by webredactie
22. June 2010 10:20
An interesting article published in connectedplanedonline.com by Rich Karpinski
Cisco is continuing down the path toward a major consumer products launch. Karpinski suggests five guesses what Cisco is up to:
1. Better looking, more functional consumer routers and Wi-Fi boxes. A
2. Telepresence for the home.
3. Remote energy automation solution.
4. A home automation uber remote control.
5. An over-the-top video box.
Read the complete article.
by webredactie
26. April 2010 14:42
The consumer network storage (CNS) market appears to be migrating beyond its “innovator” roots, which could be a key factor contributing to its continued growth. According to In-Stat, major vendors are now focusing on customer education, awareness and ease-of-use to influence consumer demand and increase wider adoption.
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
The market will continue to mature as customer education and ease of use drive adoption, and market share is concentrated among the leading vendors.
Price will become more of an issue; even the high-end CNS products will not exceed $800 per unit. Web-enabled consumer devices, such as TVs and Blu-ray players, are diversifying the demand and applications for CNS devices. The consumer network storage market will grow at a CAGR of nearly 40% between 2009 and 2014.
The research, “Global Consumer Network Storage Market”, covers the worldwide market for consumer network storage. It includes:
- Market forecasts by capacity, price tier, and geographic area through 2014.
- Examination of market challenges and opportunities, as well as the home network ecosystem.
- Analysis of a consumer survey on home networks, connected devices and usage.
- Major vendor market share, product and feature matrix.
by webredactie
30. October 2009 10:41
By Erik Sherman, published in industry.bnet
The year was 2009; the month, October. News came of the end of the last specialized consumer electronics device. The GPS, which had seemed destined to continue its existence, passed on at the announcement of the Google Maps navigation feature on Android 2.0. OK, a bit exaggerated, but not by much. The current stock of smartphones is showing how many categories of consumer electronics are simply going to disappear, because virtually no one will need them — particularly when the feature set is so much richer. The vision of device “convergence,” long touted as something to desire, will suddenly bite a lot of vendors on their rear ends when they realize that it also means a tumbling opportunity to sell product and, ultimately, a shrinking consumer electronics market.
Read the complete article.
by webredactie
15. October 2009 11:05
The WiFi Alliance’s certification program for peer-to-peer device connectivity won’t launch until next summer, but the organization is nearing completion of a new specification to enable this hot spot-free WiFi connectivity. Products that achieve certification based on the new standard will be dubbed WiFi Certified WiFi Direct.
Previously code-named ‘WiFi peer-to-peer,’ the specification can be implemented in any WiFi device and allows it to connect to most legacy WiFi certified devices already in use. The specification enables quick connections between devices for transferring content or P2P communication between devices without joining a home, office or hot spot network. Connections can be one-to-one or between a group of several devices connecting simultaneously.
The Alliance is targeting both consumer electronics and enterprise applications with management features for enterprises and WPA2 security. A WiFi device that supports the specification will be able to discover another certified device within range and advertise its available services. Companies including Ozmo Devices, which provides low-power WiFi personal area networks, are already getting behind the specification. Ozmo announced today its plans to support WiFi Direct in its products. Other WiFi Alliance members include Cisco, Apple, Intel and nearly 300 others.
The WiFi Direct specs have a good chance of making a dent on the competition, which now includes Bluetooth, routers and alternative home networking standards. According to ABI Research, wireless connections in CE devices will remain the dominant technology even with home network technologies like coax and powerline making inroads. Wi-Fi connections in CE devices will rise from 113 million in 2008 to more than 285 million by 2012, including digital TVs, the firm found.
by webredactie
23. September 2009 00:20
Ericsson today unveiled its new mobile broadband module specifically designed to bring high-speed wireless connections to a new generation of consumer electronic devices. As demand increases for the freedom and mobility which embedded broadband enables, Ericsson's new consumer electronics (CE) module signifies a great leap towards an all-communicating world.
Intended for immediate implementation in e-book readers, GPS navigators, and other popular portable consumer electronics, the CE module has the potential to be integrated into media players, durable goods and more, as embedded mobile broadband becomes part of everyday life. Already with commercial wins in the consumer electronics space, Ericsson's modules are enabling manufacturers to embrace and capitalize on the connected lifestyle.
The new Ericsson CE module, named C3607w, gives device manufacturers the flexible, self-contained connectivity solution needed to create the next generation of intuitive and innovative consumer electronics by decoupling the processor and connectivity design. At only a third of the size of previous Ericsson modules, the C3607w is packaged with an extensive operator approval program and outstanding IPR protection which eases integration and shortens time to market.
Unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), the C3607w module highlights progress in Ericsson's collaboration with Intel announced last year to bring HSPA mobile data solutions to Intel's "Moorestown" platform-based MIDs. Although compatible with multiple platforms, the CE module represents progress in Ericsson's and Intel's aim to bring together the telecom and computing industries and extend the mobile broadband ecosystem to consumer electronics.
The C3607w is Ericsson's smallest, lightest and fastest mobile broadband module to date, capable of reaching uplink speeds of 5.76 Mbps with up to 40% less power consumption than previous modules. Equipped with Ericsson's wake-on-wireless feature, enabling remote wake-up commands from sleep mode, the CE module will also enable a new set of applications for security and messaging.
by webredactie
22. August 2009 13:15
Wi-Fi chipset vendors will ship one billion units in 2011. Wi-Fi is penetrating an ever-widening array of devices, notes ABI. Wi-Fi chipset shipments are forecast to total well over 100 million just for smartphones this year, while netbooks, and a variety of consumer electronics devices such as portable media players, TVs, and cameras equipped with the wireless networking technology will become increasingly important market segments.
In the near term, says ABI research practice director Philip Solis, “802.11n will be the dominant protocol shipped during 2010, and there will be no looking back as single stream 11n chipsets (those not employing MIMO technologies) increasingly replace 802.11g products.”
Source; Telematics Update
by webredactie
21. August 2009 09:08
The app revolution that started with the iPhone could spread far and wide to all of consumer electronics. That’s one of the lessons that Sony Electronics executives say they have learned from Apple’s success with the AppStore.
You could, for instance, access online stores to download just about any app you want for your consumer electronics devices, from TVs to clock radios. At a press dinner in San Francisco Tuesday night, Sony executives said it’s conceivable that a variety of devices could access downloadable apps from a single online store.
That’s a pretty big acknowledgement. Sony is a proud company that once dominated consumer electronics. But it now faces threats from everywhere, even computer makers such as Apple that are increasingly muscling in on consumer electronics turf. The idea that Sony could learn from Apple is a pretty foreign concept.
“A clock radio could be more than a clock radio through app downloads,” said Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics in the U.S. “A company like Sony has to do a product like that and you will see us doing some of those products in the near future. We don’t have an app store at this point, but it is very possible.”
This consumer electronics app revolution is already starting through widgets, or small programs that can be embedded in web-enabled devices to add new applications. The Yahoo Widget Engine (above) is being adopted by Sony and a number of other TV makers. With it, web widgets can be embedded in TVs. With a remote control, you can click on the widgets and surf web sites from YouTube to Hulu.com. Glasgow said Sony’s newest TVs will have something like 29 different web services available as widgets, accessible via simple clicks.
That could eventually evolve into the notion of thousands of apps, where you could use the web to shop at an online store and then click to download apps that are stored on your consumer electronics device. That means the device will need some kind of storage and computing power. On top of that, consumer electronics companies like Sony will have to convince makers of third-party apps that it’s worth making apps for the devices.
Source Venturebeat.com
by webredactie
5. August 2009 00:06
As the worldwide PMP/MP3 market matures, with shipment growth of only 5% in 2009, competitors are scrambling to add features such as touchscreens and Wi-Fi connectivity to re-ignite demand reports
In-Stat. Just a few years ago, the PMP/MP3 player market was among the strongest growth segments in the portable consumer electronic (CE) industry. Today, the market is stalled due to a perfect storm of weak consumer demand, a poor economic environment, a stalled replacement market, and competition from the iPhone and other audio/video-capable smartphones.
“Among the lone bright spots in the PMP market is Wi-Fi enabled PMPs,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Unit shipments of Wi-Fi-enabled PMPs will grow more than four-fold by 2013 from the 14 million units shipped in 2008.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
- Total worldwide shipments of PMP players will reach 225 million in 2009, with Asia Pacific representing the largest geographic market.
- The market is decidedly shifting to video-enabled devices. By 2013, only 15% of PMP players will be audio-only devices.
- Among the key PMP competitors are: Apple, Archos, Creative Technology, iRiver, ZVUE Corporation, Microsoft, SanDisk, Samsung, and Toshiba.
- The total semiconductor opportunity for PMP/MP3 player suppliers has peaked and will decline below $5 billion by 2013. NAND Flash and Video processors make up the majority of semiconductor revenue.
- Among the key PMP Semiconductor competitors are: Actions Semiconductor, NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, Toshiba Semiconductor, Freescale Semiconductor (SigmaTel).
by phermans
10. June 2009 11:33
An interesting article in uselog.com, which is useful for all those people involved in development and marketing of new consumer technology.
In this article in the Journal of Applied Ergonomics, entitled 'From telephones to iPhones: Applying systems thinking to networked, interoperable products'
the authors point out that consumer electronics have turned into
complex, networked platforms for services, as opposed to the 'as is'
stand alone consumer electronics of twenty years ago. Designing these
products, they argue, requires a systems thinking design approach. In
the insightful, but sometimes a bit fuzzily worded article, the authors
use the iPhone as a case study to illustrate their point. Below I've
listed a number of trends they identify, emphasizing what I consider
the most important ones, and supplemented here and there with my own
examples.
Read the full article
by phermans
9. June 2009 12:02
2Wire, Huawei and Thomson captured major market share gains in the 2008 broadband customer premise equipment (CPE) segments, according to In-Stat. The broadband CPE segments include cable and DSL modems, routers, Wi-Fi Aggregators, and residential gateways, with each company demonstrating unique gains.
2Wire stood out for their significant market share gains across the key residential gateway segment. 2Wire gained almost six percentage points in market share in the worldwide residential gateway market. In the home Wi-Fi aggregator segment, which overlaps total broadband routers and gateways, 2Wire took over the number two position from Netgear, gaining 4.8 percentage points of share.
Huawei’s major accomplishment was in the worldwide DSL Modem Market, where it gained over ten percentage points. Huawei achieved an impressive unit growth rate of over 68%, compared to market-wide growth of just under 2%.
Meanwhile, Thomson saw the most broad-based share gains. They performed strongly across nearly all the segments that they compete in, making moderate market share gains in the total and E-MTA cable modems, Wi-Fi aggregators, and residential gateway segments. In addition, Thomson maintained their #1 market share position in the residential gateway market.
The recent research by In-Stat found the following:
- Annual growth of residential gateway shipments plummeted in 2008 to only 0.5%, down from 2007’s heady growth of nearly 32%.
- Unit shipments of cable modems with an embedded multimedia terminal adapter (E-MTA) dropped to 15.2 million units in 2008.
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