Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Samsung Is The Largest Smartphone Manufacturer In Europe

Source: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome

Samsung catapulted to the top of the European smartphone market last year, capitalizing on the tumbles of faltering rival Nokia, according to data from comScore.

Samsung accounted for 32 percent of all smartphones used in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK — up from its 18 percent share at year-end 2011. These five markets combined for 136 million active smartphones at the end of 2012, up from approximately 105 million a year prior.

Note that comScore tracks installed base market share, indicating that Samsung's share of shipments was likely much larger.

It appears that Samsung is eating up market share from onetime stalwart Nokia, which is in the middle of a rocky transition from its proprietary Symbian platform to Microsoft's Windows Phone. Nokia's share of the European smartphone market plummeted from 28 percent in December 2011 to 16 percent at the end of last year. The release of Windows Phone 8 in late October does not appear to have arrested its fall.

Click here to view a larger version of this chart.

euro smartphone market share

Please follow BI Intelligence on Twitter.

Join the conversation about this story »

Intel looking to turbocharge its NUC with Core i5 and i7 CPUs, according to leak

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/09/intel-next-unit-of-computing-roadmap-leak-i7-i5/

Intel looking to turbocharge its NUC with Core i5 and i7 CPUs, according to leak

It looks like Intel's planning on bringing its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) mini-computer upmarket, if a leaked roadmap from ComputerBase.de is to be believed. The documents look highly tentative, but if they come to fruition then Intel will start offering new NUCs (code-named "Skull Canyon" and "Horse Canyon") with Intel Core i7-3537U and Core i5-3427U processors along with its current Core i3 model during the first half of the year. New motherboards would be used that alter the slot configurations substantially: the Thunderbolt connector would be dropped in favor of USB 3.0 -- three on the i7 model, one on the i5 -- with DisplayPort 1.1a added to each along with HDMI 1.4a connectors. There's no pricing yet, but we found that you'd need to nearly double the price of the original NUC to create a working computer, so bear that in mind when you're looking at the leaked slides after the break.

[Image credit: ComputerBase.de]

Filed under: Desktops, Intel

Comments

Via: FanlessTech

Source: ComputerBase.de

AU Optronics says it'll bring a 5-inch, 1080P OLED display to market soon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/09/au-optronics-5-inch-FHD-OLED/

AU Optronics says it'll soon join Samsung at a table for two making 5-inch, full-HD OLED smartphone displays. It'll show off the technology at the China Optoelectronics Display expo starting tomorrow, promising 443 ppi, lower power consumption, fast response times and wide viewing angles. While others build 1,080 x 1,920 LCD screens for models like HTC's One, currently Samsung has a monopoly on OLEDs of that size and resolution. However, it likely wants to set those aside for its soon-to-ship 5-inch, 1080p Galaxy S 4 -- so, AU's announcement is likely good news for other handset makers seeking something punchier than LCD for that form factor.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Via: Android Beat

Eyes-on with Sony's brilliant 4K OLED monitor prototypes (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/08/sony-4k-oled-prototypes/

The 30- and 56-inch 4K OLED monitor prototypes that Sony introduced yesterday are sitting prominently in the company's booth here at NAB, and they're really quite something. These sets offer wider viewing angles and reduced color shift compared to previous-gen monitors, and Sony is emphasizing the technology's color accuracy. We got a taste of the 56-inch, 3,840 x 2,160 model back at CES, but it looks like we can extinguish all hopes of this monitor making it to the consumer market anytime soon. Instead, it will be available to professionals working with 4K content. Even though the prototype won't make it to our living room, we couldn't help but marvel at the image quality: to say that the footage of Carnivale popped off the screen would be an understatement -- colors were just that vibrant and details were incredibly lifelike.

Meanwhile, the 30-inch, 4,096 x 2,160 model is destined to hit the market sometime in 2014, and it's plenty striking itself. Like its larger sibling, the relatively petite model looked fantastic, with very sharp details and bright, vibrant colors. Sony wouldn't share pricing information -- heck, booth attendants wouldn't even let us get close enough to get a good shot of the monitor itself -- but we did manage to snag a clip of both panels in action. Granted, it's impossible to judge the quality from our compressed eyes-on video, but if you can't make it out to NAB, you'll just have to take us on our word that these really are quite stunning.< div>

Gallery: Sony prototype 4K OLED monitors eyes-on

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, Sony

Comments

Monday, April 08, 2013

Blackmagic announces Production Camera 4K, $995 Pocket Cinema Camera with MFT mount (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/08/blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-production-camera-4k/

A sub-$1,000 price tag makes any product a relative steal on the floor of NAB -- impressive specs and industry standard compatibility are just icing on the cake. If such figures are any indication, however, Blackmagic's new Pocket Cinema Camera, which leaked earlier today and ships in July, is potentially a very solid buy at $995, with a Super-16 Cinema 1080HD sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range, CinemaDNG RAW recording, SD card storage, Micro HDMI monitoring and a Micro Four Thirds lens mount. We got an early look at the shooter on the showroom floor, and the compact size is truly striking -- the body is comparable in size to any other mirrorless camera, though it definitely pushes the limits of what we'd consider pocketable. The design is very similar to Blackmagic's larger Cinema Camera launched at last year's NAB, with the same Micro Four Thirds lens mount. There's a very sharp built-in matte LCD for viewing footage and adjusting settings, and the build is quite solid -- it's significantly heavier than you'd expect.

Naturally, the camera isn't as capable as Blackmagic's pricier NAB model, the Production Camera 4K, which also made its debut today and ships in July. With that flavor, $3,995 buys you a Super 35 sensor with native Ultra HD and 4K support, a built-in SSD recorder, compressed CinemaDNG RAW and compatibility with EF lenses. We spent a few minutes with ! that mod el as well, and were equally impressed. The screen was very bright, sharp and not at all reflective, and the camera includes your standard array of inputs and outputs, including dual mic jacks, an SDI port, power and control. Both models are very competitively priced, as you might expect from Blackmagic, and with this wide range of appeal, there's now a little something for everyone. Be sure to head past the break to check out our hands-on video as we take a closer look at both models.

Gallery: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K hands-on