iPad wins, others fight for scraps

by Tecfan

iPad 2 wins the tablet wars, competitors already DOA – Computerworld Blogs
[Via Apple Holic]

Apple’s [AAPL] iPad 2 hits US retail Friday, and already many of the 100 competing tablets shown at CES this year are being terminated, withdrawn, shelved or otherwise dumped. That’s because competitors now know what I’ve been telling them: their expensive and less well-featured alternatives are DOA.

[More]

This may explain why Motorola released a 0.9 product now – they thought the big battle for the tablet market would take off in April and they wanted to be in front of the wave of new products.

It seems they might have rushed the Xoom to the market to little effect. Many others are simply delaying their products in order to retool. Better to have a product that might be competitive than one that loses.

And it looks more and more likely that Samsung’s Tab is a loser in the market. They seem to have stuffed the channel so they could claim large sales figures but people are not buying them. There is a 15% return rate so far.

June is now the new data for the tablet wars but as the article mentions, iOS5 and the next iPhone will be debuting then, sucking up all the oxygen for anyone else.

This is all part of the Apple ecosystem, which neither Samsung, Motorola nor any other hardware maker can match. It is not just a matter of getting lower prices for manufacturing because of volume, although that is a big point.

It is the information transferred across the ecosystem. What Apple learns with the iPhone can be used to leverage the iPad/iPod and vice versa. And both feed into its desktop strategy.

Apple has feedbacks in place across the entire mobile device ecosystem to let it know what works and what does not. It can then incorporate this into new and novel approaches that the customers want.

In the Android world, each of these ecosystems is separate and provide little information to other types of mobile devices. It does not seem that the smartphone market really informs the tablet in ways that are well leveraged. Simply look at the review for the Xoom to see these defects.

Apple knows what needs to be the same and what needs to be different in the mobile ecosystem it has created. No one else has this level of information to deal with.

Until they do, Apple will be a leader.

No warrant, no oversight for government to track our whereabouts

Student Who Found GPS Device On His Car Due To Reddit Comment Sues The FBI
[Via Techdirt]

Last fall, we wrote about the bizarre situation of Yasir Afifi, a student here in California who discovered a GPS tracking device on his car during an oil change, and then posted photos of the device on Reddit. Following that, the FBI showed up at his house demanding the tracking device back. It later turned out that the key reason behind tracking him was a random comment on Reddit that — if read in context — did not represent any kind of threat or warning that should have resulted in FBI surveillance. But, of course, since there’s almost no oversight on who the FBI gets to spy on, it didn’t care and just started tracking Afifi.

Afifi has now sued the government over the tracking action, claiming that it was a violation of his civil rights. There are some differences of opinion in the courts over whether or not the government needs a warrant to place GPS devices on cars, which provides some background for this case. There’s a bit of a circuit split on that right now, with the government (obviously) insisting that no warrant is needed. Part of the goal of this lawsuit appears to be to get another ruling on this issue to push it forward. Given the history on this subject, I would guess that Afifi will likely lose the lawsuit, but the possibility that it actually does go in his favor makes the case worth paying attention to.

[More]

Yep. Apparently the FBI or any government agency can place a surveillance device on your car without having to really justify it. I wonder if he had damaged the device whether the FBI would try to recoup the cost?

HDMI – Apple makes money by separating the iPad from the output

by Ben Fredericson (xjrlokix)

Why didn’t Apple build HDMI into the iPad 2? Licensing issues
[Via Edible Apple]

One of the new features of the iPad 2 is support for HDMI out in 1080p. To take advantage of the feature, iPad 2 users will have to fork over $39 for a Digital AV Adapter. Couldn’t have Apple saved users the trouble and implemented HDMI into the iPad 2 itself?

In short, yes, but monetary reasons in the form of HDMI licensing most likely played a factor in Apple’s decision.

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The iPad2 is capable of putting 1080p video out. But to get that on an HDMI TV screen requires one to buy a $39 dongle. It seems likely that Apple did this to save money on licensing.

If HDMI out was available on every iPad, Apple would have to be responsible for licensing fees.  As the article states “If you sell 15 million units in 9 months, that equates to over $2,250,000 dollars – yes two and a quarter million – in royalty payments over a single connector.”

By separating out HDMI to those who buy the dongle, Apple is responsible for royalty payments only for those who really, really want HDMI out. This is sure to be a smaller proportion of the whole.

And since Apple charges $39 for the dongle, they more than make up for the pennies per machine in royalty fees.

A pretty smart business move to make a small part of the audience who wants a specific technology to pay for it.

But if a lot of customers have to buy the dongle, they may wonder why they are having to give Apple so much money for something that would normally cost pennies a machine?

This might be a good decision right now but if HDMI output from the iPad becomes a very important use of the iPad. Apple may have to decide which is better then – charge $39 for something that many people would feel should be included in the cost or eating the pennies per machine cost.

I would expect that Apple will take the $39 now until it sees how many are being bought. After a period of time, it could then include direct HDMI out in a new model, if it wanted to. By that time, the reduced price for parts would make up for the small increase in licensing.