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Tag: mass-market

  • Can Blu-Ray Now Be Called Mainstream?


    The drop in the average price of Blu-Ray players is, not surprisingly, fuelling sales of the high-def disks.

    But figures out from NPD show that the effect of cheaper players could finally be giving the format mass market appeal.

    High hardware prices has long been given as a barrier to Blu-Ray technology becoming widely accepted.

    The average price of Blu-ray players dropped nearly 34 per cent over the last year, falling from USD $393 in Q1 2008 to USD $261 in Q1 2009.

    This, according to NPD’s Blu-ray Report, helped Q1 2009 sales of standalone Blu-ray players (not including PS3) to reach more than 400,000 units, marking a 72 per cent increase over Q1 2008.

    Sales totaled USD $107.2 million in the first quarter.

    Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD, said the rising penetration of high-definition televisions and lower Blu-ray player prices are broadening the format’s market opportunity.

    "Even as options expand for accessing movies digitally, Blu-ray is carrying forward the widespread appeal of DVD into the high-definition marketplace."

    Amidst these positive notes for Blu-Ray, NPD reports that 58 per cent of adults surveyed were still "not very familiar" with Blu-ray.

    Some work still to be done then.

  • Emoze Aiming To Be "Skype of the Push Email World"


    It was interesting to hear Eitan Linker, CEO of emoze, talk about his company’s efforts to introduce the mass market to mobile push email at the Showstopper event on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2009.

    Emoze’s free software enables users to configure multiple mobile email accounts and send and receive emails from corporate, personal and family accounts all on the same mobile.

    Linker told smartphone.biz-news that their aim is to simplify the user experience to help bring push email to as many people as possible – and obviously to emoze.

    He said while there are more than one billion email accounts globally, RIM had only 20 million Blackberry subscribers for its email services – making it very much a niche market.

    Emoze hopes to change that.

    Find below the VideoInterview:

    "We are a win, win, win option," said Linker. "It’s a win for the carriers because we drive data; it’s a win for the handset manufacturers because we are not operator dependent; and it’s a win for the user because it’s a free application that’s easy to use."

    Emoze’s goal is aided no end by the fact the software can be downloaded to a wide variety of mobile devices – from high-end smartphones to standard Java-enabled handsets.

    As well as providing access to several types of email accounts, users can also access social networks such as Facebook.

    While the application is free, users can upgrade from the basic one account option to a premium account, which allows them to have multiple accounts for EURO 1 per month.

    Emoze also offers an enterprise solution, which enabled small companies to give staff email without the need – or the cost – of upgrading handsets.

    "We are looking at the mass market and trying to make it easy for them," he said. "We are like the Skype of the push community."

    As the company’s website explains:

    "Emoze brings true mobility to the mass market by enabling users from all walks of life to turn their mobile phones and mobile devices into fully functional personal communication devices.

    "Emoze has created real push-event technology. emoze delivers real-time, secure synchronization of emails, calendars and contacts – pushing data and updates anytime, anywhere using any mobile service provider network or WiFi.

    With emoze’s unique technology, synchronization occurs every time there is an incoming or outgoing event, rather than via periodical checks for change."