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  • The Paradox of Consumer Choice
    A few years ago I read a book called The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More by Barry Schwartz. His anecdotes were insightful and pointed to truths about the amount of choice the free market has laid on us as consumers. Of course free markets and consumer choice should be good things, but there are certainly experiences I have had where the overwhelming sense of having too many options made it difficult to actually make a decision. I related to much of what the book was saying, particularly with the experience of picking out a DVD to watch from my massive collection. I recall staring at a wall of DVDs and having the most difficult time deciding what to watch. The decision-making process when faced with so many good choices was simply immobilizing.  
  • The Future of PC and Mobile Processors

    I've spent a lot of time with a number of hardware manufacturers recently, trying to get a glimpse into the next generation of processors and the ways in which they'll impact future gadgets and PCs. In all my meetings, one term has arisen time and again: SOC, or system-on-a-chip.

    Traditionally, chips have been created independently and then coupled together to provide multiple computing features. For example, a manufacturer would create a core processor like an Intel Centrino with a built-in Wi-Fi radio, and then attach that to a systems board, perhaps linking it together with a separate graphics co-processor, in order to deliver enhanced PC graphics. Another might take an ARM core processor and then add on additional features like extended graphics to enhance device functionality.

  • Apple's iPad: Live up the Hype? It Will....
    It was interesting to hear all the chatter after last week's iPad launch. Most reactions I heard from other analysts and media were lukewarm at best...which was what I expected. If you think about it, how can anything live up to the kind of hype leading up to this launch? But there was a lot missed in the media about the event and the product that I hope to share in order to maintain our perspective on not only the iPad but on Apple and their products.  
  • Innovation Abounds - CES 2010 Post Show Analysis

    This year's CES was very interesting. I had felt for the past few years that CES was sorely lacking in the innovation department. But this year it looks like things have changed in the technology industry. Technology companies have realized that to reach the consumer the pace of innovation needs to accelerate, and this year's CES was a start in that direction.  Several things stuck out that I'd like to highlight:  

Flash for Mobile Devices

Written by Ben Bajarin

With the release of Android 2.2 AKA Froyo comes the support for Adobe Flash with a player update of Flash 10.1.   I've had the opportunity to use a Android Froyo device with Flash Player 10.1 on it for a few weeks now and I am impressed with the experience overall.   I am pleased that we will finally have a full flash player for mobile devices. Technologically the software is solid, however the Flash developer market will now begin to think about developing Flash content beyond the PC.  
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The Android Opportunity - Core Apps

Written by Ben Bajarin

Google's Android operating system has proven itself a growing force to be reckoned with as adoption rates among manufactures and consumers continue growing at considerable rates. I feel that Android 2.1 has finally reached a point where it is ready for the mass market. I've also had the opportunity to use a Nexus One with the next release 2.2, AKA Froyo, for the past two weeks and have found it even more ready for the mass market and perhaps even the enterprise.  

Android continues to advance in virtually all areas and compared to Apple's iPhone OS, it represents the only really viable alternative, for now. As I pointed out in my last article The Fate of Windows 7, Microsoft is way behind this curve, and even if they were caught up at a pure OS level, they are still at least two years behind on the the app ecosystem. Conversely, Android is well behind Apple with the core apps.
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Netbooks vs. Tablets: How to Decide

Written by Tim Bajarin

I had the privilege of speaking at last week's Netbook Summit in San Francisco. The event was created well before the introduction of the iPad, when netbooks were still all the rage. Since Apple introduced its tablet, the value of netbooks over tablets has been called into question amongst consumers. This was one of the show's major topics. I had a session on Tuesday, in which I discussed how my analyst group, Creative Strategies, predicts the iPad will affect the market.
 
During my presentation, I noted that, while netbooks aren't going to go away, there will be a sort of bifurcation occurring around what we call a "content consumption versus content creation" focus, driving both product categories in the future. Laptops and netbooks are optimized for content creation. But in any given day, content creation only takes up 25 percent of the time most people spend on computers. The other 75 percent is spent consuming content.
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The Fate of Windows Phone 7

Written by Ben Bajarin

With the Kin entering the market, HP's acquisition of Palm, and a number of other industry events, I have been asked quite a bit about Microsoft's chances of success with Windows Phone. Microsoft is losing traction in this market rapidly and is in desperate need of strategy that will keep their operating system competitive in a market dominated by RIM, Apple, and Google.
 
If you look at the numbers released by Gartner toward the end of last year projecting mobile OS market share, they projected in 2012 Microsoft to rank 4th on the list with just over 12% of the Smartphone OS market share. 12% of the market is not bad and would come out to roughly 70 million devices in that year. That being said, I can't imagine Microsoft being content with 4th place. So what do they need to do to be successful in a fragmented Smartphone OS landscape in which we expect some consolidation to happen in the next few years?
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