Samsung doubles Apple's smartphone market share as Nokia falters

Samsung scored 31.3 percent ownership in the third quarter. Apple could only muster 15 percent ownership.

 

Samsung and Apple are dominating the smartphone market, new data from research firm IDC has revealed.
During the third quarter, Samsung shipped 56.3 million smartphones worldwide, helping it to secure 31.3 percent ownership of that space. Just a year prior, Samsung shipped 28.1 million handsets and nabbed 22.7 percent market ownership.
Samsung's shipments last quarter were strong enough to double Apple's share, which hit 15 percent on 26.9 million unit shipments. Last year, Apple shipped 17.1 million smartphones and nabbed 13.8 percent of the market.
After Apple, there isn't much to write home about in IDC's findings. Research In Motion held on to the third spot in IDC's study with 4.3 percent market share, but that's down from 9.6 ownership last year. China-based ZTE made it on the list in fourth place, but the company could only muster 4.2 percent share. HTC rounded out the top five with 4 percent market share.

Perhaps the most notable finding from IDC's study is not what companies are in the top five, but which firm is not. According to IDC, Nokia, for the first time, has dropped off the top five list of smartphone vendors.
"Nokia's share losses have meant gains for competitors," Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC, said in a statement. "The company's transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to ones shipped with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months."
That said, Restivo cautioned that the smartphone market is "still relatively nascent, which means there's room for multiple vendors and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia."
IDC didn't say how many smartphones Nokia shipped, but the research firm did reveal that it shipped a total of 82.9 million mobile handsets last quarter, down 22 percent compared to the 106.5 million it shipped in the third quarter of 2011.
All told, 179.7 million smartphones shipped last quarter, representing a whopping 45 percent gain over the prior year. Total mobile handset shipments reached 444.5 million last quarter, up just 2.4 percent compared to the 434.1 million shipped in 2011.

Apple turns U.K. legal loss into new Samsung attack

The company maker turns a legal requirement to publicly acknowledge defeat in its U.K. High Court patent case against Samsung into a new chance to say Samsung copied the iPad.

A week after Apple lost an appeal at the U.K. High Court, the iPhone and iPad maker has followed the court's requirement to publish a notice its U.K. home page stating the court's finding that Samsung didn't infringe its patents.

But not in a way that shows any contrition. Instead, Apple used the notice as a new opportunity to make its case against its tablet rival.

On October 18, a U.K. High Court appeals judge ruled that Samsung did not infringe Apple's design patents in the U.K., after an earlier ruling by Judge Colin Birss claiming that Samsung tablets weren't as "cool" as the iPad.

As a result, Birss originally ruled that Apple must run notices on its U.K. Web site and in a number of U.K. printed publications stating that Samsung did not infringe Apple's patents and therefore did not break U.K. law.
The court ruled that the notice must stay on Apple's site for one month.
Apple applied for a stay on the ruling, which it was granted, but lost the appeal last week.
Thus, Apple duly changed its U.K. home page this morning, adding a small link at the bottom of the page with the title "Samsung/Apple UK judgment."
In the statement, Apple turned what Apple's lawyer called an "advertisement" for Samsung's win into an opportunity to toot its own horn. In it, Apple quoted Birss' conclusion (PDF) that its products are "cool" and the Samsung Galaxy tablets are less so.
The final two paragraphs of the statement are most telling.
In them, Apple said that a case in Germany regarding the same patent found Samsung was "copying" the iPad design. Ditto for the U.S, where Apple was awarded more than $1 billion in damages. Comparing the U.K. case to others around the world, Apple concluded, "Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad."
The full text of Apple's message reads as follows:

Samsung / Apple UK judgment
On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.
In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:
"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."
"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."
That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.
However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.

Apple wins preliminary ruling from U.S. ITC that Samsung violates 4 design and touch patents

And we're back to the famous never-ending Apple vs Samsung patent war, they both are suing each other for almost anything and everything. Anyway Apple has won a preliminary ruling against Samsung in an ITC case that had begun last year. The ruling states that Samsung has violated four Apple patents related to iPhone design and touch screen technology, including a patent co-invented by Steve Jobs.

The ruling was passed by US International Trade Commission Judge Thomas Pender. This is just a preliminary ruling until it can be reviewed by the full commission. If it is upheld  the ITC has the power to stop infringing Samsung products from being imported into the US. This is part of a counter-suit that Apple filed with the ITC after Samsung issued one vs. Apple in July of 2011.

Apple’s motion for injunction set forth its position that Samsung had ‘slavishly’ copied the design of the iPhone and iPad in the creation of the Galaxy Tab, Infuse 4G and other products.
Samsung believes that “There is no legal basis for [the motion for injunction] by Apple. We will continue to serve our customers and sales of Samsung products will proceed as usual.” Adam Yates, Director of Corporate Communications for Samsung North America told us last year, “Samsung will continue to actively defend and protect our intellectual property to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communication business.”

Samsung’s initial claim against Apple was ruled against preliminarily in September. Here are the US patents in question in that counter-claim: #7,706,348, #7,486,644, #6,771,980 and  #7,450,114.
Samsung, of course, suffered a fairly major blow this summer when jury ruled almost entirely in its favor in an infringement trial in the U.S. courts.

Yahoo cuts 200 jobs as a result of shutting down its Korean business

Reuters is reporting that Yahoo will be eliminating 200 jobs today as a result of plans the search engine had to make because it has closed down its Korean business. Shares for the company are down 0.72% to $16.55 as of now.

Just last week, the company announced that it was officially shuttering its business in South Korea in an effort to restructure itself. Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer said at the time, “This decision is part of our efforts to streamline operations and focus our resources on building a stronger global business that’s set up for long-term growth and success.”

Currently, Yahoo is Korea’s ninth-most visited website, according to web-ranking firm Alexa, but lags other search engines like Google and Baidu. This move is probably not that surprising given that Yahoo said it was going to end its operations in the country. However, Yahoo still believes it has a future in the rest of the region and doesn’t have plans to end business elsewhere.

While Yahoo claims that they’re not getting out of Asia, it has been making some moves to sell of shares in its Asian investments — earlier this year, the company sold part of its stake in Alibaba, then it announced it would shut down its Indonesian check-in service Koprol, and it might even be selling its share of Yahoo! Japan. Looks like these efforts are all part of Mayer’s restructuring plan to bring Yahoo back to its once vibrant self again.

Google's Nexus 7 is inching its way into Web-traffic stats

The Nexus 7, center, is starting to register as a source of web traffic -- but Android tablets still trail the iPad. 

In the first three months since it was introduced, Google's Nexus 7 tablet has begun making a dent in web traffic, according to new data.
Compared to the iPad, which accounted for 91 percent of all tablet traffic in the latest Chitika tablet market share report, the Nexus 7 is just a blip. But Google has to start somewhere, and so it may be heartened to see that the tablet's share of traffic jumped 135 percent from July.

Of course, it was basically starting from zero, and still represents only 0.33 percent of Web traffic. The heaviest hitter among Android tablets -- which, again, is not all that heavy -- is Samsung, whose Galaxy Tab pulls in about 2.5 percent of tablet web traffic. Chitika reports that combined traffic from Samsung's 7- and 10-inch tablets is double that of any other Android tablet.

Still, it's remarkable the degree to which the iPad accounts for tablet web traffic. "In order to make the graph readable, we had to measure other tablets on a 'per 100 iPad impressions' scale," a spokesman told us. Two and a half years after the iPad's debut, Web surfing on Android tablets still barely registers.

Now Samsung Is Suing Apple Over the iPhone 5

The patent brawl between Samsung and Apple marches on. Samsung on Tuesday filed amendment documents requesting to add the iPhone 5 to its existing suit against the Cupertino company.
Samsung accuses Apple’s latest smartphone of infringing eight of its patents, the same ones it claims Apple’s new iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPod touch also infringe. In its filing, Samsung states, “The iPhone 5 has the same accused functionality as the previously accused versions of the iPhone, so the proof of infringement of the patents-in-suit by the iPhone 5 is the same as for other Apple devices already accused of infringement in this litigation.”
To justify adding the iPhone 5 to the previous filing, Samsung states in its amendment that it “could not have known whether the rumored iPhone 5 would practice its patented technologies when it filed its infringement contentions on June 15. The product was not on the market at that time and could not have been included in the contentions.”
Nonetheless, Samsung had already threatened to sue Apple over the iPhone 5 this month. And earlier reports indicated that Samsung had planned to add the iPhone 5 to its list of infringing Apple devices once it confirmed that the smartphone had 4G LTE capability.
The news comes just over month after a U.S. jury found Samsung guilty of violating many of Apple’s design patents. The jury decided Samsung owed Apple close to $1.05 billion in damages.

Google withdraws patent complaint against Apple

Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility has dropped a complaint of patent infringement against Apple without explanation.
In a brief filing with the International Trade Commission made on Monday, Motorola Mobility said it was dropping without prejudice a complaint that Apple had infringed on seven Motorola patents.
Reuters had reported in August that the two companies were in settlement talks. Telephone calls to Google on the matter were not immediately returned. Apple did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
The complaint can be re-submitted. Google did say in its filing that "there are no agreements between Motorola and Apple, written or oral, express or implied, concerning the subject matter of this investigation."
The two companies have been locked in an international patent war since 2010, as Apple has sought to limit the growth of Google's Android system. The fight has embroiled Samsung, HTCand others that use Android.
The biggest victory in the fight so far belongs to Apple. On August 24, a jury in a California federal court ordered Samsung to pay $1.05 billion in damages after finding that Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad and could face an outright sales ban on key products.
Samsung was the top-selling mobile-phone maker in the second quarter of 2012, with Apple in third place, according to data from Gartner Inc.

Google Wants To Make Your Site Faster With Its New Tag Manager

One counterpoint to all of Google’s spring cleaning: it’s also moving ahead with launching new features. Tag Manager, out today, is aimed at help websites speed up their load times and make modifying them a little more efficient to boot, with the introduction of all-in-one coding that links up with analytics and other advertising and marketing services.
The challenge that Google is trying to fix is this: there are a lot of analytics, marketing and advertising services that websites can use today to monitor how their content is used, and to better monetize that content. But with each service comes a bit of code that needs to be incorporated into the site. Each piece of code means speaking with different third-party services, and that can slow a site down to no end. (Just look at the bottom of your screen on a slow-loading site and you can often see the passage of these different services.)
On top of that, incorporating new code for each analytics, marketing or advertising service can take up to two weeks to do.
Tag Manager aims to solve that by creating single tags that link up with all of these services in one go, meaning quicker loading times, and quicker coding turnarounds. Google has preset some services for users — predictably, those of its own AdWords, DoubleClick and Google Analytics — but it also lets users add in their own selection. Google also has started a vendor program, from today, that also gives companies the chance to create their own templates.
Features in Google Tag Manager from today point to Google aiming this not just at single developers but much larger organizations, too. They include asynchronous tag loading for faster load times, “tags can fire faster without getting in each other’s way, and without slowing down the user-visible part of the page,” Laura Holmes, Product Manager, writes in a blog post; tag templates (which really are easy to use; I’ve tried it), aimed at marketers to add tags; preview mode to test out the tags; a debug console and a version history to track your changes and revert if necessary; user permissions and multi-account functionality “to make it easy for large teams and agencies and clients to work together with appropriate levels of access.” More features are coming online soon, Holmes writes.
The service is launching globally today in English, with local-language versions coming down the line soon.
Third-parties that offer a way for sites to manage and consolidate their tagging are not new. There have been companies around since about 2007 offering such services. In fact one of the earlier movers in this space, QuBit, was founded by ex-Googlers and now has some 1,200 enterprises using its own Open Tag service. Graham Cooke, the MD of QuBit, supports the idea of Google moving into this space. “When Google Analytics emerged as a free product, it didn’t kill that space. It made it,” he explains, and he believes that with tagging services still in a relatively nascent phase, the same could happen here. “This is a revolutionary way of viewing one’s data platform, because the more you can measure, the more value you can give to your customers,” he adds.
While Google offers its Tag Manager for free, those like QuBit who offer it as a paid service will include features like SLAs and other managed service elements.

Windows Phone challenging RIM for third place in Europe

Android and iOS still dominate the smartphone markets, sharing 93% of sales in the U.S. and 83% in Europe.

Apple's iOS, Google's Android Jelly Bean and Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 are vying to be the top smartphone operating systems.

Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system is gaining on Research in Motion, a new study says, but it still has a long way to go before catching Android and iOS.
Windows Phone is vying with RIM for third place in Europe as low-end devices -- like the Nokia 610 -- drive sales in key markets such as Italy and France, according to a global smartphone sales report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
But iOS and Android still make up the vast majority of sales in the region, sharing about 83% of the share in the big five European markets of Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, the report said. Their percentage is even higher in the U.S. at about 93%.
Google's Android operating system and Apple's iOS software have grabbed the lion's share of the smartphone market, but other players are vying to gain a piece as the smartphone market continues soaring. Microsoft has been pushing its Windows Phone operating system, but it hasn't gained much traction with users. However, that could change with the introduction of its revamped operating system later this month.
Dominic Sunnebo, Kantar global consumer insight director, said it's "highly likely" that Windows Phone will overtake RIM for the No. 3 spot in Europe before the end of the year due to "the momentum Windows 8 will bring towards the end of 2012."
In the third quarter, Windows Phone had 5% market share in the five big European markets. A year ago, its share was 3.8%. RIM, by comparison, saw its market share drop to 6.4% from 12% in the year-earlier period.
In the U.S., Windows Phone was 2.7% of the market, while RIM was 1.7%.
Android, meanwhile, saw the biggest jump in Europe in the period, with its hold on the region soaring 20% to 69%. iOS slid 4.3%. In the U.S., Android retained the top position with 60% of sales, with iOS following at 34%. However, Android's percentage was down 3.3% from the previous year while iOS climbed 9%.

HTC One X+ with Jelly Bean and Sense 4+ official, One X and One S Android 4.1 updates start in Oct.

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The HTC One X+ is one of the leakiest handsets in recent memory, appearing three times in as many days at the end of September, but today the leaks can finally stop because the new One family member has made the leap into official-dom. As expected, HTC's One X+ looks pretty much the same as the original One X on the surface, but it packs a handful of hardware upgrades underneath. That includes a bump to a 1.7GHz quad-core Tegra 3 AP37 processor, 64GB of internal storage and a 2,100mAh battery. The remainder of the One X+'s spec sheet includes a 4.7-inch 1280x720 Super LCD 2 display, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.6-megapixel front shooter and 1GB RAM.
On the software side of things, the One X+ will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean beneath HTC's Sense 4+ overlay. HTC says that Sense 4+ includes tweaks like a Self Portait mode for the front-facing camera that adds "subtle enhancements" to a user's skin and eyes as well as two new ways to view photos and images in the Gallery. There's also a new HTC Get Started mode to help users set up their new handset through the browser on their main computer.
So when can you get your hands on all of this? The HTC One X+ is slated to begin arriving in Europe and North Asia in October. There's no word on a U.S. launch just yet, though HTC does promise that a separate announcement concerning North American availability is coming.
Finally, HTC dropped some good news for some folks that are already members of the One family. The company announced that it plans to begin rolling out an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Sense 4+ to the HTC One X and One S starting in October. However, no U.S.-specific rollout details are available quite yet.
HTC's announcement of the One X+ this morning doesn't contain many surprises thanks to the fact that the phone leaked more times than most of us care to count, but the phone still looks like a worthwhile option for folks in the hunt for a high-end Android smartphone. Meanwhile, I'm sure that folks that already have a One X or One S are happy to hear that their Jelly Bean updates are finally nearly ready to start rolling out, though it's a mystery as to when those updates will make it through the carrier approval process and hit the AT&T One X and T-Mobile One S. Here's to hoping for some speedy testing. HTC's full announcement of the One X+ is available below for your early morning reading pleasure.

HTC Introduces The HTC One™ X+. More Speed, More Storage And More Battery Life Make HTC's Best Rated Android Phone, Even Better
HTC also announces Sense™ 4+ with Android Jelly Bean upgrades for HTC One X and HTC One S coming soon
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today unveiled the HTC One™ X+, a refreshed version of its award winning HTC One™ X smartphone, running the HTC Sense™ 4+ experience on Android™ Jelly Bean. The HTC One™ X+ combines the iconic design, amazing camera and authentic audio experience of the HTC One series, with increased performance, longer battery life and expanded internal storage.
"We are taking the HTC One™ X to a new level with the introduction of the new HTC One™ X+," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "Our customers will have super-fast browsing, an even better camera and more immersive entertainment with Beats Audio."
Performance, Endurance and Storage
Featuring a 1.7 GHz quad-core NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 AP37 processor and 64GB of internal storage, the HTC One™ X+ LTE version is up to 67% faster than the HTC One™ X[1] LTE, making the HTC One™ X+ the best rated Android phone on the market. Developed to be lightning fast, the HTC One™ X+ enables quicker web browsing, fluid gaming and graphic rendering, and speedy downloads, providing effortless usage on the go.
In addition to its increased performance speeds, the HTC One™ X+ introduces extended performance with the inclusion of a 2100 mAh battery, giving you up to 50% (6 hours) more talk time, and longer to browse the web and enjoy your favorite music and videos[2].
Imaging, Music and Movies
Combining the amazing camera capabilities of its predecessor[3]* with a series of intelligent features, powered by Sense™ 4+, the HTC One™ X+ has been designed to deliver the most premium mobile experience. The newly launched Self Portrait mode on the front camera helps you capture high quality photos by intuitively detecting the human face at various angles and applying subtle enhancements to skin and eyes. Sightseeing mode makes sure you'll always be ready to capture the moment - one touch of the power button bypasses the lock screen and launches directly into the camera. Two new views in the Gallery display images and videos and group them according to where and when they were taken.
Exclusively available on HTC smartphones, Beats Audio™ provides authentic, studio-quality sound that delivers the most immersive sound experience with an enhanced audio profile, crisper vocals and detailed high notes for your music, games, movies and videos. Making it easier to listen to music out loud, and through Sense™ 4+, the HTC One™ X+ introduces a new Tap and Go function, which allows you to connect the phone and your music to Beats speakers[4] when you tap them. To disconnect, it is just another quick tap.
Providing exclusive access to thousands of movies through HTC Watch 2.0, the HTC One™ X+ will appeal to both the avid film fan and the casual movie-goer. Combined with the introduction of video hub, another benefit of Sense™ 4+, for the first time you will be able to put all your video entertainment in a single place.
Easy Set Up
A new feature in the HTC One™ X+ is HTC Get Started, a new web service that guides the user painlessly through the set-up and personalisation process from a desktop web browser.  Designed to enhance the experience of setting up a phone for the first time, this feature ensures that users will get the most out of their new phone from the beginning.  With the touch of a button, the user's phone will reflect the settings and apps that were chosen on the Web.  Visit start.htc.com for more details.
Availability
The HTC One™ X+ will be available in Europe and North Asia from October and in South Asia from November 2012. North America will make a separate announcement regarding availability of the HTC One™ X+. The Android Jelly Bean with HTC™ Sense 4+ update is scheduled to begin rolling out for the HTC One™ S and HTC One™ X from October.
About HTC
Founded in 1997, HTC Corp. (HTC) is the creator of many award-winning mobile devices and industry firsts. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC pushes the boundaries of design and technology to create innovative and personal experiences for consumers around the globe. HTC's portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by HTC Sense®, a multilayered graphical user interface that vastly improves user experience. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). For more information, please visit www.htc.com.
The names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

[1] HTC One™ X+ (non LTE) is up to 27% faster than the HTC One™ X (non LTE). Source: HTC internal testing

[2] HTC One™ X+ has up to 37% more talk time than the HTC One™ X (up to 50% for LTE version). 6 hours more talk time (LTE version) and 4.7 hours more talk time (non LTE) when compared to the HTC One™ X. Source: HTC internal testing

[3] 8MP camera with an f/2.0 wide aperture lens, backside-illuminated (BSI) sensor, Video Pic, HDR and one-press Continuous Shooting

[4] Tap and Go only works on selected Beats speakers, which are sold separately to the handset

Microsoft Previews New JavaScript Like Programming Language TypeScript

Today Microsoft released a developer preview of TypeScript, a new JavaScript-like programming language that is translated into JavaScript so that its apps can be run in any browser. The language and compiler are open source under an Apache 2.0 license.
TypeScript has a syntax that is very similar to JavaScript, but adds features such as optional static typing that Microsoft programming language guru Anders Hejlsberg says will make it easier for developers to build larger applications. It attempts to address some of the same issues that Google’s Dart programming language does, but without a radical departure from JavaScript.
Like CoffeeScript, TypeScript compiles to JavaScript, but that’s where the similarities end. Hejlsberg says TypeScript is actually largely based on the specifications of the next version of JavaScript being developed by the ECMA committee.
JavaScript started out as a simple scripting language for the Netscape browser, it was never intended to become a language for building large scale applications. Yet the rise of the web and HTML5 have made it into the standard language for client-side development, and Node.js has proved to be a popular way of writing JavaScript applications on the server side.
Frameworks like Backbone.js, the heavily venture funded Meteor and Nodejitsu‘s Flatiron are also trying to address the issue of making it easier to develop modern JavaScript applications.
TypeScript (like CoffeeScript) will actually work with existing frameworks and libraries — any JavaScript can just be pasted into TypeScript and should just work.
Hejlsberg created Turbo Pascal, was the chief architect Delphi, is the lead architect of C# and LINQ. He developed TypeScript with Steve Lucco and Luke Hoban.
Here’s a list of features:

• Optional static typing
• Class declarations
• Support for modules
• A Visual Studio plugin

Asked whether Microsoft might do something to prioritize TypecSript in Internet Explorer, Lucco, the chief architect of IE’s JavaScript rendering engine Chakra, says no. Because most developers will only actually be putting TypeScript online, it’s not in Microsoft’s best interest to handicap JavaScript, and there won’t be any real way for IE to run TypeScript faster than any other browser can — apart from differences in their JavaScript rendering engines, of course.

HP shows ElitePad 900 Windows 8 business tablet

HP's Atom-powered ElitePad 900

Hewlett-Packard on Monday introduced the ElitePad 900, the company's first Windows 8 tablet aimed at business users.
Scheduled for release in the U.S. in January, the 10-inch slate supports pen input and drive encryption, as well as optional 3G and 4G connectivity. HP did not announce pricing.
The ElitePad 900 has an aluminum shell, housing the 10.1-inch display with 1280-by-800-pixel resolution. The IPS display is coated in Gorilla Glass, making the tablet 9.2mm thick and weighing in at 1.5 pounds. HP says that the battery should last around ten hours on a single charge.
Inside, HP's Windows 8 tablet runs on an Intel Atom processor with 2GB of RAM, with storage options of 32GB or 64GB. Behind the service door on the back you will find a microSD card slot and one for 3G and 4G SIM cards. On the back there's an 8-megapixel camera with a flash, while on the front there's a video call camera that supports 1080p HD quality video.
HP also prepared a line of accessories to go with the ElitePad 900. A range of adapters are available for the proprietary connector on the tablet, including an SD card reader, full USB port, Ethernet, line out, VGA, and HDMI. Alternatively, you can get all these connectivity options via a dock, which can be also paired with a wireless keyboard.
Alternatively, HP also made what it calls Smart Jackets, basically faux cases that add functionality. One of the Smart Cases has USB and HDMI ports, a card reader and a removable battery, while a second clamshell-style case turns the ElitePad 900 into a laptop hybrid.
Dell has also announced a 10-inch Windows 8 tablet aimed at the business market, and its the Latitude 10 is scheduled to ship by the end of October. Dell's tablet screen has a higher resolution at 1366 by 768 pixels, but the tablet has otherwise very similar specs. Dell has not yet announced pricing, either.
Other PC manufacturers previously previewed some of their Windows 8 devices, including tablets and ultrabooks.

New, touch-optimized MSN portal to showcase Windows 8, IE 10 this fall

Microsoft plans to make a touch-optimized version of its MSN portal available to users running Windows 8/Windows RT and Internet Explorer 10 as of October 26.

Microsoft officials are showing off a near-final preview of that portal in New York during Advertising Week, which kicks off this week on October 1. They also will be showing off new touch-centric Windows 8/Windows RT ads that will be available on MSN and on select Windows Store apps during this week's advertising confab.
The updated MSN portal will be available only to Windows 8/Windows RT and IE 10 users, starting with those in Microsoft's 11 biggest markets worldwide, saidd Bob Visse, General Manager of MSN.com. It will not be vieweable by the public until October 26, the day Windows 8 goes on sale at retail -- even by those who already are running the final version of Windows 8. Consumers using older versions of Windows and Internet Explorer (or other third-party browsers) won't have access to the updated MSN experience for the foreseeable future, he said.
The new portal will have a Metro look and feel. While optimized to be navigable via touch gestures, it also will support mice and keyboards. The MSN logo in the upper left corner serves as a "return to home" anchor for the site.
The updated site will feature MSN News -- the updated news portal featuring AP and Reuters news, along with content from Microsoft's own reporters. (Visse declined to say how many reporters Microsoft is employing now that it sold its 50 percent stake in the former MSNBC joint venture, but that number is estimated at 100.) The new MSN also will feature entertainment, sports and money subsites, like the current MSN portal does.
The new MSN portal site will include tutorials to help users learn how to navigate the new site and take advantage of Windows 8/Windows RT features like "snapping" appications to the side, and making use of the new charms.
"Eventually, we also will offer a MSN Windows 8 app and Windows Phone 8 app, too," said Visse. Visse didn't have a timetable to share as to when those apps will be available.
Microsoft also offers a Windows 8 Bing News app (which is available currently in the Windows Store), as well as the new MSN portal. While both will serve up "news" content, Bing News will be more like an aggregated news source, while the MSN portal is meant to deliver content, but also highlight and demonstrate other Microsoft technologies, like Bing search, Skype, Outlook.com, etc.
Windows 8/Windows RT users will have the option of circumventing the new MSN if they so choose and revert back to "classic" mode, which is what users with other browsers and Windows versions will see.

Internet Explorer continues to lead the Market Shares with 53.63 Percent

Firefox and Chrome have chipped away at its lead, but IE remains top dog, according to the latest data from Net Applications.

 

 

Microsoft's Internet Explorer still grabs more than half of all traffic among browsers, at least as viewed by Web tracker Net Applications.
Leading the desktop browser market for September, IE took home a share of 53.6 percent. That left Firefox in second place with 20 percent and Chrome in third with almost 19 percent.
Trailing the top five were Apple's Safari with 5.2 percent and Opera with just 1.6 percent.
IE's lead has dipped over the past few years. A high of 79 percent in November 2007 fell to a low of 51.8 percent last December before recovering a bit the past year. Firefox captured a high of 25 percent in November 2009 before slipping to 19.7 percent this past May.
In the meantime, Chrome continues to slowly but surely inch its way higher. Since its debut four years ago, Google's browser has seen a steady rise up the charts, hitting a high of 19.5 percent in May. Chrome could have handily outpaced Firefox by now had it not experienced a decline over the past few months.
Drilling down to specific versions, Internet Explorer 8 was the leader, grabbing 24 percent of all browser traffic seen by Net Applications. IE 9 was second with 19.4 percent. That left Chrome version 21 with 14 percent and Firefox 15 with almost 11 percent.
Among mobile phone and tablet browsers, Apple's mobile Safari was on top with a 64 percent share, a healthy gain from 55 percent a year ago.
Android's built-in browser was second with almost 21 percent, up from 16 percent in September 2011.
Opera Mini, the BlackBerry OS browser, and the Symbian OS browser all saw their share of traffic continue to plummet as more users adopt iOS and Android devices.
Net Applications records the number of unique visits to its network of more than 40,000 Web sites and includes only one unique visit per site per day. The company typically tracks around 160 million unique visits per month.