1 Billion Mobile Internet Users By 2010

4th December 2009 Analysts at IDC have made some predictions about the growth of the mobile Internet, based on usage data currently available. Not surprisingly, mobile Web browsing is big! Mobile devices are predicted to Eclipse the PC next year. While the report does not actually predict the death of the Personal Computer, it does say that the mobile Web will grow, to the extent that it no longer remains subservient or secondary to the PC. Mobiles will become the primary source of Web browsing for many. It is expected that the number of mobile Web users will cross the 1 billion mark in 2010, while the number of PC users will be around 1.3 billion. The growth rate of mobile devices will be 2.5 times that of the PC. The growing numbers of smart phones, such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Google Android powered devices, along with good mobile operating systems, are responsible for this explosive growth. 200 million more smart phones are expected to hit the markets in 2010. IDC also predicts that the iPhone, which currently has about 1,00,000 applications, will have about 3,00,000 applications by the end of the next year, while Android, which has just 10,000 applications will have 50,000 to 75,000 applications by then, further boosting the mobile Internet. Googles open operating system, Android, will also provide stiff competition to the iPhone. The typically over-hyped Apple tablet, which they have called the iPad, and Microsofts own tablet device, which is expected to launch in the coming year as well, will further contribute to this growth.

According to recent predictions from analyst firm IDC, mobile web usage is set to explode over the course of next year due to market forces like the tripling of iPhone applications, the quintupling of Android applications and the introduction of Apple's long-rumored tablet computer. This forecast was among the firm's many year-end predictions released in a report that offered a broad overview of what's to come in 2010 in the IT industry, cloud computing, the mobile web and the overall technology marketplace.

Mobile Web Continues Growth

One the more notable predictions in the near 20-page report is in regard to the growth of the mobile industry. Under the headline "Mobile Devices on a Path to Eclipse PCs", the analyst firm claims that in 2010, mobile devices will increasingly become a strategic platform for both commercial and enterprise developers. However, the report backs away from the implications made in that eyecatching title by clarifying that the firm is not (yet) predicting the "death of the PC," rather that mobile devices will no longer be seen as "subservient to PCs." Instead, says IDC, mobile devices will be viewed as primary client platforms. While IDC may not predicting the death of the PC, it does believe that in 2010 mobile devices will eclipse PCs in several areas - or at least come very close. For example, the firm claims we'll see more than a billion mobile devices connected to the web by year-end. That's almost as many mobile devices as internet-connected PCs, the latter which will total 1.3 billion. Also, the growth rate of mobile devices is 2.5 times that of PCs.

For the most part, the growth will be spurred by the proliferation of smartphones, such as Apple's iPhone, RIM's Blackberry as well as the lines running Nokia's Symbian operating system (OS), Windows Mobile and Google's Android OS. In 2010, 200 million more smartphones will ship, representing 16% of the market. By 2013, that figure will rise to 20% or more. In addition to the sheer number of phones produced in the coming year, application development will continue to see explosive growth, too. IDC believes Apple's iPhone will have 300,000 applications available by year-end (up from the 100,000 they have now) while Android will offer 50,000-75,000 (up from 10,000 now). IDC also believes that Google's strategy with Android - that is, an open OS that can run on different hardware - will help make it a strong iPhone competitor.

Apple "iPad" Will Launch

Of course, the one prediction which everyone wants to know about is the Apple tablet. IDC dubs the device the "iPad" and says it will be more like an oversized (8-10 inch) iPod Touch than a downsized Mac computer. The device will allow for web surfing, videophone applications, gaming, reading books, magazines, and newspapers, and watching videos. Last year, IDC said the iPad would notarrive in 2009 - and since it's now December, it appears to have been right. Now the firm claims 2010 is finally the year for its launch. It also notes that it would not be surprising to see Microsoft launch its own tablet device next year, too. In addition to the introduction of the so-called iPad, IDC says the netbook market will continue to grow as major manufacturers expand their lineup to include different pricing levels for the ultraportable machines. This "good, better, best" lineup will allow netbooks to move away from being considered value-oriented systems (cheap with low performance) to being decent alternatives to traditional notebook PCs.

Google Improves Search Plus 1 Billion Users A Week

Previous Next by Ron Schenone on 09/08/2010 1 Response (Thoughts?) Google AdSense A Look Inside WSJ There Really Is A Google Phone Google Chrome Warns You If A Site Is Down Microsoft Sells 175M Copies Of Windows 7 Why Bother With Anything Else? Doctors Warn: Only Use Reputable Web Sites To Self Diagnose Your Medical Problems

Google has introduced a new improved way to search that makes it easy to find what you are looking for. In addition Google now claims that over 1 billion users use their search engine. Called Google Instant the company claims the following improvements: Here are a few of the core features in Google Instant:

Dynamic Results Google dynamically displays relevant search results as you type so you can quickly interact and click-through to the web content you need. Predictions One of the key technologies in Google Instant is that we predict the rest of your query (in light gray text) before you finish typing. See what you need? Stop typing, look down and find what youre looking for.

Scroll to search Scroll through predictions and see results instantly for each as you arrow down.

To bring Google Instant to life, we needed a host of new technologies including new caching systems, the ability to adaptively control the rate at which we show results pages and an optimization of page-rendering JavaScript to help web browsers keep up with the rest of the system. In the end, we needed to produce a system that was able to scale while searching as fast as people can type and thinkall while maintaining the relevance and simplicity people expect from Google. The user benefits of Google Instant are manybut the primary one is time saved. Our testing has shown that Google Instant saves the average searcher two to five seconds per search. That may not seem like a lot at first, but it adds up. With Google Instant, we estimate that well save our users 11 hours with each passing second! Sounds impressive. I gave the new feature a try to and searching is quick. But unless you are doing dozens upon dozen of searches ever hour, you may not see the benefits. I also noticed that this is very similar to what Amazon has been doing for quite some time when you search the inventory on their site. Dont get me wrong. Amazon has a minimal amount of data to sort compared to the Internet. What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Source Google blog

hopping One Billion Users of Office 2010 A Misleading report

Posted by Editor on Jul 5th, 2010, 227 views // No Comment

Share After the grand success of the widely accepted and well-liked Microsofts earlier versions of Office productivity suite among the users, its time for Office 2010 package to steal the limelight. Probably because of this we read or hear statements like There are one billion users for Office 2010. No doubt, that Microsoft is the market leader in creating customer-friendly applications and employ efficient marketing strategies to reach out to the consumers. However, the statements like above look more of a media hype. There are chances that this figure was obtained by extrapolating the past trends of the Office suite installations across the PCs all over the world. ComScore a marketing research and analysis organization that performs marketing services to the Internet Business giants has revealed this whopping figure of one billion users in its recent report.

What has ComScore done to arrive at this one billion number? ComScore via its ComScore Tech Metrix service obtains and monitors inputs from the PC users who willingly share with them the various hardware and software metrics. The hardware data includes PC manufacturer, Processor type and name, OS installed, Disk size and much more. Obtained software metrics consists of various programs and applications installed, their versions, browser related data, file specifications and the various types of multimedia files etc., ComScore has roughly estimated the number of PCs on which office 2010 is installed. There is an absolute possibility that this a misleading figure, because the calculation is not based on number of Users but just the number of Installations, as a user may have one or more PCs that have the Office 2010 package installed. In addition, this estimation includes the trial versions and pirated versions also. When software Piracy is at all time high across the world, the inclusion of pirated version in the estimate would have easily shot up to one billion. Furthermore, the trial versions installed in the PCs might not

have been updated to the original version of the suite by users, which again result in wrong data findings by ComScore. Finally, when the entire story about the one billion figures came out with exact facts and reasoning, Microsoft officials and ComScore now claim that there are 750 million users of this office suite. Whatever said and done, Microsofts office suite is gaining popularity day by day, with its remarkable easy-tounderstand-and-work features.

By the end of the decade, a billion people will be clicking away at computers, but generating a profit out of newly wired portions of the world is going to take a lot of work. The number of PC users is expected to hit or exceed 1 billion by 2010, up from around 660 million to 670 million today, fueled primarily by new adopters in developing nations such as China, Russia and India, according to analysts. News.context What's new: The number of PC users worldwide is expected to reach 1 billion by 2010, up from about 670 million today, fueled primarily by new adopters in developing nations. Bottom line: PC and software makers are ready to make new sales but have their work cut out for them. Poverty, unreliable energy supplies, a multiplicity of languages, regional laws and education levels are all potentially major obstacles. More stories on this topic "It took more than 20 years to grow the worldwide base of PC users to 600-plus million. By 2010, I expect that to grow to 1 billion, due to opportunities in emerging markets and new scenarios and form factors," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote in a recent e-mail to employees, outlining the company's growth potential. Selling computers to people in these countries, however, won't be easy. Poverty, unreliable energy supplies, a multiplicity of languages, regional laws and education levels are all potentially major obstacles. And they could all get more daunting, rather than easier to manage, as time goes on. "The problem isn't with the first billion, but the second or third billion," said Roger Kay, an analyst at IDC. To penetrate these markets, companies are creating the sort of nationbuilding programs more often associated with organizations like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations. Microsoft, for example, has set up an initiative called the Local Economic Development Program for Software, in which company employees advise government officials on building tech programs at local universities, intellectual-property laws and other issues. Brazil is one of eight countries in the program.

"A lot of companies want to get into the export business, but you "A lot of companies have to build your internal capabilities first," said Maggie want to get into the Wilderotter, senior vice president of the worldwide public export business, but sector division at Microsoft, who, as part of her job, meets with you have to build people like Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da your internal Silva and ministers of Jordan's national cabinet. capabilities first." Designing products to be cheaper is also an issue. --Maggie Wilderotter, Hewlett-Packard's 441 system is an early attempt senior VP of Microsoft's to grapple with the price and management issues. worldwide public sector Introduced in South Africa, the computer features division four keyboards with mice and monitors so that four different people--in a variety of the local languages--can work simultaneously. The Linux-based computer may get introduced to Southeast Asia later. If technology can be seeded in a national economy, the gross domestic product will grow and in turn lead to future customers, said Maureen Conway, vice president of emerging market solutions at HP. "But you've got to start the cycle somewhere," Conway said. "The low-cost access device is critical to product development." In South Africa, the company has also taken over an abandoned university to train people on call center procedures and PC repair. In September, President Thabo Mbeki will speak at an HP-sponsored event. Intel, Microsoft and others are developing cheaper components and software for these regions, along with technologies like voice and handwriting recognition. One billion? Sooner than you think Hitting a billion in a few years appears inevitable. IDC estimates that there were 670 million PC users worldwide in 2003. A little more than a 152 million PCs will leave factories this year, and that tally is expected to grow over time. With about half of these going to new users, IDC believes that the PC user population will grow to 1.2 billion by the end of 2009, a 79 percent increase over six years. Gartner says there were 631.8 million PC users at the end of 2003 and 661 million now. The number will hit 953 million at the end of 2008 and cross over the billion mark in 2009. While those are huge numbers on paper, the annual compound growth rate is about 8 percent, Gartner analyst George Schiffler said. Prices, however, will increasingly become an issue as the user population expands. A low-end Windows PC costs about $350 without a monitor. That's just above the $340 per-capita income of Vietnam, according to statistics from that country's Can Tho University. Not all the new users will own their own system: Many will likely first learn through places like the PC baangs in South Korea.

"There is a remarkable reliance "There is a on cybercafes in many of the remarkable reliance emerging markets, especially in on cybercafes in Asia and Africa--and these are many of the not the cybercafes as we emerging markets, imagine them, either. We are especially in Asia sometimes talking about just a and Africa...We are battered old PC sitting on the sometimes talking sidewalk in a lane off a busy about just a street," wrote Genevieve Bell, battered old PC an anthropologist at Intel who has been researching PC use in sitting on the Asia for the past few years. "At sidewalk in a lane least 70 percent of the market in off a busy street." India and many other markets is --Genevieve Bell, anthropologist still 'assembled PCs' that are built for a particular person." Microsoft is already facing some of the thorny price disparities. HP sells Pavilion desktops in China with Windows and Linux. Spot checks at stores show a basic Linux Pavilion with a monitor, selling for $700 (5,499 yuan), while the Windows XP version sells for $60 more. Dell has certified its business laptops and desktops to work with Red Flag Linux, a local variant of the operating system, and sells some PCs with DOS, which can be loaded with Linux later. Lenovo sells Linux PCs, but only to the government. The price is lower, but a Lenovo spokesman would not specify how much lower. The price delta gets even larger with regional manufacturers. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a dealer called PC Zone can put together an Intel Celeron 2.0GHz PC and a 15-inch monitor for about $272. Installing Windows XP adds $83, a 31 percent price hike. Piracy, of course, also remains a problem. Microsoft has developed cheaper, cut-rate versions of Windows XP for Thailand and Malaysia. Wilderotter acknowledged that Linux is gaining popularity in some sectors of the world but asserted that open-source software comes with hidden costs. Additionally, Microsoft has developed programs to familiarize developing nations with its software. In 67 countries, schools can obtain a certified copy of Windows at no cost for a donated PC and can buy a copy of Office for $2.50, she said. The company is also providing millions in educational grants. Meanwhile, multinational hardware manufacturers must contend with local, often cheaper providers. In Mexico and China, multinational PC makers are making gains. Dell will likely soon become the No. 1 PC maker in Latin America, which is currently the fastest-growing geographical market, according to Charles Smulders, an analyst at Gartner. But in Eastern Europe, Russia and other places, local manufacturers like Optimus and Kraftway remain strong. Component makers, similarly, have to contend with a sea of their own recycled parts. In Western China, some schools are tacking down

motherboards and other parts onto pieces of wood to make school computers. "You can get a PC price tag down to 100 bucks," IDC's Kay said. Lands of opportunity On the other hand, the opportunity is immense. If 670 million people are currently using PCs, that only comes to 11 percent of the global population. Although declining prices lead to lower profits per unit, low prices can also lead to increased shipments, larger aggregate profits and a ubiquity of use that fuels further sales. That happened in North America, after all. "The success of the PC platform is its ability to adapt to new forms and capabilities," Smulders said. "That is going to be a major influence." People in these regions also adapt to technology fairly quickly in the right circumstances, HP's Conway said. In India, HP gave a group of village women solar-powered printers and cameras. The idea was that they would create a business out of making ID cards, a requirement for Indians to have but difficult for rural villagers to obtain without hours of bus travel. The women have tended to double their family incomes, not so much through ID cards but rather portraits. "Instead of owning a camera, they are very happy to have a picture of their children taken every couple of days," Conway said. In another Indian experiment, the company has stocked a van with PCs and wireless connectivity that drives between villages and allows farmers to test their soil, get information about crop prices, or receive advice from agricultural experts in Bangalore. HP is now looking at ways to turn the van over to local entrepreneurs. Developing nations are also not necessarily bargain shoppers. China adopted the Pentium 4 at a more rapid rate than the United States, according to Intel. Many technology companies have also honed the art of breaking into new markets. Company executives hold high-level meetings with local leaders to discuss the growth of the local high-tech industry. Intel CEO Craig Barrett, for instance, regularly conducts regional sweeps. Partnering with local companies and universities has become commonplace. In the end, though, it comes down to a question of the PC's utility. "If (potential consumers) see it as a productivity tool, then they can see it as an investment--like a car," Kay said. Wang Dan of ZDNet China in Beijing and Winston Chai of CNETAsia in Singapore contributed to this story.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/A-billion-PC-users-on-the-way/21001003_3-5290988.html#ixzz10Vs4S1LC

One billion PCs...and counting

The problems and the opportunities created by PC vendors 9/30/2007 2:10:00 PM By: Maxine Cheung

Based on a Forrester Research, Inc. report titled, Worldwide PC Adoption Forecast, 2007-2015, it is estimated that by the end of 2008, there will be more than one billion PCs in worldwide use and, by 2015, there will be around 57 million new PC users within Canada and the United States alone. While the report found it took 27 years to reach one billion PC users, Forrester believes that combined with advancing technology, lower price points and greater global demand, it will only take seven more years to reach

the next billion users. The report was conducted by Simon Yates, vice-president and research director at Forrester, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. An important finding of the report found that emerging technology markets such as India and China hold plenty of long-term growth opportunities for vendors that wish to serve in those areas. However, Yates says in order to successfully penetrate these markets, vendors need to commit to massive volume production levels. Margins are so thin and are barely there [in emerging markets] so massive volume is required, Yates said. No one knows how long [people there] will hold on to these PCs before getting new ones, so vendors need to look into building long life spans. This is a challenge for vendors because they need to keep their products in the market for a long time. Will Canadian VARs look elsewhere? Yates says another challenge vendors face when it comes to emerging markets is finding the appropriate PC applications for users because what is required in North America is likely not necessary in India and vice versa. According to Forrester, vendors could enter emerging markets in one of three sectors, including retail, government or education. The biggest market in China is the Chinese government, Yates said. The government could then set up subsidized programs to help support both education and economic growth. These are vehicles we think will work to help with the introduction of PCs in emerging markets. While tackling emerging markets in such a strategic fashion is key, Yates says when considering North America, vendors need to take on a different approach. If you look at the North American reseller industry in general, once margins started geting thin, they moved towards support and maintenance services, Yates said. They were more focused on the break, fix, add and change aspects of software. The North American market space in general has already been fairly saturated when it comes to acquiring new PC users, says Keith Groom, director of systems and networking and peripheral solutions at Softchoice for North America, a Canadian solution provider with corporate headquarters in Toronto and a U.S. office in Chicago. We're very much focused on the North American market, Groom said. We predominantly focus on the midmarket space. We focus on the refresh cycle in North America because we think we can gain sales from better PC lifecycle management services. After learning of the opportunities in emerging markets, Groom says Softchoice has no immediate plans to open up shop overseas, but there's always the possibility that the company will later branch out into these emerging countries. Emerging markets are where the PC business will be, Groom said. We do have demands from particular customers that are on a global level, but in the PC business, there are a lot of export restrictions. I'll never say never to these markets though as dynamics in the market continue to change. Sign up for our Computer Dealer News Newsletter

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One billion PCs...and counting

The problems and the opportunities created by PC vendors 9/30/2007 2:10:00 PM By: Maxine Cheung

For Softchoice, Groom says it's important that the company focuses on lifecycle management as more of an IT asset which includes PC acquisition and even product disposal. We think if we go to customers with the message to help them build and plan with the acquisition, management and disposal of PCs, we can offer tremendous value to our customers, Groom said. We focus more on a solution approach because it's about more than just price nowadays. Andrew Stewart, vice-president of corporate services and marketing at Compugen, a Richmond Hill, Ont.-based IT service provider and PC systems integrator, thinks the increase in the number of PC users will have a positive effect on his company. We touch base with roughly 2,000 customers in Canada, Stewart said. Computing is becoming an essential and ubiquitous part of everyday life in North America. The growth in the number of PCs is good because it will continue to fuel the stability of the business marketplace we focus on, which is mostly the mid-to-large size business market. Like Softchoice, Compugen also takes on a PC lifecycle management type of approach. Stewart says Compugen's

customer base continues to expand and is rapidly growing by double digits every year. While Stewart agrees that the emergence of new overseas markets offers a wealth of opportunities for new entrants into the PC space, Compugen is not one that will likely branch out into these areas. Our priorities are in the continued expansion of the business in Canada, Stewart said. Our business continues to grow here and we see future growth opportunities in Canada and our public sectors. Developing locally The Forrester forecast report anticipates the majority of new PC users will come from emerging markets over the course of the next 10 years; therefore, vendors are recommended to target new PC users within these spaces. [Emerging markets] will take time to mature, Yates said. In reality, there's not a lot of money for [vendors] to make in the early days. Like any company going into emerging markets, you need to be committed to the longterm. Don't expect to make a lot of money right away because there could be years and years of flat or no growth. While it's still early to say whether or not resellers will tackle emerging markets, Yates believes that the resellers who will go to these markets are ones that have sufficient capital and resources to invest in a long-term commitment. These companies would initially develop locally and would perhaps be acquired later by a larger company in the future, Yates said. In the long run, I think PC deployment in the emerging markets will follow the same North American and other developed country tracks.