Visit our other websites:    On CE ... eSP ... Mobile Channels ... ECI news ... rAVe Europe ... Digital Signage News EMEA

Bob’s Byte

Microsoft Doubles Down: The Two-Faced Surface Duo

E-mail Print PDF
Microsoft Doubles Down: The Two-Faced Surface Duo

Starting at $1399, Microsoft’s Surface Duo opens into the thinnest mobile device on the market and connects two PixelSense™ Fusion Displays to create one expansive 8.1-inch screen.

With Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and dimensions of 145.2 mm (H) x 93.3 mm (W) x 9.9 mm (T at hinge), there’s room for an eSIM5 and one Nano SIM. It runs on Android 10.

But don’t call it a smartphone. Microsoft really, really wants to create a new category of mobile device-- that is, a popular new category.

“We designed Surface Duo for people who want to get more done with the device in their pocket. Our internal research shows that 3 out of 4 people report struggling to complete complex tasks while away from their computer. That’s because smartphones with a single screen aren’t designed for you to easily do multiple things at once,” says Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer for Windows + Devices,\.

“Think about it. You continually have to switch between apps to get even the most essential things done – breaking focus, breaking flow. Just like using two monitors at your desk, having two distinct screens lets you open up two apps side by side…”

He goes on “..as we look ahead to the next wave of mobile productivity and creativity, we see an opportunity to create something new with Surface Duo-- not to reinvent the phone, but to inspire people to rethink how they want to use the device in their pocket.”

Folded up, the Duo is 9.9 mm thick. Unfold and the Surface Duo’s 360-degree hinge allows you to use each screen individually or together, across a variety of modes. Most smartphones sport a tall, pocket-wide size but Microsoft went wider--for an aspect ratio more similar to a laptop or monitor. Like your old iPhone, Duo its slip showing with bezel above and below the screen.

Continue reading...

The Man Who Didn’t Know He Had a Brand

E-mail Print PDF
The Man Who Didn’t Know He Had a Brand

In my DISTREE XXL keynote in Monaco, I share several entertaining stories about retail and brand experience.

Without ruining the surprises in the talk, here are some of the topics included...

First, the man who invented the STOP sign has a lesson for all of us. Next, off to the Middle East where you'll meet THE MAN WHO DIDN'T KNOW HE HAD A BRAND. Then a discussion of B8TA's significant new retail approach and the beginning of their international expansion.

Continue reading...

Ingram Micro: A Deal on the Table

E-mail Print PDF
Ingram Micro: A Deal on the Table

Bloomberg describes the Chinese HNA Group Co. as "embattled" and Ingram Micro is now on the front lines.

According to Bloomberg reporters in China, RRJ Capital, an $11 billion private equity group in Hong Kong, is cutting a deal to put a $4 billion investment in Ingram Micro Inc.

The deal centers around an HNA bond that can be converted into close to 50% of Ingram Micro’s shares. RRJ’s investment in Ingram Micro began more than a year ago, when it bought preference shares with rights to invest more if HNA decides to dispose of the U.S. company and another asset.

The bond proceeds will be used to pay down a loan taken by HNA from Chinese banks for the acquisition: at the end of 2016, HNA bought Ingram Micro in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of about $6 billion.

Continue reading...

Who Needs a Flatbed Envelope Printer? We Do.

E-mail Print PDF
Who Needs a Flatbed Envelope Printer? We Do.

Inventor Paul Onish has recently been awarded United States Patent #9,747,531 for the design of a flatbed envelope printer for the desktop. You could say, "It's about time" as this new printer solves a real-world problem for end users, SMB companies and organizations that need to mail letters.

While many print services have moved to the cloud, many businesses still have instances where they need to physically mail what's printed. For example, invoices, invitations, and sales promotions...

Onish Continue reading...

When the Shark Bites

E-mail Print PDF
When the Shark Bites

Sharkonomics. That’s a title of a book that takes a big bite out of the subject of how to compete against bigger competitors.

Author Stefan Engeseth from Sweden, corrected us when we asked him at CEBIT 2018 about the metaphor his book title suggests.

“This is more than just a metaphor,” explains Engeseth. “This book explains real shark behaviour and applies the principles to business. The shark is one of nature’s top predators, highly strategic and efficient in survival. Our species is an an Continue reading...

Ode to an eSports Mouse

E-mail Print PDF
Ode to an eSports Mouse

I hate mice.

No, not the four-footed kind. Just computer mice.

Today the computer mouse is still your best way to command your PC-- if you are an office worker, gamer or journalist.

It's so important to the PC that it's a crime to call it a "peripheral." A mouse is all about access. Get the right computer mouse and you ride smoothly up the on-ramp and onto the digital highway.

Or you don't and you suffer.

I have suffered...

In my job as an editor, I am often at the keyboard more than 12 Continue reading...

In Chips We Trust?

E-mail Print PDF
In Chips We Trust?

If we were making cars, there would be the world's largest recall. Ever.

The newly-discovered vulnerabilities called Meltdown (basically melts security boundaries normally enforced by the hardware) and Spectre (name based on the root cause, speculative execution) affect almost every modern computer in existence, particularly those with Intel, AMD and ARM processors.

That's right, the new Fujitsu laptop I am using to write this and whatever desktop or laptop (and maybe even the smartphone or tablet) you are reading it on.

Continue reading...

The Next Big Thing? It’s More Complicated Than That, Says Lenovo CEO

E-mail Print PDF
The Next Big Thing? It’s More Complicated Than That, Says Lenovo CEO

If you're looking for the NXBT, the Next Big Thing, it's more complicated that that, says Yuanqing Yang, Lenovo Chairman and CEO.

He says, "...companies that limit themselves to focusing on that next, single, big thing, at the expense of all the other big things happening around them, risk becoming irrelevant in a changing world."

While many people refer to "digital disruption," the pendulum is swinging back towards incumbents who are making the leap to newer digital business models. Rather than talk about companies disrupting themselves, Yang chooses another description:"transformation."

Continue reading...

Computex 2017 Searches for a New Identity

E-mail Print PDF
Computex 2017 Searches for a New Identity

Computex 2017 drew 1600 exhibitors from 26 countries (using 5010 stands) including 272 startups from 23 countries.

Yet Asia’s largest IT show suffers the same post-PC angst as other IT shows.

Walter Yeh, President & CEO of TAITRA says, “Computex has been going through positive transformation the past 2 years with featured exhibits and forum topics in sync with the global technology trends and maintaining its leading position internationally. Computex showcases the complete ICT supply chain while expanding into the IoT ecosystems and AI applications of today. We 4corporations and startups to establish strategic partnerships.”

Computex 2017 treated 41,378 international visitors from 167 countries attending the show to some of the most interesting consumer IT products…

Continue reading...

Page 1 of 6

  • «
  •  Start 
  •  Prev 
  •  1 
  •  2 
  •  3 
  •  4 
  •  5 
  •  6 
  •  Next 
  •  End 
  • »