Tag Archives: hardware

Technology stacks – Apple then Google or Microsoft?

They don't make stacks like they used to - The Tower of Babel by Bruegel

They don’t make stacks like they used to – The Tower of Babel by Bruegel

One reason Apple succeeds where other tech companies struggle is that it owns all its technology.

Apple designs the hardware and the core software on the devices it sells. It owns the technology stack – what some call the ecosystem.

This is important for two reasons. First, from a consumer point of view, the Apple experience is seamless. Second, Apple isn’t hostage to any other technology company. It is master of its own destiny.

In industry jargon, Apple is ‘vertical’. No other hardware company is vertical in this way. Nor are software companies.

Google, Microsoft going vertical?

Most large technology companies would like to follow Apple to become vertical. They see it as a route to Apple-like profit margins.

Software giant Oracle is aiming to go vertical in business computing buying Sun Microsystems to get a handle on hardware and build an enterprise computing technology stack.

Google and Microsoft are doing much the same at a personal technology level. That’s why both software companies now have hardware product lines. Both are busy building vertical stacks.

Google bought Motorola to go vertical in smartphones and now makes its own Chromebooks taking it vertical in the PC space. Presumably it will extend these projects into tablets.

Microsoft is vertical in tablets with its Surface range. The Surface is so PC-like it isn’t hard to imagine this product line extending into laptops. And there is talk of a Microsoft-branded smartphone, or perhaps Microsoft buying Nokia.

Back to the future

This is what personal computing was like in the early days when brands like Commodore, Apple, Atari and Tandy made hardware and had proprietary software. The enterprise computing market was the same before the rise of Unix and open systems.

No-one knows if the world has room for multiple vertical technology companies. Possibly only Apple can pull it off. This week I’ll look at whether Google and Microsoft can go vertical.

Related articles

Chromebook Pixel, just jewellery really

Lifehacker Australia gets a sneak preview of the Chromebook Pixel

Lifehacker Australia gets a sneak preview of the Chromebook Pixel

Lifehacker Australia takes a quick look at Google’s Chromebook Pixel. From the review I see it described as expensive and pointless. It may be useful for people who work for Google or resell Google products for everyone else it is just a fancy adornment.

This reminds of the prominent New Zealand technology executive who years ago told me Compaq was an expensive brand that only existed to make people look good – a fancy adornment. In other word’s high-tech jewellery. That description suits the Chromebook well.

Chromebook Pixel Hands-On: Pretty, Pretty Pricey, Pretty Pointless | Lifehacker Australia.

Related articles

 

PCs retreat as tablets surge

The journalist's ipadWe all know tablets are wiping the floor with traditional PCs, the latest numbers from IDC show tablet sales have almost caught up with desktops. That’s quite something considering the tablet market didn’t get under way until 2010. It looks like they’ll go past laptop sales in 2013.

 

Smart Connected Device Market by Product Category, Shipments, Market Share, 2012 (shipments in millions) 

Product Category

2012 Unit Shipments

2012 Market Share

2011 Unit Shipments

2011 Market Share

Year-over-year Change
Smartphone

722.4

60.1%

494.5

53.1%

46.1%
Tablet

128.3

10.7%

72.0

7.7%

78.4%
Portable PC

202.0

16.8%

209.1

22.5%

-3.4%
Desktop PC

148.4

12.4%

154.8

16.6%

-4.1%
Total

1201.1

100.0%

930.4

100.0%

29.1%



Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker, February 20, 2013.

Mobility Reigns as the Smart Connected Device Market Rises 29.1% in 2012 Driven By Tablet and Smartphone Growth.

 

Google’s Chromebook Pixel pushes boundaries

Chromebook Pixel

Chromebook Pixel

Google’s new flagship device is the Chromebook Pixel: a US$1,300 laptop with a Retina-like high-resolution touch screen and a 32GB SSD. It uses Google’s Chrome OS which means applications run in the browser, not as native apps. Two models are on sale in the US, one is Wi-Fi only, the other has 4G mobile networking.

The specification is quite a turnaround from earlier Chromebooks. Only last week I wrote about the unappetising cheap, low-end laptops sporting ordinary specifications. The Chromebook Pixel turns that description on its head. There’s enough power for demanding users thanks to a 1.8Ghz Intel Core i5, integrated graphics and 4GB of Ram.

Most of the extra money pays for the screen, which is a 12.85 inch display with a whopping 2560×1700 pixels – that’s more pixels per inch than Apple’s 13 inch MacBook Pro. It should much smoother, easier-to-read text and make graphics sharper – although users will only get the full access with specially updated web pages.

The other highlight is the touch screen, which paves the way for a ChromeOS tablet – that sounds more interesting to me than an Android tablet.

For now high density displays are still something of a freak-show. Google’s move suggests they will quickly become mainstream.

Google’s move is strategically interesting, the company is aiming for high-end users, not those worried about budgets. I suspect it’ll be taken seriously in corporate IT shops, especially those committed to the cloud and Google apps.

Lenovo’s tempting Ultrabook

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook

While researching a story on business Ultrabooks I stumbled over Lenovo’s T430u ThinkPad. It looks like a good choice for business users preferring a Windows PC over a tablet.

If I was in the market for an Ultrabook, I’d choose this.

Why? Because the T430u is a business tool, not a toy.

Like all Ultrabooks, the T430u is slim and light – Lenovo has packed it in an aluminium case. Better, it passes US military spec tests which means its more than tough enough for most New Zealand businesses. There’s also built-in web conferencing – a huge bonus.

Best of all, Lenovo has sharpened its pencil on pricing to the point where the T430u range represents some of the best value around. Prices start at NZ$1025 for the model with i3 processor, 2GB of Ram and a 320GB hard drive.The top of the line $1550 model has an i7 processor, 8GB of Ram and a 128GB solid state drive.

See also:

Job number one at BlackBerry: Beat Windows Phone 8

Going by the headlines and the tone of the news coverage, BlackBerry’s long-awaited product announcement went well.

The company’s – Research in Motion changed its name – new slab-like Z10 smartphones are already on sale in the UK with Canada to follow next week and the US soon after.

New Zealand is probably well down the list. By the time the new phones get here we’ll know if the company has a future. I wouldn’t put money on it.

A more traditional BlackBerry model with a tiny QWERTY keyboard, the Q10, is due to go on sale in April. If the Z10 fails to catch fire, then the Q10 will be the company’s last roll of the dice.

BlackBerry’s short-term goal will be to beat Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 into third place in the smartphone market behind Android and Apple. If it gets there, it has a chance of staying relevant.

The ace up BlackBerry’s sleeve is a large pool of dedicated crackberry addicts. Some have waited until now to upgrade their existing phones. If BlackBerry can win this market, it’ll stay in the game long enough to take a shot at Microsoft. 

Most observers will tell you the lack of available apps for the new phones is a barrier. That’s less of a problem than you might think. There may be more than a million iPhone apps, but 99% are rubbish. It is more important to have the right apps for the target market.

Windows Phone 8 smartphones like the Nokia Lumia 920 are arguably better than competing Apple or Android models at the moment. They’re selling well, but have failed to make the critical breakthrough. BlackBerry won’t make that any easier.

Microsoft will survive even if it fails in the smartphone game, BlackBerry doesn’t have the advantage of alternative product lines to bail it out. Nor does Nokia.