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  • OCZ Launches SATA III-based Vector SSD Series

    OCZ, SSD supplier, was recently saddled with a fallible CEO and is now under new direction. OCZ has launched its new consumer SSD through the use of its in-house controller technology, called the Vector.

    OCZ's tumultuous story from a promising start-up to a failing business can be found through this link (insert link). The new power of OCZ, Ceo Ralph Schmitt announced that the product was almost exclusively developed under the previous CEO by using the technology that was purchased with Indilinx in March 2011.

    Schmitt states that the product consists of a 7mm thick 2.5-inch format SSD that is shipped out with a 3.5 inch adapter. It comes in 128Gb and 512 GB capacities. It features a 6Gbit/s SATA interface. The performance numbers are pretty impressive: 100,000 random read IOPS, 550MB/sec and a sequential read bandwidth at 530MB/sec for sequential wiring. These numbers only apply to the compressed or uncompressed data. The device has a five year warranty that guarantees that it will perform 20GB of host writes per day.

    This device uses the Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller with MLC NAND, reported the CEO Ralph Schmitt. He also informed the press that these are some of the first SSD products that are delivered by the new OCZ and they offer leverage with a cutting-edge controller technology that has the ability to deliver groundbreaking levels of both sustained reliability and performance for customers who require a superior SSD for their high-performance computer applications and programs.

    Onyx 3 is a 120GB-240GB MLC SSD using an earlier Barefoot 2 controller from Indilinx and is positioned as a low cost, value product. It is well outclassed by Vector doing a maximum of 23,000 random read IOPS, 235MB/sec sequential reads and 230MB/sec sequential writes.

    OCZ will not be required to pay any license per their component fees to have the ability to use this technology as they would if they were using LSI Sandforce controllers.

    Their existing 2.5 inch consumer SSDs include the Onyx, Vertex, and the Agility product lines. The Vertex 4 uses MLC NAND and has a capacity range from 64GB up to 512GB. It has the same 6Gbit/s SATA interface. The Vertex performs up to 95,000 random read IOPS with incompressible data. It has 560MB/sec sequential reads and 520MB/sec sequential writes. The product uses the Indilinx controller and also has a 5 year warranty. Vector will be replacing Vertex 4 with a smaller amount of performance improvement.

    The Agility 4 is also another MLC, 6Gbit/s SATA and there is a SAS version as well. The Agility 4 performs 48,000 random read IOPS and 85,000 random write s at 400MB/sec on both sequential reads and writes. Vector clearly outperforms it.

    Onyx 3 is a 120GB to 240GB MLC SSD that uses an older Barefoot 2 controller from Indilinx and is a low cost valued product. It is very well outclassed by Vector, only performing a maximum of 23,000 random read IOPS at 235MB/sec on sequential reads and 230MB/sec on sequential writes.

    OCZ will probably introduce Barefoot 3 controllers into other products in its range, using SAS and they are looking forward to improving their gross margin on products using Barefoot 3. If it performs as they expect and is reliable enough, then OCZ can look to gain a better product reputation, one of their weakest areas of business.

  • Amazon Appstore Continues Global Expansion, Now Available in Japan

    Amazon continues its strong effort to corner the digital content market with the announcement that they have launched a Japanese version of the Amazon App Store, bringing forth a wealth of content for their line of tablets as well as smart phones and other mobile devices.

    In addition to a diverse library that shares some of the best selling applications and games with an entirely new market, the Amazon App Store also includes some mainstays that have helped the previous incarnations in other countries remain successful, including "Angry Birds," "Where's My Water?" and "Cut the Rope". Japanese customers now have access to the platform's personalized recommendations feature, simple ordering process and detailed order history menus.

    Amazon is also one of the only large digital application stores to feature a free application every day of the week, allowing users free access to content they would otherwise have to pay for simply as a "thank you" for their continued business.

    Amazon's standing as the world's largest retailer have made it a prime target for application developers big and small. Due to the raging success of the Kindle Fire, more and more applications that were once exclusive to other platforms have begun making efforts to get themselves in the fold. The advent of the Japanese App Store also opens the door for Amazon to open a similar feature in other markets, specifically Asian demographics that already have Amazon.com's basic services.

    Company CEO's and software developers alike have taken time to heap the praise on Amazon for the way they run their business and the ease with which people are able to begin marketing their content. Their current business structure is designed to give developers the maximum profits and is a huge reason for their continued success.

    Amazon markets itself as "the most complete end-to-end platform for developers looking to build, market and monetize their apps and games" and it's hard to argue this point based on the recent rapid growth the company has experienced. The addition of the Japanese market can only mean good things as the retail giant expands its customer base.

  • Infonetics: Cisco is the Ruler Among PBX Vendors

    According to a recent market study made by Infonetics Research, the third quarter of 2012 saw a few positive changes in the leading business PBX telephony systems. Cisco was found to be the leading PBX business phone system vendor, followed closely behind by Avaya.

    Cisco has managed to keep this top position for the last five consecutive quarters. Both Cisco and Avaya hold firm control of about 50% of the PBX business telephony market. Following in the footsteps of these two corporate giants, NEC has climb to third position with double digit growth over the quarter, and regretably, Siemens has slipped back into fourth place.

    According to further studies made by Infonetics, the high roller in the Unified Comminications (UC) market is Mcrosoft, with a rise in revenues of approximately 40% over second quarter profits. Other top UC contenders are traditional telephony vendors such as, Cisco, Avaya and Siemens. "The UC market continues to experience general growth, but Microsoft seems to outpace other vendors in the market, " says Dian Myers, a renown analyst in the VoIP and IMS industry for Infonetics.

    Other areas of enterprise telephony seem to be on a downturn with declines continuing for this third quarter.

    At the same time, the enterprise telephony market continues to struggle in some aspects, with year-over-year declines continuing in the third quarter. This slowdown comes as a result of the tough economic times which have slowed business upgrades, and caused many to hold onto existing platforms. "However, market studies show that the market will move back into positive growth over the next year," says Myers.

    The global PBX market, including TDM, hybrid and pure IP PBX systems, has seen an approximate six percent decline in this third quarterdue to continued market softness in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, bud did see a 2.8 percent increase over prior quarters, according to the Infonetics telephony study.

    Over the third quarter the average revenue seen by each new PBX line fell well below $200, an event that has not previously happened. Revenue continues to drop for now.

  • Ericsson Mobility Report – Number of Mobile Subscribers, LTE Coverage and Trends

    Now at the third edition, Ericsson Mobility Analysis Report, created by one of the greatest players in the telecom market, highlights some interesting aspects of the market in the quarter ended and makes a series of forecasts for the next six years.

    According to data centralized globally by Ericsson, 40% of all terminals sold in Q3 2012 were smartphones, they stimulating users towards using enough data to exceed the average.

    Data traffic has doubled in the last 12 months and its growth trend will lead to an increase of 14 times the amount of data transferred by 2018. This growth will be dominated by the use of video content, which already represents 25% of the traffic generated by mobile devices and 40% of the one generated by tablets.

    The total number of subscribers to mobile networks will reach 6.6 billion next year, the number following to increase by 2018 to about 9.3 billion. The most important increases are recorded in China, where operators have received an additional stream of 40 million customers in the last three months, this country being followed by Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. 91% of the world population currently has access to 2G/3G connections, the total number of subscribers being around 6.4 billion.

    Of this number of subscribers, about 6.5% benefit from LTE coverage, the United States having a visible advantage to Europe or the Asia – Pacific area. By the end of 2018, LTE will be available to half of the total number of customers, the leader remaining the United States, which will have a coverage of about 70%, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific with about 28% and 18%, respectively.

    The number of LTE subscribers is currently about 55 million, by 2018 being expected to reach the fabulous figure of 1.6 billion.

  • New Rumors About The Upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4

    Galaxy S3 is still one of the most impressive smartphones released this year, so it is not surprising at all that rumors about the next step to be taken by the South Koreans have already appeared.

    The fourth iteration of the Galaxy S terminal would have a screen 4.99-inch screen and a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, which already seems to be the default standard for the top models scheduled for 2013. According to some Korean sources, Samsung is expected to show at CES 2013 the first HD Super AMOLED panel with this resolution.

    As the company did not release any panel with RGB matrix yet, we can assume that we will still be talking about a PenTile screen, but given the new arrangement of subpixels used to make the screen of Galaxy Note 2, with a density of 441 ppi, probably this inconvenience will not bother too much.

    The speculated hardware platform is Exynos 5 Quad, the quad-core version of the already-launched dual-core model Exynos 5250, which was implemented in the portable Samsung Chromebook and the tablet Google Nexus 10. Also known as the Exynos 5450, this chip will not seem to see the light of the day as simple quad-core version of the current model, but as an improved version that will also implement an ARM T658 GPU, better than the current version T604.

    The third rumor says that the next Samsung Galaxy S4 will offer a 13-megapixel camera, a rumor also heard before the launch of Galaxy Note 2, but which did not come true.

    As we all know, the new Galaxy S will be launched somewhere in late spring 2013, during which much can happen in the world of smartphones. But anyway, hopefully we will have a rich year in real flagship releases from both Samsung and the easily-left-behind competition: LG, HTC, Nokia and others.

  • Samsung not willing to agree with Apple over patents

    The patent war between Apple and Samsung is not over yet and as it seems, it is not expected to end anytime soon. Although Apple has reached an agreement with HTC, Samsung is not willing to do so.

    It was only a few days ago when we were informed that Apple and HTC have agreed to end their patent war, at least for the next 10 years. This agreement created further speculations, whether it was the beginning of a new era, where patent wars would not exist. And although the collaboration between Apple and HTC might have been a step towards that era, the big deal would be a possible agreement on patent cases between Apple and Samsung, the two big rivals on the smartphone market.

    However, Shin Jong-kyun, the head of Samsung's mobile and IT division in South Korea made sure with his words that there won't be any further questions regarding a possible settlement:

    “We have no such intention. … HTC may have agreed to pay 300 billion won (US$276 million) to Apple, but we don’t intend to [negotiate] at all.”

    And just like that, we are informed that the battle cases between Apple and Samsung will keep going in the future. We don't know whether Samsung is extremely confident over their current and future products, but they surely have paid the price quite expensive on the patent war. Just a few months ago the US court have ordered them to pay 1 billion dollars for copying parts of the iPhone and iPad. And even though they have every right to be confident with their current share in the smartphone market, are they certain about the future? Will they manage to survive the following years or should we still expect a possible settlement between the two companies?

  • The Automotive Aftermarket X-Factor: Telematics Tech Wins Over the Consumer

    By 2014, 70% of consumer devices will be connected to the internet, extending the digital lifestyle into vehicles. So one key questions stands out – how will automotive and consumer electronics technologies optimize the customer experience? Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Honda and six other leading automotive OEMs will take the stage in Las Vegas on Jan 7, 2013 in order to discuss how to satisfy consumer demands for a smooth, seamless In-Vehicle Infotainment and HMI solution in the vehicle at the Consumer Telematics Show, one day before the International CES.

    Technology in active interfaces have proved to drive car purchasing decisions, and the market for infotainment systems alone is set to grow 7.3% year on year to $35.89 billion in 2013, and as a consequence the telematics value chain is currently investigating how companies can take advantage most effectively of this growth in this vertical.

    The Consumer Telematics Show is the premier B2B forum and the key start of year event created specifically to answer the crucial tech and business strategy questions set to unlock the value of telematics innovation in the US market and beyond. High quality, seamless and personalized end-to-end connected driver experiences are at the top of the agenda.

    John McLaughlin, National Manager for Cross Car Line Planning at Toyota, declared “CTS is your one stop shop to get on board with the latest technological innovations driving change in telematics”. Now in its 11th year, CTS is the largest forum dedicated to automotive infotainment and HMI in the USA and is once again set to feature exclusive keynote OEM announcements of brand new services for 2013. 

    The race to merge the consumer’s out-vehicle and in-vehicle lifestyle

    At this lucrative tipping point for connected vehicle services, The Consumer Telematics Show 2013 (Jan 7, Las Vegas) marks the start of a critical year in the development of the consumer telematics industry. Indeed, with embedded connectivity on the horizon, it is imperative that the ecosystem unites at the start of 2013 to engage and maintain consumer loyalty through bridging the gap between life outside and inside the car.

    Senior-level speakers  at CTS 2013 including Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Audi, Chrysler, Toyota, Subaru, Honda, Porsche, KIA and many more will address key infotainment and HMI focused topics such as:

    • CREATE YOUR APP DELIVERY STRATEGY: Assess how the availability of apps will influence consumers’ device-related purchasing decisions and debate their form and function in the vehicle: through a tethered solution, embedded, hybrid, or cloud

    • THE ARRIVAL OF HTML5 AND ITS VALUE TO THE AUTO WORLD: Harness the full capability of an HTML 5 ecosystem to create a flexible, cross-platform, non-proprietary solution which enables developers to build a host of profitable applications for the automotive environment

    • BALANCE NEXT-GEN HMI WITH D.O.T GUIDELINES: Discuss innovative HMI technologies such as touch, gesture and audio to ensure the compliancy of your solutions in a landscape fraught with fears over driver distraction

    • BRING CLOUD-BASED APPLICATIONS UP TO AUTO STANDARD: Render apps to the high-quality and robust specifications which customers expect, and ensure a seamless transition for the driver when it comes to cloud-based integration in the vehicle

    • A BRAVE NEW WORLD OF M&As: Hear directly from Hughes Telematics and Verizon Wireless as they speak out on the telematics industry’s first major acquisition and forecast its impact on the market’s development from 2013 to 2020

    With exclusive OEM presentations, 350+ exec delegates, 25+ senior-level telematics speakers and 10+ businesses-focussed sessions, CTS 2013 is the premier business intelligence and networking forum for the CE, telematics, digital, mobile and wireless industries.

    For the complete CTS 2013 conference program and speaker line-up, access the e-brochure here.

    Register today to join the 350+ senior delegates already registered.

    About Telematics Update:

    Telematics Update Conferences are the most prestigious in the industry. We produce the largest telematics events in North America, Europe & Asia, and attract the most influential speakers providing a rich environment for establishing strategic relationships and networking.

  • BlackBerry 10 to be introduced on January 30

    After all the speculation regarding the release of the Blackberry 10, RIM finally made an official announcement, informing us that they will introduce BlackBerry 10 on January 30.

    Although we do not know any details regarding the phones that will be presented, we do know that the two new smartphones will be faster, with a great range of choice among applications and will have touchscreens. Blackberries might have been popular about their QWERTY keyboards, but RIM seems to understand that touchscreen is preferred lately in the mobile industry and that's why their first smartphones will follow the latest trends. However, if you are a fan of the classic Blackberry smartphone, you won't be disappointed. You will just have to wait  little bit more for the next line of Blackberries.

    According to RIM, they will present both the new phones and their updated operating system, in multiple countries simultaneously on January 30, hoping that the delays have made them even more competitive.

    According to Thorsten Heins, the president and CEO of Research in Motion:

    “Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities. All of this will be integrated into a user experience – the BlackBerry Flow – that is unlike any smartphone on the market today,”

    What's more, RIM is already trying their new products with many carriers around the world and they already have obtained a  U.S. government certification, which means that they will be ready to launch their brand new smartphones in USA.

    As it seems, RIM has finally managed to create a calendar with everything that we are expecting from Blackberry 10 the following months. We might not know whether the anticipation will be satisfied, but RIM surely needs it in order to survive in the mobile industry.

  • Sony Xperia J goes on sale

    Sony launched another smartphone from the Xperia line, the Xperia J, which was presented in IFA2012 and went on sale in UK just a few days ago.

    Sony Xperia J is presented as the "affordable" smartphone and seems to be a decent choice, if you are not looking for an expensive smartphone. At first sight it looks like Xperia T, which you might have already seen in the "Skyfall' movie, while its dimensions are of 124.3 x 61.2 x 9.2 mm. Apart from slim, it is also quite light, since it weighs 142 grams.

    It has a 4-inch and 854×480 display, it features an 1GHz processor and it has a 512MB RAM. Moreover, it has a 5MP rear camera, an 1,750mAh battery and a built-in storage of 4GB, which is enhanced with the microSD slot. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and is currently available by Three in UK in less than $240 for the device.

    Sony Xperia J is considered a bargain that has the features of a great smartphone. Except from its basic specifications, it also offers great sound quality, but what might be even more important is that it is socially orientated. We all live in the era of social media and we know that a smartphone that has an one-touch-function for content sharing and a special light that notifies you in everything that is new from your Facebook and Twitter accounts should not be ignored.

    Sylvia Chind, head of devices at Three, mentions that

    “The Sony Xperia J is ideal for style conscious social media fans and its 5 megapixel camera is perfect for Instagramming and sharing pictures on the go”

    To sum up, Sony Xperia J seems to be a good choice if you are looking for a low-priced smartphone, like the larger displays, enjoy great sound and love social media.

  • Apple and HTC agree on patents for the next 10 years

    No more patent cases between Apple and HTC in the near future, since the two companies have reached on a 10-year license "global settlement" for the current, but also their future patent cases. This settlement is related to any possible case between the two companies that has to do with intellectual property.

    The announcement came with a joint press release, proving that the patent wars between Apple and HTC are now over. Although the agreement is confidential and we do not know any details of it, we do know that it came as a surprise, since there were no reports on the two companies discussing a settlement. Delaware court might have suggested they consider reaching an agreement back in May, but they did not seem reluctant back then for such a move. On the contrary, HTC was claiming that they are not planning any settlement with Apple.
    As it seems, things have changed in the last months and we are now discussing their settlement.
    Peter Chou, chief executive of HTC stated:

    "HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation."

    What's more, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, said:

    "We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC. We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation."

    There were many battles between them and it must be a relief for Apple to get a patent opponent out of their way. 2012 has been the year of the patent wars and although the battle between Apple and HTC was not the biggest one, it is still important that they have reached on an agreement. Who knows, maybe we will see Apple reaching an agreement with Samsung in the future. Or maybe not!