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Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo is now the number 2 PC manufacturer in the world, leapfrogging Dell and Acer, and coming in behind only Hewlett-Packard. Two separate reports by research firm Gartner and longterm rival IDC confirmed the company’s ascendancy.

The changes at the top

According to the two research firms, the top three were HP, Lenovo and Dell, in that order. Research firm Gartner reported Hewlett-Packard commanded 17.7 percent market share in October, up slightly from the 17.3 percent it commanded at the same time last year. Lenovo leapfrogged Dell to gain 13.5 percent market share, up an impressive 2.4 percentage points from 11.1 percent during the same period last year. Dell rounded out the top three with 11.6 percent of the PC market.

Reasons for the comeup

Lenovo’s growth is on the back of aggressive marketing, as well as linking up with Japanese company NEC for laptop sales. And while the firm has been growing in its own right, the PC industry as a whole has slowed, with PC sales  increasingly being lost to a new generation of mobile devices. The devices are predominantly tablet PCs and smartphones, which are fast shaping up to be our go-to-computers in the next generation.

IDC, however, says we should expect to see PC sales bounce back throughout 2012 as the likes of Hewlett-Packard and other computer vendors start shipping ‘ultra-mobile’ computers, much like Apple’s extremely popular and high-selling Macbook Air range.

Now what, Hewlett-Packard?

Outside of Lenovo’s sharp rise, the other point of interest in the PC sales rankings reports issued by research firm Gartner and rival IDC is Hewlett-Packard. The company is still thinking over what it should do with its PC business, after announcing that plans of a spin-off or a complete sale of the unit were being volleyed about. It should be interesting to see what is eventually decided.

Photo: Dan_H / Flickr

Dell is preparing another to have another go at Apple’s immensely popular Macbook Air computer line with a new slimline computer of its own. A Cnet Report, citing industry sources ‘familiar with Dell’s plans’, indicate that the new Dell ultraslim computer could arrive at the start of 2012.

Why CES 2012

Though hard details on the next Dell ultraslim computers are scant, it’s thought the timing of the computer’s unveiling could be planned to ‘coincide with Intel’s announcement of its next-generation processor dubbed Ivy Bridge–expected to drive Ultrabook sales from the spring of 2012.’ Given Ivy Bridge will support more powerful graphics solutions, USB 3.0 and DirectX 11, the Dell computer could make for a compelling case in terms of technical capabilities, but what of aesthetic design and overall performance?

Competing with Apple, as Dell no doubt knows, goes far beyond just specs.

Gunning for Apple

Cnet reports that Dell’s overall strategy is to compete with Apple’s Macbook line of laptops, and that the new ultraslim computer is just one component of that assault. The other component could be a rumoured Dell Ultrabook, as well as the recently announced XPS 14z, which is competing directly with Apple’s  13-inch Macbook Pro.

How things change

Dell’s strategy could increasingly come under the spotlight in the ensuing months, especially in the wake of HP’s uncertainty with regards to the PC business. For its part, Dell has reaffirmed its commitment to the PC business and, though research has been superficial at best, sentiment around the company seems to be on the up again.

Incidentally, seeing Dell shape its recent releases to compete with Apple directly is fascinating considering Dell CEO Michael Dell recommended the firm  shut down and give money back to its shareholders back when Apple was struggling in 1997. How things change. Having said that, I’m very keen to see what the next Dell ultraslim laptop will be like.

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While it is now commonplace to see sprawling lines for the launch of a new iPhone or iPad, this is not usually the case with the launch of a new Apple Mac laptop – devices the company often quietly updates without much fanfare. This is not the case in Hong Kong, however, where Apple’s new Macbook Air went on sale, reportedly drawing big crowds in the process.

People like Apple’s products

Reports of the long lines for the Apple laptop come courtesy of Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White. In a note to investors [via AllThingsD], he wrote: ‘Our checks in Hong Kong indicate the new MacBook Air was launched over the past week at local authorized resellers,’ saying ‘The launch was met with long lines and stock-outs of certain new MacBook Air models.’

Perhaps as further evidence of the supposed ‘halo effect’ of Apple’s products, White adds that: ‘Surprisingly, we also heard that certain resellers sold out of the iPhone 4 over the past week, along with certain models of the iPad 2.’

Turning tide

This is good news for Apple for a number of reasons. Firstly, it serves to further validate the company’s hypothesis that the new Macbook Air was the ‘future’ of laptops.

Secondly, the strong momentum in Hong Kong bodes well for Apple’s success throughout the rest of China, with the company launching the laptops in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and in other parts of mainland China as soon as next week.

Momentum on all fronts

The surprisingly successful launch of the new Macbook Air in China caps off a period of unrelenting growth for Apple. The company has record sales in all corners of the globe with all of its primary product lines, and is on the eve of launching its handset, the iPhone 5, either in September or October this year.

Photo: XiXiDu / Flickr

2011 has been a tumultuous year for computing, and news that sales slipped for the first three months of the year punctuate that point. For the first time since 2009, computer sales dipped when compared to the same period the year prior.

Sales

Quarterly PC sales dropped 1.1 per cent in Q1 2011, with 84.3 million units sold worldwide, according to research firm Gartner [via Reuters]. This is well short of the 3 per cent growth the firm had predicted the PC industry would see.

Unusually big dip

While it may not seem a big percentile, a 1 per cent dip is a dramatic change in PC industry sales. Gartner itself says: ‘Although the first quarter is traditionally a slow one for PC sales, these shipment results indicate potential sluggishness, not just a normal seasonal slowdown.’ As such, it is unsurprising that a group of factors have contributed to this industry wide downturn.

Contributing factors

The first factor cited is shoppers suffering from post-holiday shopping fatigue, and tight budgets.

The second factor cited is a downturn in PC sales in Japan – a key market for the industry. This, unsurprisingly, is due to the nation trying to rebuild itself post the tsunami, leaving fewer funds available for purchasing computers. The effects were dramatic, with PC sales plunging 13 per cent in the nation.

The final reason is the iPad. Apple’s tablet PC is selling really well, and cannibalizing sales of netbooks, especially.

Will still grow, but not as much

Research firm Gartner predicts that the PC industry will sell 388 million units this year with year-on-year growth of 10.5 per cent. As impressive as that growth is for such a mature industry, it’s a far cry from the initial 15.9 per cent growth Gartner had forecast back in November 2010.

What surprises me most is the impact tablet PCs are having on the industry. To call it remarkable would be an understatement.

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Consumer electronics giant Samsung is moving fast in an investigation on accusations that recently released Samsung PCs come pre-installed with keylogger software. The reputation damaging findings were made this week, and the Korean electronics company is looking to find out just what happened.

Wait, what is this exactly?

Recent investigations have found that Samsung PCs have been shipping with a program called StarLogger installed on it. This is commercial keylogger spyware which is capable of recording each keystroke on your computer, before sending that data off to a third party.

Basically, it behaves like a window into everything you type on your computer. If you’ve ever entered your credit card details with a keylogger running on your computer, unsavoury people now have access to your funds. The same applies with installing inputting passwords anywhere online, and so forth.

We’re investigating this

Samsung sent out a statement claiming that they had ‘launched an internal investigation into’ claims that some Samsung PCs come with StarLogger pre-installed.

The unsettling discovery was made by Mohamed Hassan who found the keylogger software installed on two Samsung laptops he had recently purchased.

He found the unsavoury software using a rootkit scanner. Upon discovery, he deleted the keylogger spyware, and returned the laptop. The problem is the second Samsung laptop he got had the exact same problem. This prompted a phone call to the Korean company’s laptop support number, where he was told it had been installed to ‘monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used.’ Uh oh.

Who do you trust?

If the Korean consmer electronics giant knowingly put the StarLogger keylogger spyware on Samsung PCs, this could be a huge breach of privacy and cause a massive PR disaster for the company. In the interim, if you own one of these laptops, look for the folder ‘c:\windows\SL’ – this is where the keylogger would be stored.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

Tobii and Lenovo are developing input technology that could fundamentally impact how we interface with computers – especially for people suffering from disabilities. The two companies are working on eye controlled laptops, technology that will allow your eyes’ movement to replace the mouse.

How does this work

Tobii says that its eye control input technology will allow a user to perform certain mouse and trackpad-associated functions like select, scroll and point. All the user would do is stare at a certain widget and that would select it.

Tobii and Lenovo are also touting the eye tracking and controlling laptop system as simple and intuitive, meaning functions one already performs – like looking at a specific point of your screen – will have enhanced uses built into it.

In celebration of laziness

If you have a disability, especially one that limits how you can use your hands, the benefits of this type of technology is very obvious. For the rest of us who immediately began thinking up the wonders of having a spare hand for carrying a beer while you work on your computer, we really need to get that laziness in check!
This isn’t happening soon

For those who were hoping this absolutely necessary tech was being fast-tracked, prepare to be a little disappointed. Only 20 prototypes of the eye-controlled laptops exist at present, with Tobii and Lenovo sharing the shipment evenly by getting ten each for performing additional tests and putting it to work. It’s highly likely that this could be another awesome project at a major tech company that never makes it out of the R&D play factory.

Technology is beautiful

We genuinely wonder if people take the time out to realise how wonderful and amazing technology often is. We control computing interfaces by just running our fingers on glass, we have devices that keep us alive in hospitals, and now you have prototype eye-controlled laptops available, too? Sure, this may not reach market any time soon, but the implications, especially for people with disabilities, is amazing.

Our trusty old school Lenovo notebooks will have to suffice for now, but let it be known, Mr Mouse, your days are numbered.

Photo: Chris Lauretano / Flickr

Proving that there’s still life – and growth – left in the PC industry, fast-growing Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo has seen its Q3 profits shoot up an impressive 25 per cent. This continued growth will no doubt put pressure on the three PC manufacturers ahead of the company as Lenovo looks to dominate the industry.

Expectation beating

The world’s fourth biggest PC manufacturer by volume beat analyst’s expectations by posting net profit in the third quarter, reports Reuters. These are the company’s best results in over two years, helped notably by a stronger Chinese currency, as well as lower component costs, resulting in better margins on Lenovo PCs.

This growth resulted in Lenovo posting net profit of $99.65 million over the October-December quarter, up over $20 million dollars when compared to the same period the year prior. What mattered most, though, was that this beat median analysts’ expectations of $86.2 million net profit, as polled by Reuters.

Roadmap

The Chinese PC manufacturer, like most every other major PC manufacturer, is working on its own tablet PC and ultra-portable laptops to complement its desktop line. The company finds itself in a fast-changing PC landscape, where the once formidable netbook is in rapid decline, smartphones and tablet PCs are growing at a meteoric pace, and traditional laptops and desktop sales are slowing.

A strange move

Where Lenovo is departing from the path everyone else is taking is in its decision to launch a video game console. True story. The company is developing the Lenovo eBox gaming console for the Chinese market.

While it’s unclear how this move will benefit Lenovo’s bottom line, other console manufacturers like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft hope this will open the doors to launching video game consoles in the gaming averse region. The Chinese government has long been resistant to gaming consoles, citing the negative effects they will have on ‘the youth’. It would be symbolic for a Chinese PC manufacturer to open the doors for others.

Photo: Toshiba

While virtually the whole tech world has its eyes firmly fixed on what is happening at MWC 2011 in Barcelona, Toshiba has been throwing a lavish launch event of its own this week, revealing a tablet PC, new TVs, and a pair of ultra-slim laptops to take on the new Macbook Air.

Say hi to Satellite R830 and R850

The company is releasing two laptops, namely the Toshiba Satellite R830 and R850, with a heavy focus on reduced sized but with greater technical capability. The Japanese company says they are ‘designed to provide a premium blend of power and portability’, so there you have it.

The Toshiba Satellite R830 packs a 13.3-inch screen, with a swanky magnesium alloy chassis. The beefier Satellite R850 has a larger 15.6-inch HD display, with a strong resin body for extra sturdiness.

Give me power

Though the company didn’t unveil precise specs on the CPUs powering these computers, the company has said that they will feature Intel’s latest CPUs, likely meaning those Sandy Bridge units that have since been rereleased since the recall.

Why so unspecific?

In case it is not obvious, Toshiba seems to have been deliberately coy about coming out and saying what the specs on these ultra-slim laptops are, instead focusing on the aesthetics, input systems and, umm, cooling solutions on these computers. No, seriously, the company touts the notebooks’ ‘sophisticated cooling system’ that ‘prevents system components from overheating by channelling cool air towards the laptop’s main processing units’, which supposedly allows for optimum performance.

Whatever happened to the days of just saying the CPUs power, the GPU specifications, RAM capacity and hard drive size and format?

Price and release date?

Toshiba, however, is not the only company making a play for the ultra-slim laptops market, with a recent DigiTimes report indicating Asus, Acer and Lenovo are also making Macbook Air killers of their own.

We have yet to find out the official pricing for the Toshiba Satellite R830 and R850, as well as yet to hear word on the planned release date for the hardware. As soon as we know anything, we’ll let you know.

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The Dell Adamo laptop ‘range’ that never really became a range has been discontinued. The sleek aluminium computer, which was made to compete with Apple’s Macbook Air, has gone the way of the Dodo.

Bye, bye

CNET describes the Dell Adamo as a once ‘worthy competitor to Apple’s groundbreaking laptop. Like the Air, it had an aluminum casing, was eye-catchingly thin (at 0.65 inches), used solid-state drives long before they came into wider use, and packed ultra-power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processors. But the Adamo, like the earlier MacBook Air models, was pricey, starting at around $2,000, when it was launched in March 2009.’

Though the Dell Adamo would later see heavy discount after heavy discount, adoption didn’t increase at a fast enough rate, forcing the company to discontinue the computer. All the while, Apple forged ahead with its Macbook Air, releasing a model in 2010 that had very positive responses in the consumer tech space.

Unable to compete with Apple on pricing

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber makes a very interesting observation, saying ‘Did you ever think you’d live to see the day when Dell couldn’t compete with Apple on PC pricing?’ It’s actually an astute observation for modern day Apple, where with its iPhone unsubsidized and even its iPad, the company’s products are often priced equal to, or cheaper than competitors’.

This unintuitive reality for Apple is due to the company being the biggest purchaser of flash memory in the world, used in smartphones, mp3 players and tablet PCs, allowing them to get preferential pricing for the goods.

It’s all bad for Dell

For the Dell Adamo, and Dell in general, the failure of this product is not encouraging. Where Dell was once the number one volume shipper of PCs in the world, the company has slid, being overtaken by HP and Acer, respectively, with Lenovo running close on their heels, too. Perhaps the death of the Adamo signals a refocusing of product strategy, so Dell can return to the top of the PC mound. Perhaps.

Photo: chang_sen / Flickr

Even though the UK is one of the most developed nations in the world, a significant percentage of the population is stuck in the poverty trap, which directly impacts a child’s ability to get a competent education.  A new study by the E-Learning foundation has emerged suggesting that over one million British school children have no home computer access at all.

No comment

The Department of Education refused to comment on these findings, but the implications of this technology void has a massive bearing on a child’s ability to keep up with their peers. Without home computer access, these children fall behind in terms of educational purposes such as homework, research for projects, and collaborative work that schools are increasingly relying on.

Two million not connected

And though children without computers in the home at all is a problem at a million, the number of children with zero access to the Internet at home is double that. According to the E-Learning Foundation Charity, over two million children have no home access to the web – and the subsequent learning advantages it rings.

Poverty trap

What’s more is the likelihood of those in the poorest homes not having home web access is two and a half times more likely than that of opulent homes. This creates a poverty trap of sorts, since education is the basis of liberation from poverty, but if those already well off are twice as likely to have access to the most important information source of all time, escaping the plight becomes less likely.

What the E-Learning Foundation aims to do is make sure every British school going child have Internet-enabled computer access in the home. And with the prices of laptop computers and desktop computers continually falling, there is hope still that the number of children without home computer access continually falls.