Stock Talk: HTC's problem is getting worse

Late last week, HTC posted its Q2 results for 2012, and they weren’t pretty. Profits are down 60 percent year over year.  But perhaps the most visible sign of decline comes from revenue. After all, consumers don’t necessarily know if a company makes money based on what it sells. But if HTC sells fewer phones, it’s a highly visible change. And that’s exactly what has been happening. HTC revenues dropped by more than 25 percent in Q2.  This week the Taiwanese manufacturer posted results for July, and sales were down by 45 percent. This is worrisome because it suggests HTC’s revenue woes are accelerating, not easing.  

The problems faced by HTC are serious. With Android having gained so much market share over the last couple of years, the only way to explain HTC’s performance is a loss of consumer appeal. When people think about Android, the brand that comes to mind is clearly Samsung.  The smartphone market, at the high end, has essentially consolidated around Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy families. Then, waiting to duke it out for a slice of the action will be Microsoft/Nokia and the Windows Phone 8 Lumia phones, along with Research in Motion’s BlackBerry 10 (neither of which have hit the market)...

[Source: To read the full article visit Android Central]

After ‘Genius’ Fail, Apple Back to Promoting iPad in Olympics

Apple, which discontinued its much-panned “genius” ads during the Olympics after their short run, is back with a more traditional approach, promoting its latest iPad.  The ad above, which ran during Tuesday night’s Olympics telecast on NBC, touts the new iPad’s Retina display and the ability to tweet articles you like. The “product-as-hero” style of the TV spot is more in keeping with past Apple ads than the three “genius” spots, which put the brand’s Apple Store VIPs in the spotlight. In contrast with “Genius,” which divided fans, the latest spot seems to be gaining wider acceptance — with more than 26,000 views, the new ad has 10 times more likes than dislikes.  However, the creative retreat by Apple is uncharacteristic. The brand rarely kowtows to fans and a tacit admission that the previous ads weren’t working is a rare occurrence for a brand known for its uncompromising vision and untouchable marketing prowess.  What do you think? Do you like the latest ads? Were the genius ads unfairly maligned? Sound off in the comments.

[Source: Mashable]

Apple Temporarily Halts Over-the-Phone iCloud Password Resets

Wired reports that Apple has ordered its support staff to temporarily stop processing AppleID password changes over the phone.   The move is a response to the experience of Wired reporter Mat Honan who had his iCloud account hacked which resulted in the remote-wipe of his iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. An Apple worker with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Wired that the over-the-phone password freeze would last at least 24 hours. The employee speculated that the freeze was put in place to give Apple more time to determine what security policies needed to be changed, if any. Wired was able to confirm the policy change by calling Apple Support and attempting to reset the password on an iCloud account.   Meanwhile, Amazon has also changed their policy in the wake of the hacking report. Amazon no longer allows people to call in and change their credit card or email address settings. Hackers had taken advantage of Amazon's policies in order to expose the last four digits of Honan's credit card which was then used to take over his iCloud account.

[Source: Mac Rumours]

Starbucks switches to Square for payments, invests $25 million and will support Pay with Square

While Square's mobile payment processing platform has already picked up some major players in retail to go along with more than a million small businesses, its biggest shot in the arm to date is a new partnership with Starbucks. The chain will use Square to process credit card payments in nearly 7,000 US locations along with investing $25 million in the company, while Starbucks president, chairman and CEO Howard Shulz is joining its Board of Directors. Also notable for Square is that this fall Starbucks will be pushing features like its Pay with Square app that lets customers pay via iOS and Android apps, as well as the Square Directory of local businesses. In a letter, Square CEO Jack Dorsey pushed the platform as a way enhance local businesses and communities, but we'll see how friendly your local coffeeshop employees are when a familiar green logo shares their payment processor.

[Source: Engadget]

Would You Wear an Internet-Connected T-Shirt?

T-shirts are great outerwear, especially in the summer. But they’re just so, you know, analog. That may change, though. Ballantine’s, the brand behind the tattoo-based “Human API,” has a new idea it calls “T-Shirt OS.”  The concept: A T-shirt with an ultrathin LED screen that’s connected to the Internet (via your smartphone) and can display tweets, your Intstagram feed and even take photos. Though the technology to do all this is available, it’s not clear whether consumers want such an item. Hence the video above, which is a sort of trial balloon for the concept. If you like what Ballantine’s is proposing, then visit the brand’s Facebook Page.  

[Source: Mashable]

Google adds real time traffic data in maps to 130 new U.S. cities, expands global coverage, too

Real time traffic information is a real day saver, and todays news from Google brings the service to a further 130 U.S. cities within Google Maps. 

These smaller cities such as Kalamazoo, Michigan and Portland, Maine, will now benefit from traffic information and estimated travel times around the arterial routes within the cities. Hit the source link below for more information on which cities have been added.

The United States isn't the only place to see expanded coverage either. Panama City, San Jose (Costa Rica) and Bogota all join in for the first time too. Additionally, the coverage is being expanded throughout parts of Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Good work, Google.

[Source: Android Central]

Google interactive doodle highlights Olympics hoop dreams

Google is trying hard to get its users into the Olympic Games.

After yesterday's hurdles challenge, the Web giant is tapping our hoop dreams with another interactive doodle that allows users to take the rock to the hole for Olympic gold. Using the space bar (or even the left-click button), would-be Dream Teamers try to shoot as many free throws as possible in 24 seconds.

Oddly, while the hurdles doodle demanded users to use two hands, the basketball doodle requires only two clicks with one hand to shoot a basket. But the trick is that the time between those two clicks determines the distance of the shot -- the longer time between clicks, the farther the ball will travel. That comes in handy has the free-throw line gradually moves away from the basket.

Performances are judged from one to three stars and can be shared on Google+.

As with tradition dating back to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Google highlights a different event each day of the Games. In addition to the hurdles, sports already featured this year are archery, diving, fencing, rings, field hockey, table tennis, shot put, pole vault, synchronized swimming, and javelin.

However, unlike other doodles, this one doesn't appear to link to information about the event because it also uses the left-click button to operate the virtual athlete. For those you too busy working on your free throw to type in the associated search terms, the first of the men's basketball quarterfinals games begins at 6 a.m. PT Wednesday.

[Source: cnet]

Plextor M5 Pro bulges SSD envelope with 94K IOPS and 540MB/s

Plextor's newly launched M5 Pro is angling to be the top dot on the SATA III SSD spec charts -- and looks like it will mostly succeed. The Marvell Monet controller lets the unit hit a continuous 540 MB/s read and 450 MB/s write speeds for the larger models, as well as a hefty 94,000 read and 86,000 write IOPS. Those figures would put it ahead of or alongside most of its competitors except in steady write speeds, but Plextor claims that hustle is not the model's only trick. It also makes use of "True Speed" tech to minimize performance drops with age, uses 128-bit error correction to eliminate data inaccuracy and offers 256-bit full-drive encryption. The 128GB, 256GB or 512GB drives will be available mid-August for prices that have yet to be determined, but it's likely to be well north of its budget namesake, the M5S. You'll find the full PR after the break.

[Source: Engadget]

Kantar On Smartphones: Samsung 45% Of Euro Sales; Apple Gained Only In UK, US; RIM Holds On In France

We have seen reports from Strategy Analytics, IDC and Canalys detailing how many smartphones that handset makers shipped in the last quarter (the takeaway: Android is still on top, with Samsung the chief benefactor); today, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, WPP’s market analytics business, has released its rolling monthly update on how that translates into on-the-ground sales in some of the biggest markets in the world. The results give more weight to Samsung’s current domination; and underscore how important it is for Apple to “wow” the market next month with the launch of a new handset.

 

[Source: To read the full article visit Tech Crunch]

Could Birmingham Become ‘Britain’s Berlin’ For Tech?

Rolling into Birmingham on a train from London you’ll see what looks like a couple of derelict car parks and the odd flash of graffiti on the side of some disused building. Indeed, for this observer at least, Birmingham was almost reminiscent of Berlin, with its many concrete buildings and 60s architecture. On looks alone, it’s not hard to see how it gave birth to the bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

But though the impression of a city that’s a little rough around the edges can work from some angles, the place has plenty to suggest it’s not quite ‘poor but sexy’ as Berlin has been described, especially when you realise the derelict building is earmarked with signage for development, and the carpark has the word “Temporary” on it.

[Source: To read the full article visit Tech Crunch]

Tweeting Truck Lands on Mars

Overcoming its “seven minutes of terror” — and winning the hearts of geeks worldwide — the 2,000 lb. NASA Curiosity Rover landed on Mars at 1:39am, early Monday morning EST.  “We’re on Mars again,” said the exhilirated NASA chief, Charles Bolden. “It’s just absolutely incredible. It doesn’t get any better than this.”  Much of the Twittersphere agreed with him — especially as the Curiosity Rover’s official account was live-tweeting the whole landing, writing in what you might well call the voice of the Internet. 

[Source: To read the full article visit Mashable]