Evernote has already revamped a few of its offerings this month, and it’s now brought some changes to its Android app as well. That includes new offline notebooks for premium subscribers that’ll let you download multiple notebooks in one shot, a pared down note editor toolbar, retooled Action Bars for Android tablets and a new resizable Grid Widget for your homescreen. Not surprisingly, Evernote also says that the update includes a slew of other fixes and tweaks that promise to make the app “faster and more reliable,” and it’s promising that there’s still “lots more to come.” You can find the updated app in the Google Play store at the link below.
Evernote for Android gets new offline notebooks, widgets and more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tablets, and specifically the iPad from Apple, have been one of the big drivers for growth in mobile in the last couple of years, but figures out today from NPD indicate that their popularity is going to get even bigger: the market for tablets, its researchers predict, is set to boom from 121 million shipped tablets today to 416 million devices by 2017, when they will overtake notebooks to become the most popular mobile PC device, driven by a drop in costs and a rise in features. Overall mobile PC shipments will reach 809 million units by 2017, from 347 million today.
But over that time, the rise of tablets will remain largely a story about developed/mature markets. Regions like North America and Western Europe, along with single countries like Japan, currently account for 66 percent of all tablet shipments (and most likely sales), and that proportion, NPD predicts, will remain in the 60 percent range for the next five years. That works out to 254 million units by 2017, versus 80 million today.
NPD seems to say that this is partly due to a lack of infrastructure and available services in developing markets, but also that it is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy: vendors continue to focus on the mature markets with their new products, so that’s where they get bought: ”New entrants are tending to launch their initial products in mature markets,” Richard Shim, senior analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, notes in a statement.
The rise of tablets is also a story about the decline of notebooks. The market for these will continue to expand, but at a rate lower than the 28 percent that tablets will see: NPD says that by 2017 there will be 393 million notebooks shipped compared to 208 million today.
One takeaway from this: although Apple with its iPad line of tablets has dominated the tablet world in market and mindshare up to now, the space is far from penetrated, and that means that companies like Microsoft, Google and others still have a lot to play for.
Another is that we may continue to see a pressure on price, but that won’t necessarily mean a shortcut on features. Amazon has, by some estimates, ushered in the “death of the spec” with its Kindle Fire tablet, which pares down expensive features like cameras in favor of delivering a sub-$ 200 device, but NPD notes that it will be the features on those tablets — instant-on capability, battery life, portability, as well as multi-core processors, hi-res displays — that will make them a “compelling alternative” to notebooks for the mobile consumer.
Part of the reason we will see a lot of features continue to be incorporated into tablets is because of the emphasis of content on the devices. App stores are increasingly catering to tablet users. And figures from NPD itself indicate how they are becoming a major platform for traditional TV consumption. This kind of usage screams for better screens, faster processors and just generally awesome hardware.
But by the way, this is not to say notebooks are dying. Far from it — they will still account for 49 percent of the mobile PC market, NPD says, shipping 393 million units in 2017 compared to 208 million in 2012. It adds that notebook makers are also taking heed and looking to put more tablet-like features into their products — for example, becoming thinner and incorporating touch functionality.
The PC industry is in decline, unless of course you count tablets. NPD is apparently doing just that, leaving Apple in the top spot among mobile PC vendors.
According to the firm, Apple shipped nearly 23.4 million mobile PCs in the fourth quarter of 2011, which is 128 percent year-over-year growth. Cupertino sihpped over 62.8 million mobile PCs over the entirety of 2011, representing 132 percent year-over-year growth.
Of course, these numbers include the iPad, which makes it easy to understand why the rest of the pack is so far behind. The company shipped more than 18.7 million iPads in Q4, which means that nearly 80 percent of its mobile PC shipments can be attributed to the tablet. Apple shipped 48.4 million units in 2011, up 183 percent year-over-year.
This left Apple with a 26.6 percent share in the industry, and three times as many units shipped as the next mobile PC vendor in line: HP.
Speaking of HP, the company shipped 8.7 million units to take a 9.9 percent share. Meanwhile, Dell, Acer, and Lenovo rounded out the top five shipping between 6 and 7 million units each, and maintaining approximately a 6 percent share of the market.
But the story changes when we’re talking about notebooks. The iPad can’t do anything to help Apple there.
HP, on the other hand, takes the lead on notebooks shipping 8.7 million units in Q4, representing a 15.5 percent market share. Dell trails behind with an 11.8 percent share after shipping 6.7 million units, while Acer rounds out the top three also holding an 11.8 percent share and shipping 6.6 million units.
Lenovo comes in fourth with 6.1 million units shipped (a 10.8 percent market share), and Apple falls into fifth shipping 4.6 million units and taking an 8.3 percent share.
The PC industry is in decline, unless of course you count tablets. NPD is apparently doing just that, leaving Apple in the top spot among mobile PC vendors.
According to the firm, Apple shipped nearly 23.4 million mobile PCs in the fourth quarter of 2011, which is 128 percent year-over-year growth. Cupertino sihpped over 62.8 million mobile PCs over the entirety of 2011, representing 132 percent year-over-year growth.
Of course, these numbers include the iPad, which makes it easy to understand why the rest of the pack is so far behind. The company shipped more than 18.7 million iPads in Q4, which means that nearly 80 percent of its mobile PC shipments can be attributed to the tablet. Apple shipped 48.4 million units in 2011, up 183 percent year-over-year.
This left Apple with a 26.6 percent share in the industry, and three times as many units shipped as the next mobile PC vendor in line: HP.
Speaking of HP, the company shipped 8.7 million units to take a 9.9 percent share. Meanwhile, Dell, Acer, and Lenovo rounded out the top five shipping between 6 and 7 million units each, and maintaining approximately a 6 percent share of the market.
But the story changes when we’re talking about notebooks. The iPad can’t do anything to help Apple there.
HP, on the other hand, takes the lead on notebooks shipping 8.7 million units in Q4, representing a 15.5 percent market share. Dell trails behind with an 11.8 percent share after shipping 6.7 million units, while Acer rounds out the top three also holding an 11.8 percent share and shipping 6.6 million units.
Lenovo comes in fourth with 6.1 million units shipped (a 10.8 percent market share), and Apple falls into fifth shipping 4.6 million units and taking an 8.3 percent share.
HP caused a major splash (not only) in the technology world when the world’s biggest computer maker last week announced it plans to spin off its PC business. But one country, which has always been a unique market for many companies, is apparently getting a special treatment: Japan.
We reported back in June that HP will move over part of the production for notebooks from China to Japan, and it looks like the company’s decision from last week didn’t affect the plan. Today, HP actually started manufacturing these devices in its plant in Akishima, Tokyo.
During a press conference, Takafumi Oka, VP at HP Japan, said that he thinks pulling the plug on the computer business would be a mistake on his company’s part and that HP should look into other options instead.
So far, the plant has been used for the production of desktop PCs. The notebooks are initially intended for sale to domestic businesses, followed by models for the general consumer market to be produced by the end of this year. The aim is to slash delivery time by about 50% to five days.
At the moment, HP is producing most of its computers and related products in China.
Via PC Watch [JP]
Although we recently heard tell of a touchscreen-based test platform called Seaboard running Chrome OS, Google isn’t in a hurry to acknowledge that its browser OS is coming to tablets. I can’t blame them, either — with Android numbers increasing and Chrome OS unproven, it’d be foolish to dilute the market with a second tablet ecosystem. So they’re officially limiting it to Chromebooks for now.
Speaking at Computex in Taipei, Google’s Sundar Pichai said:
Chrome OS is a computer model designed with various form factors in mind, but we are entirely focused on the notebook form factor for now. We have no other plans at this time.
The touchscreen testbed seems to contradict that statement, but at a big company like Google they’re definitely thinking and testing months and years ahead of time, so “no other plans” really just means “plans could change.”
Once they roll out Chrome OS in earnest, though, I think we’ll see an understandable divide between it and Android. It’ll take a while and both products continue to evolve, though, so let’s just wait and see.
When Thunderbolt made its big debut back in February, we weren’t too surprised to find it take the shape of a DisplayPort connector. As Apple has been a big partner with Intel on the new interface and has always been a big promoter of DisplayPort, it made sense. But it was no guarantee that the rest of the industry would follow suit. And it seems Sony might be the first to change things up.
The picture above is of Sony’s Ultimate Mobile PC, which was teased last month. But the PC has a dock that connects to a Thunderbolt port, and Gula Digital points out that there’s no DisplayPort style plug-in there. So it has to be a combo USB 3.0/Thunderbolt port, unless this design isn’t final and they switch things up.
When Thunderbolt was Light Peak, it actually used a USB-style connector, so this isn’t unprecedented at all. But is it good for consumers? This combo port may be more practical, since it can be used with far more devices, but as Engadget notes, the USB connector isn’t something you can just copy and paste. Sony may have worked something out with them, or the story could be even more complicated than that.
We’ll have to wait for Sony to clear things up on this one. It’s all speculation for now, unless of course a few other companies show off some USB-style Thunderbolt ports, in which case it’s all confirmed and Apple is in the minority. Ah well, you didn’t really think this was the end of adapters and multiple port standards, did you?
Ditching desktops and notebooks for tablets? MANILA, Philippines — Results of Nielsen’s latest study on tablet use in the United States adds some more ammunition to naysayers broadcasting the “apparent” demise of desktop PCs, notebooks, and netbooks. Results of Nielsen’s survey show that consumers with many electronic gadgets and devices are discarding their computers in favor of tablets. Read more on Manila Bulletin
Best-Selling Author Reveals How to Be the Happiest Person You Know! Revised for 2011, hit book “The 18 Rules of Happiness” is relaunched on Kindle and iPad Read more on PRWeb via Yahoo! News
Business briefs Apple shines Apple has overtaken Google as the world’s most valuable brand, thanks to the success of the iPad and the iPhone, according to the BrandZ Top 100 ranking. The re port, provided yesterday to the Financial Times, estimates the value of Apple’s brand at more than $ 153… Read more on New York Post
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Picture this: you’re on a road trip with a pal, and both of you are keeping a journal in your little Moleskine notebooks, filling them with your secrets, sketches, and occasional collages. One day you throw them in the back seat, and later on, accidentally pick up each other’s Moleskines. You open it up and… oh god! All your secrets revealed!
This would never happen if you had these awesome Star Wars Moleskines. But be careful where you keep it. Someone might mistake it for a book of Star Wars trivia, and… oh god! All your slash fiction revealed!
No pricing or availability, which means I couldn’t use my “coming to a galaxy near you” line. Noooo!
Apple just announced its massive Q1 numbers yesterday; they sold 4.13 million Macs. Now that’s only in one quarter, but HP thinks they can also pull off some massive numbers by selling 45 to 48 million notebooks in 2011. In 2010, HP did a little over 39 million notebooks.
Included in the numbers would also be HP’s new WebOS tablets, which should be introduced early next month. HP also includes the Windows 7 (Slate 500) in the numbers, but we expect the majority to be on the made-for-tablet OS.
Do you think HP is getting ahead of themselves, or is it possible that the WebOS tablets will help them reach their goal?
