Thursday 30 October 2014
In terms of features, the Microsoft Band covers the field. It has common fitness tracker features like step tracking and more premium features such as GPS and a heart rate monitor. And it also offers features more typically found in smartwatches such as a colour touchscreen, notifications and payments when you're in Starbucks.
If that sounds good to you, then there's more good news: it's available today. That's if you're in the US and you have a spare $199; UK and Australian prices haven't been announced, but the US price converts to around £125 or AU$230The plastic band boasts an adjustable strap and a full-colour touchscreen. It's dust- and splash-resistant and powered by two 100mAh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer batteries that give you 48 hours on standby.
Don your running shoes or hop on your bike and the Band uses GPS to record the route you've run, biked, or hiked. There's a stopwatch and lap timer when you're on the track. You can set a target for the number of steps or calories you want to burn through in a day, or follow guided workouts set by experts the likes of Gold's Gym or Men's Health.
Even when you're not working out the Band is looking out for you: it monitors your heart rate 24 hours a day, records how long and how well you sleep and how often you wake, and checks UV levels when you're going out in the sun.
The data collected by the Band is synced up with an online service and app called Microsoft Health -- not to be confused with Apple Health or Samsung's S Health, of course. As well as working on most phones, Microsoft Health plays well with others, linking up with other fitness apps and services including MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper and MapMyFitness.
That's where many fitness bands stop. But because the Microsoft Band syncs with your phone, it can also offer you notifications about new messages, events and social network updates, showing your incoming calls and texts or a short preview of new emails and reminders from your calendar. When you get a new message you can fire back a pre-set response (although that doesn't work if you have an iPhone). There's an alarm too, to wake you up or let you know when it's time for your next appointment.
Or if you prefer to be undisturbed when you're in the zone, turn on the do-not-disturb mode and you won't get any notifications.
When you've finished working out and you're ready to reward yourself with a venti sugarcino, the Band stores your Starbucks card details so you can scan your wrist to pay without reaching for your wallet.
The Band works with Cortana, the voice-controlled Windows Phone personal assistant. As long as you have a Windows 8.1 device in your pocket, you can talk to the Band and dictate notes or set reminders. Cortana also gives you updates on current information like traffic conditions, sports results or the weather.
To use the Microsoft Band and Microsoft Health, you need a Windows Phone device with the 8.1 update, an iPhone running iOS 7.1 or 8, or an Android phone running 4.3 or 4.4. You need Bluetooth to pair the Band with your phone.
"I'm proud to be gay. I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me," Cook said in an 800-word essay posted on Bloomberg Businessweek. "Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It's made me more empathetic."
Cook, who has been CEO of Apple for three years, described how he's been open about his sexuality with many people, but has tried to maintain some privacy on a wider public level. He quoted Martin Luther King in describing how he decided to balance his desire for privacy with his position as a role model, which gives him a platform to speak out on issues of discrimination.
"Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I'm gay, and it doesn't seem to make a difference in the way they treat me," Cook wrote. "Of course, I've had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people's differences. Not everyone is so lucky."
Cook said he doesn't consider himself an activist, "but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy."
Despite never publicly acknowledging his sexuality before, Cook has for several years topped Out magazine's annual list of the most powerful and influential gay men and women in the US. He also has spoken and written in support of LGBTQ rights. A year ago, Cook wrote an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal, calling on the US Congress to pass a bill that aims to offer protection against workplace policies and practices that create disadvantages based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
As recently as September, Cook tweeted in support of the Austin, Texas, pride parade celebrating gay rights. In his tweet, Cook gave "a shout-out to 3000 Apple employees and their families marching in the #AustinPride parade! Inclusion inspires innovation. #applepride." And while talking about Apple's diversity report in August (which showed most Apple employees are white men), Cook said Apple's "definition of diversity goes far beyond the traditional categories of race, gender and ethnicity."
"It includes personal qualities that usually go unmeasured, like sexual orientation, veteran status and disabilities," he said in the diversity report. "Who we are, where we come from, and what we've experienced influence the way we perceive issues and solve problems. We believe in celebrating that diversity and investing in it."
Cook on Thursday said being gay has been "tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It's also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you're the CEO of Apple."
The Alabama-born 53-year-old described himself as "an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things." He joined Apple in 1998 from IBM and temporarily took over from Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO in 2009. He was appointed to the position permanently in August 2011. Jobs died from cancer in October 2011.
In the video below, Cook meets Apple customers as the iPhone 6 goes on sale in September of this year:
Samsung on Thursday said the Gear S will be available in the US starting on November 7. The smartwatch will be available in both black and white, and all four major carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile -- will carry it in store. The Gear S will also be available at Samsung Experience Shops found in Best Buy stores.
Unveiled in August, Samsung's Gear S features a 2-inch curved Super AMOLED screen and runs the Tizen mobile operating system, Samsung's alternative to Google's Android mobile OS. The smartwatch also has a 1GHz dual-core processor and features Samsung's S Health fitness app, as well as Nike+ Running.
The smartwatch is the first in Samsung's lineup to include a 3G cellular radio, meaning it can connect to a carrier to send and receive calls without needing a phone nearby. That ability stands in stark contrast to just about every other wearable on the market. The Apple Watch, for example, needs to stay paired and connected to an iPhone for many of its features to work. Smartwatches from LG, Motorola and others are also meant to be paired with a phone.
AT&T will offer the Samsung Gear S starting next week for $200 with a two-year contract. Sprint is making the device available for no money down and 24 monthly payments of $16 through its Easy Pay system. T-Mobile is offering a similar deal by allowing customers to pick up the device for no money down and pay $14.58 per month over a two-year period. Verizon has yet to announce its pricing.
The senior vice president of Sony's corporate planning and new business creation, Hiroki Totoki, will take over the division next month. He replaces Kunimasa Suzuki, who will become the executive vice president of Sony Entertainment, the company announced Thursday.
Sony's mobile division has had its fair share of troubles over the past couple of years. The company has failed to make a major mark in the smartphone business and its best efforts have proven fruitless.
Sony had hoped to ship 50 million smartphones during its fiscal year, which ends on March 31, but slashed that figure in July to 43 million units. A report surfaced last week saying that Sony will further slash smartphone shipments on Friday when it announces its earnings.
According to the statement Thursday, Totoki will take over the division on November 16. The company did not say why the change was made and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
PlayStation
4 users may not want to update their consoles to firmware version 2.00
just yet -- at least not until Sony is able to send out a patch that
fixes some of the software's hiccups.Version 2.00, codenamed "Masamune," boasted a number of notable feature updates including uploading gameplay videos to YouTube, sharing games with friends over the Internet and system themes.
However, the update has been tainted by widespread reports that putting the system into standby mode (now dubbed "Rest Mode") prevents the console from reawakening. Both of the consoles in our office encountered the same issue. Bugs with YouTube functionality have also been reported.
For now, Sony has suggested booting consoles into "Safe Mode" to update a system's software and told CNET "we're investigating these issues and will provide an update once we have more information."
Whatever you do, try and avoid unplugging a hanging PS4, as you can damage the system's data.
We expect a version "2.0.1" release at any moment, but also recommend PS4 users who have already updated to 2.00 to select the "turn PS4 off" option instead of Rest Mode until Sony has properly addressed the situation.
The transfer of Motorola to Lenovo from Google marks the end of a short chapter for the storied handset vendor. Credited with the invention of the cellphone, Motorola had suffered over the last several years as Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy lineup rose in prominence. Under Google, Motorola had refined its product portfolio to just a few devices, and developed a focus on the low end and on emerging markets with its affordable Moto G and Moto E smartphones.
The combined operations will have 8 percent of the global smartphone market, making it the third-largest smartphone vendor in the world, according to Strategy Analytics. The research firm said the two businesses will benefit from increased scale, deeper distribution channels and bigger marketing and R&D budgets, but must contend with a slowdown in growth at Lenovo and Motorola's continued losses.
"Merging these two firms next year will not be as easy as many expect," the firm said in a post.
Motorola will continue to operate out of Chicago and will still be led by President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Osterloh.
"With an impressive portfolio of smartphones, wearables and PCs, our two companies will be uniquely positioned to push the boundaries of choice and value, and bring exciting new experiences to people everywhere," Osterloh said in a blog post.
He added later that he doesn't believe Motorola's strategy of using an unaltered version of Android with a few software additions would change under Lenovo, which more heavily customizes its Android smartphones.
For Lenovo, which has a stronger reputation as the No. 1 PC manufacturer in the world, Motorola lends the company badly needed credibility in the smartphone business. Motorola gives Lenovo a recognizable brand in most developed markets, especially the US, where it also has strong relationships with the wireless carriers.
Motorola will continue to be the primary brand in areas where it already has a strong position, but in emerging markets, both the Lenovo and Motorola brands we sit alongside each other, said Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing on a press conference call.
Liu Jun, executive vice president and president of Lenovo's mobile business group, will serve as chairman of the Motorola Management Board.
"The R&D on both sides (Lenovo in China, Motorola in the US) is a treasure of the combined business," Jun said on the call.
Jun said he expects to sell more than 100 million mobile devices in the fiscal year ending March -- including smartphones and tablets. The company also reiterated its goal of getting Motorola back to profitability within four to six quarters. While Motorola will be run as a separate business, it will be able to take advantage of Lenovo's supply chain and sales force.
Motorola over the last two months has unveiled a number of strong products, including a revamped Moto X and Moto G, the Nexus 6 for Google, as well as Tuesday's debut of the Droid Turbo for Verizon Wireless. Yangqing touted the strength of the recent products, and said Lenovo would continue to support them.
Lenovo also addressed the rumor that it was interested in acquiring business smartphone maker BlackBerry. Yangqing said he already had two deals to integrate -- Motorola as well as the acquisition of IBM's server business -- but declined to comment specifically on BlackBerry.
"We need to focus on two big deals. If we want another big deal, we need to make money off of these deals first,"
In an era where the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S5 are assumed to be available virtually anywhere, it would seem obvious to anyone selling a smartphone that having wide distribution was critical. But Google hasn't always followed a conventional path with its Nexus products, which are held in high regard by Android enthusiasts but largely ignored by mainstream consumers.
That changes with the Nexus 6. At a starting price of $649, it is in line with a typical premium smartphone, a break from the Nexus line's history of focusing on affordability. And for the first time for any Nexus device, it will be available at all five major US carriers -- Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular.
"We are selling the Nexus 6 in a way most people are used to buying it," Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president of engineering for Android at Google, said in an interview Wednesday.
The decision to create a more expensive, premium device that is more readily available suggests a maturation of the Nexus line. The primary goal of a Nexus device has always been to serve as a vehicle to show off the latest version of Android, largely attracting developers and enthusiasts. But the Nexus 6 phone appears poised for more mainstream attention.
"That's a major shift in the Nexus model," said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research.
The decision to go with a more expensive product was a result of feedback that showed interest in a more premium-feeling smartphone, Lockheimer said. The result was the Nexus 6, which features a large 5.9-inch quad-HD display, 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, front-facing speakers and an aluminum frame. Constructed by Motorola Mobility, it unsurprisingly features the same design scheme as the new Moto X.
While counter-intuitive, Lockheimer said he believes the more traditional price tag will actually help spur sales. Google has traditionally promoted its own Google Play store as the primary source to purchase past Nexus devices, with the Nexus 5 selling at $349 as an unlocked smartphone with a contract. Working with the carriers, Google will be able to sell the Nexus 6 at $199 with a two-year contract, which at first glance seems cheaper.
Most savvy customers will know that the rest of the cost of the device is baked into the higher service fees charged by the carriers, but the move to this more traditional pricing structure will help get the Nexus 6 in more stores, with more average customers willing to take a look at the device.
"Nexus fans understand the pricing model of an unlocked device," he said. "But outside of that, paying $350 upfront was a foreign concept."
While more expensive, the Nexus 6 holds its own against the competition, Lockheimer said. The jumbo smartphone, which falls into the category of phablet, or a mash-up between a phone and tablet, stacks up against the iPhone 6 Plus, which starts at $749 unlocked or $299 with a two-year contract, and the Galaxy Note 4, which costs $700 unlocked or $300 with a contract.
Google, of course, could have sold an even less expensive Nexus device under contract. But the company, working with Motorola, made the decision to focus on specs and capabilities first.
"It was a deliberate decision to push the boundaries on technology," said Sandeep Waraich, a Google product manager working on the Nexus 6. "We first arrived at the solution, then the price."
If Google wants to increase the reach and sales of its Nexus products, it may no longer be comfortable with the razor-thin margins of previous devices. While Google hasn't publicly talked about the profitability of the business, industry observers believe the company barely makes money on the devices, or even takes a slight loss, in order to drum up attention for the Android platform.
"If Google wants to start selling these devices to the broader market, and therefore sell many more of them, it can't just keep selling them at cost -- it has to actually make money on them," Dawson said.
It's a strategy that worked well with the Asus-built Nexus 7 tablet, which was highly regarded because it started at $229. The Nexus 4 and Nexus 5, both built by LG, were also popular phones because of their low non-contract price.
The Nexus 5 remains an option. But while the Nexus 7 is still available through retailers, it has been removed the Google Play shop. In its place is the Nexus 9, a more premium-feeling tablet that has an aluminum frame, higher-end specifications and a starting price of $399. Google went to HTC to build the tablet because the Internet titan liked what HTC had done with the design of the One.
Lockheimer also dismissed the rumors that Google was scrapping the Nexus program, pointing to the two devices, as well as the Nexus Player media-streaming box, as proof that the company continues to invest in this area. He declined to comment on Android Silver, a rumored line of high-end smartphones from various partners all running the latest unaltered version of the Android operating system.
He also cautioned against reading too much into the higher priced devices. The Nexus program was designed with the purpose of experimenting in different areas. Its goal has never been about volume but about building hardware to test out its software. Google generates a vast majority of its revenue and profit from its traditional online search business.
Wednesday 29 October 2014
If you do the bulk of your listening in noisy places, continuing with ear buds (the type that come with phones) may eventually lead to hearing loss from continued exposure over a long period of time to excessively loud sound. I covered how ear buds, in-ear, and closed- and open-back headphones work and how they differ on previous blogs.
If you have to listen in noisy places or while commuting, consider buying in-ear or closed-back full-size headphones to seal out noise. When you reduce the background noise level competing with the music, you can turn the music's volume way down, and the difference can be very significant. Even inexpensive closed-back or in-ear headphones will help you listen more quietly.
I find with the better-sounding in-ear and closed-back headphones I can listen at a much lower volume and still not feel like I'm losing detail or the music's energy. Quiet listening draws me in more, so I listen more attentively. Once you get used to listening quietly it will become the new norm, and your ears will suffer less listening fatigue.
Noise-canceling headphones block more noise than any other type of headphone, so you can turn the music down even more, but most noise-canceling models don't sound as good playing music as equivalently priced closed-back headphones.
Custom-molded ear canal headphones may not seal out noise as well as the noise-cancelers, but they sound a lot better. Custom in-ear headphones are more expensive than noise-canceling models, and before you buy a custom-molded headphone, you need to visit an audiologist to have them take "impressions" of your ear canals. It's a quick procedure and not very expensive.
Loud sound from your home speakers is another matter, but again, with better ones you won't feel like you're missing detail when you turn the volume dow
IHS, a market researcher that tears down the latest devices to see what components they include and how much a device might cost the company produce, has revealed that the iPad Air 2 costs between $275 and $358 to build, depending on the version. At the low end is the 16GB with Wi-Fi-only version, while the most expensive version offers 128GB with Wi-Fi + Cellular.
To put that into perspective, Apple charges $499 for the entry-level iPad Air 2. The 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular option costs consumers $929.
That Apple is boasting healthy margins is perhaps no surprise. As IHS pointed out, the company's total cost on the iPad Air was about $269 to start. So, while Apple is making slightly less per unit this year, its product is still providing healthy margins.
Apple launched the iPad Air 2 last week. The company's latest flagship tablet is thinner than the first-generation iPad Air and comes with the same 9.7-inch screen. Apple offers customers 16GB, 64GB and 128GB versions.
According to IHS, Apple pays between $5 and $6 per unit to have its iPad Air 2 produced. Apple's 9.7-inch display is the most expensive component, costing the company $77 per unit. The touchscreen layered on top of that sets Apple back $38 per unit. Apple's rear- and front-facing cameras combine to cost $11, while the company's wireless, GPS and Bluetooth chips cost $4.50 each.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The computer and printer company claims that the new 3D printing technology is 10 times faster than that in existing 3D printers, is more affordable and prints stronger products than current offerings in the market. With those improvements, HP claims it can make 3D printing much more widely adopted than it is today. However, any customers will have to wait a little longer to buy the product -- it doesn't become generally available until 2016.
HP on Wednesday also announced the new Sprout, a desktop computer that works as a dual-screen creative console, with its own projector and a 3D-capable scanner.
Earlier this year, HP said it would announce a 3D printing offering by the end of its fiscal year (which is this Friday). Wednesday's announcement comes just three weeks after HP unveiled plans to split into two companies, joining a recent trend of large corporate breakups to create smaller, more targeted firms, including eBay's plans to spin off its PayPal unit. After the split, the new Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will focus on business and government software and services, and HP Inc. will focus on PCs and printing. The split will be completed by the end of October 2015.
"As we examined the existing 3D print market, we saw a great deal of potential but also saw major gaps in the combination of speed, quality and cost," Stephen Nigro, an HP senior vice president, said in a statement. He said Multi Jet Fusion is designed to "transform manufacturing across industries" thanks to improved quality and productivity from what's already offered today.
HP claims the technology achieves that in part by building an entire surface area, instead of one point at a time, substantially speeding up 3D imaging. Additionally, beyond the current use of thermoplastics, HP plans to develop new 3D printing materials, using color, ceramic and metal. The company eventually wants to offer the same set of colors it already does for traditional printing. Multi Jet Fusion currently prints in fused nylon, to an accuracy of 20 microns.
Early customers should have access to initial Multi Jet Fusion systems next year, with full availability expected the year after. HP said that while the technology is mostly targeted to corporate clients, the company wants to make it available to consumers as well through "service bureaus."
HP already has a strong name in printing, having sold consumer and business printers for decades, so it may be able to leverage its expertise and customer relationships to expand its new 3D printer offerings. Still, 3D printing has struggled to take off into the mainstream, with companies including 3D Systems and Stratasys working on developing their markets beyond prototyping early products and creating custom industrial tools.
With HP becoming one of the biggest companies to enter 3D printing, the landscape for the young industry is likely to shift quickly -- and perhaps not to the benefit of the smaller players already in the space. Just as HP made its announcement Wednesday, shares of 3D Systems, ExOne and Stratasys all dropped some 3 percent to 7 percent.
Dear overenthusiastic middle manager, who thinks that enthusiastically e-mailing at midnight is a wonderful way to get promoted.
Dear supposed co-worker, who leans on others night and day by sending them evening e-mails detailing everything that "needs" to be done.
Enforced Vacation is for you. Or, rather, against you.
This is an app that insists it will efficiently block every single work e-mail, so that you can do fancy things like live, breathe and watch "The Good Wife" in peace.
Enforced Vacation works like this: You select your time frame. You block everything.
The app does allow you to make exceptions for specific individuals or subjects. You can share a secret keyword with others and they know to include it only in anything that is truly urgent.
However, David Thielen of Windward Studios, the man behind the app, told me: "What we are is not a very strict filtering system. What we are is no business e-mail when you're 'off.' None."
Writing on the Enforced Vacation website, he explained that the idea for the app came to him because of his own staff.
"Quite simply Ryan & Logan (two of our sales engineers). Getting them to leave email alone at night is impossible. Getting them to ignore it on the weekend, also an exercise in frustration," Thielen wrote. "As Ryan was heading in to the operating room for gall bladder surgery, he was on his cell phone answering a support ticket. This wasn't how we wanted our employees to work, even if they did."
Thielen believes that people need to be treated as people, not tools in a corporate shed. He wants to "give people back their personal time."
He told me: "The goal is that people truly have work e-mail off during their personal time. And maybe once a month there's a single email that needs to go through."
For many, this would be a peculiar nirvana. The price of $1 per user per month seems small compared with the potential sanity that might be achieved. And, perhaps, the potential productivity. No one's ever proved that being on e-mail at all hours creates a better employee.
Some countries have begun to protect workers from modern e-mailing practices. In Brazil, for example, they passed a law that said e-mail after hours constituted overtime. This year, the French passed a labor agreement that required workers simply not to reply to e-mails sent after 6pm.
How such regulations might work in practice is, of course, debatable. I wonder what will happen when overbearing bosses discover that their employees are using Enforced Vacation to get away from their overbearing bosses.
However, it's rare that an enterprise product offers headlines such as "Stop Working 24/7. Be Happier."
In a world where everything is being pushed onto everybody, there's something uplifting about an app that tries to pull you away from technology.
Synthetic sapphire, a material second only to diamonds in hardness, has been the talk of the tech industry this year as a potential replacement to the glass that now covers smartphone screens. The sapphire piece Reiman held didn't scratch. Not one bit.
But then he placed the 0.5-millimeter-thick sample on a table and pressed against its surface with the pink eraser on the back of a pencil. With a dull pop, the sapphire broke into pieces with as much exertion as Reiman may have used to push a doorbell.
"You can't see the damage, but its strength is gone," Corning executive Jaymin Amin later explained. "Its retained strength is very, very poor."
The demonstration was part of my visit to Corning this month, where the 163-year-old glassmaker -- they built the first light bulbs for Thomas Edison -- offered a rare look inside its reliability and testing labs for Gorilla Glass. The hardened glass released seven years ago now fronts 2.7 billion electronic devices, including Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy Note Edge. While showing the torture testing that goes into making Gorilla, Corning's scientists also presented for the first time a handful of in-person demonstrations that compare its glass to sapphire -- part of Corning's effort to move the conversation about sapphire away from its scratch resistance and toward its brittleness.
With the sandpaper test, Gorilla Glass did get scratched -- a lot. But a pencil eraser failed to break it.
Its durability aside, Corning's Gorilla Glass is under even more pressure to stay ahead of the market. Mobile devices are updated and redesigned faster than ever, forcing Corning to speed its research process. The company has also had to contend with claims that Apple -- its most prominent customer -- might swap out Gorilla Glass in its iPhone for sapphire, a move that seemed likely after Apple signed a $578 million deal last year to make a massive amount of sapphire. In a surprise turn, Apple's supplier -- GT Advanced Technologies -- filed for bankruptcy protection this month and will shut down its sapphire production.
The stumble may buy Corning more time to improve its products -- that is, until another company or material tries to knock Gorilla Glass off its throne.
Corning has reason to be defensive about Gorilla Glass. The business now generates roughly $1 billion annual sales for the company (out of total sales of $7.8 billion last year) since it was released as the display cover for Apple's original iPhone smartphone in 2007. The material is now used in a majority of smartphones and tablets from just about every major device manufacturer.
Corning, based in the 11,000-population upstate New York city it's named after, said Tuesday it plans to unveil its fourth-generation Gorilla Glass on November 20, claiming it will offer "dramatically improved" performance.
Corning's main business of making LCD displays for televisions has been challenged by falling prices (the LCD business accounts for about 40 percent of sales). So, a lot of the company's future expansion rests on Gorilla and Corning's plan to capitalize on the rapid growth of smartphones and tablets, Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz said. "There's not a single growth driver equal to Gorilla Glass," he added.
Corning's expert glass-breakers
Far from Apple's slick, high-wattage product launch events in California, the iPhone's display glass is developed in an unassuming, blue and gray building on a quiet country road across from an unkempt cornfield. The low-standing structure in Painted Post, N.Y., houses the Gorilla Glass reliability and testing labs, where a team of engineers spends much of their day dropping, bending, shattering and scratching the material."We primarily break glass. It's our job," said a smiling Jon Pesansky, who runs the labs.
Much of the space is off limits to other Corning personnel, since it's used to test experimental recipes of Gorilla Glass and to collaborate with smartphone makers on prototype devices. Visitors are usually required to sign a confidentiality agreement when entering and I was told not to take wide photographs of the labs, so Corning's competitors couldn't ascertain the size of the space.
The group visiting included me and a team from electronics repair chain uBreakiFix. We put on safety glasses, walked into a restricted corridor and soon entered one of the main labs, which -- despite all the secretiveness -- looks a lot like shop class. There were large testing machines set in stations along bare white walls, with a handful of researchers there to present their torture devices.
Using the machines, the workers took turns bending, puncturing and scratching the glass, repeatedly emphasizing the point that Gorilla Glass -- unlike sapphire -- retains its strength even after being damaged. It may scratch, but it doesn't break easily. During my visit, I tried to break a thin piece of Gorilla Glass with a pencil-sized metal rod, putting most of my weight into the effort. My hand shook and reddened, but I couldn't make a dent in the glass.
One worker used a machine to drop a metal ball on the glass from varying heights. Another dropped a dummy smartphone with its outer shell made almost entirely of glass onto a marble surface. I asked why Corning was using a nearly all-glass phone, and one worker explained that they like to test out new design concepts before handset makers come to them with the idea, so they can stay one step ahead of a fast-moving industry.
"Part of what we're doing is looking at the real details of how things break in the field and then bringing that back into the laboratory to generate new tests," Reiman said, "so we can evaluate the damage resistance of glass better, so we can design better glass."
Apple finds a tough partner
When Apple was first developing the iPhone, it tested out plastic as the display screen, like with the iPod music player, but found that it scratched too much and lacked style. Soda-lime glass, which is used for windowpanes and bottles, wasn't strong enough. "We told them absolutely we can make a better glass," said Amin, an affable Brit who heads up Gorilla's technology development.During an early meeting, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told Corning CEO Wendell Weeks he wanted as much of the material as could be made within six months for the iPhone's first launch, according to Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs. Weeks responded that his company didn't have the capacity to complete the project. "Yes, you can do it," Jobs told him. "Get your mind around it. You can do it."
An Apple representative didn't respond to a request for comment.
Corning, which got its start making kerosene-lamp globes and colored signal lenses for railroad companies, used a hardened glass it developed in the 1960s as the basis for Gorilla Glass. That precursor material, called Chemcor, was marketed for car windshields and prison windows, though it failed to sell.
Decades later in the new market of mobile devices, Gorilla Glass became a hit, in large part because of Apple's endorsement. The material has been used in every iPhone, including the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as dozens of laptops, smartwatches and tablets from Samsung, LG, Acer, Dell and Motorola.
Gorilla gets its strength by a manufacturing process that replaces the glass' sodium ions with larger potassium ions, creating more compression at the material's surface. It's something like replacing tennis balls with softballs inside a frame. The effect is a more scratch- and damage-resistant glass, despite the fact that intrinsically glass isn't all that strong.
As of last year, Gorilla Glass held more than 80 percent of the hardened cover glass market it helped create, according to Bernstein Research. Japan-based Asahi Glass' 3-year-old Dragontrail is growing its market share but remains a distant competitor. Nippon Electric Glass of Japan, Schott of Germany and KMTC of China have introduced similar cover glasses though haven't gained much traction.
Gorilla contributed just 15 percent of Corning's overall revenue last year, with the company's businesses spanning TV displays, fiber optics and research lab equipment. But, Gorilla Glass has been the leading growth driver for the company, as Corning works to expand the material's use for car windows and displays (one of Chemcor's original markets), elevator walls and kitchen backsplashes.
The company has dominated the market thanks, in part, to Gorilla Glass becoming one of Corning's most recognizable brands. It's now synonymous with tough glass -- a feature manufacturers use to market their mobile devices.
Back at the testing lab, Reiman sat at his desk, where he provided a tutorial in his area of specialty -- fractography, or the study of fractured surfaces. He propped up a shard of glass using a piece of gray putty, placing it under a large microscope connected to a computer monitor. Looking at a magnified cross-section of the shard on the computer screen, he searched for the "fracture origin" -- the smoking gun that initiated the break. "I happen to think these are beautiful," he said, pointing to a close-up of the glass shard.He takes samples from devices sent by handset makers, pieces used in Corning's lab tests or busted phones brought by co-workers ("If we've got a phone in the family that's broken, we give it to Kevin," Amin said). Reiman then uses each break to learn more about the glass so he can try to make the next Gorilla Glass a little better.
"It's like detective work, looking for clues, looking for evidence, piecing it together and putting the story together," Reiman said. "It's a lot like CSI, in a way, because you're letting the glass tell the story of how did it break."
Gorilla's next step forward
The reliability and testing team's work is part of Corning's broader research and development engine. The company spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year and employs about 1,700 scientists at its headquarters to better understand glass and other materials. It's all that R&D that has helped Gorilla Glass maintain its lead in the market, said Oppenheimer's Uerkwitz, who added that Corning's rivals spend far less in R&D each year to catch up to Corning's latest innovation.Although Corning's executives say they see a strong future for its glass in mobile devices, some industry analysts predict that down the road more smartphone makers will use sapphire as display covers. A handful of niche phones already do, including the heavy-duty Kyocera Brigadier and Vertu Signature Touch, which starts at $10,800. Apple also uses the material in newer iPhone models to cover the device's home button and back-camera lens. "I think sapphire will be adopted in high volume sooner or later," said Pierre Maccagno, an analyst at Dougherty & Co. who holds a Ph.D. in material science. The reason, says Maccagno: sapphire is a "superior" material to Gorilla.
Corning's Amin agreed that sapphire had some impressive qualities but disputed that it would ever become mainstream. He said it was too brittle to be used in most smartphones, even as a laminate atop Gorilla.
Sitting in the Corning headquarters dining hall, which features large windows overlooking the Chemung River, Jeffrey Evenson, the company's operations chief of staff, discussed the future of Gorilla Glass. He told me a main focus will be making it even stronger, so it can survive the daily scrapes, drops and bumps a smartphone gets in the real world.
On top of that, Corning is looking into glass that reflects less light, repels water (to avoid phone shortages in the sink) and fends off oil (to prevent fingerprints on the screen). Corning can make Gorilla Glass thinner than a dollar bill, so it appears the company is looking to add new features to the next generations, since Gorilla can't get much thinner. Evenson conceded that it will be a challenge to balance all those capabilities into one piece of glass, but added, "We think we can definitely offer improvements on multiple dimensions at once."
In a hint at what could be coming next, earlier in the day Amin showed off a sleek glass display with curved edges all around, offering a potential wrap-around look for a smartphone. Although the display is curved, Amin said the company was able to make it just as transparent and durable as flat Gorilla sheets. "I think it has exciting potential," Evenson said. "We're looking forward to working with customers on it."
But before the new design can hit the market, it will first have to make it through Corning's torture lab.
Earlier on Wednesday, CNET attempted to place an order for a Fire TV Stick. Upon getting to the checkout page, Amazon revealed the streaming device would not ship until January 16. The listing page earlier on Wednesday was still promising a November 19 ship date, but that has since changed.
"Due to popular demand, orders placed today are expected to arrive after January 1, 2015," Amazon wrote on its listing page. "See delivery date at checkout. This item will be released on November 19th."
The $39 Fire TV Stick, a streaming-media device that connects to an HDMI port on the back of your TV, was revealed on Monday and is available for perorder. It works with a slew of streaming-video and -music apps, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Spotify, Vevo, A&E and, of course, Amazon's own Prime Instant Video. The Fire TV Stick comes with a remote control and a free, 30-day trial of Amazon Prime and Netflix.
The device is designed to take on products like the $35 Google Chromecast and $50 Roku Streaming Stick, both of which connect to an HDMI port to stream content via your television. There's also now the Matchstick, a streaming device based on Mozilla's open-source Firefox OS that cropped up on Kickstarter earlier this month and easily beat its $100,000 funding goal.
When announced, Amazon said the device would start shipping on November 19, with people who ordered it early receiving the device on that day or soon after. It's not clear when the cutoff occurred, forcing everyone else to wait nearly two months for their order to ship.
The big question now: Are shipment dates for new orders of the Fire TV Stick being pushed back because of demand or because of supply shortages? According to Amazon, it's the former.
"We built a ton of these but customer demand outpaced our supply," one Amazon spokesperson told CNET in an e-mailed statement. "We're excited by the overwhelming customer response and we have teams working hard to build more as quickly as possible."
Another Amazon spokesperson said that "the device will start shipping on 11/19 as promised. People who ordered early will get their device on time. New orders are prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis."
App Annie, an analytics company that monitors and reports on app downloads and revenue, released on Wednesday lists of the top US apps in the Google Play store and Apple's App Store, the primary shops for apps on the two biggest operating systems for smartphones. For both downloads and revenue in September, Pandora and Spotify come out No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. But players like Beats Music are relatively low in the listing for top apps by downloads. Beats placed ninth, below iHeartRadio, SoundCloud and Apple's own GarageBand.
Given that Apple bought Beats for $3 billion in a high-profile deal earlier this year, that may come as a surprise. With 250,000 subscribers as of May, after four months operating with a high-profile partnership with AT&T, versus Spotify's 10 million paying members, it may not be that surprising that Beats is ranked so low.
Beats may not continue long in its current form, as Apple is widely believed to be integrating its streaming service into iTunes next year.
The lower download ranking may also reflect the fact that Beats Music has no free, ad-supported model; people must pay for the service to use it at all. Rivals like Pandora and Spotify have the option of listening free with commercials on mobile devices.
Despite Beats' lower ranking by downloads, it is relatively high for revenue, at No. 3. App Annie's revenue measurements include payments made to download an app and payments made within the app itself but don't capture revenue from sources like advertising.
Marcos Sanchez, App Annie's vice president of global corporate communications, said the firm has observed Apple-related apps perform well on revenue elsewhere.
"We have seen consistently in the US for sure that folks on the Apple platform tend to monetize better," he said. "It's a premium product, it's not cheap. You're probably going to have a demographic with more to spend."
The rankings come from App Annie Intelligence, analytics data based on estimates calculated with the company's proprietary algorithm. The algorithm uses data from App Annie's more than 55,000 analytics users and provides estimates on absolute download and revenue numbers.
Other big money-makers that may come as a surprise are music "creation" apps Magic Piano and Sing Karaoke by Smule. Though perhaps overlooked amid the fervor over streaming-music listening services, Smule has been rapidly increasing its number of users and revenue.
"We noticed that [music creation apps] are becoming increasingly popular, and people are starting to use them more," Sanchez said. "This is probably a reflection of how games have always been an enormous seller in apps...Music creation can almost mimic games."
Plus, he said, "everyone wants to be rock star."
They include less plastic waste in the world, a push-button applicator that makes one-hand application easier and reduces stains on clothes, and an internal microprocessor that delivers the same, precise amount every time.
"The one-hand application feature makes deodorant application much easier for those with mobility issues that are caused by various physical limitations," said Carla Bahri, co-founder of ClickStick, in a release.
Bahri created ClickStick along with Gilad Arwatz -- both are graduate students in Princeton's mechanical and aerospace engineering department, so yes, ClickStick is actually designed by rocket scientists.
Naturally, any smart device needs its own app, and ClickStick also delivers here. The app gives advice on which setting you should use to adjust the amount delivered with each press of the button, and also provides reminders and data on usage. The app can also be used to order refills, or not. Interestingly, ClickStick's "Green Green" Kickstarter option comes with two refillable pouches that allow you to use your own deodorant gel or other personal care product with the systemSo if you're still not sold on the benefits of entering the bold new world of connected deodorant application, consider that ClickStick also lights up, so there's potential for awesome drunken deodorant lightsaber bouts when you come back home to freshen up at 2 a.m. before heading back out to the after-party. (Of course, always remember that drinking and deodorizing don't mix with driving, kids.)
So far, over 500 backers have pledged more than $27,000 toward the campaign's $55,000 goal during the two weeks since ClickStick's Kickstarter went live. I haven't yet decided if I'll be one of them.
Posted on Wednesday, an open letter from CEO John Chen touted the upcoming new BlackBerry Classic phone as a way to prove that the company is far from dead and buried in the mobile phone market. Formerly known as the Q20, the BlackBerry Classic is the company's attempt to return to its roots with a physical QWERTY keyboard, a row of navigation keys and a trackpad.
Announced in February, the BlackBerry Classic is a Foxconn-designed phone that's geared toward big business and government and due to launch by the end of the year. Avoiding the highly competitive consumer market may be a wise strategy, but BlackBerry will still face an uphill battle trying to lure corporate customers back into its fold. Even businesses and government agencies have been gravitating toward Apple's iPhones and devices running Google's Android operating system.
Chen's letter strikes a tone of going against the grain, of offering a "classic" phone unlike the "trendy" iPhones and Androids. In that respect, the CEO is attempting to appeal to former and perhaps still loyal BlackBerry customers as well as potential new buyers:
It's tempting in a rapidly changing, rapidly growing mobile market to change for the sake of change -- to mimic what's trendy and match the industry-standard, kitchen-sink approach of trying to be all things to all people.As a mobile phone maker, BlackBerry has been all but written off in some circles. BlackBerry's global mobile phone market share is expected to drop to 0.8 percent with shipments estimated at just 9.7 million for 2014, according to research firm IDC's May Mobile Phone tracker report. IDC expects the news to get even worse.
But there's also something to be said for the classic adage, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
BlackBerry Classic reflects that. It is classic BlackBerry -- complete with a top row of navigation keys and a trackpad. It's the device that has always felt right in your hands and always felt right in your busy day.
Of course, we've made quite a few enhancements around the edges and on the inside. The screen is bigger and sharper. Our application catalogue is growing. The BlackBerry 10 operating system incorporates all the best productivity and collaboration features on any mobile device, including the BlackBerry Hub and our all-new BlackBerry Blend.
"IDC continues to reduce its BlackBerry forecast across the board with volumes expected to drop 49.6 percent in 2014, equivalent to 9.7 million units," the research firm said in May. "Looking forward, volumes are expected to continue to decline to 4.6 million units in 2018. The question of whether BlackBerry can survive continues to surface, and with expectations that share will fall below 1 percent in 2014, the only way the company will be viable is likely through a niche approach based on its security assets."
But BlackBerry is still in the game. In September, the company released its BlackBerry Passport phone equipped with the familiar physical keyboard and an odd, square design. BlackBerry must at least be hoping the Passport will generate some buzz among people who may have otherwise already discounted its devices.
With the BlackBerry Classic, the company is courting business customers who still crave the familiar BlackBerry look and feel enough to consider the phone a viable choice. BlackBerry has already set up a sign-up page where people can register to learn more about the Classic.
"We are committed to earning your business -- or earning it back, if that's the case," Chen said. "In the weeks ahead, BlackBerry will be sharing more details about Classic that we think you'll like."
Sunday 12 October 2014
A German YouTube video shows you how to access Hyperlapse's settings. To do so, launch the app and then perform four quick taps on the screen with four fingers. It may take a few attempts before you get the hang of it. I found that your fingers should not be too close together and the taps should be quick and not too deliberate.
Let's start with the most exciting-sounding option: Hyperlapse Extreme. It adds two extra playback speed settings: 24x and 40x, which you might find useful for very long videos.
The resolution setting lets you change from the default 720p to 1080p, while the frame rate settings lets you move from 30fps to 24fps.
The Background Save+Library setting saves unstabilized videos to a Raw Hyperlapse album in your camera roll. As for Calibration Mode, it appears that it lets you tweak the exposure level without saving the test video to your phone.
Below these settings are a number sliders to adjust a number of sound levels, but be warned: they are in great number -- with seemingly purposefully vague descriptions -- so adjust them at your peril..
Bose and Apple's Beats have agreed to settle a patent lawsuit related
to noise-canceling headphones that was filed by Bose in July. In a court filing in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, attorneys for the companies said "they have settled their respective claims" and want to dismiss the case. Both parties will be responsible for their own costs, expenses and attorneys' fees, they said.
The companies didn't disclose any information about the settlement.
Apple declined to comment. A Bose spokeswoman said "the issue has been resolved, and terms aren't being disclosed." She declined to provide any further information.
Headphone and speaker maker Bose filed suit against Beats in July,
accusing the (at the time, soon-to-be) Apple company of infringing
five patents related to noise-canceling headphones. The accused products
included the Beats Studio and Studio Wireless headphones, and Bose
asked for financial damages and an injunction to ban the sale of
infringing Beats products.Bose said in its complaint, lodged with the US District Court in Delaware and with the US International Trade Commission, that it had "suffered and will continue to suffer damages, in an amount yet to be determined, including due to loss of sales, profits, and potential sales that Bose would have made but for Beats' infringing acts."
It added that for almost 50 years, it has "made significant investment in the research, development, engineering, and design of proprietary technologies" used in its products. Its current line of noise-canceling headphones, for instance, uses inventions protected by at least 22 US patents and 14 pending patent applications.
Apple, meanwhile, in May agreed to buy Beats for $3 billion, giving the electronics giant a popular headphone business and subscription streaming music service. The acquisition brought Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre to Apple's management team, and Apple said it would continue to use the Beats brand. Beats controls about 60 percent of the $1 billion premium headphone market, according to NPD Group, and it has proved popular with everyone from celebrities to tweens.
The deal closed at the beginning of August, and Apple has started promoting the music service with current iTunes users and prominently featuring the headphones in its online store. However, the company may change the Beats brand for the music service, instead folding the streaming offering into its iTunes product.
Meanwhile, Apple blog MacRumors on Friday reported that Apple planned to remove Bose products from its stores.
Apple declined to comment about the report. Bose didn't immediately respond to requests for comment about the issue.
The two companies' feud has spilled over to professional sports. The NFL, which has a deal with Bose, recently banned football players from wearing Beats headphones. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick revealed that he was fined $10,000 for wearing his pink Beats to last Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tuesday 7 October 2014
The South Korean electronics giant on Tuesday unveiled its first entrée into services, called Samsung 360 Services for Business. The operations will allow it to support enterprise customers using everything from smartphones to printers -- and the devices don't even have to be made by Samsung. It will be a one-stop-shop for enterprise customers who need tech help as more of their employees bring their own devices to work and as the company supports more technology vendors.
Businesses are "looking for somebody who can come to the table and bring expertise in different areas and [be] that one partner they can work with," Robin Bienfait, chief enterprise innovation officer for Samsung Electronics, said in an interview. But they're not looking for "one partner that's just going to come in there and say, 'hey, for this to work, you need all of my stuff.'"
With its move, Samsung is taking on some of the biggest companies in tech, namely Apple and IBM. The two giants in July unveiled plans to work together to push Apple's products with business users. IBM operates a sizable consulting and services business, and it also will optimize its cloud computing services, such as device management, security and analytics, for Apples iOS mobile operating system.
Samsung is taking a slightly different track. It plans to utilize more than 10,000 of its worldwide employees -- including many new hires, though it's not revealing details -- to help deploy devices, migrate companies to new software, integrate systems, troubleshoot problems and provide an end-to-end security assessment of all of a company's technology.
"We want to own the strategy and have a direct relationship with our enterprise customers in such a way where they see us as a true business partner as opposed to someone who manufactures the most desirable glass on the planet," Tim Wagner, senior vice president of Samsung Telecommunications America's enterprise business unit, told CNET.
The services move comes as Samsung struggles in its core mobile business. The company on Monday revealed its operating profit likely fell 60 percent year-over-year in the third quarter amid higher market costs and lower device selling prices. It's being pressured by Apple on the high end and vendors such as China-based Xiaomi on the low. As growth slows in Samsung's core mobile operations, the company has looked to new markets to boost its profits. In particular, business users have become a big focus for Samsung over the past several years.
The company first launched its enterprise business in 2010 and since that time, the operations have grown exponentially. Samsung doesn't provide sales figures, but Wagner said the company's business operations "went from a several hundred million [dollar] organization to a multibillion [dollar] organization over four years." And that's just in the US. That has allowed Samsung to rank No. 2 in enterprise market share, Wagner said. He expects Samsung to be the top vendor in 2015 or early 2016.
"We're on a hockey stick, up and to the right from a revenue perspective," he said.
Still, success isn't guaranteed. Providing support for a wide variety of devices and software can be tricky, which is why few other companies have attempted it. By supporting items Samsung doesn't build on its own, it could run into troubles with other vendors and finger pointing over who's responsible for problems. It also could get expensive for Samsung to hire the employees needed to provide support, as well as carry out the various fixes needed.
Samsung's big business push
Samsung in 2011 launched Samsung for Enterprise, or SAFE, in an effort to make Android more secure for employees to bring their own devices to work (known as BYOD). At the time, businesses weren't providing Android devices to employees but instead opted for BlackBerrys and Apple devices, which they viewed as more secure. Samsung counted on BYOD as its entrée to the enterprise, and SAFE's many features included encryption, VPN connectivity, and mobile device management capabilities such as remote wipe.Samsung then followed that up in 2013 with the launch of its Knox security platform to make its devices secure enough for the US Defense Department and other organizations. The software debuted on Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone, and as of May, Knox had 1.8 million active users out of more than 87 million Knox-enabled devices in the world.
Currently, Samsung is one of only two companies whose devices have been approved by the US National Security Agency for use with classified documents. The other is the Boeing Black smartphone, a device that can erase all data and deactivate when it recognizes attempted disassembly or hacking.
Samsung a year ago also introduced the "Samsung Solutions Exchange," a sort of app store for business programs. And in June at Google's developer conference, the Internet giant announced that Knox would be integrated into the next version of Android, codenamed "Android L."
"Samsung continues to be challenged by Apple, yet appears to have a solid enterprise or [business-to-business] team that has grown tremendously over the past year," said Stephanie Atkinson, CEO of tech consultancy Compass Intelligence. "The device itself is no longer going to be the primary product to differentiate, so the services approach is exactly what Samsung needs to do to push further into the B2B market."
One-stop shop
With the Samsung 360 Services for Business, companies will be able to call Samsung for help even when they have issues with technology from other providers, such as printers from Hewlett-Packard or software from Microsoft. The company will serve as a single point of contact, which will then coordinate with other providers to fix the problems.
The partnership between Apple and IBM was "a first step forward" to provide business-wide mobility services, she said, but it's still exclusively focused on supporting Apple's products. Samsung takes it a step further, she said.
"The fact they're going to serve as a single point of contact at least removes some of the complexity," Stergiades said. "When something goes wrong, companies can start with Samsung."
It's unclear, however, whether Samsung also will provide support for Apple's devices or whether those products will be excluded from its list of covered items.
Samsung kicked off the services project when Bienfait joined the company in January. Previously, she worked as chief information officer at BlackBerry from January 2007 to the end of 2012 and also worked at AT&T's global services business for about 22 years.
The company currently is performing pilots with 25 companies. It will officially launch the service program in the first quarter in the US and then expand to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific later on. While Samsung will provide the services on its own, it also will work with partners when needed. Samsung declined to name any companies in the pilot program or make them available for comment.
But the company said it plans to expand its services offering quickly.
"The way to continue the level of success we're having today is by providing truly differentiated software and services and by leading the strategy discussions," Wagner said. "We can't just do that at the Fortune 1500. ... We also have to own the midmarket and have to get into small business as well. You're going to see substantial evolutions of the Samsung brand and Samsung offerings."
Samsung services include:
-Technical support and service desk
-Application support
-Security support
-Deployment support
-Samsung MobileCare for Enterprise
By the end of its next fiscal year, which will end in October 2015, HP expects to officially become two companies. The first, which will include the company's enterprise services, software, and servers, will operate as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. The other will be made up of its PC and printing businesses and will be known as HP Inc. The latter will retain the current logo, while the enterprise entity will receive completely new branding.
One key goal outlined for the new HP Inc. -- to invest in "growth markets such as 3D printing and new computing experiences."
HP CEO Meg Whitman will play a role in both companies. She will head up Hewlett-Packard Enterprise as president and CEO and serve on its board. She will also be non-executive chairman of HP Inc.'s board. Dion Weisler, current executive vice president of HP's Printing and Personal Systems business, will take over as HP Inc.'s chief executive.
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal had reported on the breakup plans, saying they could be announced as early as Monday.
Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, responding to the Journal's report, hailed a potential breakup as "a bold and smart move" for the venerable Silicon Valley company.
"In our view, the enterprise IT market is becoming increasingly competitive and the PC market has been in a downturn since the iPad was unveiled in April 2010 but has shown improved trends this year," wrote Cantor Fitzgerald analysts Brian White and Isabel Zhu. "Given the challenges in managing a company the size of HP, the negative, long-term secular trends in the PC market that discourage investor attention, and the need for HP to focus more on the cloud (e.g., as Oracle did last week), we believe a separation into two companies makes sense, as we have suggested for quite some time."
In an investor presentation, HP also said Monday that it expects previously announced job reductions to be greater than anticipated, now likely reaching to a total of 55,000. That's up from the 45,000 to 50,000 the company had projected earlier this year.
HP shares rose after the stock market opened, edging up about 5 percent to nearly $37 a share.
A battle between HP and Lenovo
While Hewlett-Packard remains a major player for both consumer and enterprise dollars, in the PC market it has slipped to second place in worldwide shipments behind Lenovo. The move to split into two companies has been viewed by some as a way for HP to quickly focus on its core businesses and regain its top spot in the PC market from Lenovo.Responding Monday to HP's news, Lenovo emphasized that it is "continuing to gain share in the $200B PC market ... [T]he market can expect we will launch more and more exciting PC, mobile, enterprise and ecosystem products in the near future and in the long term; and as we are consistent and clear with our strategy, which after we close both the IBM System X and Motorola deals, will give us 3 growth engines - PC, Mobile and Enterprise."
Whitman kept the finer points of the decision close to the vest in a statement on Monday, saying only that the move allows the company to "more aggressively go after the opportunities created by a rapidly changing market." She added that the decision to split into two companies "underscores our commitment to the turnaround plan."
It's rather surprising to hear Whitman say that a split is part of her turnaround plan. When she took over the company in 2011, she began a "multiyear journey" to revive the ailing HP brand. While the company was still financially healthy, it was experiencing a revolving door in the C-suite, with former CEO Mark Hurd resigning amid a scandal in 2010 and his replacement, Leo Apotheker, forced out as CEO in 2011.
Apotheker had announced plans in 2011 to spin off HP's PC division, which was quickly rejected by investors. Not long after, he was pushed out over the decision -- investors viewed the idea as reckless. When she became HP CEO in 2011, Whitman reassured investors that she would remain committed to the company's PC division. In three short years, that tune has changed.
In response to HP's news, PC rival Dell said the move will likely benefit shareholders more than customers.
"HP's decision to break apart its business is complex, distracting and appears to benefit HP and its shareholders more than its customers, which is ultimately the wrong priority," Dell said in a statement. "The HP separation will be complex and it takes time to unwind the commingled businesses and customer accounts. Other large separations like this have often taken years to complete."
HP's printing and personal systems division, which is essentially made up of PCs and printers, generated about $55 billion in revenue during the company's 2013 fiscal year. It posted a net earnings of $4.8 billion. HP's enterprise business, which comprises servers, cloud solutions, big data products, and other IT services, generated about $60 billion in revenue and $6 billion in net earnings.
Analyst: Breakup 'fueled by weakness at HP'
While those numbers appear sound, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi Jr. told investors Monday that the move appears to be one born out of anxiety more than confidence."The news underscores our belief that HP and CEO Whitman appear increasingly uncomfortable with the status quo and believe that a material shake-up/change at HP is needed going forward," the analyst wrote. "While on one hand the desire to drive change and incremental value creation is positive, on the other, the potential spin-off appears fueled by weakness at HP rather than strength."
If the announcement is approved by the board and the split occurs, current HP shareholders will retain ownership in both companies. Those shares will ostensibly be pro-rated based on the exact split between the firms and how much ownership investors currently have. According to HP, both firms will have enough cash and strong investment grade credit ratings that will allow them to operate independently.
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