Olympus is Dropping Under $200 Cameras

When was the last time you bought a no-frills camera? Exactly…

Seeing as how most people now carry a phone with a pretty good camera built in, compact cameras have to significantly up the ante to attract an upgrade purchase — and they can’t do that too well at the low end of the market. What does a $100 camera do that your phone doesn’t — except hurt your wallet less when you lose or break it?

So the general online response to the Wall Street Journal’s report that Olympus will halt production of <$200 models was a resounding lack of surprise.

The elimination of the V series of compacts comes after the company’s camera business posted a loss in the last fiscal year through March, “because demand for compact cameras turned out to be weaker than expected, the company said.” What were they expecting? Well, they did sell 5.1 million cameras last fiscal year, but in light of recent weak sales now look to move only 2.7 million this year.

Olympus says it will concentrate on its well-received mirrorfree interchangeable lens models.

PC Sales in Europe Decline

PC shipments in Western Europe declined by 20.5 percent during the first quarter: The only vendors to see shipments grow were Lenovo and Apple, which returned to the top five.

Shipments during the quarter dropped to 12.3 million, compared to 15.5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, according to market research company Gartner. That is the worst quarterly decline the company has seen since it started tracking PC shipments in the region.

The wide availability of Windows 8-based PCs was again unable to boost consumer PC purchases. Users still wonder about its suitability for traditional PCs, according to Gartner analyst Meike Escherich.

All market segments were affected by the first quarter drop: Mobile and desktop shipments fell by 24.6 percent and 13.8 percent respectively. Shipments in the professional PC market declined by 17.2 percent, while those to consumers decreased by 23.7 percent.

The two biggest vendors, Hewlett-Packard and Acer, both saw volumes decline by over 30 percent. Despite shipping only half as many notebooks to consumers as it did a year earlier, HP remained the market leader by approximately 1 million PCs. It shipped 2.4 million units while Acer totalled 1.4 million

Lenovo, on the other hand, grew shipments by 7.2 percent, and was only 6,000 units behind Acer, according to Gartner's data. The vendor continued to expand in the consumer PC sector by winning share from both Acer and HP, and competed closely with HP and Dell in the professional PC market, Gartner said.

Huawei Sweepstakes

Huawei W1 'Make it Yours' Music & Mobile Sweepstakes

Check Out the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbr6TatfkM0

How the Sweepstakes Works:

·         Participants will be required to “like” the Huawei Device USA Facebook page

·         Entry will require an email address and feature an option to opt-in to receiving further email communication from Huawei

Huawei W1

Key Features of the Huawei W1:

·         A speedy 1.2GHz dual-core processor

·         A 1950mAh battery

·         A VGA front-facing camera with a Single LED flash

·         A gorgeous 4” IPS LCD touch screen made of Gorilla® Glass that looks great even in sunlight

·         5MP auto-focus camera with LED Flash, 4X digital zoom, quick access button and 0.3MP front-facing camera

Consumers can now purchase the Huawei W1 at select Walmart stores and on Walmart.com beginning on May 20.  The Huawei W1 is competitively priced at $229.

Laplink 30th Anniversary Free Software

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of Laplink Software. To celebrate this milestone, Laplink is giving away their new product, Laplink Sync™, for free on May 15th only. Laplink Sync is a revolutionary new way to sync between PCs, Macs, and mobile devices, including Android, iOS, and more.

   

Laplink Software, originally known as Traveling Software, was a driver of innovation in the infancy of the PC, beginning with groundbreaking products, such as: T-Word (1984), the first word processor changing font sizes on a LCD screen; WizardLink (1987), the first synchronization tool for Casio’s Personal Information device; and LapDOS (1986), the file transfer application that provided then-groundbreaking transfer speed over serial cables.

   

Other innovations included ViewLink (1989), the first technology enabling files to be associated with applications; and, of course, the original LapLink. In the early days of the PC, LapLink was the only way to copy files directly between PCs. Back then, it was a simple copy process that allowed a user to migrate everything needed from an old PC to a new one.

   

“In thirty years, we’ve learned a lot. The tech industry has made tremendous advancements in this time and has brought new concepts to the users,” stated Thomas Koll, Laplink’s CEO.

   

With the introduction of the more complex Windows PC, users needed a new tool to move from an old PC to a new one, and one that would move everything – gigabytes of data, millions of files, settings, applications, and the entire “personality” of the user. The top-selling Laplink PCmover® was created to meet this need and is now the world market leader for PC migration software.

   

PCmover saves an entire weekend of PC setup and configuration tasks, reducing the PC setup process to just a few mouse clicks. All e-mail, address books, pictures, music, videos, and even programs like iTunes and Microsoft Office are automatically copied over from the old PC and installed, ready-to-use, on the new PC.

   

“Most software companies don’t get to celebrate 30 years of production and advancement in the field,” added Koll. “We are working hard for you, today and in the years to come.”

Totem Tribe Gold on sale

Starting today, May 14th, 2013 through May 19th, 2013 a wonderful strategy game filled with a mix of adventure, hidden object and puzzles, Totem Tribe Gold, is available for as low as 99¢ on iPhone and $1.99 on iPad. Upon its launch on mobile platform, the game instantly captivated both casual and more hard-core game fans, and was praised by critics. Now you can get this introduction to RTS genre at 70% off on your iOS device.

In Totem Tribe Gold you are tasked to help Aruku, a chief of the Hawk tribe, restore peace and lead her tribe to a better future. The first stage of this epic challenge is Tetala Island, where your first quest is to find an ancient and mighty relic called the "Tear of Heaven." All in all you will visit 23 islands and other mystic locations during this journey.

At the beginning of each level, your first task will be to build up a village for your people. Workers dwell in huts and are responsible for the construction of buildings and research. You will train scouts and military units like hunters, shamans or archers protect your village against hostile creatures or tribes. Then, you will discover the island, find enemies, complete tasks, and eventually main objectives.

The later levels will bring more challenges and more powers so you'll be building huts for workers, training grounds for warriors, towers and archery ranges to defeat your enemies, witch doctor shacks to cure the villagers and guard towers to protect your people when your army is away fighting. You'll also be solving puzzles, completing quests and searching hidden items over Seagull Island, Blueberry Island, Mushroom Island, Witch Island, etc., to progress in the game. Moreover, you can return to any island and find an overlooked object or to gain a missed bonus.

Rich gameplay, evolving storyline, long lasting playtime and attractive graphics make Totem Tribe Gold a perfect entertainment for the whole family. The game is developed and published on iOS by G5 Entertainment under license from Enkord.

iFruit company Stock Price

Today may be the day we’ve predicted was coming! Google’s stock price continues it’s climb and may hit $900 a share today. At the same time the iFruit company continues it’s drop and may end up below $450. That means our prediction that Google stock will be twice the price of Apple may well come true.

Stay tuned for more!

Ventev Charger Review

By George Harding

We have so many devices these days, and each has a different charging solution. Some get their charge from a wall plug, some through a cable plugged into a USB port, others by induction. For each solution, there is a different cable or attachment. In order to charge a device, you have to have the correct cable or attachment.

Ventev has considered the problem and has come up with a set of solutions. A kit of chargers of various types includes a Wallport Dual USB charger, a Dashport Dual USB charger, a Wallport Single USB Eco charger and a Dashport Mini Single USB charger. With this kit, you are properly equipped, no matter where you are.

Wallport Dual USB: a rapid charger with two ports to charge two devices at maximum rates.

Dashport Dual USB: a rapid charger with two ports to charge at maximum rates anywhere in a vehicle (boat, car, truck, RV)

Wallport Single USB: an Eco charger to charge at a normal rate, then virtually stop when the device is fully charged.

Dashport Mini Single USB: a small rapid charger with one port.

Each charger comes in a clear plastic tube that holds not only the charger, but also has room for your cables.

The chargers have a sleek, smooth surface of light gray color with orange accents and are very attractive. The surface is non-slip.

Each charger comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

Ventev Chargers                     www.ventev.com                    

Prices: $20-30 varying by charger