AT&T posts Q4 financials, 2.8 million subscribers added, revenue up 2.1 percent year-over-year
January 27, 2011 No Comment
AT&T’s numbers are up, and they’re good: $31.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, $653 million more than Q4 the previous year. 4.1 million iPhones and 442,000 tablets were put online by the company that quarter, helping to drive 2.8 million new wireless subscribers, 95.5 million total, and a boost in revenue per subscriber of 2.2 percent. That’s $62.88 average per month per subscriber — maybe ditching unlimited data is paying off. Additionally, the company posted its best ever Q4 wireless churn (subscribers switching carriers) of just 1.32 percent (1.15 percent postpaid), but we’re thinking the launch of a certain smartphone on a certain competitor could possibly have that number increasing ever so slightly this quarter. We’ll circle back in three months and see where things stand. AT&T posts Q4 financials, 2.8 million subscribers added, revenue up 2.1 percent year-over-year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Hulu looking to become more like cable, at risk of losing some ABC and Fox content?
January 27, 2011 No Comment
We’re still waiting to see just what the fallout for Hulu is going to be from the recent Comcast acquisition of NBC , and while many have feared that the cable company would try to kneecap Hulu to protect its market, a Wall Street Journal article has us wondering if maybe things could go a rather different way. The article, coming hot on the heels of Netflix posting promising Q4 results , suggests that Hulu management is considering transforming the purely on-demand service into more of a traditional cable network, offering “live” TV content in addition to the current archive of episodes. That could certainly give Comcast new life. Meanwhile, NBC, Disney, and News Corp., three companies that recently teamed up to speak out against FCC stipulations to the Comcast buyout, are apparently at odds regarding how much of what Hulu offers should be available to non-subscribers. There’s talk that Disney may pull some ABC content and News Corp. may pull some Fox content from Hulu’s free offerings, offering it instead on Netflix and other premium competitors. It all sounds a bit speculative at this point but, with cable subscriptions declining for the first time in years and online content viewership skyrocketing, it’s obvious that some changes are afoot. Hulu looking to become more like cable, at risk of losing some ABC and Fox content? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Lenovo’s insatiable ambition for growth has taken another boost today with the news that China’s best-known computer maker is partnering up with NEC for a “strategic alliance” in Japan, the world’s third biggest PC market. Under the terms of the deal, a new NEC Lenovo Japan Group will be formed, wherein Lenovo will benefit from 51 percent of the shares and NEC will own 49 percent plus the choice of first CEO, for which it’s selected its own Hideyo Takasu. Lenovo will also pad NEC’s pockets with $175 million of change and contractual formalities are expected to be completed by the end of June this year. Sadly, specifics on how this will benefit consumers are light on the ground — both companies will continue to sell products under their respective brands and there’s only general talk of collaboration, economies of scale, harnessing operational synergies, and leveraging each company’s strengths. At least you’ll know your computer’s been made in the spirit of fraternal cooperation. Full PR after the break. Continue reading Lenovo and NEC partner up to become Japan’s biggest PC vendor Lenovo and NEC partner up to become Japan’s biggest PC vendor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nokia smartphone market share shrinks to 31 percent, operating profit takes a beating too
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Stephen Elop’s first quarterly results as Nokia CEO have just come out, and while the company’s still growing, others seem to be speeding ahead of it. Nokia’s reporting its converged mobile devices (smartphones, to you and us) reached volumes of 28.3 million during Q4 2010, which is a neat bump from 20.8 million at the same time last year and 26.5 million in the previous quarter. However, in the context of the broader smartphone marketplace, that figure now amounts to only a 31 percent share, according to Nokia’s own estimates, which is a major dip relative to its 40 percent slice in Q4 2009 and 38 percent in Q3 2010. Elop’s perspective on the matter is as follows: “In Q4 we delivered solid performance across all three of our businesses, and generated outstanding cash flow. Additionally, growth trends in the mobile devices market continue to be encouraging. Yet, Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution. In short, the industry changed, and now it’s time for Nokia to change faster.” When your operating profit goes from €1.47b (€950m net) a year ago to €1.09b (€745m net) this year, the response should indeed be to change and to change fast. Nokia’s still not disclosing sales figures of the N8 , but given that this was the first full reporting period where the company’s Symbian flagship has been on sale, it doesn’t seem to have had quite the impact Espoo will have hoped for. Wanna try again with the N9 ? Nokia smartphone market share shrinks to 31 percent, operating profit takes a beating too originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Why bother waiting for its official Mobile World Congress reveal in February when you can view the newest HTC flagship today? The touchscreen slate prototype (notice the serial number stamped along the bottom of the handset’s face) you’re looking at above matches the leaked Pocketnow render exactly including the arcing earpiece and isolated front-facing camera with chrome ring. It was just spotted by an eagle-eyed tipster while waiting for a Taipei metro system. Sorry Windows Phone 7 fans , this baby is Android through and through. And seeing it in the wild lends credence to all of the HTC devices pictured in that leak. A couple more snaps after the break. [Thanks, LIMIX] Continue reading HTC’s newest Android flagship phone revealed HTC’s newest Android flagship phone revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google adds HTML5 Gmail and Gtalk notifications for the desktop, makes you envy Chrome users
January 27, 2011 No Comment
Oh, come on, Google! If you’re going to give us desktop notifiers for our favorite email and chat clients, you’ve got to play nice and let us have them on more than your own browser, right? To be fair to the Chrome maker, it’s standardizing the code it’s used in its new HTML5 alerts so that other browsers can soon use it too, but as of today, you’ll need to use the Google-sanctioned webscape navigator if you want its sweet new pop-ups on your desktop. We gave them a quick try and they’re delightfully quick, with Gtalk message alerts updating themselves to the latest one received instead of stacking up and threatening your sanity. Hit the source link to learn how to enable the new notifications. Google adds HTML5 Gmail and Gtalk notifications for the desktop, makes you envy Chrome users originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Call it an unfortunate coincidence but Nintendo just announced its quarterly numbers only minutes after Sony announced its new quad-core Cortex-A9 pumping PSP (codenamed NGP) and new PlayStation Suite for gaming on Android tablets and cellphones. So what’s the damage? Well, to start with, Nintendo’s Q3 (October to December) operating profits were down 46 percent (104.6 billion yen ($1.3 billion) compared with 192.3 billion last year) on account of weaker Wii and DS sales coupled with a continued strong yen. The house of Mario also slashed its annual sales expectations projecting 16 million Wii consoles (down from 17.5 million units) and 22.5 million DS handhelds (down from 23.5 million) sold through March. It wasn’t all bad news though as Ninty maintained its annual operating profit forecast of 210 billion yen assisted by a projected 25% increase in Wii software shipments. Mind you, that’s not chump change, but gone are the days of the Wii / DS one-two knockout punch on the competition. And with a full quarter to go before the 3DS is launched globally , we’re not expecting any improvement to the bottom line until the next fiscal year. Nintendo Q3 profits down 46 percent, slashes console sales projections originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 03:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Sony’s next-gen PSP (NGP) has a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, quad-core GPU as well
January 27, 2011 No Comment
You know that crazy next-gen PSP (NGP) with multiple touchpads, dual analog sticks, and quadrupled resolution that Sony just trotted out? Yeah, it’s got a quad-core Cortex-A9 and a quad-core Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX543MP4+ GPU doing the grunt work within. We’ve never seen a handheld this powerful. Then again, considering the darn thing won’t be launching until this holiday season, maybe quad-core parts will be the least Sony will need in order to match up to the ” super phones ” coming up this year. We’re just wondering how long any of these souped-up portables will last on a charge. Full spec sheet after the break. Continue reading Sony’s next-gen PSP (NGP) has a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, quad-core GPU as well Sony’s next-gen PSP (NGP) has a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, quad-core GPU as well originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Sony just dropped a bomb on the Japanese stage — not a single PlayStation Phone , but a PlayStation Phone experience for everybody. The company unveiled a cross-platform software framework called PlayStation Suite, which sounds rather boring in those words, but what it amounts to is an official PlayStation Store filled with games for your Android tablets and cellphone s. Sony’s starting with an emulator for existing PSOne titles and is promising an Android game store later this year, but soon it might be much, much more: the company’s calling PlayStation Suite a “hardware-neutral” development framework to make games portable for all sorts of handhelds, and says that “new and exciting content” is also on the way. Sony will sponsor a first-party licensing and quality-assurance scheme called PlayStation Certified, and provide the marketplace as well, likely hoping to attract major game developers to build top-tier titles for mobile and get a piece of the action too. If your device doesn’t have have a pop-out gamepad handy, it looks like PlayStation Suite will emulate touchscreen controls, and you won’t necessarily need a phone to get in on the action, as Sony says the next-generation PlayStation Portable will be compatible with games developed for PlayStation Suite right off the bat. Doesn’t look like we’re getting any details on game prices or compatible devices, but we imagine one particular phone will change all that at Mobile World Congress next month. Update: Looks like PlayStation Suite requires Android 2.3 at a minimum, and it’s PSOne, not PlayStation Portable titles that will be emulated here, despite Kaz Hirai’s quote during the festivities. PR after the break! Gallery: Sony reveals PlayStation Suite Continue reading Sony reveals PlayStation Suite framework, store for Android gaming Sony reveals PlayStation Suite framework, store for Android gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’re gonna level with you, we’re not entirely sure what (if anything) Sony will show off at its Tokyo meeting today — other than “business [overview] and strategy,” of course. All the same, with the rumor mill in high gear about a possible PSP2 debut, we decided to take a chance and fly halfway across the world. Will it end up a worthy excursion with momentous payoff ? Some fiscal and corporate chatter? A new Japanese ad campaign featuring a terribly dubbed Kevin Butler? Follow along! Continue reading Live from Sony’s Tokyo event Live from Sony’s Tokyo event originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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