Apple slates Sept. 10 event as new iPhone expectations grow

IDG News Service - Apple will likely announce a new iPhone, and perhaps other new products, on Sept. 10, as fans of the company hunger for dazzling displays of innovation.

The invite for the event, to be held on Apple's Cupertino campus, promises that "this should brighten everyone's day," hinting that it may launch more than just the iPhone 5 successor. Rumors have been swirling about Apple launching a new watch, or perhaps even a new TV.

There is also speculation that Apple could unveil a simpler, cheaper version of the iPhone. iPhone shipments have come under pressure in recent quarters as competition increases with Samsung and other Android phone makers.

When Apple launched the iPhone 5 last year, some company fans felt underwhelmed because the smartphone did not carry breakthrough features. Investors have questioned the company's ability to be innovative, and the company's CEO Tim Cook earlier this year said the company would launch "new product categories" during the fall season this year through 2014.

Apple last week introduced a new iPhone trade-in program that lets consumers take their old iPhone to an Apple store and receive a credit on the purchase of a new one. Walmart has also slashed the price on its website of the latest iPhone 5 to $98 with a two-year contract.

It's less clear what other new products Apple may introduce. For years it has been predicted that Apple would launch a new TV set with breakthrough interaction features. More recently, there have been rumors about Apple developing a watch with the iOS operating system as the company looks to enter the wearable computing market.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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Microsoft's Surface slates get permanent price drops, cheaper Touch Covers

Not that Microsoft was fooling anyone before, but the Surface tablet discounts that the company previously advertised as “limited time” are now permanent.

The Surface RT will remain priced at $349 for 32 GB, and $449 for 64 GB, a discount of $150 in both cases. Microsoft is also offering a black Touch Cover bundle with both Surface RT models for an additional $50.

The Surface Pro retains its $100 discount on all models, bringing the price to $799 for 64 GB and $899 for 128 GB. No Touch Cover or Type Cover bundles are available with the Surface Pro.

Microsoft has also slashed the price of its standalone Touch Cover accessories by $40. Regular covers now cost $80, and Limited Edition covers are $90. Pricing for the Type Cover, which has actual mechanical keys compared to the Touch Cover's pressure-sensitive sensors, remains at $130.

Microsoft's struggles to sell the Surface are no secret. Last month, the company revealed that it would take a $900 million writedown on the Surface RT, as the company slashed prices in hopes of unloading excess inventory. It's unlikely that Surface Pro sales are much better, given that Microsoft spent more to advertise the tablet and Windows 8 than it actually earned in Surface revenue.

On the plus side, the price cuts have sent Surface RT usage skyrocketing over the past months.

Tech-savvy consumers, however, might want to stay away from these permanent price cuts, with the possibility of new Surface models around the corner. The Surface Pro, in particular, would greatly benefit from Intel's Haswell processors , which offer big improvements to battery life. It's unclear when Microsoft will launch new Surface tablets, but something timed around the October 18 launch of Windows 8.1 would make sense.

According to ZDNet, Microsoft will be rolling out the price adjustments in phases, “in order to meet customer demand and retailer expectations.” Check Microsoft's Surface Website for details.

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Windows Store ad firm sees evidence of new Surface slates, Nokia tablet in its server logs

A new generation of Surface slates may be headed our way, if a new report by advertising firm AdDuplex is any indication, and Microsoft's self-made tablets may be bringing a friend along with them: A Windows RT device crafted by Nokia.

News of refreshed Surface tablets isn't exactly shocking, as Nvidia has confirmed that a next-gen Surface RT slate in the works and Microsoft has been steeply discounting the first generation Surface tablets in a bid to clear stock room shelves.

AdDuplex claims to "regularly see devices named Microsoft Corporation Surface 2 and Microsoft Corporation Surface with Windows 8.1 Pro" on its network, which provides advertising for 393 Windows Store apps. The first device looks to be a completely new model, AdDuplex claims, but the new Surface Pro device might be a first-gen Surface Pro running an RTM version of Windows 8.1.

That said, the firm claims prior preview versions of the Windows 8.1 update didn't change the reported name of the Pro, and a refreshed Surface Pro is almost a given. The original tablet suffered from poor battery life and a slightly chunky design, and those two problems could be significantly reduced if a Surface Pro with Intel's new power-sipping Haswell processors is released.

Digi-wo.comAn alleged image of Nokia's Windows RT slate, as leaked on digi-wo.com.

Repeated rumors have also had Nokia working on a Windows RT device, and AdDuplex claims that Nokia-made Windows 8/RT devices have been pinging its servers since last October.

The device was named RX-107. Then we’ve seen RX-108. And then RX-113, 114, 115, 116. Interestingly enough we haven’t seen RX-109 through RX-112. So it’s hard to say if all of these are just variations of one device progressing through development stages, or 2 device lines (107-108 and 113-116) or something else .

Monday morning, The Verge reported that Nokia's slate is dubbed "Sirius" and will resemble an oversized version of the company's popular Lumia line of Windows Phones. According to the site's sources, the Sirius tablet will be thinner and lighter than an iPad, with a 10.1-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM, and a cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. Even better: Nokia is reportedly shooting for 10 hours of battery life.

If Nokia does release a Windows RT slate of its own, it'll have an uphill climb: Windows RT itself is tanking hard, and thus far, third-party Windows tablets—especially Windows RT tablets—are selling even worse than the Surface line.

Brad Chacos spends the days jamming to Spotify, digging through desktop PCs and covering everything from BYOD tablets to DIY tesla coils.
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Smartphones and slates outsell computers for Lenovo, the world's top PC maker

Lenovo's sales of tablets and smartphones were higher than that of PCs in its fiscal first quarter, reflecting the company's efforts to reduce its dependence on the ailing PC business.

The company reported on Thursday that net profit jumped 23 percent during its first fiscal quarter ended June 30.

Lenovo's net profit reached $174 million, up from $141 million in the same period a year ago. Its revenue was $8.8 billion, a year-over-year increase of 10 percent.

The Chinese PC maker reported the positive earnings for a quarter when it beat HP to become the world's largest PC maker, according to research firm IDC. During the period all of the top five PC vendors saw decline in shipments, with Lenovo's down year-over-year by 1.4 percent.

Despite the struggling PC market, Lenovo has largely seen strong growth by focusing on selling PCs in its home turf of China, where it receives 42 percent of its revenue, and in other emerging markets. At the same time, the company also focused on developing smartphones, tablets and smart TVs as a way to expand its business.

In China, Lenovo ranks as the second largest vendor of smartphones, putting it behind Samsung, according to research firm Canalys. The Chinese market is so large that Lenovo's market share in the country has made it the third largest smartphone vendor in the world. Year-over-year, its smartphone shipments worldwide were up 131 percent in the quarter, reaching 11.3 million units.

Most of the company's smartphones are sold in China, but the company has also started selling the devices in Southeast Asia, Russia and India. In the future, the company will bring its smartphones to the U.S. and Europe.

The company's mobile devices business, which covers smartphones and tablets, saw its revenue increase 105 percent year-over-year in the period, reaching $1.2 billion. This made up 14 percent of the company's total revenue in the quarter.

In the PC space, Lenovo plans to introduce a next generation of its IdeaPad Yoga product later this year, the company's CEO Yang Yuanqing said during the earnings call Thursday. Its previous Yoga product works as a convertible PC that can be turned into a tablet.

"I believe the PC is a more powerful, multi-function device, people still need this product," he said. "It's still a $200 billion market industry."

In addition, the company will also introduce a new "multi-mode" tablet. Worldwide, the company's tablet sales were up more than three times, year-over-year in the period.

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