Combined sales of smartphones and tablets to surpass the humble PC in 18 months, says IDC
December 7, 2010 No Comment
Our supply checks say that 10 out of 10 analysts are insanely bullish about tablets — despite the fact that there are only 2.5 competitive products on the market, and one of them only came out a month ago. So, naturally, it isn’t difficult to scrounge up sales predictions that show the tablet rocketing into the stratosphere, cutting into PC market share, while also expanding the market outright to accommodate its post-PC ways. Gartner ‘s guess is 55 million tablets next year, while IDC has a more conservative estimate of 42 million, but both predict a sharp, exponential rise in the following years, and IDC takes it one step further: 18 months from now, combined smartphone and tablet sales will eclipse the PC, it claims, with both categories hovering in the mid-400 million range. Now, that number is mostly smartphones, which isn’t an unprecedented shift in and of itself — the PC took a major hit in popularity in Japan once the kids got ahold of these newfangled phone things — but overall it represents a shift from the open-ended, flexible, and powerful PC to the narrow, task-specific, app-driven nature of the iOS and Android kind. Or you could spin it the completely opposite way: people need phones, so they buy a nice phone. No PC death knell in that behavior, and the tablet is still a very niche product with some good PR. Either way, we’ll be much more impressed with this sort of market battle when it’s the tablet (perhaps with a little help from the smartbook or netbook-lite category) going up against the Windows and Mac PC head-on, without smartphones shouldering most of the load. Combined sales of smartphones and tablets to surpass the humble PC in 18 months, says IDC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Photo by laszlo-photo via Flickr creative commons First the news was that if we don’t change our habits around fishing, all the world’s fisheries will be wiped out by 2050. Now, experts guess that if we don’t significantly change our interaction with the ocean, coral reefs will be all but wiped out by that same time. J.E.N. Veron, former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, writes that human pollution of the water, as well as human-generated carbon dioxide emissions which are causing ocean acidification and rising ocean tempe… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to halt Washington’s alleged programme to capture or kill Americans who join militant groups…
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Detroit , Michigan, the Motor City, has struggled with arson fires for years, most notably on Devil’s Night . Things have gotten better in recent years. There’s also development and residents here . But vacant and burned-out buildings are still a problem — and in the case of the
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Al Sharpton on Monday said that he's going to be meeting with representatives of the FCC next week about revoking conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh's license. On a special 9PM edition of the “Ed Show,” the Reverend didn't mince words (video follows with transcript and commentary): read more
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Just $799? Wait, really? Indeed, it’s quite hard to grasp that the Samsung QX410 costs under $800, and when you hear about what you get for the money, you’ll understand exactly why. The system not only packs some seriously impressive specs — a Core i5 processor, NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU with Optimus, and a 640GB hard drive – but it’s also got an aluminum lid, flush glass 14-inch display, and is just an inch thick. And on top of all of that, you can stream video to your TV with Intel’s WiDi and get on a fast WiMAX network without an extra dongle. So yeah, on paper it’s a killer deal, but after spending a week with the rig do we still feel the same way? Or do we suggest you keep shaking the piggy bank until you can come up with an extra $200 for the Envy 14 or a Dell XPS 14 ? Find out in our full review! Gallery: Samsung QX410 review Continue reading Samsung QX410 review Samsung QX410 review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Editor’s note: Though TreeHugger normally writes about the environmental aspects of yoga, over the weekend Jessica wondered whether a religious group can really own yoga , referring to an awareness campaign about the origins of yoga by the Hindu American Foundation . Well, HAF contacted us asking if they could reply to the Jessica’s article, which seemed only fair — even if we’re momentarily deviating from our normal green-themed content. The following is a guest post by Sheetal Shah, Senior Director of HAF… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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With demonstrators and activists in the streets, and officials discussing European budget issues in different capitals, the continent’s financial crisis remained a focus and a talking point Tuesday. (Dec. 7)
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For the last four years, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has been fighting off the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and other certification programs in their attempts to have their programs recognized by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and get that single LEED point for sustainably harvested lumber. The proposed changes that would have opened up the certification were put to a vote and the results are in: The status quo remains.
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A man accused of killing his new bride on a honeymoon scuba dive in Australia was returned to Alabama late Monday to face murder charges in his home state. Gabe Watson is accused of killing his wife 11 days after their wedding. (Dec. 7)
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