Samsung admits ‘weak demand’ for its phones is damaging profits
Samsung’s marketing budget has always been vast, but in the last quarter it was far larger than even the manufacturer itself would have liked. The company admits that it’s been forced to spend extra money on promotions for older and lower-end devices that have been filling up its warehouses due to “weak demand.” This dip in trade, combined with the extra spend on publicity, is causing the company’s recent, gradual profit decline to quicken: it now expects to earn around 24 percent less this quarter than it did a year ago, with underlying sales down by an estimated 8-11 percent.
Samsung claims the main underlying causes are stiffer competition in Europe, especially in the low- and mid-range parts of the market (presumably from the likes of Motorola), as well as a tougher climate in China, where many buyers are choosing to hold out for 4G phones rather than picking up current 3G models. The manufacturer also says that its 7- and 8-inch tablet sales, which have already been suffering from a slow upgrade cycle, are further being cannibalized by sales of 5- and 6-inch phablets.
On the other hand, Samsung claims that one of the biggest sources of its financial pain has nothing to do with smartphones or market saturation, but instead results from currency fluctuations: the won has been steadily increasing in value against the dollar, which isn’t good news for any Korean exporter. The company “cautiously” expects a “more positive outlook” later in the year, thanks to the release of a new smartphone lineup (likely a reference to the Galaxy Note 4 and other devices coming during the fall), while also hoping that its marketing spend will fall back to normal levels.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung
Via: WSJ Digits
Source: Newswire
GameStop wants to offer exclusive content with its preorder titles
“Software publishers [indicated that they] are more enthusiastic about partnering with [GameStop]… For example, by offering exclusive content on each major game release, and longer term, future models may include GameStop offering exclusive gameplay.”
Filed under: Gaming
Intel, Samsung join forces to streamline connectivity for the Internet of Things
The upside to connected devices is pretty obvious: From smart thermostats to smartphone-controlled light bulbs, these gadgets have the potential to make our lives easier. There is a downside, though and it’s a pretty significant one; with so many companies trying their hands at the Internet of Things, there’s an ever-growing list of protocols for getting gadgets connected. And considering that the IoT market is projected to reach 212 billion devices by 2020, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a huge mess if products continue to run independently of each other. One universal spec allowing interoperability across all kinds of devices would help to simplify things, and that’s what Intel, Dell, Samsung and other tech giants hope to achieve with the just-announced Open Interconnect Consortium.
Another IoT consortium, you ask? Truth be told, there are already several groups pushing for standards in this space. LG, Qualcomm and others have put their weight behind the AllSeen Alliance, and Intel’s even involved in another called the Industrial Internet Consortium, which addresses the architecture and data requirements for connected machines on a larger scale. The new OIC, on the other hand, is more concerned with consumer and enterprise use cases (at least for the time being), and it will produce an industry standard to improve device-to-device connectivity. According to Intel, the participating companies will develop a certification program along with the new IoT protocol spec. The OIC will initially focus on open-source code for smart home and office scenarios, with specs tailor-made for connected cars and the healthcare industry to follow. For consumers, though, the bottom line is that connected devices could someday be sold with a OIC sticker on the package, letting you know that the smart door lock you’re eyeing meets the consortium’s requirements for interconnectivity.
Filed under: Networking, Internet, Samsung, Intel
Apple Strikes Deal for Third Solar Farm at North Carolina Data Center [Mac Blog]
Apple has struck a deal for a new 100-acre solar farm near its Maiden, North Carolina data center, the third such farm providing energy for the facility, reports the Hickory Daily Record. According to the report, Apple will be making an initial investment of $55 million in the solar farm, which will generate 17.5 megawatts of power.
Apple plans to have a grading permit submitted for the property by the end of the year, pending acquisition of the land and other terms of the development agreement. If everything else goes according to plan, the farm is projected to be completed within five years of the commencement date.
Apple’s North Carolina data center is the first in a series of significant data center projects the company has undertaken in recent years, with Apple also working on centers in Oregon and Nevada. Under its promise to run its data centers on 100% renewable energy, Apple has been investing heavily in energy sources such as solar and biogas while purchasing other types of renewable energy from suppliers.
The North Carolina data center was joined by a 20-megawatt solar farm across the street by late 2012, and Apple has also been developing a second 20-megawatt solar farm a few miles away. The data center is also powered by a biogas fuel cell facility that began as a 4.8-megawatt project but was later expanded to 10 megawatts.
Apple’s exact plans for this third solar farm are unclear, as the five-year planning horizon suggests it may be part of a longer-term vision for the site. The current data center primarily consists of a massive 500,000 square-foot building, but plans presented by Apple during the project’s development depicted a second building of equal size ultimately being constructed next door. Apple’s timeline for any expansion of that magnitude for the data center itself remain unknown.
Xiaomi’s next smartphone spotted, may launch this month with 4G
Xiaomi isn’t a major player in the west yet, but that could change in the coming months and years, especially if its next smartphone has LTE support and is priced just right.
GizChina is reporting that the new smartphone from Xiaomi, thought to be named either the Mi4 or Mi3S, could be announced on July 22, possibly launching in the fall.
Along with some leaked photos of the device, other rumors suggest that it will support LTE bands and have more RAM. Android Community said that according to its sources, the device could have at least a 1080p 5-inch display, a quad-core processor, possibly from NVIDIA or Qualcomm, and a 13 MP rear-facing camera.
Now you may be asking yourself, why should I care about a device that’s not available in the west (except for through importing and will soon be launching in other parts of Asia) and the reason is that it could be a device packed with the latest and greatest features, supporting not only 3G but also 4G bands and could come at a great price. This would give those looking to import an unlocked device and not be locked into a carrier contract another choice. We all know how well the OnePlus One is perceived, although availability is limited.
Xiaomi is on the up and up and its most recent device, the MiPad, which had top specs, including an NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor, for a not so premium price, was noted to sell out 50,00 units in under 4 minutes. It won’t be surprising to see Xiaomi continue to grow, especially with the new VP for Xiaomi Global, former Google VP Hugo Barra.
You can be sure that if any announcement is made, you can read about it here.
VIA: GizChina, Android Community
The post Xiaomi’s next smartphone spotted, may launch this month with 4G appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Free WiFi provider admits to making up 90 percent of its revenues
If you live in San Francisco or New York, you likely know you can connect to free WiFi in certain locations. Your cities’ governments partnered with Madrid-based provider Gowex to make that happen — the same company that has recently admitted to doctoring its accounts for the past four years. Gowex might be an unknown to most of us, but it was considered a success story in Spain and performed really well at Madrid’s Alternative Equity Market, a stock exchange for small companies. A few days ago, though, a short seller named Gotham City Research published a report that claims 90 percent of the company’s revenues are falsified and that it actually earns only 10 percent of what it says it does.
While Gowex initially denied the accusation and even announced that it earned 182.6 million Euros ($248 million) in 2013, company president Jenaro Garcia ultimately admitted the allegations and resigned from his position. On his Twitter page, Garcia wrote:
I made the deposition and confession. I want to collaborate with the justice. I face the consecuencies.
– Jenaro Garcia (@jero_net) July 6, 2014
The company used to claim that it makes its money from partnerships with local governments that want to use its free WiFi services, carriers that use its hotpots to offload data and from premium fees, among other things. It’s unclear what will happen to its hotspots in NYC and San Francisco, but the cities will likely have to look for another provider now that Gowex has filed for bankruptcy.
Filed under: Wireless
Via: Fierce Wireless, Bloomberg
Source: AFP, Fierce Wireless, Bloomberg, Euronext
Apple Shares ‘Pride’ Video Featuring Preparation for San Francisco Pride Parade
In late June, San Francisco held its 44th annual Pride parade, which saw several companies, including Apple, marching in support of the LGBT community.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the event and walked alongside Apple’s Environment Director Lisa Jackson and thousands of other Apple employees. Employees wore special T-shirts for the event and handed out iTunes gift cards good for a free song download.
Apple has now posted a new video of the event on its YouTube channel, depicting the company’s preparation for the parade, which included the aforementioned T-shirts, a pre-event celebration, special bicycles, and thousands of rainbow-colored flags. The song playing in the background of the video is Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars.”
On June 29, thousands of Apple employees and their families marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They came from around the world — from cities as far as Munich, Paris, and Hong Kong — to celebrate Apple’s unwavering commitment to equality and diversity. Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation
Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed a deep belief in equality in the past, supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which successfully added LGBT individuals to the U.S.’s existing nondiscrimination law.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Mobile Wallet app ISIS working towards rebranding to avoid confusion with violent militant Group
Many of you are probably familiar with ISIS. At least the name, as it referrers to the mobile wallet application and service that AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon opted to adopt instead of Google Wallet. In other non-tech related news though, ISIS is known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. A fairly not so friendly militant group that has gained a lot of media attention. Obviously the media dubbed it ISIS and hence the latest announcement from ISIS (the mobile wallet ) chief executive officer Michael Abbott.
“Changing a brand is never easy, but we know this is the right decision – for our company, our partners and our customers.
We are actively working on a new brand, and I’ll share more with you as our journey progresses in the coming months.
In the meantime, we remain committed to growing the mobile payments ecosystem, and advancing our mobile wallet. Our focus on delivering a great product and platform to our customers hasn’t changed.”
It does seem like a good idea actually. I know when I was catching headlines earlier today and saw ISIS I thought, “What the heck? A wallet app is demolishing ancient mosques and temples?” Obviously all I did was glance at an article title and pulled out ISIS before I read it and figured out what was going on. Anywho, that was the first time I have really given ISIS a thought since the app went into a live beta version to the Play Store back in 2012.
Anyone out there use ISIS, or have you moved on to other services like Google Wallet. Obviously sacrificing the NFC tap-to-pay aspect.
Source: 9to5Google
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The post Mobile Wallet app ISIS working towards rebranding to avoid confusion with violent militant Group appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Don’t call it laser tag: this is a real-life version of ‘Left 4 Dead’
Every year we get another Call of Duty, but if you’ve given up hope waiting for a new Left 4 Dead, a Georgia-based company might have something a bit well, realer, to help tide you over. Blood, Guts ‘n Glory [sic] is looking to take the aforementioned games off of your TV and put them in the real world with the help of slick Hollywood-style production and some high-tech weaponry this October. In Apocalyptic Infested Horror, teams battle against hordes of zombies played by actors or Kickstarter backers, while War-torn Fallujah Battlefield has you facing off against “insurgents.” In terms of firepower, real weapons like the M4 assault rifle have been outfitted with infrared tech along the lines of what the military uses for training purposes, and the armaments apparently still sound like the real deal, have muzzle flash and require reloading. Authenticity above all, naturally. And thanks to a force feedback belt, you’ll feel each attack you’ve sustained too.
The way these events will play out should be pretty familiar if you’ve hopped into an online shooter recently: rescue a science team working on a cure for the zombie outbreak and drop the antigen in the city’s water supply before the other team does, while capture the flag and hard-point control are among orders of the day for the Fallujah mission. Winners can expect a room stocked with booze, “hot babes” (apparently someone hasn’t gotten the message yet) and as-of-yet unnamed VIPs, just for them. Each game is expected to last an hour, with the total experience, meaning gearing up and debriefing, pegged at three hours for each. Keeping with the video-game theme, the outfit is planning for 64-player rounds and stats like accuracy, kill-to-death ratio and how many secrets you’ve discovered in your game will all be tracked. If this sounds like something your usual squad would be up for, buy-in starts at $90 and group packages are available too.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Kickstarter
Source: Blood, Guts ‘n Glory
Thieves nab 40,000 Samsung devices through a daring Brazilian heist
When you think of gadget thefts, odds are that you picture muggings or smash-and-grabs at stores. Apparently, one group of thieves in Brazil had far more ambitious plans — it raided Samsung’s factory in Campinas (shown here) and stole more than 40,000 laptops, phones and tablets that police estimate are worth $36 million. Reportedly, the heist played out much like a movie. The bandits both hijacked a company shuttle to get inside and took some of the workers hostage, going so far as to confiscate phone batteries so that no one could alert the police.
None of the culprits have been identified, and Samsung contends that the actual value of the stolen goods is lower. However, authorities suspect that the crooks had inside help; they knew not just how to get in, but also where they would find certain valuables. Samsung will try to prevent a “repeat incident,” but a lot of damage has already been done. Those devices likely aren’t coming back, and future production runs might not be safe if the robbers really did get assistance from corrupt workers.
[Image credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung
Source: MSN (translated)
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