Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Microsoft Orders Up to 5 Million Surface Tablets for 2012

Shipping figures are in line with Google and Amazon's Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire tablets.

Microsoft is instilling enough confidence into its Surface tablet that it has commenced a "large volume production" of the device, which may see up to 5 million units being shipped during the fourth quarter.

According to component supplier sources in Asia, the Wall Street Journal said Microsoft will build between 3 million and 5 million Surface tablets before 2013 arrives.

Sources suggest that Microsoft's figures are in line with both Amazon and Google for their Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 tablets, respectively...

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Lenovo knocks HP from top of global PC market: Gartner

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group Ltd edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard Co to become the world's No. 1 PC maker in the third quarter, according to data released by research house Gartner on Wednesday.

A rival to Gartner, IDC, still ranks HP in the lead - but by less than half a percentage point - in terms of PC shipments worldwide. Both studies reinforce HP's struggles against rivals as new chief executive Meg Whitman tries to overhaul the stalled 73-year-old company.

Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell over 8 percent in the third quarter to 87.5 million, the steepest decline since 2001, Gartner analysts said.

PC demand growth has crumbled over the past year as more consumers flock to ultra-portable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.

"It's quite a tough year for PC makers because (Microsoft's) Windows 8 is not launched yet and some consumers are waiting for that. Cannibalisation of tablet PCs is also another factor," said Eve Jung, an analyst with Nomura Securities in Taipei.

Both sets of data show that Lenovo, Taiwan's Acer and other Asian PC makers are taking share away from U.S. competitors HP and Dell, which held on to the No. 3 spot in the quarter.

Lenovo, which has a market value of $8.2 billion, said it believed there was room for continued growth in the sector...

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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Philippines Supreme Court restrains government from enforcing new cyber law

IDG News Service - The Supreme Court in the Philippines has temporarily restrained the government from enforcing a new controversial cyber law, in response to petitions from civil rights and journalists groups in the country.

In a temporary restraining order (TRO), the court on Tuesday enjoined the government from implementing or enforcing the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which makes online libel a cybercrime with the prospect of being punished twice for one act, allows the authorities to take down a website alleged of violating the cyber law without judicial review, and also provides for collection of real-time traffic data without a warrant or judicial order, according to its critics.

By punishing libel as a cybercrime simply because it is committed through a computer system, the clear intent of the provision of the Act is to single out Internet users in their chosen medium of expression, according to one of the 15 petitions before the Supreme Court.

The court has ordered that the respondents including the office of the country's solicitor general comment on the case within 10 days. The oral arguments for the case have been set for Jan. 15.

The new Act, also known as the Republic Act No. 10175, was signed into law by the country's president Benigno S. Aquino III last month, and took effect from Oct. 3...

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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Foxconn Workers Strike Over iPhone 5 Quality Demands

A labor rights group said Friday that workers on the iPhone 5 production line at Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory went on strike earlier this week amidst overly burdensome quality control demands for Apple's new smartphone.

Approximately 3,000-4,000 workers went on strike on Monday, prompting a "widespread work stoppage on the factory floor," China Labor Watch said in a statement.

"According to workers, multiple iPhone 5 production lines from various factory buildings were in a state of paralysis for the entire day," China Labor Watch said.

Most of the workers, the group said, worked in onsite quality control (OQC). China Labor Watch said Foxconn and Apple imposed "strict quality demands" on workers regarding indentation standards and not allowing the frame and back cover of the phone to be scratched.

Furthermore, Foxconn did not allow workers to take a vacation day on Monday, which was China's National Day...

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