SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ MP3 Player

“The Sansa Fuze+ MP3 player delivers a rich portable multi-media experience with superior audio and video capabilities, stylish industrial design, a best-in-class unique graphical user interface, and flexible storage expansion via a microSD card slot.”

You can read our review here.

Is du starting to feel the pressure?

I’ve been a strong supporter of du for a while now. My support for du stems mostly from the fact that I’ve had to live with monopolizing telecoms operator for over 25 years of my life and for the most part du has made a big difference to the telecoms landscape of the UAE.

For one thing, their mobile service is excellent. My mobile phone bill has dropped significantly since they’ve been in business and quite frankly I think their 3G service is better than Etisalat’s.

One of the biggest problems that any company faces, regardless of which industry they are in, is trying to scale up. It’s all very easy when you’re a small company with a small number of customers but when hundreds turn to thousands and thousands to millions, that’s when you’ll truly be able to measure how strong the company is. du have had some excellent marketing campaigns of late and as a result they’ve managed to rake in the customers. The question now is, can they keep these customers happy?

Of late, I’ve been hearing a lot of criticism of du. Residents of Al Khail Gate have been complaining that their du connection isn’t very stable and their calls to the customer service line have been met with a “sorry, we’re over capacity” reply. Plus, they’re all sold out on their ICC Cricket World Cup mobile package as they can’t handle any more load. Add to that, the reports of du having 30% disruption of Internet services — yes, this is more of an underwater cable fault than a capacity issue but is still reason to complain for a du customer.

In contrast, Etisalat’s service has been surprisingly stellar of late. All my customer service requests have been met to satisfaction. They’ve even expanded coverage areas for their eLife service and seem to be doing a good job of delivering quality of service over price. There have been no reports of Internet service disruptions for Etisalat of late and they’re even going around touting full five bar service (which may be a little far fetched).

For du though, the challenge now is the one that Etisalat has been facing for many years — now that you have an abundance of customers, how do you keep them all happy?

IDC: Windows Phone to surpass iPhone, Blackberry in 2015

While Windows Phone may not appear to be a threat as of yet, International Data Corporation (IDC) believes that Microsoft’s recently launched operating system will surpass iPhone and Blackberry marketshare to become the second largest mobile platform in the world by 2015, following Google’s Android.

Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences,” added Llamas. “The new alliance brings together Nokia’s hardware capabilities and Windows Phone’s differentiated platform. We expect the first devices to launch in 2012. By 2015, IDC expects Windows Phone to be number 2 operating system worldwide behind Android.”

IDC also expects the smartphone market to grow 49.2%, with expected 450 million smartphones shipment expected 2011, compared to 303.4 million in 2010.

“Overall market growth in 2010 was exceptional,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “Last year’s high market growth was due in part to pent-up demand from a challenging 2009, when many buyers held off on mobile phone purchases. The expected market growth for 2011, while still notable, will taper off somewhat from what we saw in 2010.”

Nokia’s E6-00 leaked, videoed

A member of NokiaTeco forums has leaked what appears to be an unannounced candybar from Nokia called Nokia E6-00.

The device features a full QWETY keyboard, VGA-resolution touchscreen, an 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, a front-facing camera, and a 4:3 display ratio-optimized Symbian operating system. Oh and not forget a gorgeous white body.

It seems like Nokia is still banking on its famous E71-style form and shape factor. It remains to be seen if the smartphone features any features from the promised updates.

There is a video of the device in action, however it appears that we would need 3D glasses to view it correctly.

Panasonic and XPAND 3D creates new standard for 3D glasses

Panasonic and XPAND 3D today announced that they have created a new standard for 3D active-shutter based glasses called the M-3DI. The aim is to bring a universal standard for 3D eyewear across all platforms such as 3D TVs, computers, home projectors and cinema projection.

3D TV and hardware manufacturers have already announced support for the new standard, including Hitachi, Hisense, Mitsubhishi, Sieko Epson, and ViewSonic.

“Panasonic has led in Full HD 3D innovation through the development of technologies that enable consumers to have a truly immersive experience with our 3D VIERA HDTV’s and Blu-ray 3D players,” said Hirotoshi Uehara, director of the Television Business Unit, Visual Products and Display Devices Business Group of Panasonic’s AVC Networks Company. “Now, we are excited to be joining XPAND 3D and the other participants of the M-3DI initiative to make Full HD 3D TV even more widely accessible. Joining forces with other 3D product manufacturers to standardize active-shutter 3D eyewear will help ensure that consumers have a superlative 3D experience at home and in the movie theater. This is a major step toward creating truly universal 3D eyewear.”

Commenting on the standard, XPAND 3D Chief Executive Officer Maria Costeira noted, “M-3DI eliminates confusion, provides a strong, uniform performance standard and ensures that manufacturers can concentrate on innovation and consumers can count on interoperability. Now, with M-3DI glasses, consumers can enjoy the most advanced, immersive 3D experience in XPAND 3D cinemas, on the laptop or in the workplace or school! We are pleased to join the other participants in M-3DI to ensure that the amazing potential of 3D is achieved in every imaginable 3D application.”

This, if adopted by other big dogs of the industry, will certainly put order to the chaos that the 3D format is in now. The project also aims to “make a significant contribution” to accelerate 3D TV adoption among consumers with a tighter control over quality and specifications.

Licensing for the M-3DI technology will begin next month.

IMS Research: Tablets to continue eating away at PC market

Market research firm IMS Research believes that eReaders and tablets will continue to chip away at the PC market share and will have significant impact on portal PC sales this year. And they have the numbers to back that claim.

According to the firm, eReaders grew exponentially in Q4 of last year, with a 90% boost over the third quarter and 116% year over year improvement to 5.1 million units, with Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s NOOK being the leading revenue generators.

Tablet sales were even more impressive. Led by Apple’s iPad, the tablet market grew 124% in Q4 of last year with 9.4 million units shipped. Apple led the market with 78% market share followed by Samsung.

However, despite such impressive numbers, the sales only represent 8% of the PC market share but IMS expects tablets to grow significantly this year. The firm predicts tablets to grow 242% to 58 million units in 2011, which will account for a whopping 23% of the portable PC market. PR below.

Press release:
eReaders and tablets were the hot products of the final quarter of last year as consumers gifted the devices during the holiday season, according to IMS Research’s latest Quarterly eReader & Tablet Report.

eReader shipments totaled 5.1 million units worldwide in Q410, up 90% on the previous quarter, and an increase of 116% on Q409. Amazon and Barnes & Noble were the primary beneficiaries, gaining share at the expense of Sony, Hanvon and others. Barnes & Noble overtook Sony to rank second in the market, and its new NOOK Color eReader, retail presence and growing eBookstore should result in further gains.

“With strong promotional efforts in the first quarter, and the NOOK Color ramping, we expect minimal seasonal weakness in Q1 11,” says IMS Research Displays SVP Ross Young. “In fact, a 2% sequential rise, and 178% year-on-year spike to 5.2 million eReader units is expected. IMS Research also forecasts 146% growth for 2011, with total shipments running to 29 million units, on the back of lower prices in the second-half, increased availability of new functions (touch) and new features (color), plus the maintenance of a wide price gap vs. tablets.

Tablets outperformed eReaders in Q410, with sales rising 124% quarter-on-quarter to 9.4 milion units thanks to strong iPad holiday sales and significant sell-in of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Apple’s sell-in market share fell to 78%, with sell-through share significantly higher.

“In Q1 2011, the tablet market is also expected to experience minimal seasonal weakness, falling 6% to 8.8 million units,” says Young. “Sequential growth is not expected as new product shipments from Apple, Motorola, RIM and others are unlikely to be sufficient to offset sell-through challenges at Samsung, traditional seasonal weakness and certain component constraints.”

For all of 2011, IMS Research predicts tablet growth of 242% to 58 million units. This represents 23% of the total portable PC market, up from 8% in 2010 on widespread consumer adoption and increased acceptance in commercial environments. Apple is forecast to maintain over a 75% share of the tablet market in 2011 on its software, cost, price and first-mover advantages. Tablet display shipments are expected to rise 247% to 63 million units.

Get your Firefox 4 fix on Android, Maemo

Mozilla yesterday released the latest version of Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo mobile operating systems.

The updated version packs in a ton of features, prominent of them being Firefox Sync which allows users to sync their bookmarks, history, tabs, passwords and other data between different computers. Other features include tabbed browsing, add-on installation, options to save PDF files, and customize default search engine. The mobile Firefox 4 will have a new, streamlined look with an updated UI that will auto-hide controls whenever they aren’t use.

Mozilla claims Firefox 4 mobile is upto 3x faster than stock Android browser. Below is the complete changelog:

What’s New in Firefox for Android and Maemo:

Streamlined Interface

* Focus on Web content: Features like tabs, one-touch bookmarking and browser controls that stow away when not in use help users focus on the websites they visit

Browse More, Type Less

* Awesome Screen: Type less with easy access to history, bookmarks and open tabs
* Save to PDF: Capture important websites, like directions or a boarding pass, to view offline
* Share Page: Share websites via apps like email, Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and more
* Add Search Engine: Customize your search engine list

Private and Secure Synchronization
* Firefox Sync: Access Awesome Bar history, bookmarks, open tabs, passwords and form data across multiple computers and mobile devices with secure end-to-end encryption

Most Customizable:
* Firefox offers thousands of ways for users to customize the features, functionality and look of their mobile Web browser with Firefox Add-ons

Cutting Edge Tools for Web Developers:
* Firefox improves existing tools like CSS, Canvas and SVG to enable developers to make exciting Web pages
* HTML5 support in Firefox for Android and Maemo includes Location-Aware Browsing, device orientation, accelerometer, desktop notifications and more
* The JavaScript engine incorporates the new JägerMonkey JIT compiler, along with enhancements to the existing TraceMonkey JIT and SpiderMonkey’s interpreter for faster page-load speed and better performance of Web apps and games

Firefox 4 mobile is now available on the Android Market. Maemo users can download it here. Check out the official blog for a short video showcase.

Warren Buffett warns against investing in social networking websites

When someone like Warren Buffett speaks, you outta listen. Buffett, one of the richest man in the world and a genius investor, has warned investors against pooling in money in social networking sites, terming them as “overpriced”.

“Most of them will be overpriced,” Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said today in New Delhi. ”It’s extremely difficult to value social- networking-site companies,” he said, without specifying companies. “Some will be huge winners, which will make up for the rest.”

Though he avoided taking names, his comments come soon after Facebook was valued at $85 billion, and Twitter at $5 billion.

Buffett has always been hesitant investing in technology, rather opting to to put his stake in industrial, financial and consumer-goods holdings. Despite the fact, and he will have his naysayers, we are sure his comments will not go ignored.

Nintendo 3DS dishing out BSOD in 3D

Reports are flying in that some Nintendo 3DS’es are receiving the famous Microsoft error treatment, the infamous BSOD but in black.

The error, which as first reported by a member in NeoGAF, reads:

“An error has occurred. Hold down the POWER Button to turn off the power, then turn it on and try again.

If the problem persists, please contact your local customer support centre. For contact details, check the Operations Manual or visit support.nintendo.com”

The root of the problem is unclear, but there seem to be two common factors. Some players report seeing the black screen of death while playing Super Monkey Ball, while others report issues from Super Street Fighter IV loosing a wireless connection and going into a loop. Other report suggest problems with bundled 3DS applications.

Nintendo were quick to acknowledge the issue and have issued a statement via NowGamer:

“If anyone is experiencing any problems with their Nintendo 3DS console, we recommend that in the first instance they download and install the latest system update, now available online. If the problems still persist we recommend they contact their local Nintendo Customer Service centre to investigate the problem further.”

Hey 3DS, Xbox 360 and PS3 send their regards, “welcome to the club”.

Google – The most valuable brand in the world

Google has been rated as the world’s most valuable brand by BrandFinance, a brand valuation consulting firm based in the US.

According to the firm, Google was ‘determined’ to be worth $44.2 billion, that’s 23% boost from 2010. As such, Google became the only company from the list to receive a AAA+ brand rating.

Closing following on the second rank are arch rival Microsoft, who jumped four places to the no. 2 position from last year. Among the tech sites, IBM took 4th place, Vodafone was at 5th, Apple on 8th and AT&T on 10th. Apple made the largest leap in rankings, bouncing straight from the 20th rank  last year to 8th this year.

‘The rise of the technology brands has been expected for some time, although Nokia’s fall shows that it is tough to stay at the forefront of such a dynamic industry,” BrandFinance CEO David Haigh said in a statement.

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