Daily News Courier

BGR writes today about a new report from DigiTimes? research division that looks at the effect that tablets are having on the notebook market. While recent figures and research have always suggested that at some point tablet sales would exceed notebook sales, it was not expected to happen that soon. NPD Group, for example, said at the beginning of this year that it expected tablet sales to eventually surpass notebook sales in 2016. Based on DigiTimes? new figures, however, tablet sales look set to topple notebook sales much sooner than that, as soon as next year, 2013, in fact. DigiTimes says that it thinks tablet sales will grow 38.3% annually in 2013, reaching 210 million units, which would beat laptop PC shipments for the first time. DigiTimes also says that Apple will still be the top tablet seller worldwide in 2013, but its market share will fall to 55.6% from 60% in 2012, excluding white-box tablet sales. Including off-brand tablets, DigiTimes says that Android will be the most popular tablet OS in 2013, with total shipments of 121 million.

Source: Tablet sales 2013: Tablets to top notebook PC sales next year | BGR

iPad mini hasn?t even been out long and analysts are already predicting the new iDevice will prove to be the doom of rival tablet manufactures. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu feels like the iPad Mini will grow to be an immense threat to other brands of tablets.

Wu thinks other manufacturers have done a lousy job at designing a device for the $400-and beyond sector. He feels that if Apple will release a tablet priced under $300, the situation would become even more dramatic.

"We continue to believe iPad mini is the competition’s worst nightmare and will likely slow down adoption of competitor tablets. In particular, we believe this could end up being a very tough holiday season for Windows 8,? said Wu in his note to investors.

Even with iPads being priced starting with $399, Android tablets are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the tablets put out by Apple. Nevertheless, it is still unclear if Cupertino will decide to design a tablet whose price will be cut off as to reach the $199 segment which tablets like Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 rule at the moment.

Wu also pointed towards Microsoft?s Surface RT tablet which he feels is extremely overpriced at $599.

Even if the iPad mini was first rumored to be priced in the $249-299 range, Wu believes that the current price won?t affect the sales of the shrunken tablet. He reminds readers of what happened with the iPod mini and iPod nano.

"This controversy reminds us of what happened with iPod mini and iPod nano. Both predecessors were criticized as being overpriced but went on to do much better than expected. The key reason being high quality at a reasonable price and we see something similar here."

By Radu

iPad mini is Windows 8 hardware makers’ worst nightmare, analyst says

The iPad has already become notorious for establishing itself as a worthy tool in the field of education. Surveys have been made to prove its effectiveness and schools have rushed to acquire as many as they could. Now the educational tablet goes international.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai kick-starterd last week the Mohammad Bin Rashid Initiative for Smart Learning for higher education in the country at the Abu Dhabi Men?s Collage.

The tablets are destined to 13,000 students in their first years of university education of Zayed University, the Emirates University and the Higher Colleges of Technology. The event was graced by the presence of some of the most illustrious personalities in the country like ministers and deans of colleges. Sheikh Mohammad visited the iPad training classes and observed students engaged in iPad related activities.

?It took eight months of planning and a very careful assessment of our campus? ability to handle these intriguing devices,? explained Thomas Cochran, Associate Provost and Campus Director of Zayed University.

Second year IT student and IT project coordinator at HCT Mohammad Khaled Salmen explained to reporters present at the event that the initiative aims to break student?s reliance on paper-based knowledge, highlighting the eco-friendly side of this project. In that sense, the IT department has prohibited students from printing any of their materials thus ensuring the act of studying and learning remains only tablet based.

The program has already started and in the first week, in order to familiarize themselves with the devices, students were asked by educators to take pictures with their iPads of the campus grounds.

?This was the first step taken in engaging the students, ?explained Mohammad Khaled Salmen

By Radu

Source: Ipad Application Development Dubai

With all the companies trying to copy Apple designs, it?s not surprising that the tech giant would want to protect its intellectual property and patent every single invention it has made so far. Cupertino is now trying to get an iPad Smart Cover patented.

The filing has been made public by the US Patent and Trademark Office and it is entitled ?Packaging Assembly?. So basically Apple isn?t interested in the technology making the cover ?smart? but in the packaging. Cupertino explains in the patent that in today?s super competitive tech market, it should be important to design not only great advanced products but also smart and intuitive accessories to serve those devices.

?While many designs and techniques used to package products have generally worked well in the past, there is always a desire to improve packaging, such that improved functionality and/or appearance is provided.?

The Smart Cover for the iPad not only looks good but it?s a perfect fit for iPad users. Remember the iPad 2 Smart Cover and its reputation of being a ?frustration free? item every Apple tablet user should own. Well that?s what Apple is actually hoping to patent and keep competition away from. The Cover has been designed by Jony Ive, Apple?s design chief that is known to work with a large team of Apple specialists like Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniel J. Coster, Danielle de Iuliis, Evans Hankey, Julian Hoenig, Richard P. Howarth, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russel-clarke, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, and Rico Zorkendorfer.

By Radu

Source: PACKAGING ASSEMBLY – Apple Inc.