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- Western Digital Fires Up First Flooded Factory In Thailand As Recovery Continues
- RIM To Miss Earnings Goals After Half A Billion In PlayBook And Outage Charges
- The Kindle Fire Is On Fire; Amazon Expected To Ship 3.9 Million This Quarter
- HTML5 Smart Board Attempts To Out-Surface The Surface
- As Christmas Nears, The iPhone 4S Is Still In Short Supply
- Gibson Buys Stanton DJ Equipment, Proving Korn Was On To Something
- Acer Announces The Iconia Tab A200, A Boring Yet Capable Android Tablet
- Hey Android Tab Makers: Put Them Where People Can See Them
- 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Sports Watches To Help Burn Off The Turkey
| Western Digital Fires Up First Flooded Factory In Thailand As Recovery Continues Posted: 02 Dec 2011 05:12 PM PST  The recent floods in Thailand have wreaked devastation on the factories in the area; some were under a dozen feet or more of water, and all manner of companies were affected by the damage. Nikon and Samsung delayed cameras and a shortage of hard drives has caused a spike in prices. The recovery effort is progressing apace, and the affected areas are being pumped or drained clear of water. Power was restored in the last week in some areas and Western Digital has just turned the lights back on at one of its factories there. It’s not as simply as just sweeping out the seaweed and waiting for the conveyor belts to dry, though. The production of hard drives is an incredibly high-precision business, and the slightest amount of warping or the slightest contamination of an instrument could do a huge amount of damage. Western Digital expects to resume production of the mechanisms made there in March, though previous estimates suggested that it will still be many months more before they reach pre-flood levels of production. The loss of these factories for such a long time guarantees a huge deficit in the number of drives on the market — the early effects of which we’ve already seen in higher prices. The market will likely settle down a bit once inventories are confirmed and long-term plans made, but Western Digital alone says they’ll be short at least 50 million units this year. If you like, you can donate to the Thai Red Cross here.
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| RIM To Miss Earnings Goals After Half A Billion In PlayBook And Outage Charges Posted: 02 Dec 2011 03:55 PM PST  RIM has announced that it will be taking over half a billion dollars in charges related to two major failures this fiscal year. First is the immense overproduction of the Playbook tablet, the writedown of which inventory amounted to $485M on its own, or $360M after tax. The second charge is related to the prolonged network outage in early October, though it’s unclear whether that money is directly related or being reserved for dealing with ongoing costs like lawsuits. Sales of handsets and services were as forecasted, but a lack of growth must be inferred by their waning market share, and at any rate the sales weren’t enough to put RIM at their expected revenue of $5.3 billion for the upcoming quarter. Quarterly earnings are at a level with (low) predictions of around $1.20 per share, but yearly earnings will miss the expected $5.25 per share, and analysts are calling for as little as $3.50. That enormous PlayBook charge really indicates how serious a misstep the device was. While there are plenty of happy PlayBook owners out there (especially after recent markdowns), the numbers are nowhere near what RIM must have expected, and sales have been less than half what they shipped. A bit of napkin math has the hundreds of thousands of unsold devices adding up to hundreds of millions in lost revenue, and then of course there are the many thousands of devices that sold at less than the expected price by hundreds of dollars each. Acer recently faced a glut of inventory and admitted its entire strategy needed to be revised. RIM has not shown much contrition despite serious reservations by shareholders analysts. RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis demonstrated this lack of forthrightness in the earnings report:
October’s outage also affected RIM’s credibility. While even the best services can’t guarantee 100% uptime, the length and seriousness of the outage eroded RIM’s reputation as a reliable business solution. The PlayBook’s lack of enterprise chops and familiar BlackBerry services further contributed to a loss of faith. RIM has had a bad year, and that’s putting it lightly. But they’re still nearly in line with their predicted earnings and they are, in fact, on the verge up a major product refresh with the new line of QNX/BBX-based BlackBerry devices and a major PlayBook update. A company that stumbles isn’t necessarily a company that falls, but RIM is running out of chances. The full earnings report can be found here, and some extra commentary by investors and analysts has been collected by Reuters.
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| The Kindle Fire Is On Fire; Amazon Expected To Ship 3.9 Million This Quarter Posted: 02 Dec 2011 03:29 PM PST  The Kindle Fire looks like a bona fide hit right out of the gate. New estimates from IHS iSuppli have Amazon shipping 3.9 million Kindle Fires this quarter, which would make it the No. 2 tablet after the iPad 2 (with an estimated 18.6 million shipments). The Kindle Fire will become the No. 1 Android tablet by a wide margin (the Samsung Galaxy Tab is the next biggest, with an estimated 1.4 million shipments). To put this 3.9 million number in context, just remember that the very first quarter Apple sold the iPad back in the September quarter of 2010, it sold 3.3 million. So the Kindle Fire sold more in its first quarter than the iPad did in its first quarter on the market. Of course, Apple sold 7.3 million iPads the second quarter it was on the market, which was the 2010 holiday quarter. However you slice it, this is a good start for the Kindle Fire. It looks like Jeff Bezos was on the money when he predicted at the launch event Amazon would sell “millions” of Kindle Fires. I can see why people are flocking to the Kindle Fire. Personally, I am a big fan. It’s a great stocking stuffer that will actually fit in a stocking. It’s smaller size is an advantage for certain applications such as ebooks. I just took it with me on a trip to Japan instead of my iPad precisely because of its smaller footprint. The price is right too, at $200. Will the Kindle Fire ever outsell the iPad? Nobody is predicting that just yet, but it is certainly in the realm of possibility.
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| HTML5 Smart Board Attempts To Out-Surface The Surface Posted: 02 Dec 2011 01:33 PM PST Intuilabs is showing off their proof-of-concept HTML5-based multi-touch smartboard in an effort to prove a) that HTML5 is pretty rocking and b) that someday we may all have smart tabletops in our home. To see the big screen in action you can fast forward to about 3 minutes in. It’s obviously a little wonky in terms of applicability in the real world, but these guys aim to add multi-touch interfaces to the entire web, at least in some form. It will definitely be fascinating when web apps can do what native apps can do, especially when it comes to pinching, zooming, et al. ntroducing the Web as a multi-touch application hosting option opens the door to instant availability and universal access, giving retailers, advertisers and the like a powerful new medium for communicating with their prospects and customers. Web designers and their clients will be able to create immersive Web experiences without requiring plug-in downloads or excessive cross-browser scripting to ensure compatibility. Interactive mobile phone experiences could be ported to the Web, establishing a consistent look-and-feel, and then expanded to take advantage of additional screen real estate. Ambitious retailers, hospitality vendors and the like could take things a step further and carry over the phone and Web experience to their stores, lobbies and gathering places through interactive tablets, kiosks, tables and touchscreen walls.
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| As Christmas Nears, The iPhone 4S Is Still In Short Supply Posted: 02 Dec 2011 11:10 AM PST  Just hear those sleigh bells Christmas is sneaking up this year and you better be prepared. The iPhone 4S is still in short supply at all three of the US’ wireless carriers. Verizon is suffering the worst with immediate shipping only available on two variations. Your best bet, that is if you need an iPhone as soon as possible, is ironically at the iPhone’s original carrier: AT&T. Good ol’ reliable seemingly has the best on-hand inventory of Apple’s latest smartphone. The iPhone 4S is incredibly popular at Verizon. It’s the most sought after product for sure, said a retail assistant sales manager I spoke to this afternoon. And the carriers estimated shipping date for the iPhone 4S backs up his statement. Only the black version of the 16GB and 64GB models are available for two-day shipping. There is a relatively substantial delay for the rest. The 64GB white is slated for shipping next Friday while the 16GB white isn’t until the following Monday, December 12th. The 32GB black ships on December 16th while the white flavor isn’t available until the Friday before Christmas, December 23rd. Sprint and AT&T are faring a bit better with on-hand inventory than Verizon. Per the Sprint website, both the 16GB white and black model are delayed but only by a week. Both versions of the 32GB and 64GB are apparently available for immediate shipping. Then AT&T buyers only need to wait for the 64GB which ships in seven to 14 days. Oh, and you can forget about circumventing the delays by going directly to Apple. Apple.com shows more of the same. In fact all iPhone 4S incarnations are backordered 1-2 weeks. The delay’s might not be indicative of a sales leader. AT&T did manage to activate more 2.7 million iPhones to Verizon’s 2.0 million. However, AT&T also offered the lower-priced iPhone 3GS where Verizon only had the iPhone 4. Apple announced the iPhone 4S in early October and the handset immediately broke records and faced delays. Just days after pre-orders started Verizon and Sprint put up sold-out signs where AT&T simply pushed ship dates to 3-4 weeks. Apple previously stated that the iPhone 4S is the company’s fastest selling iPhone and the delays partly show the demand hasn’t slowed down. With Christmas quickly approaching, don’t expect the estimated shipping dates to decrease. If you’re planning on gifting an iPhone 4S this year, get your carrier of choice on the horn to reserve yours as soon as possible. Or you could make a papercraft iPhone 4S and place that under the tree. Your call.
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| Gibson Buys Stanton DJ Equipment, Proving Korn Was On To Something Posted: 02 Dec 2011 10:43 AM PST  FutureMusic is reporting that guitar maker Gibson is in talks to buy Stanton, one of the major manufacturers of DJ equipment. FutureMusic posits that Gibson is picking up the company in order to buy and spin off its KRK brand professional speakers. Given Gibson’s move into the electronic realm, however, it’s likely this looked like synergy to the embattled company. No official word from either of the companies, but it’s interesting to see Gibson move away from the traditional and into what many would consider an anathema to to their flagship products.
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| Acer Announces The Iconia Tab A200, A Boring Yet Capable Android Tablet Posted: 02 Dec 2011 09:55 AM PST  Acer is back with another Android tab. The Iconia Tab A200 is now shipping, loaded with Honeycomb but Ice Cream Sandwich is reportedly in the works. Hopefully Acer fanboys weren’t waiting for a Transformer Prime competitor. The A200 seems like just a repackage of the company’s original A500 Android tablet. The slightly chunky 10.1-inch tablet runs a a Tegra 2 dual-core chip along with 1GB of RAM and either 8GB or 16GB of storage along with a microSD card slot. A 3260mAh battery is said to provide 8 hours of life during video playback. A 2MP camera sits in the front bezel as the tablet’s only image capture device. The A200 comes pre-loaded with several software packs. Most notebly is the Acer Ring launcher as demoed in the video below. There is no word on pricing or US availability just yet but Netbook News is reporting that the tablet is already shipping in some countries. The tablet current ships with Android 3.2 but the company indicated in the tablet’s press release that come January, units will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich pre-installed. Also, at that time, an ICS update will roll out to the previously purchased models. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPBM1ePZhPU&feature=player_embedded
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| Hey Android Tab Makers: Put Them Where People Can See Them Posted: 02 Dec 2011 07:12 AM PST  That tablets are beginning to supplant the bog-standard PCs in some people’s lives shouldn’t come as a surprise, but what about outside of the home? Tablets are in some ways better suited to certain situations where managing PCs can be a real hassle. Dan Frommer ran into such a situation not long ago — while at JFK International Airport, Fromm found himself relaxing at the MasterCard Lounge surrounded by a handful of iPads intended for guest use. When you think about it, the iPad seems perfect for situations like that. They’re small, much easier to maintain than a bank of PCs, and perhaps most importantly, they just work. For a traveler looking to burn through a bit of downtime before a flight, it could be a godsend. Frommer notes that this is a great opportunity for Apple to expand their iPad business, but I think if anything, an Android-friendly company could fit into that sort of situation even better. Android tablets are often left to compete on price, so a solid volume pricing deal isn’t out of the question for companies with a pronounced business focus like Samsung. The open nature of Android also means it’s much less of a chore to restrict access to certain bits of functionality, so the process of stripping down an Android tablet for use in a very specific context becomes much more feasible. Recent figures from eMarketer project that the iPad’s dominance of the tablet market will slowly taper off in the coming years. Whether or not this will come to pass is still up in the air, but Apple’s facing some non-trivial competition in the form of devices like the Kindle Fire. It’s by far the shabbier device on paper — smaller, slower, etc. — but it’s priced aggressively and it works well enough for what it was intended to do. A savvy Android tab manufacturer should take that lesson to heart: sometimes a tablet doesn’t have to do everything in every situation, it just has to do enough. As our MG Siegler adroitly pointed out, specs are meaningless — it’s all about the kind of experience that a device can deliver. An Android tablet could easily pull its weight as a guest-friendly timewaster, or a digital sign, or any other situation where a PC wouldn’t fit. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the right company with the right product to make the right deals.
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| 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Sports Watches To Help Burn Off The Turkey Posted: 02 Dec 2011 05:34 AM PST  If you’re planning a marathon next year or just full of delicious stuffing and turkey, you may want to look into getting a sports watch. These wrist computers offer GPS, heart-rate, and pace measurements for runners, bikers, and, most recently, swimmers and they can help motivate you to get off your duff and, what’s more, help you shave some seconds off your time. I’ve used all of these except the Garmin and they range from $350 to about $200. When looking at a sports watch, take into consideration your daily regimen as well as your – or your intended recipient’s – favorite sport. Something like the Nike+ GPS watch is best for runners while the Polar RCX5 works for triathloners. Just starting out? Take a look at Garmin and Suunto for simpler sport computers designed to motiviate you to get off your keister. The Polar RCX5 – $349 – The RCX5, which I reviewed here and someone did a better job of reviewing this watch here and we both found this to be one of the simplest and most complete sport watches for those in the “high-performance” segment. Out of the box it doesn’t do much but assess your current heart rate. However, coupled with Polar’s various sensors for bikes and shoes as well as their GPS unit, it gives you a full run-down of your activity using a web-based sync platform. To use it you simply select your sport – running, swimming, biking, or other – and start exercising. There’s little else to worry about. Wireless sync allows you to connect to Macs and PCs to download your workouts and the battery lasts about a year of heavy/mid-range use. Note that this unit does not have GPS built-in and add-ons are fairly expensive. Garmin Forerunner 610 – $349 – This is Garmin’s flagship running watch complete with built-in GPS, a touchscreen, and Garmin’s unique “virtual training partner,” a little app that pushes you to go faster and farther in your runs. Buyer Beware: The $399 version of the watch includes a heart-rate monitor (the $349 does not). It is fairly self-contained. You can connect to your PC or Mac using the ANT+ protocol and the watch is rechargeable and lasts about week of heavy use. Nike+ Watch – $199 – When I first tried the Nike+ watch I found it to be delightfully simple but woefully bad at picking up GPS signals. Subsequent updates have improved the GPS sensing software enough to give this watch a second chance and, because it works with a heart rate monitor and the Nike+ footpod you can use it inside without having to depend on satellites swirling above. Suunto M5 – $189 – Suunto is best known for their hiking watches but they’ve recently become more adept at building and selling great exercise watches. The M5, for example, is a self-contained training coach. The watch asks you your goals – weight loss, fitness, back hair growth (not really) – and then tells you how many calories – and how long – you need to run. A helpful reminder pops up every day to tell you when you’re supposed to exercise. You actually don’t need to connect this one to the PC very much (but you can) and its handsome styling makes it a nice everyday watch as well. Check out the rest of our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide here.
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