Happy Solar New Year

This blog will return in 2017. Until then we hope you have a happy and very prosperous solar New Year!!

New Phones for 2017

The year is coming to end and while the list of favorite smartphones is now out, leaks around what 2017 will offer in the mobile world continue to take place. There’s no doubt that in 2017 there are great expectations from the smartphone industry; we’re hoping to see new designs, faster phones, and innovation that will be useful.

Plus old favorites are planning a comeback, with Nokia getting ready to re-enter the market in 2017. Samsung will focus on a virtual assistant with the Galaxy S8, and the next iPhone promises to usher in a big design change. Here’s a look at the top expectations from the smartphone world in 2017.

Apple is expected to bring a major upgrade to its 2017 flagships. The iPhone 8 has already been the center of many leaks, with some reports suggesting the upcoming iPhone will finally get an OLED display. Apple might also do away with the aluminium casing in favour of an all-glass body, similar to iPhone 4/4s series.

An iPhone 8 with a bezel-less display and no actual physical home button is also rumoured. The 2017 iPhone could also bring wireless charging to the mix, a feature that has been long awaited.

Following the untimely demise of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung’s next flagship will be closely watched. The Galaxy S8 will make an appearance in February 2017, though some reports suggest April, and it is likely to be the first smartphone to have Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 chipset.

Latest rumors suggest Galaxy S8 have a 6-inch display version packed with 8GB of RAM. Samsung is expected to do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack and introduce a USB Type-C port for charging.

Levitating Speakers from LG

They may seem a bit magical, but levitating Bluetooth speakers have been around for years, often looking as outlandish as the idea sounds. However, LG is the first major electronics brand to throw a product in the ring, and is doing so with its classy-looking, albeit blandly named, "Levitating Portable Speaker," which will be unveiled to the public at CES in January.

The plain, white, somewhat egg-shaped speaker hovers over a round base, which LG calls the Levitation Station. The latter houses electromagnets that create the floating effect, and a subwoofer for deep bass. In addition to looking cool, the speaker also promises 360-degree sound and 10-hour battery life. It's rated IPX7 for water resistance so you can listen to it outdoors, even if the heavens rain on your parade. When it runs out of juice, the floating unit automatically descends to the base station to recharge.

Although LG's Levitating Portable Speaker is not the first to market, its battery life and classy looks set it apart from its rivals. LG has not yet shared pricing information, but most other such devices cost in the range of $150 to $200, so the new speaker should cost about the higher end of that. We'll likely find out more next month when LG shows off what this gadget can do

Body Heat??

Is it possible, a smart watch that is powered by body heat?

Wearable healthcare and fitness monitors are expected to be important IoT applications.

But manufacturers are just scratching the surface of what wearables can do, and often compromise one consumer demand for another.

So one interesting announcement at CES 2017 exhibition next month will come from Ambiq Micro, which specialises in low-power ARM processors.

Ambiq Micro says it has a design-in for a smartwatch that can run on body heat.

According to the company, this is possible because of is very low power processor technology, which operates at sub-threshold voltages.

Its latest ARM Cortex-M based processor is being presented as an IoT device with a power consumption of under 10µA/MHz.

CES Preview - Part 3

By Robert Sanborn

Oticon, industry leader in advanced audiology and hearing aid technology, will showcase Oticon Opn™ at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from January 5-8, 2017 and at CES Unveiled Las Vegas on January 3.

Oticon Opn is the world’s first hearing aid to connect to the Internet via the IFTTT network. The small, discreet hearing aid can be programmed to talk directly with doorbells, smoke detectors & other smart devices via the Oticon ON App. In its core function as a listening device, Opn overcomes a challenge the most advanced hearing solutions can’t solve: the ability to handle noisy environments with multiple

Dainese’s participation at CES 2017, where the Italian brand will be exhibiting D-air, the industry-leading wearable airbag technology for use in motorcycling, mountain biking, winter sports and equestrian applications through a wireless, intelligent platform.

about LEMON Tech's solar powered speakers showcasing at CES Unveiled and CES. Unlike other wireless speakers out on the market, the California Roll is the only green tech speakers that will fit comfortably in your hand. You can take it with you on any outdoor adventure like a hiking trip or event like a bonfire. There's no need to rely on an electrical outlet. No matter where you go or what you do, the solar panels attached will keep the music going.

SolPad Makes Energy Accessible to Everyone Everywhere — Completely Changes Face of Sustainable Energy with First-of-Their-Kind Adaptable, Integrated, Intelligent and Personalized Products  

Power anything anywhere with intuitive, simple-to-use, built-in energy storage system and an Internet of Energy smart home platform—SolPad is a personal energy solution for global use.

CES Preview - Part 2

By Robert Sanborn

BewellConnect, a leading French health tech company has been breaking new ground in the smart healthcare device industry for 10 years. Returning back to CES, they will feature their series of B2B and B2C devices, as well as debuting a never-before-seen, all-in-one product!

BewellConnect has an existing line of 9 health and wellness gadgets which will soon be available for purchase in the US beginning in January 2017. The medical-grade devices allow consumers to “DIY” and self-monitor their vitals and pre-existing conditions. Each device is connected within the Bewellconnect “ecosystem,” a single app that houses data from all the devices in easy to read charts and reports that can instantaneously be shared with doctors.

Olly is a brain-inspired AI engine and uses deep learning to provide accurate speech and emotion interaction. Moreover Olly is the first smart lifestyle assistant that actually develops a personality based on its owner’s moods and preferences, making daily communications with Olly unique and enjoyable.

Olly, the first robot with personality. We won four CES 2017 awards: Smart Home, Drones and Unmanned Systems, Home Appliances and Home Audio/Video Components and Accessories. Heyolly.com

We're excited about the launch of the new range of JYRO electric rideables - like the amazing JYRO Roll. But perfection takes patience - so you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. Jyro

The Naztech Volt Portable Charger is the world’s most compact, versatile and powerful portable outlet. Power and charge anything, anywhere with this 30,000mAh battery via the integrated 110V AC outlet and three fast-charging USB ports. Carry wall power with you and redefine mobile living.

Merry Christmas

We would like to wish a Merry Christmas to all. We'll be back after the joyous Holiday.

Virtual Reality

As we go hurtling to the new and shiny things on the block (namely virtual reality and augmented reality), perhaps now would be a good time to take a step back and look at potential consequences of these technologies going mainstream and where advertising could come into play.

As with digital advertising, which, at the outset, claimed it would be the Holy Grail to marketers where everything worked seamlessly, sales would rise exponentially and everything would be measurable – well, as we all know, it hasn’t quite turned out like that – yet.

No one thought of the impacts it would have on the end user and everyone got a little bit greedy. So inevitably, people fought back with tools available to them, ad blocking as an example. We now have a situation where there are two types of web: blocked and unblocked – but that’s another blog altogether.

So what’s to stop the same thing happening with AR or VR? Those of you who have read the recent piece by my colleague, David Ellison, will understand the difference between the two. I’m specifically talking about VR whereby you put the goggles on and immediately you are transported to another environment – it all sounds great.

CES Preview - Part 1

By Robert Sanborn

CES comes again. The show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will probably have over 175,000 people visiting and space that would take up the equivalent of 42 US football fields in size; including the end zones.

But you have to love it, Christmas is definitely coming early to computer junkies everywhere and here is a sneak peek at some of the things that is catching my eye. Doesn't mean I will go looking for them on the show floor but someone somewhere thought they were good ideas. The other thing I notices is the number of companies that are funded via the web based cloud funding is growing by leaps and bounds. Some of the things I read about I know won't ever see the light of day but they convince thousands of people to contribute in the Go Fund Me rounds. Most of the text will be from the press releases.

What follows is a fun sampling of what will be at the show.

Imagine a world where the floors and carpet in your entire home remain dust-free without any manual labor, optimum purity is ensured in the air you breathe, and you can easily monitor unsuspecting activity remotely, whether caused by an intruder or your rebellious teenager… Thanks to global robotics brand ECOVACS, this dream will be made a reality with its new home service robot, the UNIBOT, debuting at CES 2017

VR technology is transforming the way we live, work and communicate with our all-new, groundbreaking VR camera boasting 360 in up to 8K to show you how 360 cameras may be about to invade every part of our lives, both for consumer and professional applications. For the very first time, we will also be exclusively live demonstrating Facebook Live 360 and Twitter panoramic broadcast capabilities, and you will have the chance to get an exclusive hands-on experience of all our latest products. Insta360.com

Facebook Chat

Teen app sensation Houseparty will get some competition as Facebook Messenger is launching its own split-screen group video chat feature. Six users can appear in split-screen at the time and don Snapchat-style selfie masks, while 50 total can listen and talk over voice while sending text, stickers, emojis, and GIFs.

The feature could make a Messenger a place to “livechill” with friends rather than just a way to send texts to exchange more utilitarian information or plan logistics. Instead of just popping in to fire off messages, you could hang out for extended periods on the app. Facebook frames it as “perfect for those spontaneous moments where text just isn’t enough”.

Group video chat starts rolling out worldwide on iOS, Android, and web, today, though Android will have to wait for the MSQRD-powered selfie masks that might not ever come to desktop. It’s free on wi-fi but standard data charges will apply on cellular connections.

We’ve been anticipating this launch since Messenger released one-on-one video calling in April 2015 and group audio calling a year later. 245 million people make video calls on Messenger each month already, so this feature could see rapid adoption.

Higher Speed From MSFT?

Microsoft has released the Xbox One 10.0.14393.2152 update that can allow up to 80 percent boost in download speed. The company claims that this new feature will cover all users although download speeds for those with slower connection could register approximately 40 percent increase.

The download performance depends the 100Mbps threshold. If your bandwidth falls within this speed or is faster, then you will enjoy the higher download rate. The 40 percent boost kicks in for speeds lower than this figure.

Of course, Microsoft stated that all these will also vary according to the internet connection configurations. In addition, download speed will also depend on whether a user is playing a game since the system will prioritize gameplay over download.

New Phones Next Year??

Every year smartphone companies introduce new devices, and 2017 is expected to be no different.

In the coming year, we expect many new smartphones — it is the year that Nokia comes back and Apple celebrates the 10th anniversary of its iPhone. Samsung will try to bounce back from the Note 7 fiasco, while OnePlus would hope to build on the success it had with the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. All in all, going by what we know so far, 2017 should be an exciting year for smartphone users.

Here are some of the smartphones you can look forward to in the coming year:

1. iPhone 8: The 10th anniversary iPhone is expected to break previous sales records. It is expected to come with features such as OLED display, wireless charging, a display-embedded fingerprint sensor and a multi-sensor camera.

With iPhone 8, Apple is rumored to ditch the home button that has been universal across all its iPhones until now. The handset’s expected all-glass design will not only have an aesthetic value, but is also expected to support wireless charging.

One thing Apple is likely to improve is its camera. The company has already got a patent for a “super resolution” multi-sensor camera registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but it remains to be seen whether we would see the feature in the upcoming smartphone.

The iPhone 8 is expected to release in September/October 2017.

2. Samsung Galaxy S8: Samsung’s next flagship device — the S8 — is a highly anticipated phone. The device, which is expected to be launched at the Mobile World Congress 2017, might be a complete revamp of the company’s current S7 device.

Rumored Galaxy S8 features include the following:

A bezel-less design with no home button: This will be a first for Samsung flagships. In its place, the phone is expected to have a display-embedded fingerprint scanner. An edge-to-edge display might cover the screen, eliminating the top and bottom bezels.

4K UHD display: The phone is expected to have a display capable of not just playing 4K content, but also high-resolution virtual reality (VR) content.

An artificial intelligence-based voice assistant: Samsung is expected to tow the line of the Google Pixel series and trade in its S Voice feature for an AI-based voice assistant.

3. OnePlus 4: The OnePlus 3 successor is expected to have a similar design, but is said to offer much more under the hood. It is expected to come with 8 GB RAM, a Snapdragon 835 processor, 128 GB of internal storage and 4000 mAh battery.

It is expected to launch in summer 2017.

Google Car News

Alphabet Inc's Google self-driving car project recast itself as Waymo on Tuesday, an independent entity within the technology giant, as executives suggested the company is close to bringing its autonomous driving to the public.

Although no deals were announced, the move signals a desire to finally monetize the company's valuable research amid fierce competition from a score of rivals all vying to be the first to launch production-ready self-driving cars.

Google's high-profile program, now in its seventh year, has been at the forefront of self-driving technology, but is now challenged by companies from Uber Technologies Inc to Apple Inc and traditional car companies in the fast-growing industry.

"It's an indication of the maturity of our technology," John Krafcik, Waymo's chief executive, told reporters at a press conference in San Francisco. "We can imagine our self-driving tech being used in all sorts of areas."

The move shows "confidence that we are close to bringing this (technology) to a lot of people," Krafcik said. "We've sort of reached an inflection point."

That came in October 2015, when one of the company's self-driving cars gave the first fully autonomous ride in Austin, Texas, to a blind man with no one else in the car. Normally during testing, an engineer sits in the passenger seat to monitor the technology.

Until now, the program has been part of secretive research unit Google X. Waymo stands for "A new way forward in mobility," according to Krafcik.

Google Acquires Cronologics

Google has acquired the team behind Cronologics, a startup looking to develop what it hoped would be the smartwatch platform in the marketplace. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Cronologics team will be joining the Android Wear division.

“We see strong alignment with Android Wear’s mission and look forward to working with our new colleagues at Google to continue pushing the frontier of wearable technology and smartwatches with Android Wear 2.0 and beyond,” Cronologics wrote in its announcement post.

The acquisition is a homecoming for Cronologics, which was founded in 2014 by Lan Rcohe, Leor Stern, and John Lagerling — all of whom have previously worked at Google in business development. In the past two years, they have sought to develop a way to build “compelling wearable hardware” and software-based experiences, using a common architecture.

Some of the company’s technology has already been integrated into the smartwatch CoWatch. Cronologics was able to place its Alexa-equipped operating system into the product so that you can control your smartwatch using your voice — perhaps like K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider? With this capability, Google may want the Cronologics team to flesh out the capabilities in Android Wear so that it’s more voice-enabled and could be used to facilitate more third-party voice-activated apps, and perhaps even pair with other connected devices, such as the Google Home.

New Oppo Blu-ray Player

High-performance Blu-ray Disc manufacturer Oppo Digital followed through Monday on announcing the release of its long-promised Ultra HD Blu-ray player, which will be the first of its kind with pending support of Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) in addition to HDR10.

Like many Oppo Blu-ray players, the new UDP-203 will also bring high-quality music playback, with support for most of the leading Hi Rez Audio formats, and “universal disc” playback compatibility, including support for: Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, CDs, DVDs, DVD-Audio and SACD discs, among others.

Most importantly, the Oppo UDP-203, which will be available shortly through the Oppo web site for a $549selling price, supports the playback of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs, outputting 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution, a wide color gamut of up to the Rec. 2020 standard and the HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR systems. The company said its player will have the necessary hardware to support Dolby Vision following a planned firmware update in early 2017.

Both HDR10 (which is standard on all Ultra HD Blu-ray players) and Dolby Vision (which is voluntarily supported by manufacturers) will produce refined contrast, greater brightness, and expanded color for new levels of clarity and detail. Dolby Vision will add such advances as up to 12-bit color support (the minimum standard is only up to 10-bit) and dynamic metadata for scene-by-scene color grading on supported content and displays.

Nintendo is Back!!

The markets are starting to believe in the possibility of a resurgent Nintendo.

The publisher’s stock price on the Tokyo exchange is $253.86 (29,255 yen). That’s its highest price since the company saw a somewhat faulty spike in June to $275.68 (31,770 yen) following the debut of Pokémon Go. Nintendo’s share price almost immediately lost those summer gains once investors realized that Nintendo does not fully own the Pokémon brand. The difference today is that the stock is rallying based on the imminent launch of the company’s first mobile game, Super Mario Run, on December 15 as well as the upcoming release of the Switch hybrid home/handheld console in March. And Nintendo certainly owns both Mario and the Switch.

Super Mario Run is a new mobile game — the first from Nintendo. The publisher previously experimented on mobile with its social app Miitomo, but now it is fully embracing the $36.6 billion iOS and Android gaming market. Super Mario Run will debut exclusively for iPhone on Thursday. Owners of the Apple device can download the game for free, but they’ll have to pay $10 to unlock all of its content. Analysts expect it to make more than $70 million in revenue in its first month.

Switch, meanwhile, is Nintendo’s next dedicated gaming system. It features a design that enables you to use it on a television or as a high-powered portable. The publisher is planning an all-out media blitz for the system in January, but anticipation for the system is already starting to build.

Nintendo is definitely stoking fans’ passions for these products as well with a recent appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. The company let host Jimmy Fallon play Super Mario Run, and then, Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé let Fallon play the Switch and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This is the first time gamers have seen a demo of the machine actually running titles.

Samsung Galaxy S8

Samsung Electronics Co. will create an all-screen front for the Galaxy S8 smartphones coming out next year and scrap the physical home button, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The bezel-less displays will provide more viewing real estate while a virtual home button will be buried in the glass in the the lower section, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details haven’t been released. The new phones will only come with wraparound displays using organic light-emitting diode technology, the people said.

Samsung needs the Galaxy S8 to be a hit after suffering through the Note 7 debacle that tarnished its brand, led to an embarrassing recall and may cost the company more than $6 billion. The world’s biggest smartphone vendor is already under pressure from Chinese vendors while Apple Inc. is said to be planning to adopt OLED screens, which are thinner and use less power than liquid-crystal screens while also offering deeper colors.

While Samsung is targeting a March release of the S8, that could be delayed until April, the people said. Samsung is adopting tougher testing procedures in the wake of the Note 7 debacle that could push back the launch by about a month, one of the people said.

Florida City Wants Driverless Cars

Jacksonville transportation officials plan to have a pilot program involving driverless vehicles within the next two years.

The Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/2gY24GJ ) reported Monday that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is in talks with self-driving vehicle manufacturers, and a vehicle may be brought to Jacksonville soon for a demonstration.

Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nathaniel Ford says staff members are familiarizing themselves with self-driving vehicle technologies to determine when it would be a good time to include self-driving vehicles in the transportation system.

They are looking at identifying partners, research and development and possible locations for the self-driving vehicle pilot program.

splunk>live!

By Bayle Emlein

Monzy Merza led off the 2016 Splunk>live! event by reminding attendees in Santa Clara—just down the street from Google headquarters—of current expectations regarding the connectivity by noting a quotation from Tom Goodwwin—TechTarget, 2015:

        Uber, the world's largest taxi company, owns no vehicles;

        Facebook, the world's most popular media owner, creates no content;

        Alibaba.com, the world's most valuable retailer, has no inventory;

        Airbnb, the world's largest accommod­ation provider, owns no real estate.

How do they do it? Efficient data management. And yes, the “splunk>” name of the company comes from “spelunking,” the sport of diving deep and exploring previously unknown caves. The idea of splunk is> to make machine data accessible, usable and valuable to everyone. Because data needs to be not only gathered but managed and

Splunk> lives behind Comcast and Dominoes Pizza so that customers get exactly they ordered, but also only what they ordered. Just as the smooth operations of your body and your day depend on background respiration and digestion processes, which in turn depend on background biochemical and electronic processes, so the smooth operation of communication, connectivity, and commerce depend on background data gathering, information management, and security

Javier Santoyo, Senior Director of Global Security Intelligence at Symmantec drove these points home with his favorite Splunk tee shirt mantra, “let my people know.” Give them the tools they need and then encourage them to develop creative solutions. While scalable architecture and event management are critical, the end user shouldn't have to care. Social Logging collaboration makes the difference at Symantic IT. With complex global systems, separate platform just to manage security is counterproductive. Instead, Social Logging coordinates time zone and actual event data into a single borderless storehouse of information. Siloed teams in different locations or different branches share information instead of spending time, money, and resources on solving the same problem over and over. Keep it simple and keep the bar of entry low so that users can take the basics and build out as needs grow. Can you say, “google” as a verb as well as a noun?

Alfred Wan went on to demonstrate how SAP uses splunk> to increase efficiency, gain engineering resources in real time by eliminating redundancies in trouble shooting in day-to-day operations. Efficient analysis can take highly redundant and heavy but necessary log entries to a light fingerprint entry that drives value for the team and for customers.

Scott Nash, VP Products, Marketo how do you to take all this data and make money. Marketo helps their customers interface with their customers, including but not limited to Panasonic, Microssoft, Eventbrite. Last year was the first year that advertisers spent more on digital than print and broadcast advertising because digital is interactive. A good platform provides scalability. A great one provides competitive advantage. Splunk> delivers the missing link: time-line and industry comparison benchmarks based on real-time updates. “IT” and “profit center” are now coordinated into a single operation.

The bottom one: the whole is greater than the sum of the data parts. Do you just want to play defense, or do you want to use splunk> to not only save time but to free your employees to ask new questions and build out your company?

Kevin Faulkner, Senior. Director, Product Marketing, Splunk summarized the mission as making machine data useful to everyone. Unlike traditional databases, Splunk uses schema at data read—rather than write—so it is easy to add more data and ask different questions on the fly. Any data, any source, any platform—on site or in the cloud—provides users scalability and a platform to grow at their own rate.

Packaged machine learning is incorporated into day-to-day operations. If someone on the team has the time and skills to build company-specific applications, custom machine learning is available to add even more value.

Elyssa Christensen, Senior Sales Engineer at Splunk demonstrated Splunk's clear, understandable graphic representation of the health and activity of a system using real time data access. She showed how to drill down to analytics to evaluate issues and anomalies that might indicate a system compromise and initiate an investigation.

In addition to the power of business analytics, Splunk monitors IoT devices to provide safety and security. Customers can get added value via support and resources at http://Splunk.com/community. You're not buying a product, you're buying a platform. As Kevin said, it's a Swiss Army knife, a tool you use for functions of your own design.

Bruce Penn, Splunk Senior Sales Engineer, and SalesEngineer Kelly Kitagawa demonstrated the features that differentiate Splunk: no back-end database to assemble as a prerequisite before starting to benefit from Splunk, relating to the ability to develop and use schema on the fly; there's no need to filter data: you can use it all, nevertheless Splunk gives rapid time to value along with agile reporting and analytics that employ real time architecture. The over 1200 applications based on Splunk may be the single most appealing option, since you not only have a library of pre-built apps but also templates you can individualize to your own needs. Some of the apps are provided by Splunk directly, some have been developed by other Splunk users.

Download a fully functioning Splunk account, with limited data usage. In just a few minutes you can build your own dashboard for analyzing your own site(s). If you're using your website to sell cookies to the neighbors, you might be able to skip the data analytics. If you're serious about building a business, you'll need to know how many hits you are getting, whether potential customers are buying or having an unsuccessful experience.

Samsung Wins!!

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with Samsung in its big-money smartphone patent fight with Apple, throwing out an appeals court ruling that the South Korean company had to pay a $399 million penalty to its American rival for copying key iPhone designs.

The 8-0 ruling, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, held that a patent violator does not always have to fork over its entire profits from the sales of products using stolen designs, if the designs covered only certain components and not the whole thing.

The justices sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington to determine how much Samsung must pay. But they did not provide a road map to juries and lower courts on how to navigate similar disputes in the future.

Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock said in a statement that the U.S. company remained "optimistic that the lower courts will again send a powerful signal that stealing isn't right."

Samsung told Reuters in a statement the ruling was a "victory for Samsung and for all those who promote creativity, innovation and fair competition in the marketplace."

Following a 2012 jury verdict favoring Apple, Samsung initially was hit with nearly $930 million in penalties, later cut by $382 million, for infringing Apple's iPhone patents and mimicking its distinctive appearance in making the Galaxy and other competing devices.

An Article from our ePub

Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, whichever you prefer. In the past we’ve taken the time to explain why we have no problem with saying either greeting so we won’t go into it again. We’ll just leave it at that.

Speaking of “in the past”, this is a day that we have dreaded coming for a long time. This ePub has been in existence since the early 1990s and we have endeavored to keep it fresh and exciting for our readers that entire time. Well time has finally caught up with us. It looks to us like our reader base has moved on and we have to move with it.

Our monthly ePub readership has been pretty stagnant for the past few years, we’ve just stopped growing. However, that doesn’t mean that new readers aren’t out there. They just don’t read a 12 plus page PDF file once a month. What do they read? Our daily blog, that’s what!

While our ePub subscriber list has dwindled over the years our blog readership has grown rapidly. In the past year alone it has more than doubled and that is significant to us. It is time for us to keep up with the times.

Effective immediately we will no longer publish a monthly eFile but we’ll be expanding our blog coverage. Instead of just “teasers” in the blog we’ll have entire reviews. We’ll have more show coverage and more long articles. Everything that was in the ePub will now be in our blog.

Hop aboard folks, it’s going to be an exciting trip! Our blog URL is mccpubs.blogspot.com. See you there!

Apple Watch Sales

Sales of the Apple Watch to consumers set a record during the first week of holiday shopping, and the current quarter is on track to be the best ever for the product, Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote) Chief Executive Tim Cook told Reuters.

Responding to an email from Reuters, Cook said the gadget's sell-through - a measure of how many units are sold to consumers, rather than simply stocked on retailers' shelves - reached a new high.

Cook's comments followed a report on Monday from technology research firm IDC estimating that the tech giant sold 1.1 million units of the Apple Watch during the third quarter of 2016, down 71 percent from the year-ago quarter. The comments offer a glimpse of the gadget's performance during the holiday quarter, which is typically Apple's strongest.

"Our data shows that Apple Watch is doing great and looks to be one of the most popular holiday gifts this year," Cook wrote.

"Sales growth is off the charts. In fact, during the first week of holiday shopping, our sell-through of Apple Watch was greater than any week in the product’s history. And as we expected, we’re on track for the best quarter ever for Apple Watch," he said.

Cook did not respond to a request for specific sales figures for the gadget.

Tablets To Rebound?

In just a short span of time, tablets have gone from a computing/communications device and consumer electronics growth leader to an also-ran. Growth will pick up again, but not until 2018 and then top out in single-digit rates, according to the latest from the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker.

Global tablet shipments will decline 12 percent year-over-year (YoY) in 2016 and total 182.3 million units, IDC forecasts. Looking farther out, detachable tablets will gradually gain traction and fuel a rebound in market growth from 2018-2020.

“The benefits of a thin and light design combined with a touchscreen are bolstering growth in the detachable tablet market, but are also bleeding over into the PC market as slim and convertible-type notebooks gain popularity,” commented IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers senior analyst Jitesh Ubrani. “This is a welcome change for vendors as average selling prices for notebooks and tablets are expected to increase in the near term.”

Global Tablet Shipments

In mature market regions, such as North America, tablet growth will continue at a single-digit pace until 2020 as growth in sales of detachable tablets will be sufficiently high to counter declines in slate tablet sales.

“The transition to detachables is inevitable, but slate tablets will remain relevant as highlighted by recent results from Amazon with its Kindle Fire portfolio,” commented Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC tablets research director.

“Fueled by ultra low-end prices and a growing ecosystem play involving the Internet of Things, slate tablets will still account for more than twice the volume of the detachable segment with 124 million units forecast to be shipped in 2020.”