According to ABI Research, global smartphoneshipments grew 41 percent year-over-year to 144.6 million in the first quarter of 2012.
The report said that Samsung and Apple accounted for 55 percent of smartphone shipments and over 90 percent of the market's profits, News24 reports.
The report revealed that Samsung and Apple delivered 43 million and 35 million units in the quarter respectively.
Nokia was third with 11.9 million and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) just behind with 11.1 million.
Of the top ten smartphone makers, only Samsung and Sony saw sequential growth from the fourth quarter, which is traditionally strong, the report said.
Smartphones seeing malware explosion: Security software cos
0 comments Posted by SEO Tutorials at 6:22 PM
"The major mobile platforms have finally become ubiquitous enough to garner the attention of attackers, and as such, Symantec expects attacks on these platforms to increase," Symantec Managing Director, Sales, India and SAARC, Anand Naik said.
Expressing similar views, McAfee Labs Product Manger Vinoo Thomas said, "With smartphones becoming more powerful and popular, we have seen a lot threat moving to them from PCs."
Although the risks to computers have not totally subsided, malicious software authors are now creating mobile- specific malware.
"The number of vulnerabilities in the mobile space are rising and malware authors not only reinventing existing malware for mobile devices, but creating mobile-specific malware geared to the unique mobile opportunities," Naik said.
Threats that mobile malware pose include, sending premium-rate SMSes, collecting device data, spying on the users, tracking location of the device, modifying the settings, sending spam, monitoring the device for banking transactions and so on.
As tablets and smartphones continue to outsell PCs, and workers bringing in their own devices into the corporate environment, attacks on these platforms will keep increasing at a very fast pace.
According to Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report XVII, attackers are exploring a shift in focus toward mobile devices and mobile vulnerabilities increased by 93 per cent last year.
Majority for these threats are targetted at Google's Android operating system.
"In our Global Threats Report for the first quarter of 2012, we saw a large increase in mobile malware. The jump was targeted almost solely at the Android platform.
"Hundreds of Android threats in the middle of 2011 have moved into the thousands this year. Android threats now reach almost 7,000, with more than 8,000 total mobile malware samples in our database," Thomas said.
Other major mobile operating platforms are Symbian, BlackBerry and iO
Android this week: Razr beats iPhone; Acer outs HD tablet; Intel phone shows promise
0 comments Posted by SEO Tutorials at 6:21 PM
This is the first week I can remember where a single Android phone is reportedly outselling Apple’s iPhone at one carrier. According to a research note from William Blair, that’s exactly what’s happening at Verizon stores. A check of inventory and sales indicated Motorola’s Droid Razr is topping the iPhone 4S, which is good news for Motorola and its new owner, Google.
It’s possible that Verizon’s LTE network is part of this surge for the Android-powered Razr: Without an LTE iPhone on any carrier, the Razr — and other Android phones — can deliver mobile broadband speeds topping 20 Mbps or more; as fast as wired broadband at home. The iPhone 4S holds its own against LTE on HSPA+ networks, but falls far shorter on Verizon and Sprint, where speeds generally average 1.5 Mbps with occasional 3 Mbps bursts. Razr sales could see their own burst as CNet noted this week that Android 4.0 was coming soon to the smartphone.
Android 4.0 is already included with Acer’s new slate:The company this week introduced its A700 tablet with the latest Google software. Pre-sales have begin in the U.S. and Canada at $449 for this 10.1-inch tablet boasting a 1900 x 1200 display with 178-degree viewing angles. I haven’t had the opportunity to try the A700 yet, but it looks good on paper.
Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 powers the A700 which also has one gigabyte of memory and 32 GB of storage, which can be expanded with the micro SD card slot. The slate is Wi-Fi only — no 3G/4G radio — but includes Bluetooth, an e-compass and GPS. Acer added Dolby Mobile 3 and 5.1-channel surround sound support and a battery life claim of 8 hours for web surfing or 10.5 hours of video watching; not bad if accurate.
This week I enjoyed reading a review of the Orange San Diego handset. Why? This device, available in Europe, is based on Intel’s smartphone reference design for Android. We’ve waited a long time for Intel to truly get in the smartphone game and the San Diego shows promise for Intel’s Medfield solution.
The Verge wrote the detailed review finding that Intel may not have surpassed ARM-based chips, but in many ways, has at least caught up. I’m not too surprised because the Medfield chip demos on Android devices I saw in Januaryimpressed me enough to say that Intel’s time may have arrived.
The San Diego shines in most performance scenarios and has good stand-by time, but software is the current downfall here; particularly in the camera application. Still, the San Diego is still worth a look as it provides a glimpse into future Android smartphones carrying the “Intel Inside” sticker.
Just a month ago, I had no presence on any online social networking forums. I had only heard anecdotes from friends about how their friends or acquaintances found international jobs through online networking.
But within a month of putting up my profile on LinkedIn, I have managed to touch base with 70 of my friends, peers and ex-colleagues. Through this network of 70, I now have access to 5,000 connections—friends and acquaintances of my contacts. And I have just started!
Welcome to the power of networking. Just to quote someone, who we all know as the inventor of Ethernet, Robert Metcalfe, who said: “The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system.”
So far I have only been on LinkedIn and have to admit that it has the most simple and hassle free interface. You can sign on in a jiffy and send invites automatically to your contacts on Outlook and other email services like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
On LinkedIn, once you enter the names of organizations you have worked for in the past, the forum throws up names of all people who earlier worked in the same company as well as those that are currently employed. You can send invites to them.
There are also forums on LinkedIn—for instance, I have signed up for the Blackberry Club, a network of Blackberry users around the world. You can discuss any topic related to Blackberry device and its services under the sky; you can seek help to troubleshoot problems; and also indulge in Blackberry bashing. Similarly, there are many such groups on info security, Linux, Cisco and Microsoft.
My intention is not to promote LinkedIn, but to highlight the fact that such social networking platforms can prove a great business tool that can help connect with a large community of friends, colleagues and peers. How you explore these connections is entirely left to your imagination.
Having realized its benefits, I would like to recommend CRN readers to sample the power of networking. If you do sign up on LinkedIn, don’t forget to invite me to your network.
But within a month of putting up my profile on LinkedIn, I have managed to touch base with 70 of my friends, peers and ex-colleagues. Through this network of 70, I now have access to 5,000 connections—friends and acquaintances of my contacts. And I have just started!
Welcome to the power of networking. Just to quote someone, who we all know as the inventor of Ethernet, Robert Metcalfe, who said: “The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system.”
So far I have only been on LinkedIn and have to admit that it has the most simple and hassle free interface. You can sign on in a jiffy and send invites automatically to your contacts on Outlook and other email services like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
On LinkedIn, once you enter the names of organizations you have worked for in the past, the forum throws up names of all people who earlier worked in the same company as well as those that are currently employed. You can send invites to them.
There are also forums on LinkedIn—for instance, I have signed up for the Blackberry Club, a network of Blackberry users around the world. You can discuss any topic related to Blackberry device and its services under the sky; you can seek help to troubleshoot problems; and also indulge in Blackberry bashing. Similarly, there are many such groups on info security, Linux, Cisco and Microsoft.
My intention is not to promote LinkedIn, but to highlight the fact that such social networking platforms can prove a great business tool that can help connect with a large community of friends, colleagues and peers. How you explore these connections is entirely left to your imagination.
Having realized its benefits, I would like to recommend CRN readers to sample the power of networking. If you do sign up on LinkedIn, don’t forget to invite me to your network.
Symantec has planned to extend its storage foundation high availability for Windows, and Veritas Volume replicator disaster recovery (DR) software solution to the Windows Azure cloud platform.
The solution will allow organizations to recover business critical applications and their associated data in Windows Azure in the event of a local failure or site disaster. The solution will expand the ability of Symantec’s existing business continuity solutions for Microsoft providing on-premise-to-cloud-based disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS).
Organizations are demanding better protection and more recovery options, including leveraging the public cloud for disaster recovery protection. According to IDC’s 2011 Business Continuity Market Analysis, “Advancements in replication, clustering and server virtualization software have opened the door to a more flexible approach to those architecting business continuity (BC) schemes. Given the increased need for business uptime and corporate reliance on information technology… the role of public clouds within the BC market will surely increase.” As organizations deal with downtime due to disasters, storage failures, network issues, maintenance or power outages, they need an off-premise solution that provides fast recovery to keep their applications and data available to users.
“Customers see cloud computing as a new option for flexible, cost-effective computing,” said Jean S Bozman, Research Vice President, IDC. “Many organizations have been looking for a way to automate the recovery of production data -- and to keep important applications running -- in the event of an outage that has the potential to disrupt business for hours. Leveraging cloud computing as a Disaster Recovery (DR) target addresses business continuity needs for organizations that cannot afford a secondary site or at-a-distance failovers for mission-critical, visualized workloads.”
According to IDC, the size of the current market for networking products in the home and soho segment is Rs 450 crore, and the segment is growing at a CAGR of 27 percent.
Network vendors such as Cisco (Linksys), Netgear, Digisol, D-Link, Belkin and Asus are creating opportunities for partners by introducing products at regular intervals. There is also a shift in home networking from standard routers, range expanders, and eight port switches (for small offices) to 3G wireless routers, repeaters, NAS storage devices and cloud-based network devices.
The proliferation of devices such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks and netbooks in various form factors, plus other devices such as the Xbox, smart TV, media player, NAS and 3G dongles are driving the connectivity needs of homes. The devices can also be connected via Digital Living Network Alliance-enabled devices to common storage devices and 3G dongles.
“The market is driven primarily by the consumer desire to remain connected, to download music or movies, or to chat with friends,” says Mohit Anand, MD, India subcontinent, Belkin.
Another factor driving the market is price. “Compared to a couple of years ago, networking equipment such as wireless routers, range expanders and 3G routers are now available at prices that are at least 25 percent lower,” notes Navinder Singh Chauhan, GM, Marketing, Smartlink Network.
Portable devices are another driving force. For example, a 3G SIM can now be placed inside a Wi-Fi 3G router instead of plugging the entire dongle to the router directly.
Remarks Chauhan, “Customers demand products that can enrich their lifestyle and that have a feel-good factor. Gadgets do add to the home decor, and are also being looked at as style statements.”
Wi-Fi devices
Multiple devices in households have increased the demand for Wi-Fi connectivity.
“We have around 2.5 million consumer notebook users and 20 million smartphone users,” says Subhodeep Bhattacharya, Regional Director, India & Saarc, Netgear. “We also have three million tablet users, a figure which is expected to cross nine million in the next two years. This translates to a huge growing demand for wireless devices.”
Routers also come with smart apps which help consumers to download movies without the need for human intervention. Vendors are also launching routers with pre-loaded apps that automate backup in an external hard drive even if the PC is switched off.
Cloud networking
“Cloud computing was a nascent concept till about three years back, but now we are beginning to deliver a whole new world of personalized content with anytime, anywhere, any device connectivity,” comments Amanulla Khan, Regional Manager, IMEA, Home Networking, Cisco. “These shifts and disruptions in the market are creating new opportunities and driving the growth of the home networking category.”
According to Tushar Sighat, CEO, D-Link, surveillance is a major opportunity for partners. “Working parents are now able to monitor their homes through surveillance cameras and keep an eye on the children, their parents and possessions from anywhere over the Internet. This can be done by using their smartphones.”
Cloud networking devices such as cameras, storage and routers allow consumers to control, view, share and access their network devices anytime and anywhere.
Netgear’s Smart Network Cloud Application Platform will enable the management of smart home devices from Wi-Fi thermostats for increased energy efficiency to tablets for simple print sharing and cloud printing capabilities.
There is also increased demand for IP surveillance cameras at home. The products are available for Rs 4,000 onward, and are easy to install. With the cloud making remote access easier, more people are using them.
Even in smaller cities partners are doing brisk business. “We sell around 250 3G routers and 200 ADSL routers per month,” informs Vaibhav Jain, Director, Jai Paras Infotech, a Dehradun-based RD. “Most of our customers have 2-3 devices at home such as an iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and notebook. The cloud-based IP surveillance camera is another product that’s doing good.”
Network storage
Mobile apps have boosted the utility value of NAS drives for home users. Many advanced entry-level NAS drives are bundled with support for mobile apps that let users access content remotely, share files and upload content on social media.
Vendors have come up with NAS products for the home segment whereby users can wireless store images, movies, music and other data from multiple devices simultaneously. Netgear’s ReadyNAS, Seagate’s Goflex and WD’s WD2Go and Remote are some such products. There are wireless routers available in the market which can connect to such storage devices wirelessly. And Belkin is launching a wireless router that can help beam content in a notebook on to a TV.
Says Khalid Wani, Sales Director (branded business), IMEA, WD, “Small storage servers built for SMBs have arrived in the market. They serve as one-stop solutions that offer centralized storage and networking, and do not need to be operated or maintained by IT personnel.”
Greater speed
The trend of home networking devices is moving toward speed. From 802.11n routers to the soon-to-be-launched 802.11 AC routers, networking is fast enabling high data speeds from 1.8 gigabits per second to five gigabits per second. Most vendors are now gearing themselves to use the new technology in their devices.
Since 3G costs are still on the higher side, consumers opt for broadband devices and create a Wi-Fi eco system using broadband routers. “Today, speed is the deciding factor while choosing a router. Due to the demand for high-speed routers, the industry has moved from 64 Mbps routers to 150 Mbps, 300 Mbps or more. Vendors have also come up with easy-to-install solutions,” says Bhattacharya.
Agrees Nand Kishore Rathi, Proprietor, NK Enterprise, an Erode-based reseller, “Earlier I used to sell 64 Mbps routers; these have now been replaced by 300 Mbps routers-cum-modems. I sell around 80-100 such routers per month. Consumers are demanding more of such stuff because most have multiple devices at home.”
The opportunities
The changing consumer mindset regarding home networking products has increased the opportunities for retailers and resellers to earn money. “The perception earlier was that networking meant complicated installation procedures and cumbersome wiring. But today’s products are easy to install and there are plenty of wireless options available. This change in consumer perception has helped partners grow their business,” explains Chauhan.
With the explosion of connected devices and richer Web-based services, consumers are using their home network to improve the quality of life, and these market shifts create opportunities for partners.
Opportunities also arise because many broadband consumers who are yet to go wireless will convert. Adds Khan, “Many current wireless consumers are still on older technology, and they will be ready to upgrade to higher-end products specifically to support their new video-centric Wi-Fi tablets and Wi-Fi TVs.”
Three challenges
The biggest challenge across industries is the depreciating rupee which has increased the input costs of vendors. While some have absorbed the increased costs, many have been compelled to pass them on to the end-user.
There is also the view that the proliferation of ultra-low-cost devices in the market is a big challenge because they not only ruin the market but are also a health hazard. “There are many small players who sell cheap wireless routers. These devices are health hazards because they emit microwave radiation but most of them are not prepared to shield this radiation,” says Bhattacharya.
The lack of widespread Internet penetration is another challenge for vendors and partners alike. According to Internet World Stats, India has achieved an Internet penetration of only 10.2 percent as of December 2011. “The lack of last-mile connectivity is a big challenge as ISPs are struggling to reach the smaller cities in India,” says Anand.
Its always better to know in advance what you can expect from a career in SEO.
Some Good Reasons to Choose SEO as Your Career
1High demand for SEO services
Once SEO was not a separate
profession – Web masters performed some basic SEO for
the sites they managed and that was all. But as sites began to grow and make money, it
became more reasonable to hire a dedicated SEO specialist than to
have the Web master do it. The demand for good SEO experts is high
and is constantly on the rise.
2A LOT of people have made a successful SEO career
There are many living proofs that SEO is a viable business. The list is too
long to be quoted here but some of the names include Rob from
Blackwood
Productions, Jill Wahlen from High Rankings, Rand Fishkin from SEO Moz and many
others.
3Search Engine Optimizers make Good Money !
SEO is a profession that can be practiced while working for a company
or as a solo practitioner. There are many jobboards like Dice and
Craigslist that publish SEO job advertisements. It is worth noting that
the compensation for SEO employees is equal to or even higher than that
of developers, designers and marketers. Salaries over $80K per annum
are not an exception for SEO jobs.
As a solo SEO practitioner you can make even more money. Almost all freelance sites have sections for SEO services and offers for $50 an hour or more are quite common. If you are still not confident that you can work on your own, you can start a SEO job, learn a bit and then start your own company.
If you already feel confident that you know a lot about SEO, you can take this quiz and see how you score. Well, don't get depressed if you didn't pass – here is a great checklist that will teach you a lot, even if you are already familiar with SEO.
As a solo SEO practitioner you can make even more money. Almost all freelance sites have sections for SEO services and offers for $50 an hour or more are quite common. If you are still not confident that you can work on your own, you can start a SEO job, learn a bit and then start your own company.
If you already feel confident that you know a lot about SEO, you can take this quiz and see how you score. Well, don't get depressed if you didn't pass – here is a great checklist that will teach you a lot, even if you are already familiar with SEO.
4Only Web–Designing MAY NOT be enough
Many companies offer turn–key solutions that include Web
design, Web development AND SEO optimization. In fact, many clients
expect that when they hire somebody to make their site, the site will
be SEO friendly, so if you are good both as a designer and a SEO
expert, you will be a truely valuable professional.
On the other hand, many other companies are dealing with SEO only because they feel that this way they can concentrate their efforts on their major strentgh – SEO, so you can consider this possibility as well.
On the other hand, many other companies are dealing with SEO only because they feel that this way they can concentrate their efforts on their major strentgh – SEO, so you can consider this possibility as well.
5Logical step ahead if you come from marketing or advertising
The Web has changed the way
companies do business, so to some extent today's marketers and
advertisers need to have at least some SEO knowledge if they want to
be successful. SEO is also a great career for linguists.
6Lots of Learning
For somebody who comes from design, development or web administration,
SEO might look not technical enough and you might feel that you will
downgrade if you move to SEO. Don't worry so much – you can learn a LOT
from SEO, so if you are a talented techie, you are not downgrading but
you are actually upgrading your skills packages.
7SEO is already recognized as a career
Finally, if you need some more proof that SEO is a great career, have a
look at the available SEO courses and exams for SEO practitioners.
Well, they might not be a CISCO certification but still they help to
institutionalize the SEO profession.
Some Ugly Aspects of SEO
1Dependent on search engines
It is true that in any
career there are many things that are outside of your control but
for SEO this is a rule number one. Search engines frequently change
their algorithms and what is worse – these changes are not
made public, so even the greatest SEO gurus admit that they make a
lot of educated guesses about how things work. It is very
discouraging to make everything perfect and then to learn that due
to a change in the algorithm, your sites dropped 100 positions down.
But the worst part is that you need to communicate this to clients,
who are not satisfied with their sinking ratings.
2No fixed rules
Probably this will change over time
but for now the rule is that there are no rules – or at least
not written ones. You can work very hard, follow everything that
looks like a rule and still success is not coming. Currently you
can't even rely on bringing a search engine to court because of the
damages they have done to your business because search engines are
not obliged to rank high sites that have made efforts to get
optimized.
3Rapid changes in rankings
But even if you somehow manage to get to the top for a particular keyword, keeping the
position requires constant efforts. Well, many other businesses are
like that, so this is hardly a reason to complain – except
when an angry customer starts shouting at you that this week their
ratings are sinking and of course this is all your fault.
4SEO requires Patience
The SEO professional and customers both need to understand that SEO
takes constant effort and time. It could take months to move ahead in
the ratings, or to build tens of links. Additionally, if you stop
optimizing for some time, most likely you will experience a considerable
drop in ratings. You need lots of motivation and patience not to give
up when things are not going your way.
5Black hat SEO
Black hat SEO is probably one of the
biggest concerns for the would–be SEO practitioner. Fraud and unfair
competition are present in any industry and those who are good and
ethical suffer from this but black hat SEO is still pretty
widespread. It is true that search engines penalize black hat
practices but still black hat SEO is a major concern for the
industry.
So, let's hope that by telling you about the pros and cons of
choosing SEO as your career we have helped you make an informed
decision about your future.
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