiencies and emerging user experiences, citing Microsoft and Yahoo's "combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms."
Microsoft said it will offer retention packages to Yahoo engineers and other vital employees throughout the organization. Assuming the merger passes regulatory muster--a major question at this point -- Microsoft said it expects that the deal would be completed in the second half of 2008.
From a mobile software perspective, a Microsoft/Yahoo merger would seem to portend an integrated, applications-rich Windows Mobile platform that would position the so-called "Microhoo" far in front of Google. Given that Microsoft and Yahoo announced interoperability between their IM services almost two years ago, the combined company would also boast a decisive edge in messaging, an area where Google is only beginning to build momentum.
Also noteworthy: In early January, Yahoo opened its fledgling Mobile Developer Platform to third-party applications, promising developers the tools necessary to write code only once for instant publication across the device ecosystem. At the same time, Yahoo also embraced a widget-based mobile UI--weeks later, Microsoft said it will distribute mobile user experience solutions developer Zumobi's Zooming User Interface and mobile widget platform via Windows Mobile-based devices, suggesting a more user-friendly Windows platform could be on its way.
Related articles:
As an Alternative to Microsoft's Bid, Yahoo to Consider Google Alliance.
Microsoft Offers US$44.6 Billion for Yahoo
Zumobi "Zenzui" Rolls Out Beta Version of Zooming User Interface
Mobile UI developer Zumobi - the re-brand name of ZenZui - announced the beta version of its Zooming User Interface and mobile widget platform is now available for Windows Mobile-based handsets. The Zumobi UI enables consumers to personalize the mobile experience via custom-designed interactive widgets relevant to their particular interests and lifestyles -- content is now available from more than 75 mobile widgets, among them tiles spotlighting partners including Amazon.com, MTV Networks, The Associated Press, AccuWeather.com, Traffic.com and FlightStats.com.
On the other hand, mobile user experience solutions developer ZenZui announced it will continue operations as Zumobi, explaining the new brand better reflects its Zooming User Interface and mobile platform business. The firm also said the Zumobi mobile web interface will launch in beta across Windows 5 and 6-based devices on December 14--the UI enables consumers to personalize the mobile experience via custom-designed interactive tile widgets relevant to their particular interests and lifestyles.
"The Zumobi team has been working for over a year to make this product a reality, and we're very excited to launch the first version of our public Beta today," said Zumobi CEO Eric Hertz. "Our partners who have created Zumobi Tiles for the initial Beta have delivered an excellent portfolio of news, entertainment, travel content and more."
Zumobi revolutionizes the way people access, retrieve and share Web-based content on their mobile phones. Through an intuitive, lush user interface, Zumobi allows people to easily "bounce" in and out of snack-sized bits of the entertainment they want and to stay on top of the information they need throughout the day, while offering advertisers a better way to connect with consumers through their mobile phones.
"We're constantly creating new touch points on-air, online and on handsets that deepen our audiences' engagement with their favorite programming," said Jeremiah Zinn, Senior Vice President of Digital Distribution for MTV Networks. "Zumobi's new platform brings Web 2.0 functionality to wireless devices, and that allows us to create even more experiences for our audiences to stay connected to their favorite music, music news and gaming content."
"The exciting combination of Zumobi's intuitive interface combined with Traffic.com's nationwide real-time traffic content gives on-the-go consumers the relevant, valuable, engaging user experience they demand," said Barry J. Glick, Vice President, Consumer Markets for NAVTEQ, parent company of Beta partner Traffic.com. "When users download Zumobi to their phones, they'll instantly benefit from the graphical, dynamic interaction with our mobile traffic solutions by making informed decisions about the best time to leave and the fastest way to get there." [FierceMobileContent]
The Occasional Internet
Just because someone owns tech doesn't make him a techie.
A solid majority of Americans own PCs and mobile phones, but the gadgets play a minimal role in the lives of almost half of US adults, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's "A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users" study.
Nearly three-fourths of US adults surveyed had a mobile phone, and 68% had a desktop computer.
US Internet users engage in a healthy range of activities online, such as instant messaging or downloading digital content for a price. But the number of people who do these things regularly (as indicated by having done the activity "yesterday") is surprisingly low across the board. Only 4% of Internet users had downloaded paid music the day before the survey, for instance.
Read more
Microsoft Files With FCC For Wireless Device, Zune?
Microsoft submitted a filing to the FCC for a prototype of a wireless device that could be used to talk over the Internet (VoIP), which would make it an Internet Phone, or I-Phone. The filing is similar to the one Apple filed ahead of its iPhone unveiling, except Microsoft is not going the cellular route with what many believe to be its Zune phone.
Microsoft chose OFDM technology, which Sprint and privately-held Clearwire have tested and deployed. Microsoft claims the device will be used for "consumer broadband access and networking." Sufficiently vague.
The announcement makes the iPhone saga that much weirder. Here's a potential music phone (Zune-phone), which everyone expected to weakly compete with Apple's iPhone. Unexpectedly, Microsoft goes the VoIP route.
Meanwhile, Apple is fighting Cisco's trademark of "IPhone" by arguing that a VoIP phone and a cellular phone are effectively different things. A VoIP-enabled Zune certainly won't drum up the fanfare Apple has with its iPhone, but it just might give Apple's trademark lawyers a headache.
Source: FierceWireless. For more on Microsoft's Zune phone, read this article from MarketWatch
Mobile music to $32B by 2010
A new Gartner report anticipates global spending on mobile music to reach $32.2 billion by 2010, more than double the $13.7 billion revenues expected for 2007. Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan are expected to lead the market, which will encompass everything from ringtones to full-track downloads.
According to Gartner, mobile handsets will supersede dedicated MP3 players as consumers' music device of choice, although digital storefronts like Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's Zune Marketplace will force wireless operators to develop new content strategies and address nagging technical issues including DRM and network coverage.
For more on Gartner's forecast, read this InformationWeek article
ZigBee to Find Traction in Commercial Building Automation in 2008
Sensor networking technology ZigBee should start finding significant adoption in commercial building applications in 2008, according to a new study published by ABI Research.
There are three major markets for sensor networking: the home, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities, and ZigBee aims to cover them all. In the home, there are alternatives to ZigBee, and in industry there are some questions about its suitability. But according to senior analyst Sam Lucero, commercial building automation is a market where ZigBee is competitively positioned against other wireless sensor technologies.
"Commercial buildings represent a huge addressable market of field equipment currently using wired field buses to connect sensors and actuators with lighting, heating, ventilation, access control, and safety systems," he says. "ZigBee's features and functionality are very well suited to commercial building applications."
Of the five top vendors of building automation systems, which together control about 70% of the market, four — Johnson Controls, Siemens, TAC, and Trane — have introduced wireless products based on ZigBee in the past year, and the fifth — Honeywell — is moving toward doing so.
Over the next five years, up to 20% of commercial building automation system field equipment may "go wireless," seeking the lower costs, better control, and greater flexibility that such systems deliver. However, there are regional differences: in North America and Europe, commercial building markets are largely mature, while greater "greenfield" opportunities can be found in Asia. Asian markets are fragmented, and we may see a rash of acquisitions as the "big five" push into the region.
"In North America and Europe, this is a tough and conservative market," says Lucero. "We are hearing that building owners and managers in Asia are more interested in using wireless than their counterparts in North America and Europe, where it is more a question of replacing existing wires." ABI Research also believes that a lot of the growth will come from new, application-specific deployments in selected vertical industries.
Lucero concludes that, "The mainstream market is clearly moving ahead with ZigBee for automation, so smaller players that do not have a wireless strategy formulated (or are in the process of creating one) will be at a disadvantage."
Source: ABI Research
Young Women Like Tech Gadgets
Gen Y women have digital cameras, phones and video games on their lists.
By Debra Aho Williamson - Senior Analyst
Marketers and retailers of consumer electronics should make a stronger effort to reach young women, according to a study by Vertis Communications.
Young women from Generation X (those born 1965-1976) and Generation Y (those born 1977-1994) are increasingly tech-savvy, both in their technology usage and their purchasing patterns.
Of Gen Y women surveyed, 37% plan to purchase a computer in the next 12 months, vs. 28% of total adults. They are also more likely to say they plan to purchase digital cameras, advanced mobile phones and video gaming systems.
According to the study, 83% of Gen X women and 73% of Gen Y women have Internet access at home.
Read more
58% of iPod Owners Planning Purchase Consider Microsoft's Zune
A new survey conducted by ABI Research has shown that many prospective MP3 player buyers—even owners of iPods—would be likely to choose Microsoft's Zune player. 1725 teenage and adult US residents were asked whether they planned to buy an MP3 player in the next 12 months. Of those responding that they were likely to do so, 58% of those identifying themselves as existing iPod owners and 59% of those who owned other brands said they would be "somewhat likely" or "extremely likely" to choose a Microsoft Zune player over an iPod or another brand of MP3 player."
Our conclusion," says principal analyst Steve Wilson, "is that iPod users don't display the same passionate loyalty to iPods that Macintosh users have historically shown for their Apple products." Only 15% of iPod owners said they were "not very likely" or "not at all likely" to choose Zune.
So is Zune attractive enough to build anything like iPod's massive sales record? ABI Research believes that a critical factor will be whether or not Microsoft can differentiate the Zune from competing products in some meaningful way. One differentiator, Zune's Wi-Fi peer-to-peer sharing, which Microsoft is playing up heavily, "isn't all that compelling, at least not now," notes Wilson. "There's a lot more you could do with that capability."
But given the results of ABI Research's survey, Apple will need to make some big announcements in 2007 if it is to maintain its edge in the industry. Says Wilson, "Apple needs a new high-end device that works really well and looks really cool, because other brands are catching up."
Source: ABI Research
54 Million Private Branded Handsets Will Be Shipped in 2006
Some 54 million private operator-branded handsets—cellular phones manufactured for a mobile operator and bearing its logo only—will be shipped worldwide by the end of 2006, representing more than 5% of total handset shipments. Their sale to subscribers will generate $8.7 billion for the operators, according to a new study from ABI Research.
More than two-thirds of these handsets are enhanced feature phones, the majority of which are provided by mobile operators such as NTT DoCoMo and KDDI in Japan. However, in Europe, North America, and many parts of Asia, the majority of operator-branded handsets are smartphones.
Research analyst Shailendra Pandey says, "Private branded handsets allow mobile operators to control device form factor, feel and features, in order to align the product more closely with their services and target customer segments. Most established handset vendors do not manufacture private branded handsets for operators. However, growing competitive and market pressures are forcing them to be more flexible in their approach, supporting operators' requirements for operating system and user interface customization.
"The private operator-branded handsets marketplace is currently dominated by vendors such as HTC, Sharp, Panasonic, NEC and Sanyo. HTC manufactures private branded handsets for most of the leading mobile operators, including Cingular, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and Orange. Sharp, Panasonic, NEC and Sanyo mainly provide private branded handsets to NTT DoCoMo and KDDI.
Vodafone's recent agreement with Huawei to supply private branded 3G handsets for 21 of its mobile markets around the world will further accelerate the growth of operator-branded handsets shipments from 2007 onwards. The growing demand for operator-branded handsets has provided emerging handset manufacturers such as Huawei with a very quick route to greater market share.
"ABI Research expects the market for private operator-branded handsets to grow to over 127 million handset shipments by 2011," says Pandey. "This will lead to a healthy level of innovation from new and existing manufacturers that will improve consumers' experience and ultimately benefit the mobile operators' business cases."
Source: ABI Research
Flickr Photostream-
- Copyright © 2008-2011 ICT & Internet Business. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Blogger
- Back To Top
- Log in
- Blogger
- Home
Recent Comments-