As sales of smartphones Lumia line in the fourth quarter of last year were lower than expected , Microsoft continues to encourage potential buyers to purchase the device with Windows Phone on board. At this time the company has launched another program to exchange old iPhone smartphones Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520 . And because Microsoft believes these devices completely equivalent, no surcharge will not be charged.

Technology giant offers exchange iPhone 4, 4S or Samsung Galaxy S2 on the brand new Lumia March 2 this year, according to the portal The Next Web. Traditionally promotion is valid only in the U.S. and Canada that does not take away her ridiculousness: Microsoft actually gives modern gadgets in exchange for the devices that were presented two or even three years ago.

Of course, iPhone 4 with a broken screen and badly scratched housing company will not accept. One of the main conditions for participation in the program – a smartphone should be fully functional and free of moisture and mechanical damage. In addition, together with the device, you must provide the original accessories and all necessary documentation.

It is difficult to tell where Microsoft is going to put so many iPhone and Galaxy, but it is worth noting that such a campaign has all the chances of success. Retail price Lumia 1020 is over $ 400 – you are unlikely to be able to sell the iPhone 4 for the same amount. But to sell a brand new sealed in the box Smartphone – easily.

Unfortunately, the latter can go snag: Microsoft distributes its smartphones with a two year contract mobile operator, so get rid of them as quickly as possible will not work. Should I remind you that the cost of contractual devices much smaller than devices sim-free.

Apple, of course, would never do anything like – the company does not feel the need for an artificial increase in demand for its smartphones. Over the last quarter alone , it sold over 50 million iPhone .

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Last week, the South Korean giant has introduced its report for the fourth quarter of last year, which, to put it mildly, did not live up the expectations of experts. Samsung revenues were not as high as predicted experts and analysts attribute this to the high pressure from its main rival – the manufacturer of iPhone, the news agency writes Bloomberg.

According to a press release from Samsung, net sales in the last quarter was 7.2 trillion won, or 6.7 billion in dollar terms, while analysts expected a profit of 8.2 trillion won. Operating income from the mobile division of the company amounted to 5.47 trillion won against 6.7 trillion in the third quarter of 2013. Then this figure was a record for Samsung.

Experts said the drop in revenues caused by the corporation directly Apple, which introduced two new smartphone last fall. The company was able to realize nine million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c only for the first three days of sales. To achieve this level of sales with Galaxy S4 Samsung needed a quarter.

In late December, representatives of the Korean company reported that Samsung expects to sell 13 million smartphones Galaxy S4 in the fourth quarter. The real figure was much lower, and it is quite alarming bell for the top management of Samsung. For comparison, in the third quarter of 2013, sales totaled Galaxy S4 17 million units, and the smartphone itself was introduced in March last year.

Edition of Fortune recently published consensus forecast of analysts for iPhone sales in the last quarter – 55 million smartphones. Apple should report its findings as early as this Monday, so soon we will learn about its successes from the lips of Tim Cook.

So, despite the onset of the Christmas sales season, Samsung could not even close closer to Apple in the number of smartphones sold in high price segment. However, a similar situation was observed during the whole of last year.

Samsung expected to present its new smartphone Galaxy S5 in April this year. According to rumors, the gadget is equipped with a fingerprint reader, but it is possible that Koreans come up with some innovative technology that, however, once again did not find practical applications for users.

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Name Tony Fadell, which 13 years ago was associated with the appearance of iPod, and has recently become associated with smart thermostats and smoke detectors, will now be inscribed in the tablets by Google.

The search giant has officially confirmed information about purchasing startup Nest Labs, Fadell founded in 2010. According to Larry Page, Google appearance in the family of the company will create a technology that will make our homes more comfortable and modern.

The head of Google assured that Nest structure will not change, and the company that goes into the status of the structural unit of search engine will continue to operate under the Fadell.

In the history of Apple , Tony Fadell will remain as a man who once designed the structure and the basic principles of interface iPod. From 2006 to 2008 he headed the corresponding division of the company and engaged in the development and improvement of the gadget. Fadell left Apple out in November 2008.

On materials CultOfMac.com

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One of these days, experts from research company Gartner report prepared by market share in the U.S. computer manufacturers for the fourth quarter of last year, says MacRumors. According to them, during the period from October to December 2013 Mac computers captured 13.7% of the U.S. market and retained the third spot after gadgets from HP and Dell.

Share for the year increased by Mac 28.5% – in the fourth quarter of 2012 it was only 9.9%. It is worth noting that of all the companies listed in this ranking, sluggish growth distinguished only Dell and Lenovo. The rest suffered though not too noticeable, but still a loss.

According to experts, increase the popularity of Mac Apple helped a lot during the Christmas sales when buyers gave their preference to computers on OS X, but not on Windows . Nevertheless, up to the first place where there are battles between HP and Dell, the company is still far.

Analysts also noted that last year was a very noticeable trend towards a reduction in sales due to the tablet PC – they literally “eat” market share computers. In the U.S., for example, sales decreased by 7.5%, while in the rest of the world the situation is no better. Can not be said about Apple, which continues to conquer the American market.

And all would be good, but only a day after the publication of the report from Gartner their market data provided computers U.S. analysts at IDC. They argue that Apple’s market share is not increased, but decreased from 9.7% in 2012 to 9.3% at the end of last year. Divergent data and supply: Gartner expects 2.2 million corporations shipped Mac, while IDC puts the figure at 1.6 million.

Therefore, in contrast to Gartner, IDC put Apple in fourth place ranking after Lenovo.

In the web turned serious discussion about who can still believe in this case. It is recalled that not so long ago IDC already accused mistakes computing – then experts miscalculated share iPad , but then decided to make adjustments to the published data. Gartner for such “punctures” was observed.

In any case, the truth we’ll know the 27 of January, when Apple will present its report for the first fiscal quarter of 2014.

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When Apple adds some new functions into their devices, its main competitors are watching with interest how this or that innovation will be perceived by buyers. If the gadget is really good demand, they take on the novelty weapons and rework it to your products, activating the so-called “copying” the car . Many of the technologies that Apple uses in the iPhone and iPad, existed before (the same fingerprint reader), but for some reason, “trend”, it is considered only after its appearance in the iOS-devices .

So with the 64-bit processor, which the corporation has equipped iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini second generation. Although after the presentation of the new iPhone, many said that the chip A7 – nothing more than a marketing ploy Apple, one fact was clear: soon 64-bit processors will appear in smartphones and Android, and Windows Phone. But few could have predicted when it will happen.

The answer to this question recently gave portal DigiTimes, which, citing its own sources of the largest suppliers of processors reported that Qualcomm, Nvidia and Broadcom are planning to introduce a 64-bit quad-core processors in the first half of next year. Most likely, the new chips will be announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It will be held in January 2014 in Las Vegas.

One manufacturer – the company MediaTek – is not going to follow the general “trend” and continue to develop eight-processor. Such a chip is already being used in the smartphone Huawei G750. Not entirely clear why low-cost mobile device processor is needed with so many cores, but the leadership of the Chinese corporation probably know better.

Given that the same from Samsung Galaxy S4 equipped with a processor from Qualcomm, and HTC One – chip production Nvidia, soon most Android-devices will switch to 64-bit architecture. Unlike CPU iPhone 5s, again, will be in the amount of cores. In this senseless race Apple is not involved and is unlikely to be soon.

Even now, you will notice that many of the applications and games on the iPhone 5s are loaded much faster than previous generations of smartphone Apple. Of course, the actions the company has added work program developers , who now have to support just two architecture – 32-bit and 64-bit, but that is no reason for a rapid escape from the App Store.

No doubt, Apple continues to set the trend. Yes, sometimes the company borrows something from their competitors, but usually everything is just the opposite. Apple acts as a “test pilot”, which the other smartphone makers unwittingly (and someone intentionally) is used to “break-in” new technologies.

Well, wait a fingerprint reader in the Galaxy S5 ?

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“Pincer” – one of the most famous and classic military attacks. It was first mentioned in the book of Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” and implies a simultaneous attack from various quarters for one common goal and thus blocking all paths for its retreat. In the end, the opponent shall either voluntarily or to the last trying to get out of this trap. However, it is almost impossible to make.

Greetings from Redmond

In 2013, the company’s revenue Microsoft has made more than $ 77 billion. Of this money, $ 19 billion technology giant has received a subdivision, Windows, and selling the rest of the software (basically, Office) brought him another $ 25 billion. Together they make up more than 56 percent of total revenue, so if Microsoft suddenly deprived of these two sources of their income, the corporation will have a very hard time.

If Microsoft wants to stay on the horse and continue to rule in the world of enterprise software sales, it needs to constantly develop something innovative. And, not least, to make these products as accessible as possible to the user.

Simply put, Microsoft is now locked in a large “box”, as it is very much dependent on your operating system and office suite. But she has no other choice. Microsoft can not produce such products, which would actually be interesting to the consumer. Zune? Windows Phone? Bing? The only one who uses it all – this is probably the technological journalists who need to be aware of all the new products.

Sooner complacent

More than 10 years ago, one company broke into the process “stage” as it did not have one. She was able to create a simple device with a green screen, which displays a variety of text messages, and the gadget is published notifying sounds very touchy. Recognize him? Of course, it is a pager – at one time it was popular not only among ordinary people, but even among well-known bankers and politicians.

Of course, the creators of this amazing device soon plunged into a sea of ​​money and fame. After receiving solid investments they began to experiment with mobile phones that are affordable for all, and combined the portability, convenience, and reliability that have been in the pager.

After a few months of hard work, they were still able to develop a mobile phone that is very different from the current models. Nevertheless, the company’s engineers knew that they produced a device intended to “blow up” the global market. Everyone knew it. And realize that access to a wide range of consumers with the handheld device is equivalent to entering the list of the most expensive in the corporate world.

And they were right.

But soon came the first problem. Immersed in the depths of his success, the engineers were afraid to experiment. The leaders were afraid to give appropriate instructions. They feared that if the gadget will change anything substantial, he would be no use to anyone. Involuntarily, they became prisoners of the same “box” in which Microsoft is right now.

They were doomed to failure. It just happened.

In 2007 the company introduced another revolutionary, in its view, device. People liked the new device, but the company that actually has been the first, it is not worried. Its leaders believed that such a gadget was simply “impossible.”

“Box”, which landed BlackBerry

Yet it happened. And BlackBerry – the company that created the very pagers, which were mentioned above – panicked. In 2007, Apple lowered the price as on the iPhone, BlackBerry that unwittingly found herself outside the market .

BlackBerry ever think about innovation as long as it is too late. And even when it seems to be trying to keep their “ship” afloat , the company closed a panic holes, and all that was in her hand.

Microsoft is locked in the same trap. Corporation is so dependent on new versions of Windows and a package of Office, that if they wanted to be able to get out of it.

The examples are not far to seek. In 2010, BlackBerry tried again to break into the market with a new product (like in the good old days), but again it was too late. The same goes for Windows 8. It is so different from Windows 7, users still do not risk installing it. In the first months after the release of the operating system update the number was incredibly small.

For comparison – a day Apple was able to extend exactly the same number of copies of OS X Mavericks , as Windows 8 have acquired a few months.

Irreversible changes

The basic lunge toward Microsoft from Apple was the free distribution of OS X Mavericks and iWork office suite with a full understanding of what its competitor can never crank out something like that. Returning to the analogy of “ticks”, you can compare them with iWork and OS X Mavericks , who hung over the only way out of the “box”, which lingers Microsoft.

Home to become more innovative than Apple, now again lost. 

But for how long?

Based on materials from The Michael Report and The Verge

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Tablet computers from Apple are still the most popular in the world, but their competitors c Android operating system on board did not even think to give up the fight for first place. As the portal AppleInsider.com referring to research analyst firm ABI Research, in the second quarter of this year, Android-tablet for the first time surpassed the number of iPad units shipped.

Despite this, the income from the sale of his Apple tablet only grow. According to experts, in the second quarter of 2013 were sold worldwide tablet 12.7 billion, of which more than half are owned by the Cupertino. Notably, 60% of all deliveries iPad fall on the iPad mini. The tablet is clearly selling more high-end model, so Apple is not necessary to delay its update until next year.

Nevertheless, the share of iPad in the global tablet market is rapidly declining with each passing year. According to the report of experts from IDC, if the spring and summer of 2012 it amounted to about 50%, but this was reduced to 30%. But Apple did not lose heart: Tim Cook prefers to work with other indicators – for example, the share of the iPad in the global tablet web traffic, which in July was 84%.

It should be noted that comparing the iPad and Android-tablet market shares is not entirely correct. In the arsenal of Apple now only two devices, bringing her enviable profits – iPad and fourth-generation iPad mini. This obviously can not be compared with the army of gadgets Android, the names of which many of the people have never heard. The number of competitors are taking, as in the case of iOS .

Thanks to the iPad mini Apple was able to reduce the average cost of their tablets to acceptable on the world market. Analysts point out that the cost of Android-plates on the contrary was to increase rapidly. Cumulative price increase was approximately 20% compared to last year.

It is likely weakening of the iPad is largely due to the fact that Apple has not updated their tablets a year. After the presentation of the new generation of the gadget , which is expected to take place on October 15, the situation may change dramatically, and in the report for the fourth quarter of this year we’ll see is very different percentages.

According to the ABI Research, is now the most popular on the market are devices with a screen diagonal of 7.8 inches. So the rumors about the creation of the 13-inch iPad still have no logical justification.

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Surprisingly, though … wait a minute, is not surprising: the company Samsung will release the device with the gold color of the case. After two weeks from the date of the presentation of Apple on September 10, which introduced a new model line iPhone – model 5s, as well as a new version of 5c, Samsung held a presentation in the United Arab Emirates, where it presented its vision of a “smartphone in gold.”

The difference between Apple and Samsung is the latest company that has introduced two varieties of gold color: golden brown and pink gold. And now the company can be proud of what she has golden flagship device.

But the question remains as to whom it is aimed version of the smartphone? More precisely, in which countries it will be sold? This point and is still not fully clear.

According to the materials theverge.com

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Apple developers have asked the bar high , positioning updated iSight camera as an ideal solution for those who like “iPhoneography.” At the same time , the market already has a smartphone , Optical, which is actually the main competitive advantage of the company , we are of course talking about the Nokia Lumia 1020.Sravnenie iPhone 5S and Nokia Lumia 1020Ochevidno that a comparison of optical performance of virtually any smartphone with the Finnish flagship becomes advertising last – it must be recognized that the tandem Nokia + Carl Zeiss is developing really powerful photo / video modules for their gadgets , which does not compare to the power of even some cameras. Not surprisingly, the author of the video, which you can see below , owned by observers TheNokiaBlog. Actually, the clip shows the dynamic shooting from a moving car at different levels of illumination (day and night).

Comparison of iPhone 5S and Nokia Lumia 1020Stoit out some technical details of cameras iPhone 5S and Lumia 1020, which largely affected the results of the test. Thus, the matrix resolution of the Finnish flagship is 41 MT, U.S. – 8 MP, in addition to this , the 6- lens system of the Finnish optics equipped with a mechanism automatic image stabilization PureView, which largely determines the detail of the resulting image.

Aperture ( aperture ) Apple new flagship is similar to that installed in the Nokia Lumia 1020 (F/2.2), however, the video quality in low-light conditions , as demonstrated iPhone 5S, much inferior to the last line of smartphone Lumia. Thus, we get one more reason to make sure that in the next year, the world market will lose one of the best manufacturers of smartphones, which are unlikely to be able to continue to bend the line “under the wing” Microsoft.

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The fight for a place under the sun of the market of mobile technology continues. As soon as the growing number of devices running Android, only increases the degree of competition, but there are moments in which it operated and iOS smartphones and tablets continue to be a priority.

Take, for example, the market share of iPad in the tablet market. No doubt, this proportion gradually decreased with increasing number of tablets on Android. However, the increase of the number of these devices does not mean that they are better and that, together with their improved application Play Market, which holders use these tablets.

There is one area in which the iOS-devices is still no equal. This is mobile advertising. According to the advertising agency Opera Mediaworks in the second quarter of 2013, the share of iOS-devices have 44.5% of all mobile ad impressions on the web. This is despite the fact that 58.5% of the total mobile market belongs to devices running Android .

Interestingly, that was the most profitable category “Sports”. She had her share as much as 22% of the earned money in mobile advertising. Even more interesting is the fact that the category “Sports” is only 6.5% of the market for mobile advertising. The most widely available ad units from the “Media”. It accounts for just over 22% of all mobile advertising.

It is worth noting category of devices. For example the most important generator of mobile impressions of Android-devices is the company Samsung, which accounts for 58.5% of ad impressions. Category tablet is almost completely under the power of the iPad, which displays 91% of all ad units.

Not surprisingly, Apple has decided to engage in the online advertising business. Think of a mobile advertising platform from Apple called iAd. She still works and brings Apple money. Not surprisingly, because Apple devices are a major revenue generator of the mobile advertising market.

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