Samsung – Borrowed time

          Hardware has made Samsung great but it must now repeat that success in software. Samsung’s great talent has always been hardware, but the company is now making attempts to change its stars. It is well established in the technology industry that hardware is becoming a commodity and that in the future, it is software where...

LTE – Rough patches

          LTE has great promise but it is still very immature. Everyone seems very excited by the prospect of LTE and how much it will add to the mobile experience. However, just like last time, everyone has forgotten that it is a new technology and as such it is going to have teething problems. The first...

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Microsoft Surface Pro – Jack of all trades…

          …master of none….yet! The Microsoft Surface Pro is out in the wild but it has yet to prove Steve Jobs wrong. Apple’s stance on hybrid products remains clear. A hybrid product can do multiple tasks but because of the compromises that are inherent to its design, it will never be able to do any of...

Google vs. Microsoft – No free lunch

          When privacy advocates realise they have to pay up, I suspect many will change their tune. Very few people, especially privacy advocates, seem to understand that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The general view seems to be that users are the customers of companies like Google and Facebook. In fact, its...

Dell – What now?

          This deal is all about making money. Dell has announced that it is going private in a $24.4bn leveraged buyout where Michael Dell and Silver Lake will acquire the company. There are two possible reasons to go private. First. Dell needs peace and quiet away from the glaring eye and wild swings of Wall Street...

Huawei and Microsoft – Out of Africa

          There is a market in Africa for the taking, but a $199 smartphone is not the device that will do it. Huawei and Microsoft have announced a joint initiative to bring smartphones to Africa with the launch of a device and the nurturing of application development. This is also being launched at the same time...

Apple vs. Samsung – Who’s the daddy now?

          Samsung is eating away at Apple’s image but its fans are still not those with the purchasing power. The problem with being the coolest and the best is that there is only one way to go. It is a paradoxical part of human nature that when everyone has the newest, coolest product, it immediately becomes...

Android – The mobile botnet

          Malware has long been known to plague Android but things appear to be getting worse. Single pieces of malware that cause problems on devices are one thing, but the existence of a botnet implies a systemic, controlled and criminal system to exploit users of Android devices. Evidence has been uncovered that points strongly towards at...

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BlackBerry – A seat at the table.

          BlackBerry 10 hopes to sell itself on a feature that so far has not worked for Microsoft. Despite being snubbed by the marketing department, I think Blackberry 10 has merit and a fighting chance. At global events in New York, Toronto, London, Dubai (to which I was unable to attend), Paris, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Delhi,...

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Amazon Q4 – To hell with reason

          There is no rhyme or reason in the valuation of this company. Amazon reported disappointing results but still managed to rise 10% in after-hours trading as the bulls dug deep to find justification. Q4 Revenues / EPS were $21.3bn / $0.21 compared to estimates of $22.2bn / $0.27. Guidance was also weak with Q1 revenues...