Analyst Opinion - Making games differently – from production, to
financing and distribution: Many have noted that the gaming industry
seems to be recession-proof. Monthly sales figures continue to show
growth in the market. Even though NPD’s figures for March are off 17%
from the same period last year, NPD themselves noted that Easter
generally provides a spike in sales, which fell in April this year and
March last year. If you look at overall Q1 08 figures, there was 0%
change from Q1 09, while software was down just slightly at 2% for the
quarter, hardware and accessories were up 1% and 3% respectively.
Analyst Opinion - A couple of months back, I raised a bit of a ruckus
with my column – Kindle shmindle – that suggested the high up-front
cost of Amazon’s book reader would be its ultimate downfall. As Amazon
prepares to launch an even bigger-screened version, supposedly to cater
to the newspaper market, my original thesis still stands. Consumers
don’t need yet another expensive, limited-function device to buy,
maintain and keep charged.
A former Intel CEO has criticized the US patent system for "limiting" the reach of invention. Andrew Grove, who led Intel from 1987 to 1998, made the scathing remarks after receiving a lifetime achievement award at the 37th annual National Inventors Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
A senior European Union official has demanded that the Obama administration relinquish its control over the Internet. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which
operates under the auspices of the US Commerce Department, is currently
tasked with regulating critical aspects of the Internet - including the
assignment of domain names.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has agreed to
settle a controversial federal piracy lawsuit with the Santangelo
family for $7000. The Santangelos already remitted half of the amount on April 20 and are expected to make six additional payments by October.
Analyst Opinion - If someone tweets it, is it news? Should Twitter be
our first stop when we want to know what’s going on? Do we even have a
choice anymore?
Often, single men find themselves at the local laundry emporium, a
fistfull of quarters in hand, and very often, they find themselves
hoping that the experience will be more fulfilling than merely removing
skid marks and ketchup stains. They dream of finding single, lonely
lingerie models in the same predicament. However, that is never the
case so, thank the stars above that someone came up with HE detergent.
High efficiency detergent to those unclear on the concept. It promises
to change the laundry experience and your life. I kid you not.
Posted by Rob Enderle, Pricipal Analyst, Enderle Group
Analyst Opinion - I spent last week at the press event for IFA, which
is the European version of CES and began 85 years ago with an Albert
Einstein keynote. This was the first time for me that I was looking at
this show and while the two shows don't really compete, given they are
focused on different markets, the IFA show appears to bring in 20%
additional sales to participants while CES may actually be a 10% or
better drag on sales for those who go to the show. The reason? Focus
and timing.
A recently conducted Harris Interactive poll indicates that most
Americans believe technology can help solve complex social issues,
including the country's failing education system and a stalled auto
industry.
Posted by Jon Peddie, President, Jon Peddie Research
Analyst Opinion - We have all seen the excellent work various web site
and analysts like us have done over the years in comparing the latest
graphics AIBs, and, more recently, the new graphics-enabled
motherboards. Some have been more thorough than others, but all contain
performance measurements from 3Dmark/Vantage and/or FPS in game play.
And for the high-end game enthusiast where performance is everything,
that’s enough. But is it enough for the rest of us?
Researchers from Lehigh University, IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center
and at the Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia said they have
found a way to cool notebook chips much more efficiently than it is the
case today.
According to a recent study conducted by a neuroscience group at the
University of Southern California, social networking sites such as
Twitter and Facebook harm and cripple the moral values of their users.
Why? The study claims that those sites do not provide the necessary
room to feel compassion or admiration.
A study from Ohio State University, based on a study of 219 students,
suggests that the more you use Facebook, the less you study, and the
worse your grades get. However, the report’s author does say the report
only shows a possible connection between Facebook use and lower
performance in your studies. Sure, we all know the truth: Facebook
makes you dumb, among other things.
Posted by Rob Enderle, Pricipal Analyst, Enderle Group
Analyst Opinion - The Acer Revo comes at a time of conflict. It
targets buyers who want low cost products that use little energy, do
not accept any limitations in using their PC and look cool at the same
time. In addition, the best performance parts for a product for this
mixed up market comes from Intel which has the Atom platform, and
Nvidia, which has Ion. The problem is that Intel hates Ion and is at
war with Nvidia.
As Google-logoed vehicles carrying spacey-looking cameras on their
roofs fan out across the globe to snap comprehensive photo mosaics of
major cities, Google Street View opponents in the United Kingdom have
formed human chains and online protests to keep the privacy-busting
cars out. But then we know that, thanks to the Internet, privacy no
longer exists anyway. So why complain about Google?
Analysis – Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 has been available for 18
days and remains the company’s weakest web browser at launch since
version 3. While the software now seems to be close to 4% market share,
it appears to be unable to stop the bleeding of other IE versions.
Since the beginning of the year, Mozilla’s Firefox has picked up more
than half of the users IE lost; the other half went to Apple’s Safari
and Google’s Chrome. This trend is evident in new market share numbers
published by Net Applications and StatCounter, which show that Firefox
hit a new record market share in March.
Which car would out you as a geek these days? The Tesla Roadster? The
Lexus LS? Perhaps, but if you value gadgets on four wheels (and have
the necessary cash on hand), you should be driving BMW’s 2010 7-series,
according to iSuppli. No other car is technologically more advanced
than the new BMW flagship sedan.
Yesterday, Intel Research Berkeley held its 2009 open house with some truly amazing people on hand to demonstrate their latest ideas and wares. Some of the presentations would amaze most anybody, but one in particular caught TG Daily's eye. Have you ever read something on the web and knew for a fact that it was false? Or maybe there was something you had personal knowledge of and would like to expand upon the original author's thoughts by adding your own knowledge to the article -- even when comments aren't available? Confrontational Computing affords web surfers the ability to do just -- it's like Wikipedia for the whole web.
Posted by Rob Enderle, Pricipal Analyst, Enderle Group
Analyst Opinion - AMD brought out Shanghai, their latest part in
November, substantially ahead of when it was expected and it arrived in
a market hungry for efficient performance but lacking in the cash
needed to buy new systems. This week Nehalem EP was released, which is
arguably the biggest technology step that Intel has made this decade.
Both parts are less about raw performance and are more focused on
performance per watt. Right now, there is no other industry in which we
care so much about what is inside the box. We only care about the
benefits the solution provides. I am certain the computer industry is
getting ready to take us back to that future.
