DeviceGuru

Technology market analyst ABI Research has published its annual prognostication of technology trends and events that won’t happen in the coming year. The 11-page article is available for free download (after registration) from the firm’s website.
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Shipments of Ultra-Mobile Devices (UMDs), including a range of emerging devices such as UMPCs (Ultra-Mobile PCs), netbooks, and MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices), are expected to grow to 385 million units annually within five years. Their main obstacle will be smartphones, such as the iPhone and various Android models.
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DeviceGuru recently reported on a reader’s discovery that his “Energy Star compliant” Sony HDTV was consuming 200 times its advertised standby power. Now, he’s back with good news: the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to plug this gaping energy-draining hole via a new release of its Energy Star TV specification.
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In recent years, two new sub-$500 mobile device categories have burst onto the scene: the “mobile Internet device” (MID), with the iPhone representing its greatest success; and the “netbook,” popularized by the Asus Eee PC. Get ready for the third wave: the “netpad.”
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At last week’s TED2009 conference, two researchers from the MIT Media Lab demonstrated a “Sixth Sense” device that gives its wearer supernatural abilities. What’s next — Google implants?
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My Mobile Witness Inc. has unveiled a free service that lets you use your cellphone to protect yourself from danger. When faced with a potential threat, you snap a photo of the person, place, or situation of concern, send it via MMS or SMS to the company’s “digital vault,” and — if necessary — reveal the existence of the archived evidence.
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LG Electronics will unveil the “world’s first market-ready” 3G watch phone at CES in Las Vegas this week. The LG-GD910, featuring built-in 3G video telephony service along with quadband GSM, is an upgrade of a prototype showcased last year.
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A recent online survey found that eight in ten consumers use electronic gadgets in the bathroom, primarily for communications, entertainment, and wellness purposes. This leads us to wonder if the “iLoo” might be a good candidate for Apple’s next hot product.
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ABI Research’s analysts have published their annual year-end forecast of key technology trends. In light of the looming global recession, however, this year’s prognostication is framed as “What’s NOT Going to Happen in 2009.”
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A recent survey conducted by ABI Research found that there are basically four kinds of tech-savvy adult consumers: (1) Tech-Savvy, TV-Averse; (2) Online, On a Budget; (3) Wireless Women on the Web; and (4) On-the-go Gadgeteers. Which kind are you?
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The worldwide market for application processors will grow to nearly $2 billion by 2012, fueled by strong demand for smartphones and other mobile devices, predicts The Linley Group.
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Although Near Field Communication (NFC) offers significant benefits for mobile phones, only one NFC-enabled handset has reached market to date, reports market analyst ABI Research. So what’s NFC?
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Less than 5 percent of the more than 1 billion mobile phones produced annually end up being recycled or disposed of in eco-friendly ways, reports ABI Research.
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The machine-to-machine (“M2M”) communications market will grow robustly over the next five years, with an estimated 95 million cellular M2M modules shipping in 2013, ABI Research predicts.
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From a virtual standing start of just 10 million units in 2008, more than 10 million ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) are expected to ship in 2013, predicts ABI Research. UMD is ABI’s umbrella term for UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs), netbooks, and MIDs (mobile Internet devices).
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After many months of anticipation, the first mobile phone based on Google’s Linux-powered Android software platform was unveiled today by T-Mobile in the U.S.
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Femtocells and picocells are likely to form an integrated part of initial rollouts of LTE (long term evolution) networks, ABI Research reports. These cellular mini-base stations, featuring improved indoor wireless coverage, reportedly have been generating considerable interest in mobile wireless markets.
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Get ready for Rovio, a small three-wheeled mobile robot that offers audio/visual telepresence via its built-in wireless web-cam. An onboard webserver enables access from anywhere in the world, according to Wowwee, which plans to ship the product soon.
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Two clever enhancements now in development will allow the ubiquitous — but slow — Bluetooth wireless technology to handle much larger amounts of data at much higher speeds, reports ABI Research.
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The Mobile Internet Devices market will grow at the “spectacular” rate of 167 percent compounded annually over the next five years, ABI Research reports.
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The worldwide mobile phone market is on track to ship 1.28 million devices in 2008 despite the current economic slump, according to Gartner. Given an estimated global population of 6.7 billion, that’s roughly one new mobile phone this year for every 5 people on the planet!
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Many of you may recall the March, 2006 launch of the much-hyped “Origami” devices by Microsoft and Intel. How is Origami — dubbed “Ultra Mobile PC” (UMPC) by Intel — doing these days?
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Intel CTO Justin Rattner speculated on where technology might take us by the middle of the 21st century, in his keynote an Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco today. Rattner showcased several areas of Intel’s advanced research, including wireless power transfer, shape-shifting matter, and technologies to make robots more personal.
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Intel offered a sneak peek of the next-generation of its Classmate PC design at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco today. The new design features a tablet, touchscreen, and motion-sensing user interface, and is powered by — you guessed it — an Atom processor.
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The 1394 Trade Association has adopted a new standard for in-home networking of high definition (HD) multimedia content over coax. “1394 Over Coax” combines Ultra Wideband (UWB) communications technology with 1394 protocols, and supports data rates up to 800 megabits/second.
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