Analysts laud Apple's iPad 2, see tablet dominance maintained

A slew of analysts cheered Apple Inc's iPad 2 after a thin but energetic Steve Jobs made a surprise return to the spotlight to present the sequel to the blockbuster iPad, strengthening Apple's dominance in the increasingly crowded tablet market.

The $499 device is thinner than the iPhone 4, twice as fast as the last tablet, camera-equipped, and ships March 11 in the United States and March 25 in 26 more countries. The surprisingly fast roll-out highlights the fierce competition in the tablet market.

"While it (iPad 2) doesn't include any new breakthrough features or functionalities, the sum total of its refinements and upgrades - thinner, lighter, faster, more connected - significantly enhance the device's overall appeal," Oppenheimer's Yair Reiner said in a note to clients.

"This is a sad day for the crowd of competitors still struggling to home in on the first iPad's price and performance," Reiner, who continues to see Apple grabbing 75-85 percent of the tablet market in 2011, said.

The iPad has completely dominated the nascent tablet computer market, but literally dozens of new devices are set to launch this year.

"Despite the launches of many competitive tablets, we believe Apple's product leadership, vertical integration, and vast scale will cause it to win the largest shares of the tablet market and the majority of the economic benefits," Jefferies & Co said.

China building world's largest rocket production base

China is building world's largest design, production and testing base for rockets for the country's rapidly expanding space programme, as it plans a probe to Mars in 2017.

The facility is being built in north China's Tianjin Municipality and due to be completed within the year, Liang Xiaohong, deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology told state-run Xinhua news agency today.

New space vehicles, including Long March IV, the Chinese rocket used in series of space missions, including two lunar missions will be designed and manufactured in the 200-hectare base, he said.

Parts for the rockets will be designed, manufactured, assembled and tested at the base, Liang said.

Twenty of the 22 plants have been completed, and some of them are ready for operation. The base is designed to meet China's growing demand in space technology research and development for the next 30 to 50 years, he added.

BlackBerry tablet may hit market April 10

With Apple unveiling its leaner, sleeker and faster iPad2 Wednesday, there is now speculation that Canada's BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) will launch its PlayBook tablet April 10.

Quoting its sources, Boy Scout Report in an exclusive on its web site said Wednesday that the BlackBerry tablet will hit retail stores April 10.

"We have been told by multiple sources that RIM's very first tablet will be launching on April 10th in retail locations. Additionally, we're told the OS (operating system) goes GM (gold master) on March 31st and that when you boot up the device right out of the box, you'll be prompted to upgrade to a newer version of the OS. We'll have another hands-on coming up shortly...,'' the web site said.

At 7-inch size and featuring front and back cameras, the 1-GHz dual-core PlayBook will run on BlackBerry maker's new powerful QNX operating system which RIM specifically bought for the tablet.

RIM has already announced to offer the PlayBook in four models - Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi+WiMax, high-speed LTE and HSPA+.

Since the BlackBerry smart phone's over 55 million users worldwide swear by its encryption technology for securing privacy, analysts say the Canadian wireless giant could hit a gold mine if it is able to seize the corporate segment of the tablet market.

New social networking website launched in Spain

Two students from Spain's University of Salamanca have developed a new social networking website with the aim of promoting the city's rich cultural heritage, and also to help in small businesses and job placements.

Colombian Camilo Castaneda and Leopoldo Garcia of Mexico launched the new social network website along with Salamanca tourism councillor Julio Lopez Revuelta.

The new website would promote the brand "Salamanca Ciudad del Espanol" (Salamanca, the city of Spanish) on the web, Lopez said.

Castaneda said the network later intends to "broaden its offerings to small business, job placement and collaboration with student associations to create academic and artistic projects".

The city's profile on Facebook exceeds 1,050 members, and a video on YouTube has received more than 44,100 downloads, and the new website has had about 60,000 visits.

The students call their creation "Erasbook", in connection to the European Union's Erasmus academic exchange programme that brought them to the university.


The initiative is part of an effort to position Salamanca as the "first option" among the second tier of Spanish university cities, among which also figure Santiago de Compostela, Cordoba and Granada.

More than 1,300 students select Salamanca each year.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Twitter co-founder says not in stake sale talks

Biz Stone , the co-founder of popular microblogging site Twitter, denied a report that the firm was in talks to sell a $450 million stake of the company to a JPMorgan fund, reiterating that it was committed to remaining independent.

A JPMorgan fund is in talks to acquire 10 percent of Twitter for $450 million, valuing the firm, which has 350 employees, at $4.5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

"(The report is) made up," Stone told Reuters in Seoul on the sidelines of a forum organised by broadcaster MBN.

Twitter, which allows users to send short, 140-character text messages, or Tweets, to groups of so-called followers, is one of the Web's most popular social networking services, along with Facebook and LinkedIn.

Google and Facebook have held low-level takeover talks with Twitter that give the Internet sensation a value as high as $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Stone said Twitter sought to remain independent and was not in formal bid talks.

The firm had talks with Facebook "a couple of years ago ... (but) nothing formal since and it's mostly rumors all the time," he said.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Gartner cuts global PC market view due tablet boom

Research firm Gartner said on Thursday it has cut its forecasts for global sales of personal computers in 2011 and 2012 as consumers increasingly pick tablets like Apple's iPad over PCs.

Gartner cuts its 2011 PC market growth forecast to 10.5 percent from 15.9 percent, and 2012 growth forecast to 13.6 percent.

"We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as the iPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.

Apple , who created the market for tablets with its iPad, unveiled new version of its product on Wednesday.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Japanese phone makers look to go global with Google's Android operating system

Japanese mobile phones are a gadget lover’s dream. They double as credit cards. They can display digital TV broadcasts. Some are even fitted with solar cells.

And yet, for all their innovations, Japanese-made handsets have had little impact overseas. They account for just a sliver of a global mobile phone market dominated by the likes of Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung.

But now the Japanese phone industry hopes to go global – by adopting Google’s red-hot Android mobile operating system.

“We have the technology to compete in the United States,” said Naoki Shiraishi, who led software development for a new line of Android smart phones from Sharp, the largest Japanese cell phone maker. “It’s finally time for Sharp phones to go play in the major leagues.”

Sony Ericsson, NEC and Kyocera are among the other Japanese handset makers also betting on Android as their path to international sales.

While Android was initially overshadowed by the popular iPhone from Apple, its user numbers are now soaring. In 2010, global sales of Android phones reached 67.2 million units, ahead of iPhones, which sold 46 million units, according to the research company Gartner.