iPad Expected to Grab 61% of 2011 Tablet Market

Apple will sell some 40 million iPads in 2011, ending the year with a 61 percent market share, according to a report.

A Digitimes research report estimates that overall tablet shipments for the second half of 2011 will be up 150 percent on last year, with Apple shifting 25.5 million units between the beginning of July and the end of December, up 76 percent on the same period in 2010.

Non-iPad shipments in the second half of 2011 are expected to reach 15.65 million units, up 65 percent compared to the first half of the year and accounting for 39 percent of total shipments.

Where core application processors are concerned, Apple will again dominate, thanks to the dominance of the iPad. But the report puts Texas Instruments in second place, ahead of nVidia.

However, the report warned that tablet shipments in the second half of 2011 still face uncertainties and the key quarter for 2011 will be Q4, as a number of brand vendors have yet to firm up their strategies for the last quarter of the year.

Digitimes' figures reflect the estimates of Computerworld's Jonny Evans, who predicted in June this year that iPad sales could hit 40 million this year.

AT&T ramps up voicemail security, say hello to your new pin code

Have anything sitting in your voicemail that you'd prefer the rest of the world didn't hear? When's the last time you went about checking it, anyway? AT&T is now on a mission to save its carefree customers from themselves, and beginning today, all new subscribers will be required to set a voicemail password or affirmatively disable the security measure. Ma Bell's new policy is a reaction to the current unauthorized intrusion hubbub in the media, combined with the very real threat of caller ID spoofing. Shockingly, its current customers won't receive similar treatment until early next year, and only when they upgrade their handsets. Of course, you can easily secure your voicemail within the settings, and if you prefer the convenience of retrieving your messages without hassle, you'll still have that option -- much to Rupert Murdoch's pleasure, that is.

Apple Bests Nokia As World's Top Smartphone Vendor: IDC

NEW YORK — Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. zoomed to the top of the list of global smartphone makers in the second quarter, blowing past Nokia Corp. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., according to research firm IDC.

Korea's Samsung made the biggest jump, from No. 4 in the first quarter to No. 2 in the second, on the strength of its Galaxy phones, which run Google Inc.'s Android software. It sold 17.3 million smartphones in the second quarter, up from 10.8 million in the first, IDC said.

Apple rose to No. 1, taking the spot from Nokia, by selling 20.3 million iPhones, up from 18.7 million in the first quarter. That relegated Finland's Nokia, the long-time leader, to third place. Apple has yet to top Nokia's high-water mark of 28.1 million phones in a quarter.

"But given Apple's momentum in the smartphone market, it may not be a question of whether Apple will beat that milestone, but when," IDC said.

Remarkably, Apple's sales record comes nearly a year after it released its latest model, the iPhone 4, and it's still selling millions of the even older iPhone 3GS. Competitors such as Samsung put out new models every few months.

Nokia sold 16.7 million smartphones, a sharp drop from 24.2 million in the previous quarter. The company has struggled to come up with an answer to the iPhone. Nokia is now transitioning to smartphone software from Microsoft Corp., but it's first Windows Phones won't be on sale until late this year, at the earliest.

Canada's RIM fell from third to fourth place, as it saw a decline in BlackBerry sales from the first quarter to the second. Like Nokia, it has been struggling to update the high end of its line to compete with touch-screen phones such as the iPhone. It unveiled five new models with updated software this week.

HTC Corp. of Taiwan remained in fifth place, but it's seeing rapidly growing sales. Like Samsung, it has bet on Google's Android software for its phones.

Microsoft and Google restrict access to wi-fi geolocation databases

Microsoft has restricted access to an online database of wi-fi location data after a security researcher was reported to have used the database to track the location history of a laptop using the database and information stored on the laptop. Microsoft's database is similar to a database maintained by Google that had restrictions placed on it earlier this year.

Both companies have compiled databases of wi-fi router MAC addresses and location information for their respective geolocation services. They have created these databases using fleets of vehicles that drive around looking for wi-fi routers, determining the MAC address they broadcast and the GPS location of that router. Google and Microsoft also use smartphone applications that log the same information. If a user wants to determine their location with a smartphone, it can use the MAC addresses of wi-fi routers within range to look up a location in either company's database.

These practices have raised serious security concerns about the ability of users to access Google or Microsoft's location data to track an unsuspecting third-party. For instance, Google restricted access in June after a report of a user being tracked with the data from Google simply by querying the MAC address of their laptop or smartphone. In this most recent scenario a researcher compiled a location history from a laptop using the Microsoft database and the history of wi-fi networks the laptop connected to that was stored in the laptop.

Apple Ready to Compete on Price; iPhone 3GS likely to Come for $350 Off-Contract

It looks like a low-cost iPhone is on its way. We hear the iPhone3GS, which will be sold for $350 off-contract, could be the budget iPhone that is filling headline space at the moment.

Selling the iPhone 3GS at an economical price will not be a big deal for Apple as the production cost is projected to be low as well. But, not to worry, there will not be a significant compromise on quality.

RBC Capital Market analyst Mike Abramsky has been quoted as saying that he had discussed a whole lot of Apple issues ranging from patent battles to the prospects of a low-priced iPhone, with Apple’s CFO PeterOppenheimer and COO Tim Cook. Cook had earlier announced about the cheaper phone and had said that they did not want to be for “just the rich”.

Abramsky believes that Apple’s primary criterion for launching a lower end iPhone was an innovative, category-killer experience. It is also expected to help Apple to take on low priced Android devices, and help expand its business in India and China.

That could well mean there’s some tough competition staring in the face of companies like Nokia and Research In Motion very soon.

Cambrige researchers tout new location-based method to predict friends on social networks

Friend suggestions on social networks may already be a little too eerily accurate for some, but a team of researchers from Cambridge University now say they can do one better. They've devised a method that doesn't simply rely the usual friends-of-friends approach, but on where those people tend to hang out. According to researcher Salvatore Scellato, "it turns out that the properties of the places we interact can determine how likely we are to develop social ties," and that places like offices and gyms are better indications of potential friends than football stadiums or airports. That notion was borne out in their research (conducted over a period of four months using Gowalla), which found that "about 30 percent of all new social links appear among users that check-in to the same places." With the two prediction methods combined, the researchers say they're able to account for 66 percent of all new social ties. No word if they've moved onto predicting crimes next.

Samsung Conquer 4G 'Gingerbread' Phone Costs $100

Sprint is building on its lineup of Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" smartphones with the Samsung Conquer, the carrier's first sub-$100 4G smartphone.

Sprint plans to launch the phone Aug. 21 for $99.99, after a $50 mail-in rebate, and with a two-year contract. Equipped with a 1GHz processor, the Conquer doesn't lack for power despite its low price, compared with Sprint Gingerbread phones such as the HTC Evo View 4G and Motorola Photon 4G that cost $199.99.

The handset sports a 3.5-inch touch-screen, a 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and zoom, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shutter to allow video chat via Qik and other video-calling applications.

As with most Sprint smartphones launched this year, Sprint ID packs are heavily featured on the Conquer. These free software modules, also known as carrier bloatware, let phone owners choose from applications, widgets, shortcuts, ringtones and wallpapers. 

The Conquer also has a microSD card slot that comes with a 2GB card and supports up to a 32GB memory card.

Sprint said it would sell the Conquer in all its retail channels, including retail stores, the Web and telesales. Consumers must purchase the Sprint Everything Data plan, which starts at $69.99, plus a required $10 premium data surcharge for smartphones.

The handset is also 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capable, supporting up to five WiFi-enabled devices on Sprint 3G or 4G networks. This will run customers $29.99 a month.

While it has become common for carriers such as LTE and Huawei to release low-cost, but powerful smartphones based on Google's Android operating system in Asia, it's a new trend in the U.S.

If others such as AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon Wireless (VZW) and T-Mobile begin offering sub-$100 Android phones with the latest Gingerbread OS, it could result in explosive growth for Android, which has 40 percent U.S. market share (comScore) and as much as 50 percent worldwide (Canalys).

The Samsung Conquer was revealed less than a week after Sprint launched its latest high-end smartphone, the Motorola Photon 4G, for $199.99 on contract. The phone, which eWEEK reviewed, has an 8-megapixel camera and connects to a docking station to let users access their phone content from an HDTV.

Microsoft vs Google patent ding dong gets stuck on repeat

Microsoft and Google are still engaged in a war of words over what Mountain View has claimed is a "conspiracy" against its Android platform.
We at Vulture Central recommend you take ringside seats and bring a huge bucket of popcorn for this row, as it shows little sign of slowing down.

In the latest round, Microsoft's top flack Frank Shaw wrote a series of tweets addressing the most recent catty comments from Google general counsel David Drummond, who said the software giant had tried to divert attention from the real issue behind the spat with a "false 'gotcha'".

The Googler claimed MS had defensively been herding patents away from Google and Android device-makers by waging a "hostile, organised campaign" against its platform with "bogus patents". He offered purported evidence that Google's three rivals in the game – MS, Apple and Oracle – were behind a consortium that purchased hundreds of patents from the Linux-loaded Novell.
"A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a licence would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners," said Drummond.
"Making sure that we would be unable to assert these patents to defend Android – and having us pay for the privilege – must have seemed like an ingenious strategy to them. We didn't fall for it."
Microsoft's top counsel Brad Smith had earlier claimed that the company had approached Google: "We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no," he tweeted.
Following Drummond's update to his 3 August post on Google's corporate blog, Shaw once again took to Twitter to publicly unload his latest opinion about the brouhaha.
"Hello again David Drummond. This is going to take a few tweets, so here we go. Let’s look at what Google does not dispute in their reply," he wrote.
"We offered Google the opportunity to bid with us to buy the Novell patents; they said no.
"Why? BECAUSE they wanted to buy something that they could use to assert against someone else.
"SO partnering with others & reducing patent liability across industry is not something they wanted to help do."
In other words, the two companies are getting stuck on repeat with their arguments about who did what when.
Arguably, Google is on the ropes at the moment, given Smith's comment about inviting the Chocolate Factory to join hands with MS and bid jointly for the patents.
The world's largest ad broker has been silent on the issue for about 12 hours now. But it's unlikely this verbal, manbag-whacking fight is over yet.

Android app tethers handsets to Canon cams, live view fanboys rejoice

We're living in a post-pc world, folks. High time you got with the program and junked that heavy and outmoded relic called the computer. But how does one take tethered snaps from a Canon, sans EOS Utility? Meet DSLR Controller, an Android app from Chainfire that turns your little green robot into an external live view monitor, and gives you complete control over your shooter's finer sensibilities. It lets you tweak exposure, aperture, shutter, white balance and focus with sensuous swipes of your fingertip. To make the whole shindig work, you'll need an Android device packing a USB host port and an "on-the-go" USB cable -- which lets your handset wear the pants in the phone / DSLR relationship. We should also warn you that the $8.51 application is currently still in beta and thus streams video in live view mode at a less than optimal 15fps. Those and other foibles may be remedied by the final release, but if you're looking to practice your tethering voodoo immediately, hit the source below, and watch a vid of your photographic future after the break.

Watch Video

Motorola Xoom Gets Android 2.3 Update from Verizon

Xoom guys better be on alert for the new Android update. Verizon has started rolling out the Android 3.2 update for the Motorola Xoom 3G.

The HTJ85 update brings some subtle, yet nice features associated with the new OS. You get the Screen Scaling Compatibility Mode with which you can switch to double pixel mode for selected applications.The update patches up the microSD card support, thus enabling you to use a file manager to view important files, pictures, music, videos and all that’s stored on your SD card, as well as write content to your SD card via connection to a PC or Mac. The update also enhances the entertainment sector and provides Adaptive Streaming Support for movies.

The option of adjusting the bit rate based on client bandwidth ensures you have an improved user experience. Stability fixes and HDMI rescaling accompany the upgrade.For those who are slow on remembering their passwords, there’s an option of password recovery. The new Android has got quite a nice bundle and you can check for the update yourself or wait patiently for Verizon to slide it out for you.

Microsoft is top Australian web property

According to rankings from Internet measurement company, comScore, in June, Microsoft sites were the most popular with Australian Internet users, ahead of Google by the slimmest of margins.


The figures, from comScore's Media Metrix service, found that Microsoft sites and Google sites both reached more than 92 percent of Internet users in June, while Facebook.com ranked as the third largest web property.

According to comScore, "In June 2011, more than 13.6 million people age 15 and older accessed the Internet from a home or work location in Australia. Microsoft Sites led as the most-visited online property with 12.7 million visitors, representing 92.8 percent of the entire online population. Google SITES closely followed with 12.6 million visitors (92.3 percent), while Facebook.com eclipsed 10 million visitors.

"Local property News Interactive, which includes sites such as Dailytelegraph.com.au, News.com.au and TheAustralian.com.au, reached 4.3 million visitors, while Telstra reached 4.2 million visitors and Fairfax Media saw more than 3.5 million visitors during the month."

In Australia the Google Ad Network led as the top Internet ad network for June reaching 12.3 million visitors, or 90 percent of the Australian online population. Adconion Media Group ranked second with 9.1 million visitors (66.7 percent reach), followed by ValueClick Networks with 7.4 million visitors (54.2 percent reach). Tribal Fusion reached 50 percent of the online population, while Digital Networks Sales secured the fifth position with more than 5.6 million visitors (41.3 percent).

"Ad networks continue to be a powerful mechanism for reaching a significant portion of the web population," said Amy Weinberger, comScore vice president for Australia and New Zealand. "Though content in the digital media environment tends to be more fragmented than other media channels, ad networks enable marketers to deliver advertising both efficiently and at scale to their desired target audiences."

Users complain of Mac OS X 'Lion' bugs

Four separate problems stand out:

• Random crashing that results in a totally black screen

Once the system crashes, it’s a hard reset time.There’s no solution from Apple yet but it seems that the problem here is down to NVIDIA drivers and forcing the system to use integrated graphics only using a third-party tool (gfxCardStatus) helps alleviate the problem.

[A tipster has emailed in a possible solution - Navigate to ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/ (hidden by default, go to it by opening the Go menu in Finder, hold down the Option key and paste the full path above in Go To Folder) and delete all files that containing "windowserver" and then reboot the Mac. This process will need to be repeated if you hook your Mac to an external monitor.]

• WiFi dropping

This is annoying (I’m seeing this happen, although not often). Basically the WiFi connection drops and the only way to get it back working is to switch the WiFi adapter off and then back on again.

A temporary solution to this is to  create a script that pings periodically.

• Poor MacBook Pro battery life

Installing Lion causes a significant drop in battery life.

This might be related to the fact that Lion doesn’t terminate application processes immediately when applications are closed or it could be a graphics driver issue not allowing the system to switch to integrated graphics from discrete graphics (again, gfxCardStatus might be useful).

• Viewing videos crash causes freezing on new iMacs

All video types appear to cause the freeze - Flash, H.264, QuickTime, AVIs, MKVs, YouTube …

This is another issue that could be related to graphics card drivers … but perhaps not.

Some of these issues were being talked about when developer releases of Lion were made available, so it seems like some bugs slipped though the net.

If you’re affected by these bugs, your best bet is to wait for a patch from Apple. If you’re thinking about upgrading and problems like this would be show-stoppers for you, then you might want to wait until Apple releases a patch.