Blog articles from 01/2011

It's the Monday after CES, so in addition to resting our sore feet, we're now starting to pull our thoughts together about some of the key takeaways from the show. From what I saw, I think that there were several items worth noting: More Connected TV Manufacturers Opening Up Apps to Third Parties: LG (Smart TV) and Panasonic (VIERA Connect) joined Samsung in supporting third-party application development for their connected TVs. We know that access to premium video such...

A race to respond to Apple Inc.'s hit iPad gadget enters a new phase next week, as a host of companies use a Las Vegas trade show to talk up a broad array of tablet-style devices. Companies expected to introduce touchscreen tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show include big names such as Motorola Inc., Dell Inc. and Acer Inc., as well as smaller manufacturers. Trying to stand apart, the devices will offer displays of various sizes and different operating systems. Some will...

Qualcomm Inc. agreed to buy Wi-Fi chip maker Atheros Communications Inc. for $3.1 billion in cash as it aims to address growing demand for devices that use Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet. The deal—Qualcomm's largest acquisition to date—fills a hole in the company's communication-chip offerings. The importance of Wi-Fi has been growing as more devices—including smartphones, tablets and notebooks—connect to the Internet. The deal, which values Atheros at $45 a share,...

It has been a big year in personal technology, from the debut and early success of Apple's iPad, to the rise and continuous improvement of Google's Android smart phone platform, to the continued surge in social services led by Facebook and Twitter. Apple: Coming off a highly successful 2010, in which it introduced a new category of portable computer—the multitouch tablet—and sold millions of the product, Apple will have to withstand an onslaught of competitors by wowing...

Consumer desire for on-demand and online video content will motivate sales of Internet-connectable TV devices to nearly 350 million units worldwide by 2015, setting the stage for intense competition in app development. Parks Associates' Connected Living Room: Web-enabled TVs and Blu-ray Players forecasts worldwide sales of Internet-connectable HDTVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles, and digital video players such as Roku and Apple TV will grow approximately fourfold from 2010....