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Samsung Exynos 5 Octa with Heterogeneous Multi-Processing and GPU Compute is the hidden gem in the Galaxy Note 3 and GALAXY Note 10.1, 2014 Edition, launched at ‘Samsung UNPACKED 2013 Episode 2’ event

September 12, 2013 11:50 am / 2 Comments on Samsung Exynos 5 Octa with Heterogeneous Multi-Processing and GPU Compute is the hidden gem in the Galaxy Note 3 and GALAXY Note 10.1, 2014 Edition, launched at ‘Samsung UNPACKED 2013 Episode 2’ event

but used for 3G / WiFi versions only … while for LTE versions Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core SoCs at 2.3 GHz are used (probably the same one used in Xiaomi Mi3).

Details

ARM big.LITTLE Hangout with the Experts [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 14, 2013]

A technical discussion about ARM big.LITTLE processing technology from some of ARM’s experts.

Panelists:
Robin Randhawa, Principal Software Engineer, ARM
Charles Garcia-Tobin, Advanced Product Design Group, ARM
Brian Jeff, Senior Product Manager, ARM
Ian Smythe, Director of Marketing, ARM (Moderator)

Discussion questions with timecodes:

What is big.LITTLE? 1:25
How can the system switch between cores? 5:51
How does big.LITTLE save energy, compared to running one set of cores? 8:40
Why even use the big.LITTLE configuration? 13:03
How does the Software work? 14:58 (Software models 22:15)
How does this effect applications programmers? 25:46
What are the performance benefits of big.LITTLE? 28:47
Where can silicon partners get code for this? 34:48 (Software links 36:45)
Does this run on Android? 37:25

Samsung Primes Exynos 5 Octa for ARM big.LITTLE Technology with Heterogeneous Multi-Processing Capability [press release, Sept 10, 2013]

Samsung Electronics announced its Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) solution for the Exynos 5 Octa to fully maximize the benefits of the ARM® big.LITTLE™ technology. The HMP capability gives system-level designers the ability to develop solutions that deliver the right combination of high-performance and low-power to carry out tasks such as 3D gaming, complex augmented reality and advanced web browsing.

Samsung Exynos OCTA-pella: Performance + Efficiency in Perfect Harmony [SamsungExynos YouTube channel, Sept 9, 2013]

Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa series of mobile processors with ARM© big.LITTLE™ technology now supports heterogeneous multi-processing (HMP)! This advanced technology allows the Exynos 5 Octa processors to provide exceptional performance and increased power efficiency. In the OCTA-pella video, you’ll see how the Exynos 5 Octa uses ARM big.LITTLE processing to balance workloads across CPU cores, using the right core for the right task. Find out what else Exynos has in store on our Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/SamsungExynos and on Twitter:https://twitter.com/SamsungExynos If you want to learn more about the Exynos 5 Octa series of processors, visit our website:http://www.samsung.com/global/busines… Discover the advantages of ARM© big.LITTLE™ processing:http://www.thinkbiglittle.com/

“It’s usually assumed that the big CPU will do all the performance-critical work, however, power-efficient little cores can handle many significant workloads all on their own, so the workload is balanced within the system,” said Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI marketing, Samsung Electronics.

“We welcome Samsung’s continued commitment to deploying the leading-edge technology on their latest chips featuring the ARM Cortex™-A series of processors, ARM Mali™ GPUs and ARM Artisan™ physical IP.” said Noel Hurley, vice president, Strategy and Marketing, Processor Division, ARM.

HMP is the most powerful use model for ARM big.LITTLE technology, as it enables the use of all physical cores at the same time. Software threads with high priority or high computational intensity can be allocated to the ‘big’ Cortex-A15 cores while threads with less priority or are less computationally intensive, can be performed by the ‘LITTLE’ Cortex-A7 cores, enabling a highly responsive, low-energy system to be built.

Software implementation is essential to maximizing the benefits of big.LITTLE technology. Multi-processing software controls the scheduling of threads of execution to the appropriate core. In earlier versions of the big.LITTLE software, the whole processor context is moved up to the ‘big’ core or down to the ‘LITTLE’ core based on the measured work load. In-depth study and analysis of diverse use case scenarios enable Samsung to achieve efficiency and high-performance, while managing power levels to deliver optimal user environments.

The HMP solution for Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa application processors will be available to customers in 4Q of 2013.

Exynos 5 Octa: Heterogeneous Multi-Processing Capability [Samsung Exynos blog, Sept 10, 2013]

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that the Exynos 5 Octa packs a serious punch when it comes to processing power and energy efficiency. Now, the team at Samsung has made the Exynos 5 Octa even better with the introduction of a new Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) solution.

Overview of big.LITTLE Technology

Before we jump into the benefits of HMP, let’s take a step back and go over the basics ofARM® big.LITTLE technology. In the Exynos 5 Octa, eight CPU cores are responsible for everything from browsing the web to playing your favorite game on your 5 Octa-powered mobile device. Four “big” 1.8GHz ARM®Cortex™-A15 cores handle intensive tasks like graphically rich gaming or HD video playback. Less intensive tasks like e-mail or text functions are tackled by four “LITTLE” 1.3GHz Cortex™-A7 cores. By dividing and conquering tasks and assigning them to the proper CPU cores, big.LITTLE technology maximizes performance while minimizing power loss.

HMP Makes big.LITTLE Technology Even Better

Now this is where HMP comes into play. Like a sports team, big.LITTLE technology relies on a software “coach” to call the plays and assign tasks to each core. In a basic implementation of big.LITTLE technology, this “coach” would alternate between using “big” and “LITTLE” CPU cores based on the computational intensity of any given task, and one core or cluster of cores would remain inactive while its counterpart was engaged.

With HMP, all eight of the CPU cores in the Exynos 5 Octa can be utilized at the same time. This provides users with an unlimited mobile experience in the current mobile environment and also paves the way for more advanced and complex functionality in the future. HMP is extremely versatile. Using a global load balancing scheduler, HMP can assign a single core to handle a task with low computational intensity in order to maximize power efficiency. On the flipside, HMP can also simultaneously utilize each of the eight individual cores in the 5 Octa to run multiple tasks in real time. The global load balancing scheduler pays attention to user workloads and will pull in the necessary available resources for the system to run flexibly and efficiently. By analyzing and assigning tasks,this highly complex software system maximizes efficiency by balancing CPU workload.

The result is the most advanced use of big.LITTLE technology to date and a huge leap forward for multi-processing capability in mobile devices. By allowing for the simultaneous operation of both “big” and “LITTLE” cores in the Exynos 5 Octa, Samsung offers an optimized HMP solution to the balancing act of maximizing mobile device capability while minimizing power loss.

Samsung has always been a leader in big.LITTLE technology, and this new Octa-core HMP solution is an industry first. HMP sets the stage for the future as mobile devices are increasingly called upon to handle complex and graphically rich tasks. Through this innovative solution, the benefits of big.LITTLE technology are maximized to their full potential. Get ready, because the future of mobile processing is evolving, and the Exynos 5 Octa with HMP is leading the way.

Samsung Brings Enhanced Mobile Graphics Performance Capabilities to New Exynos 5 Octa Processor [press release, July 23, 2013]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the latest addition to the Exynos product family with top level of graphic performance driven by a six-core ARM® Mali™-T628 GPU processor for the first time in the industry. With mobile use case scenarios becoming increasingly complex, Samsung’s newest eight-core ARM Cortex™ application processor gives designers a powerful, energy efficient tool to build multifaceted user interface capabilities directly into the system architecture. Samsung will demonstrate the new Exynos 5 family at SIGGRAPH 2013 in the ARM booth, #357; Exhibit Hall C at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Samsung’s new Exynos 5 Octa (product code: Exynos 5420), based on ARM Mali™-T628 MP6 cores, boosts 3D graphic processing capabilities that are over two times greater than the Exynos 5 Octa predecessor. The newest member of the Exynos family is able to perform General-Purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) accelerating complex and computationally intensive algorithms or operations, traditionally processed by the CPU. This product also supports OpenGL® ES 3.0 and Full Profile Open CL 1.1, which enables the horsepower needed in multi-layer rendering of high-end, complex gaming scenarios, post-processing and sharing of photos and video, as well as general high-function multi-tasking operations.

“ARM welcomes the latest addition to the successful Exynos Octa 5 series, which uses ARM’s Mali GPU solution to dramatically improve graphics performance,” said Pete Hutton, executive vice president & general manager, Media Processing Division, ARM. “ARM big.LITTLE™ and ARM Artisan® Physical IP technologies continue to be at the heart of the Octa series and now complement the new functionality brought by ARM GPU Compute. This combination enables unprecedented capabilities in areas such as facial detection and gesture control, and brings desktop-quality editing of images and video to mobile devices.”

“Demand for richer graphic experiences is growing rapidly nowadays,” said Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI marketing, Samsung Electronics. “In order to meet that demand from both OEMs and end users, we developed this processor which enables superb graphical performance without compromising power consumption.”

The newest Exynos processor is powered by four ARM Cortex®-A15™ processors at 1.8GHz with four additional Cortex-A7™cores at 1.3 GHz in a big.LITTLE processing implementation. This improves the CPU processing capability by 20 percent over the predecessor by optimizing the power-saving design.

In addition, the mobile image compression (MIC) IP block inside this System-on-Chip successfully lowers the total system power when bringing pictures or multimedia from memory to display panel. This feature results in maximizing the usage hours of mobile devices with a high-resolution display such as WQXGA (2500×1600), in particular when browsing the web or doing multimedia application requiring the frequent screen refresh.

The new Exynos 5 Octa processor also features a memory bandwidth of 14.9 gigabytes per second paired with a dual-channel LPDDR3 at 933MHz, enabling an industry-leading fast data processing and support for full HD Wifi display. This new processor also incorporates a variety of full HD 60 frames per second video hardware codec engines for 1080p video recording and playback.

The new family of Exynos 5 Octa is currently sampling to customers and is scheduled for mass-production in August.

For Further information :

Samsung Exynos brand site : www.samsung.com/exynos
Samsung Exynos twitter : www.twitter.com/samsungexynos
Samsung Exynos facebook : www.facebook.com/samsungexynos
Samsung Exynos Youtube : www.youtube.com/samsungexynos

Transforming your mobile and TV experience with GPU Compute [Trina Watt on Multimedia blog of ARM, July 22, 2013]

As a mother of three young children I am very aware of their approach to technology, and how unaccepting they are of the established ways of interacting with devices that anyone over the age of 18 is used to. The first time I gave my 5 year old daughter a mouse she looked at me as if I was mad – why use this when you can touch the screen? Gesture, touch and voice are much more natural not only to elementary kids but to us all.

ARM has been working with our partners for several years on how GPUs can improve user experience, initially through bringing improved graphics to a wider range of devices, but more recently, improving interaction with your devices through GPU Compute support in the Mali-T600 series of GPUs. ARM have just created a video that gives more background on the potential use cases for GPU Compute and how we can expect them to change the way we interact with even more of our electronic devices.

ARM brings GPU Compute to mobile devices [ARMflix YouTube channel, July 22, 2013]

GPU Compute is becoming reality. Its advanced computational abilities and energy efficiencies are inspiring innovation in the mobile industry, innovation which will drive novel, exciting and intuitive user experiences for consumers. In this video ARM explains the key features of GPU Compute and sets out a vision of what GPU Compute will enable for consumers. Discover GPU Compute with the ARM® Mali™-T600 series http://www.arm.com/products/multimedia/mali-graphics-plus-gpu-compute/index.php

Gesture control is becoming increasingly popular in premium devices. What GPU Compute does is bring those features to a wider range of devices – you can expect to see it being built into more DTVs, tablets, and smartphones. GPU Compute enables smaller gestures to be supported even in low lighting, so searching for the remote down the back of the sofa will become a thing of the past! I am interested to see how we solve the “who is in control” issue once there is no longer a remote control to fight over…

Facial detection can also benefit from GPU Compute. Facial detection brings features like “smile detection” when taking photos, or having a camera only take the picture when everyone is looking in the same direction and has their eyes open. These types of services can link to and enhance other features, such as your tablet or DTV being aware of who is looking at a screen so it can make sure the content is suitable to the audience, or powering down when no one is watching.

More of our daily lives are being captured through smartphones and tablets. I have numerous nearly unusable videos that have been shot in motion – having video stabilization built into my mobile devices will help me capture more of the dynamic moments in my kids’ early years, and being able to edit those videos on my tablet (to crop out the inevitable shot of my feet before posting on Facebook for the grandparents to see!) is just another one of the benefits to come.

So next time I fall asleep in front of the television watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones, GPU Compute will help me, a tired parent, know how far I got through the last episode – then pick up where I left off! Got to love technology.

Trina Watt, Director of Channel Marketing, Media Processing Division, ARM.
I like to think of myself as a “geek in marketers clothing”. Gadgets and technology have been a passion for me as long I can remember – from dismantling my first radio when I was about 8 to now running around regularly with 3 phones, a tablet and laptop to feed my tech thirst. I started in the tech industry nearly 20 years ago in Motorola and I have never ventured far from it. I am currently focused on promoting the visually exciting Mali graphics processors. I get to work with a wide range of partners who are creating the innovative devices of the future. For a geek it doesn’t get much better than that!

Spotlight on the New Exynos 5 Octa [Samsung Exynos blog, Aug 8, 2013]

Meet the new and improved Exynos 5 Octa processor, designed to bring enhanced graphics performance and energy efficiency to the next generation of high-end smartphones and tablets. Advanced ARM® GPU Compute technology and a suite of power-saving features allow our latest processor to run complex applications while conserving battery life – because a mobile device isn’t really mobile if you have to worry about charging it all of the time. We’ll fill you in on the most important specs for this new SoC and give you an idea of what to expect from future devices that run on it.

Enhanced Graphics with New ARM® Mali™-T628 GPU

The new Exynos 5 Octa (5420) packs an ARM® Mali™-T628 GPU, which is powerful enough to support 3D graphics processing that’s more than twice as fast as the Exynos 5410, for smoother rendering and diminished lag times. The Mali-T628 is also capable of GPU Compute functionality, meaning it can perform general-purpose computing and intensive tasks to help alleviate the CPU’s workload and speed up processing times. In combination with big.LITTLE architecture, GPU Computing significantly increases power efficiency for noticeably better battery life. OpenGL® ES 3.0 and Full profile OpenCL™ 1.1 support provide the additional power that’s needed to render high-quality, complex gaming scenarios and handle comprehensive photo and video editing.

Making Advanced Applications Possible

GPU Compute technology was once limited to PCs and other desktop devices, but ARM Mali GPUs are bringing this functionality to mobile. There are a lot of advantages associated with GPU Computing that will open up opportunities for innovative applications on mobile devices that use the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420).

Video and image stabilization and editing – Get creative! Edit photos right after you take them or apply filters to live video directly on your smartphone.
Facial detection – Refined facial recognition allows for enhanced security features and content restrictions for children.
“Open eye” detection – You won’t have to retake nearly as many photos if your smartphone’s camera only captures an image when everyone is looking at the camera.

Increased Power Efficiency for Extended Use

The new Exynos 5 Octa (5420) features four 1.8GHz ARM® Cortex™-A15 cores and four 1.3GHz Cortex™-A7 cores in an optimized big.LITTLE™ configuration. This power-saving design provides 20% increased CPU performance over the previous version of the processor, but with 70 percent greater energy efficiency than Cortex-A15 cores alone. The system switches amongst eight cores of Cortex-A15 and Cortex-A7 processors depending on workload, selecting the right core for the right task and saving power in the process.

If you’re an avid mobile gamer who’s into FPS games with complex graphics or fast-paced, high-frame-rate racing games, the “big” Cortex-A15 cores are there to do the heavy lifting. Even if gaming isn’t your thing, you’ll notice faster page loading times and better graphics quality when browsing websites with high-quality media. Big.LITTLE technology is all about balance, so the “LITTLE” Cortex-A7 cores step in to take care of lighter workloads, like pulling up work emails, playing music and texting. The Cortex-A7 series is the most energy-efficient processor that ARM has to offer, helping your device go longer between charges so you can stay connected while you’re busy living life.

All of you Photoshoppers and Instagram addicts will be happy to hear that the Exynos 5 Octa (5420 ) also features Mobile Image Compression (MIC), which lowers the system power required to bring photos from memory to your screen for processing. This means photo-editing doesn’t unduly impact battery life, and you can get the maximum use out of your mobile devices with high-resolution displays.

To learn more about the flexibility that GPU Compute technology brings to the new Exynos 5 Octa, check out this guest blog post by Trina Watt, Director of Channel Marketing for ARM.

More specs and details can also be found on the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420) product page.

New Exynos 5 Octa with GPU Compute Enables Cool New Applications [Samsung Exynos blog, Aug 1, 2013]

Recently Samsung announced their latest addition to the Exynos 5 Octa family. With the ARM® Mali™-T628 as its GPU, this is the first silicon to reach the market which contains a second generation processor from the ARM Mali-T600 series. Improved GPU support is the key differentiating focus of this version of the Exynos Octa. In the past GPU support was solely about graphics performance; however, with the inclusion of the ARM Mali-T628 in Exynos 5 Octa, Samsung have brought market-leading GPU Compute support to mobile devices.

The ARM Mali-T628 comes with support for a wide range of APIs including OpenGL® ES 3.0 and 2.0, OpenCL™ andRenderscript™. This breadth of API support opens up a wider range of use cases for consumers. ARM has been spearheading activities for OpenGL ES 3.0 since its launch and this momentum continued with the ARM Mali-T600 series becoming one of the first to gain conformance. ARM’s continuous market driving is now expanding to the GPU Compute area. Previously, GPU Compute has only been in PC- or desktop-style devices. Now, ARM Mali GPUs are enabling GPU Compute within the mobile power boundary. Samsung started shipping the ARM Mali-T604 GPU back in back in October 2012 and since that point the ecosystem around GPU Compute has been growing with more and more partners seeing the advantages that GPU Compute can bring.

These advantages include video and image stabilization and editing (meaning users don’t have to wait to get home until they edit and upload), facial detection (enabling enhanced security, access to suitable content and smile detection) and “eyes open” detection (so that the photo is taken only when everyone is looking at the camera or smiling.)

GPU Compute also enables the application of filters to images and live video, opening up new forms of creativity. To see more of what GPU Compute can provide across smartphones, tablets and DTVs, watch this video.

ARM brings GPU Compute to mobile devices [ARMflix YouTube channel, July 22, 2013]

Since this is the second generation of the ARM Mali-T600 series, additional architectural refinements have been made which mean that the ARM Mali-T628, when at the same performance point as an ARM Mali-T604, provides a 50% energy-efficiency improvement, alternatively, when consuming the same level of power, offers substantial increased performance. GPU Compute is about making current use cases more efficient. The combination of GPU Compute and ARM’s big.LITTLE™ technology in one SoC opens up new opportunities for task management. Certain tasks can be handled more quickly and using less energy on a GPU then on a CPU – math-intensive activities in particular often run better on the parallelized GPU architecture. This means you get twice the energy efficiency benefit when you combine GPU Compute and big.LITTLE, as Samsung have done in the Exynos 5 Octa. The GPU takes suitable tasks off the CPU, allowing the CPU to work more often in LITTLE mode and ultimately increases energy efficiency on the GPU and energy savings on the CPU. It also frees up the CPU to run other, more latency-sensitive tasks.

At the end of the day, GPU Compute provides more flexibility in what consumers are able to do with their devices – meaning more end devices will be available which are both energy efficient and enablers of cool new applications, so consumers will no longer have to sacrifice one feature for the other.

Trina Watt, Director of Channel Marketing, Media Processing Division, ARM.
I like to think of myself as a “geek in marketers clothing”. Gadgets and technology have been a passion for me as long I can remember – from dismantling my first radio when I was about 8 to now running around regularly with 3 phones, a tablet and laptop to feed my tech thirst. I started in the tech industry nearly 20 years ago in Motorola and I have never ventured far from it. I am currently focused on promoting the visually exciting Mali graphics processors. I get to work with a wide range of partners who are creating the innovative devices of the future. For a geek it doesn’t get much better than that!

GPU Compute Technology: Benefits in the New Exynos 5 Octa [Samsung Exynos blog, Aug 19, 2013]

Mobile processors have advanced rapidly over the past several years due to the development of new technologies and manufacturing processes that allow for significantly increased performance and power efficiency. A more recent development from ARM®, GPU Compute technology harnesses the power of a component that was traditionally reserved for graphical processing and uses it to improve system-level performance and workload distribution. We’ll review the advantages and applications of this technology in the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420) to give you a better understanding of its importance.

What is GPU Compute Technology?

Over time, the market has come to expect higher and higher resolution displays, which has been a key driver in GPU advancements. Both resolution and power increasingly dominate processing requirements for the next generation of smartphones and tablets. As we demand more and more of our mobile devices, we have to find ways to meet these evolving needs without sacrificing power efficiency. Enter ARM’s general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU), also known as GPU Compute technology.GPU computing is best defined by the ARM experts who developed it:

“…The computational performance of the GPU, historically used for graphics, is harnessed to augment the main processor (CPU) for certain applications where the GPU architecture will be more effective. The result is improved performance and energy-efficiency and a more efficient use of the system as a whole, making computational photography, computer vision, advanced imaging, point-of-interest extraction and augmented reality possible because of the extended processing capacity.”

Long story short, GPU Compute allows a system to match workloads to specific compute devices for optimal performance and power savings. ARM GPUs with GPU Compute are more efficient and better suited than the CPU when it comes to executing certain tasks such as math-intensive operations. By taking on these tasks, the GPU alleviates some of the CPU’s workload and lowers overall power consumption.

Advantages of GPU Compute

GPU Compute technology comes with a host of benefits, from increased performance and energy savings to ramped-up application support. Our most recent processor, the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420), packs an ARM® Mali™-T628 with GPU Compute that significantly enhances graphics performance. Compared to the Mali-T604 GPU in the Exynos 5 Dual, the Mali-T628 can reach the same performance levels while providing a 50% improvement in energy efficiency. The newer generation of the Mali-T600 series also shows increased performance levels when consuming the same amount of power. By combining GPU Compute technology with ARM® big.LITTLE™ processing architecture, the new Exynos 5 Octa benefits from two layers of energy efficiency.

Trina Watt, Director of Channel Marketing at ARM, recently wrote a guest blog post on the advantages associated with GPU Compute functionality. Depending on the mobile device, GPU Compute enables video and image stabilization and editing, advanced facial detection, “eyes open” detection for photo-taking and filter application to images and live video. All of these capabilities open up a wide range of possibilities for advanced apps and features that aren’t currently supported on many phones and tablets. Better still, overall optimization of system workload means you can run those cutting-edge apps without unduly draining battery power – a win-win outcome for any mobile system.

GPU Compute in Action

GPU Compute has already made its way into mobile devices through Exynos 5 Dual -equipped products like the Google Nexus 10. You’ll see the benefits of this technology in action once you experience this tablet’s super high-resolution display. With a 2560×1600 (WQXGA) screen resolution, text is sharper and colors are more vivid than anything you’ve experienced on mobile.

You’ll also find this functionality on advanced development boards like the Exynos 5 Dual-powered Arndale board, which includes a number of common peripherals. With this full-fledged prototyping platform, developers can get a handle on working with GPU Compute-equipped systems in preparation for the first round of mobile devices to implement the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420).

By pulling together high-end ARM CPUs, ARM Mali graphics with GPU Compute and advanced technologies like ARM big.LITTLE processing, Samsung Exynos has fully realized the ideal GPU Compute system. Stay tuned for news about upcoming devices that will run on the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420)!

Need to know more? Head over to ARM’s blog to find out how GPU Compute technology can transform your mobile and TV experience.

Up close and personal with the latest Mali demos [Trina Watt on Multimedia blog of ARM, Aug 27, 2013]

The buzz at this year’s SIGGRAPH was fantastic and you have already heard from a number of my colleagues including Jem Davies with “Back from SIGGRAPH 2013 – Mali Rocks” and Akshay Agarwal with “From Advanced Graphics to Casual Gaming in the Cali Summer – Mali Everywhere.” But would you like to see more for yourself? Well now you can!

Check out our latest demos on ARMFlix and hear from our partners including Samsung, Unity and GameStick. I particularly recommend the ARM Trollheim demo as a great place to start, with Phill Smith explaining how OpenCL™ can vastly improve procedural terrain generation.

ARM Mali Trollheim demo: in-depth overview [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Phill Smith, Demo Manager at ARM, compares two methods of texture generation with the Trollheim demo. The first demonstration, on Exynos 5 Octa hardware with an ARM® Mali™-T628 GPU, generates terrain using GPU Shaders; the second, on the Arndale Development Board with an ARM Mali-T604 GPU, uses OpenCL™.

An immediate hardware comparison (call it obvious if you will, but we could hardly start with anything else) is first on our list to share with you. Jae-Uck Ahn, Marketing Manager for Samsung and representative for the new Exynos 5 Octa processor, analyzes the performance of our first and second generation ARM® Mali™-T600 series GPUs and clearly points out the advantages which the ARM Mali-T628 has over its predecessor, the ARM Mali-T604; to name but a few these include brighter colours, sharper images, higher frame rates – and that’s not even mentioning the massive increase in performance efficiency.

Samsung Exynos 5 Octa on ARM Mali – Siggraph 2013 [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Jaeuck Ahn, Marketing Manager, Samsung Electronics, describes the features and benefits of the recently announced Samsung Exynos 5 Octa based on ARM Mali-T628 MP6 GPUs, 4 ARM Cortex-A15 processors and 4 ARM Cortex-A7 processors with ARM big.LITTLE technology. Jaeuck then demos the Exynos 5420 platform versus the Exynos 5 Dual based on the Mali-T604 GPU based Nexus 10 platform showing a 2x improvement in graphics performance

And it’s not just regular mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, which Mali is involved in. Our vision is to bring stunning visual computing to all mobile and consumer devices and the GameStick provides a fantastic example of Mali powering alternative gadgets. John Vega, Games Relationship Manager for GameStick, explains here how simply converting mobile games, which are now frequently designed for touch screens, to a new format can generate a hugely different, more interactive and responsive user experience – all still centred around great graphics supplied by the Mali-400 GPU.

Improving the mobile gaming experience with GameStick [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

John Vega, Games Relationship Manager at GameStick, demonstrates the touch-based iOS mobile application The Other Brothers running on a big screen with the GameStick.

The extent of API support in GPUs is a critical factor on the quality of graphics of the resultant product. As APIs evolve each generation is enabling more and better features. Android™’s recent upgrade to 4.3and its inclusion of support for OpenGL® ES 3.0 will go a long way in enhancing the look and experience of Android games (and as we’re in >50% of Android tablets and >20% of Android smartphones this is a big deal for the Mali ecosystem – especially as our GPUs already had support for all the latest APIs). A direct comparison of the capabilities of two different APIs is an excellent way of showing this and here Unity demonstrates the differences between OpenGL ES 2.0 and 3.0 on a Nexus 10.

Unity discuss the benefits of OpenGL® ES 3.0 [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Renaldas Zioma of Unity discusses the experience of employing OpenGL ES 3.0 in the latest version of Unity Chase. Includes a visual comparison with the OpenGL ES 2.0 version.

One final video to share with you is not of a demo, but is a great wrap up to this blog and to the first half of ARM Mali’s year as a whole. Jem Davies, VP of Mali Technology, gives an overview of where Mali is and where he sees Mali GPUs going in the future. The general conclusion that can be made is that many more first-rate demos showing off new technological advancements can be expected from the Mali team in the very near future.

Interview with ARM’s VP of Mali Technology [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Jem Davies, VP of Technology for ARM’s Media Processor Division, discusses the growth in ARM® Mali™ GPU popularity and the opportunities for innovation that the ARM Mali-T600 series with GPU Compute is opening up. [1:34 Samsung is setting the way in terms of trend-setting devices 1:38 the new form factors like the phablets and 1:41 the tablets that they’ve been producing and the 1:44 the Mali partners here want to see Mali being used in these really 1:48 trend-setting devices, the things that are 1:52 approaching new markets, and knowing that they can buy with confidence that 1:56 there’s a 1:57 whole variety of market segments now being addressed ny our partners.]

ARM’s predictions for the future electronic media & entertainment industry [Matt Spencer on Multimedia blog of ARM, Sept 5, 2013]

The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) is rapidly approaching. This is one of the leading conferences in the electronic media and entertainment sectors. It is a great place to find out about the future trends in media for the broadcast and mobile markets.

In this blog post, I am going to make a few predictions on what will be big at IBC, and as a result will be coming to your living room in the near future.

Natural UI

A Natural UI (NUI) is a man-machine interface that should be imperceptible to the user. A simple gesture with your hand, a smile, a conversation – “Hey TV, what’s on now… Have I seen that one before? OK, let’s watch it then.” Creating a more seamless interaction between man and machine is going to be one of the next big driving factors in consumer electronics. However, saying that, nobody has yet managed to create one that is a brand USP – has anyone bought a TV because you can wave at it?

At IBC, we will be seeing a raft of new improvements in the fields of gesture detection, face and speech recognition plus many others. All of these can be used to improve the realisation of NUI, and all of which can benefit from use of OpenCL™ in the ARM® Mali™ T6xx GPUs.Great examples of this can be found with some of our Mali partners such as eyeSight™, SoftKinetic™, CrunchFish and Ittiam®, all of whom are making great use of OpenCL to improve performance in both speed and energy consumption whilst performing what would traditionally be a highly CPU compute intensive task.

But what does this mean in terms of an actual on-screen UI? An implementation of a NUI is going to have to be as subtle as the interaction model that is driving it. This is the part of the NUI story that I believe will be in its infancy on the show floor at IBC.

To implement a UI that feels natural requires a lot of visual processing and this is where an ARM Mali GPU comes in. Imagine the use case where we want to show the results of the query “What’s on TV tonight”. The current trend in the UI space would be to de-focus the full screen video by either shrinking it to allow room for the results to be shown or overlaying the results over the video with a simple alpha effect. This is neither a natural nor unobtrusive way of pulling my focus to the results of the query. To do this unobtrusively required changing my physical focus point to the new information whilst not taking it fully away from the video. A simple way of achieving this would use a full screen Gaussian Blur effect to the video and overlaying the results in sharp focus over the top. This kind of process requires use of a GPU.

So, even though the NUI principles require that the UI is mostly invisible, we can see that the harder we try to achieve this, the harder the GPU is going to have to work.

UltraHD

Having seen UltraHD content for the first time last year at IBC, I have to say that the impact is immediate. There is no need to wear glasses as with current 3D technologies, the pictures seem to come alive with huge levels of detail and vibrant colours. There will be a lot of technology at IBC to help deliver broadcast UltraHD content to consumers from cameras and HEVC encoders through to STBs and TVs.

In terms of hardware accelerating HEVC content, the current generation of hardware does not have native capability to decode this content. So a traditional approach would be to use the CPU to decode the video, which would be a battery and CPU intensive task. ARM has recently been working with Ittiam to offload this compute intensive task to the GPU to improve decode performance for frame rate and battery consumption.

But what about the UI? Rendering a flowing, responsive UI at UltraHD resolutions is not an easy task. There are many more pixels that will need to be flung around the screen and the desire for browsers and UIs to hit a jank-free 60fps requires a top-of-the-range GPU combined with sufficient memory with high bandwidth. When the subtle complexities of NUI are added to the equation, the next generation of performance-efficient GPUs will be earning their keep in the consumer TV and set-top box (STB) space.

So the prediction for IBC in the UltraHD arena is that there will be a lot of new hardware, both consumer and professional, but the user experiences on these devices will be in their early stages. We will start to see chipsets designed with the specific GPU needs of UltraHD resolutions, but implementations of User Interfaces on this new class of devices will not be very mature.

Rise of the Companion

The use of a companion device to augment live and recorded content will also be a big part of the show. This will partly be delivered by APIs that allow the synchronization of the content on the main screen and the application running on the companion device. From a UI perspective, I would expect to see a drive towards cross platform application frameworks.

To ease integration into the companion device and to allow rapid deployment of new applications, I would expect to see this implementation of the companion experience realised using HTML5. HTML5 is a great platform to enable this cross connectivity and interface design, but there can be difficulties getting the required performance due to the underlying browser and JavaScript engine implementations.

I would therefore expect to see a number of companies at IBC showing both bottom up and top down approaches to solving the problem. The bottom up approach would require bespoke rendering and JavaScript engines that solve some of these questions, whilst the top down approach will give you performance debugging tools and frameworks to help identify and solve performance bottlenecks in the HTML5 applications.

I see HTML everywhere

HTML5 will be the de-facto standard for implementing User Interfaces at the show. The problem with HTML5, however, is that a lot of UI implementations end up looking very similar. You can often tell an HTML5 UI just by looking at it.

Now that HTML5 is the standard for UIs I would expect to see more differentiation in the implementations. Vendors will be more experimental and start to push the bounds of standard web design when approaching their interfaces. More animation, more effects… more pazazz! It will no longer be acceptable to put a few buttons on the screen with a simple highlight and expect consumers to accept this as a good UI design.

ARM’s position

It is an exciting time to be in the market, with a lot of great new technologies maturing and filtering through to consumer products. ARM is in a great position at the heart of this process, and Mali technology is going to be key to the success of some of these initiatives with its adoption of technologies such as OpenGL® ES 3.0, OpenCL 1.1 and its work with key technology partners.

We are already seeing great performance from next generation Mali-based devices and the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa with Mali-T628 MP6 shows class-leading performance. I see a bright future for Mali-based devices in this exciting and fast paced industry.

Matt Spencer, UI and Browser Marketing Manager, Media Processing Division, ARM. Matt is a technologist and innovator at heart, working for 15 years on embedded platforms in every manner of language from assembler through to JavaScript. He recently made the move to the ‘dark side’ (Marketing), for which he hopes he hasn’t lost the respect of his technical peers and, more importantly, where he hopes to help educate and bring like-minded engineers together with the goal of making embedded systems rock.

Xiaomi announcements: from Mi3 to Xiaomi TV

September 5, 2013 11:27 am / 1 Comment on Xiaomi announcements: from Mi3 to Xiaomi TV

An Official Video of the MI3 & MITV Launch Event (with English & Chinese subtitles). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR REAL UNDERSTANDING OF XIAOMI!)

Read before: Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5 [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 30, 2013]
Watch before: Smartphone Maker Xiaomi Takes on Apple in China [Bloomberg TV, Sept 6, 2013] Xiaomi CEO and Founder Lei Jun discusses the company’s growth and competition with Apple on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West.”
Read after: Exclusive: Hugo Barra Talks About His Future at Xiaomi and Why He Really Left Google [AllTingsD, Sept 12, 2013] … “There is no question the phone business is very low margin today, but they want to get to a place where they can sell the device at cost and then sell high-margin services to make that phone experience even better,” said Barra. … “The aspiration for the founders is that Xiaomi will become a global company that happens to be in China,” he said. “If I do my job right, in a few years, the world will be talking about Xiaomi in the same way that they talk about Google and Apple today.”

Introducing Xiaomi MIUI MI3 (3D) [MrMiui YouTube channel, Sept 5, 2013]

Check this thread for Xiaomi New Product Convention 2013http://en.miui.com/thread-7486-1-1.html (Live)

Xiaomi … 2 hours ago

ON AIR [Xiaomi 2013 New Product Announcement Event]
#MiPhone 3: The Fastest Smartphone#

Dual Platform – Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processors (1.8GHz A15 + A15) with 72 GeForce GPU cores + Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (8974AB quad-core 2.3GHz + 28nm HPM)). MiPhone 3’s overall performance increased 40% (compare to MiPhone 2S).
Screen – Sharp and LG 5-inch 1080P IPS display with ultra-sensitive touch. It works even when your figures are wet. You can set to recognize your figures even wearing gloves;
Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 RAM+16GB eMMC4.5 flash
Battery – 3050mAh battery;
Camera – SONY 13 MP Exmor RS CMOS back camera, 2MP BSI front camera
Supports NFC & 2.4/5G WiFi

Xiaomi … Yesterday

ON AIR [Xiaomi 2013 New Product Announcement Event]
#MiPhone 3: The Fastest Smartphone

Size: 114mm×72mm×8.1mm, weight: only 145g;
Six official colors;
Camera comes with Intelligent beauty corrector. It can also identify age and gender.
The GPS can preserve the satellite trajectory for 7 days.
Immersion vibration function with situational vibrate mode.
Price – USD$327 for 16GB; USD$408 for 64GB.

Tegra 4 Processors [NVIDIA, Feb 19, 2013]
Cortex-A15 Processor [ARM, Oct 31, 2012]
NVIDIA Introduces Groundbreaking Camera Technology With Chimera — World’s First Mobile Computational Photography Architecture [press release, Feb 19, 2013]
Nvidia Tegra4 Quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 with HDR [High Dynamic Range imaging] video and photo engine [Charbax YouTube channel, March 2, 2013]

Nvidia is releasing their quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 processor, here demonstrating their Chimera camcorder and photography engine that enables fast and easy HDR [High Dynamic Range imaging, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-dynamic-range_imaging%5D photography and video recording. They have a special sensor and technology that allows one optical system to record enough range to create HDR video at full 1080p 30fps framerate enabling also HDR photography on all upcoming Tegra4 devices without needing to take more than one picture. Tegra4 can playback 4K video, it has a 72-core GPU enabling advanced graphics and GPU Compute and a lot of other features.
NVIDIA Tegra 4 Family CPU Architecture – 4-PLUS-1 Quad core [NVIDIA whitepaper, Feb 24, 2013]
NVIDIA Tegra 4 Family GPU Architecture [NVIDIA whitepaper, March 6, 2013] … “the GPU also helps support 4K [4K Ultra HD] video output to high-end 4K video display” …
Chimera™: The NVIDIA Computational Photography Architecture [NVIDIA whitepaper, Feb 21, 2013]
Tegra 4 posts [NVIDIA blog, Jan 8 … Aug 23 … , 2013]
Nvidia sees growing Tegra 4 orders [Digitimes, Sept 9, 2013]

Nvidia has recently started receiving orders for its Tegra 4 processor, and in addition to the recently launched Mi3 smartphone from China-based vendor Xiaomi, Nvidia has also landed orders for Microsoft’s second-generation Surface RT as well as Asustek, Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard (HP) tablets, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The Mi3 is the first smartphone to adopt the Tegra 4 processor.

Nvidia is also supplying its Tegra 4 to Asustek for its 10-inch New Transformer Pad tablet, HP for its 10-inch Slatebook 10 x2 and Toshiba for its 10-inch Excite Pro. Nvidia is reportedly also considering releasing an own-brand tablet.

Nvidia has also been aggressively promoting its Shield gaming device, trying to compete against the 3DS and PS Vita with a price of US$299.

Snapdragon 800 Processors [Qualcomm, May 1, 2013]
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Product Brief [Qualcomm, Aug 5, 2013]
Qualcomm Snapdragon UltraHD [QUALCOMMVlog YouTube channel, June 27, 2013]

Snapdragon 800 is the first mobile processor that can record and playback UltraHD. Watch as Aytac Biber, Senior Product Manager, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., explains how this feature is key to creating the best multimedia experience for consumers.
Qualcomm Snapdragon HD Audio [QUALCOMMVlog YouTube channel, June 27, 2013]

Fifty percent of the multimedia experience revolves around audio. Watch as Ravi Satyanarayanan, Director, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., explains how the Snapdragon 800 facilitates exciting features such as multimode capture and playback, 7.1 surround sound, and other advancements in audio quality.
Snapdragon 800 Posts [Qualcomm Snapdragon Processors blog, Jan 7 … Sept 4 … , 2013]
Snapdragon 800 Posts [OnQ blog, Jan 7 … Jul 24 … , 2013]
What Can You Build around Snapdragon 800? [OnQ Blog, June 18, 2013]
Inside the Snapdragon™ 800 Series Processors – The New Adreno™ 330 GPU [OnQ Blog, Jan 11, 2013]

Photos Taken by Xiaomi MI3 (HD) 小米手机随手拍 (高清) [MrMiui YouTube channel, Sept 6, 2013], watch in either 720p or 1080p HD, and you could even watch in the original HD

MIUI is one of the most popular Android ROMs in the world. It is based on Android 2.3 and 4.1, featuring a rich user experience and user customizable themes. MIUI is updated every Friday based on feedback from its users. Now with over 20 million users and 17 MIUI fan sites worldwide, MIUI is the choice of many Android users globally.

Immersion Enters Multi-Year License Agreement With Xiaomi [press release, Sept 5, 2013]

Recently announced Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone is the first to launch with advanced tactile effects

SHANGHAI & SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Immersion Corporation (Nasdaq:IMMR), the leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, today announced that it has entered into a broad multi-year licensing arrangement with Xiaomi, one of the fastest growing smartphone makers in China, and that the recently released Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone uses Immersion’s TouchSense® technology to add new dimension of engagement in Xiaomi’s popular MIUI interface. Users can experience Immersion technology in two new downloadable tactile themes available in the MIUI storefront, as well as the crisp, intuitive tactile effects integrated throughout the Mi3 user interface and Tool applications. The Mi3 is Xiaomi’s first smartphone to come to market under the new license agreement between Xiaomi and Immersion, which covers Immersion’s Basic Haptics IP and select TouchSense and Integrator software solutions.

“We are pleased to work closely with Xiaomi to design tactile effects that create a rich user experience and deliver a distinctive and branded feel to MIUI, Xiaomi’s custom Android interface,” explains Dennis Sheehan, Immersion’s Sr. Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “Xiaomi is our first direct mobile OEM licensee in China, and this relationship further validates the value of our IP portfolio and software solutions. With Xiaomi’s focus on design and innovation, we’re looking forward to collaborating in the future to bring advanced tactile experiences to mobile users in China.”

The Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone is available in China online at www.xiaomi.com.

Mi3 users who want to experience tactile effects have many options:

Users can select which strength of tactile effects they experience throughout the handset by customizing the vibration settings menu, found in the Settings/Sound menu

Mi3 Tool apps, including Compass, Calculator, Clock, Torch & Recorder include customized haptic effects to create a more intuitive user interface

The Iron Man and Gun MIUI themes are enhanced with realistic tactile effects, and are available for download from the MIUI Themes app.

“The Xiaomi Mi3 was designed to be easy to use, personalized and cutting-edge. The addition of haptics seamlessly extends these values to the consumer through the sense of touch,” explains Lei Jun, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi. “Immersion’s technology and expertise allows us to create a one-of-a-kind user experience that engages the sense of touch and complements our visual and audio design.”

For more information on Immersion’s TouchSense technology and Integrator platform, visit http://www.immersion.com/markets/mobile/index.html.

About Immersion (www.immersion.com)

Founded in 1993, Immersion (NASDAQ: IMMR) is the leading innovator in haptics, or tactile effects; the company’s touch feedback solutions deliver a more compelling sense of the digital world. Using Immersion’s high-fidelity haptic systems, partners can transform user experiences with unique and customizable touch feedback effects; excite the senses in games, videos and music; restore “mechanical” feel by providing intuitive and unmistakable confirmation; improve safety by overcoming distractions while driving or performing a medical procedure; and expand usability when audio and visual feedback are ineffective. Immersion’s TouchSense technology provides haptics in mobile phone, automotive, gaming, medical and consumer electronics products from world-class companies. With over 1,300 issued or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries, Immersion helps bring the digital universe to life. Hear what we have to say at blog.immersion.com.

About Xiaomi (www.xiaomi.com)

Xiaomi is a mobile internet company dedicated to creating the ultimate user experience through its overall portfolio of products including Xiaomi phones, a series of high-performance smartphones; MIUI, a customized UI based on Android; and internet service, such as MiTalk, app store, and game center. Founded in 2010, Xiaomi is headquartered in Beijing, China and has over 3,000 employees.

Xiaomi … 2 hours ago

ON AIR [Xiaomi 2013 New Product Announcement Event]
#MIUI V5 and MiCloud Service#

Hi to all MIFans!

-What do you like the most about MIUI? What is your wish list?
Today, we have over 20 million MIUI users around the world! MIUI team works hard to deliver updates each week. Until today, we have delivered 27 updates for MIUI V5.

-MiCloud Service
More than 10.5 million registered users uploading 11 million photos daily to our MiCloud. With MiCloud service, you can sync contacts, messages, settings, photos and videos etc. to our cloud. Feel free to delete and leave enough space for your phone to do more!

-Share Photo Album and Edit Together
MIUI V5 added an amazing feature. It allows you to share photo albums and invite people to edit those albums with you. You can simply invite people through texts or generate QR codes for them to scan.

-Share Public WiFi Access
Tired of asking for password to access public WiFi? MIUI V5 allows people to share access! Just one setting or simply generate and scan a QR code, you can soon be connected.

-Send Large File
Have you experienced problems sending huge files like movies using your phone? With our MIUI V5 new system app, you can send huge files without concerns.

Xiaomi TV Eyes On – GizChina [Gizchina YouTube channel, Sept 5, 2013]

We got some eye’s on time with the new Android Xiaomi TV yesterday in Beijing. The 47-inch smart TV is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset, features and LG/Samsung 3D display and has the narrowest borders we have seen of any TV to date!

Introducing Xiaomi MIUI MiTV (HD) 小米电视 (高清) [MrMiui YouTube channel, Sept 5, 2013], watch in either 720p or 1080p HD, and you could turn on even the 3D

Xiaomi … about an hour ago

ON AIR [Xiaomi 2013 New Product Announcement Event] Surprise! Xiaomi 47 inch 3D Smart TV Only USD$490

-47 inch Polarization 3D HD LCD from LG/Samsung;

-1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor MPQ8064 for TV , 2GB RAM /8GB flash memory ;

-TV remote with only 11 buttons, easy to use;

-Supports dual-band WiFi & Bluetooth 4.0;

-Run MIUI TV customized version, it is really smart!

Microsoft answers to the questions about Nokia devices and services acquisition: tablets, Windows downscaling, reorg effects, Windows Phone OEMs, cost rationalization, ‘One Microsoft’ empowerment, and supporting developers for an aggressive growth in market share

September 4, 2013 2:32 pm / 1 Comment on Microsoft answers to the questions about Nokia devices and services acquisition: tablets, Windows downscaling, reorg effects, Windows Phone OEMs, cost rationalization, ‘One Microsoft’ empowerment, and supporting developers for an aggressive growth in market share

Preceding analysis of the announcement materials on this blog:
Unique Nokia assets (from factories to global device distribution & sales, and the Asha sub $100 smartphone platform etc.) will now empower the One Microsoft devices and services strategy [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 3, 2013]
Other views are given here as well, after the Q&A excerpts coming immediately below. From a Reuters’ editor, an IHS senior analyst, an investment bank executive, and a business news presenter on France24 – in the form of 4 embedded videos. Those views could be summarized as “Nokia did a good deal while the success of Microsoft with this acqusition is uncertain and needs a lot of further investment”.

Let’s see how much the answers to the questions on the Microsoft Nokia Transaction Conference Call (Sept 3, 2013 ) were able to clarify the analyses and critical views:

Tablets?

STEVE BALLMER: Tablets is an area where we absolutely have our own first-party hardware, as you know, and see opportunities to continue to build and strengthen. And it’s an area where we have very strong programs in place with our OEMs, particularly on the Intel Atom-processor-based product lines that people will really get a lot of value on, and you’ll see a range of new products coming for the holiday season.

Scaling Windows down?

TERRY MYERSON: It’s definitely a priority for us to bring Windows to as many customers as we can around the world. Lower-price phones is a strategic initiative for the next Windows Phone release, but we have nothing more really to say now.

Acquisition effect on the reorg?

STEVE BALLMER: No [effect], the reorg is absolutely intact. Obviously, the devices business has a broader scale and new capability. Julie Larson-Green, who is running devices and studios is flat out. We’ve got a lot of work we’re doing here over the next several months. And Julie and her team will work on a planning and integration phase. Julie will continue. She’s excited about working on devices, but absolutely, the critical mass of the group with that acquisition is in the phone space, and Stephen Elop will run the group and will take the appropriate steps with Julie working with Stephen to figure out appropriate integrations.

Windows Phones coming from OEMs in the future?

STEVE BALLMER: Today, Nokia, as I said, is well over 80 percent of all of our phones, and I don’t foresee that changing dramatically in the short run, but as the market grows, I expect to see additional percentages, if you will, go to our OEMs, but it’s premature to predict today. We definitely have interest from OEMs in the Windows Phone opportunity given that people understand we’re going to blaze the trails here with our own first-party hardware.

Cost rationalization over time?

STEVE BALLMER: Amy will take it. I do want to highlight that in many hardware companies, manufacturing labor is primarily outsourced. And Amy can remind us the numbers, but in Nokia, there is more in-sourced manufacturing. Nokia has had a strategy about that that, obviously, they’ve executed very well. But you kind of have apples and oranges a little bit between the 32,000 and our almost 100,000. But Amy, why don’t you provide some context and detail?

AMY HOOD: Sure. Thanks, Brent. About 18,000 of those 32,000 employees are really directly a part of the manufacturing business. And so I think a better way as you think about the scale and opportunity is to really focus on the percentage of Nokia outside of that.

I think both Steve and Stephen did a thoughtful job in the execution slide about talking about the philosophy we’re using as we go through the integration process around the benefits of the incremental sales force that we’re getting with Chris and his team, as well as really going through and being thoughtful about the rationalization so that we get to one voice, one brand, one team that can best execute and be efficient.

What was not possible that the acquisition enables now, or is it only ensuring a presence in the smartphone market for a long-term basis, i.e. ‘One Microsoft’ empowerment?

STEVE BALLMER: Well, the latter is certainly true. We see at least three distinct opportunities to do better as one company than as two.

Number one, we talk about one brand and the unified voice to the market. I will say that I think we can probably do better for consumer name than the Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 1020. And yet, because of where both companies are and the independent nature of the businesses, we haven’t been able to shorten that. Just take that as a proxy for a range of improvements that we feel we can make, we can simplify, the way in which we work with operators and the overall consumer branding and messaging gets much simpler. That is an efficiency of being one company.

On the innovation front, we’ve done a lot of great work together, and yet as two companies, there’s always some lines along which it’s hard to innovate. The Lumia 1020 is awesome in terms of what it has for camera and imaging, and yet I think as one company we would have doubled down on that bet and made an even greater range of software and services investments around the core hardware platform.

Third, I think we get business agility. As two companies, we’re making two independent sets of decisions about where and when and how to invest by country, by operator, by price point, and there is, let me say, an inefficiency financially as well as a lack of agility that comes with that.

So in all three of those areas, despite the fact that I think we’ve done a really good job, we can improve and accelerate quite noticeably.

How the much needed developer support for the fairly aggressive market share assumption will be ensured?

Note: the “fairly aggressive market share assumption” was presented by Microsoft as:

To which I added the following calculation and judgment in my analysis post:
15% of the 1.7B units in 2018 is 255M units. The ~$45 billion estimated revenue at that time means ~$176 ASP. Considering the latest Q2’13 EUR 157 [$207] ASP of Lumia it seems feasible, but in 5 years timeframe it needs a strong premium strategy to achieve that. … NPV – Net Present Value.

TERRY MYERSON: Well, for developers today, Windows offers an incredible opportunity with the installed base of PCs, phones, and tablets, and soon the new Xbox One. We want to offer them this opportunity to build either HTML5 applications or native applications that span all of those devices, enabling them to reach segments of users on those devices, users in an enterprise, users on a gaming console, and just provide them very unique opportunities to monetize their application investments.

So we’re pretty excited about the platforms we’re bringing to market. Developer reception in some areas is certainly better than others, but overall we’re making progress, and we know we’ve got a lot more work to do.

STEVE BALLMER: One of the keys, of course, is driving volume. We think we have differentiated products. We can tell the story a little bit better. We can get the volume up, and we have over 160,000 applications in the store. We know we have a long way to go, and the key is really offering with our own first-party applications and first-party hardware, enough reasons to buy to drive volumes and then attract the broader developer ecosystem.

Obviously, HTML5 would be kind of a neutral thing. I would expect all the major platforms to embrace it to some extent. And in some senses, it takes away a little bit of the apps barrier to entry, which we know we need to work hard on right now.

Unique Nokia assets (from factories to global device distribution & sales, and the Asha sub $100 smartphone platform etc.) will now empower the One Microsoft devices and services strategy

September 3, 2013 7:11 pm / Leave a comment

Microsoft buys Nokia’s handset business [deutschewelleenglish YouTube channel, Sept 3, 2013]

US software giant Microsoft is paying 7.2 billion dollars for Nokia’s handset business. Both companies have struggled to keep up with Samsung and Apple in the smartphone sector. Nokia’s shares soared on the news.

With a market capitalisation of $18.72 billion on NYSE: NOK – Sep 3 12:15pm ET Microsoft is getting Nokia Devices & Services business —about half of the Nokia in terms of revenues (an estimated EUR 14.9 [$19.66] billion)— for only $7.17 billion. But that half of Nokia is still a shrinking + money loosing business + one with an upcoming disruptive threat as per Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5 [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 30, 2013]. With this Microsoft could be relieved of the necessity of An ARM-focussed Microsoft spin-off could be the only solution to save Microsoft in the crucial next 3-years period [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 24, 2013] advocated earlier on this blog. Additionally with the acquisition comes Nokia’s former CEO (stepping down with the announcement), the extraordinary Stephen Elop. He is also one of the greatest candidates to take over the Microsoft CEO position with Steve Ballmer’s already announced retirement within the next 12 months. This is already widely discussed in the media.

Update: Here are the latest offerings Nokia is bringing to the Microsoft portfolio
Nokia World Abu Dhabi 2013 [Red Robot – Intelligent Distribution (Thomson Reuters)YouTube channel, Oct 23, 2013]

At Nokia World: Abu Dhabi, Nokia unveiled six new devices alongside new accessories, Nokia experiences and third-party developer applications.

From that the most significant contributions IMHO are the Leading edge Nokia phablets for both entertainment and productivity: Lumia 1320 targeting the masses at $339, and Lumia 1520 the imaging conscious business users and individuals at $749 [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Oct 26, 2013] End of update

Read also:
– Microsoft Nokia Transaction Conference Call with slides from Microsoft Strategic Rationale inserted- ebook – 3-Sept-2013 edited by Sándor Nacsa from those two sources into an ebook format PDF
– Follow-up: Microsoft answers to the questions about Nokia devices and services acquisition: tablets, Windows downscaling, reorg effects, Windows Phone OEMs, cost rationalization, ‘One Microsoft’ empowerment, and supporting developers for an aggressive growth in market share [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 4, 2013]

Nokia Microsoft Webcast Press Conference September 3,2013, Full Video [WorldWideTechScience YouTube channel, Sept 3, 2013]

Nokia Microsoft Webcast Press Conference September 3,2013. More information on: http://worldwidegadget.blogspot.hu/2013/09/breaking-news-and-press-release.html

For factories read: Production facilities & Responsible supply chain [Nokia], and Nokia becoming the next Samsung from its new Vietnamese manufacturing base? [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, June 24, 2013]
For unique sub $100 smartphones read:
– Nokia’s non-Windows crossroad [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 2, 2013]
– New Asha platform and ecosystem to deliver a breakthrough category of affordable smartphone from Nokia [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 9, 2013]
– New Nokia Asha platform for developers [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 9, 2013]
– Mark Zuckerberg’s personality is hyped (again) with a quite worthwhile initiative (otherwise) but with substantial global financial interests behind it as well [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 24, 2013]
For other unique Nokia assets read:
– The Where [i.e. HERE] Platform from Nokia: a company move to taking data as a raw material to build products [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 7, 2012] (as it is licensed on the broadest and most advantegous terms with the acquisition agreement)
– Nokia Lumia 1020: an excellent case of Nokia’s contribution to Microsoft as a key innovation partner [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 12, 2013]
– Minutes of a high-octane but also expert evangelist CEO: Stephen Elop, Nokia [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 13, 2013]
For ’One Microsoft’ devices and services strategy read:
– Deep technical evangelism and development team inside the DPE (Developer and Platform Evangelism) unit of Microsoft [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 17, 2013]
– Windows Azure becoming an unbeatable offering on the cloud computing market [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, June 28, 2013]
– Microsoft partners empowered with ‘cloud first’, high-value and next-gen experiences for big data, enterprise social, and mobility on wide variety of Windows devices and Windows Server + Windows Azure + Visual Studio as the platform [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 10, 2013]
– Microsoft reorg for delivering/supporting high-value experiences/activities [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 11, 2013]
– How the device play will unfold in the new Microsoft organization? [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 14, 2013]
– With Android and forked Android smartphones as the industry standard Nokia relegated to a niche market status while Apple should radically alter its previous premium strategy for long term [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 24, 2013] which as the result of Nokia Devices & Services now joining Microsoft has got a very strong opportunity to join the mainstream of the smartphone revolution instead of the previous prospect of remaining a market niche offering

Nokia Deal Gives Microsoft Shot at No 3: Thompson’s reflection on the deal [Bloomberg via hcswbb YouTube channel, Sept 3, 2013]

Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia’s handset unit and license its patents for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion), seeking to revive two smartphone businesses that have struggled for a half-decade to gain share against Apple and Google. … According to him Elop is now the #1 candidate for the Microsoft CEO position as well.

The Next Chapter: An open letter from Steve Ballmer and Stephen Elop [The Official Microsoft Blog, Sept 2, 2013] with slide inserts from the Microsoft’s strategic rationale published as part of the announcement, and Nokia Conference Call September 3, 2013 15.00 / Helsinki 08.00 / New York presentation

Microsoft to acquire Nokia Devices & Services, accelerating the Windows ecosystem

Nokia and Microsoft have always dreamed big – we dreamed of putting a computer on every desk, and a mobile phone in every pocket, and we’ve come a long way toward realizing those dreams.

[Note: On the left the first 3 are the Series 40 6th Edition Lite platform devices: Nokia 109, Nokia 110, and Nokia 111. Then (with the stereo headset) is the first Nokia Asha software platform 1.0 device: Nokia Asha 501. The rest are Nokia Lumia devices. What are not shown here: Nokia 105 and Nokia 106, the last two devices from the once quite extensive Series 30 feature phone platform, like Nokia 101/100 of 2011, or Nokia 1280/1616/1800 of 2010. Will Microsoft kill them in the near future? Could be, but for 10 years Microsoft could use the Nokia brand for Series 30 and Series 40 based devices, while “Nokia would be restricted from licensing the Nokia brand for use in connection with mobile device sales for 30 months and from using the Nokia brand on Nokia’s own mobile devices until December 31, 2015“. Nokia’s pre-Windows Phone software strategy of Dec 2009: “Nokia is also continuing to use our Series 30 platform in a limited number of mobile phone devices for highly price sensitive consumer segments.” will come to an end in terms of S30 first, while the rest shown on the illustration above will evolve further on. Also in one of the Nokia press releases it is stated: “Microsoft is acquiring Nokia’s Smart Devices business unit, including the Lumia brand and products”, although in Steve Ballmer’s e-mail to Microsoft employees it is stressed that “It is very important that we pursue a unified brand and advertising strategy as soon as possible”. ]

Today marks a moment of reinvention.

Nokia has an identity spanning 150 years of heritage, innovation, excellence, and change which began and will continue in Finland and around the world. From humble beginnings as a paper mill factory, to manufacturing rubber boots and car tires, and then to mobile phones, reinvention is in Nokia’s blood.

Nokia will now write its next chapter, focused on enabling mobility through its leadership in networking, mapping & location, and advanced technologies.

For Microsoft as well, today is a bold step into the future, a huge leap forward on our journey of creating a family of devices and services that delight people and empower businesses of all sizes.

Our partnership over the past two and a half years, which combined our respective strengths to build a new global mobile ecosystem, has created incredible results: award-winning phones and amazing services that have made Nokia Windows Phones the fastest-growing smartphones in the world.

Building on this successful partnership, we announced some important news today: an agreement for Microsoft to purchase Nokia’s Devices & Services business, to deliver more choices, faster innovation, and even more exciting devices and services to our customers.

Today’s agreement will accelerate the momentum of Nokia’s devices and services, bringing the world’s most innovative smartphones to more people, while continuing to connect the next billion people with Nokia’s mobile phone portfolio.

With the commitment and resources of Microsoft to take Nokia’s devices and services forward, we can now realize the full potential of the Windows ecosystem, providing the most compelling experiences for people at home, at work and everywhere in between.

We will continue to build the mobile phones you’ve come to love, while investing in the future – new phones and services that combine the best of Microsoft and the best of Nokia.

Nokia and Microsoft are committed to the next chapter.

Together, we will redefine the boundaries of mobility.

Steve & Stephen

Thoughts on today’s Nokia announcement [Terry Myerson EVP, Operating Systems
Microsoft; Septr 3, 2013]

With our announcement today regarding Nokia, we’re taking a huge step in fulfilling our stated strategy of transforming Microsoft. For me, it’s been an incredibly rewarding journey. As the engineering leader for the Windows Phone efforts, I was there at the birth of Windows Phone, and a key part of our original partnership with Nokia. I know firsthand how critical it was for me and the team to be a valuable partner to Nokia, in addition to building out a great ecosystem of partners, hardware and software alike.

Today’s announcement doesn’t change that – acquiring Nokia’s Devices group will help make the market for all Windows Phones, from Microsoft or our OEM partners.

This goes to the core of how I think about my new job running the Operating Systems Group here. We have exciting ideas, and so do our OEM partners. Our partners bring innovation, diversity and scale to Windows. I’m always thrilled by the beautiful new device designs our partners are continually bringing to market. There’s a breadth of choice in form factor, finish and materials that deliver unique devices at a variety of price points. These devices feature innovative high resolution displays, audio, cameras, multi-finger touch screens, creative new hinge designs, new sensors, and other hardware enhancements that provide choice in the market and great experiences for users.

Our OS group mission is to enable the innovations of our hardware partners to shine through on the Windows platform. We collaborate with our Microsoft hardware teams in the same way we partner with our external hardware partners: we discreetly discuss technical and business opportunities, make shared bets, empower each other to do great work, and then operate closely together to delight our shared customers. We look forward to building new products together that will provide valuable business opportunity for the ecosystem and enable OEMs to deliver huge value to their customers, from consumers to the largest enterprise.

I was driving to work the other day and heard a song that perfectly sums up the relationship we have with all our partners. It’s a song from a few years ago by The Killers called “Read My Mind”; the lyric is “I don’t shine if you don’t shine.” Together, the light is pretty bright.

Additional messages from Microsoft’s strategic rationale published as part of the announcement:

Transformation: Beyond Software and PCs

A family of devices with integrated services that best empowers people and businesses for the activities they value most
Greater smartphone success strengthens Microsoft and our OEMs
High value services including geospatial are key

High Value Services Including Geospatial

Office, Skype, Xbox, SkyDrive, Bing at Microsoft
Geospatial and mapping essential to integrate for mobile
Need an effective alternative to Google; more than one “digital map of the world”
Nokia can maximize HERE use by others
Microsoft gets flexibility to integrate HERE with other excperiences
A new, simpler, and more effective partnership for the future
– Microsoft acquires right equivalent to ownership for the HERE mapping apps
– Nokia will continue to improve these apps for other platforms
– For mapping data and services, under a new four-year agreement
>>> Nokia will provide Microsoft with mapping data services in exchange for annual payments
>>> Microsoft can combine Nokia mapping data with data from other sources
>>> Microsoft can syndicate Nokia’s data to customers using Windows Azure for additional fees

Devices and Services: Why Phones?

Devices help services and services help devices
With consumerization of IT, users matter at both home and work
– Devices and high volume/value services are always to build a larger user base
Microsoft and phones
– High value experiences light up on great devices
– Device innovation gives Microsoft economic opportunity
– We will continue to support iPhone and Android/Galaxy phones with our services
– But we cannot risk having Google or Apple foreclose app innovation, integration, distribution, or economics
– We need a first-rate Microsoft phone experience for users
Windows: 300M+ devices a year
– Success in phones is important to success in tablets
– Success in tablets will help PCs
– We will take additional steps to promote the app ecosystem for Windows

[The Nokia Windows Phone shipments for the last 4 quarters were 20.3 million units.]

Devices and Services: Why Phone Hardware?
Driving Ongoing OEM Opportunity

Windows Phone has achieved #3 position in smartphones globally
Acquisition protects Windows Phone future
– High concentration with Nokia
– First party hardware ensures Windows Phone presence
– OEM model alsone expensive in this market position
Acquisition reduces friction moving forward
– Pace of innovation
– Marketing efficiency
Acquisition grows OEM opportunity
– Address diversity of markets
– Continue existing partnerships
– Microsoft success creates expanded OEM opportunity

[15% of the 1.7B units in 2018 is 255M units. The ~$45 billion estimated revenue at that time means ~$176 ASP. Considering the latest Q2’13 EUR 157 [$207] ASP of Lumia it seems feasible, but in 5 years timeframe it needs a strong premium strategy to achieve that. … NPV – Net Present Value.]

Confident About Regulatory Approval

We will submit the acquisition for approval in the EU, U.S., China, India, Brazil, Russia, Canada, and other countries
We are confident about our prospects for approval by early 2014
– The acquired assets are complementary
– The acquisition will promote competition
>>> Integration of hardware and software will help Microsoft offer competitive alternatives to Google and Apple
>>> Microsoft will gain proven capability and talent critical to success in devices and services
>>> Microsoft remains committed to working with partners in the Windows & Windows Phone ecosystems
The acquisition will benefit consumers
– Will drive down Microsoft’s devices and services costs from development through go-to-market and by obtaining cost savings from Nokia’s existing IP licences
– Provides consumers with more choice and innovation

Nokia to sell Devices & Services business to Microsoft in EUR 5.44 [$7.17] billion all-cash transaction [press release, Sept 3, 2013] with slide inserts from Conference Call September 3, 2013 15.00 / Helsinki 08.00 / New York announcement presentation:

Transaction expected to be significantly accretive to Nokia earnings.
Nokia continues to develop, and sees significant value in, advanced technologies, its patent portfolio and Nokia brand.
Nokia focusing on NSN, HERE and Advanced Technologies post-transaction. Each business a leading player in its respective segment.
Nokia outlines changes to leadership and Board of Directors.

Subject to the closing of the transaction, Microsoft will acquire substantially all of Nokia’s Devices & Services business, including the Mobile Phones and Smart Devices business units as well as an industry-leading design team, operations including all Nokia Devices & Services production facilities, Devices & Services-related sales and marketing activities, and related support functions. At closing, approximately 32,000 people are expected to transfer to Microsoft, including approximately 4,700 people in Finland. Nokia’s CTO (Chief Technology Office) organization and patent portfolio will remain within the Nokia Group. The operations that are planned to be transferred to Microsoft generated an estimated EUR 14.9 [$19.66] billion, or almost 50%, of Nokia’s net sales for the full year 2012.

As part of the transaction, Nokia will grant Microsoft a 10 year non-exclusive license to its patents as of the time of the closing, and Microsoft will grant Nokia reciprocal rights related to HERE services. In addition, Nokia will grant Microsoft an option to extend this mutual patent agreement to perpetuity. Of the total purchase price of EUR 5.44 [$7.18] billion, EUR 3.79 [$5.00] billion relates to the purchase of substantially all of the Devices & Services business, and EUR 1.65 [$2.18] billion relates to the mutual patent agreement and future option.

Additionally, Microsoft will become a strategic licensee of the HERE platform, and will separately pay Nokia for a four year license. This revenue stream is expected to substantially replace the revenue stream HERE is currently receiving from Nokia’s Devices & Services business internally. If the transaction closes Microsoft is expected to become one of the top three customers of HERE.

Microsoft has agreed to make immediately available to Nokia EUR 1.5 [$1.98] billion of financing in the form of three EUR 500 million tranches of convertible bonds to be issued by Nokia maturing in 5, 6 and 7 years respectively. It is at Nokia’s discretion if it chooses to draw down all or some of these tranches. The financing is not conditional on the transaction closing. If the transaction closes, any outstanding bonds will be redeemed and netted against the deal proceeds by the amount of principal and accrued interest.

…

Microsoft has agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current Mobile Phones products. Nokia will continue to own and maintain the Nokia brand. Under the terms of the transaction, Microsoft has agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current and subsequently developed products based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems. Upon the closing of the transaction, Nokia would be restricted from licensing the Nokia brand for use in connection with mobile device sales for 30 months and from using the Nokia brand on Nokia’s own mobile devices until December 31, 2015.

…

The transaction is subject to potential purchase price adjustments, protecting both Nokia and Microsoft, and a USD 750 million termination fee payable by Microsoft to Nokia in the event that the transaction fails to receive necessary regulatory clearances.

…

Following the transaction, Nokia plans to focus on its three established businesses, each of which is a leader in enabling mobility in its respective market segment:
– NSN, a leader in network infrastructure and services;
– HERE, a leader in mapping and location services; and
– Advanced Technologies, a leader in technology development and licensing.

Nokia will retain its headquarters in Finland. Excluding the approximately 32,000 people planned to transfer to Microsoft, Nokia would have employed approximately 56,000 people at the end of the second quarter 2013.

“Today is an important moment of change and reinvention for Nokia and its employees,” said Nokia Chairman and interim CEO Mr. Siilasmaa. “With our strong corporate identity, leading assets and talent, and from a position of renewed financial strength, we will build Nokia’s next chapter.”

NSN, a wholly-owned business of Nokia since August 2013, is a leader in mobile broadband, and is focused on operating at the forefront of each generation of mobile technology, including pushing the boundaries of connecting people through LTE and future technologies. Nokia continues to manage NSN as a strong, independent entity.

HERE will continue to focus on growing its industry-leading position through a broad location offering across mobile devices, connected devices, enterprise solutions and the automotive environment. HERE will continue to execute its strategy to become the leading independent location cloud platform company, offering mapping and location services across different screens and operating systems.

Our Advanced Technologies business will build on several of Nokia’s current CTO and Intellectual Property Rights activities. Advanced Technologies will explore new business opportunities through advanced research, development and concept products in areas such as connectivity, sensing and material technologies, as well as web and cloud technologies. At the same time, Advanced Technologies plans to continue to build Nokia’s patent portfolio from this innovation and targets to expand its industry-leading technology licensing program, spanning technologies that enable mobility today and tomorrow.

…

Nokia’s Board of Directors is conducting a strategy evaluation for Nokia Group between signing and closing of the transaction. This evaluation will comprise of evaluations of strategies for each of Nokia’s three businesses and possible synergies between them, as well as an evaluation of the optimal corporate and capital structure for Nokia after the closing of the transaction. After this evaluation is complete, deemed excess capital is planned to be distributed to shareholders.

…

The Nokia Leadership Team will continue to consist of the current members, but with changes in positions and reporting lines as outlined below.

Risto Siilasmaa will assume an interim CEO role for Nokia while continuing to serve in his role as Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors. As part of his interim CEO role, Mr. Siilasmaa will, among other tasks, oversee strategy and have four direct reports:
– Michael Halbherr, Executive Vice President, HERE;
– Stephen Elop, Executive Vice President, Devices & Services;
– Timo Ihamuotila, Nokia CFO and interim President; and
– Jesper Ovesen, Executive Chairman of the NSN Board of Directors.

…

To avoid the perception of any potential conflict of interest between now and the pending closure of the transaction, Stephen Elop will step aside as President and CEO of Nokia Corporation, resign from the Board of Directors, and will become Executive Vice President, Devices & Services. The following Nokia Leadership Team members will report to Mr. Elop:
– Marko Ahtisaari, Executive Vice President, Design;
– Jo Harlow, Executive Vice President, Smart Devices;
– Juha Putkiranta, Executive Vice President, Operations
[brought in charge of factories, supplies and logistics in July 2012];
– Timo Toikkanen, Executive Vice President, Mobile Phones [since July 2012]; and
– Chris Weber, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing [since July 2012].

Timo Ihamuotila becomes President of Nokia for the interim period while also continuing to serve as CFO. Mr. Ihamuotila will assume the responsibility of chairing the Nokia Leadership Team. The following Nokia Leadership Team members will report to Mr. Ihamuotila: Louise Pentland, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer; Henry Tirri, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer; Juha Äkräs, Executive Vice President, Human Resources; and Kai Öistämö, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development.

We expect that Mr. Elop, Ms. Harlow, Mr. Putkiranta, Mr. Toikkanen, and Mr. Weber would transfer to Microsoft at the anticipated closing.

Mr. Ahtisaari has decided to again pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. He will step down from the Nokia Leadership Team and his position as Executive Vice President, Design, effective as from November 1, 2013. He will continue to work on activities related to the transaction through November 30, 2013. Effective November 1, 2013 Stefan Pannenbecker will start leading Design, reporting to Mr. Elop.

This announcement does not change the current leadership for Nokia Solutions and Networks. Rajeev Suri will continue to serve as CEO, NSN, reporting to NSN’s Board which continues to be chaired by Jesper Ovesen who continues to serve as NSN’s Executive Chairman and reports to Mr. Siilasmaa.

Steve Ballmer email to Microsoft employees on Nokia Devices & Services acquisition [Sept 3, 2013] with slide inserts from the attached to it Microsoft’s strategic rationale

…

We have laid out Microsoft’s strategic rationale for this transaction in a presentation that I encourage you to read.

This is a smart acquisition for Microsoft, and a good deal for both companies. We are receiving incredible talent, technology and IP. We’ve all seen the amazing work that Nokia and Microsoft have done together.

Given our long partnership with Nokia and the many key Nokia leaders that are joining Microsoft, we expect a smooth transition and great execution.

As is always the case with an acquisition, the first priority is to keep driving through close, which we expect in the first quarter of 2014, following approval by Nokia’s shareholders, regulatory approvals, and other closing conditions.

But I also know people will have some questions about what happens post-close. While details aren’t final, here is what we know, and how we’re generally approaching integration:

1. Stephen Elop will be coming back to Microsoft, and he will lead an expanded Devices team, which includes all of our current Devices and Studios work and most of the teams coming over from Nokia, reporting to me.

2. Julie Larson-Green will continue to run the Devices and Studios team, and will be focused on the big launches this fall including Xbox One and our Surface enhancements. Julie will be joining Stephen’s team once the acquisition closes, and will work with him to shape the new organization.

3. As part of the acquisition, a number of key engineering leaders will be joining Microsoft from Nokia, reporting to Stephen in his new capacity:

Jo Harlow, who will continue to lead the Smart Devices team

Timo Toikkanen, who will continue to lead the Mobile Phones team

Stefan Pannenbecker, who will lead Design

Juha Putkiranta, who will lead the integration effort on Nokia’s behalf

4. Regarding the sales team, we plan to keep the Nokia field team, led by Chris Weber, intact and as the nexus of the devices sales effort, so that we can continue to build sales momentum. After the deal closes, Chris and his team will be placed under Kevin Turner. We will develop a single integrated team that is selling to operators, and there may be other integration opportunities that we can pursue. Kevin will work with Chris Weber and Chris Capossela to make those plans.

5. Our operating system team under Terry Myerson will continue unchanged, with a mission of supporting both first-party and third-party hardware innovation. We are committed to working with partners, helping them build great products and great businesses on our platform, and we believe this deal will increase our partner value proposition over time. The established rhythms and ways of working between Terry and his team and the incoming Nokia team will serve us well to ensure that we do not disrupt our building momentum.

6. We are planning to integrate all global marketing under Tami Reller and Mark Penn. It is very important that we pursue a unified brand and advertising strategy as soon as possible.

[Except the Series 30 and Series 40 based, so called mobile phones which could continue under the Nokia brand for 10 years. Also in one of the Nokia press releases it is stated: “Microsoft is acquiring Nokia’s Smart Devices business unit, including the Lumia brand and products.”]

7. Finance, Legal, HR, Communications, DX / Evangelism, Customer Care and Business Development will integrate functionally at Microsoft. Sourcing, customer logistics and supply chain will be part of Stephen’s Devices organization. ICM / IT will also integrate functionally for traditional IT roles. We will need to work through the implications for factory systems given the differing manufacturing processes and systems at both Nokia and Microsoft.

8. We plan to pursue a single set of supporting services for our devices, and we will figure out how to combine the great Nokia efforts into our Microsoft services as we go through the integration process.

9. There are no significant plans to shift where work is done in the world as we integrate, so we expect the Nokia teams to stay largely in place, geographically.

10. Tom Gibbons will lead the integration work for Microsoft.

Jingdong (former 360buy) e-commerce value proposition and ongoing global expansion

September 2, 2013 7:16 pm / Leave a comment

Disclaimer: I have no association either with Jingdong (former 360buy), Alibaba Group etc. The sole purpose of this post is to provide a Jingdong related illustrative follow-up to The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower [Aug 13, 2013], Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5 [Aug 30, 2013], and Opinion Leaders and Lead Opinions: Reflections on Steven Sinofsky’s “Era of Continuous Productivity” vision [Sept 1, 2013] posts on my ‘Experiencing the Cloud’ trend-tracking blog.

Shop at EN.JD.COM [360BuyOfficial, May 22, 2013]

About Jingdong [from press releases on PR Newswire since July 8, 2013]

Jingdong is the largest B2C direct sales e-commerce company in China (source: iResearch). The Company has achieved around 150% annually compounded growth in gross merchandise volume over the past several years and strives to offer the best online shopping experience to its customers. It currently offers more than 9 million SKUs through its B2C direct sales and online marketplace platform. The Company has established nationwide fulfillment capabilities and extensive last mile delivery network to provide superior customer experience. As of June 2013, the Company has 6 major fulfillment centers with 75 warehouses in 30 cities, as well as nearly 1,000 delivery stations and nearly 300 pickup stations nationwide. Through its speedy delivery services, the Company offers same day delivery in 27 major cities and next day delivery in more than 150 cities in China. Its newly launched night delivery and 3-hour delivery services are now available in 6 major cities in China.

From: China’s e-commerce prize [Bain & Company briefing (survey-based), Aug 30, 2013]

While pure plays dominate in the market, there is significant growth opportunity for omnichannel merchants. Among the most important developments we found in this year’s survey: When offered the choice, Chinese shoppers prefer retailers’ e-commerce stores over pure play sites like Jingdong. This is an encouraging finding for omnichannel players as they chart their futures. The survey also dispels a concern expressed by retailers that investing in their own website would cannibalize physicalstore sales. In fact, the opposite is true. The website feeds store sales, increasing a retailer’s total combined sales (see Figure 3).

JD.COM [Announcement and global branding messages] [360BuyOfficial, April 25, 2013]

360buy.com renames to JD.com. Our global online store en.360buy.com is now offering over an extensive catalogue of products. http://en.360buy.com/

Jingdong Adopts JD.com as New Domain Name and Unveils Mascot “Joy” [press release, March 30, 2013]

Jingdong (“Jingdong” or the “Company”), China’s leading direct B2C e-commerce company, announced today that effective immediately, it will adopt the domain name JD.com. Jingdong’s previous domain, 360buy.com, will continue to exist, but will redirect users to JD.com. Jingdong also unveiled a new corporate mascot, a dog named “Joy.”

“Jingdong is delighted to streamline its corporate brand and launch the simpler JD.com domain, which will be easier for our Chinese customers to remember,” said Richard Liu, founder and CEO of Jingdong. “Our new mascot, Joy, represents Jingdong’s loyalty to our customers and our close relationship with their daily life. We remain committed to offering best-in-class user experience to our customers throughout the world.”

En.360buy.com—–Online Shopping [cc Jane, March 13, 2013]

Please feel free to contact us: contact@jd.com Visit us: en.360buy.com About us —————————————-——————– 360buy Group was formed in 1998, and is China’s largest online retailer, growing 3 times faster than the industry average. 360buy Group continued to achieve robust growth in the first quarter of 2012, having a 50.1% share in China’s self-run B2C market and a 22.7% share in China’s B2C market as a whole. The success of the 360buy Group in China prompted a need to offer international customers equal access to Chinese high quality and low price products. Our global online store is now offering over an extensive catalogue of products, and this volume will continue to grow.

Chinese Online Retailer 360buy Group Expands into Overseas Markets with Launch of International Shopping Site [press release, Oct 18, 2012]

360buy Group ( www.360buy.com ), the Leader in the Chinese B2C e-Commerce Market, is Expanding into Overseas Markets with the launch of its international English shopping site http:// en.360buy.com . Today, Consumers in about 40 countries and regions worldwide can have Access to High Quality but affordable made-in-China Products in Tandem with a Premium Level of Customer service through the e-Commerce site.

The international site has distinct advantages by offering over 400,000 products in more than eighteen major categories, including bridal wear, handsets, tablet PCs, electronics, books, sports and outdoor goods as well as automobile accessories. A number of major international delivery firms will be appointed to deliver goods to the site’s consumers. Taking the lead in entering this new frontier will lay a sound foundation for 360buy Group to establish a footprint in the international arena and is also a critical step in the company’s expansion strategy.

Jingdong Marketplace Expands Vendor Services to Become Total Solution Provider [press release, July 30, 2013]

Jingdong (“JD.com” or the “Company”), a leading B2C e-commerce company in China, announced today that Jingdong Marketplace will further expand beyond the traditional marketplace platform model and become a total solution provider in the areas of technology, logistics, customer services and financial services to help vendors achieve steady and sustainable growth. Jingdong made the announcement during the Company’s first Marketplace Vendor Summit inBeijing, which hosted more than 500 third-party vendors from a wide range of sectors, including clothing, cosmetics, food and furniture, among others.

“Jingdong Marketplace’s continued development into a total solution provider will take our vendors’ e-commerce experience to the next level,” said Richard Liu, Founder and CEO of Jingdong. “The great efforts we have made steadily improving our technology, logistics, customer services and financial services will streamline Jingdong Marketplace and create greater value for our customers, vendors and other business partners.”

“Becoming a total solution provider will further accelerate the development of Jingdong Marketplace, positioning it to be an important growth driver for the next decade,” commented Ye Lan, Jingdong’s Chief Marketing Officer. “By providing vendors with a one-stop solution, we will be able to expand our product categories and SKUs, attract more new customers—especially among growth demographics like women, and encourage repeat purchases. We expect Jingdong Marketplace to contribute significantly to the company’s overall transaction value within a few years.”

“Jingdong Marketplace leverages the strengths of our large and quality customer base, our reputation for authentic products and our unparalleled nationwide fulfillment capacity,” said Kate Kui, Vice President responsible for Jingdong Marketplace. “Our comprehensive support platform provides Jingdong Marketplace vendors with data analytics, business intelligence, flexible payment options, speedy settlement services, and a fair and transparent vendor regulatory system. Our commitment to Jingdong Marketplace will help our vendors grow bigger and stronger, improve customer experience and contribute to the company’s overall growth.”

Ms. Kui also announced the launch of the Jingdong Marketplace Key Accounts Division, which will serve well-known brands and vendors with particularly high growth potential. The Key Accounts team will be dedicated to providing customized solutions for those vendors throughout their supply chain and product life cycle.

About Jingdong Marketplace

Since its launch in October 2010, Jingdong Marketplace has experienced rapid growth and contributes an increasingly significant amount to Jingdong’s overall transaction value. It has tens of thousands of third-party vendor partners, offering more than 10 million SKUs. The marketplace business is a total solution provider that serves as an essential driver for Jingdong’s long-term vision of creating a healthy ecosystem that helps its suppliers, vendors, customers and other business partners succeed and thrive.

More to read:
– Jingdong leads the E-Commerce charge in China [CKGSB Knowledge, Aug 23, 2013]
– Global E-Commerce: China’s Jingdong Steps Out [CKGSB Knowledge, Aug 26, 2013]
– Former Amazon manager takes Chinese e-commerce company global [GeekWire, Aug 16, 2013]

China’s e-tailing industry has posted 120 percent annual growth since 2003, and online sales in China could reach $650 billion by 2020, according to McKinsey Global Institute.

…

Jingdong is still weighing options to expand its offices first into emerging markets or the U.S., Shi said, but the answer to whether the company is going global is clear: “Yes, definitely.”

General information

From: Xinhua Insight: Internet industry optimism to buoy China’s economy? [Aug 17, 2013]

At the 2013 China Internet Conference in Beijing, you felt like you had been teleported into a bazaar.

…

“Internet-related consumption of information products and services together with e-commerce are becoming the two biggest drivers of China’s economic growth and restructuring,” said Liang Chunxiao, vice president of the country’s top online trading platform Alibaba Group.

He predicted that online retail revenues would account for more than 16 percent of China’s total social sales in 2020 when the aggregated e-commerce volume exceeds 28.8 trillion yuan (4.7 trillion dollars).

“E-commerce will boost related sectors such as logistics and raw materials, and help release the consumption potential in many remote areas,” Liang added.

China’s Internet economy will take up 6.9 percent of its GDP in 2016, up from 5.5 percent seen in 2010, according to a research report by the Boston Consulting Group last year.

…

Alibaba has created 3 million direct jobs and over 100 ~~billion~~ [million] indirect ones, and the number will keep growing, according to Liang.

Another big online retailer Jingdong hired more than 30,000 delivery men, most of whom are migrant workers, said vice president Zhao Guoqing.

From: China’s e-commerce prize [Bain & Company briefing (survey-based), Aug 30, 2013]

The year 2013 will be remembered as the one in which China surpassed the US as the world’s largest digital retail market. Last year, Chinese e-commerce shoppers spent RMB 1.3 trillion [$212 billion] online, a sum that has grown more than 70% annually since 2009 and is expected to continue on its amazing trajectory, reaching RMB 3.3 trillion [$490 billion] by 2015 (see Figure 1). Digital retailing has furiously transformed shopping and purchasing habits, opening up vast opportunities for retailers and brands that pay attention to the nuances of massively changing consumer behavior.

To better understand how Chinese consumers shop and purchase online—and what implications that has for retailers and brands—Bain & Company surveyed more than 1,300 online shoppers across all city tiers, incomes, ages and education levels. A follow-up to our initial 2012 China e-commerce report, it gave us the opportunity to dig deeper into the dramatic growth numbers to understand how the world of online retailing has changed their behavior (see Figure 2). We found Chinese shoppers have been more willing than shoppers in other markets to use their smartphones to make purchases, are comfortable with third-party payments and online banking, and are happy to rely on third parties for deliveries—as opposed to picking up products in stores. Perhaps most important for the years to come is that we learned that digital retailing now is the major influence on their actual purchasing decisions.

Logistics revolution in China: Will delivery companies deliver? [CKGSB Knowledge, June 24, 2013]

…

Alibaba, the world’s biggest business to business (B2B) online platform, is probably the one facing the biggest challenge. It’s popular customer to customer (C2C) online marketplace Taobao receives more than 20 million orders a day (70% of China’s deliveries). The parcels are delivered by third-party providers that have to deal with China’s underdeveloped delivery infrastructure. This is a common problem the whole industry is facing, prompting other e-commerce players like Jingdong Mall (JD.com which was formerly known as 360buy.com), Suning and VANCL to invest in self-owned and managed logistics systems to ensure they are in control of the whole process.

In contrast, Alibaba is not interested in owning its delivery network and since 2011 it has been lobbying for what it sees as a “logistics revolution”.

In May this year, it announced the formation of a new company, Cainiao Network Technology. With Alibaba’s former CEO, Jack Ma, as the Chairman, Cainiao is an alliance of logistics companies, couriers and e-commerce companies such as Yintai Group, Alibaba Group and SF-Express, that are willing to collectively work for the development of a nationwide IT logistics platform. An Alibaba group spokesperson told CKGSB Knowledge that the company is “spearheading the project in cooperation with industry partners with a common goal of enhancing the existing logistics network, whether it be on the IT or physical delivery and warehousing levels”. With a planned initial investment of $16.3 billion, the consortium marks a critical step in Alibaba’s vision of developing what it calls a China Smart Logistics Network within this decade. The ultimate aim is to solve a common problem that the company describes as a “key industry bottleneck for e-commerce growth in China”, the spokesperson says.

…

Only sophistication and specialization can ensure that Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms will function efficiently in the future. The company wants to be able to guarantee same-day delivery nationwide. And it believes this will be possible only if all the parties involved form partnerships and strategic alliances to actively participate in the development of a ‘Modern 21st Century Logistics Network’.

It’s an ambitious attempt. According to the company, over the next 5-10 years, the newly formed Cainiao will oversee the construction of a nationwide warehousing network that will cover a total area as large as 560 American football fields (3 million square meters approximately). Beijing, Tianjin, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta are some of the locations under consideration to build these logistics hubs. Since the project is conceived as an Open Logistics Platform, its partners, Taobao sellers and B2C websites can openly share facilities and all the logistics data.

China M-commerce Market Research 2012 [Advangent AG, May 15, 2013]

2012 is a triumphant year for e-commerce in China.

Alibaba, the owner of Taobao and TMall online store has reached top place as the most profitable Internet company in terms of net profit in Q4; several leading e-commerce providers are contending for larger market share while continuing to fuel the growth of the market. M-commerce is also booming.

Here’s a look at what China market holds for M-commerce in 2012 and beyond.

First of all, M-commerce user base has been growing steadily since 2009, it reached 149 million by the end of 2012 and expects to top 352 million by 2015.

In terms of market share, No one can beat Taobao‘s dominance at 62.7%. Jingdong, previously called 360 buy, remains a distant second at 16.7%, followed by a few other players like QQ, Suning, Vancl, Dung-dung and Yihaodian.

Moneywise, total revenue of M-commerce was merely 100 million US dollars in 2009, the figure topped 7.7 billion mark in 2012 and expects to reach 40.8 billion by 2015.

For M-commerce users, almost equal percentage of men and women shop online, the difference is less than 1%. However the number of women users is expected to catch up with men quickly.

China still has a regionally imbalanced economy. Most M-commerce shoppers come from affluent areas in the eastern part of China characterised by mega cities and dense population. For instance, 31.3%, 22.2% and 17.2% shoppers are from south China, east China and north China respectively where three largest metropolitan cities Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing are located.

There’re quite few choices for smartphone operation system. Android leads the market at 62.5%, followed by iOS at 32.7% and Symbian at 4.5%, which is still used on large number of low-end devices. Windows has got only 0.3% and there is lots of catch up to do for Microsoft.

Shoppers on Android, iOS and Symbian follow similar trends in time of shopping. However, while shopping on Android and iOS peak during the rush hours in the morning and afternoon, on the other hand, a large number of users on Symbian shop close to midnight.

Women and men have quite different tendencies in products bought. Women’s top purchases include women’s clothing, shoes, bags, cosmetic and skincare, and mother and baby products; men’s purchases include men’s clothing, women’s clothing, and 3C products.

Now, the average monthly spend for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. While the spend under 8 dollars went down from 27.2% to 19.7%, spend in the 8 dollars to 48 dollars range has shown steady growth throughout the year. The spend level is expected to grow along with the improvement of living standard and maturization of large payment on mobile phone.

Concern for payment security is clearly indicated in payment method. 33.2% shoppers choose cash on delivery and 32.6% 3rd party payment such as Taobao’s Alipay. Only 13.2% choose online banking and 11.2% mobile payment. Less than 5% pay through China Mobile payment Easyown, and 2.4% through bank transfer.

For delivery method, around 67% shoppers use privately-run courier services due to price advantage and speed of delivery, around 21% choose EMS, a service run by China Post for security and better coverage as it’s often the only option for delivery to remote regions in China.

For users not choosing online shopping on mobile phone, the leading concerns are payment security, small screen that doesn’t provide good user-experience and slow network speed. Other concerns include, heard too many negative reviews, it’s troublesome to set up mobile payment, don’t have the right resources, worry about not good at using mobile online shopping, don’t know how to set up, don’t like online shopping, and don’t know smartphone can do online shopping.

This video infographic is presented by Advangent — a digital link to your business in China. Visit us to find more at http://www.advangent.com. Thank you for watching.

Chinese B2C E-Commerce driven by Luxury Goods and Social Commerce [preview for ‘Asia B2C E-Commerce Report 2013’ by yStats.com, Feb 5, 2013]

The recent “China B2C E-Commerce Report 2013” by Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com provides information about the Chinese B2C E-Commerce market. Aside from trends, it covers revenues, the share of B2C E-Commerce on total retail sales, product categories, Internet user and shopper data, as well as information about leading players in B2C E-Commerce in China.

Chinese B2C E-Commerce expected to grow by approximately 30 Percent annually over the next Years

B2C E-Commerce is gaining more and more ground in China. According to forecasts, it is expected to grow by more than 30 percent annually between 2010 and 2016. Overall, fashion, shoes and bags, as well as computers and household appliances are among the most popular product categories online. B2C E-Commerce with luxury goods is one of the leading trends. In recent years, this segment has grown more strongly than traditional B2C E-Commerce.

A growing number of Chinese residents use social networks to purchase products online. Social Commerce is expected to become even more significant in China than in the USA. M-Commerce is also gaining in importance. Between 2011 and 2012, M-Commerce grew approximately fivefold and now accounts for more than four percent of total B2C E-Commerce sales.

Amazon is only in fifth Place among Online Retailers in China

Leading Chinese online retailers include Tmall [of Alibaba Group], 360buy, Tencent and Suning.com. Amazon is only in fifth place in China, with a market share of less than three percent. In 2011, Alibaba Group’s Tmall.com generated more than 100 billion CNY [$16.3 billion] in revenue, increasing its revenue by a three-digit growth rate. Some foreign companies also try to gain a foothold in the Chinese B2C E-Commerce market. In 2012, US company Toys’R‘Us opened its first online shop in China. However, online retailers face problems with the delivery of products ordered online. Consequently, retailers such as VANCL and 360buy are currently developing their own delivery solutions as shown in yStats.com’s “China B2C E-Commerce Report 2013”.

B2C E-Commerce and M-Commerce in China are expected to continue growing by double- to triple-digit percentage figures. However, the share of Internet users who also make purchases online is still much lower than in other countries of the Asia-Pacific region such as Japan and Australia.

Study on global B2C E-Commerce trends sees more personalization and increased use of mobile devices [yStats.com press release, April 11, 2013]

A newly released study by the Hamburg based secondary research company yStats points to trends expected to affect the B2C E-Commerce market in the coming years. Online shopping is likely to become more personalized, with retailers customizing their services and integrating online sales channels such as websites and social networks on any device that will connect to the Internet. M-Commerce is expected to play an ever larger role in the future, with over half a billion customers following the trend to shop via mobile devices by 2016. Moreover, throughout the world, online shoppers are forecasted to increasingly prefer to pay online when buying over the Internet, causing the online and mobile payment markets to grow strongly, especially in Asia.

Worldwide B2C E-Commerce growth will be led by large increases in the Asia-Pacific region

As current trends continue, Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America as the region with the highest B2C E-Commerce sales in 2013 and to account for over a third of global B2C E-Commerce revenues. By 2016, the Asia-Pacific region’s share is likely to increase further, while the North America and Western Europe shares of world total B2C E-Commerce are expected to steadily erode. Still, in 2013 USA is projected to remain by far the largest B2C E-Commerce market worldwide. One of the major trends there is expected to be growth of M-Commerce, reflected in triple-digit growth rates of mobile payments in the years to 2016. The Asia-Pacific region’s growth is expected to be led by China, with the number of online shoppers there projected to reach almost 2.5 times the number in the USA by 2016. M-Commerce is gaining popularity in China as well, with mobile sales on total B2C E-Commerce sales projected to triple by 2015. The online sales of luxury goods such as health and beauty products, apparel and watches has led the recent surge in B2C E-Commerce in China. New delivery systems and payment methods are being implemented in that country as well, helping to tap into the great potential for online commerce.

Intense growth foreseen in other nations

The other BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia and India, are also projected to see their B2C E-Commerce markets boom in the coming years. In India B2C E-Commerce is expected to see intense growth as soon as the payment environment is improved, since the current cash-on-delivery method of payment is seen as a hindrance to growth. The growth of Russian B2C E-Commerce is driven by the increasing Internet audience, already the largest in Europe, and increased online sales are anticipated as the challenge of product fulfillment is overcome. In Brazil online shopping benefits from growing mobile Internet penetration and social commerce. In Mexico B2C E-Commerce is forecasted to grow at double-digit rates in the years to 2015, with online travel sales leading the market. Another emerging B2C E-Commerce market is Africa. Growing smartphone penetration, especially in South Africa, is expected to boost M-Commerce and mobile payment markets on the continent.

Another trend influencing worldwide growth in online sales is the concept of group buying. In the Middle East particularly, group buying and daily deals websites have boosted B2C E-Commerce. Sales of Groupon in one nation in the region were so strong last year that the vendor could not keep up with the demand.

Growth expected in travel and gaming sectors

Among other trends highlighted in the yStats report, social media are forecasted to play an increasing role in the travel segment of the global B2C E-Commerce market, by helping customers research information for a trip. Moreover, the demand for travel arrangements adjusted for use on smartphones is likely to grow. Another market segment, online gambling, is expected to undergo a change in the years to 2015, with sports betting losing some of its share to lottery and casino.

The value of Taobao.com and TMall.com in China, as well as outside

September 2, 2013 11:00 am / Leave a comment

From now classic Taobao.com to the brand-oriented TMall.com, the Taobao story as presented by a Taobao agent for the customers outside China, and then by the players themselves: businesses even in the remote rural areas, the most successful one growing into recognizable brands on the TMall.com, the couriers who are the lifeblood of Taobao operations, not least the customers themselves, as well as a local small business becoming a global one.

Disclaimer: I have no association either with Alibaba Group or with Go2Taobao/BuyWithAgents. The sole purpose of this post is to provide an illustrative follow-up to The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower [Aug 13, 2013], Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5 [Aug 30, 2013], and Opinion Leaders and Lead Opinions: Reflections on Steven Sinofsky’s “Era of Continuous Productivity” vision [Sept 1, 2013] posts on my ‘Experiencing the Cloud’ trend-tracking blog.

How to buy from Taobao? Best Taobao Agent [Go2Taobao.com YouTube channel, April 25, 2013]

How to order from Taobao? Check http://www.Go2Taobao.com Follow us: https://www.facebook.com/Go2Taobao https://twitter.com/Go2Taobao http://gplus.to/Go2Taobao Best Taobao Agent. Go2 Taobao Agency provide professional english service, international shipping and secure payments. How to Shop on Taobao? Check it right now, and safely buy from Taobao.
Buy from Taobao – Business Model [Go2Taobao.com YouTube channel, May 9, 2013]
Taobao information [June 8, 2013]

Taobao is an online shopping platform where you can purchase anything and everything and have it delivered directly to your home. Sellers are able to post new and used goods for sale on the Taobao Marketplace either through a fixed price or by auction. The overwhelming majority of the products on Taobao Marketplace are brand new merchandise sold at a fixed price; auctions make up a very small percentage of transactions. Buyers can judge the sellers’ credit from their selling prestige, or the history of comment and complaint.

http://www.go2taobao.com is the most reliable shopping agency in the People’s Republic of China. We service a wide range of clients from multi-national corporation to individuals on every continent. For companies and individuals who wish to shop online in China, go2taobao is your most trusted, user friendly agent.

Our service is here to assist and help our foreign friends safely purchase items from Chinese online stores. Anyone who would like to shop online in China http://www.taobao.com can benefit from our service. Most online stores are displayed in Chinese, so we will assist and help our buyers discover what the stores are offering, the prices, and also advise our clients on which deals are hot and what is not. It is our duty to make our services available for everyone by providing a safe payment method and cheap, fast, and reliable shipping.

We are a professional purchasing agency ready to assist you in purchasing any item in China. For your benefit, satisfaction and convenience, we will assist you by providing the best value so you save both time and money. Please join us and start your international shopping.

Our mission: To provide a smooth and enjoyable international shopping experience for you.
What is Taobao? [AlibabaGroupPage, May 1, 2013]

Interviews with people on the street, asking them what they know about Taobao – and how it helps them shop and sell.
Taobao.com preserves tradition of making Chinese lanterns [AlibabaGroupPage, July 16, 2013]

Taobao.com is the most popular online marketplace in China where thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs have set up shop. In this Alizila video, we meet a 76-year-old Chinese lantern handicraft master who is keeping his traditional craft alive through the modern tools of Taobao.
E-commerce in Rural China [AlibabaGroupPage, April 25, 2013]

In this video from Alizila.com, e-commerce entrepreneur Du Qianli explains how his Taobao organic foods online store is helping poor, rural farmers in China’s Taihang Mountains earn extra income. For more on this story, go to http://alizila.com/can-e-commerce-ease-poverty-rural-china-video
7Gege.com – Customer Success on Taobao.com and TMall.com [AlibabaGroupPage, May 13, 2013]

7GEGE.com’s CEO, Louise Cao, describes how she built her business into a success using Alibaba Group platforms Taobao.com and TMall.com. In business since 2009, she also offers advice on how to build an online fashion business.
Tmall.com Success: Joyme Furniture [AlibabaGroupPage, June 4, 2013]

Joyme Group is made up of several manufacturers who specialize in producing wooden furniture in northeastern Heilongjiang, China. For years, Joyme manufactured furniture for IKEA. However, with the rising costs of manufacturing and shrinking profits, Joyme decided to shift their business strategy from being IKEA’s OEM to launching their own retail brand. Find out how they used Tmall.com to make the transition successful.
The Life of Taobao Couriers [AlibabaGroupPage, May 1, 2013]

Learn about the life and dedication of Taobao couriers, working in rural and urban areas. They are the backbone of e-commerce in China.
A Mother’s Love on Taobao [AlibabaGroupPage, May 1, 2013]

To be a mother is a lifelong commitment and carrying milk for your baby is only the beginning. Learn how more than two million mothers have bought breastfeeding equipment on Taobao.
Small Business From Korea Finds Global Success [AlibabaGroupPage, July 23, 2013]

A look at how DS Global Corporation (DS글로벌) president, Heaon-Jae Lee, found success for his small business in the automotive industry using Alibaba.com from Korea. From early on, Lee understood how the internet could help him reach new markets around the world. He now does business with companies across 70 countries, including Turkey, USA, Spain, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

General information

From: Xinhua Insight: Internet industry optimism to buoy China’s economy? [Aug 17, 2013]

At the 2013 China Internet Conference in Beijing, you felt like you had been teleported into a bazaar.

…

“Internet-related consumption of information products and services together with e-commerce are becoming the two biggest drivers of China’s economic growth and restructuring,” said Liang Chunxiao, vice president of the country’s top online trading platform Alibaba Group.

He predicted that online retail revenues would account for more than 16 percent of China’s total social sales in 2020 when the aggregated e-commerce volume exceeds 28.8 trillion yuan (4.7 trillion dollars).

“E-commerce will boost related sectors such as logistics and raw materials, and help release the consumption potential in many remote areas,” Liang added.

China’s Internet economy will take up 6.9 percent of its GDP in 2016, up from 5.5 percent seen in 2010, according to a research report by the Boston Consulting Group last year.

…

Alibaba has created 3 million direct jobs and over 100 ~~billion~~ [million] indirect ones, and the number will keep growing, according to Liang.

Another big online retailer Jingdong hired more than 30,000 delivery men, most of whom are migrant workers, said vice president Zhao Guoqing.

From: China’s e-commerce prize [Bain & Company briefing (survey-based), Aug 30, 2013]

The year 2013 will be remembered as the one in which China surpassed the US as the world’s largest digital retail market. Last year, Chinese e-commerce shoppers spent RMB 1.3 trillion [$212 billion] online, a sum that has grown more than 70% annually since 2009 and is expected to continue on its amazing trajectory, reaching RMB 3.3 trillion [$490 billion] by 2015 (see Figure 1). Digital retailing has furiously transformed shopping and purchasing habits, opening up vast opportunities for retailers and brands that pay attention to the nuances of massively changing consumer behavior.

To better understand how Chinese consumers shop and purchase online—and what implications that has for retailers and brands—Bain & Company surveyed more than 1,300 online shoppers across all city tiers, incomes, ages and education levels. A follow-up to our initial 2012 China e-commerce report, it gave us the opportunity to dig deeper into the dramatic growth numbers to understand how the world of online retailing has changed their behavior (see Figure 2). We found Chinese shoppers have been more willing than shoppers in other markets to use their smartphones to make purchases, are comfortable with third-party payments and online banking, and are happy to rely on third parties for deliveries—as opposed to picking up products in stores. Perhaps most important for the years to come is that we learned that digital retailing now is the major influence on their actual purchasing decisions.

…

As it explodes, China’s digital retail market also is making a dramatic shift from consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sites like Taobao—which introduced shoppers to online buying—to business-to-consumer (B2C) sites like Tmall, which surveyed shoppers tell us they trust more than consumer sites. Between 2009 and 2012, the compounded annual growth rate for B2C platforms was 160%, and it’s expected to continue to grow 53% a year through 2015. By comparison, Taobao, which represents the vast majority of the C2C market, grew by a compounded annual rate of around 65% in the years 2009 to 2012.

The Tmall phenomenon

As retailers and brands frame their strategies, they can’ t minimize the importance of Tmall, the dominant site where the majority of China’s B2C purchases take place. Tmall generated revenues of RMB 180 billion [$29.4 billion] in 2012, and the site has deftly shaped online retailing in China. Consider its iconic 11.11 digital retail event, in which shoppers are offered up to 50% discounts on most products. The single 24-hour period in November delivered fully 7% of Tmall’ s annual revenues in 2012, according to company reports. By the end of the day 213 million unique visitors had logged on, the company reported, accounting for 106 million transactions.

A presence on Tmall is critical for any merchant trying to establish a foothold with China’s online shoppers. Given its scale and ability to deliver enormous traffic, Tmall serves as a good entry option for brick-and-mortar retailers or brands that want to get shoppers comfortable with the experience of buying online. Then retailers can focus on convincing shoppers to make purchases on their own sites. Trouble is, our survey found that consumers often confuse flagship stores on Tmall with retailers’ own e-commerce sites. The challenge is to clearly differentiate the retailer’s e-store from its Tmall offering.

Ultimately, Tmall helps everybody grow, and fast. Its 11-11 digital holiday creates a halo effect that makes those 24 hours an exciting time for all online retailers in China.

The potential is huge for B2C sites to win away shoppers from C2C sites. Based on our survey, 96% of C2C revenues come from shoppers buying new—not second-hand—products like those sold on B2C sites. Tmall, probably the only profitable B2C e-store, is poised to gain from this trend. Its sister company, C2C giant Taobao, feeds traffic to Tmall without a fee.

These online-only pure plays lead the market over omnichannel retailers, those with both a physical and online presence. The pure player world supports three major business models. On Pure Platforms, such as Tmall and Taobao, vendors operate their e-store and own the products. These sites have no in-house logistics, relying on third-party players to fulfill orders. However, they integrate delivery into their sites, making it easy for shoppers. Taobao established a common platform that allows its third-party logistics partners to track the route and delivery status of orders. An Open Platform is a variation of this model. In sites like Jingdong (formerly 360buy), vendors own the products but only partially operate the e-store, although the platform will operate an e-store for a vendor for a service charge. While the Open Platform model has in-house logistics capabilities, an e-store may opt to use a third party and pay a service fee. Meanwhile, B2C pure players like 51buy operate the e-store, fully owning the products and using in-house logistics, except in remote regions.

Logistics revolution in China: Will delivery companies deliver? [CKGSB Knowledge, June 24, 2013]

…

Alibaba, the world’s biggest business to business (B2B) online platform, is probably the one facing the biggest challenge. It’s popular customer to customer (C2C) online marketplace Taobao receives more than 20 million orders a day (70% of China’s deliveries). The parcels are delivered by third-party providers that have to deal with China’s underdeveloped delivery infrastructure. This is a common problem the whole industry is facing, prompting other e-commerce players like Jingdong Mall (JD.com which was formerly known as 360buy.com), Suning and VANCL to invest in self-owned and managed logistics systems to ensure they are in control of the whole process.

In contrast, Alibaba is not interested in owning its delivery network and since 2011 it has been lobbying for what it sees as a “logistics revolution”.

In May this year, it announced the formation of a new company, Cainiao Network Technology. With Alibaba’s former CEO, Jack Ma, as the Chairman, Cainiao is an alliance of logistics companies, couriers and e-commerce companies such as Yintai Group, Alibaba Group and SF-Express, that are willing to collectively work for the development of a nationwide IT logistics platform. An Alibaba group spokesperson told CKGSB Knowledge that the company is “spearheading the project in cooperation with industry partners with a common goal of enhancing the existing logistics network, whether it be on the IT or physical delivery and warehousing levels”. With a planned initial investment of $16.3 billion, the consortium marks a critical step in Alibaba’s vision of developing what it calls a China Smart Logistics Network within this decade. The ultimate aim is to solve a common problem that the company describes as a “key industry bottleneck for e-commerce growth in China”, the spokesperson says.

…

Only sophistication and specialization can ensure that Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms will function efficiently in the future. The company wants to be able to guarantee same-day delivery nationwide. And it believes this will be possible only if all the parties involved form partnerships and strategic alliances to actively participate in the development of a ‘Modern 21st Century Logistics Network’.

It’s an ambitious attempt. According to the company, over the next 5-10 years, the newly formed Cainiao will oversee the construction of a nationwide warehousing network that will cover a total area as large as 560 American football fields (3 million square meters approximately). Beijing, Tianjin, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta are some of the locations under consideration to build these logistics hubs. Since the project is conceived as an Open Logistics Platform, its partners, Taobao sellers and B2C websites can openly share facilities and all the logistics data.

China M-commerce Market Research 2012 [Advangent AG, May 15, 2013]

Írja be ide a videó képfeliratát.

2012 is a triumphant year for e-commerce in China.

Alibaba, the owner of Taobao and TMall online store has reached top place as the most profitable Internet company in terms of net profit in Q4; several leading e-commerce providers are contending for larger market share while continuing to fuel the growth of the market. M-commerce is also booming.

Here’s a look at what China market holds for M-commerce in 2012 and beyond.

First of all, M-commerce user base has been growing steadily since 2009, it reached 149 million by the end of 2012 and expects to top 352 million by 2015.

In terms of market share, No one can beat Taobao‘s dominance at 62.7%. Jingdong, previously called 360 buy, remains a distant second at 16.7%, followed by a few other players like QQ, Suning, Vancl, Dung-dung and Yihaodian.

Moneywise, total revenue of M-commerce was merely 100 million US dollars in 2009, the figure topped 7.7 billion mark in 2012 and expects to reach 40.8 billion by 2015.

For M-commerce users, almost equal percentage of men and women shop online, the difference is less than 1%. However the number of women users is expected to catch up with men quickly.

China still has a regionally imbalanced economy. Most M-commerce shoppers come from affluent areas in the eastern part of China characterised by mega cities and dense population. For instance, 31.3%, 22.2% and 17.2% shoppers are from south China, east China and north China respectively where three largest metropolitan cities Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing are located.

There’re quite few choices for smartphone operation system. Android leads the market at 62.5%, followed by iOS at 32.7% and Symbian at 4.5%, which is still used on large number of low-end devices. Windows has got only 0.3% and there is lots of catch up to do for Microsoft.

Shoppers on Android, iOS and Symbian follow similar trends in time of shopping. However, while shopping on Android and iOS peak during the rush hours in the morning and afternoon, on the other hand, a large number of users on Symbian shop close to midnight.

Women and men have quite different tendencies in products bought. Women’s top purchases include women’s clothing, shoes, bags, cosmetic and skincare, and mother and baby products; men’s purchases include men’s clothing, women’s clothing, and 3C products.

Now, the average monthly spend for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. While the spend under 8 dollars went down from 27.2% to 19.7%, spend in the 8 dollars to 48 dollars range has shown steady growth throughout the year. The spend level is expected to grow along with the improvement of living standard and maturization of large payment on mobile phone.

Concern for payment security is clearly indicated in payment method. 33.2% shoppers choose cash on delivery and 32.6% 3rd party payment such as Taobao’s Alipay. Only 13.2% choose online banking and 11.2% mobile payment. Less than 5% pay through China Mobile payment Easyown, and 2.4% through bank transfer.

For delivery method, around 67% shoppers use privately-run courier services due to price advantage and speed of delivery, around 21% choose EMS, a service run by China Post for security and better coverage as it’s often the only option for delivery to remote regions in China.

For users not choosing online shopping on mobile phone, the leading concerns are payment security, small screen that doesn’t provide good user-experience and slow network speed. Other concerns include, heard too many negative reviews, it’s troublesome to set up mobile payment, don’t have the right resources, worry about not good at using mobile online shopping, don’t know how to set up, don’t like online shopping, and don’t know smartphone can do online shopping.

This video infographic is presented by Advangent — a digital link to your business in China. Visit us to find more at http://www.advangent.com. Thank you for watching.

Chinese B2C E-Commerce driven by Luxury Goods and Social Commerce [preview for ‘Asia B2C E-Commerce Report 2013’ by yStats.com, Feb 5, 2013]

The recent “China B2C E-Commerce Report 2013” by Hamburg-based secondary market research company yStats.com provides information about the Chinese B2C E-Commerce market. Aside from trends, it covers revenues, the share of B2C E-Commerce on total retail sales, product categories, Internet user and shopper data, as well as information about leading players in B2C E-Commerce in China.

Chinese B2C E-Commerce expected to grow by approximately 30 Percent annually over the next Years

B2C E-Commerce is gaining more and more ground in China. According to forecasts, it is expected to grow by more than 30 percent annually between 2010 and 2016. Overall, fashion, shoes and bags, as well as computers and household appliances are among the most popular product categories online. B2C E-Commerce with luxury goods is one of the leading trends. In recent years, this segment has grown more strongly than traditional B2C E-Commerce.

A growing number of Chinese residents use social networks to purchase products online. Social Commerce is expected to become even more significant in China than in the USA. M-Commerce is also gaining in importance. Between 2011 and 2012, M-Commerce grew approximately fivefold and now accounts for more than four percent of total B2C E-Commerce sales.

Amazon is only in fifth Place among Online Retailers in China

Leading Chinese online retailers include Tmall [of Alibaba Group], 360buy, Tencent and Suning.com. Amazon is only in fifth place in China, with a market share of less than three percent. In 2011, Alibaba Group’s Tmall.com generated more than 100 billion CNY [$16.3 billion] in revenue, increasing its revenue by a three-digit growth rate. Some foreign companies also try to gain a foothold in the Chinese B2C E-Commerce market. In 2012, US company Toys’R‘Us opened its first online shop in China. However, online retailers face problems with the delivery of products ordered online. Consequently, retailers such as VANCL and 360buy are currently developing their own delivery solutions as shown in yStats.com’s “China B2C E-Commerce Report 2013”.

B2C E-Commerce and M-Commerce in China are expected to continue growing by double- to triple-digit percentage figures. However, the share of Internet users who also make purchases online is still much lower than in other countries of the Asia-Pacific region such as Japan and Australia.

Study on global B2C E-Commerce trends sees more personalization and increased use of mobile devices [yStats.com press release, April 11, 2013]

A newly released study by the Hamburg based secondary research company yStats points to trends expected to affect the B2C E-Commerce market in the coming years. Online shopping is likely to become more personalized, with retailers customizing their services and integrating online sales channels such as websites and social networks on any device that will connect to the Internet. M-Commerce is expected to play an ever larger role in the future, with over half a billion customers following the trend to shop via mobile devices by 2016. Moreover, throughout the world, online shoppers are forecasted to increasingly prefer to pay online when buying over the Internet, causing the online and mobile payment markets to grow strongly, especially in Asia.

Worldwide B2C E-Commerce growth will be led by large increases in the Asia-Pacific region

As current trends continue, Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America as the region with the highest B2C E-Commerce sales in 2013 and to account for over a third of global B2C E-Commerce revenues. By 2016, the Asia-Pacific region’s share is likely to increase further, while the North America and Western Europe shares of world total B2C E-Commerce are expected to steadily erode. Still, in 2013 USA is projected to remain by far the largest B2C E-Commerce market worldwide. One of the major trends there is expected to be growth of M-Commerce, reflected in triple-digit growth rates of mobile payments in the years to 2016. The Asia-Pacific region’s growth is expected to be led by China, with the number of online shoppers there projected to reach almost 2.5 times the number in the USA by 2016. M-Commerce is gaining popularity in China as well, with mobile sales on total B2C E-Commerce sales projected to triple by 2015. The online sales of luxury goods such as health and beauty products, apparel and watches has led the recent surge in B2C E-Commerce in China. New delivery systems and payment methods are being implemented in that country as well, helping to tap into the great potential for online commerce.

Intense growth foreseen in other nations

The other BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia and India, are also projected to see their B2C E-Commerce markets boom in the coming years. In India B2C E-Commerce is expected to see intense growth as soon as the payment environment is improved, since the current cash-on-delivery method of payment is seen as a hindrance to growth. The growth of Russian B2C E-Commerce is driven by the increasing Internet audience, already the largest in Europe, and increased online sales are anticipated as the challenge of product fulfillment is overcome. In Brazil online shopping benefits from growing mobile Internet penetration and social commerce. In Mexico B2C E-Commerce is forecasted to grow at double-digit rates in the years to 2015, with online travel sales leading the market. Another emerging B2C E-Commerce market is Africa. Growing smartphone penetration, especially in South Africa, is expected to boost M-Commerce and mobile payment markets on the continent.

Another trend influencing worldwide growth in online sales is the concept of group buying. In the Middle East particularly, group buying and daily deals websites have boosted B2C E-Commerce. Sales of Groupon in one nation in the region were so strong last year that the vendor could not keep up with the demand.

Growth expected in travel and gaming sectors

Among other trends highlighted in the yStats report, social media are forecasted to play an increasing role in the travel segment of the global B2C E-Commerce market, by helping customers research information for a trip. Moreover, the demand for travel arrangements adjusted for use on smartphones is likely to grow. Another market segment, online gambling, is expected to undergo a change in the years to 2015, with sports betting losing some of its share to lottery and casino.

Now automatic Go2Taobao.com => BuyWithAgents.com:

BuyWithAgents.com Whois Record

Registrant:
Bartek Sawczyn
Zhongshan xi lu 669
Shanghai, 54-608
CN
Domain name: BUYWITHAGENTS.COM
Administrative Contact:
    home.pl, Administracja Sieci
    plac Rodla 9
    Szczecin, 70-419
    PL
    +48.914325555
Technical Contact:
    home.pl, Administracja Sieci
    Plac Rodla 9
    Szczecin, NA 70-419
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    +48.914325555    Fax: +48.914325599
Registration Service Provider:
    home.pl S.A.,
    +48.914325555
    +48.914325599 (fax)
    http://home.pl
    This company may be contacted for domain login/passwords,
    DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions.
Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 15-Aug-2013.
Record expires on 14-Aug-2014.
Record created on 14-Aug-2013.

Go2Taobao.com Whois Record

DOMAIN: GO2TAOBAO.COM
RSP: Michau Enterprises Limited
URL: http://www.aftermarket.pl
owner-contact: P-GQP606
owner-organization: LautumStudio
owner-fname: Grzegorz
owner-lname: Pietrzak
owner-street: Mickiewicza 36a
owner-city: wroclaw
owner-zip: 58-619
owner-country: PL
owner-phone: +48.889188224
owner-email:
admin-contact: P-GQP606
admin-organization: LautumStudio
admin-fname: Grzegorz
admin-lname: Pietrzak
admin-street: Mickiewicza 36a
admin-city: wroclaw
admin-zip: 58-619
admin-country: PL
admin-phone: +48.889188224
admin-email:
tech-contact: P-GQP606
tech-organization: LautumStudio
tech-fname: Grzegorz
tech-lname: Pietrzak
tech-street: Mickiewicza 36a
tech-city: wroclaw
tech-zip: 58-619
tech-country: PL
tech-phone: +48.889188224
tech-email:
billing-contact: P-GQP606
billing-organization: LautumStudio
billing-fname: Grzegorz
billing-lname: Pietrzak
billing-street: Mickiewicza 36a
billing-city: wroclaw
billing-zip: 58-619
billing-country: PL
billing-phone: +48.889188224
billing-email:
nameserver: ns1.webio.pl
nameserver: ns2.webio.pl

Registration

ICANN Registrar:
KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Created:
2013-01-10
Expires:
2014-01-10 Backorder Now or Hire a domain broker
Updated:
2013-01-10

Opinion Leaders and Lead Opinions: Reflections on Steven Sinofsky’s “Era of Continuous Productivity” vision

September 1, 2013 3:38 pm / 5 Comments on Opinion Leaders and Lead Opinions: Reflections on Steven Sinofsky’s “Era of Continuous Productivity” vision

Social networks and social media are reshaping not only our personal lives but our workplace/business lives as well. No doubt about that. There is the continuous productivity idea as well in the realm of software engineering (via agile whatever). No wonder that Steven Sinofsky – with a 23 year carrier in Microsoft – might be the first one to recognize the disruptive effect of the latest “social xxx” practices on the workplace. In fact he is speaking about a whole paradigm shift in the business world as the result of that:

In his post about Continuous Productivity: New tools and a new way of working for a new era [‘Learning by Shipping’, Aug 20, 2013] Steven Sinofsky is putting forward a quite bold vision of the future:

The cloud-powered smartphone and tablet, as productivity tools, are transforming the world around us along with the implied changes in how we work to be mobile and more social. We are in a new era, a paradigm shift, where there is evolutionary discontinuity, a step-function break from the past. This constantly connected, social and mobile generational shift is ushering a time period on par with the industrial production or the information society of the 20^th century. Together our industry is shaping a new way to learn, work, and live with the power of software and mobile computing—an era of continuous productivity.

While I completely agree with what Mr. Sinofsky has written about (even enthusiastic about that), I also heavily miss two things he was not taking into consideration at all:

The current old-style management represents a phenomenon which is ages old (in fact since the tribal times of the mankind): the unavoidable existence of – what I would call – opinion leaders.
The current rank and files practices is an ages old phenomenon as well: the unavoidable existence of – what I would call – lead opinions.

So I have the following reflections on the contents of his entire post:

Opinion leaders of the latest social networking and social media practices have a quite recognizable tendency to mislead their followers rather than direct them to the right way of thinking and knowledge. Reasons for that are numerous: from pure economic interests (click baiting etc.) to pure personal inability to grasp the complex and changing subject area of their judgements. … etc. In addition it is getting significantly easier now to become such an erroneous opinion leader than any time before in the history of mankind. So here is a negative tendency, not taken into account by Mr. Sinofsky.
While lead opinions are distorted by the very existence of inherent distortions communicated by different opinion leaders, more distortion of the lead opinions tends to be generated by the nature of the social media itself. It is so easy now to come to a seemingly undeniable concensus by so large number of people that it is also much easier to make even huge mistakes in the execution. … etc. There is a clear negative tendency here as well, and it is not taken into account by Mr. Sinofsky either.

For these reasons I am urging Mr. Sinofsky to take these aspects into consideration as well, if possible.

My summary of Mr. Sinofsky’s findings (as a quick reminder):

In his post about Continuous Productivity: New tools and a new way of working for a new era [‘Learning by Shipping’, Aug 20, 2013] Steven Sinofsky is putting forward a quite bold vision of the future:

The cloud-powered smartphone and tablet, as productivity tools, are transforming the world around us along with the implied changes in how we work to be mobile and more social. We are in a new era, a paradigm shift, where there is evolutionary discontinuity, a step-function break from the past. This constantly connected, social and mobile generational shift is ushering a time period on par with the industrial production or the information society of the 20^th century. Together our industry is shaping a new way to learn, work, and live with the power of software and mobile computing—an era of continuous productivity.

Later on he notes:

The culture of continuous productivity enabled by new tools is literally a rewrite of the past 30 years of management doctrine. Hierarchy, top-down decision making, strategic plans, static competitors, single-sided markets, and more are almost quaint views in a world literally flattened by the presence of connectivity, mobility, and data. The impact of continuous productivity can be viewed through the organization, individuals and teams, and the role of data.

Particularly he is emphasizing:

The idea of management hierarchy or middle management as gatekeepers is being broken down by the presence of information and connectivity. The modern organization working to be the most productive will foster an environment of bottom up—that is people closest to the work are empowered with information and tools to respond to changes in the environment. These “bottoms” of the organization will be highly networked with each other and connected to customers, partners, and even competitors. The “bandwidth” of this network is seemingly instant, facilitated by information sharing tools.

because:

People have the ability to time slice, context switch, and proactively deal with situations as they arise, shifting from a world of start/stop productivity and decision-making to one that is continuous.

versus:

The mid-20^th century would kick off a revolution in business, business marked by global and connected organizations. …. Middle-management grew to spend their time researching, tabulating, reporting, and reconciling the information sources available. …

Management took over the role of resource allocation from owners and focused on decision-making as the primary effort, using knowledge and the skills of middle management to inform those choices.

A symbol of knowledge productivity might be the meeting. Meetings came to dominate the culture of organizations: … The essence of these meetings was to execute on a strategy—a multi-year commitment to create value, defend against competition, and to execute.

…

The entire process of meetings degenerated into a ritualized process to inform management to decide amongst options while outside the meeting “everyone” always seemed to know what to do.

i.e.:

Where people used to sit in important meetings and listen to important people guess about information, people now get real data from real sources in real-time while the meeting is taking place or even before.

so:

There’s a new role for management that builds on this new level of information and employees skilled in using it. Much like those who grew up with PC “natively” were quick to assume their usage in the workplace (some might remember the novelty of when managers first began to answer their own email), those who grow up with the socialplace are using it to do work, much to the chagrin of management.

Management must assume a new type of leadership that is focused on framing the outcome, the characteristics of decisions, and the culture of the organization and much less about specific decision-making or reviewing work. The role of workplace technology has evolved significantly from theory to practice as a result of these tools. The following table contrasts the way we work between the historic norms and continuous productivity.

Then

Now, Continuous Productivity

Process

Exploration

Hierarchy, top down or middle out

Network, bottom up

Internal committees

Internal and external teams, crowds

Strategy-centric

Execution-centric

Presenting packaged and produced ideas, documents

Sharing ideas and perspectives continuously, service

Data based on snapshots at intervals, viewed statically

Data always real-time, viewed dynamically

Process-centric

Rhythm-centric

Exact answers

Approximation and iteration

More users

More usage

Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5

August 30, 2013 12:30 pm / 4 Comments on Assesment of the Xiaomi phenomenon before the global storm is starting on Sept 5

Follow-up: Xiaomi announcements: from Mi3 to Xiaomi TV [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 5, 2013] with detailed information links and videos about the two market leading SoCs used in Mi3:
– NVIDIA Tegra 4 with 4+1 Cortex-A15 CPU, 72 GeForce GPU and the absolutely unique Chimera™ solution for HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging) photography and video recording
– Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 with the high-end Krate 400 CPU cores and Adreno 330 GPU
(Actually the benchmark performances are roughly equal although Qualcomm needs for that a much higher frequency.)

The news came yesterday declaring not less than
A new Android chapter [Hugo Barra on Google+, Aug 29, 2013]

After nearly 5½ years at Google and almost 3 years as a member of the Android team — the most amazing group of people I’ve ever worked with in my life — I have decided to start a new career chapter.

In a few weeks, I’ll be joining the Xiaomi team in China to help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally — as Vice President, Xiaomi Global. I’m really looking forward to this new challenge, and am particularly excited about the opportunity to continue to help drive the Android ecosystem.

It has been an amazing ride and true honor to be part of the Android team at Google, and I especially want to thank +Andy Rubin , +Hiroshi Lockheimer , +Sundar Pichai and +Vic Gundotra for their phenomenal support and mentorship over the years.

+Android team, I will truly miss you all!

To which co-founder and president of Xiaomi Corporation Bin Lin responded on his facebook account on August 29:

I am truly grateful to have Hugo joining Xiaomi to help lead our international business.

Being Google’s VP of Product Management for Android, Hugo has a deep understanding of Xiaomi’s unique business model of building a fully compatible Android OS (aka MIUI) by embracing the openness of the internet, building top performance device with great user experience, and selling direct to consumers at substantially lower price. We’ve achieved some level of success in China market. Hugo is the best person to drive this globally.

Being ex-Googler myself, I’ve always made sure that Xiaomi shares many of the believes as Google Android. For instance, we believe in protecting the Android ecosystem and therefore our handsets have always passed Android CTS [i.e. achieving Google Play compatibility]. We believe in top performance device and eCommerce sell-direct would benefit consumers. We are committed to drive the Android ecosystem moving forward.

Welcome to Beijing, Hugo!

Last time we have seen Hugo Barra at a press event in San Francisco with
Google’s Nexus 7 goes full HD [CNETTV YouTube channel, July 24, 2014]:

The all-new HD Nexus 7 tablet is thinner and lighter than previous versions and sports an HD screen with 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution.

News were first leaked in: Android’s Hugo Barra Departs Google for China’s Xiaomi [AllThingsD, Aug 28, 2013 at 5:15 PM PT]

What’s going on? After Sundar Pichai expanded his Chrome responsibilities to Android as well, and Andy Rubin left the Android scene, so Hugo Barra became the #1 man in Google’s Android efforts, he is leaving for a much less influential Chinese maker of Android forked smartphones? What is the sense for him to have such a move?

In what follows below I will be able to give all the well justified reasons for that. Moreover, thanks to my earlier posts analyzing the Xiaomi phenomenon in all details, I will be able to convince every reader of this post in the most concise way that Hugo Barra was absolutely right about his decision to move to Xiaomi, as an even bigger thing is on the Horizon than what Google may become in the future.

Let’s start with the all-new RMB799 ($130) low-end superphone segment of Xiaomi: Xiaomi Red Rice (Hongmi) review
[a Xiaomi video on Youku via phonezilla2013 YouTube channel, Aug 21, 2013]

More information: UPDATE Aug’13: Xiaomi $130 Hongmi superphone END MediaTek MT6589 quad-core Cortex-A7 SoC with HSPA+ and TD-SCDMA is available for Android smartphones and tablets of Q1 delivery [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Dec 12, 2012; Aug 1, 2013]

Note: Xiaomi Red Rice (Hongmi) manufacturing cost (BOM) has been estimated by TrendForce to be $84.7. See the press release, also included here in the very end of this post.

Then let’s see (note the Sept 5 warning on the illustration which is from Xiaomi itself):

Previous segments	Aug 16, 2011:	Aug 16, 2012:	April 9, 2013:
USD$326.6	Xiaomi smartphone	Xiaomi 2	Xiaomi 2S
USD$249.9		Xiaomi 1S	Xiaomi 2A

Detailed further information and market analysis:
– Xiaomi, OPPO and Meizu–top Chinese brands of smartphone innovation [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 1, 2013]
– The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 13, 2013]

Note: Only when you read The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower post (not only the e-book included there) completely (i.e. with the follow-up and global analysis parts) your understanding of the all-new Xiaomi Horizon could be sufficiently complete. It is only possible to give as a teaser certain crucial facts here:
– “The broader vision of Xiaomi, Lei [the founder and CEO of Xiaomi] pointed out, is to ship more than 100 million smartphones annually for one model by 2016” that was published in China Daily back 15 months ago. With Hugo Barra now in charge of Xiaomi Global it will be easy to achieve that, even far overcome.
– There is a new (maybe final before an IPO) round of financing said to be disclosed also on Sept 5 by Xiaomi. The amount was rumored as being not less than $2B and “from Chinese internet and mobile services firm Tencent (0700.HK), with Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies (DST) acting as an intermediary”. DST already invested $90 million into Xiaomi in Dec 2011, and another $216 million in Dec 2012.
– Then, DST is controlled by Russia’s richest man Alisher Usmanov with ~20B of private wealth and an additional ~13B wealth of its two business partners also controlled by Usmanov via 100% voting rights in his USM Holdings empire. USM Holdings has three groups of assets in its portfolio: Internet (with DST and a complete Mail.Ru Goup), Telecoms (with Megafon, Russia’s second largest mobile operator in terms of revenue and subscribers and the market leader in the mobile data segment, as well as Yota, the leader of the mobile broadband sector in Russia), Media and Steel & Mining.
– Tencent is controlled by Naspers (33.9%) which also heavily invested into the Mail.Ru Group earlier (29%), and might have some minority share of DST itself, indirectly via Tencent definitely (getting not less than 10.26% of DST with a $300M investment into it in April, 2010). Although Naspers’s CEO, Koos Bekker has a personal fortune of ‘only’ $580M (mid’12, so now closer to $1B probably) but has been the unquestioned leader and decision maker of the company, which has a market capitalisation of about $57B (mid’12, now much higher). Also Tencent’s own market capitalisation is not less than $88.6B (Aug 15, 2013).
– Also, Venture Capital Dispatch reported in January this year that “DST Global counts Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and online retailer JingdongMall [pre April 2013 360buy] as part of its Asian portfolio. DST, alongside other private equity firms like Silver Lake agreed to buy shares in Alibaba at a tender offer of $1.6 billion in 2011. That same year, DST Global also participated in a $1.5 billion third round of funding in Jingdong [pre April 2013 360buy] , with media reports stating that DST bought a 5% share in the online retailer for $500 million. … DST Global spent around $1.5 billion on both of those deals, said [DST partner John] Lindfors [responsible for the Chinese market].”
(AND THE FACTS DO NOT END HERE BUT ARE GOING TO EVEN HIGHER ECHELONS OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM. GOLDMANN SACHS AND LARRY SUMMERS ARE THE MOST NOTABLE EXAMPLES. BUT DO NOT FORGET J.P. MORGAN EITHER WHICH IS HAVING A 5% OWNERSHIP OF TENCENT AS WELL. So read The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower post completely.)

Now an additional focus on Xiaomi’s design and user experience leadership must be emphasized here, out of all that above (the illustration below is again from Xiaomi):

Xiaomi MI2 Product 3D View [Xiaomi China YouTube channel, Aug 25, 2013]

Xiaomi Fans Festival: MIUI V5 Design Concept [MrMiui YouTube channel, April 9, 2013]

Xiaomi One Minute Show 01 Smooth MIUI [Xiaomi China YuTube channel, May 22, 2013]

A brief introduction of the brand new smooth MIUI v5.

0:04 This is our smooth MIUI v5
0:07 You can feel the smooth animation effect from every detail of MIUI v5
0:11 when switching the list in apps like Contacts or App Market
0:18 Feel the smooth switch of the background in the interface of Music
0:22 even the tiny volume icon is smoothly optimized as well
0:25 Your playlist, album photo and lyrics are perfectly combined
0:31 Switch between the camera and gallery swiftly and smoothly
0:37 When you open a photo album, you can see photos smoothly blossom on your screen
0:43 You can also have a quick and smooth slide when there are a lot of photos in your album
0:48 All the icons vibrate smoothly after reordering
0:51 We also redesigned the animation of deleting apps
0:55 You can feel the smooth animation everywhere in MIUI v5
1:00 What do you think of MIUI v5?
1:03 For more Xiaomi One Minute Show, please visit Xiaomi Community

Note: The Xiaomi community is on https://www.facebook.com/xiaomichina. The other shows are available when one click on the “YouTube” in the header (not all of them are one minute long). The “proper” One Minute Shows I found on XiaomiHK: currently 11, unfortunately all in Chinese.

There is also a MIUI community around the world which will make Barra’s job much easier. With ‘MIUI fan clubs’ – already available in 23 countries 15 months ago – the localization problem has been well solved. These fan clubs are producing MIUI ROMs for modding a range of already existing phones. And the results are quite good:
MIUI 5 on Samsung Galaxy s4 !!! (Review) [TheExilimus YouTube channel, July 28, 2013]

Note: this is why 20+ million MIUI users were indicated on the previous illustration by Xiaomi vs. 15+ million Xiaomi phone users.

Moreover, MIUI is continously evolving, and updated every Friday based on feedback from its users. The latest example (full description of the update):
MIUI ROM 3.8.30 Update Highlights [MrMiui YouTube channel, Aug 29, 2013]

1. Added the option of “Limit mobile data usage” in Browser 2. Added support for transfer of complete contact info and notes with images in Transfer … Find MIUI here (http://en.miui.com/) Facebook：https://www.facebook.com/miuiromchina Twitter： https://twitter.com/#!/miuirom Google plus: http://gplus.to/miuiofficial

Also the marketing hype generated by Xiaomi should be emphasized separately here as well. It is best demonstrated by this:
Xiaomi 2012 Conference Start Show [Xiaomi China YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

What kind of company Xiaomi is, after all?
Explanation: Xiaomi CEO: Don’t call us China’s Apple [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Aug 15, 2013]

China’s Xiaomi has sparked a frenzy with a low-cost smartphone that may help the tech firm widen its lead over Apple in the local market — but CEO Lei Jun says it has very different ambitions.

Based on this interview Reuters published its news article For China’s Xiaomi, it’s what’s on the inside that counts [Aug 16, 2013] from which the following excerpts are the most relevant ones here:

Xiaomi looks a bit like Apple but is really more like Amazon with some elements of Google,” Lei said in an interview in Beijing, dressed in a blue shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes.

“The mobile phone is only the carrier,” Lei said. “Microsoft used to sell Windows in a box with a CD in it. Does that make Microsoft a paper box company?”

…

The 43 year-old chief executive said it was high time for the Apple comparisons to end and the rivalry with local tech giants Alibaba Group Holding, Baidu Inc and Tencent Holdings Ltd to start.

Xiaomi currently makes around 20 million yuan ($3.27 million) a month in revenue from its mobile Internet platform, which includes a game centre, an online marketplace and a social messaging app that competes with Tencent’s popular WeChat.

In the first half, that figure was equivalent to less than 1 percent of monthly revenue, company data shows.

Lei estimated mobile Internet revenue may rise to as much as 150 million yuan [$24.41 million] a month by the end of next year as Xiaomi develops what he called its software ecosystem.

He declined to give specific details, but said Xiaomi had the hardware it needed to expand into online services.

“Xiaomi selling mobile phones is like Amazon selling Kindles,” he added.

This points quite clearly to the expansion of Xiaomi’s application (and operations) portfolio towards the e-commerce. Only this way would be possible to increase the current annualized revenue of about $40 million from the mobile Internet platform to about $300 million in just one a half year. This also means that in the long-run Xiaomi is going to be a mobile e-commerce company with affordable mobile devices offered as well, and not a premium device company, like Apple. Similarly, there are fundamental differences of the same kind from the business model of Samsung as well. Even more, this means an all-encompassing disruption of the whole industry.

Finally read this 3d party analysis:
TrendForce：Xiaomi’s New Red Rice Phone Takes China by Storm, Carries $US 85 BOM [press release, Aug 29, 2013]

(Note that Xiaomi’s own superphone segments are different as was shown above:
USD$326.6 for high-end superphones, USD$249.9 for mid-range superphones, and
?USD$130? for low-end superphones, with the latest question mark for the reason of not yet announced global prices – as the USD$130 equivalent RMB799 is China only price. Wait for Sept 5.)

According to global market research firm TrendForce, smartphone manufacturing costs are decreasing – in 2014, low-end devices that cost less than US$150 are expected to represent 14% of total smartphone shipments worldwide, up from 11% forecasted for this year. Mid-end smartphones, which cost between US$150 and US$450, are projected to account for more than 50% of shipments in 2014. Clearly, smartphone makers looking to expand their market share cannot overlook the low to mid-end sector. Fully aware of this, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has released a Hongmi, or Red Rice, a device with decent specifications and a low price tag of RMB799 [$130].

Taking a look at Red Rice’s hardware, its MediaTek MT6589 chipset accounts for 20% of total manufacturing cost. The 4.7-inch, 312 ppi IPS display by AUO represents 22% of cost and is a significant upgrade from the 220 ppi display commonly used in similarly priced devices. Based on component cost, total manufacturing cost for the Red Rice device is estimated at US$85 (4Q”13). With a retail price of RMB799, roughly equivalent to US$130, Xiaomi is profiting at a rate difficult for other smartphone makers to keep up with.

Xiaomi is not relying on traditional sales channels for its new device but turning to Internet retailers instead – the company hopes to garner revenue from software, advertising, etc., creating a new smartphone profit model. TrendForce believes Xiaomi is able to offer Red Rice at such a low price because the maker has a solid grasp on three important points of cost control.
– First, Xiaomi usually unveils new products very early, at least a quarter before the actual release date, which gives component cost time to decrease.
– Second, Xiaomi controls inventory better than its competitors. Using an Internet pre-order sales model, Xiaomi is able to get a more exact estimation for initial production, thereby avoiding risk if sales are not as strong as expected.
– Third, by marketing via social networks, Xiaomi cuts down on advertising costs, enabling the manufacturer to continue causing a stir on the market with each new device release.

Red Rice’s groundbreaking price will inevitably have an influence on other smartphone manufacturers’ pricing strategies, especially for low to mid-end products. Currently, Xiaomi’s main market is China. The company is eagerly expanding on foreign markets as well, but results have been limited. Whether Xiaomi’s low prices will have an effect on smartphone makers in other markets will depend on the Chinese manufacturer’s foreign sales.

TrendForce believes Xiaomi’s long-term strategy includes continued expansion on the domestic market as well as breaking into foreign markets with high price-performance ratio devices. As social networking platform services and software are the company’s main sources of profit, Xiaomi will need to develop new strategies to attract consumers in foreign markets. As the company’s recently closed funding round has skyrocketed its valuation, Xiaomi is financially set to expand in foreign markets, potentially by acquiring local businesses. Or, the funds could be used to improve manufacturing and ensure timely product delivery, a notable weakness of the growing company.

Mark Zuckerberg’s personality is hyped (again) with a quite worthwhile initiative (otherwise) but with substantial global financial interests behind it as well

August 24, 2013 9:37 pm / 1 Comment on Mark Zuckerberg’s personality is hyped (again) with a quite worthwhile initiative (otherwise) but with substantial global financial interests behind it as well

The internet.org initiative for the next 5 billion people is even a bigger announcement than the Steve Ballmer’s retirement from Microsoft announcement given The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower [Aug 13, 2013, with extensive follow-up & ‘The global forces behind …’ analysis, later in the post, as of August 22 at 9:08pm] and the substantial global financial interests (uncovered there and) otherwise also tied to the creation of the whole global Facebook phenomenon (also indicating that Mark Zuckerberg has been just a strawman of something significantly bigger going on behind the scenes from the very beginning). Just two images which were included into the The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower as a reminder of that (before documenting the internet.org initiative in this post):

While the true intent of this announcement is covered by things described above, here is what was officially told to the world:

Every one of us. #ConnectTheWorld [Internet.org YouTube channel, Aug 20, 2013]

Technology leaders launch partnership to make internet access available to all [joint press release available from http://internet.org/ and number of other sources, Aug 20, 2013]

Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm, Samsung to be founding partners

MENLO PARK, Calif., Aug. 20, 2013 – Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, today announced the launch of internet.org, a global partnership with the goal of making internet access available to the next 5 billion people.

“Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect,” Zuckerberg said. “There are huge barriers in developing countries to connecting and joining the knowledge economy. Internet.org brings together a global partnership that will work to overcome these challenges, including making internet access available to those who cannot currently afford it.”

Today, only 2.7 billion people – just over one-third of the world’s population – have access to the internet. Internet adoption is growing by less than 9 percent each year, which is slow considering how early we are in its development.

The goal of Internet.org is to make internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today.

The founding members of Internet.org –Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung – will develop joint projects, share knowledge, and mobilize industry and governments to bring the world online. These founding companies have a long history of working closely with mobile operators and expect them to play leading roles within the initiative, which over time will also include NGOs, academics and experts as well. Internet.org is influenced by the successful Open Compute Project, an industry-wide initiative that has lowered the costs of cloud computing by making hardware designs more efficient and innovative.

In order to achieve its goal of connecting the two-thirds of the world who are not yet online, Internet.org will focus on three key challenges in developing countries:

Making access affordable: Partners will collaborate to develop and adopt technologies that make mobile connectivity more affordable and decrease the cost of delivering data to people worldwide. Potential projects include collaborations to develop lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and partnerships to more broadly deploy internet access in underserved communities. Mobile operators will play a central role in this effort by driving initiatives that benefit the entire ecosystem.

Using data more efficiently: Partners will invest in tools that dramatically reduce the amount of data required to use most apps and internet experiences. Potential projects include developing data compression tools, enhancing network capabilities to more efficiently handle data, building systems to cache data efficiently and creating frameworks for apps to reduce data usage.

Helping businesses drive access: Partners will support development of sustainable new business models and services that make it easier for people to access the internet. This includes testing new models that align incentives for mobile operators, device manufacturers, developers and other businesses to provide more affordable access than has previously been possible. Other efforts will focus on localizing services – working with operating system providers and other partners to enable more languages on mobile devices.

By reducing the cost and amount of data required for most apps and enabling new business models, Internet.org is focused on enabling the next 5 billion people to come online.

Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm, Samsung and other partners will build on existing partnerships while exploring new ways to collaborate to solve these problems.

“For more than 100 years, Ericsson has been enabling communications for all and today more than 6 billion people in the world have access to mobile communications,” said Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson. “We are committed to shaping the Networked Society – where everyone and everything will be connected in real time; creating the freedom, empowerment and opportunity to transform society. We believe affordable connectivity and internet access improves people’s lives and helps build a more sustainable planet and therefore we are excited to participate in the Internet.org initiative.”

“As a world leader in mobile solutions for emerging markets having powered more than 300 million smart devices within 2 years, MediaTek whole heartedly supports the Internet.org initiative,” said MK Tsai, Chairman of MediaTek. “Global internet and social media access represent the biggest shift since the industrial revolution, and we want to make it all-inclusive.”

“Nokia is deeply passionate about connecting people – to one another and the world around them,” said Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop. “Over the years, Nokia has connected well over a billion people. Our industry is now at an exciting inflection point where internet connectivity is becoming more affordable and efficient for consumers while still offering them great experiences. Universal internet access will be the next great industrial revolution.”

“Today, more than 300 million people use Opera every month to access the internet. Tomorrow, we have a chance to serve the next 5 billion people connecting on mobile devices in developing countries. It’s in Opera’s DNA to save people time, money and data, and through Internet.org we think we can help advance these goals,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO Opera Software.

“Mobile has helped to transform many people’s lives in the emerging regions where often a computing device will be the first and only mobile experience they’ll ever have” said Paul Jacobs, chairman of the board and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “Having shipped more than 11 billion chips, Qualcomm is a market leader that is committed to the goal of bridging the digital divide. We’re pleased to be a part of Internet.org and to be working with key ecosystem players to drive this initiative forward.”

“This new initiative has big potential to help accelerate access to the internet for everyone,” said JK Shin, CEO and President of the IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. “We’re focused on delivering high quality mobile devices to ensure that the next five billion people have great mobile internet experiences.”

The Internet.org website launches today and provides an overview of the mission and goals, as well as a full list of the partners. In the coming weeks, it will feature interviews with technology leaders and experts, along with the latest news on Internet.org activities.

The embedded video on the internet.org site explains further: Mark Zuckerberg aims to put the entire world online [CNN YouTube channel, Aug 21, 2013]

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to connect five billion more people to the Internet.

adding more fuel to the campaign, as two follow-up videos on CNN channel as well:
– Zuckerberg, tech companies look for “next 5 billion… [CNN YouTube channel, Aug 21, 2013]

Facebook CEO is teaming up with tech companies to bring the web to every single person on earth. Erin Burnett reports.

– Mark Zuckerberg’s Internet plan: realistic or impossible? [CNN YouTube channel, Aug 22, 2013]

Tom Foreman examines how realistic it is for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to expand Internet access by 5 billion people.

And the leading global media was awash with extensive coverage of this as evidenced here just with the following videos:
– Mark Zuckerberg’s World-Wide Plan for the Internet [Bloomberg YouTube channel, Aug 21, 2013]

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — “Lunch Money” Host Adam Johnson reports on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s new plan to bring internet service to 5 billion people in the world currently without it.

– Mark Zuckerberg Announces Plan To Get Billions More People Online [HuffPost Live YouTube channel, Aug 21, 2013]

Facebook Inc. announced a partnership called Internet.org on Wednesday. The company says its goal is to “make Internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected.”

– Facebook-led project pushes for wider internet access – corporate [Euronews YouTube channel, Aug 22, 2013]

Facebook’s boss wants to make internet access affordable for the two-thirds of the world’s…

– Chinese manufacturing grows and Facebook wants to spread the internet worldwide [FRANCE 24 English YouTube channel, Aug 22, 2013]

The Facebook Internet initiative (internet.org) story is from [5:15] to [6:20]

From the participant companies we had the following corporate communications in addition to the joint press release:

Ericsson and Internet.org – providing the internet for everyone, everywhere [Aug 21, 2013]

The Networked Society will bring significant economic, social and environmental benefits to hundreds of millions of people, one of which is providing internet access to the remaining two-thirds of the planet. Today (Aug 21, 2013), Ericsson, Facebook and a number of other tech giants took a step closer to realizing these benefits through the announcement of a global initiative we call Internet.org. Through this, we aim to reduce the cost of delivering basic internet services and make them available to everyone, everywhere.

So, why is this initiative so important? In the Networked Society, connectivity is the starting point for new ways of innovating, collaborating and socializing. It’s about creating freedom, empowerment and opportunity, transforming industries and society while helping find solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our planet.

Hans Vestberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, says: “For more than 100 years, Ericsson has been enabling communications for all, and today more than 6 billion people have access to mobile communications. We are committed to shaping the Networked Society – where everyone and everything will be connected in real time; creating the freedom, empowerment and opportunity to transform society. We believe affordable connectivity and internet access improves people’s lives and helps build a more sustainable planet, and therefore we are excited to participate in the Internet.org initiative.”

Some of the initial areas that are considered barriers to increasing access to the internet are the cost of smartphones, the cost of delivering data, and inefficient data-hungry applications. Cheaper phones, improved data compression techniques, and apps that use less data and reduce battery usage are some of the initial areas of investigation. Others include more efficient allocation of spectrum, edge caching, sharing hardware design, and efficiency optimization.

Ericsson has several areas of expertise to offer the initiative, including: knowledge of scale, its global presence and local expertise, and its technology leadership in the area of mobile networks and supporting service enablers.

Ericsson believes that communication is a basic human need, and fulfilling this has been our mission since the foundation of our company.

Opera helps connect the next 5 billion online [Opera News, Aug 21, 2013]

Today, only 2.7 billion people are connected to the internet. The cost of getting online is one of the biggest challenges for users worldwide. We want to help get the next five billion online.

For the last 17 years, we have built products and services to get people online. We believe in the power of sharing ideas. Opera Mini is our mobile browser that uses compression technology to save you time and money. Operators around the world have embraced Opera Mini and Opera Web Pass as the best choice for their users to get online.

WE HAVE PARTNERED WITH FACEBOOK TO GET THE NEXT 5 BILLION ONLINE

Meet Internet.org – a partnership between Facebook, Opera, and other technology companies. This is a global effort that will also involve help from local communities, non-profit organisations and experts across the world. We are proud to contribute to the project with our competence in Internet technology.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Are you among the few in your country who has access to the internet? Tell us how you spend your time online. How has the internet helped you? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us on Twitter, Facebook or byemail.

“Today, more than 300 million people use Opera every month to access the Internet.

Tomorrow, we have a chance to serve the next 5 billion people connecting on mobile devices in developing countries. It’s in Opera’s DNA to save people time, money and data, and through internet.org we think we can help advance these goals.”

— Lars Boilesen, CEO Opera Software.

Further information about the other companies’ involvement you can find in the following article also linked on the internet.org homepage:
Facebook Leads an Effort to Lower Barriers to Internet Access [The New York Times, Aug 20, 2013]

MENLO PARK, Calif. — About one of every seven people in the world uses Facebook. Now, Mark Zuckerberg, its co-founder and chief executive, wants to make a play for the rest — including the four billion or so who lack Internet access.

On Wednesday, Facebook announced an effort aimed at drastically cutting the cost of delivering basic Internet services on mobile phones, particularly in developing countries, where Facebook and other tech companies need to find new users. Half a dozen of the world’s tech giants, including Samsung, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ericsson, have agreed to work with the company as partners on the initiative, which they call Internet.org.

The companies intend to accomplish their goal in part by simplifying phone applications so they run more efficiently and by improving the components of phones and networks so that they transmit more data while using less battery power.

For Mr. Zuckerberg, the formation of the coalition is yet another way in which he is trying to position himself as an industry leader. He has been speaking out more forcefully than other tech executives on topics like immigration overhaul, which the industry sees as critical to its hiring needs. With Internet.org, he is laying out a philosophy that tries to pair humanitarian goals with the profit motive.

“The Internet is such an important thing for driving humanity forward, but it’s not going to build itself,” he said in a recent interview. “Ultimately, this has to make business sense on some time frame that people can get behind.”

But the effort is also a reflection of how tech companies are trying to meet Wall Street’s demands for growth by attracting customers beyond saturated markets in the United States and Europe, even if they have to help build services and some of the infrastructure in poorer, less digitally sophisticated parts of the world.

Google, for example, began a program with phone carriers last year that offers wireless users in some developing countries free access to Gmail, search and the first page clicked through from a search’s results. Google is also reaching for the sky with Project Loon, an attempt to beam Internet access down to earth from plastic balloons floating more than 11 miles in the atmosphere.

Twitter, which is preparing to offer shares to the public in an initial stock offering, has struck its own deals with about 250 cellphone companies in more than 100 countries to offer some free Twitter access, and worked to make sure its service is easy to use on even the cheapest cellphones.

These companies have little choice but to look overseas for growth. More than half of Americans already use Facebook at least once a month, for instance, and usage in the rest of the developed world is similarly heavy. There is nearly one active cellphone for every person on earth, making expansion a challenge for carriers and phone makers.

Poorer countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America present the biggest opportunity to reach new customers — if companies can figure out how to get people there online at low cost.

The immediate goals of the new coalition are to cut the cost of providing mobile Internet services to 1 percent of its current level within five to 10 years by improving the efficiency of Internet networks and mobile phone software. The group also hopes to develop new business models that would allow phone companies to provide simple services like e-mail, search and social networks for little or no charge.

While that sounds far less exciting than, say, Google’s idea of delivering the Internet by balloon, Mr. Zuckerberg says small efforts can add up to big changes.

“No one company can really do this by itself,” he said.

Facebook is already working on techniques to reduce the average amount of data used by its Android mobile app from the current 12 megabytes a day to 1 megabyte without users noticing.

Qualcomm, whose chip technology is prevalent in advanced cellphones, has created new designs to stretch a phone’s battery life, slice the amount of data needed to transmit a video and extend the reach of mobile networks through tiny devices similar to Wi-Fi routers.

The coalition partners have also begun trying new ways of reducing the data charges paid by cellphone customers while still enabling phone makers and carriers to make money.

For example, Nokia, the Finnish cellphone maker, ran a recent experiment with Facebook and the Mexican phone carrier Telcel, in which it bundled free Facebook access with some of its Asha feature phones. Sales rose significantly, and the company decided to run similar promotions for customers of Bharti Airtel, a mobile carrier in India and Africa.

[Note that with new Nokia Asha platform, which is a full platform enhancement of the earlier Asha Touch upgrade of the legacy S40 platform, Nokia has done already the most among the internet.org founding members to achieve the now declared common challenges of Making access affordable, Using data more efficiently and Helping businesses drive access. You can check that by reading the posts behind the indicated tags on this blog.]

However, the Internet.org team does not plan to tackle some thorny infrastructure issues that are huge barriers in the developing world, particularly the long-distance transmission of data to far-flung places.

Michuki Mwangi, regional development manager for Africa at the Internet Society, a nonprofit group that has long worked to expand global Internet access, said the continent sorely lacked local interconnection points, forcing most requests for content like YouTube videos to be routed through Europe at high cost. Creating more connection points would require navigating a thicket of government interests and powerful incumbents. But at the very least, the group would like Facebook and Google to put copies of their content on a greater number of African servers to deliver it more quickly and cheaply, something that both companies say they are considering.

As with the Open Compute coalition started by Facebook in 2011 to improve the efficiency of data centers, Facebook will seek to add other partners to Internet.org, including national governments, wireless phone carriers and Microsoft, a longtime Facebook ally that has its own projects to expand access.

But Google — whose search and YouTube video products are as fundamental as Facebook’s social network to many Internet users — is likely to remain outside the group.

For one, its own efforts to expand Internet access are aggressive. In addition, the company is constantly refining its Android software, which runs the majority of new smartphones sold, to improve efficiency and battery life.

“We’re always making investments in technology and programs to help people get online,” said Courtney Hohne, a Google spokeswoman. “We have teams around the world working on products tailored to local needs.”

Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft and co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, recently suggested that Project Loon and similar projects were not the best use of resources to help people in the poorest nations.

“When a kid gets diarrhea, no, there’s no Web site that relieves that,” he said in a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.

Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged that basic health care is essential, but said that “if you can afford a phone, I think it would be really good for you to have access to the Internet.”

The potential is already obvious in places like the Philippines, where the second-largest mobile phone company, Globe Telecom, has used free Twitter, Facebook or Google access as promotions to increase the number of its 37 million users who also subscribe to a mobile data plan to 20 percent from virtually zero in two years.

“Once you’re connected, you’re connected, and you don’t want to look back,” said Peter Bithos, Globe’s senior adviser for consumer business.

For Facebook, which generates most of its revenue from selling advertising that it shows to its users, the immediate profits from expanding Internet access will be minimal, Mr. Zuckerberg said, although he acknowledged that the long-term potential was there.

“We’re focused on it more because we think it’s something good for the world,” he said, “rather than something that is going to be really amazing for our profits.”

An ARM-focussed Microsoft spin-off could be the only solution to save Microsoft in the crucial next 3-years period

August 24, 2013 12:08 pm / 1 Comment on An ARM-focussed Microsoft spin-off could be the only solution to save Microsoft in the crucial next 3-years period

This is the only real answer of mine to the question of Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer Retiring: Who’s Next? [Bloomberg YouTube channel, Aug 23, 2013]

Bloomberg’s Betty Liu and senior markets correspondent Julie Hyman report that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced he will retire within the next 12 months.

As an ex Softie doing a full .NET adoption program for Hungarian developers between 2000 and 2008 and then following Microsoft woes via blogs Beyond Win32: “Win32 utáni” történések a világban (in Hungarian) [May 2008. – March 2011] and Experiencing the Cloud [June 2010 …] I could not imagine any other way out of Microsoft’s troubled situation today than a spin-off solely dedicated to conquerring the ARM client space independently of the current Microsoft organisation completely bound to the survival of the already outdated Wintel model.

Particularly I don’t believe at all in the possibility of a true success of How the device play will unfold in the new Microsoft organization? [July 14, 2013] as was introduced in the latest reorg under the “One Microsoft” concept.

On the other hand I am absolutely confident in the success of an ARM-focussed spin-off as the only solution to save Microsoft in the crucial next 3-years period as such spin-off should only exploit the extraordinary advantages of current Microsoft as described in Microsoft partners empowered with ‘cloud first’, high-value and next-gen experiences for big data, enterprise social, and mobility on wide variety of Windows devices and Windows Server + Windows Azure + Visual Studio as the platform [July 10, 2013]. Moreover there is an excellent candidate to lead such a spin-off even internally. He is Scott Guthrie with an excellent track record of succeeding in impossible undertakings along his relatively short career, as described in his LinkeIn profile:

Corporate Vice President Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
May 2011 – Present (2 years 4 months)

I lead the Windows Azure Application Platform Team at Microsoft, and help drive Microsoft’s cloud computing platform.

I also run the teams responsible for delivering Windows AppFabric Server, BizTalk Server, IIS, ASP.NET, WCF, WF and the Web, Web Service and Workflow features of Visual Studio.

Corporate Vice President Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
February 2008 – May 2011 (3 years 4 months)

I was a Corporate Vice President within the Developer Division at Microsoft. I ran the teams that built the .NET Framework, Silverlight, the XAML runtimes for Windows Phone and Windows 8, and several of the tooling features within Visual Studio.

General Manager Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
November 2005 – February 2008 (2 years 4 months)

I was a General Manager within the Developer Division of Microsoft. I ran the teams that built the .NET Framework, Silverlight, ASP.NET, IIS and several of the tooling features within Visual Studio.

Product Unit Manager Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
January 2001 – November 2005 (4 years 11 months)

I ran the Web Platform and Tools team within the Developer Division of Microsoft. We owned building and delivering ASP.NET, IIS, and the Web Tooling features within Visual Studio.

Lead Program Manager Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
November 1999 – January 2001 (1 year 3 months)

I managed the team that created ASP.NET, and personally designed core parts of the .NET Framework.

Program Manager Microsoft
Public Company; 10,001+ employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry
May 1997 – November 1999 (2 years 7 months)

Reasons for all that, especially regarding why the next 3 years will be crucial for Microsoft, have already been extensively given in my posts that came out BEFORE the announcement of Steve Ballmer retirement:

Windows [inc. Phone] 8.x chances of becoming the alternative platform to iOS and Android: VERY SLIM as it is even more difficult for Microsoft now than any time before [Aug 20, 2013]
Android to overtake the overall PC market? [Aug 20, 2013]
With Android and forked Android smartphones as the industry standard Nokia relegated to a niche market status while Apple should radically alter its previous premium strategy for long term [Aug 17, 2013]
The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower [Aug 13, 2013, with extensive follow-up & ‘The global forces behind …’ analysis, later in the post, as of August 22 at 9:08pm] which is especially important in this regard considering the extensions which are described by the following new tags:

… Broadband China strategy, Softbank, Sprint, Clearwire, Tencent, WeChat, Goldman Sachs, Юрий Мильнер, Masayoshi Son, JD.com, 360buy, Jingdong, Naspers, Mail.ru, Koos Bekker, Larry Summers, Leader Technologies, Mark Zuckerberg, James W. Breyer, Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, Facebook IPO, Federal Reserve Chairman, World Bank, Russian voucher system, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley bail-out, Michael McKibben, LEADER V. FACEBOOK patent infringement lawsuit, U.S. Patent Office, U.S. judicial system, corruption, Barack Obama, U.S. Constitution, Mark Pincus, Zynga, Lawrence Summers, Alisher Usmanov, Irina Viner, Farhad Moshiri, Алишер Усманов, Металлоинвест, Ирина Винер, Узбекистан, Россия, USM Holdings, MegaFon, Russian Federation, Russia, Yota, Scartel, Euroset, Peter-Service, Ukraine, Belarus, UTH Russia, Metalloinvest, Uzbekistan, Gazprom Investholding, Kommersant Holding, Arsenal, Vladimir Skoch, Andrey Skoch, mafia ties, Leonid Reima

To show the significance of that extension for the current subject it is worth to inlude here the last image from that extended post:

Then the range of such posts continues with:

Then	Now, Continuous Productivity
Process	Exploration
Hierarchy, top down or middle out	Network, bottom up
Internal committees	Internal and external teams, crowds
Strategy-centric	Execution-centric
Presenting packaged and produced ideas, documents	Sharing ideas and perspectives continuously, service
Data based on snapshots at intervals, viewed statically	Data always real-time, viewed dynamically
Process-centric	Rhythm-centric
Exact answers	Approximation and iteration
More users	More usage

Experiencing the Cloud

Author Archives: Nacsa Sándor

Samsung Exynos 5 Octa with Heterogeneous Multi-Processing and GPU Compute is the hidden gem in the Galaxy Note 3 and GALAXY Note 10.1, 2014 Edition, launched at ‘Samsung UNPACKED 2013 Episode 2’ event

The new GALAXY Note 10.1 expands on the advanced productivity and creativity leadership delivered by the original Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1. In addition to enabling productivity, the device has been redesigned with a sleek, light, slim frame that is both fashionable and portable.

…

GALAXY Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) will be on display at the Samsung booth # 20 at IFA 2013, September 6 through September 11, 2013. Full details and product images are available at www.samsungmobilepress.com or m.samsungmobilepress.com

[GALAXY Note 10.1 (2014 Edition): Related articles – Gallery – Videos – Features – Tech Specs]

Introducing Samsung GALAXY Note 3 [SAMSUNGmobile YouTube channel, Sept 4, 2013]

Hardware & Design

The GALAXY Note 3 also features a textured back cover and delicate stitching that delivers a premium look and feel.

Everyday Made Easier with S Pen

Air Command, a palette of features and commands which you can activate on any screen simply by hovering and clicking the S Pen button, lets you access useful features for everyday tasks such as Action Memo, Scrapbook, and S Finder.

Smarter Large Screen Experience

Details

A technical discussion about ARM big.LITTLE processing technology from some of ARM’s experts.

Panelists:Robin Randhawa, Principal Software Engineer, ARMCharles Garcia-Tobin, Advanced Product Design Group, ARMBrian Jeff, Senior Product Manager, ARMIan Smythe, Director of Marketing, ARM (Moderator)

Discussion questions with timecodes:

Samsung Exynos OCTA-pella: Performance + Efficiency in Perfect Harmony [SamsungExynos YouTube channel, Sept 9, 2013]

“We welcome Samsung’s continued commitment to deploying the leading-edge technology on their latest chips featuring the ARM Cortex™-A series of processors, ARM Mali™ GPUs and ARM Artisan™ physical IP.” said Noel Hurley, vice president, Strategy and Marketing, Processor Division, ARM.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that the Exynos 5 Octa packs a serious punch when it comes to processing power and energy efficiency. Now, the team at Samsung has made the Exynos 5 Octa even better with the introduction of a new Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) solution.

Overview of big.LITTLE Technology

HMP Makes big.LITTLE Technology Even Better

The newest Exynos processor is powered by four ARM Cortex®-A15™ processors at 1.8GHz with four additional Cortex-A7™cores at 1.3 GHz in a big.LITTLE processing implementation. This improves the CPU processing capability by 20 percent over the predecessor by optimizing the power-saving design.

The new family of Exynos 5 Octa is currently sampling to customers and is scheduled for mass-production in August.

ARM brings GPU Compute to mobile devices [ARMflix YouTube channel, July 22, 2013]

So next time I fall asleep in front of the television watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones, GPU Compute will help me, a tired parent, know how far I got through the last episode – then pick up where I left off! Got to love technology.

Enhanced Graphics with New ARM® Mali™-T628 GPU

Making Advanced Applications Possible

Increased Power Efficiency for Extended Use

To learn more about the flexibility that GPU Compute technology brings to the new Exynos 5 Octa, check out this guest blog post by Trina Watt, Director of Channel Marketing for ARM.

More specs and details can also be found on the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420) product page.

GPU Compute also enables the application of filters to images and live video, opening up new forms of creativity. To see more of what GPU Compute can provide across smartphones, tablets and DTVs, watch this video.

ARM brings GPU Compute to mobile devices [ARMflix YouTube channel, July 22, 2013]

What is GPU Compute Technology?

Advantages of GPU Compute

GPU Compute in Action

By pulling together high-end ARM CPUs, ARM Mali graphics with GPU Compute and advanced technologies like ARM big.LITTLE processing, Samsung Exynos has fully realized the ideal GPU Compute system. Stay tuned for news about upcoming devices that will run on the new Exynos 5 Octa (5420)!

Need to know more? Head over to ARM’s blog to find out how GPU Compute technology can transform your mobile and TV experience.

Check out our latest demos on ARMFlix and hear from our partners including Samsung, Unity and GameStick. I particularly recommend the ARM Trollheim demo as a great place to start, with Phill Smith explaining how OpenCL™ can vastly improve procedural terrain generation.

ARM Mali Trollheim demo: in-depth overview [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Samsung Exynos 5 Octa on ARM Mali – Siggraph 2013 [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Improving the mobile gaming experience with GameStick [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Unity discuss the benefits of OpenGL® ES 3.0 [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

Interview with ARM’s VP of Mali Technology [ARMflix YouTube channel, Aug 27, 2013]

The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) is rapidly approaching. This is one of the leading conferences in the electronic media and entertainment sectors. It is a great place to find out about the future trends in media for the broadcast and mobile markets.

In this blog post, I am going to make a few predictions on what will be big at IBC, and as a result will be coming to your living room in the near future.

Natural UI

But what does this mean in terms of an actual on-screen UI? An implementation of a NUI is going to have to be as subtle as the interaction model that is driving it. This is the part of the NUI story that I believe will be in its infancy on the show floor at IBC.

So, even though the NUI principles require that the UI is mostly invisible, we can see that the harder we try to achieve this, the harder the GPU is going to have to work.

UltraHD

Rise of the Companion

I see HTML everywhere

HTML5 will be the de-facto standard for implementing User Interfaces at the show. The problem with HTML5, however, is that a lot of UI implementations end up looking very similar. You can often tell an HTML5 UI just by looking at it.

ARM’s position

We are already seeing great performance from next generation Mali-based devices and the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa with Mali-T628 MP6 shows class-leading performance. I see a bright future for Mali-based devices in this exciting and fast paced industry.

Xiaomi announcements: from Mi3 to Xiaomi TV

The Mi3 is the first smartphone to adopt the Tegra 4 processor.

Nvidia is also supplying its Tegra 4 to Asustek for its 10-inch New Transformer Pad tablet, HP for its 10-inch Slatebook 10 x2 and Toshiba for its 10-inch Excite Pro. Nvidia is reportedly also considering releasing an own-brand tablet.

Nvidia has also been aggressively promoting its Shield gaming device, trying to compete against the 3DS and PS Vita with a price of US$299.

Recently announced Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone is the first to launch with advanced tactile effects

The Xiaomi Mi3 smartphone is available in China online at www.xiaomi.com.

For more information on Immersion’s TouchSense technology and Integrator platform, visit http://www.immersion.com/markets/mobile/index.html.

About Immersion (www.immersion.com)

About Xiaomi (www.xiaomi.com)

Microsoft answers to the questions about Nokia devices and services acquisition: tablets, Windows downscaling, reorg effects, Windows Phone OEMs, cost rationalization, ‘One Microsoft’ empowerment, and supporting developers for an aggressive growth in market share

Note: the “fairly aggressive market share assumption” was presented by Microsoft as:

See also Microsoft Nokia Transaction Conference Call with slides from Microsoft Strategic Rationale inserted- ebook – 3-Sept-2013 edited by Sándor Nacsa from those two sources into an ebook format PDF

Microsoft buys Nokia’s handset business for $7.2 bln. Both companies will be hoping it heralds a new era, but overcoming brand weakness will be a huge challenge. For them both, says IHS Senior Mobile Analyst, Daniel Gleeson.

SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (REUTERS – ACCESS ALL) (SEPTEMBER 3, 2013)

Panelists:
Robin Randhawa, Principal Software Engineer, ARM
Charles Garcia-Tobin, Advanced Product Design Group, ARM
Brian Jeff, Senior Product Manager, ARM
Ian Smythe, Director of Marketing, ARM (Moderator)

See also Microsoft Nokia Transaction Conference Call with slides from Microsoft Strategic Rationale inserted- ebook – 3-Sept-2013
edited by Sándor Nacsa from those two sources into an ebook format PDF