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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
PC shipments stay strong; top vendors all make gains
Worldwide PC shipments in the second quarter increased 16 percent over the same period last year, to almost 71.9 million units, according to Gartner Inc., a technology research firm.
Dell recorded a second consecutive quarter of faster shipment growth than rival Hewlett-Packard, according to both research firms. But H-P also posted a strong quarter, and it retained a wide advantage as the world’s largest computer maker.
H-P finished the quarter with 18.1 percent of the worldwide PC market on shipment growth of 17.1 percent, Gartner said. Dell easily held the second spot with 15.6 percent market share on shipment growth of 21.9 percent.
Acer was third with a 9.4 percent market share, and Lenovo fourth with 7.8 percent.
In the U.S., Apple again posted a big quarter. Its second-quarter domestic shipments increased 38.1 percent, Gartner said, pushing it past Acer into the No. 3 spot in the U.S.
Dell held 31.9 percent of the U.S. market, Gartner said, followed by H-P with 25.3 percent, Apple with 8.5 percent and Acer with 8.1 percent.
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Downloads of IPhone 3G applications hit 10 million the first weekend
Downloads for the 3G Apple iPhone topped 10 million in the first weekend.
Users are doing multiple downloads, probably because there are 200 free applications on the iTunes site where there’s a list of the top mobile programs. There are also 600 applications that you have to pay for. In the top 10, they range from 99 cents to $9.99.
Steve Jobs says that 90 percent of the applications are less than $10.
There are some really useful mobile programs such as one free applications called Where. It allows users to search for locations such as pizza places and gas stations and then gives the address and directions to any one of them by touching the location on the screen.
There are also some silly applications, like PhoneSaber. It creates a picture of a Star Wars light saber on the screen and then makes its buzzing sound when the phone is waved back and forth. Another toy, this one for $2.99 cents, called iBeer, has a picture of a foamy mug of the suds on the screen. When you move it back and forth, the suds move, too.
The most popular free application is Remote, a program that allows users to control the tunes on their computers remotely over a Wi-Fi network. And among pay programs, Super Monkey Ball, at $9.99, is tops. It’s similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario Brothers games.
If you see anything that really wows you, let me know.
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Texas gunnin’ for video games
LOS ANGELES - Speaking at the E3 video game industry conference here today, Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he will seek new state incentives to try and recruit more gaming companies to the Lone Star State.
Perry wasn’t specific, but said would ask the state legislature to boost the current incentives, which give game developers up to $250,000 if they develop a game in the state, using state talent. In doing so, he hopes to compete even more with states like Georgia and Louisiana, which also have big incentives for game makers, and industry leaders California and Washington state.
“Texas is the third-biggest game-producing state in the country … and I’m gunning to be No. 1,” Perry told a sparse crowd at E3 this morning.
Perry is the only state governor to ever give a keynote at E3, and this year he was the biggest non-industry name on the agenda. In the past, the gaming conference has attracted rock and movie stars and a wide variety of state and local dignitaries, but show organizers have dramatically scaled back the event and limited attendance.
Though there were only about 40 people in attendance at his morning speech, Perry didn’t hesitate to play to the crowd.
In his somewhat rambling half-hour talk, he characterized the gaming industry as the answer for nothing less than the nation’s widespread economic problems and its poor physical fitness and said virtual worlds could someday even inspire a better real-world.
Following a short video showing Austin-area gaming companies, Perry - in true Texas spirit - even went as far as to say the industry’s competitive sprit was not unlike that of “Davy Crockett … and those guys at the Alamo.”
