Month: April 2008

Worldwide PC Shipments to Exceed 485 Million Units by 2012, According to a New Report

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Global Personal Computer shipments are poised to grow at a robust rate over the next 4 years, driven mainly by a boom in the notebook computers segment. A general slowdown in growth rate of desktop PC shipments in the developed markets is expected to be offset by a strong performance in emerging regional markets, particularly in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Other key factors driving the PC market include replacement of older systems, high growth in Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions, lower prices, and a relatively stable short-term economic outlook in major regional markets.

San Jose, California (PRWEB) April 15, 2008 — The PC industry is highly volatile and is characterized by strong competition, pricing pressures, changing customer preferences, rapid technological developments, competition from well established high-tech and electronics companies and continuous disputes over intellectual property and antitrust issues. With a large number of competitors, the market is characterized by price pressures from competitors and price sensitiveness on part of the customers. Robust growth in the desktop and notebooks segments continues to fuel the global PC market. Demand for notebooks has also increased mainly due to lower pricing, wireless capabilities, and the increasing need for mobility.

Frequent product launches, changing industry standards, and high level of price competition in the PC market has resulted in short product life cycles and frequent reduction in selling prices. Despite high growth rates in recent years, the market has not stabilized and is sensitive to decline in sales or sales growth. Manufacturers constantly face the risk of excessive inventories, due to the unpredictability of market conditions.

Europe is the largest regional market in terms of unit shipments with an estimated share of 28.5% in 2007 while Asia-Pacific is projected as the fastest growing market over the next 4 years. PC Shipments in the Unites Sates totaled an estimated 66.66 million units in 2007 and are projected to exceed 82.8 million units by end of the year 2012.

Desktop PCs constitute the largest product segment in terms of unit shipments with an estimated share of 55.1% in 2007 while Notebook PCs are projected to be the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 18.04% over the years 2000 through 2010. Easing prices, shrinking performance gap in relation to desktops, increased access through retail channels and enhancing wireless connectivity continue to drive notebook PC sales. PC server shipments are projected to exceed 17.5 million units by 2012, as against an estimated 9.6 million units in 2007.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) reclaimed the No. 1 slot in 2007 in the Worldwide PC market in terms of unit shipments, trailed by Dell. A strong performance in both consumer and business PC segments in almost all regional markets fueled a shipment growth at HP, overriding a spying scandal on its board of directors, which resulted in the resignation of chairwoman, Patricia Dunn in 2006. An accounting investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission only added to Dell's profit performance woes in 2006. Cost cutting strategies aimed at bolstering market share eroded the company's profit margins in United States, its No. 1 market.

Aided by acquisition of Gateway, Acer currently ranks third in terms of unit shipments, overtaking Lenovo in 2007. Companies such as Dell and Acer have employed new sales distribution channels. Dell recently commenced selling through giant retail chains. Drastic retail expansion propelled Dell's volume sales in consumer segment while channel partnership initiatives boosted commercial segment.

"Personal Computers: A Global Strategic Business Report" published by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., analyzes the global market with hard-to-find data and analytics for key regional markets such as the United States, Japan, Europe and others, alongside up and coming markets such as Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The report provides a comprehensive review of market trends and issues, drivers, business profile, players, competitive landscape, recent developments, mergers, acquisitions, alliances, product launches and other strategic industry activities. Analytical estimates and projections are presented in terms of unit shipments over the years 2000 through 2010, along with long-term projections over the years 2011 through 2015. Product segments independently analyzed include Desktop PCs, Notebook PCs, and PC Servers.

For more details about this research report, please visit http://www.strategyr.com/Personal_Computers_Market_Report.asp.

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) is a reputed publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company is globally recognized as one of the world's largest market research publishers. The company employs over 700 people worldwide and publishes more than 880 full-scale research reports each year. Additionally, the company also offers a range of over 60,000 smaller research products including company reports, market trend reports, and industry reports encompassing all major industries worldwide.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Telephone 408-528-9966
Fax 408-528-9977
Email press @ StrategyR.com
Web Site www.StrategyR.com

Firefox Add-On is on Fire with One Million Downloads and Counting

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The popularity of iMacros for Firefox, an innovative Firefox add-on that automates online activities within the web browser, is growing by leaps and bounds. Since the product's launch enthusiastic users have already downloaded the software more than one million times.

Heidelberg, Germany (PRWEB) April 14, 2008 — The popularity of iMacros for Firefox, an innovative Firefox add-on that automates online activities within the web browser, is growing by leaps and bounds. Since the product's launch in November, 2006, enthusiastic users have already downloaded the software more than one million times.

Internet users who struggle with the boredom of repetitive online activities are increasingly embracing iMacros as the long-awaited solution to their problems. Anyone who faces tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks online can now fully automate those tasks so that they are completed with the simple click of a button.

As stated in the product's tagline, "Whatever you do with Firefox, iMacros can automate it," yet the number and variety of uses continues to astound the creators of the original add-on. Their site for iMacros script-sharing on del.icio.us is a treasure trove of useful user-created macros, including those for extracting online stock quotes, comparing prices at online stores, and getting daily downloads of page rankings, among many other tasks.

Mozilla, the software company behind the Firefox web browser, collects and categorizes Firefox add-ons, where iMacros is a Recommended Add-On and one of the ten most downloaded extensions in the "Bookmark," "Privacy and Security" and "Web Developer" categories on the Mozilla site. No doubt this has contributed to the rapid adoption of iMacros, as demonstrated by the millionth registered download earlier this week. Currently more than 50,000 new users download iMacros each week.

iMacros for Firefox is unique because it pioneers social scripting, which allows users to share macros and scripts in a way that is similar to how they share bookmarks on the many social-bookmarking websites. With a single click, users can share their macros in a link via email, websites, or a blog.

The iMacros for Firefox software is free for personal and commercial use. Users may opt to upgrade to the business version with guaranteed response times and advanced features. Additional information and the software download link are available online at http://www.iopus.com/imacros/firefox. Alternatively, the software may be downloaded directly from the official Mozilla site for extensions at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3863.

About iOpus – iOpus is a global provider of web automation, data extraction and web testing solutions. Every day, millions of Internet macros run all over the world using iOpus' iMacros products. The company's client roster includes one-fourth of the Fortune Global 500 companies. Additional company information is available online at http://www.iopus.com/company/.

Canonical Announces Ubuntu Desktop Training

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Online Course Designed for Corporate and Home Users

London, UK (PRWEB) April 14, 2008 — Canonical Ltd., the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, today announced training for corporate and home desktop users to get started with Ubuntu.

The Ubuntu Desktop Training program provides simulations, practical exercises and information to make daily tasks easy. No prior knowledge of the Linux-based operating system is required, although computer literacy is a pre-requisite. The course is more effective if Ubuntu 7.10 is installed on the computer hard disk before starting.

"This desktop training is designed with new users in mind, so they can experience first hand how easily Ubuntu, and free software, can fit into their work and personal lives," said Billy Cina, training manager, Canonical.

By the end of the comprehensive, self-paced course, users will be able to:
– Understand the concepts of open source and how they tie in with Ubuntu
– Customize the look and feel of the Ubuntu desktop
– Navigate through the file system and search for files
– Connect to and use the Internet
– Perform basic word-processing and spreadsheet functions using OpenOffice.org
– Install and play games
– Add, remove and update applications
– View, draw, manipulate and scan images
– Play, edit and organize music and video files
– Seek help on Ubuntu from free and commercial sources
– Create partitions and dual-boot options

Pricing and Availability
The retail price for this course is $100 and can be purchased through shop.canoical.com. Bulk discounts for corporations are available upon request. Any queries regarding this and other Ubuntu training courses should be directed to: training@ubuntu.com.

About Canonical Ltd
Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, is a global organisation headquartered in Europe committed to the development, distribution and support of open source software products and communities. World-class 24×7 commercial support for Ubuntu is available through Canonical's global support team and partners. Since its launch in October 2004 Ubuntu has become one of the most highly regarded Linux distributions with millions of users around the world. Ubuntu will always be free to download, free to use and free to distribute to others. With these goals in mind, Ubuntu aims to be the most widely used Linux system, and is the centre of a global open source software ecosystem. For more information visit www.canonical.com or www.ubuntu.com.

Contact:
Bill Baker
Baker Communications Group
860-350-9100

lefora Reforms Forums

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Today, lefora launched a free service that allows anybody to create their own free forum hosting and participate in many-to-many discussions in under a minute. This is a free, easy and much-needed solution for the 200 million+ forum users.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 9, 2008 – Today, lefora launched a free service that allows anybody to create their own free forum and participate in many-to-many discussions in under a minute. Aimed at the 200 million+ users of forums (a market bigger than Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bebo combined), lefora aims to transform an often-overlooked part of the Internet which has remained unchanged for over 10 years, as well as introduce new users to these vibrant communities.

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While blogs have seen strong uptake with their one-to-many conversational style, they do not address the online communication needs for most communities to hold a discussion. Unlike social networking sites, to participate in a forum, there is no requirement to join a social network, create a profile, launch a blog, or subscribe to anything. It is this simplicity that has attracted so many millions of people. However, by lowering the barrier to create and participate in a forum, lefora is also opening up new opportunities for communities and interest groups to use free forums for their discussions. Whether it's a technical support forum, discussing how to deal with problems using Apple's Leopard, parents trading parenting secrets, or fans following their favorite band, forums facilitate many-to-many discussions in a way that is not offered anywhere else.

The current process of creating a forum involves lengthy and cumbersome software installations, coupled with monthly hosting fees charged by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). lefora removes these barriers while introducing new functionality that has never previously been available. lefora is also introducing new features to users of traditional forums, such as: news and blog importers to kickstart conversations, automatic newsletters for forum administrators, as well as tools for rich media, including visual text editors and the ability to embed videos.

"lefora will do for forums what Blogger did for blogs, but with a pre-existing audience of over 200 million forum users to get it going," said David Shen, investor in lefora and previously head of Yahoo User Experience and Design. "Millions of forums currently exist on the Web, with some of the top forum sites receiving millions of pageviews each day. lefora's goal of making the creation of forums really simple, means that this number is set to sky-rocket."

"Forums have been around since Roman times, yet the online equivalent is still antiquated compared to the rest of the Web," said lefora founder and CEO Paul Bragiel. "lefora is bringing forums into the 21st century, and providing their millions of users with an experience that everybody else takes for granted."

About lefora
lefora is founded by a core team of Internet and games pioneers who have finally had enough of hanging out in online places that time has left behind. lefora's mission is to transform one of the largest and most active parts of the Internet – forums – and let anybody create their own forum in under a minute.

lefora is a privately-held company based in San Francisco, CA and is backed by high-profile angel investors and advisors.

For additional information please visit http://www.lefora.com.

CompTIA to Recognize RFID+ Certified Professionals at RFID Journal Live! 2008

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On-site training also available at sixth annual conference.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. (Vocus/PRWEB ) April 9, 2008 — The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the world’s leading provider of vendor-neutral certifications for technology professionals, will reward individuals with CompTIA RFID+ certification in a special way at next week’s RFID Journal Live! conference.

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RFID Journal Live! 2008, the world’s largest RFID conference and exhibition is scheduled for April 16-18 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. CompTIA will exhibit in Booth 559.

RFID professionals who have earned their CompTIA RFID+ certification are invited to visit CompTIA in Booth 559 to receive a “CompTIA RFID+ Certified” lapel pin. All they need to do is show their CompTIA identification card that is presented to everyone who passes a CompTIA certification exam, including RFID+.

For IT professionals interested in obtaining this valued industry certification, an on-site certification preparation course will be offered at RFID Journal Live! RFID4U, a leading provider of RFID training courses, will deliver the fast-track training. Individuals who participate in the on-site training and pass the exam can obtain their “CompTIA RFID+ Certified” lapel pin by visiting Booth 559 and showing their exam score report For more information on CompTIA RFID+ training at RFID Journal Live! visit http://www.rfidjournalevents.com/live/certification.php.

The CompTIA Radio Frequency Identification (RFID+) certification validates the knowledge and skills of technical professionals who work with RFID technology.

According to Patrick Sweeney II, chief executive officer of ODIN technologies, a leader in RFID engineering and integration services and automation software, attaining CompTIA RFID+ certification “shows end users they’re dealing with high quality engineers with all the knowledge and skills to design and implement an effective RFID solution.”

“It also creates a threshold for what new hires need to know when we bring them aboard,” he added. “If they’ve already earned CompTIA RFID+, that’s a good indicator that they can provide quality service to customers.”

For more information on CompTIA RFID+, visit CompTIA at Booth 559 at RFID Journal Live! in Las Vegas, or go to http://certification.comptia.org/rfid/.

About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the voice of the world's $3 trillion information technology industry. CompTIA membership extends into more than 100 countries and includes companies at the forefront of innovation; the channel partners and solution providers they rely on to bring their products to market; and the professionals responsible for maximizing the benefits organizations receive from their technology investments. For more information, visit www.comptia.org.

Contact:
Steven Ostrowski
Director, Corporate Communications
CompTIA
630-678-8468
sostrowski @ comptia.org

Grass Roots Effort to Save Zimbra

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  April 7, 2008 —  A major open source player in the email/groupware category may fall victim to Microsoft’s latest acquisition plans. The Zimbra Collaboration Suite, an “Exchange-like” email and collaboration server which is available in both a commercial version and a community (free) edition, may just disappear if Yahoo is purchased by Microsoft. Yahoo bought Zimbra towards the end of 2007, and in doing so became one of the largest competitors to Microsoft’s Exchange (especially in Europe). With the possibility of Microsoft now acquiring Yahoo, the future of this excellent product is uncertain.

    A grass roots movement has begun to at least save the community (free) edition of Zimbra while also raising questions involving anti-trust, etc. If you are interested in saving Zimbra, voting “yes” for open source, or just learning more, please go to FreeZimbraNow.org .

{mos_fb_discuss:131} 

Poll: Web Delivers Poor Content

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More than 88 per cent of Internet users believe they are served poor content on the Web, according to an online poll conducted by Webcopyplus. Subsequent interviews with web users revealed multiple common concerns.

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) April 3, 2008 — More than 88 per cent of Internet users believe they are served poor content on the Web, according to an online poll conducted by Webcopyplus.

When asked to rate the overall quality of content on the Web, poll respondents selected the following options:

1. Poor — 88.5 per cent
2. Satisfactory — 9.8 per cent
3. Good — 1.5 per cent
4. Excellent — 0.2 per cent

A total of 480 Internet users participated in the web writing firm's online poll during a four-month period that ended in April of 2008.

Subsequent interviews with web users revealed multiple common concerns, including:

 

  • "It takes too long to find the information I'm looking for."
  • "I have a high-speed Internet connection, but many websites are too slow to load."
  • "Confusing menus."
  • "So many generic pictures that I don't need to see."
  • "Busy designs are irritating."
  • "I don't like being forced to watch intros or videos."
  • "The need to download additional software to view a site."
  • "Too much writing on websites that doesn't interest or help me."
  • "Poor writing makes me question a website's credibility."
  • "Aggressive sales pitches…don't tell me to buy; tell me why I should buy from you."
  • "Small text that's too hard to read."
  • "Inadequate contact information."

Relevancy and Speed Top Concerns

The most common complaint from web users was that it takes too long to find relevant information.

Rick Sloboda, Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, says there are several contributing factors to this issue, including poorly planned information architecture, and ineffective web writing, designs and images.

"Businesses that take the time and resources to arrange website navigation, information and links according to their target audiences' needs promote positive online experiences," said Sloboda. "When website visitors get what they desire, tasks get completed and businesses benefit."

The second biggest complaint from Internet users surrounded slow load times. Even with the increasing popularity of high-speed Internet connections (broadband penetration in 2007 according to Internet World Stats: US 21.9%; UK 23.1%; Canada 23.7%), slow-loading web pages continue to be a sore spot for people who research products or services online.

In fact, slow load speeds topped the list in a 2007 Webcopyplus poll, in which 51.2 per cent of users suggested "slow load times" would likely drive them away from a website, over weak web copy (42.2 per cent) and poor visual presentation (6.6 per cent).

Consumers Rule the Web

Websites should be streamlined and optimized — stripped of any unnecessary graphics or web writing, suggests Sloboda.

"That means designers must put function before form," he said. "And web writers must write for the target audience — not for themselves or even their clients."

To be sure, the Internet has come a long way since 1969, when UCLA and Stanford Research Institute relayed the first message over the earliest form of the Internet. But, the fact is, almost nine out of 10 web poll respondents feel they are being under-served.

People no longer look to the Web as a novelty, noted Sloboda. "It's about task-driven research, not random surfing," he said. "Today's Internet users seek value, not amusement."

According to Sloboda, the solution is clear: simple, fast-loading and functional websites that offer relevant content.

"Perhaps as web technologies mature, the industry will put less emphasis on website mechanics and more on quality content that respectfully caters to the true master of the Web," he said. "And that would be the consumer."

PaperWorld3D Releases Open Source Code

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New game engine framework allowing for development of real time Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming (MMOG) and applications via the Flash platform.

Santa Clarita, CA (PRWEB) April 3, 2008 — The founders of Influxis and Red5Server announced today the PaperWorld3D source code is now open to the public. PaperWorld, which leverages open source projects PaperVision3D and Red5, allows for rapid creation of MMOG 3D environments deployable over the Adobe Flash Player 9.

Influxis and Red5Server have been sponsoring the PaperWorld project since December 2007. The project is led by Trevor Burton, an experienced flash game developer, and John Grden, a founding member of other open source projects including Papervision3D and Red5.

A preview teaser website has been up for a few weeks at www.paperworld3d.com describing the capabilities of PaperWorld3D and an open call for interested developers to sign up for beta testing. The site includes videos from a recent presentation at the Flash in the Can (FITC) event in Amsterdam showing Burton and Grden describing the PaperWorld environment and demonstrating a "fly-through" of a multi-player spaceship game in PaperWorld. It also features a blog with updates and information regarding how it works.

A blog is now central to the homepage of the updated website. The new website, which can be found at http://www.paperworld3d.com, includes updated information such as detailed tutorials, demos, downloads, links to GoogleCode, and more blog entries explaining PaperWorld, what can be done with it, how to get started, and a vision for where it is headed in the immediate future.

"We are very excited to see this new technology released to the Flash industry," said Richard Blakely, CEO of Influxis. "PaperWorld3D gives Flash developers the ability to easily create multi-user 3D environments, and considering that this is a LGPL open source project, there is really no limit to where this will go." Richard also stated that he expects to see new forms of "multi-user 3D advertising" and new business opportunities built around "virtual economies."

About Red5Server:
Red5Server is a specialist Red5 hosting and support solution for mission-critical and large-scale Red5 based applications.
Red5Server is a product of two industry leaders in their respective fields, Infrared5 and Influxis. http://www.red5server.com

About Influxis:
Influxis is a company specializing in Flash Media Server and RTMP based technologies. Visionaries of the server since its advent, Influxis was founded in 2002 with the belief that Flash Media Server software could 'change the way designers think.'
Specialized Adobe FMIS hosting services worldwide. http://www.influxis.com

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Vista SP1 Upgrade Eliminates Need to Buy Full Version, Says Windows Secrets

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Vista SP1 Upgrade costs much less than Full Edition

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) April 3, 2008 – Microsoft customers can install the "upgrade edition" of Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) on any PC without having to purchase a "full" version of Microsoft Vista, according to an article in today's Windows Secrets Newsletter. Associate editor Scott Dunn says users can take advantage of a trick to upgrade to Windows Vista SP1 regardless of whether any older version of Windows is running on their machines, which can result in cost savings.

"The latest upgrade edition of Windows Vista SP1 allows the upgrade to be installed and activated even if consumers don't currently have any previous version of Windows running," says Dunn. "This is a great cost break, because the Vista SP1 upgrade edition is around $100 cheaper than the full version, depending on your country and what retail version of Vista you buy."

The upgrade "trick" involves installing an unactivated version of Vista from the product DVD. The user then launches setup from within Vista, reinstalls using the operating system's "upgrade" option, and enters the product key.

This procedure was originally published in February 2007 by Windows Secrets editorial director Brian Livingston. He explained then that the earlier, "gold" release of Vista allowed upgrades without requiring an existing version of Windows or even a CD of an older Windows operating system to be present. Fourteen months later, the download trick continues to work with the Vista SP1 upgrade edition.

"The fact that the company has not taken steps to remove the upgrade trick from Vista SP1 leads us to believe that Microsoft executives knowingly support the trick," said Livingston. "I think the feature was deliberately included to make it unnecessary for more advanced and price-sensitive users to ever buy the full version. There is no ethical dilemma with people using a feature that Microsoft has specifically programmed into Vista."

Instructions for performing the Vista SP1 upgrade trick, as well as a table illustrating the cost savings by country and version, can be found at Windows Secrets.

About Windows Secrets
WindowsSecrets.com publishes a weekly e-mail newsletter with more than 275,000 subscribers. Published since 2003, the newsletter reveals tips and tricks to get the most out of Microsoft Windows. For more information, visit www.WindowsSecrets.com.

Microsoft BSOD Screen Saver v3.2 Released

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(TheForceField.net ) April 1, 2008 — Microsoft Corporation announced release of the latest version of its famous (or infamous, depending on your sense of humor) BlueScreen Screen Saver to the public.

Actually, it was released November 1, 2006 but that is irrelevant. It's a screen saver. It's a BSOD. It's a BSOD screen saver – and it's from Microsoft. Amuse your friends. Amaze your enemies. Make new enemies from friends, or make new friends out of enemies, all courtesy of Microsoft.

The screen saver displays different errors depending on the operating system, according to Technet. It replicates disk errors in Windows NT 4 (someone still uses NT4?), a Windows 2000 splash screen in Windows 98 and Windows 2000, the Windows XP splash screen in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 splash screen in, you guessed it – Windows Server 2003. Blue screens cycle and simulate reboot every 15 seconds. The screen saver requires DirectX to run in Windows 98.

Best of all, it's free, and you can't beat free. 

You can download the screen saver  at Microsoft Technet .