Home » Cloud client SW platforms (Page 5)

Category Archives: Cloud client SW platforms

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

Here is the chart reflecting the performance of the market-leading mobile phones upto Q2’13:

From this the most visible things are:

  • Android and Android-forked (Xiaomi etc.) smartphones are the undisputed industry standards to dominate the market in years to come
  • Both the Symbian to Windows Phone and S40 to Asha Full Touch smartphone platform transition strategies from Nokia could survive the continued Android onslaught but only in a niche market status
  • There is no room for Apple’s further growth, and both the platform and the company could face a gradual decline in the smartphone market

My other observations about the state of the smartphone market after Q2’13 were already presented in the following posts:

In essence we came to a point when the superphone market came down in price to as low as $110 and up, while the entry-level segment of good quality came down to a $65+ price level. Also the smartphone market became saturated in all segments which brings an end to Samsung’s ability to base its premium profitability ambitions on smartphones alone (almost), as it was reflected in 20 years of Samsung “New Management” as manifested by the latest, June 20th GALAXY & ATIV innovations [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 2-26, 2013]:

… innovations in the broadest sense of the world: technology, hardware and software engineering and design, marketing in general and branding in particular etc.

Updates: Q2 record-high operating profit + smartphone worries deepen + overall business situation + nonproportionally high capex of the semiconductor business +  the #2 capex beneficiary, the Display Panel Segment

These observations also led to much greater conclusions about the upcoming changes:

Below I will assess the ‘Nokia Q2’13 market situation and changes’ as well as include ‘Gartner’s own assessment of the Q2’13 overall market situation and the changes’ to complete the picture.


Nokia Q2’13 market situation and changes:

Looking at the progress of Nokia Symbian to Windows Phone transformation Q2’13 was a straight continuation of the trends noted for Q1’13 in Nokia: Continued moderate progress with Lumia, urgent Asha Touch refresh and new innovations to come against the onslaught of unbranded Android and forked Android players in China and India [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 18, 2013] as you could also well observe from the chart included here as well:

Nokia was extensively discussing its Windows Phone transition in Nokia Corporation Interim Report for Q2 2013 and January-June 2013 [press release, July 18, 2013]:

    • Lumia Q2 volumes increased 32% quarter-on-quarter to 7.4 million units, reflecting strong demand from customers for a broadened Lumia product range.
    • Commenting on the second quarter results, Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, said: “ … In our Smart Devices business unit, we continue to focus on delivering meaningful differentiation to consumers around the world. We are very proud of the recent creations by our Lumia team, from the Lumia 520 – our most affordable Windows Phone 8 product which has enjoyed a strong start in markets like China, France, India, Thailand, the UK, the US and Vietnam – to the Lumia 1020, our star imaging product which we unveiled to the world last week. Overall, Lumia volumes grew to 7.4 million in the second quarter, the highest for any quarter so far and showing increasing momentum for the ecosystem. During the third quarter, we expect that our new Lumia products will drive a significant part of our Smart Devices revenue.”
    • In the third quarter 2013, supported by the wider availability of recently announced Lumia products as well as recently announced Mobile Phones products, Nokia expects higher Devices & Services net sales, compared to the second quarter 2013.
    • The year-on-year decline in our Smart Devices volumes in the second quarter 2013 continued to be driven by the strong momentum of competing smartphone platforms and our portfolio transition from Symbian products to Lumia products. The decline was primarily due to lower Symbian volumes, partially offset by higher Lumia volumes. Our Symbian volumes decreased from 6 million units in the second quarter 2012 to approximately zero in the second quarter 2013. Our Lumia volumes increased from 4.0 million in the second quarter 2012 to 7.4 million in the second quarter 2013.
    • On a sequential basis, the increase in our Smart Devices volumes in the second quarter 2013 was due to higher Lumia volumes, as we started shipping the Lumia 520 and 720 in significant volumes. In the second quarter 2013, the vast majority of Smart Devices volumes were from Windows Phone 8-based Lumia products.
    • The year-on-year increase in our Smart Devices ASP in the second quarter 2013 was primarily due to a positive mix shift towards sales of our Lumia products which carry a higher ASP than our Symbian products, partially offset by our pricing actions. Sequentially, the decrease in our Smart Devices ASP in the second quarter 2013 was primarily due to a negative mix shift towards sales of our lower priced Windows Phone 8-based Lumia products as well as our pricing actions.
    • Nokia announced and started shipments in select markets of the Nokia Lumia 925, a new interpretation of its award-winning flagship, the Nokia Lumia 920. The Nokia Lumia 925 introduces metal for the first time to the Nokia Lumia range and includes the most advanced lens technology and next-generation imaging software to capture clearer and sharper pictures and video even in low light conditions. The Nokia Lumia 925 offers a variety of exclusive services such as Nokia Music for unlimited streaming of free playlists, integrated HERE services, and the option to add wireless charging with a snap-on wireless charging cover.
    • Nokia announced the Nokia Lumia 928 smartphone, exclusive to Verizon Wireless. With a 8.7MP camera and Nokia’s PureView imaging innovation, the Nokia Lumia 928 delivers superior imaging and video performance that enables people to capture bright, blur free photos and videos, even in low light conditions. The sleek and stylish smartphone comes with the latest high-end Nokia Lumia experiences, including Nokia Music, HERE services, and built-in wireless charging.
    • Nokia started shipping in volumes the Nokia Lumia 520, its most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone, delivering experiences normally found only in high-end smartphones, such as the same digital camera lenses found on the Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Music for free music out of the box and even offline, and HERE services.
    • Nokia’s Lumia range of smartphones continued to attract businesses, including Miele & Cie. KG, a global leader in domestic appliances and commercial machinery, which has chosen the Nokia Lumia range as the smartphone of choice for its global employees.
    • The Windows Phone Store continued to strengthen in terms of the quantity and quality of applications. The Windows Phone Store today offers more than 165 000 applications and games.

The Q2’13-related improvements mentioned above and influencing the below chart were even more extensively discussed in my earlier posts:

while the Q3’13-related actions of improvements in these posts:

Now look again at the performance chart for the reflections:

image

From the further decline of Asha Full Touch you could see that the Temporary Nokia setback in India [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 28, 2013] continued into the Q2’13 as well as the result of entry-level local brand Android smartphones being in heavy price competition with Nokia Asha Full Touch during Q2 while having superior hardware specifications. Even Samsung’s REX 70 competed in price with Asha Full Touch.

Nokia was talking in his Nokia Corporation Interim Report for Q2 2013 and January-June 2013 [press release, July 18, 2013] only about the following future-oriented actions that were introduced in Q2 in order to remedy this situation:

  • In Devices & Services, our Mobile Phones business unit started to demonstrate some signs of recovery in the latter part of the second quarter following a difficult start to the year. Also, towards the end of the second quarter, we started to ship the Asha 501, which brings a new design and user experience to the highly competitive sub-100 USD market. While we are very encouraged by the consumer response to our innovations in this price category, our Mobile Phones business unit is planning to take actions to focus its product offering and improve product competitiveness.
  • On a year-on-year basis, our Mobile Phones volumes in the second quarter 2013 were negatively affected by competitive industry dynamics, including intense smartphone competition at increasingly lower price points and intense competition at the low end of our product portfolio. Compared to the second quarter 2012, our Mobile Phones volumes declined across our portfolio, most notably for our non-full-touch devices that we sell to our customers for above EUR 30, partially offset by higher sales volumes of Asha full-touch smartphones.
  • Nokia started production at its new manufacturing facility in Hanoi, Vietnam. The new site has been established to produce our most affordable Asha smartphones and feature phones.
  • Nokia announced and started shipments of the Nokia Asha 501, the first of a new generation of smartphones to run on the new Asha platform. Retailing at a suggested price of USD 99, the Nokia Asha 501 offers users affordable smartphone design with bold color, a high-quality build and an innovative user interface. The new Asha platform also allows developers who write applications for the Nokia Asha 501 to reach all smartphones based on the new Asha platform without having to re-write code.

These things were already extensively discussed in my earlier posts:


And here is how Gartner was assessing the Q2’13 overall market situation and the changes:

Gartner Says Smartphone Sales Grew 46.5 Percent in Second Quarter of 2013 and Exceeded Feature Phone Sales for First Time [press release, Aug 14, 2013]

  • Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Grew 3.6 Percent in Second Quarter of 2013
  • Microsoft Has Become the No. 3 Smartphone OS Overtaking BlackBerry

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 435 million units in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of 3.6 percent from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide smartphone sales to end users reached 225 million units, up 46.5 percent from the second quarter of 2012. Sales of feature phones to end users totaled 210 million units and declined 21 percent year-over-year. 

“Smartphones accounted for 51.8 percent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe exhibited the highest smartphone growth rates of 74.1 percent, 55.7 percent and 31.6 percent respectively, as smartphone sales grew in all regions.

Samsung maintained the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market, as its share of smartphone sales reached 31.7 percent, up from 29.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012 (see Table 1). Apple’s smartphone sales reached 32 million units in the second quarter of 2013, up 10.2 percent from a year ago. 

Table 1

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Company

2Q13 Units

2Q13 Market Share (%)

2Q12 Units

2Q12 Market Share (%)

Samsung

71,380.9

31.7

45,603.8

29.7

Apple

31,899.7

14.2

28,935.0

18.8

LG Electronics

11,473.0

5.1

5,827.8

3.8

Lenovo

10,671.4

4.7

4,370.9

2.8

ZTE

9,687.6

4.3

6,331.4

4.1

Others

90,213.6

40.0

62,704.0

40.8

Total

225,326.2

100.0

153,772.9

100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2013)

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market (see Table 2), Microsoft took over BlackBerry for the first time, taking the No. 3 spot with 3.3 percent market share in the second quarter of 2013. “While Microsoft has managed to increase share and volume in the quarter, Microsoft should continue to focus on growing interest from app developers to help grow its appeal among users,” said Mr. Gupta. Android continued to increase its lead, garnering 79 percent of the market in the second quarter. 

Table 2

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System

2Q13 Units

2Q13 Market Share (%)

2Q12  Units

2Q12 Market Share (%)

Android

177,898.2

79.0

98,664.0

64.2

iOS

31,899.7

14.2

28,935.0

18.8

Microsoft

7,407.6

3.3

4,039.1

2.6

BlackBerry

6,180.0

2.7

7,991.2

5.2

Bada

838.2

0.4

4,208.8

2.7

Symbian

630.8

0.3

9,071.5

5.9

Others

471.7

0.2

863.3

0.6

Total

225,326.2

100.0

153,772.9

100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2013)

Mobile Phone Vendor Perspective

Samsung: Samsung remained in the No. 1 position in the overall mobile phone market, with sales to end users growing 19 percent in the second quarter of 2013 (see Table 3). “We see demand in the premium smartphone market come mainly from the lower end of this segment in the $400-and-below ASP mark. It will be critical for Samsung to step up its game in the mid-tier and also be more aggressive in emerging markets. Innovation cannot be limited to the high end,” said Mr. Gupta. 

Nokia: Slowing demand of feature phone sales across many markets worldwide, and fierce competition in the smartphone segment, affected Nokia’s mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013. Nokia’s mobile phone sales totaled 61 million units, down from 83 million units a year ago. Nokia’s Lumia sales grew 112.7 percent in the second quarter of 2013 thanks to its expanded Lumia portfolio, which now include Lumia 520 and Lumia 720. “With the recent announcement of the Lumia 1020, Nokia has built a wide portfolio of devices at multiple price points, which should boost Lumia sales in the second half of 2013,” said Mr. Gupta. “However, Nokia is facing tough competition from Android devices, especially from regional and Chinese manufacturers which are more aggressive in terms of price points.” 

Apple: While sales continued to grow, the company faced a significant drop in the ASP of its smartphones. Despite the iPhone 5 being the most popular model, its ASP declined to the lowest figure registered by Apple since the iPhone’s launch in 2007. The ASP reduction is due to strong sales of the iPhone 4, which is sold at a strongly discounted price. “While Apple’s ASP demonstrates the need for a new flagship model, it is risky for Apple to introduce a new lower-priced model too,” said Mr. Gupta. “Although the possible new lower-priced device may be priced similarly to the iPhone 4 at $300 to $400, the potential for cannibalization will be much greater than what is seen today with the iPhone 4. Despite being seen as the less expensive sibling of the flagship product, it would represent a new device with the hype of the marketing associated with it.” 

Lenovo: Lenovo’s mobile phone sales grew 60.6 percent to reach 11 million units in the second quarter of 2013. Lenovo’s quarter performance was bolstered by smartphone sales. Its smartphone sales grew 144 percent year-over-year and helped it rise to the No. 4 spot in the worldwide smartphone market for the first time. Lenovo continues to rely heavily on its home market in China, which represents more than 95 percent of its sales. It remains challenging for Lenovo to expand outside China as it has to strengthen its direct channel as well as its relationships with communications service providers. 

Table 3

Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q13 (Thousands of Units)

Company

2Q13 Units

2Q13 Market Share (%)

2Q12 Units

2Q12 Market Share (%)

Samsung

107,526.0

24.7

90,432.1

21.5

Nokia

60,953.7

14.0

83,420.1

19.9

Apple

31,899.7

7.3

28,935.0

6.9

LG Electronics

17,016.4

3.9

14,345.4

3.4

ZTE

15,280.7

3.5

17,198.2

4.1

Huawei

11,275.1

2.6

10,894.2

2.6

Lenovo

10,954.8

2.5

6,821.7

1.6

TCL Communi-cation [Alcatel]

10,134.3

2.3

9,355.7

2.2

Sony Mobile Communications

9,504.7

2.2

7,346.8

1.7

Yulong [Coolpad]

7,911.5

1.8

4,016.2

1.0

Others

152,701.5

35.1

147,354.60

35.1

Total

435,158.4

100.0

420,120.0

100.0

Source: Gartner (August 2013)

“With second quarter of 2013 sales broadly on track, we see little need to adjust our expectations for worldwide mobile phone sales forecast to total 1.82 billion units this year. Flagship devices brought to market in time for the holidays, and the continued price reduction of smartphones will drive consumer adoption in the second half of the year,” said Mr. Gupta. 

Additional information is in the Gartner report “Market Share Analysis: Mobile Phones, Worldwide, 2Q13.” The report is available on Gartner’s website at http://www.gartner.com/document/2573119.

Google Play catchup with iOS App Store and its way of assuring compatibility across Android 1.6 to 4.3

OR Google Play, a digital application distribution platform for Android (the former Android Market) and an online electronics and digital media store, is still to catch up with the Apple iOS App Store in terms of top apps and revenue but coming on par with it in terms of downloads

Half of top iPad apps either unavailable or not optimized on Android [Canalys press release, Aug 14, 2013] – 30% of the top 50 free and paid iPad apps in the US are absent from Google Play

image 
The top 20 app lists referenced in the Canalys press release, ‘Half of top iPad apps either unavailable or not optimized on Android’ (published 14 August 2013). You can dowload the full top 50 app lists HERE.
New Canalys’ App Interrogator research highlights one of the deficiencies of the Android ecosystem: limited availability of high-quality, tablet-optimized apps in the Google Play store. Of the top 50 paid and free iPad apps in Apple’s US App Store, based on aggregated daily rankings in the first half of 2013, 30% were absent from Google Play. A further 18% were available, but not optimized for tablet users, offering no more than a smart phone app blown up to the size of a tablet screen.
Just 52% of apps had Android versions both available through Google Play and optimized (if only a little) for tablet use. ‘Quite simply, building high-quality app experiences for Android tablets has not been among many developers’ top priorities to date,’ said Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Shepherd. ‘That there are over 375,000 apps in the Apple App Store that are designed with iPad users in mind, versus just a fraction of this – in the low tens of thousands – available through Google Play, underscores this point.’
Canalys expects this to change as the addressable base of devices continues to soar and Google brings improvements to the Play store, but points out that Google needs to do more to encourage greater numbers of developers to invest in delivering high-quality Android tablet apps quickly, else it risks disappointing consumers with weak app experiences in the short term.
The 52% of top apps available through Google Play and optimized for tablets also includes six titles that appear as top paid titles on iOS, but are only available as free, ad-supported versions on Android. ‘While nominally free, set against a paid version of the app, ad-supported offerings typically deliver a poorer and often more limited user experience, sometimes taking a considerable toll on device battery life and often subjecting users to unskippable videos or other unpopular intrusions,’ said Canalys Analyst Daniel Matte.
It is important that Google wins consumers’ trust and encourages them to register credit cards and billing details, so that the barrier to them spending money on apps – and other content – is reduced at the point of purchase. ‘Improved consumer willingness to spend will increase developers’ monetization potential and options, and help to reduce their reliance on in-app ads, leading over time to an increase in app quality,’ said Matte.
It will also make the Android tablet opportunity more enticing for developers and increase the revenue potential of the Play store and ecosystem for Google. ‘To take the Play ecosystem to the next level, Google needs more than just a large addressable base of devices. App developers need to see clear potential to build robust and sustainable business models around apps built for the platform, so increasing monetization potential must be a priority,’ said Shepherd. ‘And for tablet apps in particular, Google should go further with changes to the Play store to ensure more rigorously managed, high-quality, optimized experiences are highlighted, to the benefit of consumers, and to reward those developers who invest the time and resources in building them with improved discoverability.’

The top 50 lists [of both the “Top 50 paid tablet apps (Apple App Store, H1 2013)” and the “Top 50 free tablet apps (Apple App Store, H1 2013)”]referenced in this release can be viewed here.

About Canalys
Canalys is an independent analyst firm that strives to guide clients on the future of the technology industry and to think beyond the business models of the past. We deliver smart market insights to IT, channel and service provider professionals around the world. Our customer-driven analysis and consulting services empower businesses to make informed decisions and generate sales. We stake our reputation on the quality of our data, our innovative use of technology, and our high level of customer service.


App Store Market Q2 2013: Google Play Exceeds iOS App Store in App Downloads by 10% 

Riding strong performances in India and Brazil, Google Play’s total app downloads were higher than those in the iOS App Store in Q2 2013.
Though Google Play had more downloads, the iOS App Store still generated 2.3x the revenue.
image

Bertrand Schmitt Interview – GigaOM Mobilize 2012 [AppAnnieTV YouTube channel, Oct 10, 2012]

App Annie CEO Bertrand Schmitt talks about The Math Behind The App Stores. App Annie is the industry leader in app store analytics and market intelligence supporting iOS, Mac and Google Android Market. Annie takes care of all the Math Behind The App Stores keeping you up-to-date with your own app’s metrics and the latest app store trends. Annie provides three fabulous products for her fans: APP ANNIE ANALYTICS A free web-service that automatically retrieves, visualizes and stores your app’s download, revenue, ranking and review data. APP ANNIE STORE STATS The most comprehensive free app store database on the Internet today. It provides you with detailed ranking charts, historical data, Featured placements and international app store matrices. APP ANNIE INTELLIGENCE Introducing our newest premium product – it allows our advanced customers to access the most accurate market intelligence data available for app stores today.
App Annie Reports Google Play Exceeds iOS App Store in App Downloads by 10% in Q2 2013

App Annie has released its 2nd quarter mobile platform analysis and reports that Google Play has exceeded the iOS App Store downloads by 10%. While iOS is behind Android in downloads, still generates 2.3 times the revenue.
For iOS, the top countries by number of downloads were: (1) – United States; (2) China; (3) Japan; (4) United Kingdom; and (5) Russia, with the US and China making up around 40% of the market. The top countries by revenue were: (1)United States; (2) Japan; (3) United Kingdom; (4) Australia; and (5)China, with Australia moving to #4 and China dropping to #5 compared to Q1.
For Android, the top countries by download were: (1) United States; (2) South Korea; (3) India; (4) Russia; and (5) Brazil putting three emerging markets (South Korea, Russia, and Brazil) into the top 5. The top countries for revenue were: (1) Japan; (2) South Korea; (3) United States; (4) Germany; and (5) United Kingdom with Germany and the UK swapping spots.
Games have not slowed down and are still at the top of revenue and download charts for both iOS and Android.
For iOS, the top countries by app category downloads were: (1) Games; (2) Entertainment; (3) Photo & Video: (4) Lifestyle and (5) Utilities with games garnering 40% of downloads. The top iOS revenue by category were: (1) Games; (2) Social Networking; (3) Music; (4) Productivity; and (5) Entertainment with games taking almost a 75% share.
For Android, the top countries by app category downloads were: (1) Games; (2) Communication; (3) Tools; (4) Entertainment and (5) Social with communication apps moving up one. The top Android revenue by category were: (1) Games: (2) Communication; (3) Social; (4) Travel and Local; and (5) Tools with games accounting for over 80% of revenue.

The Global App Store Economy – Olivier Bernard, App Annie [Welcome to Nevosoft.Ru YouTube channel, April 4, 2013]

The Global App Store Economy — Olivier Bernard, VP of Europe, App Annie, on February 8, 2013 (on Day 1 of The Winter Nights: Mobile Games Conference: http://www.wnconf.com/en). Presentation slides: http://www.slideshare.net/anastasiaalikova/the-global-app-store-economy
Google Play Now Generates More Downloads Than iOS App Store
The latest App Annie statistics show that Google GOOG -1.38% has already overtaken iOS in app downloads. This has happened far faster than anyone would have expected even one year ago. One factor here was the massive surge in Android app downloads in Japan and South Korea in 1Q 2013. What finally pushed Google into lead was another surge in India and Russia during 2Q 2013. Russia and Brazil have become Top Five countries for Google Play app download volume, which bodes well for future growth of the platform.
On app revenue front, iOS still leads Google Play by 130%. Yet even this lead has been shrinking rapidly – less than two years ago, the iOS lead was more than 400%. It now seems that it will be only a matter of time before Google will overtake iOS in revenue generation. The key here is the flood of cheap Android models that have started dominating the smartphone markets of China, India, Russia and Brazil, the most important growth engines of the global smartphone industry.
Much now depends on h0w low Apple AAPL +2.42% will price the new budget iPhone. Apple may value its hardware margins highly, but app market leadership is exceptionally important in attracting the best app developer talent and thus ensuring long term success of the entire OS ecosystem. Apple clearly needs to hit Google hard in Latin America, India and China before Android app market takes over these regions decisively.

More at: http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-index-market-q2-2013/ [July 31, 2013]

Global Trends in App Store Monetization | Junde YU [CasualConnect YouTube channel, June 5, 2013]

Using App Annie Intelligence, the most accurate market data on the app stores, Junde will deliver the most unique insights on Global Trends in App Store Monetization. – What are the highest countries for revenue, downloads and ARPU? – Just how significant is the growth of the app stores in Asia? – Where are the growth opportunities for publishers across different categories and regions? Delivered at Casual Connect Asia, May 2013. For slides, visit: http://gamesauce.org/news/2013/06/05/junde-yu-on-the-increasing-opportunities-in-asia-casual-connect-video/


Month Report Webinar: A Granular App Level Look at Revenues: Google Play vs Apple App Store [distimo YouTube channel, June 7, 2013]

On Thursday June 6th, we hosted our Monthly Publication Webinar. The topic of this webinar was ‘A Granular App Level Look at Revenues: Google Play versus App Apple Store’, which follows the findings in the Monthly Publication of May. We also demonstrated the most important examples from the publication by using our AppIQ (http://www.distimo.com/appiq).

Google Play Revenue Up 67% Over Past 6 Months, Fueled By Japan & S. Korea [TechCrunch, Aug 12, 2013]

image
Google’s Android app marketplace, Google Play, has seen significant revenue growth this year, fueled in large part by Japan and South Korea. In a new report released today by app store analytics firm Distimo, the company found that Google Play’s revenue grew by 67 percent over the past six months, while Apple’s App Store revenue grew by just 15 percent during the same time frame.
While these numbers reflect the impact Android’s massive market share is having on the app industry, it’s worth noting that of the two app stores, the Apple App Store’s market is still the largest, and continues to see more than two times the revenue of Google Play.
That latter figure varies a bit from an earlier report put out by competing analytics firm App Annie in April, which found that Apple’s App Store earned around 2.6 times more revenue in the preceding quarter. But not only do the firms’ methodologies differ in general, Distimo looked at the earnings of all ranked apps in the 18 largest countries over 6 months, while App Annie’s data was, as noted above, for the quarter.
That being said, Google Play’s revenue growth is notable. While only 25 percent of the revenue from the two stores combined came from Google Play in February 2013, this went up 8 percentage points to reach 33 percent by July.

Tanisha Gupta Discusses Distimo’s Mobile Conversion Tracking Technology [TheMailDotCom1 YouTube channel, Aug 2, 2013]

Murray Newlands interviews Tanisha Gupta from Distimo at the Casual Connect conference in San Francisco for TheMail.com


Celebrating Google Play’s first birthday [Official Android Blog, March 6, 2013]

Accessing digital entertainment should be simple, whether you like to read books on your tablet, listen to music on your phone and computer, or watch movies on all three. That’s why one year ago today we launched Google Play, where you can find and enjoy your favorite music, movies, books and apps on your Android phone and tablet, or on the web.
Google Play has grown rapidly in the last year, bringing you more content in more languages and places around the globe. In addition to offering more than 700,000 apps and games, we’ve partnered with all of the major music companies, movie studios and publishers to bring you the music, movies, TV shows, books and magazines you love. And we’ve added more ways for you to buy them, including paying through your phone bill and gift cards, which we’re beginning to roll out in the U.K. this week.
Since no birthday is complete without presents, we’re celebrating with a bunch of special offers across the store on songs, TV shows, movies and books. We’re even offering a collection of games with some fun birthday surprises created by developers.
It’s been a busy year, but we’re just getting started. We look forward to many more years of bringing you the best in entertainment!

image

Introducing Google Play: All your entertainment, anywhere you go [Google Official Blog, March 6, 2012]

Entertainment is supposed to be fun. But in reality, getting everything to work can be the exact opposite—moving files between your computers, endless syncing across your devices, and wires…lots of wires. Today we’re eliminating all that hassle with Google Play, a digital entertainment destination where you can find, enjoy and share your favorite music, movies, books and apps on the web and on your Android phone or tablet. Google Play is entirely cloud-based so all your music, movies, books and apps are stored online, always available to you, and you never have to worry about losing them or moving them again.
Introducing Google Play [googleplay YouTube channel, March 6, 2012]
Your favorite entertainment is now all in one place, always accessible on the web and across your Android devices.

With Google Play you can:

  • Store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new tracks
  • Download more than 450,000 Android apps and games
  • Browse the world’s largest selection of eBooks
  • Rent thousands of your favorite movies, including new releases and HD titles
Starting today, Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore will become part of Google Play. On your Android phone or tablet, we’ll be upgrading the Android Market app to the Google Play Store app over the coming days. Your videos, books and music apps (in countries where they are available) will also be upgraded to Google Play Movies, Google Play Books and Google Play Music apps. The music, movies, books and apps you’ve purchased will continue to be available to you through Google Play—simply log in with your Google account like always.
To celebrate, we’ll be offering a different album, book, video rental and Android app at a special price each day for the next week in our “7 Days to Play” sale. In the U.S., today’s titles include the collection of top 40 hits Now That’s What I Call Music 41, the popular game Where’s My Water, the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and the movie Puncture for just 25 cents each. In addition, you’ll find great collections of hip-hop, rock and country albums for $3.99 all week, detective novels from $2.99, some of our editorial team’s favorite movies from 99 cents, and our favorite apps from 49 cents.
In the U.S., music, movies, books and Android apps are available in Google Play. In Canada and the U.K., we’ll offer movies, books and Android apps; in Australia, books and apps; and in Japan, movies and apps. Everywhere else, Google Play will be the new home for Android apps. Our long-term goal is to roll out as many different types of content as possible to people around the world, and we’ll keep adding new content to keep it fresh.
To learn more, head over to play.google.com/about or keep up with the latest on our Google+ page. If you’re headed to Austin later this week for South by Southwest, come to the Google Village to see Google Play in action. We can’t wait for you to try Google Play and experience a simpler way to manage your entertainment.
Posted by Jamie Rosenberg, Director of Digital Content
Android Apps on Google Play [googleplay YouTube channel, March 6, 2012]
With Apps on Google Play download more than 450,000 Android apps and games and begin enjoying them instantly on your Android phone or tablet. Experience all the entertainment you love, anywhere you go. Discover more athttp://play.google.com/store/apps.

Supported devices [Android Developer Help, Aug 5, 2013]

The following is a list of devices that are supported for use with Google Play. This list is sorted alphabetically by manufacturer. You can also search within this page to find your device (PC: Ctrl + F, Mac: Command + F).
If you’re experiencing issues with the Google Play website or the Google Play app, please verify that your device is included on the list below. If your device isn’t listed, it’s possible that your device is newly released or may not be listed for other reasons. If you need further information on whether your device is supported for use with Google Play, please contact your device manufacturer for further support.
Note: Some devices are listed by their official model number. To find your model number, go to Settings > About Phone > Model Number on your device.
This list was last updated on 8/5/2013.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Google Apps on Android [GApps] [Google site, created on June 27, 2012]

image

… [Google Keyboard    Hangouts   Keep]

Featured Apps

clip_image002[4]
Google Search
Quickly & easily find what you need on the web & your phone or tablet.
Download App
clip_image004[4]
Chrome for Android
Browse fast & bring your personalized Chrome with you.
Download App
clip_image006[4]
Google Maps for Android
Never get lost as you go to new places & old favorites.
Download App
clip_image008[4]
Google+
Stay connected and share life as it happens.
Download App
clip_image010[4]
Google Play Books
Read the books you love, everywhere you are.
Download App
clip_image012[4]
Google Play Magazines
Read your favorite magazines, everywhere you are.
Download App
clip_image014[4]
Google Play Music
Play your music instantly, anywhere.
Download App
clip_image016[4]
Google Play Movies & TV
Watch movies & TV shows instantly, anywhere.
Download App
clip_image018[4]
YouTube
Millions of videos at your fingertips, available on the go.
Download App
clip_image020[4]
Google Drive
One place to create, share, collaborate & keep your stuff, available on all your devices.
Download App
clip_image022[4]
Gmail
Get smarter email wherever you are.
Download App
clip_image024[4]
Google Wallet
Make your phone your wallet.
Download App
clip_image026[4]
Google Offers
Discover, buy and redeem great deals with your Android device.
Download App
 
… [ Voice Search   Google Translate   Google Earth   Google Goggles   Google Currents   Google Voice   Google Shopper   Schemer   My Tracks   Google Finance   Blogger   Orkut   Authenticator ]

A Note on Google Apps for Android [Android Developers Blog, Sept 25, 2009]

Lately we’ve been busy bees in Mountain View, as you can see from the recent release of Android 1.6 to the open-source tree, not to mention some devices we’re working on with partners that we think you’ll really like. Of course, the community isn’t sitting around either, and we’ve been seeing some really cool and impressive things, such as the custom Android builds that are popular with many enthusiasts. Recently there’s been some discussion about an exchange we had with the developer of one of those builds, and I’ve noticed some confusion around what is and isn’t part of Android’s open source code. I want to take a few moments to clear up some of those misconceptions, and explain how Google’s apps for Android fit in.
Everyone knows that mobile is a big deal, but for a long time it was hard to be a mobile app developer. Competing interests and the slow pace of platform innovation made it hard to create innovative apps. For our part, Google offers a lot of services — such as Google Search, Google Maps, and so on — and we found delivering those services to users’ phones to be a very frustrating experience. But we also found that we weren’t alone, so we formed the Open Handset Alliance, a group of like-minded partners, and created Android to be the platform that we all wished we had. To encourage broad adoption, we arranged for Android to be open-source. Google also created and operates Android Market as a service for developers to distribute their apps to Android users. In other words, we created Android because the industry needed an injection of openness. Today, we’re thrilled to see all the enthusiasm that developers, users, and others in the mobile industry have shown toward Android.
With a high-quality open platform in hand, we then returned to our goal of making our services available on users’ phones. That’s why we developed Android apps for many of our services like YouTube, Gmail, Google Voice, and so on. These apps are Google’s way of benefiting from Android in the same way that any other developer can, but the apps are not part of the Android platform itself. We make some of these apps available to users of any Android-powered device via Android Market, and others are pre-installed on some phones through business deals. Either way, these apps aren’t open source, and that’s why they aren’t included in the Android source code repository. Unauthorized distribution of this software harms us just like it would any other business, even if it’s done with the best of intentions.
I hope that clears up some of the confusion around Google’s apps for Android. We always love seeing novel uses of Android, including custom Android builds from developers who see a need. I look forward to seeing what comes next!


Compatibility Test Suite [Frequently Asked Questions | Android Open Source, created on May 24, 2010; excerpted on Aug 15, 2013]

Compatibility Test Suite

What is the purpose of the CTS?
The Compatibility Test Suite is a tool used by device manufacturers to help ensure their devices are compatible, and to report test results for validations. The CTS is intended to be run frequently by OEMs throughout the engineering process to catch compatibility issues early.
What kinds of things does the CTS test?
The CTS currently tests that all of the supported Android strong-typed APIs are present and behave correctly. It also tests other non-API system behaviors such as application lifecycle and performance. We plan to add support in future CTS versions to test “soft” APIs such as Intents as well.
Will the CTS reports be made public?
Yes. While not currently implemented, Google intends to provide web-based self-service tools for OEMs to publish CTS reports so that they can be viewed by anyone. CTS reports can be shared as widely as manufacturers prefer.
How is the CTS licensed?
The CTS is licensed under the same Apache Software License 2.0 that the bulk of Android uses.
Does the CTS accept contributions?
Yes please! The Android Open-Source Project accepts contributions to improve the CTS in the same way as for any other component. In fact, improving the coverage and quality of the CTS test cases is one of the best ways to help out Android.
Can anyone use the CTS on existing devices?
The Compatibility Definition Document requires that compatible devices implement the ‘adb’ debugging utility. This means that any compatible device — including ones available at retail — must be able to run the CTS tests.

Compatibility [Frequently Asked Questions | Android Open Source, created on May 24, 2010; excerpted on Aug 15, 2013]

Compatibility

What does “compatibility” mean?
We define an “Android compatible” device as one that can run any application written by third-party developers using the Android SDK and NDK. We use this as a filter to separate devices that can participate in the Android app ecosystem, and those that cannot. Devices that are properly compatible can seek approval to use the Android trademark. Devices that are not compatible are merely derived from the Android source code and may not use the Android trademark.
In other words, compatibility is a prerequisite to participate in the Android apps ecosystem. Anyone is welcome to use the Android source code, but if the device isn’t compatible, it’s not considered part of the Android ecosystem.
What is the role of Google Play in compatibility?
Devices that are Android compatible may seek to license the Google Play client software. This allows them to become part of the Android app ecosystem, by allowing users to download developers’ apps from a catalog shared by all compatible devices. This option isn’t available to devices that aren’t compatible.
What kinds of devices can be Android compatible?
The Android software can be ported to a lot of different kinds of devices, including some on which third-party apps won’t run properly. The Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) spells out the specific device configurations that will be considered compatible.
For example, though the Android source code could be ported to run on a phone that doesn’t have a camera, the CDD requires that in order to be compatible, all phones must have a camera. This allows developers to rely on a consistent set of capabilities when writing their apps.
The CDD will evolve over time to reflect market realities. For instance, the 1.6 CDD only allows cell phones, but the 2.1 CDD allows devices to omit telephony hardware, allowing for non-phone devices such as tablet-style music players to be compatible. As we make these changes, we will also augment Google Play to allow developers to retain control over where their apps are available. To continue the telephony example, an app that manages SMS text messages would not be useful on a media player, so Google Play allows the developer to restrict that app exclusively to phone devices.

If my device is compatible, does it automatically have access to Google Play and branding?

Google Play is a service operated by Google. Achieving compatibility is a prerequisite for obtaining access to the Google Play software and branding. Device manufacturers should contact Google to obtain access to Google Play.

If I am not a manufacturer, how can I get Google Play?

Google Play is only licensed to handset manufacturers shipping devices. For questions about specific cases, contact android-partnerships@google.com.

How can I get access to the Google apps for Android, such as Maps?

The Google apps for Android, such as YouTube, Google Maps and Navigation, Gmail, and so on are Google properties that are not part of Android, and are licensed separately. Contact android-partnerships@google.com for inquiries related to those apps.

Is compatibility mandatory?
No. The Android Compatibility Program is optional. Since the Android source code is open, anyone can use it to build any kind of device. However, if a manufacturer wishes to use the Android name with their product, or wants access to Google Play, they must first demonstrate that the device is compatible.
How much does compatibility certification cost?
There is no cost to obtain Android compatibility for a device. The Compatibility Test Suite is open-source and available to anyone to use to test a device.
How long does compatibility take?
The process is automated. The Compatibility Test Suite generates a report that can be provided to Google to verify compatibility. Eventually we intend to provide self-service tools to upload these reports to a public database.
Who determines what will be part of the compatibility definition?
Since Google is responsible for the overall direction of Android as a platform and product, Google maintains the Compatibility Definition Document for each release. We draft the CDD for a new Android version in consultation with a number of OEMs, who provide input on its contents.
How long will each Android version be supported for new devices?
Since Android’s code is open-source, we can’t prevent someone from using an old version to launch a device. Instead, Google chooses not to license the Google Play client software for use on versions that are considered obsolete. This allows anyone to continue to ship old versions of Android, but those devices won’t use the Android name and will exist outside the Android apps ecosystem, just as if they were non-compatible.
Can a device have a different user interface and still be compatible?
The Android Compatibility Program focuses on whether a device can run third-party applications. The user interface components shipped with a device (such as home screen, dialer, color scheme, and so on) does not generally have much effect on third-party apps. As such, device builders are free to customize the user interface as much as they like. The Compatibility Definition Document does restrict the degree to which OEMs may alter the system user interface for areas that do impact third-party apps.
When are compatibility definitions released for new Android versions?
Our goal is to release new versions of Android Compatibility Definition Documents (CDDs) once the corresponding Android platform version has converged enough to permit it. While we can’t release a final draft of a CDD for an Android software version before the first flagship device ships with that software, final CDDs will always be released after the first device. However, wherever practical we will make draft versions of CDDs available.
How are device manufacturers’ compatibility claims validated?
There is no validation process for Android device compatibility. However, if the device is to include Google Play, Google will typically validate the device for compatibility before agreeing to license the Google Play client software.
What happens if a device that claims compatibility is later found to have compatibility problems?
Typically, Google’s relationships with Google Play licensees allow us to ask them to release updated system images that fix the problems.

The Benefits & Importance of Compatibility [Official Android Blog, Sept 15, 2012]

We built Android to be an open source mobile platform freely available to anyone wishing to use it. In 2008, Android was released under the Apache open source license and we continue to develop and innovate the platform under the same open source license — it is available to everyone at: http://source.android.com. This openness allows device manufacturers to customize Android and enable new user experiences, driving innovation and consumer choice.
As the lead developer and shepherd of the open platform, we realize that we have a responsibility to app developers — those who invested in the platform by adopting it and building applications specifically for Android. These developers each contribute to making the platform better — because when developers support a platform with their applications, the platform becomes better and more attractive to consumers. As more developers build great apps for Android, more consumers are likely to buy Android devices because of the availability of great software content (app titles like Fruit Ninja or Google Maps). As more delighted consumers adopt Android phones and tablets, it creates a larger audience for app developers to sell more apps. The result is a strategy that is good for developers (they sell more apps), good for device manufacturers (they sell more devices) and good for consumers (they get more features and innovation).
In biological terms, this is sometimes referred to as an ecosystem. In economic terms, this is known as a virtuous cycle — a set of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop. Each iteration of the cycle positively reinforces the previous one. These cycles will continue in the direction of their momentum until an external factor intervenes and breaks the cycle.
When we first contemplated Android and formed the Open Handset Alliance, we wanted to create an open virtuous cycle where all members of the ecosystem would benefit. We thought hard about what types of external factors could intervene to weaken the ecosystem as a whole. One important external factor we knew could do this was incompatibilities between implementations of Android. Let me explain:
Imagine a hypothetical situation where the platform on each phone sold was just a little bit different. Different enough where Google Maps would run normally on one phone but run terribly slow on another. Let’s say, for sake of example, that Android implemented an API that put the phone to sleep for a fraction of a second to conserve battery life when nothing was moving on the screen. The API prototype for such a function might look like SystemClock.sleep(millis) where the parameter “millis” is the number of milliseconds to put the device to sleep for.
If one phone manufacturer implemented SystemClock.sleep() incorrectly, and interpreted the parameter as Seconds instead of Milliseconds, the phone would be put to sleep a thousand times longer than intended! This manufacturer’s phone would have a terrible time running Google Maps. If apps don’t run well across devices due to incompatibilities, consumers would leave the ecosystem, followed by developers. The end of the virtuous cycle.
We have never believed in a “one size fits all” strategy, so we found a way to enable differentiation for device manufactures while protecting developers and consumers from incompatibilities by offering a free “compatibility test suite” (CTS). CTS is a set of software tools that tests and exercises the platform to make sure that (for example) SystemClock.sleep(millis) actually puts the device to sleep for only milliseconds. Like Android, the test suite is freely available to everyone under the Apache open source license: http://source.android.com/compatibility/cts-intro.html
While Android remains free for anyone to use as they would like, only Android compatible devices benefit from the full Android ecosystem. By joining the Open Handset Alliance, each member contributes to and builds one Android platform — not a bunch of incompatible versions. We’re grateful to the over 85 Open Handset Alliance members who have helped us build the Android ecosystem and continue to drive innovation at an incredible pace. Thanks to their support the Android ecosystem now has over 500 million Android-compatible devices and counting!
Posted by Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content

On Android Compatibility [Android Developers Blog, May 31, 2010]

[This post is by Dan Morrill, Open Source & Compatibility Program Manager. — Tim Bray]
At Google I/O 2010, we announced that there are over 60 Android models now, selling 100,000 units a day. When I wear my open-source hat, this is exciting: every day the equivalent of the entire population of my old home city starts using open-source software, possibly for the first time. When I put on my hat for Android Compatibility, this is humbling: that’s a whole lotta phones that can all share the same apps.
Another thing we launched at Google I/O was an upgraded and expanded source.android.com. The new version has refreshed info on the Android Open-Source Project, and some new tips and tools for device manufacturers — useful if you’re an OEM. However, it also has details on the Android compatibility program, now. This is also aimed mostly at OEMs, but Tim Bray suggested that developers might be interested in a peek at how we keep those 100,000 devices marching to the same beat, every day. So here I am, back on the blog.
The F-word, or, Remember remember the fifth of November
I remember sitting with my colleagues in a conference room in Building 44 on November 5, 2007, listening to Andy Rubin and Eric Schmidt announce Android to the world. I remember a lot of the press stories, too. For instance, Android was “just words on paper” which was especially entertaining since I knew we were getting ready to launch the first early-look SDK a mere week later.
Another meme I remember is… yes, “fragmentation”. Literally before the close of business on the same day we announced Android (4:46pm to be precise), I saw the first article about Android “fragmentation.” The first day wasn’t even over yet, and the press had already decided that Android would have a “fragmentation” problem.
The thing is, nobody ever defined “fragmentation” — or rather, everybody has a different definition. Some people use it to mean too many mobile operating systems; others to refer to optional APIs causing inconsistent platform implementations; still others use it to refer to “locked down” devices, or even to the existence of multiple versions of the software at the same time. I’ve even seen it used to refer to the existence of different UI skins. Most of these definitions don’t even have any impact on whether apps can run!
Because it means everything, it actually means nothing, so the term is useless. Stories on “fragmentation” are dramatic and they drive traffic to pundits’ blogs, but they have little to do with reality. “Fragmentation” is a bogeyman, a red herring, a story you tell to frighten junior developers. Yawn.
Compatibility
Now, that’s not to say that there aren’t real challenges in making sure that Android devices are compatible with each other, or that there aren’t very real concerns that keep app developers awake at night. There definitely are, and I spend a great deal of time indeed thinking about them and addressing them. The trick is to define them clearly.
We define “Android compatibility” to be the ability of a device to properly run apps written with the Android SDK. This is a deceptively simple way to frame it, because there are a number of things that can go wrong. Here are a few:
  • Bugs – devices might simply have bugs, such as a buggy Bluetooth driver or an incorrectly implemented GPS API.

  • Missing components – devices might omit hardware (such as a camera) that apps expect, and attempt to “fake” or stub out the corresponding API.

  • Added or altered APIs – devices might add or alter APIs that aren’t part of standard Android. Done correctly this is innovation; done poorly and it’s “embrace and extend”.

Each of these is an example of something that can make an app not run properly on a device. They might run, but they won’t runproperly. These are the things that I spend my time preventing.
How It Works
As stewards of the platform we realize that it’s vital to allow only compatible devices to participate in the Android ecosystem. So, we make compatibility a strict prerequisite for access to Android Market and the right to use the Android name. This means that developers can rely on the fact that Android Market — the keystone of the Android ecosystem — will only allow their apps to run on compatible devices. It’s pretty self-evident that a single app ecosystem is better than many small ones, so OEMs are generally pretty motivated to ship compatible devices.
But motivation alone doesn’t get us very far without tools to actually ensure compatibility, which is where the Android compatibility program [page created on May 20, 2010] comes in. This program is like a stool with three legs: the Android source code, the Compatibility Definition Document, and the Compatibility Test Suite.
It all starts with the Android source code. Android is not a specification, or a distribution in the traditional Linux sense. It’s not a collection of replaceable components. Android is a chunk of software that you port to a device. For the most part, Android devices are running the same code. The fact that all Android devices run the same core Android code goes a long way toward making sure those devices all work the same way.
However, this doesn’t solve the problems of missing components or altered APIs, because the source code can always be tweaked. This is where the Compatibility Definition Document (or CDD) comes in. The CDD defines in gory detail exactly what is expected of Android devices. It clearly states, for example, that devices may not omit most components, and that the official Android APIs may not be altered. In a nutshell, the CDD exists to remove ambiguities around what’s required of an Android device.
Of course, none of that overcomes the simple reality of human error — bugs. This is where the Compatibility Test Suite comes in. The CTS is a collection of more than 20,000 test cases that check Android device implementations for known issues. Device makers run the CTS on their devices throughout the development process, and use it to identify and fix bugs early. This helps ensure that the builds they finally ship are as bug-free as possible.
Keeping Up with the Times
We’ve been operating this compatibility process with our OEM partners for over a year now, and it’s largely responsible for those 60+ device models being interoperable. However no process is ever perfect and no test suite is ever 100% comprehensive, and sometimes bugs get through. What happens then?
Well, we have great relationships with our OEMs, and like I said, they’re motivated to be compatible. Whenever we hear about a serious bug affecting apps, we report it to our partners, and they typically prepare a bugfix release and get it out to end users. We will also typically add a test case to the CTS to catch that problem for future devices. It’s an ongoing process, but generally our partners are as interested as we are in the user experience of the devices they sell.
The mobile industry today is “very exciting”, which is code for “changes painfully fast”. We believe that the only way Android will be a success is to keep up with that change, and ultimately drive that change. This means that over time, the CDD will also change. We’ll add new text to handle problem cases we encounter, and the actual requirements will change to accommodate the innovations happening in the field. For example, in the 2.1/Eclair CDD, we tweaked the CDD slightly to make telephony optional, which allows Android to ship compatibly on non-phone handheld devices. Whenever we do this, of course, we’ll make corresponding changes to the Android APIs and Android Market to make sure that your apps are protected from ill effects.
On a somewhat related note, a lot of ink has been spilled on the fact that there are multiple versions of Android out there in users’ hands at the same time. While it’s true that devices without the latest software can’t run some of the latest apps, Android is 100% forward compatible — apps written properly for older versions also run on the newest versions. The choice is in app developers’ hands as to whether they want to live on the bleeding edge for the flashiest features, or stay on older versions for the largest possible audience. And in the long term, as the mobile industry gets more accustomed to the idea of upgradeable phone software, more and more devices will be be upgraded.
What It Means for You
All that is great — but what does it mean for developers? Well, we put together a page in the SDK Documentation to explain this, so you should take a look there. But really it boils down to this:
  1. As a developer, you simply decide what features your app requires, and list them in your app’s AndroidManifest.xml.

  2. The Android compatibility program ensures that only compatible devices have access to Android Market.

  3. Android Market makes sure your app is only visible to those devices where it will run correctly, by filtering your app from devices which don’t have the features you listed.

That’s all!
There almost certainly will be devices that have access to Android Market that probably weren’t quite what you had in mind when you wrote your app. But this is a very good thing — it increases the size of the potential audience for your app. As long as you accurately list your app’s requirements, we’ll do the rest and make sure that your app won’t be accessible to a device where it won’t run properly. After all, we’re app developers ourselves, and we know how painful it is to deal with users upset about an app not working on a device it wasn’t designed for.
Now, that’s not to say that we think our current solution is perfect — no solution is. But we’re continuously working on improvements to the SDK tools and Android Market to make your life as an Android developer even easier. Keep an eye on this blog and on the Android Market itself for the latest info.
Thanks for reading, and happy coding!

image

Android Compatibility Downloads [page created on May 19, 2010; content excerpted on Aug 15, 2013]

Thanks for your interest in Android Compatibility! The links below allow you to access the key documents and information.

Thanks for your interest in Android Compatibility! The links below allow you to access the key documents and information.

Android 4.3


Android 4.3 is the release of the development milestone code-named Jelly Bean-MR2 [July 24, 2013]. Source code for Android 4.3 is found in the ‘android-4.3_r1’ branch in the open-source tree.

Android 4.2


Android 4.2 is the release of the development milestone code-named Jelly Bean-MR1 [Oct 29, 2012]. Source code for Android 4.2 is found in the ‘android-4.2.2_r1’ branch in the open-source tree.

Android 4.1


Android 4.1.1 is the release of the development milestone code-named Jelly Bean [July 23, 2012]. Source code for Android 4.1.1 is found in the ‘android-4.1.1_r1’ branch in the open-source tree.

Android 4.0.3


Android 4.0.3 is the release of the development milestone code-named Ice Cream Sandwich [Dec 16, 2011]. Android 4.0.3 is the current version of Android. Source code for Android 4.0.3 is found in the ‘android-4.0.3_r1’ branch in the open-source tree.

Android 2.3


Android 2.3 is the release of the development milestone code-named Gingerbread [Dec 6, 2010]. Source code for Android 2.3 is found in the ‘gingerbread’ branch in the open-source tree.

Android 2.2


Android 2.2 is the release of the development milestone code-named FroYo [May 20, 2010]. Source code for Android 2.2 is found in the ‘froyo’ branch in the open-source tree.

Android 2.1


Android 2.1 is the release of the development milestone code-named Eclair [Jan 12, 2010]. Source code for Android 2.1 is found in the ‘eclair’ branch in the open-source tree. Note that for technical reasons, there is no compatibility program for Android 2.0 or 2.0.1, and new devices must use Android 2.1.

Android 1.6


Android 1.6 was the release of the development milestone code-named Donut [Sept 15, 2009]. Android 1.6 was obsoleted by Android 2.1. Source code for Android 1.6 is found in the ‘donut’ branch in the open-source tree.

Compatibility Test Suite Manual


The CTS user manual is applicable to any CTS version, but CTS 2.1 R2 and beyond require additional steps to run the accessibility tests.

CTS Media Files


These media files are required for the CTS media stress tests.

Older Android Versions


There is no Compatibility Program for older versions of Android, such as Android 1.5 (known in development as Cupcake). New devices intended to be Android compatible must ship with Android 1.6 or later.

The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower

download this PDF-format mini e-book
(now with an extensive follow-up & ‘The global forces behind …’ analysis, later in this post)

Subtitle:
China is the epicenter of the mobile Internet world, so of the next-gen HTML5 web

Put* together by Sándor Nacsa in August 2013

This mini e-book is a follow-up to the findings of “China is the epicenter of the mobile Internet world, so of the next-gen HTML5 web” [Aug 5, 2013] post from my trend-tracking blog “Experiencing the Cloud”, as well as the following posts which lead to those findings:

IMT-Advanced (4G) for the next-generations of interactive mobile services, China is triumphant [Oct 24, 2010]
Good TD-LTE potential for target commercialisation by China Mobile in 2012 [July 13, 2011 – Feb 8, 2012]
TD-SCDMA: US$3B into the network (by the end of 2012) and 6 million phones procured (just in October)[ Oct 18, 2011]
China becoming the lead market for mobile Internet in 2012/13 [Dec 1, 2011]
MWC 2012: the 4G/LTE lightRadio network [Oct 16, 2012]
China: 20,000 TD-LTE base stations in 13 cities by the end of 2012 and about 200,000 base stations in 100 cities launched in 2013 with the 2.6GHz TDD spectrum planning just started—SoftBank with TD-LTE strategy in Japan getting into global play with Sprint (also the 49% owner of US TD-LTE champion, Clearwire) acquisition [Oct 16, 2012]

download this PDF-format mini e-book

Now an extensive FOLLOW-UP
(& ‘The global forces behind …’ analysis after that)

China emerging as ‘mobile only’ in sharp contrast to the US multiscreen market [DIGITIMES, Aug 19, 2013]

With smartphone penetration still in the early stages in China, a new study indicates that the country could become a “one screen nation,” outpacing the US in consumers who use smartphones as their sole or primary media device, according to research developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Interactive Internet Advertising Committee of China (IIACC).
The research revealed that media consumption is more impacted by smartphone ownership in China. More than a quarter of China-based smartphone owners report less TV watching and reduced print consumption as a result of owning a mobile connected device (28% and 27% respectively). In comparison to their US counterparts, China-based smartphone owners are 86% more likely to report less TV usage and 42% more likely to report less print usage.
In contrast to China smartphone owners’ concentrated focus on the small screen, US smartphone owners are much more likely to consume other media with their mobile devices in hand. For example, while watching TV, smartphone users report participating in Internet communication (51% US vs. 10% China), reading social media (38% US vs. 9% China), and conducting a local search (34% US vs. 8% China). The data shows similar disparities when it comes to reading print media, the research found.
The two firms said the research also illustrates Americans’ greater dependency on their smartphones as devices that they would “never leave home without” (69%). In comparison, merely 6% of their China counterparts said the same. Approximately one-third (34%) of Americans said that their smartphone is the “first thing I reach for when I wake up,” as opposed to 7% of China-based smartphone owners.
China-based consumers are also more apt to use their smartphones for web browsing than Americans (32% China vs. 21% US), the research found. More than one fifth (23%) of China-based respondents said that they spent three hours or more per day in the last week accessing the Internet with their smartphones. The top reason they cited for turning to their smartphones was “entertainment.”

Slush 2012: Keynote by John Lindfords (Digital Sky Technologies – DST) [startupsauna YouTube channel, Nov 24, 2013]

Nov 21, 2012 [16:30-16:50]: John Lindfors of DST chats about how the Internet and especially mobile are changing the world as well as the ample startup opportunities that ensue out of that unprecedented connectedness. But what has he to say of Asia’s perception of European startup activity? John Lindfors is a Partner of Digital Sky Technology (DST) and Managing Director of the Asian office in Hong Kong. He joined DST in 2010. Prior to joining DST, he was the Partner in charge of the European Technology and Media department for Goldman Sachs. He joined Goldman Sachs in London in 1993 and worked in London and New York during his 17 years at the firm focusing on the technology and media sectors. John has a M.Sc. (Econ) from the Swedish School of Economics in Helsinki.

How Social Media & E-Commerce Operate in China [Tim Swanson YouTube channel, Aug 13, 2013]

Tim Swanson, author of Great Wall of Numbers, interviews Matt Garner, a seasoned China specialist about companies such as Tencent and Alibaba — the giants of the Chinese Internet. Matt worked for a brand marketing consulting company and large NGO in Shanghai and is an expert on Chinese web trends and market analysis. Website: http://www.ofnumbers.com

China’s E-Commerce Boom: Millennials Shop Alibaba & ASOS [ForaTv YouTube channel, Aug 3, 2013]

Full video available at: http://fora.tv/2013/07/11/Around_the_World_in_Almost_10_Slides Matt Hiscock, senior vice president for ASOS US, describes how the fashion e-commerce company plans to work with the demands of shoppers in China.

Weibo: How Chinese Microblogs Sneak Fashion Past Censors [ForaTv YouTube channel, June 14, 2013]

Full video available for purchase at: http://fora.tv/2013/05/21/Do_in_Rome_as_the_Romans_Do_-_Winning_Strategy_in_a_Fast-Changing_Market Executive vice president of Shanghai Jahwa United Co. Ltd. Hua Fang shows how microblogging tools like Weibo – the equivalent of Twitter in China – are helping to globalize brands.

Alibaba investment spooks some of China’s online shoppers [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Aug 4, 2013]

Aug. 5 – E-commerce giant Alibaba’s investment in the Weibo microblogging service has resulted in users being bombarded with targeted ads for everything from bikinis to coffins. Anita Li examines the reaction.

Chinese Tech Giant Sets Sights on $265 Billion “Smart TV” Market [TheMotleyFool YouTube channel, July 24, 2013]

It’s no secret that the television will be the next great tech battleground. But what is less clear— and what will ultimately prove most profitable to tech-oriented investors— is what company will be the last one standing. Motley Fool analyst Lyons George discusses Alibaba, a Chinese Internet giant that deals in e-commerce, online auctions, and— as early this week— “smart television” operating systems. With an IPO expected any day now, Alibaba’s entrance into the projected $265 billion next-gen TV market is raising investor eyebrows around the globe.

In China smartphone market, cheap rules – and Apple suffers [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Aug 19, 2013]

Aug. 19 – Apple’s seen its market share in China dwindle as homegrown smartphone makers crank out feature-packed budget models. Could the launch of a cheaper iPhone restore its flagging fortunes?

FACTBOX: Will China Mobile deal widen Apple’s wedge? [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Aug 20, 2013]

Aug. 20 – Apple is losing market share to cheaper rivals in China. But a tie-up with top carrier China Mobile seems to be getting closer, and could quickly alter the country’s billion-strong playing field.

‘Broadband China’ aims to speed up network [CCTV News YouTube channel, Aug 18, 2013]

In its emphasis on ensuring that information technology becomes a key driver of growth, China has unveiled its new Broadband China strategy. As in the US, and Europe, the goal is that faster broadband should result in greater industrial efficiency, and, convenience for households.

More foreign carriers to deploy TD-LTE [China Daily video published on March 14, 2012 via SPHRazorTV YouTube channel]

March 14, 2012: Wang Jianzhou, Chairman of China Mobile Communications Corporation and a CPPCC member, talked about the current situation of TD-LTE’s development and promotion as an international 4G standard.

TD-LTE Subscriptions to Surpass 500 Million by 2017, Representing Annual TD-LTE Operator Service Revenues of $91 Billion Worldwide [Research and Markets announcement via PRNewswire, Aug 16, 2013]

More than 50 mobile carriers worldwide have so far committed to TDD LTE technology, and over 30 OEMs have commercially launched TD-LTE compatible devices, with a major proportion of these devices supporting both FDD and TDD modes of operation.
This forecast datasheet presents revenue and shipment market size and forecasts for both infrastructure and devices, along with subscription and service revenue projections for the LTE market as a whole, as well as separate projections for the TD-LTE and FDD-LTE sub-markets from 2012 through to 2017. Historical figures are also presented for 2010 and 2011, along with vendor market share data.
Driven by large scale TDD spectrum availability and the technology’s lower deployment costs, the industry witnessed several prominent TD-LTE network deployments in late 2011 and early 2012, including Softbank in Japan, Etisalat Mobily and STC in Saudi Arabia, and Bharti Airtel in India. More recently, in October 2012, the TD-LTE ecosystem received a major boost when China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that the entire 190 MHz of spectrum in the 2.5/2.6 GHz band will be allocated for TD-LTE deployments in China, which harmonizes its TDD spectrum with Japan and the US, two major LTE markets.
These developments could allow the TD-LTE ecosystem to reach significant economies of scale, boosting further infrastructure and device investments in TD-LTE technology.

20130430 SoftBank、Sprintについての会見。質疑最終部分と囲み [Tamotsu Hashimoto YouTube channel, May 1, 2013]

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son arguing against Dish Network counteroffer to acquire Sprint.

Sprint shareholders approve $21 6 billion deal with SoftBank [KansasCityNews YouTube channel, news article and video on June 25, video published via YouTube on Aug 13, 2013]

By combining their interests, Sprint and SoftBank hope to be able to negotiate better deals with network equipment companies, cellphone makers and lenders. Their aim is turning Sprint into a stronger competitor for Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint and SoftBank’s plans rely heavily on valuable wireless spectrum controlled by Clearwire Corp. Spectrum are the licensed airwaves that carry video, downloads and other data-heavy activity of smartphone customers. Sprint has a deal to buy the roughly half of Clearwire it doesn’t already own for $5 a share. The Clearwire merger is part of the plans Sprint and SoftBank submitted to the FCC’s review. Clearwire shareholders vote July 8 on the merger with Sprint. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/25/4311893/sprint-shareholders-approve-deal.html#storylink=cpy

Sprint CFO: SoftBank deal lets us take Clearwire spectrum nationwide [FierceWireless, July 30, 2013]

Sprint (NYSE:S) will be able to deploy Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz spectrum for TD-LTE service on a nationwide basis now that it is flush with fresh capital from SoftBank, which now controls 78 percent of Sprint, according to Sprint CFO Joe Euteneuer. Sprint formally took control of Clearwire earlier this month.
Steve Elfman, president of network operations at Sprint, noted during the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call that Sprint now plans to deploy Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz spectrum on all 38,000 of its planned Network Vision cell sites and even more sites than that in a nationwide rollout. Previously, Sprint had said it would use Clearwire’s spectrum as a “hotspot” LTE network to offload traffic in urban markets.
In an interview with FierceWireless, Euteneuer said SoftBank’s $21.6 billion acquisition–which includes $5 billion in new capital and allowed Sprint to buy Clearwire–spurred Sprint to make the shift in strategy. The move will let Sprint add more capacity to its own FDD-LTE network, which it is still in the process of being built out. Euteneuer noted that Sprint and Clearwire originally planned to deploy Clearwire’s spectrum on around 5,000 cell sites as an offload network in urban markets. Those plans are still proceeding this year, but Sprint now wants to expand that to improve the customer experience.
“Now that we own 100 percent of Clearwire, with the help of SoftBank, we said, how do we take full advantage of the 2.5 GHz spectrum?” Euteneuer said. “The best way to do that is to have it fully integrated with the rest of your spectrum capabilities. And to do that you really need to put it on every tower.”
The Sprint CFO said because of the weaker propagation characteristics of 2.5 GHz, Sprint will deploy small cells and other sites beyond the 38,000 Network Vision sites the company has mapped out. He said it is unclear at this point if the nationwide deployment of Clearwire’s spectrum will be finished by the end of 2014. Clearwire commands around 160 MHz of spectrum in the top 100 markets.
It is unclear exactly how many TD-LTE cell sites using Clearwire’s spectrum will be online by year-end. Iyad Tarazi, head of network development and integration for Sprint, recently told CNET that Sprint will have 5,000 Clearwire sites on air by year-end, but on Tuesday Elfman was less specific, and said “we’ll have several thousand sites up this year because of the work that Clearwire was doing before us.”
“We are working with Clearwire on plans and will share more soon,” Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton said in a follow-up statement.
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said the deployment of a nationwide LTE network on 2.5 GHz will help give Sprint “competitive parity” with its rivals. “And the important thing in terms of what we believe will be a better, a superior network experience will depend upon how quickly we roll out the 2.5 [GHz spectrum], because that will give us extraordinary capacity and some speed and performance advantages in the market,” he said. …

Xiaomi CEO: Don’t call us China’s Apple [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Aug 15, 2013]

Aug. 15 – 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.

China’s Tencent tops leaderboard, but rivals loom [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Aug 15, 2013]

Aug. 15 – China’s biggest Internet firm, Tencent, has been signing up users and burning up the stock charts. But its recent results point to a tougher future marked by higher costs and tougher competition.

WeChat, Made-in-China Messaging App Grows in Popularity [CCTV News YouTube channel, July 30, 2013]

As SMS messaging continues to grow, more and more players has entered this competitive space. One of those grabbing a bigger and bigger share of this market is the App – WeChat – owned by the Chinese internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd. WeChat is currently the number one messaging App in China. Follow us on Twitter/Facebook/WeChat @CCTVNEWS

Tencent Corporate Video [Alison Lee YouTube channel, Aug 6, 2013]

 


The global forces behind the overall setup of Chinese Internet giants:

China’s doors may be closed to social network company Facebook, but for its pre-IPO investor DST Global, the gates are wide open.
As a result, the firm has managed to invest about $1.5 billion into China-based companies over the past four years, translating into around half the amount of capital it has invested worldwide, Partner John Lindfors told Venture Capital Dispatch.
Unlike some foreign investors, DST Global is happy to take a minority shareholding in portfolio companies, and being a late-stage investor with the ability to write bigger checks, it has also encountered less competition among China-focused investors when targeting new deals.
“We don’t want to take control. If you think about it, some of the most successful companies have been run by their owners. We’re trying to find the next Bill Gates, and back him,” said Lindfors.
DST Global counts Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and online retailer Jingdong Mall 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, with media reports stating that DST bought a 5% share in the online retailer for $500 million.
Although DST Global spent around $1.5 billion on both of those deals, said Lindfors, he noted that the firm is also “happy” to invest far less in a deal, even from $50 million, as deal sizes in China can often be smaller due to the general market size.
Other firms active in China’s Internet space include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital, which typically target lesser-sized deals than DST Global, opening the playing field for the Russian investment firm.  In fact, KPCB China Investment Partner Wei Zhou last year told Venture Capital Dispatch that it had even started investing in pre-Series A deals.
DST Global, headed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, expects to invest in a “few” more deals in the next year or two across China’s Internet sector, specifically in e-commerce and mobile Internet, on expectations that growing domestic consumption and increasing users of mobile devices will bolster growth in these areas, said Lindfors.
“We see an explosion of smartphone usage,” said Lindfors. Indeed, industry insiders, including Kai Fu Lee, founder of Chinese investment firm Innovation Works, predict China will have 500 million smartphone users by the end of this year, jumping up from the current 330 million.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, DST Global has invested in the likes of Twitter and now-Nasdaq-listed Facebook–which faces restricted use in China–and manages three funds. Last year, Bloomberg reported that DST Global was raising $1 billion for a new technology fund, and separately reported that DST Global I achieved an annual 151% gross internal rate of return. Lindfors declined to comment on the firm’s funds.
DST Global likes other countries across Asia such as Indonesia and India, but for the meantime, opportunities are too early stage, said Lindfors, who previously worked at investment bank Goldman Sachs.
DST Global, which has an Asia-based office in Hong Kong, was set up by entrepreneur Milner, and is best known for investing $200 million in Facebook in 2009, and then a subsequent round in 2011 worth $500 million with Goldman Sachs.

Milner Discusses Social Networking Companies, Facebook: Video [Bloomberg YouTube channels, March 23, 2012]

Yuri Milner, chief executive officer of Digital Sky Technologies, talks with Bloomberg’s Cris Valerio about his company’s investment strategy in social-networking companies like Facebook Inc. Digital Sky is a privately held company investing in Internet related companies. Bloomberg’s Betty Liu also speaks.

2012 – My Recipe for a Better Tomorrow – Mr. Yuri Milner [PresidentialConf YouTube channel, June 24, 2012]

The fourth Israeli Presidential Conference, Facing Tomorrow 2012. Plenary: My Recipe for a Better Tomorrow. Speaker: Mr. Yuri Milner.

Encouraging Innovation – Yuri Milner at European Zeitgeist 2011 [zeitgeistminds YouTube channel, May 17, 2011]

Yuri Milner talks about his primary aims, which include finding investors for new businesses and to encouraging innovation. He calls social a dominant theme and says that innovation happens when there is concentration and a critical mass.

Юрий Мильнер с 2005 года началась эра социального Интернета [Umid Matnazarov YouTube channel, Sept 20, 2011]

Президент компании Digital Sky Technologies Юрий Мильнер – член президентской комиссии по модернизации и технологическому развитию экономики. В интервью “Вестям” он рассказал о направлениях работы комиссии и о тенденциях развития Интернета.

Alibaba Said to Have Applied for HK Listing [The China Perspective, July 23, 2013]

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China’s dominant e-commerce service provider, has lodged its application for listing at the Hong Kong stock exchange aimed at raising up to $20 billion, Hong Kong-based Oriental Daily reported. The company is expected to float in October with a valuation of $100 billion. Approximately $7 billion from the money raised will be used to buy back Alibaba’s share owned by Yahoo! Inc (Nasdaq: YHOO), the source said. Alibaba delisted its B2B site Alibaba.com a year ago in preparation for the initial public offering of the group as a whole. Its Taobao.com is China’s top C2C site; its Tmall.com is China’s top B2C site; its Alipay is China’s top third party billing service provider. Japan’s Softbank is Alibaba’s largest shareholder, holding a 35% stake; Yahoo owns 23%, Alibaba’s management owns 24.7%; some private equities and institutional investors own 10.3%; its founder Jack Ma owns 7%.

Masayoshi Son [Wikipedia]

Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫 正義 Hepburn: Son Masayoshi?, Korean: 손정의 Son Jeong-ui; born August 11, 1957) is a Japanese businessman and the founder and current chief executive officer of SoftBank, the chief executive officer of SoftBank Mobile, and current chairman of Sprint Corporation. According to Forbes magazine, his net worth is $8.1 billion as of 2011 and he is the second richest man in Japan,[1] despite having the distinction of losing the most money in history (approximately $70 billion during the dot com crash of 2000). [2] Forbes also describes him as a philanthropist.

Masayoshi Son is known for his extreme persistence to achieve his business goals. As example, when Japan’s Post and Telecommunications Ministry denied his application for a particular telecommunications license, he is reported[3][4] to have threatened to set himself on fire inside the Ministry if his company is not awarded the desired license (however, he is reported[5] not have brought any fuel along to back up his threat).

Former Amazon manager takes Chinese e-commerce company global [GeekWire, Aug 16, 2013]

Watch out, Amazon.com. A Chinese e-commerce company is out to redefine notions of customer service. If you think free shipping in two days is fast, how about in three hours?
In cities across China, customers can order everything from fresh produce to a new laptop, get it delivered for free the same day, pay cash on delivery and even refuse the goods at the door if they fail to meet expectations.
It’s all part of a strategy of JD.com (formerly 360buy) to become China’s largest e-commerce company and expand globally. China’s booming and highly competitive e-commerce market gets more interesting all the time, and JD.com is a major player to watch.
JD.com stands for parent company Jingdong, which has grown to become China’s largest online company that sells directly to consumers, with 100 million registered users, 5 million orders a day, and a whopping 60 billion RMB in sales ($10 billion) in 2012. The company rebranded itself earlier this year and may be planning a U.S. IPO.
Jingdong Vice President and General Manager Shi Tao, who spent more than three years working for Amazon China, visited Seattle this week to introduce the company and meet with prospective customers and partners.
JD.com operates differently than its major competitor, Alibaba’s Tmall, in that Jingdong spent years building its own network of warehouses and fulfillment centers, allowing it to manage its own delivery rather than simply matching buyers and sellers or relying on third parties to ship the goods.
“Chinese consumers want to shop on the platform with the best experience, especially shipping and post-sales customer services,” Shi said. In May Jingdong introduced nighttime and three-hour delivery services in six Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan and Shenyang. The company offers same-day delivery in 27 major cities and next-day delivery in more than 150 cities across China.

Tmall is still the leading B2C company in China overall, with more than 51 percent of the market, compared to Jingdong’s 17 percent, according to iResearch. Amazon China has about 2 percent of that market.

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.

What was not mentioned in the DST/Lindfors interview earlier:

DST has strong ties to
DST’s partners and employees
Goldman Sachs. Alexander Tamas
in 2008 and John Lindfors,
Goldman Sachs, joined DST in
employees include Rahul Mehta and
2011, DST has orchestrated an
brought Goldman Sachs into the
Goldman Sachs. The majority of
have previously worked at
joined DST from Goldman Sachs
a previous partner at
2010. Other ex-Goldman Sachs
Shou Zi Chew. In January
investment into Facebook and
deal.

From Digital Sky Technologies is …

Asia Awards: VC Deal of the Year – Xiaomi [Asian Venture Capital Journal, Dec 5, 2012]

Validation of Xiaomi’s approach was provided by Yuri Milner of DST Advisors who led a $216 million third round of funding in June – valuing the company at $4 billion – with Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) also involved.

DST Founder Yuri Milner Invests in Xiaomi [Tech In Asia, Dec 23, 2011]

We already knew Xiaomi had scored $90 million RMB in new financing — they announced that at their press conference with China Unicom on Tuesday — but Lei Jun has now revealed on Weibo where at least some of that money came from: DST founder Yuri Milner.

Xiaomi’s market value could reach US$10bn after new financing [WantChinaTimes.com, July 28, 2013]

Xiaomi Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of own-brand budget smartphones, will soon launch another round of financing worth more than US$2 billion, with insiders suggesting the main investor will be Russian venture capital firm Digital Sky Technologies (DST), the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily reports.

Leading Chinese internet firm Tencent Holdings invested US$300 million in DST in April 2010 and would therefore become an indirect investor in Xiaomi, the report said, though both Tencent and Xiaomi have declined to comment.

Rumor: Tencent Invests in Xiaomi via Russian VC [Marbridge Consulting, July 23, 2013]

According to industry insiders, Beijing-based Android handset developer Xiaomi has secured a new round of funding exceeding USD 2 bln from Chinese internet and mobile services firm Tencent (0700.HK), with Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies (DST) acting as an intermediary.

The latest round of funding values Xiaomi at approximately USD 10 bln.

Tencent Invests $300m in DST and Establishes Strategic Partnership [Tencent press release, April 12, 2010]

Tencent Holdings Limited (“Tencent” or the “Company”, SEHK 00700), a leading provider of Internet and mobile & telecommunications value-added services in China, and Digital Sky Technologies Limited (“DST”), one of the largest Internet companies in the Russian-speaking and Eastern European markets, today jointly announced that Tencent will invest approximately US$300 million in DST, thereby establishing a long-term strategic partnership between the two companies.
The aggregate consideration of approximately US$300 million, which will be paid in cash, gives Tencent approximately a 10.26% economic interest in DST upon completion of the transaction. Tencent will hold approximately 0.51% of the total voting power of DST and have the right to nominate one observer to the DST Board.
DST and Tencent will embark on a long-term partnership and co-operation as they seek to benefit from each other’s insights gained from their respective markets. DST’s deep understanding of the Russian Internet market, together with its leading brands such as Mail.ru, Odnoklassniki and VKontakte, will enable Tencent to benefit from the high growth of the Russian-speaking Internet market. At the same time, Tencent’s leading position in China will provide DST and its companies with unique and valuable operational insights and access to its regional network that can help DST further accelerate its growth path.
Chief Executive Officer of DST, Mr. Yuri Milner, said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Tencent as a shareholder in DST. This investment is a vote of confidence in DST from the market leader in China and one of the world’s most successful and dynamic Internet companies overall. Our teams share many common views and beliefs and a clear vision about the significant opportunities that lay ahead. We look forward to working together with Tencent and benefiting from their expertise as we both push forward with our plans to capitalize on this immense growth in our markets.”
President of Tencent, Mr. Martin Lau, said, “We are excited to enter into a long-term strategic partnership with DST, a key global Internet player and a leader in Russian-speaking Internet markets. The investment allows us to benefit from the fast-growing Internet market in Russia, as well as to leverage our technical and operational know-how to strengthen the leadership position of DST and explore new business opportunities in the Russian-speaking Internet markets.”
Details of the transaction can also be obtained from the statutory disclosure documents available on http://www.hkexnews.hk website and http://www.tencent.com/ir .
About Digital Sky Technologies
DST was founded in 2005 and is one of the largest Internet companies in the Russian-speaking and Eastern European markets and one of the leading investment groups globally to exclusively focus on internet related companies. DST, together with its affiliate DST Global, also hold stakes in Internet world leaders such as Facebook and Zynga. DST is a privately held company backed by leading Russian and Western financial institutions. For more information please visit http://www.dst-global.com .
About Tencent
Tencent aims to enrich the interactive online experience of Internet users in China by providing a comprehensive range of Internet and wireless value-added services. Through its various online platforms, including Instant Messaging QQ, web portal QQ.com, QQ Game portal, multi-media social networking service Qzone and wireless portal, Tencent services the largest online community in China and fulfills the user’s needs for communication, information, entertainment and e-Commerce on the Internet.
Tencent has three main streams of revenues: Internet value-added services, mobile and telecommunications value-added services and online advertising.
Shares of Tencent Holdings Limited are traded on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, under stock code 00700. The Company became one of the 43 constituents of the Hang Seng Index (HSI) on June 10, 2008. For more information, please visit http://www.tencent.com/ir .

Naspers makes strategic investment in DST [press release, July 14, 2010]

DST to assume full control of Mail.ru upon share swap with Naspers
Johannesburg and Moscow, 14 July 2010 – Naspers Limited (“Naspers”), the broad based international media group, and Digital Sky Technologies Limited (“DST”), one of the largest internet companies in the Russian-speaking markets, announces today that Naspers’s subsidiary Myriad International Holdings B.V. (“MIH”) will take a 28,7% stake in DST. The transaction will be effected by Naspers contributing its 39,3% stake in Mail.ru into DST and investing US$388m in cash. Concurrently, Mail.ru management and other minorities will also convert their shares into DST.
Upon the close of this transaction, DST will own over 99,9% of Mail.ru. Mail.ru is the leading communication and entertainment platform in the Russian-speaking internet world, with over 50m registered email accounts, leading market share in MMO games and one of the leading social networks in Russia.
Naspers and DST have worked closely together over the past three years as co-owners of Mail.ru and today’s transaction will enable them to further strengthen that relationship.
Chief Executive Officer of DST, Yuri Milner, said, “Naspers’s strategic insight has already proven to be valuable in our partnership and we welcome the expertise they will bring to DST. We are delighted to announce this transaction and look forward to creating further value through our relationship.”
Antonie Roux, head of Naspers’s internet operations, commented: “We have known DST and its management for years and we share a similar view and approach. We are excited to strengthen our partnership. This opportunity further expands our exposure to emerging markets and the fast-growing internet sector.”
About Digital Sky Technologies
DST was founded in 2005 and is one of the largest internet companies in the Russian-speaking and Eastern European markets and one of the leading investment groups globally to exclusively focus on internet related companies. DST, together with its affiliate DST Global, also holds stakes in internet world leaders such as Facebook, Zynga and Groupon. DST is a privately held company backed by leading international financial institutions and companies. For more information please visit http://www.dstglobal.com.
About Naspers
Naspers is a leading emerging market media group operating in 129 countries. It is listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), with an ADR (American Deposit Receipt) listing on the London Stock Exchange. The group’s principal operations are in internet platforms (focusing on commerce, communities, content, communication and games), pay-television and the provision of related technologies and print media (including publishing, distribution and printing of magazines, newspapers and books). The group’s most significant operations in emerging markets include South Africa and subSaharan Africa, China, Central and Eastern Europe, India, Brazil, Russia and Thailand. For more information visit http://www.naspers.com.

imageTencent (700 HK) [RHB OSK Securities (Thailand) report, Aug 15, 2013]

Internet – Online Games and Media
Market Cap: USD88,608m

Shareholders (%)
MIH China (Naspers)         33.9
Ma Huateng [Pony Ma]     10.2
JP Morgan                             4.5

Good WeChat progress. The pace of development on Tencent’s mobile social platform WeChat has exceeded our expectations since its launch. Monthly active users (MAU) breached 236m in 2Q13 (1Q13: 194m) while new services such as sticker sales, targeted ads and the first game released on the platform, TTAXC (天天爱消除), showed monetisation potential.

image

Online advertising is a major earnings driver at the gross profit level.

SWOT Analysis

image

Company Profile
Tencent is a leading internet conglomerate in China with operations in online games, social networks, advertising and e-commerce. The company operates leading online games in China while its mobile chat application, which has expanded globally, has a user base exceeding 300m.

Naspers Fact Sheet June 2013:

Business overview
Founded in 1915, Naspers is a leading multinational group of eCommerce and media platforms, with operations in more than 133 countries. Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) since September 1994, it also has an ADR listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The group’s principal operations are in e-commerce, paytelevision & related technologies and print media. It also has minority investments in listed, integrated social-network platforms Tencent (SEHK 0700) and Mail.ru (LSE: MAIL).
The group focuses on attaining sustainable market positions in growing emerging markets which it believes to present above-average growth opportunities. These markets include South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, China, Brazil and the rest of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.

image

INTERNET
Naspers operates platforms that offer customers fast, intuitive and secure environments where they can communicate, participate, entertain and shop. The group’s e-commerce services include marketplaces, general and vertical e-tail, classifieds, lead-generation and payments.
Naspers major e-commerce operations are:
  • Allegro (97%), a leading e-commerce business in Central and Eastern Europe.
  • BuscaPé (95%), a major e-commerce platform in Brazil.
  • OLX (84%), a strong classifieds operator in a number of emerging markets.
Other investments include 36Boutiques, Avito, Brandsclub, Dealfish, Dubizzle, eMag, Fashion Days, Flipkart, Fixeads, ibibo Group, kalahari.com, Korbitec, LevelUp!, Markafoni, Movile, Netretail, OLX, PayU, PriceCheck, redBus, Ricardo, Sanook!, Souq, Sulit, Tokobagus, Travel Boutique Online and Trendsales.
Naspers also holds minority positions in:
  • Tencent (34%) – China’s largest and most used internet services platform.
  • Mail.ru Group [DST] (29%) – the leading internet company in Russian-speaking markets.

Naspers rides Tencent to Internet fortune [TechCentral (South Africa), Aug 31, 2012]

When Naspers stumbled on a little-known Chinese Internet company in 2001, it could not have dreamed that a US$32m investment would account for more than 80% of the media conglomerate’s R200bn market cap now.

Tencent Holdings is the largest Internet solutions provider in China and Naspers, which owns a 34% stake, is its largest shareholder. R4,8bn of Naspers CEO Koos Bekker’s personal fortune of R6bn in shares is linked to Tencent.

It [Naspers] has a market capitalisation of about $57bn and its total revenue for the year to 31 December 2011 was up by 45% to $4,4bn. Profit attributable to equity holders was $1,6bn — 27% higher year on year — and its profit for the second quarter of 2012 was up by 32%. The p:e ratio (share price compared with  its earnings) is 33.
Founded in November 1998, Ten­cent has become one of China’s largest and most widely used Internet service portals and, in 2004, it was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
More than 50% of Tencent employees are research and development staff and the company has obtained patents relating to technology for instant messaging, e-commerce, online payment services, search engines, information security, gaming and more.
Its leading Internet platforms in China include instant messaging, social networking (with 580m active users) and a mobile chat and micro-blogging service known as Weixin. It is also the largest online gaming company in the world.


And the DST money is said to come from:

image
THE THREE KINGS & THEIR PRINCES(S)

“Larry Summers is ethically challenged.”
   Former Economist Colleagues

Larry Summers and his Facebook Friends conspire to undermine U.S. “checks & balances” and take control of the world economy by stealth, we believe.

First see a specially written article to understand very easily the whole affair with the judicial and other systems in U.S. in Facebook — a force for freedom perhaps, but at odds with the rule of law in the U.S. [Americans For Innovation (AFI) via Open Trial, July 26, 2013] from which I will include here only the following excerpts:

In the late 1990s Innovator Leader Technologies invented a technology we now call “social networking.” By the time they filed for their first patents in 2002, they had invested 145,000 man-hours and over $10 million. Literally within three months of Leader perfecting the lynch-pin of their invention, Mark Zuckerberg and his PayPal associates were in the market, on February 4, 2004. Zuckerberg claims to have done all the work himself in “one to two weeks” while chasing girls and studying for finals.

New evidence indicates he received Leader’s source code from a mole who was cooperating with Zuckerberg’s apparent mentor, James W. Breyer, of Accel Partners LLP and with Fenwick & West LLP, who was also Leader’s attorney at the same time. It appears that they were waiting for Leader to finish debugging its invention so that they could roll out the Harvard-boy-genius-Facebook-origins myth, with Zuckerberg in the leading role.

Not so coincidentally, Lawrence Summers was President of Harvard at the time. Summers arranged for the 19-year old Zuckerberg to get more Harvard Crimson news coverage than any world leader or event. Breyer was a big alumni contributor. PayPal COO, Reid Hoffman (later LinkedIn CEO) was coaching Zuckerberg and feeding him spending money, as was Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. Tellingly, these three sold over $6 billion of their Facebook stock on Day 3 of the Facebook IPO, at the highest price anyone received for their stock before it crashed. Summers popped up in Silicon Valley before the IPO too—as “special advisor” to Instagram that sold their 13-man company to Facebook for $1 billion. Could it be that their CEO, Matt Cohler was able to exert some influence over Zuckerberg, as he knew about the theft of the Leader invention?

Forty-four months after filing for their patents, Leader received their first patent on November 21, 2006—U.S. Patent No. 7,139,761. On November 19, 2008, Leader filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook. Leader Technologies, Inc., v. Facebook, Inc., 08-cv-862-JJF-LPS (D.Del. 2008).

Current Federal Reserve Chairman candidate, Lawrence “Larry” Summers has mentored Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg since the early 1990’s. He also mentored Russian Yuri Milner, who has close ties to Russian oligarch Alisher Asmanov and the Kremlin. Summers was one of the Harvard-wunderkind architects of the disastrous Russian voucher system in the early 1990’s while Chief Economist for the World Bank. Milner is Facebook’s second largest shareholder and is partnered with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. With Goldman’s and Morgan’s help, Milner moved billions of dollars into Facebook pre-IPO. Curiously, Cohler helped Hoffman start LinkedIn in 2004. There appears to have been a feeding frenzy surrounding the debugging of Leader’s invention.

This occurred after the US taxpayers bailed out Goldman and Morgan Stanley in 2008. To this day no one knows the origins of those funds, which pumped Facebook’s valuation up to $100 billion. Milner is also connected with Bank Menatep, which was caught laundering $10 billion in Russian mob funds and diverting $4 billion in IMF funds. Summers’ conduct here has never been scrutinized, even though he was appointed to oversee the bailout soon after Barack Obama was elected President. See Congressional Briefings.

Georgia [Beardslee] interviews the real inventor of social networking, Michael McKibben, CEO of Leader Technologies, Columbus, Ohio: GEORGIA! KSCO AM 1080, Apr. 10, 2013 Michael McKibben interview, CEO of Leader Technologies, Inc. [leadertv100 YouTube channel, April 12, 2013]

Georgia: “One of the most interesting, complicated and disturbing stories of the decade.” On April 10, 2013, news-talk show host Georgia Beardslee interviewed Michael McKibben, CEO of Leader Technologies, Columbus, Ohio on her weekly radio show GEORGIA! KSCO 1080 (Santa Cruz, CA) about Leader’s battle with Facebook over Leader’s U.S. Patent No. 7,139,761. The interview covers (1) background on the LEADER V. FACEBOOK patent infringement lawsuit; (2) the suspicious split verdict; (3) the Harvard back story; (4) the Federal Circuit judge’s stock in Facebook; (5) the refusal of the Federal Circuit court to disclose their Facebook stock holdings; (6) the likely undue influence of the federal courts by financiers, bankers, underwriters, Silicon Valley venture capitalists; (7) the questionable conduct of the U.S. Patent Office; (8) the judges’ ignoring of Zuckerberg’s concealment of 28 hard drives and Harvard emails; (9) the Facebook-doctored trial evidence; (10) the ruling against Leader without a shred of evidence; (11) the involvement of billions of pre-IPO investments in Facebook by Russian companies, (12) Goldman Sachs’ and Obama bailout director Larry Summers’ involvement, and now (13) the interference of the White House at the U.S. Patent Office. This case appears to have exposed an underbelly of corruption at the national and international levels that is much worse and even more organized than we might have otherwise suspected. While the video plays, pages from Leader’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Leader Technologies, Inc. v. Facebook, Inc., No. 12-617 (U.S. Supreme Court Nov. 16, 212) will display, page by page (41 pages not counting the appendices). This document can be obtained at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/113545399/P… For background facts, see alsohttp://americans4innovation.blogspot…. This broadcast and these notes may contain opinion. As with all opinion, the information should not be relied upon without independent verification.
Georgia: “One of the most interesting, complicated and disturbing stories of the decade.” On April 10, 2013, news-talk show host Georgia Beardslee interviewed Michael McKibben, CEO of Leader Technologies, Columbus, Ohio on her weekly radio show GEORGIA! KSCO 1080 (Santa Cruz, CA) about Leader’s battle with Facebook over Leader’s U.S. Patent No. 7,139,761.

The interview covers

  1. background on the LEADER V. FACEBOOK patent infringement lawsuit;
  2. [18:30] the suspicious split verdict;
  3. [34:25] the Harvard back story;
  4. the Federal Circuit judge’s stock in Facebook;
  5. the refusal of the Federal Circuit court to disclose their Facebook stock holdings;
  6. the likely undue influence of the federal courts by financiers, bankers, underwriters, Silicon Valley venture capitalists;
  7. the questionable conduct of the U.S. Patent Office;
  8. the judges’ ignoring of Zuckerberg’s concealment of 28 hard drives and Harvard emails;
  9. the Facebook-doctored trial evidence;
  10. the ruling against Leader without a shred of evidence;
  11. the involvement of billions of pre-IPO investments in Facebook by Russian companies,
  12. Goldman Sachs’ and Obama bailout director Larry Summers’ involvement, and now
  13. the interference of the White House at the U.S. Patent Office. This case appears to have exposed an underbelly of corruption at the national and international levels that is much worse and even more organized than we might have otherwise suspected.
While the video plays, pages from Leader’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari, Leader Technologies, Inc. v. Facebook, Inc., No. 12-617 (U.S. Supreme Court Nov. 16, 212) will display, page by page (41 pages not counting the appendices). This document can be obtained at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/113545399/P…
For background facts, see also http://americans4innovation.blogspot….
This broadcast and these notes may contain opinion. As with all opinion, the information should not be relied upon without independent verification.

Obama is protecting his 47 million Facebook “likes” at the expense of the U.S. Constitution [Georgia! KSCO-AM1080, May 31, 2013]

image(My collaboration with a listener, 5/31/2013):Washington D.C. is toxic and fiendishly deceptive these days. Speaker John Boehner described the flow of scandal developments as “Drip, drip, drip.” I take this to mean that the Deception Tank is full and starting to leak. (At last!)
imageInvestigators are now uncovering common people driving these scandals. The Leader v. Facebook property rights debacle seems to have been another one of their pet deception projects. Remember, Facebook was judged guilty on 11 of 11 counts of stealing the inventions of Columbus-based innovator Leader Technologies, Inc., yet the federal courts ruled for Facebook anyway. They had to ignore the Consitution to do it.
Many people lusted after Leader’s innovations that we know as “social networking.” Obama and his handlers needed it to raise election dollars and polish Obama’s persona many times a day. Larry Summers, Accel Partners and the PayPal Mafia wanted it as their global financial transactions platform, Zuckerberg and his fellow thieves wanted it as a global voyeur platform to invade everyone’s privacy, the Kremlin wanted it as a money-laundering vehicle, James W. Breyer wanted it as his ‘pump and dump” stock manipulation scheme, the greedy law firms wanted it to rake in fees. And, at least two Federal Circuit Judges Alan D. Lourie and Kimberly A. Moore were beefing up their financial portfolios with the pump of their undisclosed Facebook shares at the IPO. Wow, that’s a lot of interests all lusting after Michael McKibben’s innovation! (I have interviewed him on this show twice.)
Beware of McBee Strategic lobbyist Jeff Markey bearing gifts
Americans for Innovation has smoked out intimate, undisclosed relationships among Facebook’s chief litigator in Leader v. Facebook, Cooley Godward LLP’s Michael Rhodes, Obama’s Justice Department Cooley “Advisor,” Donald K. Stern, the failed $1.6 billion BrightSource Obama “green” stimulus project, big Facebook IPO winner J.P. Morgan Chase and McBee Strategic’s Steve McBee and Jeff Markey.
This is so convoluted I asked by resident artist to do me a diagram of these relationships. No wonder Washington is so confused. It’s intentional on the part of some morally bankrupt people and organizations (click to enlarge):

image

Figure 1: Conflicts of Interest Map among Barack Obama, Executive Branch, Justice Department,  Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Michael Rhodes, Donald K. Stern, McBee Strategic, Steve McBee, Jeff Markey, Judge Leonard P. Stark, Judge Alan D. Lourie, Judge Kimberly A. Moore, Leader v. Facebook, BrightSource, Solyndra,Tesla Motors, Solar City, Elon Musk and 47 million “likes” on Facebook.
McBee Strategic and their lobbyist Jeff Markey have lied at least twice on disclosures that we have already identified. On their BrightSource Senate disclosure on 11/20/2009 they answered “No” to affiliated organizations that actively participate in their activities. This was false since on 4/23/2009 they had publicly announced their alliance with Facebook’s attorney Cooley Godward Kronish LLP specifically about helping companies access Obama’s “green energy” money. That’s LIE #1. Then, we discover that Jeff Markey is accustomed to lying whenever it is to his benefit. On 4/30/2004 Markey lied on a financial disclosure that he was an Executive for SAIC in an apparent deception to gain access to the National Congressional Republican Committee. That’s LIE #2.
Markey clearly plays on both sides of the ball in Washington. While he is busy spending Obama’s billions, he donates mostly to Republicans, including MITCH MCCONNELL, ROB PORTMAN, ARLEN SPECTER, LINDSEY GRAHAM. Republicans beware of this wolf in sheep’s clothing. Such cynical parlaying of contacts just to keep one’s job in Washington is why Washington is failing. These people are there for the wrong reasons. They need to get real jobs. Professional bureaucrats and politicians (and the lobbyists who feed on the rotted meat) are the death knell of a democracy.
While we’re on the subject of lying to Congress, then Magistrate Judge Leonard P. Stark told Congress in his 4/22/2010 confirmation hearing that he would follow the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Appeals Courts. However, three months later he ignored that promise and even after instructing the jury to do so, he ignored the Supreme Court’s Pfaff test of on-sale bar evidence, as well as the Federal Circuit’s Group One tests. Obama and his Facebook “friends” just seem to lie all the time.
Don’t believe me? Check out the source material yourself. Here are some of them we downloaded quickly. Please share more as you find your own information.

Detailed information is available in Mark Zuckerberg used Leader white paper to build Facebook [Origin of Facebook technology?, Aug 27, 2011] post, from which I will include just the most relevant excerpt in my opinion:


The court documents reveal how Mark Zuckerberg was able to accelerate from 0-to-60 mph in “one or two weeks” while studying for his Harvard finals to start Facebook on February 4, 2004. The idea for the student facebook was already known at Harvard from three well-documented sources prior to Mr. Zuckerberg: (1) the Winklevoss twins’ ConnectU,[1] (2) Aaron Greenspan’s houseSYSTEM,[2] and (3) from the Harvard computer administration.[3] And, if Leader Technologies (“Leader”) is right, Mr. Zuckerberg lifted the ideas for the structure of the platform from Leader Technologies’ patent pending white papers, one published on October 22, 2003, along with Leader’s first patent publication on June 24, 2004—exactly when Mr. Zuckerberg says “Steven Dawson Haggerty” was hired to build the “groups functionality” which is disclosed in the Leader patent publication.[4][5][6][7]

 


More on Yuri Milner:

Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga: I Love Yuri Milner [PandoDaily YouTube channel, July 19, 2012]

From the Wikipedia article: The company develops social games that work stand-alone on mobile phone platforms such as Apple iOS and Android and on the Internet through its website, Zynga.com, and social networking websites such as Facebook, Google+, and Tencent.[5] Zynga states its mission as “connecting the world through games.”[6]

Russian Billionaire buys $100 Million U S Mansion Yuri Milner [estarcobusiness10 YouTube channel, (originally made the news on March 31, 2011) April 2, 2012]

Home Brings $100 Million [WSJ.com, March 31, 2013]

A Russian billionaire investor paid $100 million for a French chateau-style mansion in Silicon Valley, marking the highest known price paid for a single-family home in the U.S.
The purchase of the 25,500-square-foot home in Los Altos Hills, Calif., underscores the strength of some luxury properties in an otherwise depressed housing market.
The buyer, Yuri Milner, 49, who heads Digital Sky Technologies and whose investments include Facebook Inc., Groupon Inc. and Zynga Inc., had no immediate plans to move into the home, said a spokesman.
Mr. Milner is the stocky founder of DST, a Moscow-based fund that’s made a splash in Silicon Valley via its investments. Its first in the U.S. was a $200 million check for Facebook in 2009. His primary residence is in Moscow, where he lives with his wife and two children.
The sky seemed to be the limit for Mr. Milner’s new house, a symmetrical limestone mansion with San Francisco Bay views that was inspired by 18th-century French chateaux.

The home has indoor and outdoor pools, a ballroom and a wine cellar. The grounds include a tennis court and inside are chandeliers and a frieze around a skylight in the entryway, among other details.

Mr. Milner bought the home through a limited-liability company; the home wasn’t on the market, according to people familiar with the deal.
Mr. Milner, who studied theoretical physics in Moscow and attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, began his career in Moscow in the 1990s. By 1999, he had focused on the Internet after dabbling in everything from private equity to a macaroni-and-cheese factory. …


Larry Summers:

The Asian Financial Forum (AFF) 2013 welcomed Professor Lawrence H Summers, one of America’s most influential economists, who served as Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton and Director of the National Economic Council under President Barack Obama. In this AFF luncheon on day one of the 14-15 January event – Prof Summers discussed potential short-term and long-term solutions for the global economy, and the unique opportunities presented by low interest rates.
Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols reports on President Barack Obama’s search for the next leader of the Federal Reserve, his personal relationships with Lawrence Summers and Janet Yellen and the prospects of a confirmation battle for whoever is the candidate. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.”
There is some serious talk in Washington about appointing Larry Summers as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve. Obama has been out on the stump praising Summers, but when you look at his record, there isn’t anything worthy of praise on this guy’s resume’. Ring of Fire host Mike Papantonio talks about the disaster that is Larry Summers with economist Dean Baker.


Alisher Usmanov (+Irina Viner):

This year’s Sunday Times Rich List has been revealed — with Arsenal FC 30 per cent shareholder Alisher Usmanov, who hails from Uzbekistan leading the way with a fortune of GBP 13.3 billion. Usmanov is married to a Jewish lady – Irina Viner, who is the Russian national team gymnastics coach.

BBC News – Sunday Times Rich List: Alisher Usmanov [BBCWorldNewsWatch YouTube channel, April 21, 2013]

Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov has topped the Sunday Times ranking of the wealthiest people in Britain and Ireland with a fortune of £13.3bn. The wealthiest British-born person in the list is the Duke of Westminster in eighth place with £7.8bn from property.

Moshiri Becomes Billionaire Helping Usmanov [jagan washpost YouTube channel, July 9, 2012]

Bloomberg’s Matthew G. Miller reports on Farhad Moshiri, an Iranian-born accountant who is now a billionaire after a two-decade alliance with Alisher Usmanov, Russia’s current richest man. Miller speaks on Bloomberg Television’s "InBusiness With Margaret Brennan."

Russia’s Usmanov – Fed Tapering ‘Vital & well-balanced’ (CNBC) [gmshadowtraders YouTube channel, July 11, 2013]

Full video here http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000177176 Alisher Usmanov, founder of USM Holdings, says that the decisions taken by the Fed regarding money and derivatives are “vital” to the global economy and the decision on tapering is “well-balanced”.

Full video: Russia’s Richest Man Supports Fed [CNBC, June 20, 2013]

Форум в Давосе. Интервью А.Усманова [Моше Кац YouTube channel, Jan 23, 2013]

Алишер Усманов одобряет планы, поставленные российскими властями, которые заключаются прежде всего в диверсификации экономики, уменьшении зависимости от сырьевого сектора и развитии новых технологий. Все это позволит построить новую экономическую действительность. Потому бизнесмен уверен: вероятность, что Россия избежит любого из обозначенных на форуме негативных путей, достаточно высока. Интервью главы холдинга “Металлоинвест” Алишера Усманова телеканалу “Россия 24”.

Алишер Усманов: на Россию надвигается этап сложностей [Моше Кац YouTube channel, June 23, 2013]

Инициативы президента Владимира Путина глазами одного из крупнейших бизнесменов России. Предложения и темы ПМЭФ-2013 в интервью телеканалу “Россия 24” комментирует учредитель USM Holdings Алишер Усманов. Он предположил, что мир может находиться в середине кризиса, начавшегося в 2008-ом году. В таком случае выводы, сделанные на форуме, дадут реальный шанс преодолеть предстоящие трудности. Также Алишер Усманов дал ответ на вопрос, который активно обсуждался участниками форума: замедление экономического роста – это миф или реальность?

Без галстука с Ириной Винер [Russia24TV YouTube channel, Nov 7, 2012]

Те, кто хорошо знает Ирину Винер, говорят: “женщина странная”. Добилась всего на самом высоком уровне, уважаемая, заслуженная, доктор, профессор – и все же никак не успокоится: что-то планирует, строит, генерирует новые идеи. Тренер сборных России и Узбекистана по художественной гимнастике стала героем нового выпуска программы “Без галстука”.

Russian Billionaire Usmanov Bets $100M on Apple’s Rebound [Bloomberg YouTube channel, April 30, 2013]

In today’s “Movers & Shakers,” Bloomberg’s Betty Liu reports that Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has bet big on Apple, investing $100 million on a rebound of the company’s stock. She speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.” … He is the world 35th richest person with just under 20 billion dollars.
Алишер Усманов прокомментировал ситуацию в “Норильском никеле”. В эксклюзивном интервью телеканалу “Россия 24” известный российский бизнесмен сказал, что не хочет участвовать в олигархических сговорах. Кроме того, он предостерег инвесторов от ошибочных выводов: по мнению совладельца крупных предприятий, разочаровываться в Facebook рано. Алишер Усманов рассказал также о том, что планирует увеличить свою долю в социальной сети “ВКонтакте”.

USM Holdings is a leading global investor in companies in the digital space. Its deep understanding of the internet sector has played a key role in the success of its businesses and the development and diversification of
internet services.

USM Holdings is a major shareholder in Mail.ru Group, with a 17.9% economic stake and 58.1% voting power, and the largest investor in the Digital Sky Technologies (DST ) family of funds, an investment company specialising in late stage, high growth private businesses in the global internet sector. USM Holdings recognises the future growth prospects of e-commerce, social networks, online video, online gaming, mobile internet and online advertising.

MAIL.RU GROUP
Founded in 1998, Mail.Ru Group is the number one internet company in the high growth Russian-speaking internet market reaching c. 85% of Russian users on a monthly basis. It is the world’s fourth largest internet company based on total page views, with a global monthly audience of 97.4 million users.
In line with its ‘communitainment’ strategy, the company is moving rapidly to build an integrated communications and entertainment platform. Mail.Ru Group comprises the most popular Russian free email service Mail.Ru and two popular Russian-language internet instant messengers. The company operates two leading Russian social networks, My World and Odnoklassniki.ru, and owns a 40% stake in VKontakte, Russia’s number one social networking site. Mail.Ru Group is also a leading player in the online games market.
In 2010, Mail.Ru Group successfully completed an IPO on the London Stock Exchange worth c. US$92 million.
Mail.Ru Group’s aggregate segment revenue in 2012 was RUR 21,151 million, representing a 39% year-on-year increase.
PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS WITH DST
DST was the group’s first internet investment. In 2008, DST became a backer of Facebook based on a firm belief in the strong growth potential of the internet, and particularly social networking. The current market valuation of Facebook exceeds the initial value at the time of DST ’s entry by approximately seven times.
In 2009, DST spun off DST Russia, later renamed Mail.Ru Group (see above), which is a separate business at present.
Through DST and Mail.Ru Group investments, USM Holdings gained international prominence with stakes in some of the world’s leading and most valuable internet assets, including Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, Zynga, Spotify, Zocdoc, Airbnb, Alibaba and 360buy.

image

USM Holdings is a major investor in some of Russia’s leading telecoms businesses. It is ideally positioned to leverage its assets
and experience in the rapidly growing market
for 4G and other mobile services.

USM Holdings owns 82% of Garsdale, a telecoms holding, which in turn controls 50% plus 100 shares of MegaFon, Russia’s second largest mobile operator; 100% of Yota, a pioneering international 4G services provider; and 51% of Peter-Service, a billing services company. Through Garsdale and MegaFon, USM Holdings owns 50% of Euroset, Russia’s number one mobile retailer.
MEGAFON
Formed in 1993, MegaFon is Russia’s second largest mobile operator in terms of revenue and subscribers and the market leader in the mobile data segment.
With over 33,000 employees, MegaFon is a leading universal telecommunications provider with c. 62.7 million wireless subscribers in the Russian Federation as of 31 March 2013. The company offers a full range of voice, data and other mobile and fixed-line telecommunications services, including digital TV and IP telephony, to retail customers, businesses, government clients and telecommunications services providers. MegaFon operates one of the most extensive 3G networks in Russia and renders a wide range of mobile services in Tajikistan, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The company has a strong track record in innovation and pioneered the introduction of a number of services in Russia, including the launch of MMS and mobile TV in 2004, free incoming calls in 2006, 3G services in 2008, significant reduction in roaming charges in 2011, and 4G/ Long Term Evolution (LTE ) services in 2012.
Through MegaLabs, a fully owned subsidiary, the company develops a variety of new projects in the promising value-added service (VAS) market in a number of areas, including content and media, mobile finance, mobile advertising, cloud and IT solutions, M2M, e-government and m-health.
MegaFon owns a large distribution network. As of the end of 2012, it included 1,785 owned and operated stores and 1,757 third-party points of sale operating solely under the MegaFon brand. In addition, its acquisition in late 2012 of a 25% stake in Euroset, the largest wireless mobile equipment retailer in Russia, is expected to enhance the company’s initiatives focused on improving the quality of MegaFon’s subscriber base and broadening the marketing of its products.
In November 2012, the company listed c. US$1.7 billion worth of shares in an IPO. The company’s shares are traded on MICEX-RTS , and its GDR s on the London Stock Exchange.
In 2012, MegaFon’s revenue grew 12.4% year-on-year to RUR 272.6 billion. The company demonstrated a strong performance in Q1 2013, achieving consolidated revenue growth of 7.6% y-o-y to RUR 67.7 billion.
YOTA
Yota was founded in 2007. It is the leader of the mobile broadband sector in Russia. It was the first company to offer its subscribers access to services based on WiMAX and LTE technologies, and is one of the leading companies in this segment globally.
In 2013, Yota was divided into two companies: Scartel, which is involved in construction and management of 4G infrastructure, and Yota (Yota LLC), a mobile operator.
Scartel operates LTE networks and provides access to its networks for telecom operators using a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) model. It was the first company worldwide to launch LTE-Advanced technology for a commercial network, enabling data transfer rates of up to 300 Mbps. The company’s LTE networks are currently available in 31 regions and more than 100 cities in Russia. Its total investments in LTE infrastructure in Russia to date exceed US$400 million and are set to reach US$1 billion by the end of 2014.
Yota provides communication services to its subscribers through Scartel’s platform. Yota owns an extensive retail and dealer network throughout Russia, offering its users a truly unlimited LTE experience, coupled with the provision of hardware and the highest level of customer service. At present, Yota services are available in more than 20 major cities in Russia.
Yota and Scartel are 100% owned by the telecoms holding Garsdale, which is part of USM Holdings.
EUROSET
Founded in 1997, Euroset is the largest mobile retail chain in Russia, with more than 5,000 outlets. Its stores offer a wide range of goods, such as handsets, accessories, tablets and netbooks; and services, such as mobile top-ups, repairs and financing.
Euroset is one of the best known brands in the Russian market for consumer goods and services. The retailer’s share of Russia’s mobile phone market is approximately 30%. The company operates in more than 1,500 towns and cities in Russia and Belarus, and attracts more than 40 million customers to its stores each month.
The company today is one of the largest Russian employers, providing jobs to over 30,000 people.
PETER-SERVICE
Peter-Service is the first Russian developer of billing systems for telecoms operators. It provides billing solutions along with product installation, integration and support services. The company has regional offices across Russia and in Ukraine. Since its establishment in 1992, Peter-Service has completed over 100 projects for more than 50 operators of fixed and mobile networks in 10 countries.

image

USM Holdings owns 50% of UTH Russia, one of the country’s fastest growing commercial television broadcasters. The company aims
to capitalise on the expansion of the youth entertainment
market and the ever increasing interest
in youth lifestyle and wellbeing.

UTH RUSSIA
Through UTH Russia, USM Holdings owns some of the country’s most popular outlets in broadcast and digital media. Building the main framework on its two free-to-air channels – the Disney Channel and U channel – and the cable MUZ-TV channel, UTH Russia is on its way to becoming the leader in youth entertainment and lifestyle programming. U channel and the Disney Channel broadcast in more than 880 cities, and the company continues to expand its market share.
The UTH platform also houses the specialist online video service ClipYou, which offers licensed content from leading Russian and international music companies, including some of the top labels, such as Universal Music, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI.

image

USM Holdings invests in a number of Russia’s steel and mining companies. It owns 100% of METALLOINVEST, a leading global iron ore
and hot briquetted iron (HBI) producer
and one of the regional steel producers.

METALLOINVEST
METALLOINVEST extracts and exploits iron ore from the second largest measured reserve base in the world (c. 14.9 billion tonnes).
In 2011, the company was the largest commercial iron ore producer in Russia/CIS and the fifth largest globally, the leading producer of pellets in Russia/CIS and the third largest globally, and the leading producer of merchant HBI globally.
The main production assets of the company are strategically located in the European part of Russia and the Urals.
The company is organised into three integrated operating segments focusing on mining operations, steel production and auxiliary businesses and other assets. The mining segment includes Lebedinsky GOK and Mikhailovsky GOK, and the steel segment includes OE MK, Ural Steel and Ural Scrap Company. In addition to its mining and steel businesses, the company owns several supporting businesses and other assets that provide services and raw materials to the mining and steel segments.
Lebedinsky GOK is a leading manufacturer of iron ore products in Russia and operates as an integrated mining company whose assets comprise iron ore extraction facilities and secondary processing facilities, including beneficiation and secondary beneficiation plants, a pellet plant and two HBI plants.
Mikhailovsky GOK is the second largest iron ore extraction and processing operation in Russia, after Lebedinsky GOK. In 2014, Mikhailovsky GOK intends to finish construction of what is expected to be the largest pelletising plant in Russia, with a capacity of five million tonnes a year.
OEMK is one of the most modern steel mills in Russia, employing Midrex DRI technology. The unique application and properties of the steel and finished products from OE MK have ensured stable demand in Russia, the CIS and worldwide. It is located close to Lebedinsky GOK, which supplies OEMK with high grade iron ore concentrate through a 26-kilometre slurry pipeline. OEMK sells products for engineering, automotive, pipe, hardware and bearing industries in the domestic market, and exports its high quality pipe and cast billets and long rolled products such as wire coil and bar to foreign customers.
Ural Steel is a major manufacturer of strips for large diameter pipes, pipe billets, bridge construction steel and heavy plates. Ural Scrap Company purchases, processes and delivers ferrous scrap to METALLOINVEST’s steel producing assets.
Baikal Mining Company, a subsidiary of METALLOINVEST, holds the licence for the development of the Udokan copper deposit, which has a mineral resources base of c. 2.7 billion tonnes. Udokan is one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits of copper amounting to c. 25.7 million tonnes of metal. The licence covers 60% of copper deposits in Russia.
With a 21% holding, METALLOINVEST is a major shareholder of the Canadian company Nautilus Minerals. Nautilus Minerals commercially explores the seafloor for massive sulphide systems, which are a potential source of high grade copper, gold, zinc and silver. The company is developing the world’s first seafloor copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea.
METALLOINVEST has a shareholding of approximately 5% in Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel (18% of the market) and palladium (41%), as well as a leading producer of platinum (11%) and copper (2%). Norilsk Nickel also produces multiple by-products, such as cobalt, rhodium, silver, gold, iridium, ruthenium, selenium, tellurium and sulphur.
In 2012, METALLOINVEST’s net income grew by 20.4% year-on-year to US$ 1.7 billion.

image

USM Holdings – Alisher Usmanov Founder of USM Holdings [June 12, 2013]

Mr. Usmanov is an investor, industrialist and philanthropist.
He created and built up USM Holdings by identifying
and focusing on growth businesses.

Mr. Usmanov was born in 1953 in the town of Chust in the Namangan region of Uzbekistan, which was then part of the USSR . He graduated in 1976 from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, a leading Russian university, with a degree in international law. In 1997, he received a degree in banking from the Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation. He is fluent in English, French, Russian and Uzbek.
Mr. Usmanov has played a number of key roles in businesses essential for the advancement of the Russian economy. Since February 2006, he has been a member of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and currently heads its Committee for Updating of Control and Supervision and Elimination of Administrative Barriers. Mr. Usmanov has served as General Director of Gazprom Investholding since 2000, prior to which he was as an Advisor to the Chairman of Gazprom and was First Deputy General Director of Gazprom Investholding. From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Usmanov held the position of General Director of Interfin Investment and Finance Company. From 1995 to 1997, he served as the First Deputy Chairman of MAPO-Bank, and from 1994 to 1995, he was an Advisor to the General Director of Moscow Aviation Industrial Enterprise. From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Usmanov worked as the Deputy General Director of Intercross JSC.
Mr. Usmanov is the President of the International Fencing Federation and a member of the councils of the 2014 Sochi XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games, the 2013 Kazan XXVII Summer Universiade and the Russian Olympian Sportsmen Support Fund. He is a Trustee for a range of social, educational and cultural organisations, including the Russian Geographical Society, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, National Research University Higher School of Economics, and European University at St. Petersburg.
Mr. Usmanov is the founder of the Arts, Science and Sports Charity Foundation.
In 2013, Mr. Usmanov was awarded the Order for Service to the Fatherland IV class in recognition of his services to the state, as well as his community and charitable activities. In 2004, he was presented with the Order of Honour of the Russian Federation for his contribution to business and charity.
In 2011, he received the Order of Friendship of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Alongside his investments within USM Holdings, Mr. Usmanov owns Kommersant Holding, the leading Russian business media group, as well as almost 30% of Arsenal, an English football club.

USM Holdings – About us [June 21, 2013]

USM Holdings Limited (“USM Holdings”) is a diversified, international company with significant interests across the metals and mining,
telecoms, internet and media sectors. It was established in 2012
to consolidate the various investments and holdings of
Alisher Usmanov, which are the result of more than
30 years of his investment and business
development activities.

In consolidating Mr. Usmanov’s interests into one company, USM Holdings has the right structure to enable the sharing of both intellectual and financial capital amongst its various businesses. The group’s companies benefit from a global network of relationships and a wealth of experience, which enable them to access international investment opportunities. Through its structure, reporting and transparency, USM Holdings aims to ensure that its companies adhere to the highest international standards of corporate governance.
In carrying out its operations, USM Holdings acts in a socially responsible way, investing in long-term sustainable enterprises, stimulating economic development and creating employment opportunities in Russia. The group cares about the communities in which it conducts its business, and supports them through a wide range of social projects in the fields of education, sports, arts, science and ecology.

The main shareholders of USM Holdings are Alisher Usmanov, Vladimir Skoch and Farhad Moshiri. Their economic interests are divided 60%, 30% and 10% respectively, while Mr. Usmanov holds 100% of the voting rights with respect to USM Holdings.

Russian Billionaire Usmanov Links Fortune to Partnership [Bloomberg, Feb 6, 2013]

Alisher Usmanov, Russia’s richest man, and two of his long-time billionaire investment partners have joined all of their assets in USM Holdings, a limited liability company based in the British Virgin Islands.
Conceived in early 2012 and completed in December, the new formation holds the trio’s assets in mining, technology, telecommunications and media, and carries a value of more than $29 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“We have completed the process of consolidating assets into USM Holdings,” Usmanov, 59, said by e-mail Feb. 5. “The formation of a single holding company enables us to optimize business processes, enhance the efficiency of managing subsidiary companies, and provide more opportunities to access international capital markets.”
According to the company’s website, which went live late last month, USM was established to consolidate the holdings Usmanov has built up during the last 30 years, including closely held Metalloinvest Holding Co., Russia’s largest iron ore producer, publicly-traded mobile phone company MegaFon OAO and Internet company Mail.Ru Group Ltd., as well as the technology investments he has made through the DST investment funds.
USM shareholders include Usmanov, who holds 60 percent; Vladimir Skoch, who holds 30 percent on behalf of his son, Russian Duma deputy Andrey Skoch; and Ardavan Farhad Moshiri, an Usmanov adviser of 23 years, who owns 10 percent.
Usmanov and Moshiri continue to hold their shared 29.9 percent stake in London-based Arsenal Football Club Plc separately. Usmanov owns all of newspaper Kommersant outside of USM.
‘One Roof’
Usmanov controls all of USM’s voting rights and also has the ability to block his partners from selling any assets it holds without his consent. He first disclosed his plans for the holding company in April 2012, and released further details of its formation in MegaFon’s preliminary prospectus, which was released in November.
Ivan Streshinskiy, who has helped manage Usmanov’s investments since 2006, was appointed to the USM Holdings board and named chief executive officer of USM Advisors, an affiliated company that will provide advisory services to the holding entity.
“Having all of the assets under one roof makes it easier to manage them and value them,” Kirill Chuyko, head of equity research at BCS Financial Group said by phone Jan. 21, explaining the possible reasons for structure.
Longtime Allies
The two minority partners acquired their stakes in USM by swapping their existing equity in holding companies controlled by Usmanov and making a cash investment. After the transaction, Usmanov has a net worth of $21.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Moshiri controls a $1.7 billion fortune. Skoch is valued at $6.2 billion.
Rollo Head, a spokesman for Moshiri at London-based RLM Finsbury, said Moshiri declined to comment on his net worth. Albert Istomin, a spokesman for Skoch, declined to comment on the net worth calculation. Usmanov also declined to comment.
Usmanov first met Andrey Skoch in 1992, when he was importing cigarettes to Russia and Skoch was working as an oil trader. At the time, the country was suffering from a deficit of consumer goods, which enabled Usmanov to build a thriving trade business.
He and Skoch purchased metal and mining assets during and after the country’s chaotic privatization years, including a steel plant in the Belgorod region, central Russia, and iron ore producer Lebedinsky GOK. In 2006, after buying Mikhailovsky GOK from Georgia’s current prime minister, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, they created Metalloinvest, now Usmanov’s most valuable asset.
Government Ally
Usmanov’s rise to prominence was boosted in the early 2000s, when he proved to be an ally to the new government led by Russian President Vladimir Putin. As head of Gazprominvestholding, the investment arm of Russia’s gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, Usmanov helped negotiate the return of assets to state-run Gazprom that had been moved out of the company under previous management.
In 1999, Skoch was elected as a deputy of the State Duma, Russia’s main legislative body, representing the Belgorod region. He later transferred the fortune he had built to his father, Vladimir, shielding himself from public criticism. He was re-elected to the Duma four times.
Iranian Emigrant
Moshiri, an Iranian emigrate to London who now resides in Monaco, first met Usmanov in 1989, and has served as Usmanov’s financial consultant ever since. Through the years, he earned shares in some of Usmanov’s most important assets, including Metalloinvest, MegaFon and Arsenal.
The former accountant, who is a British citizen, resisted Usmanov’s diversification into technology investments, which began in 2008, using billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST funds.
“Moshiri also didn’t believe in the prospects for investments in Facebook and Groupon,” said Usmanov in an April 2012 phone interview with Bloomberg News.
His hesitation did not prevent Usmanov from allowing him the chance to participate, which has given Moshiri holdings through DST in publicly-traded Facebook Inc., Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc., as well as other investments in a number of closely-held technology companies, including Twitter Inc.
USM did not disclose how much Moshiri and Skoch may have paid to make those investments, or their exact stakes.
New Valuation
The new holding company requires a revised method for the Bloomberg ranking to calculate the net worth for Usmanov and Moshiri, and established a valuation for Skoch’s fortune.
Prior to the transaction, Usmanov and Moshiri controlled half of Metalloinvest through Cyprus-based Gallagher Holdings Ltd., which has since been renamed USM Steel & Mining Group Ltd. That stake was combined with the 30 percent held by Skoch. The remaining 20 percent of Metalloinvest was bought back by the company from Moscow-based OAO VTB Bank at the end of 2012 through debt financing, consolidating all of the company under the control of USM.
Further details on the debt financing will be provided when Metalloinvest releases its earnings in April, the company said.

Alisher Usmanov: Uzbek eyes a prize listing [Financial Times, Nov 16, 2012]

The billionaire businessman reflects the new style of oligarch that puts a premium on loyalty and predictability

When Alisher Usmanov met Lloyd Blankfein on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum in June, the two men appeared to strike up a rapport. The Uzbek-born billionaire and the chairman of Goldman Sachs discussed the planned initial public offering of Megafon, the mobile phone company owned by Mr Usmanov, say people familiar with the conversation. Mr Blankfein courted Mr Usmanov, one of Russia’s most powerful and best-connected businessmen, for an insight into upcoming deals.
Within months, everything had changed. By early October, Goldman had dropped Mr Usmanov and the Megafon deal, throwing a spanner in the company’s IPO plans and launching a storm of bad publicity around Mr Usmanov personally.
Goldman declined to comment on its reasons for quitting the IPO. Morgan Stanley, Sberbank, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and VTB are still working on the deal, which began formal marketing on Thursday after receiving delayed approval from the UK regulator, which appeared to have been shaken by Goldman’s exit.
Should the deal, which could raise as much as $2.1bn, go through, it would be the biggest flotation by a Russian company in nearly three years. If it flops, it will be another setback for Mr Usmanov, a symbol of a class of powerful Russian businessmen who work closely with the state, and his plans to take his empire public.
Businessmen close to the 59-year-old oligarch say he was dumbstruck by Goldman’s move. In his world, loyalty and predictability are prized above all else, and it is partly because of his strict adherence to such a code that he has risen so far in the Russia of President Vladimir Putin.
Today’s oligarchs are not the brash, buccaneering variety of the 1990s, who wielded both wealth and influence in Boris Yeltsin’s Kremlin. Putin-era billionaires such as Mr Usmanov are expected to respect state power in order to thrive.
It was in this context that Mr Usmanov – worth $18bn, according to Forbes – bought the art estate of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and then donated it to the state. It was also for that reason, analysts say, that he agreed to take a stake in Megafon, interceding in a years-long shareholder feud that was damaging Russia’s investment climate.
Usmanov is known as a person able to resolve delicate situations to the satisfaction of all the parties,” says Ivan Streshinsky, a long-time associate.
That is not all he is known for. The 45 pages of Megafon’s IPO investor prospectus entitled “Risk factors” includes “media speculation” about Mr Usmanov’s alleged mafia ties and the six years he spent in an Uzbek jail in the 1980s, along with more media speculation that the real owner of a large share in Megafon might be Leonid Reiman, a former communications minister.
This week it also emerged that a public relations firm had tampered with Mr Usmanov’s Wikipedia page to remove mention of an incident in which the billionaire had allegedly threatened bloggers who repeated allegations that he was a “gangster and racketeer”, and also edited out mentions of his jail term.
Mr Usmanov and his partners deny issuing such threats, deny having any ties to organised crime groups, and he and Megafon’s management deny Mr Reiman is a shareholder. Andrei Skoch, a long-time friend and business partner, blames Mr Usmanov’s fraud conviction in 1980 on enemies of his father, a local Uzbek prosecutor. The criminal charges were overturned in 2000.
The criminal conviction did dash Mr Usmanov’s dreams of a career as a diplomat moving between the world’s capitals, an ambition forged in a remote corner of central Asia in his native Uzbekistan, where he was born in 1953 in the small city of Chust, a place renowned as home of the traditional Uzbek skullcap.
Once out of jail Mr Usmanov built up a number of small businesses before consolidating some of Russia’s biggest metal and steel holdings into holding company Metalloinvest in 2006. Since then he has expanded outside Russia: acquiring stakes in internet groups such as Facebook and Groupon, and buying properties and trophy sporting assets in London as well as some of Russia’s most prestigious media properties.
Some international ventures have been less than happy. At Arsenal, the English Premier League football club in which he holds a near 30 per cent stake, he has waged a running battle with the board, criticising strategy and complaining that the best players have been let go.
Football is one of his passions, along with opera, ballet and fencing.
His approach to business involves close attention to detail. Despite poor eyesight, he is said to read up to 300 pages of analytics, reports and news items a day that are tirelessly rewritten into Russian by a retained group of round-the-clock translators.
Close links to the Kremlin have not harmed his prospects, say analysts. In 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, Metalloinvest received Rb61bn in bailout loans from state bank VTB, allowing Mr Usmanov not only to emerge from the crisis unscathed but also in the same year to spend $200m on a 2 per cent stake in Facebook through Digital Sky Technologies, a company in which he is a shareholder.
Associates say any political connections are normal. “With the scale and size of his business it would be misleading to say he has no relationship with the authorities – just like any major business leader in the world,” says Mr Streshinsky.
But Mr Usmanov’s political allegiances came under scrutiny last year when he fired two executives at his news weekly Kommersant Vlast because of a cover, published at the peak of mass anti-government protests in Moscow, that featured an obscene comment about Mr Putin.
Critics saw this as trampling on editorial freedom. Friends say he acted for reasons of taste. “He’s an old-fashioned guy. This overstepped the bounds of decency,” says Mr Streshinsky. “This has nothing to do with freedom of speech”.


The ‘Facebook Corruption’ accusations via a U.S. Congress Representative:

image image

image image image

image

in addition a page from Who is Lawrence “Larry” Summers? [FB Cover-up opinion blog, Jul. 31, 2013]

image

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

… even non-Microsoft devices are supported as Android and Apple phones are embraced as well 

Preliminary information from this same ‘Experiencing the Cloud’ blog:
Windows Embedded is an enterprise business now, like the whole Windows business, with Handheld and Compact versions to lead in the overall Internet of Things market as well [June 8, 2013]
Proper Oracle Java, Database and WebLogic support in Windows Azure including pay-per-use licensing via Microsoft + the same Oracle software supported on Microsoft Hyper-V as well [June 25, 2013]
Windows 8.1: Mind boggling opportunities, finally some appreciation by the media [June 27, 2013]
Windows Azure becoming an unbeatable offering on the cloud computing market [June 28, 2013] Important note: Samsung was complete missing from device OEM roundup of Day 1 keynote despite of its leadership ATIV Q, ATIV Tab 3 and ATIV One 5 Style devices.  It is not by accident as according to Intel’s tablet challenge: How Israel helped lay the foundations of its Samsung-led fightback [ZDNet, July 9, 2013]:
Intel, along with Samsung and other companies, are betting that the public is going to go for a new breed of device — two in one devices, which be switched between tablet and laptop mode, running both Android (when separated from the keyboard/base) and Windows 8 Pro (when attached).

Brief subject summary:

  • industry megatrends:
    – [MS leading the enterprise cloud era] cloud,
    – [MS has unmatched offerings, unmatched insight] big data,
    – [MS solution is woved in, not forced] enterprise social, and
    – [MS has best devices for doers, best tools to manage] mobility
  • Partners going ‘cloud first’ with Windows Azure
  • Microsoft unique point of view: delivering high-value experiences through our software value-added devices and experiences
  • support non-Microsoft devices: embrace Android and Apple phones
  • new user experience design [partner] competency [to be launched in January]
  • Windows 8.1:
    one modern and complete experience across the devices that matter today
    – the best of the modern UI and the best of the desktop UI brought together in a harmonized way
    multitasking on one or any number of screens to increase productivity in a workstation like way
  • Windows 8/8.1 devices:
    – Windows Embedded 8
    – large-format touch, or the all-in-one (also as a desktop replacement)
    – ultimately thin and light ultrabook
    – tablet with touch, and convertible form factors
    – docking tablet (also as a desktop replacement)
    – waterproof tablet
    – tablet with ink/stylus
    – ruggedized tablet
    – “one-handed Windows”
    – thinnest and lightest tablet with ARM
    – phones
    – innovation: in hinge, in screen quality, in combined desktop replacement/home device/flat tablet mode
  • Self-service BI with Power BI for Office 365 Preview: next giant leap via building into Excel and SharePoint data discovery, data navigation, visualization, collaboration, and enterprise features around auditability
  • Application development: sea change with Windows Server + Windows Azure + Visual Studio as the development platform
    – “A platform that is capable of both infrastructure as a service and platform as a services (IaaS + PaaS)”
    – “That means any mission-critical Web application you want to build, any mobile front-end you want to build, where you’re automating a business process with a mobile front-end; any cloud service you want to build, you want to have this rich capability of both infrastructure as a service and a platform as a service”
    – “And you want to be able to deliver that, by the way, in both Windows Azure, as well as on Windows Server. So that symmetry of development runtime is also very important, and that’s what we’re building out.”
    Visual Studio 2013 Preview availability announcement
    SQL Services, or SQL Database Premium Services for Windows Azure announcement: “unique already with the fact that we have a PaaS-based SQL Service”
  • Cloud infrastructure: “No one else in the industry, neither Amazon nor VMware can promise or deliver this level of consistency, this level of mission-critical readiness because of the battle testing of all the diverse set of first-party workloads.”

image

From: Jon Roskill: Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 Introduction [Speech transcript, July 8, 2013]

JON ROSKILL: Now let’s turn our attention and look forward, because while WPC is about celebrating, it’s also about us coming together to build our business plans together for the next year and kick off the fiscal year. That’s what WPC is all about.
And we’ve made a few changes in WPC, some of which you’ve already noticed as you look at things we’ve done in MPN today, but changes based on your feedback.
One of the key ones we’ve made is in the keynotes. You guys told us that you needed to have all of the product strategy upfront in order to be able to go and build your business plans over the remaining days. And so we’ve taken the day two keynote and the day one keynotes, and we’ve combined them together into a WPC day one supersession. So that’s what we’re going to do this morning.
Then you have day two fully open to go and do networking, go to sessions, and build out those business plans.
And then on day three we’ll come back together here with me, Kevin Turner. And then Wednesday night we will celebrate. And boy, are we going to have an amazing celebration. And by Wednesday night I’m going to be so excited to go crowd surfing with you guys.
We’ve also made this year ‘s WPC, we’ve built it around a customer-centric notion, customers at the center of WPC. And we’ve done that by basing WPC around these four industry megatrends: mobility, enterprise social, cloud, and big data. These are trends that are relevant every day to customers, and they’re driving demand for all of our solutions. So you’re going to see these four trends reflected not just in the keynotes and the sessions, but also in the expo across the commons, in the BG areas, et cetera.
Windows 8 takes center stage at Worldwide Partner Conference [Blogging Windows blog, July 8, 2013]
At Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston, Texas, executives discussed the company’s approach to services and devices. Tami Reller, Windows chief marketing officer and chief financial officer, announced that Windows 8.1 release to manufacturing (RTM) will be available for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners in late August, so they can prepare Windows 8.1 devices just in time for the holidays.

New Power BI solution for Office 365 delivers self-service business intelligence on nearly any device [The Fire Hose blog from Microsoft]

Today, at the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft announced a new offering: Power BI for Office 365 – a cloud-based business intelligence (BI) solution that enables customers to easily gain insights from their data, working within Excel to analyze and visualize the data in a self-service way.

Developments from Worldwide Partner Conference: Partners can go ‘cloud first’ with Windows Azure [Windows Azure blog, July 8, 2013]
At Day 1 of the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft made several announcements that highlight new ways for our partners and customers to embrace cloud computing using the Windows Azure platform.
Partners in the cloud for modern business [The Official Microsoft Blog, July 8, 2013]
From the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston, Texas, Microsoft President of Server and Tools Business Satya Nadella announced new programs and services that are designed to help Microsoft partners and customers embrace the challenges and opportunities associated with cloud computing and big data. One such program, Cloud OS Accelerate, brings together Microsoft and key partners – Cisco, NetApp, Hitachi Data Systems, HP and Dell – who will invest more than $100 million to help put thousands of new private and hybrid cloud solutions into the hands of customers.
Partners: Want higher profits and faster growth? Sell cloud solutions, new IDC study says [Microsoft press release, July 8, 2013]
Today from the Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston, Microsoft released a new study from IDC that shows partners selling cloud-based solutions benefit from higher gross profit, more new customers, higher revenue per employee and faster overall business growth. The study also revealed customer buying preferences that highlight the importance of the role of partners in the overall industry cloud transition.
Microsoft survey reveals SMB and enterprise opportunities for partners [Microsoft press release, July 9, 2013]
IPSOS study released at Worldwide Partner Conference highlights utilization of social tools and showcases opportunities for partners.

Windows Embedded partners to join Microsoft Partner Network [Microsoft feature story, July 9, 2013]

Resources will strengthen opportunities in rapidly growing intelligent systems market.


Details

Steve Ballmer at the Day 1 Keynote [msPartner YouTube channel, July 8, 2013]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer provided opening remarks at the WPC 2013 Day 1 keynote.

From: Steve Ballmer: Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 Keynote [Speech transcript, July 8, 2013]

… There’s 15,000 of you here in the room today, and to all of you I want to start with a simple message of thanks. Thanks for your support, thanks for your good work, and thank you every day for taking care of our customers. (Applause.) We have a total of 750,000 partners around the world, but about 90 percent of the revenue that we do is actually represented in some way, shape or form with the partners who are here today: systems integration partners, resale partners, hardware partners, development partners, software partners, cloud partners, framing partners, distribution partners. The range in breadth of the activities in which you engage are amazing. This year, our partners in aggregate had really quite a good year. Growth in the businesses from our partners was about 6.5 percent year over year, but on a base of $650 billion. That’s the total revenue of our partner network, $650 billion, and you still manage to grow at 6.5 percent. Congratulations everybody. (Applause.) …
image
We spend a lot of time as a leadership team thinking about the remaking of Microsoft. About a year ago in our annual report, we talked about the move from being a “software company” to a “devices and services company.” What that really means? It means that the world, and I’ve been saying this at our partner conferences here for a while, the world we grew up in was a world of software. When I dropped out of school and joined Microsoft, I had to explain to my mother and father what software was and why I was joining a software company. That was a long time ago.

And software development, I believe, is still the most valuable skill that anybody on the planet can possibly have. And yet the way in which software innovation gets really packaged and presented now is through a set of devices that include the software, and through a set of cloud services that deliver that software.

Just about six or seven years ago, I started talking about the cloud here at WPC. And it was highly unpopular the first time I talked about it, because it looked like an end around. And yet I think today everybody understands that this is the future of innovation. Even Windows, if you think about it, has really always been much more of a device than a piece of software.
Windows defined a class of devices called the PC. And we are certainly incredibly determined to have Windows define new classes of devices, tablets, phones, two-in-ones, living room devices, defined by Windows as a piece of software, but purchased and implemented by our partners as tested software. So we’re in the transformation from delivering our software value one way to delivering it in a new form, and we need our partners to come with us on that journey, whether you design and build computers, whether you deliver systems integration services, whether you provide custom development, there’s a place in this journey for all of us.

At Microsoft we say, what’s our unique point of view. Our unique point of view is on delivering high-value experiences through our software value-added devices and experiences. We think we understand the tools, the technologies that it takes to help people get work done better than anybody else on the planet, whether you are an employee, whether you are a customer or a trading partner, whether you are an IT person or a developer, we build experience that help people get stuff done. You need to do a piece of analysis, we’re going to have the best tools, the best devices and services for helping people do analysis. You want to participate in a virtual meeting, nobody is going to give you a better experience to participate in a virtual meeting than Microsoft does. You want to ensure information integrity in your customer, because no matter what happens with consumerization, it’s still the IT department that has to protect the integrity and value of corporate information. We together understand these things, and we together, Microsoft and our partners, will deliver the devices and services that really bring these things alive when people want to be productive.

Now, we have another side of ourselves at Microsoft, too. That’s the fun side. I refer to it as serious fun, because unless you’re hardcore about fun, the Xbox probably hasn’t been the product for you. But when it’s serious fun, or serious business, we’re going to make sure that we provide the core experiences through our devices and services, and through the value add of people in this room to really bring that alive. That’s not easy. It takes a lot of core technology investment in operating systems, in user interface, and particularly now natural user interface, in machine learning, in cloud infrastructure.

So what is on our customer’s mind? These are the four big trends that I think in particular our IT customers, but businesses in general, want to speak with us about every day. They come to us and they say, what about the cloud? They say it to you. They say it to us. They say, hey, I hear about big data, or I understand big data, or I’m afraid I’m missing out on big data, how are you going to help me get there, they’ll say to the two of us.

Social, part of the consumerization theme of the day is how do we apply techniques and software services that people get to know in their personal lives, how do we apply those to enable business productivity? And we’re going to show you a lot today of what we’re doing with social so that people can come together in what I would call human ways to do superhuman tasks at their work.

And last, but certainly not least, is mobility. I get to do something that the rest of you don’t do, because I sit on the stage, I get to count the number of mobile devices that go up for pictures and various other things during my speech. We’re at about 25 percent would be my gauge this year. I’m sure everybody has got a mobile device with them, but what it says is that the range of applications of mobility just continues to increase. And I want you to really understand just how rich our mobile offering has become, both in terms of the Windows devices that you can use as part of your solution, and the work that we are doing to support some non-Windows devices. So let me dive into each of these in turn.

image

First is the cloud, the cloud remains a little bit of an amorphous thing. But, at the end of the day, the task of the cloud probably means, and it might be 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, it is really a path that leads for almost all companies to the public cloud. And that puts a lot of pressure on providers, whether it’s Microsoft, folks we compete with, our service provider partners, it puts a lot of pressure on us to make sure that we have world-class scaled, low-cost, low latency, high-bandwidth cloud infrastructure across the world. How do we, from a public cloud application, deliver with incredibly low-latency and with exactly the right data security and privacy and protection? How do we deliver information, whether it’s in the U.S., or Australia, or China, or Malaysia, or any place else in the world? And we are investing in that infrastructure.
We actually started the investment process in that infrastructure in order to support our own applications, to support Bing, to support Office 365. And what we would tell you is that our cloud infrastructure, Azure, is being proven out, is being battle tested, and is being advanced on the backbone of our own first-party applications, but then that infrastructure, that Azure infrastructure, is there for all of you to use, to deliver solutions to your customers.
I claim there really are almost no companies in the world, just a handful, that are really investing in scaled public cloud infrastructure. We have something over a million servers in our datacenter infrastructure. Google is bigger than we are. Amazon is a little bit smaller. You get Yahoo! and Facebook, and then everybody else is 100,000 units probably or less. So the number of companies that really understand the network topology, the datacenter construction, the server requirements to build this public cloud infrastructure is very, very small, very small. And the number of companies that are at the same time seriously investing in the private cloud, which is not going away, and in these hybrid clouds is really just one and that’s us. We are building in a compatible way private cloud infrastructure based on Windows Server, and public cloud infrastructure based on Windows Azure, and we will talk to you about that today.
Sixty-three percent of customers surveyed will say they really want a single vendor who can provide them both public cloud and private cloud. We think we are the only solution and certainly the best solution for customers who want that. We continue to advance with our cloud applications, our Bing search service has made progress each and every month, improving not only its market-share and its quality, but also the speed and performance with which we deliver our results, which should be a key indication to you on just how rich our cloud infrastructure is.
Through your good work our Office 365 service has literally exploded. For the last few years we were saying SharePoint was the No. 1 fastest growing product at Microsoft. Then it was Lync, the No. 1 fastest growing product at Microsoft. Through your good work it’s Office 365. And what all of that means is our mutual customers are ready for the cloud, and our product line is ready for the cloud. People want full, familiar, world-class productivity tools in the cloud. Only we give people those tools that really let you get work done. There are pretenders who come from the consumer world, but there’s only one set of tools for your business customers who really need a productive, high-security, high-reliability, infrastructure in the cloud for their applications.

image

No. 2, big data, big data is I think one of the areas that is still very, very early actually in its exploitation. Big data means a lot of things to a lot of people, and it’s very important that we continue to push forward on these big data themes. You’re going to see demonstrations today of some of our tools, some of the work that we’ve done with Excel, and SQL Server, I guarantee you for people who have a lot of data, there is no question that the No. 1 sort of most familiar, easy-to-use toolset to get insight out of data comes from Excel and SQL Server.
Ninety percent, literally, of the world’s data, this is a very interesting fact, ninety percent of the world’s data has actually been created in the last two years, 90 percent of all of the online data in the world in the last two years. What it says is there’s an explosion in this data. And so tools that let people mine it, get insights from it, and understanding from it are essential. We’re going to show you a demonstration of some of the things that you can do with our big data and BI suite later on today that I think will absolutely blow your mind.
But, we’re also providing you with the infrastructure that lets you build out automated solutions for your customers, because over time most of the value in big data will actually be in having the data learn from itself and take automated actions on our joint customers behalf. We’re building out our Hadoop infrastructure on Azure, so that you can do a mix of things with structured and unstructured data. We are certainly doing a lot of work on SQL Azure, so that you can access the structured data in the cloud. Because of our investment in Bing, we know we have a lot of data. We are putting that data in a structured form, where you can use it as part of the applications you deliver.
One of the key things that we showed at our developer conference a couple of weeks ago in Windows 8.1 is the way we’re starting to take entities that Bing understands and make them part of a platform for you to use as developers in your applications.
Last but not least is the Azure Data Marketplace. There is going to be a lot of data that people are going to want to use inside their applications that don’t actually live inside the enterprises you serve. If you want to write a forecasting application for one of your customers that forecasts how many raincoats they need in each of their retail stores, I guarantee you the weather data is a helpful input. And yet most of our joint customers don’t keep the weather data in their enterprise systems. And so we want to let you mix and match public data and private data. We want you to be able to bring that data together in structured and unstructured ways. We want to bring it together in ways in which humans get the insights, and we want to give you the machine-learning infrastructure so that the computers themselves can actually help your customers respond to their customers in real time. The work we’re doing here you’ll hear about throughout the morning, and particularly the demonstrations you’ll see I think will really bring these things alive.

image

Social. Some people think social is one product. I don’t. Social is a way of working. How do four of us come together and collaborate on a project? How do we collaborate if we work in the same company? How do we collaborate if we work in different companies? How do I reach you if you are in my customer base and I want to do a seminar for you? Or I want to put on and have an event where we communicate real time? All of these are social activities that are involved in business. So it’s people to people, it’s people to businesses, it’s employees to employees, it’s all of the constituents, consumers, employees, customers, and partners. How do you bring them together naturally? Sometimes you want to do that on a real-time basis, and sometimes you want to be able to do that in a way in which people can participate asynchronously.
I’m glad to have 15,000 people here today, but many more people will watch the video of this section in our partner community around the world. And it’s part of, if you will, the social infrastructure, letting people participate the way they want when they want. And we’ve woven this into the fabric of everything we do. Windows devices come from the get-go with integrated communications and social capabilities like Skype. Skype and Lync are being brought together to allow the consumer and the businessperson to interact together in real time.
We continue to push forward in Outlook, adding more social capabilities directly into the e-mail client that is the base station from which most of us would communicate with other people. We acquired Yammer over a year ago, and you’ll see the way we’re using Yammer both inside companies and now enabling it to stretch between companies and their partners to involve real-time communication that feels very much like what somebody would do on Twitter or Facebook, but in a productivity context. We continue to push SharePoint social capabilities forward, and even in our Dynamics product line, even when we’re talking about line of business process, it is very important to collect the information from the social realm, and to be able to let people in formal line of business processes actually connect to social environments. And we’re going to show you some of that later on in the demonstration.

image

Last but not least is mobility. This is an area where we’ve made huge strides in the last year. I had a chance to beat my chest a little bit, get excited about Windows Phone, but we’re also going to show you today what we’ve done with Windows 8.1, and what our hardware partners have done with Windows devices. You can buy beautiful Windows devices today in so many different shapes and forms. Windows PCs, everybody has a notion of what we mean by a Windows PC. But we’re going to show you small Windows tablets. They’re still all Windows all the time, but they’re hard to mistake for a PC.
We’ll show you Windows two-in-ones, devices, which depending on how you configure them at any time will feel like a PC or can feel like a tablet. I happen to think this will be the most popular configuration for business people because they’ll want the ability to seamlessly go back and forth between their productive life, their consumptive life, and their personal life.
I talked about Windows Phone. You’re going to get a chance to see the Surface. Hopefully many of you will choose to pick one up, but what we’re doing with Surface I think is also amazing. We’re trying to really lead the way on products like Surface Pro, and the use of the pen, which I think is pretty fundamental in mobility.
While we’re making these investments in sort of Windows mobile form factors, if you will, we also continue to do work to support non-Microsoft devices. You’ve seen us certainly move with SkyDrive, with Lync, with OneNote, with a number of our offerings to embrace Android and Apple phones. We’re going to show you some technology today for managing mobile devices that apply outside the Microsoft sphere. So our mobility strategy, as centered as it may feel in our Windows devices, and they are beautiful, and they are the most productive, for those people who just don’t happen to have one, we’ll also show you a little bit of some of the technology that we’ll give you so you can stay well anchored in Windows and Active Directory as the center point for managing devices of all shapes, sizes and forms.

At the end of the day we may see ourselves focusing on high-value experiences, and our customers may ask us collectively about cloud, and big data, and mobility, and social, but at the end of the day we deliver to you some products. And with those products in hand you turn around and try to serve our joint customers.
Windows, we’ll show you 8.1 and I couldn’t be more pleased with the progress. Windows Phone, if you haven’t checked it out recently you must. Surface, I hope you get the opportunity to delve in and really explore at the partner conference. Office 365, including Yammer, and Skype, and Lync, and SharePoint and Excel, and BI, and all of these phenomenal capabilities, the footprint of what you can do with Office is continuously expanding. And when you leave here, we want to make sure you leave here understanding completely the breadth of footprint that Office is embracing. Windows Azure, and when I say Azure today I include Windows Server, and the full on-premise product line. Your ability to go out and articulate a hybrid cloud story with Windows Server, SQL Server, and Windows Azure is incredibly important to us. So we are going to try to equip you to do that by the time you’re done today.
And then last, but not least, is Dynamics. Dynamics continues to evolve in its footprint, in its embrace of the cloud. Dynamics is an amazing business for Microsoft. I’ll bet we get less PR on the business that is billions of dollars for Microsoft, and where we probably have the most loyal committed partner base in the world, and the most loyal committed customer base. And for those of you who have not come back and looked recently at the amazing work that we’re doing in business applications I hope you’ll feel enthused to go do that by the end of the day.

We will only succeed as a company if we arm you to go approach these challenges. You need to see these products. You need to understand their potential. You need to believe that they can help you serve our joint customers. You need to know each other. Some of you are experts in hardware. Some of you are experts in systems integration, some are developers, some are resellers. Bringing you all together and equipping you with the common base, so you understand where we’re going, what we’re doing, and collectively how we can serve our joint customers that’s what WPC is all about, and if we take advantage of this opportunity and certainly with the phenomenal product lineup that we have today, and we’ll roll out over the next month, we know absolutely that we can succeed together.

Thank you all very much and enjoy WPC.

Windows 8.1 Product Enhancements [msPartner YouTube channel, July 9, 2013]

Tami Reller, CVP and CFO, Windows and Windows Live, provided updates and demos of Windows 8.1.

See also: Windows at WPC 2013 [Blogging Windows, July 8, 2013]
From: Tami Reller: Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 Keynote [Speech transcript, July 8, 2013]

Tami Reller: … everything that we are talking about today is anchored by this idea that we can do something that no other company can. And that is one modern and complete experience across the devices that matter today. Your experience, your data, everything can travel with you. And it’s connected through this trusted foundation of Windows. This is one experience that is unique to Windows, but it’s also uniquely yours.
I mean, we know that when a customer chooses an Apple product, they get a device that reflects Apple. When you choose an Android device, you get a device that reflects a dizzying number of points of view. But when you choose a Windows device, you get a device that reflects you.
Start a Word document from your laptop, then easily finish it on a Windows Phone. You get music, video, and games from Xbox. The best of the Web with Internet Explorer. The best cloud storage in SkyDrive. And of course the best way to stay connected, Skype. And the absolute best in productivity with Office. All of this across every device providing the most complete experience from the start.
Well, we’re believers, continue to be believers that user experience and the design is going to continue to be an important differentiator for Microsoft, and it’s also going to continue to be an important differentiator for the experiences that you are building for customers.
What we’re finding is that businesses are seeking trusted partners who can not only write great code, that’s critical of course, but they can also design beautiful and engaging experiences for customers.
Apps that are better designed, they absolutely achieve better ratings in the Windows store, and even equally as important, they are more engaging for customers, and they deliver greater monetization opportunities.
So to support all of this, I’m excited to announce that in January we will be launching a new [partner] competency: The user experience design competency. And the whole idea behind this competency is to give you the best way to train your designers and to get recognized for your expertise with the Microsoft design language and user experience for app building.
This competency will provide your designers with training and certification and gives your firm a head start in building great apps, and we think will help you recruit the best people. So I hope you’re as excited about this as we are, look for this in January.

So we’ve been talking about devices and services for about a year now. And while so much of the opportunity that we see for us and that we see for you is still ahead, there’s a lot of great momentum to talk about.

Let’s take, for example, Windows Phone, which Steve did such a great job talking about. Our sales are growing six times faster than the overall smartphone market. Safe to say that we are now officially the third ecosystem in mobility. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you.
Windows. We are moving forward. Steve did a great job talking about that. We’re moving forward, and you heard us talk about 100 million licenses. I can also report that we have over 20 million enterprise evaluations. So great in consumer and a lot of enterprise traction starting.
And Windows 8, so far, has logged 60 billion hours of use. And our new customer activation continues at a consistent pace.
Office. It’s a great example of a product that is used multiple times every day and it is known and loved by more than a billion people. The new Office is our fastest-selling release in history. Worldwide, one copy is sold every second.
Additionally, one out of four enterprise customers are already on Office 365. And I love this next statistic. Partners lead three out of four enterprise Office 365 deployments, three out of four, great opportunity. Thank you so much for your role in moving businesses to the cloud. (Applause.)
Amazing momentum on Skype. More than 300 million people use Skype each month. And that’s a service that can see up to two billion minutes of use per day on some peak days.

So how our products come together really starts with the experience. And people are using our products as part of everyday life. Important parts of their life. And Steve talked about this as well.

So I have this short video that I think does a great job of showing what we mean by this. Take a look.
(Break for video segment.) [6:40 … 7:10 essentially for Office 365]
… [Office 365: complete Office in the cloud … this is the Office enhancement … +extension to the Open program … +investment in partner enablement]
… [Windows Phone: Lumias … suitable to build end-to-end enterprise solutions … tools to build enterprise solutions]
… [xBox: … newest xBox One …]
… [Surface and Surface Pro: … hand down more productive than iPad … better with Windows 8.1 …]
… [Windows: … mobility is top for CIOs … Windows 8 tablets are best for the business … SkyDrive … destination for developers … more than 100,000 apps … LOB customers need partners … 2 out of 3 enterprise enterprise organizations are investing today in mobile applications … great UI enhancements, great usability functionality … migration from XP opportunity … Windows Accelerate program continued … new Touch Win program incentives directly to authorized distributors as well as reseller partners …]
… [Windows 8.1: … 900 continuous improvements and hundreds of updates to our inbox apps … represents responsiveness, it represents rapid timeframe … feel natural on everything from a small tablet to a large work station …]

[21:18 Jensen Harris showing Windows 8.1 via a jam-packed demo here for the next few minutes, including some things that we have never publicly shown before]

… [Nokia Lumia 925 8-inch Acer Iconia W3 … in landscape games and productivity … +optimized Windows 8.1 specifically for portrait for working great on these small tablets e.g. Reading List, ergonomics …  ]
Now I’m going to move over here to a Surface and I’m going to show you one of the most important near features in 8.1. Every month, 20 billion searches are performed just in the United States on Windows PCs — 20 billion searches every month. We looked at this as an opportunity to say if we made search better in this product, we would be making 20 billion things every month better for people. And so we’ve introduced search in 8.1.
… [search hero: … curated, built-on-the-fly app that brings together information from Bing, information from your PC, files from the cloud, things from the Web, and puts it all together in one view … integrated with Maps functionality…]
… [xBoxMusic app: … redesigned totally to make it fast, to make it efficient, and to focus on your collection of music …]
[Dell all-in-one, 27 inches with touch the world’s best Skype device, a Windows 8.1 PC … Start screen changes: all the things that you love on one screen … new personalization options … multiselect … Reading List … SkyDrive … picture editing built-in … a lot of new [built-in] apps: e.g. Food & Drink … hands-free mode … Windows Store big-big update: e.g. recommendation engine built one Bing … … OneNote syncing with SkyDrive …]
image
[Surface Pro: “play to Xbox One” … Miracast built-in … OneNote
Windows Phone: OneNote syncing with SkyDrive
]
… [desktop PC: … doesn’t need touch …bring together the best of the modern UI and the best of the desktop UI and harmonize them in Windows 8.1 … Start button .. enterprise cosumer dashboard … productivity (… multitasking) taken to next level: e.g. new version of Outlook … ]
Suddenly, I have something that is starting to look like a very productive work station. And I can move these windows around, I can put them where I want. We have maximize, we have resize, and all of a sudden you start to realize that there’s more than one way of doing awesome productivity. This uses all the pixels on my PC.
And on this sort of smallish monitor, I can fit three. But if I had something like a 2550 x 1440 monitor, I could show four apps on the screen at once. And all of a sudden, now you’re way more productive than you could have been on the desktop. You’ve got your Twitter feed, you’ve got your full running mail app, you’ve got multiple browser windows or multiple mails up at once.
image
And it gets even better. If I attach a second monitor, then suddenly I can do the same thing on multiple monitors at once. So I have any collection of apps across my monitors in any configuration I want, any size I want, blending desktop and modern apps across my screens. I can bring the Start screen up on one and just leave it, and this doesn’t just work for two monitors, it works for three, four, five, six, seven, as many as I have. And so this sort of shows the power of Windows 8.1 and the modern UI even on a desktop engineering workstation making you more productive.

[1:02:06]


Tami Reller: … I’m also quite happy to be able to confirm today that Windows 8.1 will be available for our OEM partners in late August. Meaning that holiday devices, many of them will have Windows 8.1. So late August available to OEMs. So very pleased to confirm that today.

What better timing to talk about our OEM devices? We’d like to do that. Please help me welcome to the stage Nick Parker. To do that, I’d like to open with a little video, a commercial we have on air that shows just why Windows 8 tablets are so special.

(Windows tablet commercial video.) [1:04:05 … 1:04:35 essentially iPad 32 GB $599 vs. Windows Tablet $299 (Dell XPS 10 32GB) Limited time offer at Dell.com]

Dell Tablet vs. iPad [WindowsVideos YouTube channel, June 13, 2013] here the limited time offer at the end stands at $399
See how the Dell XPS 10 with Windows RT stacks up against the iPad. Check out more at http://windows.com/compare

Nick Parker:

… Windows Storage Server: e.g. Western Digital Sentinel, a 16-terabyte small business server … Windows Embedded 8: e.g. IEI [?Institute for Emerging Issues?] display panel … large-format touch, or the all-in-one: e.g. Dell XPS 18 also as a desktop replacement … ultrabook: e.g. the world’s thinnest and lightest one Sony VAIO Pro 13 … tablets with touch, and convertible form factors: e.g. Lenovo Helix … tablet with stylus … docking tablet, also as a desktop replacement: e.g. Latitude 10Fujitsu Arrows Tab waterproof tablet … Hewlett Packard ElitePad 900 the choice of Emirates Air for their in-flight device, also with a very innovative sleeve … Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 , not just a small app running a stylus capability, but ink immersed as part of your input mechanism … Panasonic FZ-G1, the Panasonic Toughpad ruggedized computer … Acer W3 one-handed Windows … thinnest and the lightest tablet that you can get, as well as having all-day battery and integrated 4G, and those are capabilities built on the ARM platform: Asus VivoTab RT … phones: Nokia 925 and Nokia 520innovation: Acer Aspire R7 with innovation in hinge, Toshiba KIRAbook a 221-pixels-per-inch device, HP Rove the 20-inch IPS all-in-one for both desktop replacements as well as great home devices + complete flat tabletop mode for using an application that’s maybe multi-orientational …

[1:22:24]

Note that Samsung was complete missing from this device OEM roundup despite of its leadership ATIV Q, ATIV Tab 3 and ATIV One 5 Style devices, as you could read in 20 years of Samsung “New Management” as manifested by the latest, June 20th GALAXY & ATIV innovations [‘Experiencing the Cloud, July 2-5, 2013]

Satya Nadella about Platform, Infrastructure, and Applications [msPartner YouTube channel, July 8, 2013] 

Satya Nadella, President of Server and Tools, speaks about the enterprise.

From: Satya Nadella: Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 Keynote [Speech transcript, July 8, 2013] 

… <before that: how to enable dynamic business … demoed across Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online Windows Intune, and System Center Configuration Manager, and Azure Active Directory … >
image
[30:08] When you think about having lots of data and having lots of rich processing capabilities, the next step is to be able to empower your end users with the best tools to drive insights. This is where we collectively have really created one of the most amazing phenomena when it comes to BI with self-service BI. We took the most ubiquitous tool around data in Excel, combined it with the power of SQL Analysis Services, and started the self-service BI revolution, and especially in combination with SharePoint, we really have done a fantastic job of driving insight at the edge of all data, big or small.
Today I’m really pleased to announce the next giant leap, if you will, when it comes to self-service BI. We are announcing Power BI for Office 365 Preview. It takes all of the rich capabilities around data discovery, data navigation, visualization, collaboration, enterprise features around auditability, taking all of that, building it right into Excel and SharePoint, so that every user has friction-free access to it. They’re also delivering all of the rich cloud capabilities that power this natively in Azure. So that means all of the SQL analysis capabilities that power this experience are all there natively in the cloud.
So to show you a glimpse of what this new solution, Power BI for Office 365, can do I wanted to invite up on stage Amir Netz.
Amir.

Power BI Demo [msPartner YouTube channel, July 8, 2013] for those who want to watch only this part, watch especially from [8:10] on especially (incredible demo/performance)

Amir Netz demonstrates the new Power BI
AMIR NETZ: Thank you, Satya.
Power BI brings self-service analytics to the cloud and the power of the cloud directly into Excel. It opens amazing new ways for users to connect with data. So let’s take a look. We have here on the screen our Excel 2013. And I want to create a report about our datacenters. I don’t have the data. With Power BI we can actually go and find the data that we need. You see here online search, I am going to use it to go and find the data for my report.
I’m going to type in my search query and just here within Excel Power BI is searching for millions of public data tables, and finding the data that I might need. It comes from Wikipedia, it comes from the marketplace, it comes from Bing, but because I’m a Microsoft employee I’m also getting data not just from the public data sources, I’m also getting data from my enterprise data assets. Those were mapped into the catalogue of Power BI. So here we see a table from my data warehouse, and I can go and add that table to my Excel, and just like that Power BI connects and aligns the data directly to my sheet just like that. It’s so easy.
Now I want to create my report. I’m going to go and use PowerView. It’s also integrated into Excel 2013. So let’s go and create a nice report here. We’re going to take a look at the   let’s take the location of the datacenter, the square footage of the datacenter, let’s make it a bit larger. It’s Excel 2013 so we can just convert it immediately to a map. We can go and categorize my datacenters by generation. Just with a few clicks, a beautiful report and it’s not the only report I have here in my workbook. I have a couple more.
So this report here shows me the storage of Azure, just an amazing explanation of the growth in the business. This one here shows me the subscriber’s growth in the business. You see almost 200 percent in just over a year. I mean I can slice and dice and look at segments of users, and see the growth there. So I have this beautiful report, interactive, and I want to share it with other people and to do that I go to the file menu, I do a save as and I’m saving it to the Power BI side in Office 365.
And now what does this site look like? Let’s see how this site looks like in SharePoint Online. This is it. You can see how well organized it is. You see my Azure report, my Office 365 report. It’s clean. It’s crisp. It’s beautiful. I want to go and take a look at one of those reports. I click and of course, because the reports are all created inside Excel, Excel is the application used to be able to browse the reports in my browser. So you can see here the explanation of growth you see in the compute resources of Azure, you can go and look at the other reports of that, the database growth, and of course the whole thing is fully interactive. So I can go select different time slices and in the browser get the full interrogation of the data.
It’s very easy to share, very easy to explore, but it’s more than that, it’s a full enterprise offering. So let’s take a look and see all the options that we have here. So see this menu here, take a look at what we have. I can share with other people, I can protect the data, I can schedule data refresh, where Power BI will reach back from the cloud to the enterprise, go to the original data sources, bring the data on the regular basis up to the cloud, up to the report that we have here. I can track the data usage by my users. And one more thing I can do here, I can add that report to my mobile favorites. And you can see this mobile star here, now that report is here and it’s showing up on my mobile device. It’s a beautiful application Power BI. It’s fully interactive as you use it. And it’s not just this report. I have a full gallery of reports that I can use here. You can see I can browse through that. It’s just the best way you can have to consume reports on the go.
So you’re seeing what kind of a gorgeous, great offering we have here. But, there’s one more thing, one more capability that I think you need to see, because in my opinion it’s the true game changer. So for this I’m going to take a look at another Power BI slide. Look at this one here, and make it a bit larger. This one Power BI slide is for a media company. And you see it has these reports that we created in Excel. But, there’s another role here, we call it “Featured Answers.” And these are the most common questions my users ask about the data. For example, show our sales pipeline. I’m clicking on it and now Power BI connects automatically to the sales pipeline data source and shows me the results. Now it looks like a comp report, but it is not. It is the beginning of a conversation with Power BI.
So I can compute that, show our sales pipeline only with opportunity size greater than $20,000. And as I type I immediately get the answer. You can see that there are six opportunities greater than $20,000. It’s very easy, right. (Applause.) Now one of those opportunities is this rock-themed event series. And I want to continue the line of interrogation I want to ask questions about that, so I can go and ask maybe the top rock classics. And notice I’m using, something magical happens. As I was typing the questions the results came up and I actually realized I’m asking about songs. So I moved away from the pipeline data set, automatically it connects me to a different one. This one is the historical data set for all the music charts in the United States. So I can see that “Bohemian Rhapsody” here, by the way my favorite song of all time, is the top rock classic. And I know it’s right, because Power BI tells me what it understood from me.
Look at that. It tells me that when I said rock I meant rock songs. And when I said classic, I meant a certain period of time, the ’70s and the ’80s. It is not the oldies from the ’50s. And when I said top it said you probably want to rank it by something, so you rank it by the number of weeks it stayed on the charts. So I like that interpretation, but not exactly. And again, Power BI comes to help me. It says, hey, I know what you mean now. So how about instead of ranking by weeks on the chart, I offer other options, rank it by the weeks the song stayed at No. 1. And I can see that “I Love Rock and Roll” is showing at No. 1. And every other part of the sentence is understood with Power BI.
So you say, maybe you don’t want to look at songs, you might want to look at artists or albums. Maybe not rock, here’s other genres. How about pop? Let’s go with pop. And see “Physical,” Olivia Newton John, the top pop classic from that era. It’s just an easy and fun way to interrogate the data. Let’s take this for example; let’s ask for songs about true love. And I can see immediately five different songs, one of them by Bing Crosby, another by Elton John, all called “True Love” showing up on the charts. I can ask questions about people that I know. Songs about Bill Gates, and you’d be surprised there’s actually a song called Bill Gates showing up on the charts, three years ago. Yes, by Lil Wayne, one week on the charts. I looked at the lyrics. It actually is truly not a love song.
We can ask more business questions like number of songs. You can see we have 2,600 songs in the database. Let’s list it by year. And now notice how the system automatically detects what I’m asking, giving me a much better visualization. This is a better way to look at it as a chart, automatically. I don’t have to say anything. And you can see this very interesting chart. It shows how many songs showed up on the music charts every year. And you can see in the late ’60s and early ’70s over 700 different songs on the charts. And then we go to the new millennium you see how it’s kind of dropping gradually and it’s less than half of that when you get to the new millennium. And then there is some recovery. But, when you turn on the radio and it seems like it’s the same song playing again, and again, and again, well now you know, we actually do listen   you have the proof. We do listen to way less songs than people in the ’60s and ’70s listened to, very interesting.
Now the picture is even more interesting when you look at it by genre. And again, the system just changed the visualization for me on the fly, and look at that, this is the pop genre. And you see the peak that we saw before, the decline, and some of the recovery. Rock starts the same way, peak, decline, but it doesn’t recover. Something is going on here. And look at that hip-hop. From the mid-’80s hip-hop is growing and growing, and growing and it’s not taking from pop, it’s taking all the market share from rock. So you can see how the data is telling you this fascinating story of the music industry just like that.
[8:10] Now, of course you might want to know other questions. For example, what is the best song of all time? And you can see that we have here Jason Mraz with “I’m Yours.” The first time I saw that I said, who the heck is Jason Mraz? But I had to go look at the data three times and unfortunately it is Jason Mraz, scientifically speaking, it’s the best song of all times, over a year and a half on the chart, like no other song. It’s amazing. And of course, the age old question, who is the best artist? And now we get here, again, a different visualization, and you can see here that you have Mariah Carey, you have The Beatles, we have Usher, we have Elvis, really fantastic artists that we have here. But, these are very different periods of time and it’s really hard to compare The Beatles from the ’60s to Mariah Carey from now. So maybe other visualizations can help me. And with Power BI we can switch the visualization. Look at that, I have a whole list of visualizations. I can change it to a table, for example. It doesn’t help me to explain it. But, there’s one more visualization here that we call the king of the hill. And this one is just specifically designed to explain changes over time.
Now we can see here, let me just explain how it works. It’s kind of a bubble chart. In the middle we have the biggest bubble, it will be the artist that has the most weeks at No. 1 on the chart is the king, right. It’s going to be the center big bubble, around it will be the contenders, the people who want to take the center position from it, the other artists with less weeks on the charts. And we’re going to animate over the time dimension.
So we start with 1955, Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone, and we’ll see the Motown area, so we’re going to see here the Platters joining in. But, in 1957 something amazing happened, Elvis Presley breaks through with “All Shook Up,” and he is the king. This is Elvis in the center. He is going to have over 100 different songs on the Billboard 100. It’s just dominating. But, in the ’60s come and so over the pond the greatest band in the history of music, The Beatles are showing up. And they would have 26 No. 1 hits. They’re going to have eight consecutive ones. They just dominated the rest of the decade into the ’70s, and they’re breaking up. And this is kind of a weird condition. Look at that, Three Dog Night, never heard about them? Forget about them, because the next one is going to be Elton John, he’s a legend. Candle in the Wind is still the No. 1 selling single of all time. This is also the disco era. So we have the Bee Gees, I danced to their songs with my first girlfriend. And of course, it was Olivia Newton John, a giant mega-star in the early ’80s.
And now look at that, what do you have in the ’80s, Paul McCartney, going to be followed by Michael Jackson, going to be followed up by Madonna, going to be followed up by Whitney Houston. This is a parade of the greats we had in the ’80s, George Michael, Paula Abdul, I have no idea what she is doing here. Now, we’re seeing Mariah Carey, she is going to dominate the ’90s. She’s going to have a fight with Boys To Men. But, look at it, she’s in that fight and she’s pushing them out. She is going to continue with 79 weeks at No. 1. She is going to dominate the ’90s. But, the ’90s are coming to an end. Santana is taking over. He is going to take over and then it’s the hip-hop and rap, with Nelly, Kid Rock I cannot stand, and then Usher he is a genius, wonderful, wonderful. But, look at that, it’s Mariah. She’s over here again. She’s looking for a fight in the 2000s, and she’s pushing them out. And now we are getting ready for the era of the divas. Rihanna, look at it she’s taking over. Katy Perry is trying. Adele is trying. But, no Rihanna is here to stay. Thank you, Rihanna. Thank you Power BI.
Thank you all. [43:30]
SATYA NADELLA: Thank you, Amir.

Hopefully you got a good feel for the power of Power BI in Office 365, and now just imagine if you can sort of replace all of the pop data and music data with your business data and your customer data. Mix it up, in fact, with some of the public data inside of Bing, and doing these kinds of demos where people are able to get insights from all of the data that they have inside their organization, and doing a join of that with, in fact, information that’s available publicly. We think that this is the next big leap when it comes to BI and insight around big data. [44:16]


So let’s switch gears and talk about application development. I know many of you in the room have lots of projects that you’re doing application development for. This is something that we have historically done very well together with Visual Studio and .NET. And, in fact, all of our client and server runtime platform. But this is going through a sea change. And, therefore, we are building and retooling for the sea change a few apps that you want to build.

image
It all starts by having a platform that is capable of both infrastructure as a service and platform as a services. So that’s IaaS plus PaaS. And that means any mission-critical Web application you want to build, any mobile front-end you want to build, where you’re automating a business process with a mobile front-end; any cloud service you want to build, you want to have this rich capability of both infrastructure as a service and a platform as a service. And you want to be able to deliver that, by the way, in both Windows Azure, as well as on Windows Server. So that symmetry of development runtime is also very important, and that’s what we’re building out.
Since you’re building applications for enterprise customers, you’ll want to have real richness of business logic. And this is where we are making some changes, and innovations, which are going to fundamentally change the economics and the repeatability of your business application development, or mission-critical application development. From identity, you saw Azure AD already from an IT perspective, but from a developer perspective now you have a fully programmable identity management solution where you can handle multiple identities, consumer identities as well as enterprise identities.
We have BizTalk services in the cloud now where you can use that to be able to automate your enterprise application integration, or even B-to-B integration. We have all the richness of the data platform I talked about previously that now you can incorporate as part of your solutions without having to really build that all on your own, whereas you now will be able to make API calls.
And, lastly, perhaps most interestingly, is you can, in fact, incorporate all of Office 365 as part of your solution. Office 365 has a very modern API surface area across the entire length and breadth, both on the client side as well as on the server side, that you can now program as part of your solution. Think about all the document workflows within the enterprise business application context that you can incorporate.
Of course, at the end of the day, what matters to you as well as your customers is productivity. And that’s where we’ve always led with the fantastic tooling in Visual Studio. We’re taking that a step further to make rapid application development, especially with the Lightswitch features inside of Visual Studio 2013, we’re making it possible for you to build your Web applications or business applications with Web fronts that much more simple for you to do rapid application development, especially in combination with Office. So the combination of Visual Studio, Lightswitch, the services that go with Visual Studio, either on TFS or on Azure with source code control, project management, build, test, all of those services come together to really improve your productivity.
image
And we have many, many customers and partners who are taking advantage of this. The one I wanted to highlight was a solution built by .NET Solutions for IT, a financial services company in the UK. And it’s a very cool solution in the sense that they were able to take a very innovative approach to doing codes where they were monitoring the in-car telematics getting back information to Azure, then rendezvousing that with a code system which was on premise to be able to do real-time codes, and do custom codes for their customers. So that’s a pretty innovative way to think about mobile applications, Web tier, as well as being able to service relay back to data inside of your enterprise. And that richness of both tooling and capabilities in the runtime are unparalleled and unique to what we do with the combination of Windows Server and Windows Azure.
So I’m really pleased to announce the availability of Visual Studio 2013 Preview. I really encourage those of you who have .NET practices, Visual Studio expertise, now you can take the tooling coming out, the runtimes that are coming out as part of Windows Server, Windows Azure, as well as Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone, and really build this next generation of mobile applications as well as Web applications, and cloud services.
I’m also pleased to announce SQL Services, or SQL Database Premium Services for Windows Azure. Windows Azure has been going through significant growth, and particularly there’s not a solution that’s built in Windows Azure that does not use SQL Azure. And we are now introducing some capabilities that allow you to make those reservations. That means you can bring your most mission-critical applications over to the cloud. This is, again, something that we are going to be very unique. We are unique already with the fact that we have a PaaS-based SQL Service. And now we are making it much more ready for mission-critical applications.

image

[49:28] So the last piece of the presentation today is cloud infrastructure. Now all of the things that we talked about rely on cloud infrastructure. And our goal has been to build the most robust cloud infrastructure. And to live the cloud lifestyle we build Windows Azure using our server software. So when we sort of say we are serving millions of virtual machines on Windows Azure, it runs, in fact, on Windows Server 2012 hypervisor. So that’s an amazing feedback cycle. Not just that, but all of our first-party workloads, from Office 365 to Bing to Xbox Live, are all running on Windows Azure capabilities. So that this reinforcing feedback cycle is what battle tests our cloud infrastructure.
We are, again, unique in that we take that same cloud infrastructure that we are using on a day-in and day-out basis inside of Azure as well as our first-party applications, and making it available as part of Windows Server and System Center for others to be able to build their own cloud. And that’s what really gives us the ability to deliver a true boundary-less datacenter infrastructure with consistency to our customers.
We think that that is very, very important to be able to really service the needs that enterprise customers have around infrastructure and support of their applications, and this is something that we believe we are setting the pace, and no one else in the industry, neither Amazon nor VMware can promise or deliver this level of consistency, this level of mission-critical readiness because of the battle testing of all the diverse set of first-party workloads.
We have lots and lots of partners who are already taking advantage of it. One example that I wanted to highlight today is what Skyline Technologies did for Trek Bicycles. They really took advantage of all of the capabilities of this boundary-less datacenter. They built out a private cloud solution. They, in fact, used the IaaS capabilities inside of Azure to be able to deploy the retail management solution. They even built a PaaS solution on Azure to be able to automate all of the partner management. So again, you can see how having this consistency gives you the flexibility to be able to take advantage of all the resources in your datacenter, in your partner datacenter, and in Windows Azure, but still have the one consistent virtualization and management pane of glass from an IT perspective.
So now to really show you this boundary-less datacenter in action, I wanted to invite up on stage Jeff Woolsey from our team. Jeff. [52:08]

Related post: Partners in the cloud for modern business [Satya Nadella on The Official Microsoft Blog, July 8, 2013]

Today, at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), I am excited to announce new programs and services that are designed to help our partners and customers embrace the challenges and opportunities associated with cloud computing and big data.
The first new program we are announcing is Cloud OS Accelerate. As part of this new program, Microsoft and key partners – Cisco, NetApp, Hitachi Data Systems, HP and Dell – will invest more than $100 million to help put thousands of new private and hybrid cloud solutions into the hands of customers. We are also announcing a new Windows Intune offer, effective Oct. 1, that will help connect partners and customers with the latest in cloud connected management at a 30 percent discount. These new programs, and others you will hear about throughout the Worldwide Partner Conference, are designed to help our partners realize the opportunities in cloud computing – today.
We are also announcing previews of new technologies– including:
· Power BI for Office 365 – our new self-service business intelligence (BI) solution that combines the data analysis and visualization capabilities of Excel with the power of collaboration, scale and trusted cloud environment of Office 365. This new solution will help partners deliver powerful BI solutions to small and medium businesses everywhere. Customers and partners can sign up here.
· New Windows Azure Active Directory capabilities that will make it possible for ISVs, CSVs and other third parties to leverage Windows Azure’s directory to enable a single sign-on (SSO) experience for their users, at no cost. Customers can sign up here.
· A Premium offer for Windows Azure SQL Database, which delivers reserved capacity for more powerful and predictable performance. This will allow partners to raise the bar on the types of services and products they can offer to customers. A limited preview will be available in a few weeks, so sign up today so we can notify you when it’s ready.
This news wraps up a wave of new enterprise cloud announcements from the Server and Tools Division, including: new versions of Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, SQL Server 2014 and Windows Intune at TechEd North America and TechEd Europe; the general availability of Windows Azure Mobile Services and Windows Azure Web Sites at Build 2013; and a new strategic partnership with Oracle to improve customer flexibility and choice.
The technology to help our partners realize the opportunities in cloud computing and big data is here and the time to collectively help our customers embrace these mega trends is now. Together, Microsoft and our partners helped customers successfully navigate the client-server and enterprise IT technology transformations. Going forward, we’re committed to doing that again for enterprise cloud.

20 years of Samsung “New Management” as manifested by the latest, June 20th GALAXY & ATIV innovations

… innovations in the broadest sense of the world: technology, hardware and software engineering and design, marketing in general and branding in particular etc.

Updates: Q2 record-high operating profit + smartphone worries deepen + overall business situation + nonproportionally high capex of the semiconductor businessthe #2 capex beneficiary, the Display Panel Segment

Samsung Electronics posts record-high operating profit in Q2 [arirangnews YouTube channel, July 5, 2013]

It’s a bittersweet figure for Samsung Electronics. Korea’s tech giant posted a record-high operating profit in the second quarter of the year. The profit, however, fell short of market estimates,. raising concerns the smartphone market could be slowing down. Arirang News’ Yoo Li-an has this report. It is a record-high operating profit for Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphones, but not as high as many expected, signaling that the smartphone market may be becoming increasingly saturated. The electronics giant hauled in a record 9-point-5 trillion won, or roughly 8-point-3 billion U.S. dollars, in operating profits during the April to June period. But the figure fell short of nearly 9 billion U.S. dollars forecast by many analysts. The lower-than-expected number is fueling concern about a slowdown in the smartphone market. In April, the Korean tech giant released its Galaxy S4, which had a bigger screen and motion-detecting technology, to high expectations of bumper sales. But sales of the gadget were lackluster, causing a number of investment banks to downgrade the company’s target stock price. That caused Samsung’s market capitalization to shrink to 185 billion U.S. dollars, a 15 percent drop since early June, as smartphones had represented over two-thirds of the company’s total profit in recent years. Analysts say, however, that Samsung will regain some of its momentum in the coming months, as the company plans to introduce new models to the market. Yoo Li-an, Arirang News.

Samsung Electronics’ Pre-Earnings Guidance [Samsung public disclosure, July 5, 2013]

On July 5, 2013, Samsung Electronics disclosed its ’13. 2Q consolidated earnings estimate as follows.
– Sales: Approximately 57 trillion Won [$49.86B]
– Operating Profit: Approximately 9.5 trillion Won [$8.31B]
The above figures are consolidated earnings estimates based on K-IFRS. Korean disclosure regulations do not allow earnings estimates to be given in a range. Therefore, the above figures are the median of the earnings estimate range given below.
– Sales: 56 ~ 58 trillion Won
– Operating Profit: 9.3 ~ 9.7 trillion Won
* The above information is provided for the convenience of our investors, before the external audit on the financial results of our headquarters, subsidiaries and affiliates is completed.

Samsung Electronics’ second quarter misses forecast as smartphone worries deepen [Reuters, July 5, 2013]

… Now investors fear Samsung may also follow in the footsteps of Apple and other once-mighty players that are struggling with shrinking margins, in an industry where companies live and die by their ability to stay ahead of the innovation curve. … “One of the biggest risks for Samsung Electronics going forward is that 70 percent of total operating profit comes from mobile business. Diversification is key. Samsung needs to engage in active business transition until end-2014,” said Jeff Kim, an analyst at Hyundai Securities. … Samsung spent more on marketing than R&D in 2012 for the first time in at least three years, and the S4 was launched in March with a Broadway-style show in New York. The company also invested heavily in distribution channels including opening brand shops in 1,400 Best Buy stores in the United States. But the glitz and glamour has failed to arrest a slide in handset sales growth, and shipments are seen rising only 4 percent to 8 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter. …


The overall business situation of Samsung Electronics as of the end of Q2 2013

Samsung Electronics Announces Earnings for Q2 in 2013 [press release, July 26, 2013]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced revenues of 57.46 trillion won [$51.6B] on a consolidated basis for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013, a 9-percent increase from the previous quarter. Consolidated operating profit for the quarter reached 9.53 trillion won [$8.56B], representing a 9-percent increase on quarter, while consolidated net profit for the same quarter was 7.77 trillion won [$6.98B].

In its earnings guidance disclosed on July 5, Samsung estimated second quarter consolidated revenues would reach approximately 57 trillion won [$51.2B] with consolidated operating profit of approximately 9.5 trillion won [$8.53B].

Samsung announces second quarter profits 삼성전자, 2013년 2분기 실적 발표 [arirangnews YouTube channel, July 25, 2013]

Samsung Electronics reported yet another quarter of record sales and profits. The world’s largest maker of smartphones, memory chips and TVs… said its profit rose nearly 50 percent in the second quarter of this year … thanks to robust shipments of smartphones and higher chip prices. Ji Myung-kil reports. Despite the prolonged economic crisis in Europe and China’s slowing economy … Samsung Electronics posted a record operating profit of 8-point-5 billion dollars in the second quarter of this year. That’s a whopping increase of 47-point-5 percent from a year earlier. Samsung logged sales of 51 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter… a 20 percent increase from the same period last year. Both sales and profits kept increasing in consumer electronics, semiconductors and panel display businesses. But the Korean tech giant is increasingly facing pressure to produce innovative smartphones to stay as the number one handset maker. Its mobile business is the biggest cash generator, but the division’s profit fell 3-point-5 percent from the previous quarter although it jumped 52 percent from a year earlier to 5-point-5 billion dollars. The loss of a major deal with Apple caused a drop in sales of its logic chips but soaring prices of memory chips allowed the world’s largest memory chipmaker to report a 70 percent jump in the semiconductor division’s profit to 1- point-5 billion dollars. Logic chips serve as the brains of computers and other digital devices, while memory chips are used to hold memory for computing devices. Samsung’s fate depends largely on its smartphone business but, with slowing sales of its flagship Galaxy S4, concerns are mounting that its handset profit margin may fall. Samsung plans to invest around 21-point-5 billion dollars in upgrading its production facilities this year. Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News.

Segmentwise and from outlook point of view, from: Earnings Release Q2 2013, Samsung Electronics, July 2013 presentation [July 26, 2013]

image

But: while handset revenue was up by 9% the operating profit for handsets and network products together were down by 3%. Considering that 97.3% of the IM (IT & Mobile Communications) revenue is for handsets that essentially means a similar operating profit drop of ~3% for handsets alone. Note that while the margin was 17.7% a year ago (in 2Q ’12) now (in 2Q ‘13) it was the same 17.7%, so with that 3% drop there was no fundamental problem (yet). Note as well that 66% of the operating profit was from IM, i.e. around 66% from handsets which constitute 97.3% of the total IM revenue.

image

Samsung explains the 3% IM operating profit drop by “marginal profit decline due to increased costs of new product launches, R&D and retail channels investments, etc.” as you could see below:

image

Fundamental problem could well be with the handset (IM) market share outlook, as neither for 2Q ‘13, nor for the outlook market share was talked about at all.

image

In the continuation of Samsung Electronics Announces Earnings for Q2 in 2013 [press release, July 26, 2013] there are certain remarks regarding all that:

Highlighting the quarterly performance, growth remained steady in high-end smartphone and premium television businesses. Most noticeably, a growth spurt in shipments for OLED panels for smartphones and high consumer demand for air conditioners spurred growth.

Led by the much-awaited launch of GALAXY S4, smartphone shipments and revenue increased from the March quarter. The strong growth streak for the smartphone market is expected to continue in the third quarter albeit at a slower pace.

The components business [Semiconductor] improved both in terms of revenue and operating profits from a quarter earlier due to a higher demand for mobile device-related parts. However, overall sales of logic chips declined due to lower mobile application processor shipments.

Escalated investments in R&D and in distribution channels, as well as expenses on new product launches have dampened wider gains for IT & Mobile Communications (IM) Division, which encompasses the Mobile Communications, Networks, and Digital Imaging businesses.

The Display Panel [DP] segment’s operating profit jumped 46 percent on quarter to 1.12 trillion won thanks to strong demand for high value-added panels for IT and TV panels sized 60-inch and over. A mid- to low-end TV lineup targeting emerging markets and a range of premium TV offerings were credited for the Visual Display business’ earnings. As for the next quarter, uncertainties over Europe’s economy and Chinese subsidies for electronics goods could possibly hinder growth.

then in terms of business outlook

[for IM] Looking ahead, Samsung smartphone sales are expected to pick up in the third quarter and outperform global market forecasts. Smartphones will grow to account for over 70 percent of the company’s mobile phone shipments in the third quarter due to the strengthening mid- to low-end mobile market. Growth momentum in the July-September quarter will remain on course, although at a slightly reduced pace.

In the case of tablet PCs, Samsung will post growth in the mid-10 percent range with the introduction of new tablets. Shipments of tablets will jump to a little over 30 percent on-quarter, outpacing the market.

Average Selling Price (ASP) of smartphones will likely be impacted due to a wider range of low- to mid-priced smartphones hitting the market. Sales of tablet PCs are expected to remain solid and Samsung is looking to expand global sales with a broad portfolio of models including GALAXY Tab 3.

Samsung is also looking to improve profitability in IM through its lineup of mid- to high-end hybrid tablet-laptop devices such as ATIV Q and wider adoption of LTE mobile telecommunication technology.

[for Semiconductor] In the July-September quarter, demand for DRAM used in data centers is expected to remain high. Orders from the electronic gaming industry will add to profit margins as video gamers seek more powerful graphics DRAMs. Peak seasonality will help PC sales by a slight margin.

Samsung will try to ramp up sales of application processors (AP) with 28-nanometer process technology and high-resolution image sensors. Demand for the components is expected to grow as mobile devices needing more processing power roll out into market in the remaining quarters.

By diversifying its product portfolio and consumer base, and by gearing up development of 20 nm-class and 14 nm-class process technology, Samsung aims to achieve a stable level of growth.

[for DP]

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Samsung anticipates market growth as higher seasonal demand for panels takes effect. For TV panels, demand is expected to be dampened by economic uncertainties although the large-size premium panel market is expected to sustain growth. Samsung aims to strengthen its leadership in the high-end TV panel segment with expanded sales in UHD panels and in the 40- to 50-inch class.

Concerning the market outlook for IT panels, although uncertainty remains in the PC and monitor sector, robust demand for tablet displays is expected to continue as new products are launched by manufacturers in the latter half of 2013. Samsung plans to reinforce its market leadership in tablet panels by expanding its lineup of high-resolution and mass market displays.

For OLED panels, positive growth for high-end smartphone displays is expected to be maintained in the second half. To ensure continued momentum, Samsung will concentrate on offering differentiated smartphone displays through technological competitiveness, including flexible display technology, and focus on enhancing cost competitiveness.

A business situation (described both in the Q2 results and in the outlook) required a significant change in the investment strategy which described in the Samsung Electronics Announces Earnings for Q2 in 2013 [press release, July 26, 2013] as:

As for this year’s capital expenditure, Samsung Electronics plans to spend a record total of 24 trillion won [$21.5B], an increase of over 1 trillion won [$0.9B] from the previous year. This amount may increase depending on market conditions in the second half and the outlook for next year.

The Semiconductor business will invest 13 trillion won [$11.7B], while the Display Panel segment will inject 6.5 trillion [$5.8B] in capex. The increase in spending is aimed at enhancing Samsung’s competitive edge in growth-generating, high value-added DRAM, NAND and System LSI products.

In the second quarter, capex amounted to 5.2 trillion won [$4.7B], in which the Semiconductor business was responsible for 2.2 trillion [$1.97B] and 1.3 trillion won [$1.17B] in spending was accredited to the Display Panel segment. All told, a total of 9 trillion [$8.1B] won or 38 percent of the planned capex investment was made in the first half of the year.

which led to the 3d party headline Samsung to spend KRW19.5 trillion [$17.5B] on component business in 2013 [DIGITIMES, July 30, 2013] including the following explanations:

Samsung Electronics expects to spend a total of KRW19.5 trillion (US$17.5 billion), equivalent to 81.25% of its total capex, on the company’s component business in 2013. Of the planned capex, KRW13 trillion [$11.7B] will be invested in its semiconductor business while KRW6.5 trillion [$5.8B] will be spent on its display panel business.

Samsung will allocate KRW24 trillion [$21.5B] for its 2013 capex, up from the record KRW22.8 trillion [$20.5B] reported for 2012.

The capex plan was disclosed when Samsung announced record operating profits for the second quarter of 2013. Despite the record earnings, its mobile division that accounts for the majority of company revenues and profits posted disappointing results in the quarter. In contrast, sales and profits at its component division performed relatively brisk.

Considering Samsung’s Q1 earnings release data: [$1.35B]

As for this year’s capital expenditure, Samsung Electronics executed a combined total of 3.9 trillion won [$3.5B] for the quarter. The Semiconductor and Display Panel segments were each accountable for 1.5 trillion won [$1.35B] in capex spending. Samsung is poised to increase investment beginning from the second half of the fiscal year to preempt rising demand for differentiated products and to harness its competitiveness in the high-tech industry.

I came to the following overall capex situation:

Samsung Electronics Capex
Q1
Q2
H1
H2
H2/H1
2013 total
Semiconductor business
$1.35B
$1.97B
$3.32B
$8.38B
+152%
$11.7B
Display Panel segment
$1.35B
$1.17B
$2.52B
$3.36B
+33%
$5.8B
The other 2 segments (IM, CE)
$0.8B
$1.56B
$2.36B
$1.72B
-27%
$4.0B
TOTAL
$3.5B
$4.7B
$8.28B
$13.22B
+60%
$21.5B

Note that this is in sharp contrast to Intel capex changes as per UPDATE 3-Intel cuts 2013 revenue forecast, capex as PC industry sags [Reuters, July 17, 2013]

Intel Corp cut its full-year revenue forecast and said it is scaling back capital spending as it adjusts to a painful contraction of personal computer sales and economic weakness in China, one of its biggest markets.
The forecast and cut in capital spending were announced on Wednesday in the company’s quarterly earnings report, the first under new Chief Executive Brian Krzanich. … “Intel was slow to respond to the ultra-mobile PC trends,” Krzanich said. “We will move Atom even faster to our leading-edge silicon technology.”
Faced with slow demand, Intel said it was cutting 2013 capital spending to $11 billion, plus or minus $500 million. The cut follows a similar reduction from $13 billion to $12 billion in April. Intel said it expects 2013 revenue to be flat from the year before. Last quarter Intel forecast a low single digit percentage increase in 2013.
… Global shipments of personal computers dropped 11 percent in the second quarter, the fifth straight quarterly decline in a market that has been devastated by the popularity of tablets.
… Intel posted second-quarter revenue of $12.8 billion and said revenue in the current quarter would be $13.5 billion, plus or minus $500 million.
Analysts expected $12.896 billion in revenue for the second quarter and $13.732 billion for the current quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
For the second quarter, Intel reported net earnings of $2.0 billion, or 39 cents a share, in line with expectations. That compared with $2.827 billion, or 54 cents, in the same quarter last year.


The non-proportionally high capex of the semiconductor business deserves attention. From latest press releases of that segment we know the following:

From: Samsung Foundry 14nm FinFET [brochure, March 7, 2013]

Strong 14nm FinFET Logic Process and Design Infrastructure for Advanced Mobile SOC Applications
Samsung Foundry’s advanced 14-nanometer (nm) FinFET process technology offers a robust design infrastructure to drive future mobile application markets. As mobile applications continue to demand a more PC-like user experience, Samsung’s FinFET process technology enables system-on-chip (SOC) designers to reap all of the advantages for the latest energy-efficient processors: die-size reductions, faster frequencies, and lower power consumption.

image

Estimated groundbreaking and completion dates
Characteristics of FinFET transistor performance are closely correlated to the high aspect ratio (AR) of fin height/fin width. The challenges of the FinFET structure include: control of the fin width and height dimensions, the ability to scale the fin width down to sub-20nm nodes and gate length dimension control over a high AR while precisely controlling all of these parameters during manufacturing.
Advantages of 3 dimensional design
Samsung’s FinFET technology, unlike planar transistors with flat, multi-layer designs, uses a tall wall-like gate, 3D-structured design to minimize leakage, and in turn, increase a chip’s reliability and power at a small node process. Additionally, as less heat is generated and the power supply lasts longer, clock frequencies can be tuned for system critical components without overstepping system power requirements.

image

Solid design ecosystem
Samsung’s 14nm FinFET process node is supported by an ecosystem of partners including ARM®, Cadence® Design Systems, Mentor graphics® and Synopsys®. With their collaboration, Samsung’s 14nm FinFET technology process taped out multiple test chips ranging from a full ARM Cortex™-A7 processor implementation to a SRAM-based chip capable of operating near threshold voltage levels, as well as an array of analog IP.
Silicon-based Process Development Kits
Samsung Foundry’s 14nm FinFET process design kits (PDKs) provide customers with models, design rule manuals and technology files that have been developed based on silicon results from previous 14nm FinFET test chips run. Samsung’s 14nm FinFET PDK includes: design flows, routers and other design enablement features to support new device structures, local interconnects, and advanced routing rules. Samsung Foundry continues to lead the industry in providing its customers with early access to all elements of the design infrastructure to enable accelerated chip development.

Samsung talks about their 14nm FinFET process [SemiAccurate, May 28, 2013]

Ana Hunter of Samsung cleared up a lot of the issues that were floating around the Samsung version of the process. Please bear in mind that although the bulk of the technology is the same between the three partners, all can and likely will deliver different flavors of 14nm to their customers. What Samsung is doing may or may not be mirrored by IBM and Global Foundries, and vice versa.
The first thing is that Samsung is on track to deliver the process on the promised schedule, that would be 14nm customer tapeouts in Q1/2014. This is a pretty good validation that the time to market advantages of changing the transistors and not the interconnects is happening as promised. At the moment Samsung just completed the third rev of their Process Design Kit (PDK) and are using them internally for logic development. Customers have 14nm test wafers running through the fabs right now too, the main goal is to run test chips to see what types of structures will best suit their planned chips and how aggressively they will implement some of the offered technologies. Samsung described the yields on current test chips as good and logic libraries are well in to development now.
For the 14nm process the Front End of Line (FEOL) is completely new, the Back End of Line (BEOL) is mostly carried over from 20nm. Metal 1 and higher are the same as the older 20nm process so any characteristics determined by that technology will be constant for all three partners. Samsung is modifying the playbook from there a bit by focusing on tighter poly and contact pitches. There are no new design rules but Samsung is being fairly aggressive in pushing these two areas and likely a few more not discussed too.
The refrain in January was that 14nm would bring no die shrinks, but that isn’t quite the case at Samsung. While it is true that the 50% shrinks of processes past are not going to happen this time, there will be between a 7% and 15% shrink thanks to the poly and contact pitch work. This has been validated by SRAM test parts, they are showing those gains and they are fairly representative of what you can get out of a device.
Much of what the customers are doing with the test chips being run at the moment centers around how aggressively they want to push these boundaries for their devices. If they want to take full advantage of what Samsung is doing the maximum 15% should be achievable but works is still ongoing. How much each partner chooses to push shrinks will likely be the main differentiator between Samsung, IBM, and Global Foundries.
In the end you will get a chip that looks like it was built on a 20nm process, is sized like it was built on a 20nm process, but has the dynamic range and power consumption of a 14nm chip. You can also order wafers built on the process much sooner than you could a full 14nm process, and reuse much of what you did to build the 20nm variants of your chips. Cost will obviously go up, it always does, but to what degree is still an open question, one unlikely to be publicly answered by any of the players in the near future.
The one question that remains open is what to call this process. All of those offering it stick to the 14nm script but their competition insists that it is 20nm, the rest is spin. SemiAccurate sees both of their points and both are quite valid. The performance is 14nm, the size is 20nm, and there is nothing like it in the past to compare to. So what do you call it? Because there won’t be a full 14nm FEOL + 14nm BEOL process coming from any of the three partners. We will call it 14nm to avoid confusion but won’t argue that it could also correctly be called an enhanced 20nm process.

14nm FinFET implementation of ARM Cortex A-7 [SamsungUSATech YouTube channel, Feb 5, 2013]

Ana Hunter, VP Foundry, Samsung Semiconductor — 14nm FinFET implementation of ARM Cortex A-7 jointly taped out with Samsung, ARM, and Cadence.

Implementing ARM Cortex-A7 in a 14nm Samsung FinFET Process [SoC Design blog of ARM, Feb 5, 2013]

Recently, ARM, Samsung and Cadence announced a joint tapeout of an ARM CortexTM-A7 based test chip on Samsung’s 14nm FinFET process.
This collaboration is significant due to a couple of reasons as detailed in this blog and video below:
14nm/FinFET technology
The importance of FinFETs as the next evolution in process technology was resoundingly validated at ARM TechCon last year, where many of the papers touted improvements in the power/performance curve with the usage of FinFETs. Essentially, designers can get better performance with the same power profile, or lower power with the same performance. A 14nm FinFET process can potentially offer a 40-50% performance increase or a 50% power reduction compared to a 28nm process. With power density threatening to become a roadblock to future system on chip (SoC) innovation, FinFET technology is very welcome news indeed.
However, applying a new process technology such as 14nm/FinFETs still requires much effort. The process technology has to mature, EDA methodologies have to be established, and libraries and IP have to be developed. The test chip tapeout referred to above includes a 14nm/FinFET Cortex-A7 along with ARM 14nm/FinFET libraries and a Samsung 14nm SRAM. It was implemented with Cadence’s 14nm methodology during an 8-week period. The tapeout is an important milestone that shows progress in the industry’s move towards being able to mass produce 14nm/FinFET SoCs.
The ARM Cortex-A7
The ARM Cortex-A7 processor is starting to go mainstream in new high-end smartphone applications. Today, the ARM Cortex-A7 is used as the “LITTLE” part in ARM’s big.LITTLE configuration along with the ARM Cortex-A15, offloading computing tasks and improving energy efficiency and battery life.
In addition, it’s also being targeted as the main processor core in new entry level and mid-range smartphones, significantly improving power, performance and area of those devices that used a previous generation core. For applications that don’t need the peak computing power of a Cortex-A15 or Cortex-A9 processor, the Cortex-A7 alternative offers reasonably good performance at significantly lower power and area.
14nm/FinFET technology can potentially amplify the advantage of ARM Cortex-A7 processors by further improving the Cortex-A7’s power/performance benefits.
The entire tapeout project was completed within a tightly-packed schedule of 8 weeks. During that time, engineers from Samsung, ARM and Cadence located in multiple locations around the globe (Korea, Taiwan, U.K., Germany and the U.S.) worked together diligently to make this tapeout successful. As a side note, the tapeout also demonstrates the realities of today’s large design teams, where designers must interact with others in different locations and time zones.
The Methodology Used
As mentioned earlier, the Cadence 14nm methodology was used for this tapeout. This included the following:
  • Virtuoso 6.1.5 and Advanced Node environment were used for the standard cell design
  • RTL Compiler, Encounter Digital Implementation System (EDI System) and NanoRoutewere used for synthesis and place-and-route respectively
  • QRC, Encounter Timing System (ETS), and Encounter Power System (EPS) were used for extraction, as well as timing and power signoff.
From a user perspective, a 14nm/FinFET design methodology is similar to 20nm. Double-patterning is required at 14nm, just like 20nm. Under the hood, EDI System and NanoRoute handle 14nm/FinFET design rules automatically, including same-mask metal rules to prevent double patterning conflicts. The use models for QRC, ETS and EPS signoff at 14nm are also similar to that of 20nm. However, to ensure correct handling of the 14nm/FinFET design rules, as well as making sure the new libraries could be used efficiently, R&D teams from all three companies had to work closely together.
In short, the tapeout of ARM’s Cortex-A7 on Samsung’s 14nm/FinFET process is a significant milestone towards 14nm readiness. We’re all expecting to see more partnership work to come to fruition too, bridging the gap between early testing and production. For more information, see the feature story at Cadence.com. In addition, visit the ARM, Cadence and Samsung booths at the Common Platform Forumin Santa Clara, CA. Dispesh Patel, EVP and General Manager – PIPD, PIEX, ARM also will discuss this collaboration further in his keynote.

Samsung Library and IP Offerings, DAC 2013 IP Talks! – James Bong, Samsung [chipestimate YouTube channel, July 19, 2013]

From: Mentor, Freescale, Samsung DAC talks: EDA, IoT & Mobile growth & challenges [SoC Design blog of ARM, June 7, 2013]


Stephen Woo, Samsung Electronics: mobile growth, problems with solutions, and challenges [watch the video record of the KEYNOTE New Challenges for Smarter Mobile Devices]

Tuesday morning’s main keynote was presented by Dr. Stephen Woo of Samsung Electronics to a completely full auditorium with 200 additional standing attendees. Dr. Woo has a history with DAC; winning the best paper award at DAC in 1994. Dr. Woo’s talk looked at the impact of smart mobile devices, 3 technical problems with solutions, and some challenges for the future. Dr. Woo stated that smart mobile devices are driving today’s semiconductors; it’s no longer PCs. Today’s mobile phones are multimedia application tools that can make calls. It’s hard to believe, but Apple’s iPhone launched 5 years ago (James Bruce’s blog reminds us how simple it was), while Samsung’s Galaxy phone powered by Exynos launched only 3 years ago. Smartphones are still a young field. According to Dr. Woo, typical smartphones have over a dozen chips (95% of which are ARM-based.) With the increased use of mobile applications, phones are driving higher computing and bandwidth requirements.
Overcoming space, applications and battery obstacles in mobile devices
Dr. Woo followed with presenting 3 technical problems (with solutions) for mobile phones: space (integration), applications (compute power,) and battery and heat problem (low power/thermal.) Space is being addressed with integration. The speed of development has increased 2x in recent years. Now a new node is introduced every year. Applications are being addressed by increasing computing power with new generations of ARM processors. For the latest generation Exynos Octa processor, Samsung selected ARM’s big.LITTLETM processing technology (video). imageSmart mobile devices will still be drivers for semiconductors with more and better applications, such as biometrics. Finally, Samsung is addressing the battery and heat problems with advancements with low power (including ARM’s physical IP) and thermal technology.

Challenges to be solved

Dr. Woo continued with some challenges that have yet to be solved. Are we achieving true SOC? No, we have a system of dozens of chips. Can the industry address with flexible ICs and PCB? What about chip on plastic? What about system on display? How can the advantages of flexible display be realized? Dr. Woo concluded with saying that EDA and Semiconductors have been doing a great job together to create smart mobile devices. Dr. Woo looks forward to solving these new challenges together. Richard Goering also covered this keynote.

Samsung Now Mass Producing Industry’s Fastest Embedded Memory [July 26, 2013]

… Featuring an interface speed of 400 megabytes per second (MB/s), the lightning-fast eMMC PRO memory provides exceptionally fast application booting and loading. The chips will enable much faster multi-tasking, web-browsing, application downloading and file transfers, as well as high-definition video capture and playback, and are highly responsive to running large-file gaming and productivity applications. … Samsung’s eMMC PRO memory chips, being produced in 16, 32 and 64GB versions, are based on Samsung 64Gb 10nm class* NAND flash technology. The new Samsung chips support the eMMC version 5.0 standard now nearing completion at JEDEC – the largest standards-setting body in the microelectronics industry. … As the fastest eMMC devices at more than 10 times the speed of a class 10 external memory card (which reads at 24MB/s and writes at 12MB/s), the new mobile memory greatly enhances the movement from one application to another in multitasking activities. …

Samsung Now Producing Industry’s Highest Density (3GB) LPDDR3 Mobile Memory for Smartphones [July 24, 2013]

… today announced the industry’s first mass production of three gigabyte (GB) low power double data rate 3 (LPDDR3) mobile DRAM, the highest density mobile memory solution for next-generation smartphones, which will bring a generation shift to the market from the 2GB packages that are widely used in current mobile devices.
The Samsung 3GB LPDDR3 mobile DRAM uses six of the industry’s smallest 20-nanometer (nm) class* four gigabit (Gb) LPDDR3 chips, in a symmetrical structure of two sets of three chips stacked in a single package only 0.8 millimeters high. With a full line-up of package dimensions, Samsung’s new ultra-slim memory solutions will enable thinner smartphone designs and allow for additional battery space, while offering a data transfer speed of up to 2,133 megabits per second (Mbps) per pin.
With the increased mobile DRAM capacity, users can enjoy seamless high-quality, Full HD video playback and faster multitasking on their smartphones. Also, the new LPDDR3 speeds up data downloading and is able to offer full support for LTE-A (LTE Advanced) service, a next-generation mobile telecommunication standard.
Samsung’s 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM connects with a mobile application processor using two symmetrical data transfer channels, each connected to a 1.5GB storage part. Though asymmetric data flow can cause sharp performance dips at certain settings, the symmetrical structure avoids such issues, while maximizing system level performance.
Considering that the current memory storage capacity for PCs is about 4GB, offering 3GB of DRAM memory on mobile devices should help most users enjoy PC-like performance, in narrowing the performance gap between PC and smartphone computing. With the new 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM, Samsung is now offering the widest range of mobile DRAM densities (1GB, 2GB and 3GB), while providing the industry’s first mobile DRAM based on 20-nm class process node technology. Samsung plans to continue to lead the growth of the mobile memory market, as it seeks to maintain unrivaled competitiveness in the premium memory sector.

Samsung Samples Industry’s First 16-Gigabyte Server Modules Based on DDR4 Memory technology [July 3, 2012]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun sampling the industry’s first 16-gigabyte (GB) double data rate-4 (DDR4), registered dual inline memory modules (RDIMMs), designed for use in enterprise server systems.
“By launching these new high-density DDR4 modules, Samsung is embracing closer technical cooperation with key CPU and server companies for development of next-generation green IT systems,” said Wanhoon Hong, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will also aggressively move to establish the premium memory market for advanced applications including enterprise server systems and maintain the competitive edge for Samsung Green Memory products, while working on providing 20 nanometer (nm) class* based DDR4 DRAM in the future.”
Using 30nm-class* process technology, Samsung sampled new 8GB and 16GB DDR4 modules in June, in addition to providing them to major CPU and controller makers. The modules will bring the highest density and performance levels to premium enterprise server systems. Samsung previously introduced the industry’s first 30nm-class 2GB DDR4 module in December, 2010.
Employing new circuit architecture for computing systems, DDR4 technology boasts the highest performance among memory products available for today’s computing systems, which by next year will reach twice the current 1,600 megabits per second (Mbps) of DDR3 based modules. Also, by processing data far more efficiently at a mere 1.2 volts, Samsung’s DDR4 modules will reduce power consumption by approximately 40 percent compared to its predecessor DDR3 modules operating at 1.35V.
Samsung will keep working on completion of the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standardization of DDR4 technologies and product specifications, which is expected to be accomplished by August.
The company said it will work closely with its customers including server OEMs, as well as CPU and controller makers, to expand the market base for high-density DDR4 modules, of which it plans to begin volume production next year. It also is set to expand the overall premium memory market with its most advanced 20nm-class based DDR4 DRAM products, which will be available sometime next year at densities up to 32GB.
Samsung has been leading the advancement of DRAM technology ever since it developed the industry’s first DDR DRAM in 1997. In 2001, it introduced the first DDR2 DRAM, and in 2005, announced the first DDR3 using 80nm-class* technology. For more information about Samsung Green memory, visit www.samsung.com/GreenMemory
* Editors’ Note : 20nm-class means a process technology node somewhere between 20 and 29 nanometers, and 30nm-class means a process technology node somewhere between 30 and 39 nanometers, while 80nm-class means a process technology node somewhere between 80 and 89 nanometers.

From: Samsung DDR4 SDRAM: The new generation of high-performance, power-efficient memory that delivers greater reliability [brochure, July 17, 2013]


Samsung DDR4 is an optimized solution for highly virtualized environments, high-performance computing and networking. Semiconductor modules of Samsung DDR4 are designed with new system circuit architecture to deliver higher performance with low power requirements than previously available memory products.
The Samsung portfolio of DDR4-based modules using 20nm-class process technology includes registered dual inline memory modules (RDIMMs) and load-reduced DIMMs
(LRDIMMs). These memory modules are available with initial speeds up to 2400 Mbps, increasing to the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC)-defined 3200 Mbps.
The portfolio includes the following modules:
  • 8 GB DDR4 RDIMMs
  • 16 GB DDR4 RDIMMs
  • 32 GB DDR4 RDIMMs and LRDIMMs
  • 64 GB DDR4 LRDIMMs
  • 128 GB DDR4 LRDIMMs

image

From: DRAM Market Grows Up; Industry’s Newfound Maturity Yields Growth Amid Adversity [IHS press release, June 19, 2013]

… After DRAM wafer output peaked in 2008 at 16.4 million 300-millimeter-equivalent wafers, production is expected to decline by 24 percent to 13.0 million this year, according to an IHS DRAM Dynamics Market Brief from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).
The projected cut will be the second straight year of deliberate downsizing following an 8 percent drop-off last year. This year’s output is expected to be slashed by 5 percent compared to 2012, as shown in the attached figure.
… Nearly 65 percent of all DRAM bit shipments went to a desktop or laptop 10 years ago, but that figure is less than 50 percent today and will fall further to south of 40 percent by the end of next year.
Meanwhile, servers and mobile gadgets like smartphones and tablets command an increasing share of DRAM bit shipments.
… The Taiwanese are no longer the powerhouse suppliers they used to be, while notable DRAM makers Qimonda of Germany and Elpida Memory of Japan have gone bankrupt and have been bought out by other players. By the end of this year, only three DRAM manufacturers will remain—Samsung and SK Hynix of South Korea, and U.S.-based Micron Technology. With fewer entities to influence the market, a more conservative approach toward capacity expansion is expected, and more stable growth can follow.
A final factor helping the global DRAM business is the slower pace of advancement in DRAM manufacturing processes. Each new generation of DRAM manufacturing technology is now taking longer to arrive.
The engineering challenges associated with shrinking DRAM size smaller than 30 nanometer [the 20nm class]— and eventually below 20 nanometer [the 10nm class]—are considerable.
The slowing cadence in manufacturing process evolution is resulting in slower bit growth, which is keeping supply in better balance with demand.

Samsung Brings Enhanced Mobile Graphics Performance Capabilities to New Exynos 5 Octa Processor [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.

Samsung SSD 840 Evo – @2013 Samsung SSD Global Summit in Seoul [Notebookitalia YouTube channel, July 18, 2013]

Samsung Unveils New Solid State Drives at its Annual SSD Global Summit [July 18, 2013]

New High-speed 1TB SSD to expedite transition to SSDs
… Samsung unveiled new high-performance, high-density SSDs that offer over 1TB memory storage. Among the highlights were the 840 EVO, a consumer-oriented entry-level, high-performance SATA based SSD offering up to 1TB, and the XS1715, an ultra-fast NVMe* SSD for enterprise storage use offering up to 1.6TB.
As part of its strategy to expand into the consumer market and further popularize SSDs, Samsung plans to initially introduce the Samsung SSD 840 EVO to major global markets in early August. Samsung will expand into additional markets at a later date.
The new Samsung SSD 840 EVO line-up makes use of the industry’s most compact 10-nanometer class** 128Gb high-performance NAND flash memory, which Samsung began mass producing in April. With these chips and Samsung’s proprietary multi-core controller, the Samsung SSD 840 EVO achieves unrivaled value for performance with improved sequential read and write speeds.
In addition, Samsung has developed the XS1715, the industry’s first 2.5-inch NVMe SSD line-up. This device will expand Samsung’s market base for enterprise SSDs, and the company will make them available in the second half of this year.
The new NVMe SSD XS1715 delivers random read performance that is over 10 times faster than Samsung’s former high-end enterprise storage SSD. The new NVMe SSD utilizes both the PCIe 3.0 interface, which is approximately two times faster than the PCIe 2.0 interface, and NVM express technology which accelerates the SSD’s overall speed. …

Samsung Now Mass Producing Industry’s First PCI-Express SSD for Ultra-slim Notebook PCs [July 17, 2013]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. … has begun mass producing the industry’s first PCI-Express (PCIe) solid state drive (SSD) for next-generation ultra-slim notebook PCs. … Samsung started providing the new SSD to major notebook PC makers earlier this quarter. The XP941 lineup consists of 512, 256 and 128GB SSDs. … Samsung intends to continuously expand its production volumes of high-performance 10-nanometer class* NAND flash memory, in helping the company to maintain its lead in PCIe SSDs for ultra-slim PCs and notebook PCs. Furthermore, Samsung plans to introduce next-generation enterprise NVMe SSDs in a timely manner to also take the lead in that high-density SSD market, adding to its competitive edge.

Samsung Now Producing High-Performance SSD for Enterprise Servers and Data Centers [May 21, 2013]

SM843T, for use in high-performance servers and storage in next-generation data centers, including Big Data systems. … strengthens Samsung’s SATA interface enterprise SSD product lineup. Offering up to 960 gigabytes (GB) of memory storage for faster and more efficient Big Data systems and cloud computing environments, the SM843T offers the industry’s most advanced performance level for SATA 6.0 SSDs. … IT managers will see a performance gain of 6 times and energy savings of 30 percent over the widely-used hard disk drives, enabling sharply improved system-level performance and greater energy efficiency at the same time.
… Through mass production of the SM843T, Samsung’s competitive edge in the advanced PC market has expanded into the high value-added enterprise SSD market with the company providing highest quality solutions to its customers. … According to IHS iSuppli, the global SSD market is expected to reach approximately USD 10 billion in revenues by the end of 2013, a 43 percent increase over the previous year, led by sales of enterprise SSDs which it expects will account for approximately 47 percent of the market in 2013.

From: SM843T Data Center Series: Data Center MLC-class SSD High-Performance, Consistently Low Latency and Extreme Write Endurance [Brochure, May 21, 2013]

Samsung has released the SM843T SSD, utilizing consumer 20nm-class MLC NAND Flash, which features consistently low latency, high write endurance, power-loss protection, coupled with a high-level of sustained writes (IOPS)—all at capacitates up to 960GB at an extremely affordable solution. Here are more details about his new drive’s outstanding features:
Exceptional Low Latency and High Write Endurance

Enterprise Power-Loss Protection

High-Capacity SSDs Available

A Workhorse of a Drive
The Samsung SM843T is optimized for sustained random read and write workloads (98,000 IOPS/15,000 IOPS). This represents a 6x increase in write IOPS, in the same price category, as our last generation, award-winning PM830 SSDs.

Samsung Now Producing Four Gigabit LPDDR3 Mobile DRAM, Using 20nm-class Process Technology [April 30, 2013]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced the industry’s first production of ultra-high-speed four gigabit (Gb) low power double data rate 3 (LPDDR3) mobile DRAM, which is being produced at a 20 nanometer (nm) class* process node.
The new 4Gb LPDDR3 mobile DRAM enables performance levels comparable to the standard DRAM utilized in personal computers, making it an attractive solution for demanding multimedia-intensive features on next-generation mobile devices such as high-performance smartphones and tablets.
… According to market research firm, Gartner, the DRAM market is forecast to grow by 13 percent year-over-year to reach $29.6 billion (US) in 2013, with mobile DRAM to exceed $10 billion in sales, for 35 percent of the total DRAM market.

Samsung Mass Producing High-Performance 128-gigabit 3-bit Multi-level-cell NAND Flash Memory [April 11, 2013]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. … announced today that it has begun mass producing a 128-gigabit (Gb), 3-bit multi-level-cell (MLC) NAND memory chip using 10 nanometer (nm)-class* process technology this month. The highly advanced chip will enable high-density memory solutions such as embedded NAND storage and solid state drives (SSDs). … Samsung started production of 10nm-class 64Gb MLC NAND flash memory in November last year, and in less than five months, has added the new 128Gb NAND flash to its wide range of high-density memory storage offerings. The new 128Gb chip also extends Samsung’s 3-bit NAND memory line-up along with the 20nm-class* 64Gb 3-bit NAND flash chip that Samsung introduced in 2010. Further, the new 128Gb 3-bit MLC NAND chip offers more than twice the productivity of a 20nm-class 64Gb MLC NAND chip. …

President Park calls on Korean companies to participate in China’s western development project [arirangnews YouTube channel, June 30, 2013]

President Park Geun-hye wrapped up her last day in China by touring a Samsung semiconductor factory construction site in Xian, Shaanxi Province and visiting the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. Our presidential correspondent Eoh Jin-joo has this report. President Park visited the construction site of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory in Xian on Sunday,… and encouraged Korean companies to take part in China’s western development project and actively break into its domestic market. She stressed that… Shaanxi Province has recently emerged as the new heart of the Chinese economy,… and Korea should pay more attention to the region and take a strategic approach. Shaanxi Province, which is located in Northwest China, posted a near 17 percent increase in GDP last year, and has become a strategic point in Beijing’s policy to develop its western region and domestic market. Samsung has invested a total of 7 billion dollars, the largest investment made in Xian by a Korean company, to build the first ever NAND flash factory in China, in order to meet the increasing demand for semiconductors in the country. President Park also visited the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, one of China’s major historical sites along with the Great Wall and a UNESCO world heritage site… for the first time as Korean president. “By paying a visit to this historical site on her last day in China, President Park is trying to emphasize that communication and understanding of one another through cultural aspects are as important as other economic and security issues between the two countries.” Her visit aimed at laying down the foundation for a stronger trust relationship with China by showing respect to its culture. Many political experts say President Park and Chinese President Xi successfully laid out the blueprint for the upcoming 20 years, rather than just five, in the relationship between the two countries. In particular, President Park secured support from Beijing on her key North Korea policy, the trust-building process on the peninsula, and created a momentum in accelerating the stalled Korea-China free trade agreement negotiations. However,… some point out that it was only “half a success” on the issue of North Korea’s denuclearization,… as the joint statement didn’t actually spell out “Pyongyang’s nuclear program” as the target of denuclearization. Eoh Jin-joo, Arirang News.


Regarding the #2 capex beneficiary, the Display Panel Segment (or as traditionally called: Samsung Display), we know the following:

From: Samsung bolsters OLED display biz [The Korea Times, July 22, 2013]

… The company currently dominates the global demand for small- and medium-sized OLED screens because it supplies such screens to Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer.
But the situation is different in the large-sized TV OLED screen segment. Its biggest rival, LG Display, is catching up by boosting its price-competitive white-based OLED technology.
Major TV manufacturers are also shifting their focus to OLED TVs, which have better profit margins than the currently popular LCD TVs.
In a statement to The Korea Times, Kim Ho-jung, senior manager of Samsung Display’s communication team, said that the firm’s so-called zero-pixel defect OLED (ZPD OLED) screens are better than those of rivals in terms of picture quality and customer value.
“As the world’s most-trusted TV manufacturer, Samsung was consistent in developing technologies. We are confident we will get tangible results by pushing for ZPD OLED screens. The displays have received a warm response both from individual and business clients,” said Kim.
The manager said that the firm has been adjusting panel designs and applying an advanced processing technology to address technological problems such as contamination control. Addressing such problems is key to OLED screens because of their complexity. …
… The company will order equipment from local manufacturers for its third OLED plant, A3. The plant will use sixth-generation glass-cutting technology to produce displays.
Samsung plans to produce OLED screens in this new plant for both tablets and TVs. The plant will go online during the first half of next year, market analysts expect.
They said Samsung Display will thrive because OLED applications will continue to increase, especially as Samsung Electronics releases new product variants using OLED screens. …

Samsung Display to commercialize ‘unbreakable display’ this year [MK News, May 15, 2013]

As early as the fourth quarter of this year, consumers may see a new smartphone whose display is unbreakable when it falls onto the floor. It marks the beginning of an age of flexible displays.
According to industry sources Wednesday, Samsung Display and Samsung Corning Precision Materials successfully developed an unbreakable display early this year and enter into commercial production in the second half of this year. This new display is likely to be used for Samsung’s new strategic smartphone Galaxy Note 3 to be released late this year.
To date, the smartphone display is made from glass, which can be easily broken. To resolve this, Samsung Display developed plastic AMOLED and Samsung Corning released a film-coated display with increased durability.
Consumers tend to be less attentive to the glass part of their smartphone and this is easily broken when it falls, but there will be no worry of this new display is available, an industry source noted.
Plastic materials will also contribute to making lighter smartphones. Plastic AMOLED weighs just one third that of LCD and one half that of conventional AMOLED. The display part accounts for about half of the weight of a smartphone device, causing companies to focus on lighter design.

“Galaxy Note 3” to feature Qulacomm chip, 5.7” screen [MK News, July 25, 2013]

The “Galaxy Note 3,” Samsung’s ambitious work slated for debut in the second half (H2) of this year, will feature a 5.7-inch display. The device will also come with Qualcomm’s mobile application processor “Snapdragon 800,” which runs on LTE-A service, offering twice the speed of LTE.
A knowledgeable source for Samsung Electronics noted, “Samsung had fine-tuning procedures over the specifications of the Galaxy Note 3, which will come to the market in September,” adding “the Galaxy Note 3 will arrive with a 5.7-inch screen, contradicting the earlier rumored 5.99-inch screen”
Samsung Electronics initially designed the Galaxy Note 3 with a 5.99-inch display, but decided to roll out the device with a 5.7-inch screen taking into account the market response to its phablet Galaxy Mega (6.3 inch/5.8 inch). The Galaxy Note series are evolving with wider screens of 5.3, 5.5 and 5.7-inch. The Galaxy Note 3 will offer a screen that seems to be as wide as six-inch, by utilizing the bezel technology like the five-inch “Galaxy S4.”
With the beginning of the LTE-A era, there will be a change in the application processor (AP) that the Galaxy Note 3 will be equipped with. The Galaxy Note 3 to be released in the LTE-available nations will carry Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 instead of Exynos 5 Octa.
Samsung reportedly will reveal the Galaxy Note3 at Berlin’s IFA 2013 conference in September.

But on the same day 갤노트 3, 휘는 폰으로 낼까 말까? article Asian Economy:

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to be released in September with  plastic organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is struggling whether to mount with that or not. Originally equipped with plastic OLED Galaxy Note 3 is developing problems such as yield, but unto the end of August, it is expected to be finalized for deployment. There are 25 days, according to the industry, for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to decide whether the plastic OLED could be mounted or not. …

The major attraction of this business segment was last touted in AMOLED Displays to Have Major Influence on Innovation in the Cloud Computing Era [BusinessWire, May 21, 2013]

AMOLED Displays to Have Major Influence on Innovation in the Cloud Computing Era
“In the cloud computing era, AMOLED displays are most likely to have the greatest amount of influence on innovation in smart devices.” Kinam Kim, CEO of Samsung Display, delivered this statement as part of a keynote speech on “Display and Innovation” to attendees at the Society for Information Display’s Display Week 2013 in the Vancouver Convention Centre today.
During the keynote speech, Mr. Kim said that the future of displays will change considerably, with special attention to be given for the virtually infinite number of imaging possibilities in AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) display technology.
Mr. Kim emphasized that three evolving “environments” are likely to make displays the central focus of the increasingly pervasive use of electronic devices.
The first environment is the spread of cloud computing. In the cloud environment, the capability of electronic networked devices for data processing and storage will be extended infinitely, allowing users everywhere to easily enjoy content that only highly advanced devices can fully process today, including ultra HD (3840 x 2160) images and 3D games. Higher levels of display technology will be required to support our increasing reliance on the cloud.
The second environment is the accelerating evolution of high-speed networks. By 2015, the velocity of 4G LTE will rise to 3 gigabits per second (Gbps), so the transmission time for a two-hour UHD-resolution movie will be under 35 seconds. Mr. Kim said, “As image quality of video content improves, larger and even more vibrant displays will emerge as a key differentiating point in mobile devices.”
The third environment is the spread of connectivity among electronic devices. As the use of Wi-Fi networks explodes, the N-Screen era is on its way. A massive network environment will be established by connecting not only smartphones and tablet PCs but also automobiles, home appliances and wearable computing devices. Due to this explosion in “data flow,” there will be a huge surge of interest in touch-enabled displays.
Mr. Kim said that the innovative advantages of AMOLED technology will allow consumers to realize more possibilities in electronic convenience than we might have ever imagined.
The first innovative advantage of AMOLED, according to Mr. Kim, is the superiority of its color. AMOLED displays can embody true colors closest to natural colors with their color space 1.4 times broader than that of LCD displays. By offering the world’s broadest color gamut – supporting nearly 100% of the Adobe RGB color space, AMOLED will expand the range of displays well suited to printed media, where specialized color is frequently required.
The second innovative advantage of AMOLED is its flexibility and transparency. AMOLED displays can maximize portability by making devices foldable and rollable, and they can also lead innovation in product designs with advantages in curved forms, transparent panels, and lighter weight than other display technologies.
The third innovative advantage of AMOLED displays will be their responsiveness to touch and sensors for detecting all five human senses. Using Samsung’s new Diamond Pixel™ technology, which has been optimized for the human retina, AMOLED displays can now depict natural colors and images with super high resolution.
Mr. Kim went on to say that display applications, with advantages of AMOLED technology, will rapidly spread throughout other business sectors like the automotive, publishing, bio-genetic and building industries.
In the automotive business, AMOLED displays will replace conventional glass and mirrors that have been used for digital mirrors and head-up displays. Capitalizing on their advantages with flexibility, durability and high resistance to temperature changes, AMOLED display panels also will be used for watch displays and for products in the fashion and health care market sectors. Further, in publication and building, AMOLED displays will set the trend for the building market sector with AMOLED architectural displays in and outside buildings being used as highly desirable decorative and information-delivering products.
Mr. Kim expressed confidence that “The display market is unlimited in the amount of growth that it can achieve, as technical innovation continues to accelerate.” And he added that “Samsung Display will play a leading role in the global display industry, as the display company possessing the most advanced AMOLED technology.”

Samsung Curved OLED TV commercial 삼성전자 곡면 OLED TV [n35a2 YouTube channel, July 3, 2013]

Then there are the latest technology advances with Samsung Display Showcasing State-of-the-Art Mobile to Extra-Large-Sized Displays at Display Week 2013 [BusinessWire, May 20, 2013]

Display Week 2013
VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Display announced today that it is showcasing several industry-leading technologies and mobile to extra-large-sized display prototypes at the Society for Information Display’s Display Week 2013, May 21-23, 2013, in the Vancouver Convention Centre (Booth 700). These include a Full HD (1920×1080) mobile AMOLED display with the world’s broadest color gamut, and an 85-inch Ultra HD (3840×2160) LCD TV panel with extremely vivid color and low power consumption.
In addition, Samsung Display shows a unique new Diamond Pixel™ technology being highlighted at the show, and a featured LCD technology that enables local-dimming control in direct LED-based LCD panels.
The world’s first mass-produced 4.99-inch Full HD mobile AMOLED display offers the world’s broadest color gamut with a 94 percent average rate of reproduction for the Adobe RGB color space. The Adobe RGB standard is about 30 percent broader than general sRGB standards.
Samsung Display fulfills the most advanced mobile AMOLED display demands with its Diamond Pixel™ technology. This technology, based on the idea that the human retina reacts more to green than other colors, places more green than red and blue pixels in the pixel structure of AMOLED display panels.
With the new technology, Samsung’s Full HD AMOLED display can provide text messages 2.2 times clearer than HD (1280×720) displays. So, when curvilinear letters on the panel are magnified two or three times, Samsung’s Diamond Pixel™ technology enables text to be reproduced more smoothly (fewer “jaggies”) and accurately than those produced with conventional LCD technology.
Samsung Display is also providing Display Week participants with firsthand experience comparing the color gamut, color accuracy and letter quality of Full HD AMOLED displays in a special “experience zone” within its booth. The booth will provide a clear comparison between AMOLED and LCD displays. Attendees can see not only true crisp colors in the intricate wing pattern of morpho butterfly images, but can also view an image of a strand of knitting wool so detailed that it can only be appreciated using a Full HD AMOLED display.
Furthermore, Samsung Display’s exhibit of an 85-inch ultra HD TV panel showcases a LCD technology that enables local-dimming control in a direct LED-based LCD panel. The panel can save 30 percent of typical LED BLU power consumption. Its local-dimming control enables vivid color rendering including incredible black images, 80 percent brightness uniformity, and a remarkably-enhanced contrast ratio.
For the latest in green technology, Samsung Display is highlighting advanced power-saving solutions for smart mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Here, Samsung Display has innovatively reduced power consumption of AMOLED display by enhancing the luminous efficacy of AMOLED pixels. Samsung Full HD AMOLED displays provide a 25 percent power-savings over that of existing HD AMOLED displays.
Samsung Display is also exhibiting a 10.1-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) LCD for tablets and a 13.3-inch WQXGA+ (3200 x 1800) LCD for notebooks, which each can deliver 30 percent greater power-savings than that of existing LCD tablet displays, by decreasing the number of driver circuits and increasing the efficiency of the LED BLU.
Also, Samsung is spotlighting a 23-inch multi-touch LCD display that can detect 10 touch points simultaneously. The prototype enables playing of the piano with exceptional finesse, or drawing a highly detailed picture on a monitor or a tablet.
About Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
Samsung Display Co., Ltd. is a global leader in display panel technology and products. Employing approximately 39,000 people at seven production facilities and nine sales offices worldwide, Samsung Display specializes in high-quality displays for consumer, mobile, IT and industrial usage, including those featuring OLED (organic light emitting diode) and LCD technologies. As a total solution provider, Samsung Display strives to advance the future with next-generation technologies featuring ultra-thin, energy-efficient, flexible, and transparent displays. For more information, please visit www.samsungdisplay.com.

End of Updates

Praise from competing Taiwan attributing 30 years of Samsung’s well continued success in the “classic” high-tech component space of DRAMs to nothing else than the exceptional “talent management” practice, the cornerstone of the “New Management” introduced in 1993: The lesson to be learned from Samsung: Q&A with Inotera chairman Charles Kau [DIGITIMES, June 27, 2013], you can read the full interview in the end of this post

Q: The failure of Taiwan’s DRAM industry has somehow deepened local makers’ hostility against Samsung Electronics. What is your comment on Samsung?
My own insert here: “[1:10] The efforts and determination with ongoing enourmous investment have made Samsung the world’s leader in memory chip production since early days of 64K DRAM. [1:22]” from Samsung Electronics – Semiconductor Promotional Video 1997 [DatasheetArchiveLtd YouTube channel] below in order to show that the company’s high-tech lead was achieved before “New Management” (DRAM history info is from Samsung), although it was possible to continue only because of that, should be added here as well:
Dec. 1983: Samsung developed 64Kb DRAM in 1983 and went into production in the newly opened fab in Giheung plant. Along with the facility opening, production of 64Kb DRAM was a defining moment for Samsung in its growth as a major semiconductor manufacturer. Dec 1992: With rising sales for its world-class chips, Samsung stepped up to take the title as the world’s top DRAM manufacturer, a title it continues to hold today. Aug. 1994: Samsung introduced the industry’s first 256Mb DRAM well ahead of the competition.
Sidenote #1: With this 256Mb DRAM chip Samsung was able to surge ahead of the Japanese in the same way as those were able to beat Intel, actually forcing Intel out of the DRAM business. See: It’s a Strategic Inflection Point [‘USD 99 Allwinner’, Dec 1, 2012]. If Samsung “New Management” had not been introduced in 1993 Samsung quite probably had been overtaken by the eager Taiwaneese DRAM manufacturers, in the same way as it happenned to Intel, and then to Japanese manufacturers. If you read the full interview in the end of this post you will understand the kind of “failure” of  the whole Taiwanese DRAM industry in its entirety.
A: Many think that Samsung’s achievements rely on support from Korea’s government. But that is only half right. Indeed, Samsung did receive a large amount of government aid prior to 2000, but it has continued to strive after 2000 optimizing its management efforts under company chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Lee has stressed on cultivating its own pool of talent, considering it the most valuable asset of the company. But in Taiwan, most businesses have been focusing on how to reduce production costs and have ignored the value of talent.
Instead of devising measures to fight or compete against Korea companies, Taiwan companies should figure out how Samsung can become as powerful as it is today. After all, we should respect Samsung for its long-term efforts to cultivate its talent, and the way it treats talent – the people who have created the value of Samsung.

Thy typical Western view is not as mature as the Taiwanese one, with statements like “Samsung is a fast follower” in Samsung’s Secret Sauce: A Bloomberg Exclusive [Bloomberg YouTube channel, March 28, 2013], although recognizing Lee Kun-hee’s role

Hudson Square Research Analyst Daniel Ernst and Bloomberg Businessweek’s Sam Grobart take a look at what makes Samsung so successful. They speak on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.”

In fact there were 20 years (see later) of relentless talent management and design innovation, two core elements of Samsung’s global success: watch the Samsung PREMIERE 2013 GALAXY & ATIV Highlights June 20 event video as the latest “demonstration” of the “results” [SamsungTomorrow YouTube channel, June 24, 2013]

This is the highlight video of Samsung PREMIERE 2013 London.
GALAXY NX, The First Interchangeable-Lens Camera with 3G/4G LTE & Wi-Fi Connectivity:
– With the 3G/4G LTE technology, the GALAXY NX allows photographers to stay constantly connected with their world and to express their experiences immediately.
– Superior image quality is available whenever and wherever with the GALAXY NX and array of interchangeable lenses. The 20.3MP APS-C Sensor produces images which are bright and detailed, even in low light conditions, while the DRIMe IV Image Signal Processor delivers the speed and accuracy which today’s photographers demand.
– With Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the functionality of a smartphone is utilized to improve the photographic experience.
Versatile and easy to use, the GALAXY NX combines cutting edge optical performance with connectivity capabilities and galaxy of applications based on Android eco-system, all in one stylish package. The result is a new type of connected device which allows users to turn their experiences into a story that can be instantly shared with anyone they choose, from wherever they might be, in amazing color and outstanding detail.
ATIV Q, A truly convertible Intel Haswell tablet device with the ability to change modes and the power to enjoy both Windows and Android
– Sports an innovative hinge design that allows the user to transform the tablet into 4 functional modes. Float and adjust the display to a comfortable viewing angle Or flip the display to place in the stand mode to watch movies with ease.
– Allows users to experience both Windows 8 and Android 4.2.2 on the same 13.3-inch QHD+(3200 x 1800) device . Users will not only get access to Android apps via Google Play but also be able to transfer files, to share folders and files from Windows 8 to Android, truly marrying the mobile and PC experiences.
ATIV Tab 3, The world’s thinnest Windows 8 tablet with the ability to run all Windows app and programs:
– The frame is incredibly thin and light at only 8.2 millimeters thick (as popular smartphones) and 550g in weight. It features up to 10 hours of battery life.
– Shares the premium design of the GALAXY series. Has improved S-Pen functionality, including high level pen display and S-Pen compatibility with MS Office.
GALAXY S4 zoom, A revolutionary new device that can fulfill the role of both an industry leading smartphone and a high-end compact camera:
– Combining 10x Optical Zoom, 16 Mega Pixel CMOS Sensor, OIS and Xenon Flash with the very latest Samsung GALAXY S4 technology.
GALAXY S4 mini, A powerful yet compact version of Samsung’s bestselling smartphone, GALAXY S4:
– With a 4.3” qHD Super AMOLED display, 107g light weight and compact design, the GALAXY S4 mini is easy to carry and operate with one hand.
– Also boasts powerful performance, equipped with a 1.7GHz dual core processor that allows users to quickly and easily perform data intensive tasks.
GALAXY S4 Active, The perfect companion designed to enhance life experiences of the active user who wants to stay connected while exploring environments from the most rugged mountain trails to the roughest rivers.
– Has qualified protection from dust and water (IP67), so you never have to leave the device at home during a long day at the beach or dusty hike. It is also equipped with a water-resistant earphone jack.
SideSync, A technology which enables users to switch from working on their PC to an Android-based Samsung smartphone with simplicity and ease:
– Simply use your PC keyboard to respond to a text on a mobile phone; view larger maps, photos and multimedia displayed on both devices to make editing files even easier.
– Or use your PC to back up and charge your mobile device so you can get back to the task at hand with less interruptions to work and everyday life.
ATIV One 5 Style, The first all-in-one launched since the expansion of the ATIV brand, representing ultimate convenience in at-home computing.
– Features Samsung SideSync technology, which enables users to effortlessly share content between the PC (here the Windows 8 all-in-one) and their mobile phone.
– Debutes a new feature called HomeSync Lite, which transforms the PCs hard drive into a personal cloud server. HomeSync Lite allows users to back-up their personal files, photos and videos from portable devices to PCs and access it remotely via a mobile device anytime, anywhere. Multiple family members can privately manage individual accounts via the One 5 Style, truly making it a hub for the entire family.
Sidenote #2Samsung Unifies Best-in-Class Windows PCs Under Newly Expanded ATIV Brand [Samsung Mobile Press release, April 25, 2013] i.e. “… expanding the ATIV brand to include its leading Windows® -based PCs. ATIV, previously the brand for the company’s Smart PC Windows-based hybrid devices, now represents the convergence of PC and mobile technologies and unites all of Samsung’s Windows PCs and devices under one cohesive brand. In tune with the needs and wants of today’s evolving consumers, the Samsung ATIV line offers a variety of market leading Windows PC devices designed to extend the mobile experience from your handset to laptop and vice versa, making work more seamless and life more convenient.” ATIV actually is coming from “CreATIV –> OriginATIV –> InnovATIV” (with the last letter “e” omitted as it is not pronounced either).

Then watch these technology videos in order to understand Samsung stance in areas which will be most critical for its ATIV effort (as its GALAXY effort is already a huge success):
Samsung ATIV Q Hands On – Windows 8/Android Convertible Ultrabook [minipcpro YouTube channel, June 20, 2013]

Samsung ATIV Q Hands On – http://www.mobilegeeks.com – We are going hands on with the new Samsung ATIV Q Hybrid-Ultrabook with a 13.3-inch qHD+ (3200×1800) display running Windows 8 and Android

[Samsung ATIV] SideSync Introduction [SamsungNotebook YouTube channel, May 9, 2013]

See how SideSync, Samsung’s latest innovation, connects your mobile and PC!

Introducing Samsung HomeSync Lite [SamsungNotebook YouTube channel, July 1, 2013]

Meet Samsung HomeSync Lite, the new PC solution that allows you to back-up content using your PC storage and access it away from home with other devices. You can have your own cloud on your PC, connecting to many of your Samsung digital devices, accessing various formats of the files, on up to 5 different accounts! Enjoy your personal cloud on your PC.

[MWC2013] Samsung HomeSync Presentation [SamsungTomorrow YouTube channel, Feb 26, 2013]

At MWC 2013 in Spain Samsung has introduced its innovative personal home cloud platform, Samsung HomeSync, which enables users to save, share and control contents across multiple smart devices in the living room.

Next watch the details of the June 20 representative event in order to discover every aspect of Samsung innovations there: Samsung PREMIERE 2013 London (Full Version)
[SamsungTomorrow YouTube channel, recorded June 20, published June 24, 2013]

STARTING AT [31:30] OF THE RECORDED VIDEO !!!

And here is a recent background article about those 20 years mentioned earlier:
Talent, design lead Samsung’s success [The Korea Times, June 20, 2013]

image
Kevin Lane Keller from Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, the United States, delivers a keynote speech during a forum organized to highlight the success of Samsung Group over the past two decades since chairman Lee Kun-hee declared his “New Management” philosophy in 1993, at The K-Hotel in southern Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Samsung Group

Experts advise technology giant to focus more on marketing

Talent management and design innovation are two core elements that have spurred Samsung’s successful transformation into a global player over the past two decades, according to global business experts, Thursday.

They pointed out that Samsung’s future depends upon how it will improve marketing strategies and combine a new breed of software and hardware.

Such analysis came at an International Forum billed as “Twenty years of Samsung’s New Management” organized by The Korean Academic Society of Business Administration at The K-Hotel, southern Seoul.

Under the slogan “New Management,” Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee declared his goal  in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1993, of shifting toward quality-focused growth not quantity-highlighted expansion. Lee then ordered employees to change everything but their wives and children.

imageSamsung was a true transformer over the last 20 years in a very positive way. Its business transformation is a model for all modern multinationals and the transformation well illustrates the competitive advantage that form a strong link between business strategy and people strategy,” said Patrick M. Wright, bicentennial chair of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, during the forum.

He cited talent assessment and review programs as one crucial part behind Samsung’s success.

“Samsung’s transformation has had people at the center. The human resources function at Samsung has played a critical role in enabling this transformation. The human resources system has developed to enable the transformation of the New Management that has constantly evolved to meet new challenges and achieve new objectives,” Wright said.

The scholar said that New Management was supported by strategy execution by top Samsung management.

“New human capital pools require new and different ways of attracting, developing, motivating and retaining those people. This requires human resources functions to design, develop and deliver human resources system and processes.”

Samsung lets the core talent set the business goal rather than simply implementing the given goal. This creates more buy-ins, and makes the objectives more directly relevant to the situation,” the global human resources expert analyzed.

Amid the industry’s massive shift toward software, Samsung’s human resources head Won Ki-chan told The Korea Times that it has 36,000 software resources, globally, and added the firm is going to hire more, although the Samsung executive declined to elaborate further.

New Management also awakened the corporate for the importance of fine-tuned marketing strategies, said a marketing expert in the United States.

Kevin Lane Keller from Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, the United States, has given six marketing imperatives for better understanding of Samsung’s success story.

Samsung puts a lot to design. Actually, it has a strong design philosophy. Samsung has developed creative ad campaigns, strong in-store programs and high-profile sponsorships,” said Keller, who is an international leader in the study of brands, branding and strategic brand management.

Emphasizing its consistency to launch new products to the time-to-markets, Keller said Samsung Electronics has been consistent in maximizing long-term growth by entering new markets. “This is the importance of innovation and relevance,” he said.

“Samsung has taken a big picture view of marketing effects and knew what’s working. It’s been achieving greater accountability for marketing investments in brands. Samsung was launching very clever marketing campaigns. Advertizing was another factor that lifted Samsung over the two decades.” 

In 1993, Samsung was just a small supplier that sold cheap home appliances and handsets. Now, it is the world’s biggest technology firm by revenue, and a leading brand consultancy, InterBrand, ranked it as the ninth global brand in 2012.

Challenges

Keller advised Samsung to improve marketing, further, in a highly-competitive consumer electronics market.

“Be a leader, tap even more into emotions and manage brand architecture carefully,” he said.

“Yes, this is a challenge. But Samsung overcame Sony and Apple and now has achieved firm leadership. Leadership isn’t something that shouldn’t be earned in a single day. But Samsung must keep being innovative and relevant,” he stressed.

According to the professor, Samsung must be confident in communications and bold in action, while the company needs to cultivate yearning to purchase and pride of ownership.

“My final advice is that Samsung needs to recognize the pros and cons of flagship products. Keep it simple and clear.”

imageHiroshi Katayama, professor at Waseda University in Japan, has pointed out that the future of Samsung’s next decades will be dependent upon how it advances its supply chain management system and how the company will develop and implement effective transfer methods in between sites, business functions, business divisions and industries.

Kenn Allen, president at the Civil Society Consulting Group, has urged Samsung to show more willingness toward corporate citizenship-related programs, internationally, so long as to be recognized as a true global leader.

“Primary investment for corporate citizenship programs is in Korea, thus limiting global impact internally and externally. Corporate volunteering needs to be valued more,” Allen said.

Then another article on the same subject: Talent, High-Speed Decision-Making Lead Samsung’s Success [Korea IT Times, June 24, 2013]

SEOUL, KOREA – Talent-oriented management and high-speed decision-making have led Samsung Group’s remarkable success, a global business expert said.

At an international forum titled the “Twenty years of Samsung’s New Management” held at the K-Hotel in Yangjae-dong, Seoul on June 20, Hiroshi Katayama, a professor of Waseda University in Japan, said, “The characteristics of Samsung’s quality management are speed management, timing management, pursuing perfection, talent-oriented management, seeking synergy effects and exact insight of business nature.

Samsung succeeded in removing unnecessary business process and being equipped with globally standardized development system, producing a rapid decision-making system.”

He also pointed out at the forum organized by the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration that the future of Samsung’s next decades will be dependent upon how it advances its supply chain management system and how the company will develop and implement effective transfer methods in between sites, business functions, business divisions and industries.

Under the slogan “New Management,” Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee declared his goal in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1993, of shifting toward quality-focused growth not quantity-highlighted expansion. Lee then ordered employees to change everything but their wives and children.

Meanwhile, Prof. Kevin Lane Keller of the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, the United States, has given six marketing imperatives for better understanding of Samsung’s success story.

Keller, who is an international leader in the study of brands, branding and strategic brand management, said, “Samsung puts an emphasis on design. Actually, it has a strong design philosophy. Samsung has developed creative advertisement campaigns, strong in-store programs and high-profile sponsorships.”

Stressing its consistency to launch new products to the time-to-markets, Keller said Samsung Electronics has been consistent in maximizing long-term growth by entering new markets.

He said, “Samsung has taken a big picture view of marketing effects and knew what’s working. It has been achieving greater accountability for marketing investments in brands. Samsung was launching very clever marketing campaigns. Advertizing was another factor that lifted Samsung over the two decades.”

Keller advised Samsung to improve marketing further in a highly-competitive consumer electronics market, noting “Become a leader, tap even more into emotions and manage brand architecture carefully.”

The professor also said, “Samsung must be confident in communications and bold in action, while the company needs to cultivate yearning to purchase and pride of ownership. Samsung needs to recognize the pros and cons of flagship products. Keep it simple and clear.”

Prof. Song Jae-yong of Seoul National University said, “Samsung is giant, but it is a rapid organization. It is well diversified by field and boasts of top-class global competitiveness in each sector. Its most powerful strongpoint is its managerial system that has optimized merits of the Japanese and American-style managerial systems.”

Commenting that Samsung is equipped with the fastest response system in the world by securing global ERP and SCM management systems through massive investment, Song said, “Samsung is possible to develop new products at a faster pace than its global competitors as it has secured both finished products such as smartphone and TV and relevant parts, including semiconductor and display.”

At the forum, Patrick M. Wright, bicentennial chair of the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, also said, “Samsung was a true transformer over the last 20 years in a very positive way. Its business transformation is a model for all modern multinationals and the transformation well illustrates the competitive advantage that form a strong link between business strategy and people strategy.”

Noting that talent assessment and review programs are important reasons behind Samsung’s success, Wright said, “Samsung’s transformation has had people at the center. The human resources function at Samsung has played a critical role in enabling this transformation. The human resources system has developed to enable the transformation of the New Management that has constantly evolved to meet new challenges and achieve new objectives.”

Saying that New Management was supported by strategy execution by top Samsung management, the scholar said, “New human capital pools require new and different ways of attracting, developing, motivating and retaining those people. This requires human resources functions to design, develop and deliver human resources system and processes.”

In the meantime, Prof. Kim Seong-soo of Seoul National University, said, “Samsung’s personnel management system has become a foundation to lead new management philosophy and basic strategies. To effectively cope with rapidly changing managerial environment, Samsung has secured talents to lead the future management preemptively and changed market strategies frequently by using the accumulated human resources.”

Lee Kun-hee, Jae-yong make business trip to Japan, China

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee and his son Jae-yong, vice chairman of the electronics maker, flew to Japan and China, respectively, on June 20.

The junior Lee left the Gimpo International Airport around 9:00 a.m. for Beijing, along with Kim Suk, CEO of Samsung Securities, and Lee Sang-hoon, head of the managerial support office of Samsung Electronics.

His business trip is designed to check Samsung’s local corporations and business offshoots in China ahead of President Park Geun-hye’s official visit to China from June 27-30.

President Park Geun-hye will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the first day of her visit to China. The summit is expected to play a crucial role in inter-Korean relations, which are showing signs of improving as the two are set to hold a minister-level meeting for the first time in six years. Beijing has a big say in Pyongyang as its main benefactor.

The vice chairman is also scheduled to visit the U.S. before returning home.

Meanwhile, Chairman Lee left the Gimpo International Airport around 10:00 a.m. for Japan. His overseas trip this time seems to seek a new business strategy beyond the New Management.

Finally what 2 years ago The Paradox of Samsung’s Rise article by Khanna.T, Song. J and Lee.K in the Harvard Business Review [July-August, 2011, pp. 142-147] found after seven years of tracing Samsung’s progress:

Samsung’s unlikely success in mixing Western best practices with an essentially Japanese business system holds powerful lessons for today’s emerging giants.
As today’s emerging giants face the challenge of moving beyond their home markets, they have much to learn from the pathbreaking experience of South Korea’s Samsung Group, arguably the most successful globalizer of the previous generation.
Twenty years ago, few people would have predicted that Samsung could transform itself from a low-cost original equipment manufacturer to a world leader in R&D, marketing, and design, with a brand more valuable than Pepsi, Nike, or American Express. Fewer still would have predicted the success of the oath it has taken. For two decades now, Samsung has been grafting Western business practices onto its essentially Japanese system, combining its traditional low-cost manufacturing prowess with an ability to bring high-quality, high-margin brands products swiftly to market.
The two sets of business practices could not have seemed more incompatible. Into an organization focused on continuous process improvement, Samsung introduced a focus on innovation. Into a homogeneous workforce, Samsung introduced outsiders who could not speak the language and were unfamiliar with the company’s culture. Into a Confucian tradition of reverence for elders, Samsung introduced merit pay and promotion, putting some young people in positions of authority over their elders. It has been a path marked by both disorienting disequilibrium and intense exhilaration.
Like Samsung, today’s emerging giants-Haier in China, Infosys in India, and Koc in turkey, for instance-face a paradox: Their continued success requires turning away from what made them successful. The tightly integrated business systems that have worked in their home markets are unlikely to secure their future in global markets. To move to the next level, they, too, must reinvent themselves in ways that may seen contradictory. And when they reach new plateaus, they will need to do so again.
For seven years, we have traced Samsung’s progress as it has steadily navigated their paradox to transcend initial success in its home markets and move onto the world stage. It is a story we believe holds many important lessons for the current generation of emerging giants seeking to do the same.
The rise of a World Leader
My own insert here: History of Samsung [cnetuk YouTube channel, Feb 20, 2012]
Founded in 1938, the Samsung Group is the largest corporate entity in South Korea, with $227.3 billion in revenue in 2010 and 315 thousand employees worldwide. Best known for its flagship, Samsung Electronics (SEC)-producer of semiconductors, cell phones, TVs, and LCD panels-the group’s highly diversified businesses span a wide range of industries, including financial services, machinery, shipbuilding, and chemicals.
By 1987, when Lee Kun-Hee succeeded his father as only the second chairman in the company’s history, Samsung was the leader in Korea in most of its markets. But its overseas position as a low-cost producer was becoming untenable in the face of intensifying competition from Japanese electronics makers, which were setting up manufacturing plants in Southeast Asia, and rising domestic wages in South Korea’s newly liberalizing economy.

In the early 1990s, Lee spotted an opportunity in the reluctance of Japanese companies-the analog markets leaders-to adopt digital technology, with consumers were flocking to in cameras, audio equipment, and other electronic products. This opened the door for Samsung to surpass its rivals if it developed the agility, innovativeness, and creativity to succeed in the new digital market.

For those qualities Lee looked to the West. In 1993, he launched the New Management initiative to import Western best practices related to strategy formulation, talent management, and compensation into Samsung’s existing business model. The aim was to markedly improve marketing, R&D, and design while retaining core strengths in manufacturing, continuous improvement, and plant operations. Execution of this mix-and-match strategy took three broad forms:

  • A formal process to identify, adapt, and implement the most appropriate Western best practices.
  • Steady efforts to make Samsung’s culture more open to change by bringing outsiders in and sending insiders abroad.
  • Intervention by Lee to protect longterm investments from short-term financial pressures.
In this way, slowly and steadily but not always smoothly, Samsung has built its hybrid management system as a series of experiments, first in SEC and eventually throughout the Samsung Group.
The results have been impressive: By 2004, SEC was delivering startling profitability numbers-$10.3 billion (almost 19%) on $55.2 billion in revenue-making it the world’s second most profitable manufacturer, behind Toyota. Since then, even in the wake of the recent global economic crisis, SEC’s profits have been higher than those of the five largest Japanese electronics firms (Song, Panasonic, Hitachi, and Sharp) combined. The company achieved record profits of about $14.4 billion on $138 billion in revenue in 2010, compared with $11.7 billion for Intel, $0.86 billion for Panasonic, and a net loss of $3.2 billion for Sony. From obscurity in the 1990s, the Samsung brand rose to number 19 on the 2010 Interbrand global making, with a value of $19.4 billion. But it wasn’t easy.
A Tightly Fitting System
Samsung’s Japanese roots are strong: when the company was founded, South Korea was a Japanese colony. Samsung’s first chairman, Lee’s father, was educated in Japan, and the company built its corporate muscle in industries-consumer electronics, memory chips, and LCD panels-that Japan once dominated. Accordingly, Samsung rose to prominence in its home market under the Japanese model of unrelated diversification and vertical integration in pursuit of synergies. Diversification suited South Korea’s weak external capital markets because it allowed the company to rely on internally generated cash from one operation to fund the others.
The Japanese hierarchical labor model also suited the Korean context. The institutions underpinning South Korea’s managerial labor markets were underdeveloped, making mobility across corporations rare. The absence of a well-developed stock market and of sufficient competition for talent, combined with a strong Confucian tradition of respect for elders, led to a seniority-based competitions and promotion system. To compete outsider its home markets, Lee knew, Samsung would need to move beyond its well-integrated system to engage with non-Koreans in non-Korean contexts. That means introducing practices inconsistent with the status quo.
Lee did not underestimate how unsettling that would be. Accordingly, he took great care to change only what needed to be changed and to ensure that Samsung adopted the most appropriate practices in a way people could understand and embrace. The company established new organizations to seek out and adapt best practices from abroad. Lee advocated directly for the practices he deemed most critical and solicited employees’ input in the development of each. Results were carefully measured. If resistance was too strong, the company delayed adoption, modified the practices, or-as was the case with stock options-abandoned it.
In this way, Samsung injected some highly incompatible business practices into its business model. Beginning in 1997, for instance, the company slowly introduced into its seniority-based pay structure a merit-based compensation system modeled after the best practices of General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, and Texas Instruments. The amount an excellent performer could be given relative to a poor performer in the same job increased each year, up to a differential of 50%. Similarly, Samsung took steps to allow high performers to advance more rapidly through its seniority-based promotion system by steadily shortening the minimum number of years they were required to stay at a particular level.
Other processes could be adapted and adopted more globally. GE’s six Sigma, for example, fit well with Samsung’s continuous improvement and specialists were involved in the system, whereas at Samsung the entire rank and file participated. Samsung similarly adopted a socialized profit-sharing program, modeled after HP’s, in which all employees, not just top and general managers, are eligible for a bonus based on a percentage of the salary.
This careful approach to importing Western business practices reduced disruption but also slowed progress. So, in a company where the chairman’s authority coexisted with a need for consensus in the managerial ranks, Lee sought to increase receptively to ideas from elsewhere. This he did from outside and by sending insiders abroad.
Bring outsiders in
It is perhaps an indication of the insularity of Samsung’s culture that for decades, the only outsiders the company recruited were ethnic Koreans, as far back as 1983, when it entered the memory chip business, the company had hired ethnic Korean engineers and executives away from Intel, IBM, and Bell Labs. These people had played crucial roles in Samsung’s ascent in less than a decade to global leadership in the chip industry. But when Lee tried to extend the approach to Samsung’s senior executive ranks-what the company refers to as S-level talent-the newcomers met with a formidable wall of resistance.
And little wonder. Because promotions at Samsung had always come from within, the newcomers were perceived to be taking advancement away from incumbents. Not surprisingly, incumbent managers closed ranks, setting the newcomers up to fail by withholding important information, exaggerating their mistakes, and excluding them socially.
To be fair, this reaction was in part justified: At first, some of Samsung’s recruits had a poor grasp of what was expected of them, and sometimes they were actually more junior than the company had intended. What’s more, success is contextual- to some degree S-level hires had performed well in their previous jobs because of their familiarity with the system. The tightly knit nature of Samsung’s culture was a separate issue that needed special attention.
Take the case of Eric Kim, who in 1999 was recruited to be SEC’s chief marketing office. Nowadays, most senior SEC executives recognize Kim as the person who initiated the “Samsung DigitAll: Everyone’s Invited” marketing campaign and established the strategy that turned Samsung into a truly global brand. SEC CEO Yun Jong-Yong threw his weight behind Kim from the start, declaring to his other senior executives, “Some of you may want to put him on top of a tree and then shake him down. If anybody tires that, they will be severely reprimanded.”
Nevertheless, through it all, Kim had a hard time getting support from other senior people. “Though Yun fully supported m and asked other senior executives to help me, they were reluctant to do so in my first two years at SEC,” he told us in 2004 interview. “Now they help me on my task-related issues, but I still feel that I am emotionally isolated from them.” In conversations we had in 2004 with senior executives at SEC, several were still downplaying Kin’s contribution to the dramatic improvement of SEC’s brand. Three months after those conversations, when Kim’s contact ended, he left SEC to become the chief marketing officer at Intel. Improving the quality of the S-level recruits-and their reception inside the company-was no small task, and Lee thought expansively about how to address it. Beginning in the early 1990s, Samsung sent international recruiting officers (IROS) abroad to familiarize themselves with foreign talent.
And in 2002, Lee made 30% of the annual performance appraisal of Samsung affiliates’ CEO dependent on hiring and retaining S-level talent. Thus motivated, Yun, for instance, took steps to ease newcomers into the organization by having them serve in an advisory capacity in their first months to get to know something of their colleagues, the culture, and the business before taking up their posts. He also instituted a formal mentoring program in which he met at least quarterly with each S-level recruit to give and receive feedback.
My own insert here: Samsung Global Strategy Group [hamho92 YouTube channel, Sept 12, 2012]
This is to showcase who we are at the Samsung Global Strategy Group, based in Seoul Korea. For more information on who we are, what we do, and what our mission is in the Samsung Group, please visithttp://sgsg.samsung.com
Samsung’s efforts to recruit and retain non-Korean MBAs and PHDs were hindered by cultural, social, and political tensions, all of which were magnified by the language barrier. To help assimilate these recruits, Lee in 1997 ordered group headquarters to set up a unique internal management consulting unit, the Global Strategy Group (GSG), which reports directly to the CEO. Its members-non-Korean graduates of top Western business and economic programs who have worked for such leading global companies as Mckinsey, Goldman Sachs, and Intel-spend fully two years in GSG and are required to learn rudimentary Korean before taking up their posts. Even so, many of them have eventually been assigned to overseas subsidiaries, usually in their home countries.
Culture fit is a hard nut to crack. Of the 208 non-Korean hired into GSG since it was created, 135 were still working for Samsung as of December 2010. The most successful are those who have taken the greatest pains to fit into the Korean culture.
Still, the rate of acceptance has been steadily rising. Before GSG, no non-Korean MBAs worked at SEC for more than three years, but fully 32% of the non-Korean MBAs recruited to SEC the year GSG was established were still with the company three years later. Over the next 10 years, that figure rose to 67%. The effect of these employees on the organizations has been something like that of a steady trickle of water on stone. As more people from GSG are assigned to SEC, their Korean colleagues have had to change their work styles and mind-sets to accommodate Westernized practices, slowly and steadily making the environment more friendly to ideas from abroad. Today, SEC goes out of its way to ask GSG for more newly hired employees.
Sending insiders out
In the late 19th century, the Japanese imperial government sent its elite officers overseas to study successful Western practices and institutions. They brought back, among other innovations, the British postal system, the French judicial system, the American system of primary education, and the German military organization, adding innovative features of their own acts similarly, sending high potentials to Japan for advanced degrees in engineering; to the United States for further education in marketing and management; and to Singapore, Hong Kong, and New York for training in high fiancé. On returning home, these employees fill key positions and, in implementing what they have learned, become important change agents.
Squarely in this position is Samsung’s regional specialist program, arguably the company’s most important globalization effort. Each year for more than two decades, Samsung has sent some 200 talented young employees through an intensive 12-week language-training course followed by one full year abroad. For the first six months, their only job is to become fluent in the language and culture and to build networks by making friends and exploring the country. In the second six months, they carry out one independent project of their choice. Initially sent mainly to developed countries, in the past 10 years they have gone more often to emerging regions, especially China and, most recently, Africa.
Like their colleagues who have trained abroad, the specialists come back to major posts at headquarters or in the business units at home and abroad. In those roles they disseminate information about how successful foreign companies operate, and they advocate for and experiment with best practices.
It would be hard to overestimate the value of the connections regional specialists forge. One of the first specialists, for example, went to Thailand in 1990, where he became fluent in the language and established relationships with prominent local figures. He stayed on to earn an MBA at the Sasin Graduate Institut of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University, the same school that many of Thailand’s prime minister and high-ranking government officials and corporate CEOs have attended. From his immersion he gained a comprehensive understanding of the country’s regulation and tax systems. He close ties enable him to introduce SES’s TV, audio, and video products to Thailand’s elite and to recruit a vice president of Hitachi to Samsung at a time when Hitachi was a market leader and Samsung was virtually unknown.
He is hardly alone. Another regional specialist, who went to Indonesia in 1991, used his language fluency and personal networks to establish a sales subsidiary whose sales doubled annually for three consecutive years. A third, sent to Bangalore in 2009, devoted his project to aiding a rural community there and then applied the intimate knowledge he had gained to the development of home electronics that Samsung could sell in the region.
Regional studies are markedly out of fashion these days in business schools, as discipline-based research in economics, political science, sociology, and the like has taken precedence. This has had the inadvertent effect of diminishing geographic intelligence-a global institution void, we argue, that Samsung is a leader in filling. In fact, Samsung’s experience suggests that it may be time for Western companies and business schools to place more emphasis on developing strong regional connections and expertise.
What only the Chairman can do
Samsung’s globalization efforts have taken substantial investments of time, money, and executive will. Some S-level hires took the IROs 10 years to recruit. SEC spends about $ 100 thousand over and above annual compensation to train and support the opportunity costs and turnover risks the company incurs by taking elite employees away from key positions for 15 months. These investments-which require fundamental trade-offs between the short and the long term and between cultural fit and domain expertise-have been made in good times and in bad, often over the objections of Samsung’s top managers. That would not have been possible without Lee’s unambiguous and consistent involvement.
Five years after the launch of the S-level recruitment program, support for it from Samsung Group affiliates’ CEO was distinctly lukewarm and would probably have remained so had Lee no tied so much of their compensation to its success. The Global Strategy Group, known within the company as the “chairman’s project”, would probably not have survived the Asian financial crisis-so deep it helped usher the Daewoo Group into bankruptcy-had Lee not funded it even in the face of Samsung’s own record-breaking losses.
David Steel, executive vice president of SEC and the highest-ranking person to come out of the GSG noted that the commitment of top management and the support of the managerial ranks are both necessary for the success of a program like this. Much of the chairman’s influence is transmitted symbolically. But the substance and symbolism of that support that are no small thing.
My own insert: How Samsung Design Evolved [SamsungTomorrow YouTube channel, Aug 29, 2012]
Mr Donghoon Chang, Senior Vice President of Design Group at Samsung, talks about philosophy, progress and future of Samsung design.
Lee’s long-term focused has been essential to his most recent initiative: the development of Samsung’s design expertise, a capacity the chairman believes will be critical for the company’s continued growth. Just as many never imagined that Samsung could become a dominant global player, many question its design aspirations but Lee set the agenda back in 1996. That year Samsung established and funded the Samsung Art& Design institute in collaboration with Parson the New School for Design in New York.
My own insert here: Professional Assessment on Samsung’s Design [SamsungTomorrow YouTube channel, Aug 29, 2012]
Professionals in the industrial design have assessments on Samsung’s design.
A substantial number of graduates of the intensive three-year training course have joined Samsung as designers. Following that lead, SEC has established design research institutes in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, China and India. Each year SEC sends 15 designers abroad to prominent design schools for one to three years to learn cutting-edge trends awards. Combining this design excellence with its traditional technological competence has allowed the once low-cost imitator to sustain a high-price strategy for its TVs and cell phones.
As long and hard as the company’s transition has been, the hybrid model has brought Samsung not to a pinnacle but to another plateau, which it will once again need to transcend. To keep steadily moving upward, it will have to reach a higher level of diversity and decentralization-to become a Brazilian company in Brazil, for instance, not Korean company that does business in Brazil. It will need to find new models for new beyond its current strengths and deal with further paradoxes that may arise. That is an effort that bears watching not only by the new generation of emerging market companies but also by Western competitions, which someday may reach the limits of their ability to impose Western culture on the rest of the world. Advice from a recruiting executive
Choi Chi-Hun, a graduate of Tufts with an MBA from George Washington University, spent 19 years working at GE, six at its headquarters in the United States, before he was recruited to Samsung in September 2007. Although he was a native Korean who’d served in the country’s air force and even worked at Samsung for some months in 1985, he went through the external senior-level initiation process, spending seven months as an adviser to Yum Jong-Yong, the CEO of Samsung Electronics (SEC), and a year and seven months as president of SEC’s printer business before serving as CEO of Samsung SDI and now as CEO of Samsung’s credit card business.
As an outsider with deep inside knowledge, Choi took to fit into the culture and as a result saw none of the assimilation problems that dogged many of his senior-level colleagues. He did not speak English with his Korean colleagues. He showed full respect to subordinates older than he was. He generally behaved as other Korean employees of Samsung did.
His advice to his fellow senior-level recruits is to do the same. Choi points to one of his successful proteges, whom he helped Samsung recruit in part because he knew the man, would steep himself in Korean culture and be game, for instance, to eat kimchi and drink Korean wine at the dinner party given in his honor on his first day.
Still, Choi is clear about the critical benefits outsiders bring to the organization. As someone intimately familiar with GE’s talent management system, for instance, he was in the ideal position to share the challenge that companies like GE face, which generally do not come across in a benchmarking exercise, offer potential solutions, and suggest which parts of the system Samsung could successfully adopt. Senior recruits from other companies bring similar knowledge, along with a fresh eye for ineffective and inefficient practices that insiders may take for granted. Assimilated as he is, Choi has advocated for a more market-oriented, performance-oriented, and meritocratic culture, aiming to cultivate at Samsung the meritocracy he knew at GE.
Tarun Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann professor at Harvard Business School and a coauthor of Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map For Strategy And Execution (Harvard Business Review press, 2010).
Jaeyong Song and Kyungmook Lee are professors at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Finally the full interview about The lesson to be learned from Samsung: Q&A with Inotera chairman Charles Kau [DIGITIMES, June 27, 2013] in order to understand the kind of “failure” of the whole Taiwanese DRAM industry in its entirety

imageInotera Memories and Nanya Technology, two DRAM subsidiaries under the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), have survived the latest industry consolidation. Nanya has transformed itself into a niche memory device provider, while Inotera has strengthened its ties with Micron Technology, making it a primary DRAM production base for the US-based memory chipmaker.

Charles Kau, chairman of Inotera and concurrently president of Nanya Technology, plays an important role in Nanya’s repositioning process and Inotera’s integration with Micron. Kau shared his insights into the supply-demand situation and technology development of the current DRAM industry, as well as the success of Samsung Electronics, in a recent interview with Digitimes.

Q: How is the recent upsurge in the mobile communications business impacting the memory industry?
A: The arrival of the mobile communications era actually is the beginning of the second-phase development of today’s Internet networks. The number of handset users is estimated at two billion at present and is likely to jump to five billion or over 70% of the global population by 2018. So the impact of the ongoing mobile device revolution will come greater than expected, and mobile communications combined with cloud storage and computing will be the mainstream of the future industrial development. There will be also tremendous business opportunities to emerge from related cloud computing and mobile communications sectors.
The DRAM industry will also benefit from the second-phase of the mobile device revolution. Previously, most smartphones came with built-in high capacity NAND flash chips, but with growing popularity of cloud storage, more and more digital information will be stored in the cloud in the future, while the memory capacity of handsets will no longer post strong growth. However, we have seen the development where the functions of handsets have become more and more complex, requiring strong computing capacity, and therefore ramping up demand for mobile RAM chips.
Q: The supply of PC DRAM is currently falling short of demand compared to a freefall in prices experienced previously. What is your opinion?
A: The increasing popularity of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, in the past two years has resulted in a sharp decline in demand for PCs and consequently for PC DRAM chips.
However, the rise of smartphones has then opened a new outlet for DRAM. Given global shipments of smartphones and tablet are expected to top 700 and 200 million units, respectively, in 2013, the consumption of DRAM chips by the mobile device sector will be enough to replace 60% of memory chips consumed by PC products previously.
Meanwhile, since PC DRAM has a price advantage over mobile RAM, white-box tablet vendors in China have been using PC DRAM, instead of mobile RAM, for production of mobile devices for cost reduction, while reducing power consumption. This alternative has also contributed to the recent shortfall of PC DRAM.
Q: How would the recent change in the supply side of the DRAM industry and the evolution of some key technologies affect the future development of the memory industry?
A: The withdrawal of Germany- and Japan-based players from the DRAM industry contributed to the recent capacity consolidation of the memory industry. Meanwhile, the industry has reached a critical point where the processing node of DRAM chips could not be further shrunk below 20nm.
The processing limit has prevented DRAM makers from committing to continual investment in the industry since it would not be a worthy investment for spending up to US$500-600 million to build a 12-inch fab for manufacture of only 20nm chips.
So chipmakers are waiting for the arrival of 18-inch fabs, rather than ramping up new capacity at 12-inch ones. From the point of view of Inotera and Nanya Technology, we certainly will not commit new investments to build 12-inch fabs, and instead will seek opportunities to step into the 18-inch segment.
Q: Taiwan’s DRAM industry seems to have retreated to the previous OEM business model instead of developing technologies in-house. What is your comment on this reverse transition?
A: The Taiwan government’s policy pertaining to the development of the DRAM industry has been wrong since the beginning; it should not have allowed the establishment of so many DRAM makers at the same time. The policy diluted the resources for DRAM makers and undermined Taiwan’s efforts to develop home-grown technologies.
DRAM companies set up during 1995-1996, including Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (now Powerchip Technology), Winbond Electronics and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS), were basically small- to medium-size businesses, but all of them have since developed related technologies of their own, which is unfavorable to implementing a possible industry consolidation.
Q: What is the current strategy for handling the DRAM business at the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) since Taiwan was expelled from the latest industry consolidation?
A: FPG’s investments in the DRAM industry have resulted in countless losses, but it is still committing new investments to the industry and has continued to survive, while managing to retain two valuable resources for Taiwan and for the industry. Firstly, FPG [via Inotera] and Micron Technology have jointly retained a DRAM production base outside Korea. It will be unfavorable to the supply chain of the global IT industry as well as system providers if only Korea makers are left for the manufacture of DRAM chips.
Secondly, Nanya Technology under the FPG has shifted its role from being a commodity DRAM chipmaker to a provider of niche memory devices, which are strategically important components for a wide variety of consumer electronics products.
The latest industry integration has also made the global DRAM industry an oligopoly market where Korea makers together hold a majority of market share. Additionally, the industry’s relocation of its capacity for production of mobile RAM chips for smartphones and tablets, as well as the existing demand for standard DRAM parts, has resulted in a tight supply of niche memory devices in 2013.
Since Nanya boasts its own technologies, products and fabs, and is focusing on production of specialty DRAM chips, it has been approached by large-scale China-based system operators for possible cooperation.
Q: The failure of Taiwan’s DRAM industry has somehow deepened local makers’ hostility against Samsung Electronics. What is your comment on Samsung?
A: Many think that Samsung’s achievements rely on support from Korea’s government. But that is only half right. Indeed, Samsung did receive a large amount of government aid prior to 2000, but it has continued to strive after 2000 optimizing its management efforts under company chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Lee has stressed on cultivating its own pool of talent, considering it the most valuable asset of the company. But in Taiwan, most businesses have been focusing on how to reduce production costs and have ignored the value of talent.
Instead of devising measures to fight or compete against Korea companies, Taiwan companies should figure out how Samsung can become as powerful as it is today. After all, we should respect Samsung for its long-term efforts to cultivate its talent, and the way it treats talent – the people who have created the value of Samsung.

Microsoft betting on boosting Windows RT demand with top level ARM SoCs from its SoC partners, Windows 8.1 enhancements, Outlook addition to the Office 2013 RT and very deep tactical discounts to its OEM partners for tablet offerings of more value and capability

… especially valuable for small businesses, and even enterprises of different, larger sizes thanks to new enhancements in manageability, networking, and security announced at TechEd North America 2013 (see “Cloud first” from Microsoft is ready to change enterprise computing in all of its facets [this same ‘Experiencing the Cloud’ blog, June 4, 2013]).

Relevant excerpts from Nick Parker, Tami Reller, Antoine Leblond and Steve Guggenheimer: COMPUTEX 2013 Keynote Transcript [Microsoft, June 5, 2013]

The full record of the keynote from Notebookitalia which contains the below excerpts between [10:49] and [19:50] as indicated.

Tami Reller, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Windows:

[10:49] Bringing the power of Windows to tablets is a really big part of the vision of Windows 8 and of Windows RT, really a new class of tablets that offers more value and capability than today’s tablets. […]

[15:00] Windows tablets are an important part of the Windows 8 vision, and Windows tablets do more.

Completing that promise of do more, I’m pleased to announce that starting with the back-to-school lineup, and in some cases even earlier, Windows x86 tablets will come with Office. That’s Word, that’s Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote in the box. We’re making that possible through new OEM offerings that were introduced earlier this spring.

Even with the value of Office built-in to these Windows tablets, these new offerings are going to allow our partners to build opening price point tablets, as well as great premium tablets.

Additionally, we’ve opened up support for small tablets with Windows 8, and we’ll do more with Windows 8.1. You’ve seen the first of those tablets here at COMPUTEX. Congratulations to Acer on their announcements earlier this week.

And coming with 8.1, building on our support for small tablets, we’re really committed to completing the scenario, including full portrait support.

One of the top requests from Windows RT customers has been Outlook. I’m very pleased to announce that with the Windows RT 8.1 update Microsoft Outlook will be in-box.

With 8.1 we’re again embracing the very latest technology, and the very latest on the silicon roadmap. Specifically this includes Bay Trail-T, Qualcomm 8974 [one of Snapdragon 800 SoCs coming in commercial devices of H2 2013, see more details in Snapdragon 800 Product Brief], and NVIDIA T40 [or Tegra 4 first in the already announced HP SlateBook x2 to be available in August 2013].

And we’re expanding our ARM program to provide more component flexibility, creating more opportunities for partners to build competitive ARM tablets running Windows. [17:15 …]

[19:10] Windows 8.1 is easy for our customers to get. It’s free to Windows RT and Windows 8 customers so that whether a customer has Windows 8 today or is buying a PC or a tablet or any other device in the near future, it will be one click away and very easy to get Windows 8.1. We’ll deliver it through the Windows Store, including the preview, which will come at the end of June. And the final product will be available later this calendar year. [19:50 …]

New ecosystem opportunities, Windows 8.1 updates shared at Computex [Blogging Windows from Microsoft, June 5, 2013]

Antoine Leblond, corporate vice president of Windows program management joined Tami and other top Microsoft executives on stage to give our very first public demo of the upcoming Windows 8.1 update – touching upon many of the exciting improvements Antoine highlighted in his blog post from last week. You can see some of the highlights of what to expect in Windows 8.1 for yourself in this short demo video featuring Jensen Harris from the Windows User Experience Team:

Jensen Harris from the Windows Team shows some highlights of what to expect in Windows 8.1 coming later this year as a free update for Windows 8 customers. http://bit.ly/10OM2Th

Additionally, Tami announced that Outlook 2013 RT will be coming to Windows RT tablets as part of Windows 8.1. Windows running on ARM architectures has enabled an exciting new category of mobile-first, instant-on tablets that are thin and lightweight, with amazing battery life. We know that the addition of Outlook for those using ARM-based Windows devices such as the Surface RT, Dell XPS 10, Lenovo Yoga 11, and ASUS VivoTab RT as well as new tablets to come in the future has been a popular request from consumers and businesses alike. As Tami said in her keynote address, we’ve listened and Outlook will be joining the other Office applications currently available on Windows RT, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Our commitment to Windows on ARM doesn’t stop with the addition of Outlook 2013 RT. We announced a number of other enhancements with Windows 8.1, earlier this week at TechEd North America, including new manageability, networking, and security capabilities that will make Windows RT an even more compelling option for enterprises.

Eight questions about Windows 8 for Microsoft manufacturing chief Nick Parker [PCWorld, June 5, 2013] 

IDG: So you just announced you’ll be including Outlook with the next version of Windows RT, what was the thinking behind that?

NP: Outlook is one of those apps people love, and when you start thinking about RT in the small business environment, or for heavy email users, Outlook is one of those high value solutions. That was the one we got the most feedback about.

IDG: The reception for Windows RT has been a bit lukewarm, what are some of the reasons for that and to what extent will adding Outlook will improve the situation?

NP: If you look at what we did with RT—it’s completely new silicon, a new hardware platform, and Windows 8 is a new OS. So first you just have a natural growth curve when you’re starting at zero. Then you start seeing new apps appear, the killer apps that people want, like Outlook. And the ecosystem gets more familiar with it—they learn how to code to it and how to certify parts for it.

We get so used to the tremendous success we’ve had on PCs for years, you just think you can flip a switch and the platform’s going to change. I think it’s just the incremental growth of a new platform. And we should be a bit humble about how we go to market and talk about the new capabilities. I think we could maybe have inspired people a bit more with some of the RT devices and some of our marketing.

IDG: There’s a lot of downward pressure on tablet pricing—Asus showed an Android tablet this week for $129. Do you expect to see Windows 8 tablets getting down to those sort of prices?

NP: That’s a question to ask our OEMs [original equipment manufacturers, or basically PC makers]. I think people are prepared to pay for value and we see tablets with higher price points having better capabilities and features. I think buyers are getting smart about what’s good quality. But OEMs will choose their own prices.

imageThe Acer Iconia W3-810 tablet

IDG: We saw the first 8-inch Windows tablet launch this week from Acer. What are some of the things you’re doing to provide a better Windows experience on those smaller devices?

NP: For any device you can hold in one hand, one of the things you need is portrait mode—so, the ability for the apps to work in the same way, to move and to flow nicely. And for our OEMs, we’re giving them the ability to have buttons on the side of the device, because when you’re holding it in one hand you might want to push a button on the side. You have to make the OS extensible. So those are the types of things.

IDG: Will that all be part of Windows 8.1?

NP: Yes, we talked about that today.

IDG: I’ve never thought of Windows as being designed for smaller screens; the netbook experience wasn’t particularly great. What are you doing to improve the software experience?

NP: In terms of how the display scales up and down, and in terms of the zooming capabilities—as soon as the preview [of Windows 8.1] comes out you should play with it.

IDG: There’s a tremendous variety of form factors out there right now—all kinds of laptops and tablets and convertibles. When you look ahead a few years, do you expect them to coalesce around a few winning designs or will there always be that much variety?

NP: In terms of capabilities, I think touch is going to be the new standard. People aren’t going to want to carry around hundreds of devices. You’ll have a phone, and I think the phablet is an interesting space. But for two-in-one detachables—I’m seeing the interest in those ramp. People want the best of both worlds. You can have a tablet and sit there and surf, then you plug it into a keyboard and you’re off working.

IDG: Is the keyboard here to stay, or will people eventually get used to typing on touchscreens?

I think the keyboard is here to stay, you’ve got that physical feedback. You may see a lot of innovation around keyboards but I think they’re here to stay.

Google search on “Computex Windows ARM discount” between June 5 and 6 was yielding the following items:
One year after debut, Windows RT is a Computex no-show | The Verge | OSNews | I4U News
New ecosystem opportunities, Windows 8.1 updates shared at Computex | Blogging Windows [from Microsoft]
Microsoft to include Outlook app with update to Windows 8 RT | ARN [Australia]
Microsoft Aims to Lure More Users to Windows | WSJ.com
Microsoft To Give More Tablet Makers Windows 8 Discounts | NASDAQ.com | 4-Traders | Capital.gr
Microsoft to Offer Discounted Windows and Office for Small Tablets | AllThingsD | CELLIFONE.com
AMD breaks from Windows exclusivity, adopts Android and Chrome OS | Facepunch.com
Forget Haswell: Why tablet processors mean more to Intel at Computex | The USA News Online 
Computex 2013: low-cost tablets, high-res laptops steal the show | Techgoondu
Microsoft says Outlook is coming to Windows RT this year | ZDNet
Microsoft demonstrates Windows as a platform for small tablets, touch and mobility at Computex 2013 | Virtualization Journal [replica of Microsoft press release]

Windows RT is a Computex no-show:

Three days into Computex Taipei, Asia’s biggest computer show, not a single manufacturer has announced a Windows RT device. … The Computex show floor has been dominated by devices running Windows 8 on Haswell and other chips from Intel, but ARM-powered units have been conspicuous in their absence.

However, the upcoming Windows 8.1 update and its RT counterpart could provide a shot in the arm to the fledgling OS. Qualcomm has pledged support for RT 8.1 with its new Snapdragon 800 processor, which president and COO Steve Mollenkopf described in a presentation today as offering “about 75 percent better performance than the S4 Pro.”

The Verge has heard that manufacturers may be holding back RT devices for Qualcomm’s new chip and the 8.1 update, which is also designed to improve the experience on smaller-screened devices.

include Outlook app with update to Windows 8 RT:

Outlook will be included with version 8.1 of Windows RT, previously dubbed Windows Blue, Microsoft announced at the Computex trade show in Taipei on Wednesday. The 8.1 update is scheduled for release later this year as a free update to Windows 8.

“We’re always listening to our customers and one piece of feedback was that people want the power of Outlook on all their Windows PCs and tablets,” Microsoft said. […]

Support for RT from hardware makers has been limited, however, with several PC makers, such as Acer, Asustek Computer and Hewlett-Packard, not yet supporting the OS.

Microsoft hopes to change that by addressing one of the criticisms of Windows RT — that it doesn’t include a version of its popular Outlook email client. Nvidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang has been vocal about the importance of adding Outlook to RT.

“If Outlook were to show up on RT, my life would be complete,” he said recently, lamenting the slow sales of Windows RT tablets. “I am one Outlook away from computing nirvana. Outlook god, please…”

Lure More Users to Windows:

Until now, people with Windows RT devices—which use different kinds of computer chips than those common in personal computers—have only been able to use a new type of email app that has been panned by users.

A Microsoft executive, speaking at the Computex computer trade show in Taiwan, also acknowledged the company is cutting the prices it charges computer makers for Microsoft software.

The executive, Nick Parker, didn’t detail the size of the software discounts. But people familiar with Microsoft’s pricing strategy have said for Windows RT devices, Microsoft is cutting by two-thirds the cost to license Windows and Office software, or roughly $100 before marketing rebates Microsoft offers to PC makers.

Microsoft’s discounts apply to tablets smaller than 10.1 inches, Mr. Parker said. The company said it started offering discounts to some tablet makers in April.

The discounts and addition of Outlook underscore how hard Microsoft is trying to boost the appeal of devices that run Windows RT, a product whose development marked a major break from company tradition. […]

“This is an exciting development that we believe will deliver a much more robust and full-featured experience to Windows RT users,” wrote Mark Aevermann, an Nvidia product manager, in a blog post.

Microsoft executives have said they would push harder to bolster sales by explaining more clearly the attributes of Windows RT and ARM chips.

We are very committed to ARM,” said Tami Reller, the Windows chief financial officer and chief marketing officer, in an interview last month.

Windows executives also recently suggested Windows RT devices might in the future lose the dual modes that have been a polarizing feature of the new Windows.

Windows 8 and Windows RT devices operate in both a traditional Windows “desktop” and a new mode that looks and functions more like a smartphone screen. The Windows executives, Jensen Harris and Antoine Leblond, suggested in a May interview that it might be appropriate to junk desktop mode entirely on Windows RT devices.

Windows 8 Discounts:

Nick Parker, vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, said at the Computex trade show in Taipei Wednesday that the Redmond, Wash. company is now expanding its discount program to include tablets that run on Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 running on ARM Holdings PLC (ARMH, ARM.LN) chips. The discount will also apply to an upgraded version of its Windows 8 system dubbed Windows 8.1. The discounts will only apply on tablets that are between 7 and 10.1 inches. The executive declined to comment on the size of the discounts but Mr. Parker said they will come in the form of a cut in licensing fees and free Office software for hardware makers.

Microsoft said it started offering discounts to some tablet makers in April and there is no specific time frame for when the discounts might end.

The Wall Street Journal reported in early March, citing people familiar with the situation, that Microsoft had been offering price breaks on its Windows 8 and Office software to help spur the development of small, touch-enabled laptop computers.

In the latest discount program, tablets with screens bigger than 10.1 inches will not be eligible for the discount, Mr. Parker said. But he didn’t elaborate.

Analysts said the discounts could help bring down retail prices of smaller Windows tablets and help Microsoft better compete with Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG).

Discounted Windows and Office for Small Tablets:

Second, Microsoft is cutting some sort of deal with computer makers that want to bundle Windows 8 and Office Home and Student onto a seven- or eight-inch tablet. Microsoft isn’t going into detail on what it is charging PC manufacturers, but it is clearly low enough to enable some pretty inexpensive tablets.

The first of these tablets to be announced, Acer’s Iconia W3, has a $379 sticker price. That’s pretty darn cheap for a machine that includes full-blown Windows and Office.

Microsoft isn’t saying which other computer makers may also be working on small tablets, but with the PC market struggling, it seems reasonable to think we will see a number of such tablets in short order.

And while Microsoft’s bundle program appears limited to small tablets, one could conceivably hook up the tiny tablet to a monitor and keyboard and use it as a home PC.

low-cost tablets, high-res laptops steal the show:

Since Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Asus’ Nexus 7 came out last year, the idea of a cheap, small tablet has taken hold like few expected. This year, the cheap is going to get cheaper, with Asus’ MeMo Pad HD7 starting from just US$129 for an 8GB version.

image

Now, this may not be as cheap as some models you’d find in Shenzhen, but this model from Asus will win over many users looking for an affordable but well-made tablet.

The new MeMo Pad HD7 also seems like an updated version of the successful Nexus 7. There is the 1,280 x 800 screen, now coupled with a quad-core Arm Cortex A7 CPU, and a microSD card slot to pop in memory cards, which the Nexus 7 did not have. No idea of when this is coming, but expect to save some money for a budget tablet this holiday season. […]

An interesting idea, which may not turn out to be a major trend, is small Windows tablets. Acer surprised many visitors with its 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, probably the first such mobile option.

The Iconia W3 runs an Intel Atom chip, has 2GB RAM and either 32GB or 64GB storage. The 1,280 x 800 resolution is not too bad on the small screen.

image

What’s a little hard to see is the Windows desktop, when you fire up your traditional Windows programs, like Excel. During a quick hands-on, I can tell that the screen was too small for serious editing. Don’t even think of sharing programs on the screen. It’s just too small.

Which leaves you in mostly the Metro touch interface on Windows 8. Sadly, there aren’t many apps here yet, compared to either an Apple iPad mini or an Android tablet.

Not just that, while the US$379 asking price isn’t unreasonable for the hardware, the question is on usage. If you’re using the machine mainly as a small tablet, Android tablets are getting cheaper all the time, as Asus’ MeMo Pad HD7 shows.

Outlook is coming to Windows RT:

Owners of existing RT devices will receive the updates for free.

Despite weak sales of its own ARM-powered Surface and even more tepid support from hardware partners, Microsoft doesn’t appear to be backing away from Windows RT. The addition of Outlook will undoubtedly convince some previously recalcitrant business buyers that Windows RT tablets make sense, as will the announcement at the Tech-Ed conference this week of management tools that allow greater control over Windows RT devices. And Microsoft also announced support for additional types of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) on Windows RT.

But there are still dealbreakers that stand in the way of widespread deployments of Windows RT. Office 2013 RT has many of the same features as its x86/x64 counterpart, but it lacks the ability to handle custom macro code. In addition, some features are missing from the RT programs, including the ability to embed audio and video in OneNote notebooks.

And Office is the only desktop app that Microsoft has officially ported to Windows RT. Third-party developers don’t have that option, which means any business that requires a third-party desktop app or a browser plugin other than Adobe Flash is out of luck. Likewise, Windows RT still doesn’t support some widely used third-party VPN clients.

There’s also the pesky issue of licensing. The version of Office included with Windows RT is Office Home and Student 2013, which is licensed for noncommercial use only. If you want to stay in the good graces of Microsoft’s licensing agreement, you need to add commercial use rights, through a volume license or by way of a subscription to a business edition of Office 365.

Today’s announcement is also noticeably silent on the question of when Microsoft plans to release native tablet versions of its Office programs, for both Windows 8.1/RT as well as alternative platforms like the iPad and Android tablets. The fact that the desktop version of Outlook is a key part of this fall’s update suggests that Office for tablets won’t appear until 2014, and one recent rumor says late 2014 is the likely target date for those apps.

Windows as a platform for small tablets [Microsoft press release replicated]:

“We want to be the best partner to all hardware manufacturers, from the way we engage and invest on new product designs to the experience we jointly deliver to customers,” Parker said. “This new wave of Windows devices from our partners, combined with our software, apps and services, reflects that commitment.”

Most notable of the devices Parker showed were the new 7-inch and 8-inch Windows tablets: the Acer Iconia W3 that launched on June 3 in Taipei, and three other small tablets from top original device manufacturer (ODM) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners expected to ship for the holiday season. These small tablets provide a Windows experience with Office Home & Student 2013 delivering even more options to experience all that Windows can offer in a smaller form factor. […]

Tami Reller, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer of Microsoft’s Windows Division, joined Parker onstage … “Windows 8.1 furthers the bold vision of Windows 8 by responding to customer feedback and adding new features and functionality that advance the touch experience and mobile computing’s potential,” Reller said.

As part of this commitment, Reller announced that Outlook 2013 RT will be available on Windows-based ARM tablets with the Windows 8.1 update later this year. “Windows on ARM is a core part of our strategy today and moving forward, and the addition of Outlook further enriches this world of new on-the-go opportunities for partners and customers,” Reller said.

New Nokia Asha platform for developers

This is a very throroughly designed platform with carefully defined Nokia Asha Design Guidelines providing all the details as well as a comprehensive set of tools supporting that. From Series 40 to Nokia Asha is giving advice about migrating earlier S40 and Asha apllications to the Asha platform. It is also worth to have a look at that as by doing so you can compare the new Nokia Asha with earlier Asha Full Touch and Asha Touch and Type.

Preliminary reading:
The New Asha Range [global Nokia microsite, May 9, 2013] with separate Fastlane, Design and Browsing pages
The Asha Apps Revolution [Nokia Conversations post, May 9, 2013]
New Asha platform and ecosystem to deliver a breakthrough category of affordable smartphone from Nokia [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 9, 2013] my composite post of the all relevant launch information
Nokia’s non-Windows crossroad [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, May 2, 2013] my composite post analyzing the technologies which are provided now with the new Asha platform

Nokia Asha — Platform overview [May 9, 2013]

The key features of the platform are:

    • Platformised in software and hardware — complementing the Nokia Asha software platform is an increased focus on platformising the phone hardware, developers will now have greater certainty that a hardware feature they want to exploit in an app will be available across the new Nokia Asha family.
    • Firmware updating — smartphone users expect regular firmware update to bring new features and functions to their phones, the Nokia Asha platform has been built with this demand in mind and updates are already in development.
    • User experience — a engaging, sophisticated UI, optimised for 3″ (61.0 x 45.7 mm [unlike 66.0 x 40.0 mm on the previous Asha Full Touch devices]) QVGA (240 x 320 pixels [unlike the 240 x 400 pixels on the previous Asha Full Touch devices]) displays. The UI employs a swiping style for navigation between apps and the home screen, and within the home screen. It also enables apps to use the whole screen by hiding the status and menu bars until they are swiped into view.
    • More advanced, fully featured apps are easier with Java. Harness features such as 2D and 3D graphic, accelerometers, and location information among others giving you more options to deliver the quality of apps consumers expect on a smartphone.
    • With web apps online, content is delivered using up to 90% less data, while offering users an interactive, engaging UI because, unlike other proxy browser system, Nokia Asha web apps can update their UI locally on the phone.

    Java highlights

    • All new Oracle VM.
    • JAR files up to 5Mb and up to 3Mb heap memory (recommended).
    • New Asha UI for intuitive, fast interaction.
    • Mobile Internationalization API (JSR-238) and new Nokia specific APIs for features such as image scaling and network state.
    • Earn from you apps with paid downloads, advertising, and in-app payments.
    • Updated tools, with updated emulator and WiFi based on-device debugger.
    • Comprehensive documentation, training, code examples and more.

    Web app highlights

    • Powered by the latest Gecko rendering engine.
    • Rich UIs with dynamic list and fixed and scrollable regions.
    • API to build hardware back-button navigation into your app.
    • Ability to capture photos and videos.
    • Discovery through the Nokia Store.
    • Earn from you apps with paid downloads and advertising.
    • Updated tools with new simulator and code examples.
    • Comprehensive documentation, training, code examples and more.

    UX Overview – Nokia Asha Design Guidelines [April 17, 2013]

    Nokia Asha is built around the concept of stacked layers that can be directly manipulated by the user.

    image

    Base layout – Nokia Asha Design Guidelines [May 9, 2013]

    Nokia Asha UI combines the use of the swipe gesture and back hardware key for navigation, and therefore apps have no mandatory control areas on screen. Each app view can be easily designed for its main purpose, maximising the amount of relevant content on the UI. The base layout in Nokia Asha has two main areas: status bar and content area.

    image

    In addition to using the content area for app content, apps can add optional controls, Category bar (with tabs or actions) and Header bar. When the view offers few, rarely used options only, placing them under the Options menu is possible. The Options menu is accessed by swiping from the bottom of the screen. When the Options menu is available, the screen shows an Options menu indicator at the bottom.

    NOTE: When using LCDUI List, TextBox, Alert, or Form, the Header bar will be automatically added to the top of the view. When drawing on Canvas, the Header bar can be left out.


    Developing applications with Java – Nokia Asha Design Guidelines [May 9, 2013]

    Nokia Asha provides a few alternatives for developing Java applications. The following information can be used to select the best approach for designing and developing your application.

    CHOOSING YOUR APPROACH

    Custom UI on Canvas

    Using LCDUI high-level components

    Using LWUIT components

    image

    image

    image

    Full screen apps or apps with chrome (Status bar and Header).
    Everything drawn on Canvas pixel by pixel.
    Good approach for game development.
    LCDUI high-level components and Nokia UI API’s are in use.
    Components are styled with Asha look & feel.
    Custom components can be created with CustomItem.
    Offers a more comprehensive component set with many customisation options.
    Components are styled with Asha look and feel, but also custom theming is easy for branded look and feel.
    Custom UI on Canvas
    Canvas class is the main template for customised MIDlet functions. Using Canvas, the MIDlet can use any drawing primitives provided by the LCDUI Graphics interface and can receive key events. The drawback is that the MIDlet will not be as portable as ones created using only high-level APIs.
    A common example of a MIDlet that uses Canvas is a mobile game that requires pixel-accurate drawing and access to low-level keypad events. Read more information about Canvas from the Java Developer’s Library.
    Using LCDUI high-level components
    Limited Connected Device User Interface (LCDUI) is the base of any Graphical User Interface (GUI) created in Java™ ME (Java Platform, Micro Edition). It has a similar role to the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) and Swing APIs, which are used in Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition) and Java EE (Java Platform, Enterprise Edition), but offers a more restricted and resource-efficient approach to UI development.
    LCDUI has a simple screen-based approach, where a single Displayable is always active in the display area of the application user interface. This Displayable can contain predefined screen elements, or be manipulated in more specific ways.
    On a logical level, the MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) UI is divided into two levels: high and low. In general, the choice is made between the easy, quick and portable high-level APIs and the more customisable low-level APIs.
    image
    Figure 1. LCDUI overview
    Read more about the LCDUI from the Java Developer’s library.
    Using LWUIT components
    LWUIT (LightWeight UI Toolkit) is an open source alternative that provides a comprehensive selection of customisable UI components, layouts, and effects. Use of the ready-made Nokia Asha theme for the components is recommended, but developers can also easily create their own custom themes for branded look and feel. LWUIT is highly portable, as it scales to different screen resolutions and orientations, and has built-in support for touch and non-touch UI.
    LWUIT applications are created on top of LCDUI Canvas. Though LWUIT has been optimised for Nokia Asha phones, LCDUI is a better option for performance critical applications, especially on phones with cost-optimised hardware. Also, when a compact application binary size is crucial, LCDUI should be considered instead, because the LWUIT library is added to every LWUIT application and it increases the application size by 200-800 kB (depending on the application features).
    image
    Figure 2. LWUIT overview

    Nokia Asha — Java — Tools [May 9, 2013]

    Nokia Asha SDK 1.0 (beta)

    Create apps for the Nokia Asha family on Nokia Asha software platform using the Nokia Asha SDK 1.0 (beta). Then test your apps in an emulator based on the Nokia Asha 501. The Nokia Asha SDK 1.0 (beta) offers:

    Nokia Asha UI emulation
    The Nokia Asha SDK 1.0 contains an emulator based on the Nokia Asha 501, providing mouse based emulation of the phone’s touch features making testing easy.
    LWUIT for richer Uis
    A Nokia Asha platform optimised implementation of the LWUIT is included as a plug-in. Delivering rich UIs has never been easier.
    Integrated HERE Maps API
    It’s now even easier to add rich maps to your location based apps, as the HERE Maps API for Java ME is integrated into the SDK.
    Enhanced location features
    The emulator delivers updated location details from the integrated Route Editor to your Java apps, enabling richer testing of your location based apps.
    Multiple-touch simulation
    The Pinch-to-zoom simulator enables multipoint-touch gestures to be recorded and sent to the emulator.
    Sensor emulation
    You can simulate fully the orientation of a Nokia Asha phone in the emulator, enabling the testing of apps and games using the Mobile Sensor API (JSR-256).
    Enhanced media playback
    The emulator offers accurate media playback enabling complete testing of media delivered through your apps.
    Keyboard input
    Enter text directly from your PC keyboard into fields in the emulator, to speed up testing.
    Emulator tools
    Simplify and speed up your testing with the diagnostic window, MIDP speed simulator, configurable MIDP monitoring, and events generator among other tools.
    Java API emulation
    The emulator provides full support for MIDP and CDLC, along with the APIs provided in the Nokia Asha platform.
    Real phone emulation
    As the emulator is based on the Nokia Asha 501, it provides you with a realistic implementation of UI, user apps, messaging, and network communication features. Now you can accurately and conveniently test your apps on a PC.
    Selecting your SDK made easy
    The exclusive Device SDK Selector makes it easy to locate and install the SDKs you need to target earlier Series 40 phones. Pick SDKs by platform or phone model, download and install to get coding.


    Nokia IDE 2.0 for Java ME (beta)

    While the Nokia Asha SDK 1.0 (beta) is designed to work with the NetBeans and Eclipse IDEs, for the easiest and most straightforward development experience, the SDK includes the Nokia IDE 2.0 for Java ME (beta). Building on the power of the Eclipse platform for Java development, the Nokia IDE for Java ME delivers exclusive features for your Nokia Asha platform and Series 40 Java apps.

    Welcome to your new IDE
    A comprehensive welcome screen provides details on developing Java apps for the Nokia Asha platform and Series 40, available APIs, links to key Nokia Developer resources, and more.
    Selecting your SDK made easy
    The integrated Device SDK Selector makes it easy to locate and install the SDKs you need to target Nokia Asha and Series 40 phones. Pick SDKs by platform or phone model, download and install to get coding.
    Nokia specific JAD editor
    A customised JAD attributes editor makes it easy to add the information you need to effectively target your apps’ build to the Nokia Asha and Series 40 platforms.
    In-app purchase and location templates
    Get started quickly with your apps that take advantage of in-app advertising or location with new templates that includes everything you need.
    Access to examples
    Load any of over 40 example apps straight into your workspace. Covering many aspects of the Java APIs on the Nokia Asha platform, these examples can kick-start your development.
    Nokia Hub
    Quickly find more information on publishing apps, remote access to phones for testing, Nokia Developer news, and code examples though the Nokia Hub menu.


    Remote Device Access

    Test on a range of Nokia Asha and Series 40 phones

    With the Nokia Developer Remote Device Access Service you can connect to a comprehensive range of Nokia Asha platform and Series 40 phones over the internet. Install your app then run it, just as you would on your own phone, to check out its behaviour on different hardware and UI form factors.

    Learn more ›

    And don’t forget that Nokia Premium Developer Program for Asha membership give you access to more phones, so you won’t have to wait to start testing.


    Nokia Asha — Web apps [May 9, 2013]

    The Nokia Asha software platform provides a powerful, data efficient web apps environment. Targeting this environment, you leverage your web development skills to create connected apps that deliver web content with an engaging, interactive UX that’ll appeal to consumers globally or can be targeted at specific local markets.

    • New user experience — the Nokia Asha UI builds on the popular Series 40 UI. Delivered through a 3.0’’ (61.0 x 45.7 mm [unlike 66.0 x 40.0 mm on the previous Asha Full Touch devices]) QVGA capacitive touch screen (240 x 320 pixels [unlike the 240 x 400 pixels on the previous Asha Full Touch devices]), it supports two touch points for pinch-to-zoom and similar gestures. The UI swipe paradigm has been extended to include the Options Menu and fast access to the Home screen. A hardware back-button enables consumers to easily navigate an app’s hierarchy.
    • New APIs — so you to make most of the Nokia Asha UI, web apps include an API to listen for the hardware back-button. In addition, enhanced HTML tag support also means you can add image and video capture to your web apps.
    • New tools — the Nokia Asha web app tools deliver a Nokia Asha software platform option to the simulator and fresh examples that show you how to use the latest APIs.

    Start with the Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0

    image

    See how to create, test, package, and deploy to a phone your first Nokia Asha web app.
    Follow the step-by-step guide ›

    Start with Xpress Web App Builder

    Xpress Web App Builder offers a no-code approach to creating Nokia Asha web apps and delivering them directly to your Nokia Publish account.
    Watch the video ›

    When Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0 graduates beta you will be able to use it to target all the phones that support Xpress Browser. During the beta phase the ability to capture images and video will only be available on the Nokia Asha 501. You can target all other features at Series 40 phones with Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0 or download Nokia Web Tools 2.3.

    Nokia Asha web apps UI [May 4, 2013]

    Nokia Asha web apps UIs benefit from the features of the Nokia Asha UI, such as its swipe interaction to reveal the Options Menu, which enable web apps to focus the entire phone screen on content. When designing a web app UI, you have the freedom offered by web technologies coupled with the dynamic UI features offered by the Nokia Asha web apps runtime, such as the ability to dynamically update lists or set fixed and scrollable areas within your apps. Web apps can also make use of the hardware back-button to offer users safe and simple navigation of an app’s hierarchy.

    A great UX is about more than simply implementing a UI style; whether you are new to design or a seasoned pro, access a range of resources to help you create the best and most engaging experience in your apps and games. To get started check out the Nokia Asha web app design library before discovering other useful resources, such as design guidelines, UI stencils, and icon templates in the Design and User Experience Library.

    What’s new in web app UX design [May 4, 2013]

    The Nokia Asha software platform 1.0 offers a significantly updated UI compared to its predecessor, the full-touch UI on Series 40. This section describes the key UX changes that effect web apps:

    • screen size – the New Nokia Asha UI on the Nokia Asha software platform 1.0 supports 240 x 320 pixel screens. For more information, see the Displays topic.
    • multiple page support – the Nokia Xpress Browser 3.0 supports up to four active browser windows, enabling up to four web app to be run at once.
    • touch gestures – the New Nokia Asha UI extends the platform wide mechanism for accessing key features using a swipe from the edge of the screen. As this mechanism overrides application behaviour, care needs to be taken in the design of web apps to ensure gestures within the web app aren’t confused with the system wide gestures. Ffor more information, see the Touch Gestures topic.
    • back button behaviour – the New Nokia Asha UI employs a physical back button, this back button implements back-stepping in platform and Java apps. For web apps a new Mobile Web Library method addBackNavListener() enables the key to be captured so that web apps can implement the same back-stepping behaviour. For more information, see the Navigation Controls topic.
    • Options menu – the Options menu is opened with a swipe gesture from the bottom of the screen in the New Nokia Asha UI. The menu by default contains the Data counter item, but no longer includes an exit item. For more information, see the Options Menu topic.
    • launching web apps – from within the Nokia Xpress browser web apps will be launched from the Featured Apps option. For more information, see the Launching web apps topic.
    • file upload and download – the Nokia Xpress Browser Download Manager is available from within web apps. For more information, see File uploads and downloads topic.
    • passwords – web app passwords can now be cleared from the phone’s Settings feature. For more information see Passwords topic.
    • Data Usage option – web apps can now access a report on their data use. For more information see the Data Usage topic.

    Nokia Asha — Web apps — Tools [May 9, 2013]

    Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0 (beta)

    Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0 (beta) delivers a suite of applications that assist in the development, testing, packaging, and deployment of Nokia Asha web apps, including preparing them for distribution through Nokia Store. The key components of Nokia Asha web app tools are Web Developer Environment (WDE) and Web App Simulator (WAS).

    Download Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0 (beta)

    During the beta release the features to provide the capture of images and video from within web apps won’t be available on earlier Series 40 platform phones supporting Xpress Browser.

    Web Developer Environment [WDE]

    Built on the Eclipse platform, Web Developer Environment delivers the code creation tools needed to efficiently create and package web apps.

    Extensive templates for new projects
    Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0 offers wider variety of templates for common web apps styles, which you can use to quick-start the development of your web apps. Import existing projects to take advantage of enhanced editing features.
    UI Designer
    With the UI Designer you can build web app interfaces by dragging and dropping UI component snippets and laying them out visually, enabling you to create web apps UIs faster.
    Powerful code editing
    With code completion and full validation, your coding will be quicker and more accurate, enabling you to build Nokia Asha web apps faster.
    Comprehensive range of examples
    The range of web app examples has been further expanded in Nokia Asha web app tools 3.0, to illustrate use of the hard back-key and media capture. You can now easily access more examples of how to code common web app APIs and features.
    Targeted HTML/CSS validation
    Validation of HTML and CSS includes specific Nokia Asha web apps rules. You get better feedback to ensure your web app will work optimally on Nokia Asha platform and Series 40 phones.
    Partial web app upload
    When uploading a web app to the preview server, the Web Developer Environment only uploads changed content. This makes starting a cloud preview fast, minimising the time needed to test your web apps.
    Packaging
    Your web apps are automatically packed by the tool and delivered in the format required for distribution through Nokia Store.
    Published web apps’ JAR
    Once your web app has been published to Nokia Store you can request a copy of the deployment JAR. This enables you to distribute your web app on websites and through other app stores.
    Deploy for phone testing
    Completed Nokia Asha web apps can be deployed directly from the Web Developer Environment over a USB connection for testing on a Nokia Asha platform or Series 40 phone, while for Series 40 phones deployment over Bluetooth is also available.
     

    Web App Simulator

    Run your Nokia Asha web apps on a computer during development using the Web App Simulator. It simplifies functional testing and final design validation.

    Phone simulation
    Preview your Nokia Asha web apps to see how they’ll look and behave on Nokia Asha platform and Series 40 phones, and interact with the web.
    Control phone features
    Take control of your simulation and test your web apps against all the UI variations available on the phones that support Nokia Asha web apps.
    Automatic reloading
    Local preview are automatically reloaded as code edits are made — speeding up testing by ensuring Web App Simulator always show the latest changes.
    Location simulation built-in
    Web App Simulator enables you to define location information to your simulated Nokia Asha web app, making testing of location-aware apps a breeze.
    Debugging made easy
    Web App Simulator includes a custom version of Web Inspector for the easy debugging and performance analysis of your Nokia Asha web apps.
     


    Xpress Web App Builder

    Xpress Web App Builder is an online tool that guides you through the process of creating rich web apps, with no coding required. Select from a variety of templates, customise your theme, and then add clipped web content, RSS feeds, and social media information. The key features of the tool are:

    • layout templates to present content, including single pane, tabbed view, and accordion view, as well as focused templates for news, pictures, and video content.
    • a wide range of content widgets for clipped web content; RSS feeds; video from YouTube; pictures from Flickr, Picasa, and other photo sharing sites; and blogs from Tumblr and WordPress.
    • the ability to add SMS and call capabilities, static HERE Maps, and in-app advertising from Nokia Ad Exchange.
    • the option to customise your app’s colour scheme, including header and font colours.
    • static and dynamic previews of your app, for all supported screen resolutions.

    When you’ve completed your web app, the tool provides a short URL for testing the app on your phone, and lets you submit the app to Nokia Publish to start the process of publication in Nokia store. However, if you want to customise your web app further, you can download the source code and import it into Nokia Asha web app tools.

    Launch Xpress Web App Builder


    Remote Device Access

    Test on a range of Nokia Asha and Series 40 phones

    With the Nokia Developer Remote Device Access Service you can connect to a comprehensive range of Nokia Asha platform and Series 40 phones over the internet. Use your web app’s short URL to launch it in the Xpress Browser then run it, just as you would on your own phone, to check out its behaviour on different hardware and UI form factors.
    Learn more ›
    And don’t forget that Nokia Premium Developer Program for Nokai Asha membership give you access to more phones, so you won’t have to wait to start testing.


    … Nokia In-App Payment [May 9, 2013]

    We have also introduced the new Nokia In-App Payment tool, designed to make it easier for you to sell content from within your apps. It provides a simple and secure purchase experience for consumers and transparent payments for developers. Nokia In-App Payment will also be available for existing Asha and Series 40 phones*(from 6th edition platform and above, except C1-01 and C1-02. Nokia will release a public beta of Nokia In-App Payment in the coming weeks, and you can sign up for the beta here.

    Nokia In-App Payment invitation-only beta program [May 9, 2013]

    In-App Payment is one of the dominant monetization models in the mobile app industry. This model also referred to as ‘Freemium’ model, helps you build apps with higher and recurring revenue opportunity.

    The model enables you to attract a larger user base with a free baseline experience and then extend this experience by offering digital content for sale. Nokia In-App Payment marks Nokia’s renewed approach to In-App Payment. The solution has been designed afresh with several new features and it enables you to sell digital content to Asha consumers from within your application.

    • The best payout in the industry
    • Easy to integrate and maintain
    • Single click payment
    • Nokia brand adds credibility to the transaction
    • Unparalleled coverage of devices

    Sign up to invite beta          
    Frequently Asked Questions

    This translates to more consumers, more purchases after download and higher payout per purchase – all leading to more recurring revenue for you!

    We are pleased to announce the Nokia In-App Payment invitation-only beta program. With a beta invitation, you will get to:

    • Try the Nokia In-App Payment Beta library
    • Publish apps with Nokia In-App Payment
    • Share your feedback

    Please sign up to be eligible to join the Nokia In-App Payment invitation-only beta program. We will start sending out invitations starting May 10th 2013.

    Integration of Nokia In-App Payment in your app is easy!

    • Download and install Java Development Environment for Asha and Nokia In-App Payment library
    • Implement in-app payment feature in your application using the test product IDs
    • Test your app in the emulator or on device with the test purchase flow
    • Register in-app purchase products, declare price points with Nokia Publish
    • Update your application using the product IDs
    • Test your app using the in-app purchase flow
    • Submit your final app to Nokia Publish and be ready to generate revenue!

    The Nokia In-App Payment includes several improvements

    • Access to a larger consumer base through Series 40 backward compatibility**
    • Simpler consumer purchase experience through single click payment
    • Support for faster development and testing.

    The introduction of Nokia In-App Payment means that the current in-app purchasing solution will be deprecated. In the near term, the intake of new apps using the deprecated in-app purchasing solution will be closed on June 10th 2013. However, published apps that use the deprecated in-app purchasing solution will continue to be available on Nokia Store until 2016. Please refer to the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for more information.

    ** For more detailed device coverage during the invitation-only beta, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions.

    New Asha platform and ecosystem to deliver a breakthrough category of affordable smartphone from Nokia

    … by bringing premium experience to the entry-level smartphone market:
    Update: In H2 CY12 we will witness whether it is possible to create a stable “bottom” smartphone segment with this exceptional added value on really bottom hardware or not!
    The Nokia offensive of a year ago with “simple” Asha Touch was halted in Q1 CY2013.
    (Note that Android smartphones are in the “free-fall” for the last 12 months and you can observe a “race to bottom” phenomenon among those vendors. See here, here and here.) New Nokia Asha 501 Television commercial [nokia YouTube channel, June 26, 2013]

    The New Nokia Asha 501 is here! Find out more about the latest Asha Smartphone at http://nokia.com/newasha

    Fastlane – Nokia Asha [nokia YouTube channel, June 28, 2013]

    Nokia’s new Fastlane interface puts everything you love just a swipe away. It lets you jump to your favourite apps, update social media and play games and music with just a swipe. See everything it can do at http://www.nokia.com/global/newasha/f&#8230;. Check out how four friends in Santiago, Chile used it to put together a super-bright bike ride through the city — picking up friends along the way. Love the music? It’s by Chilean duo Dënver, and it’s called ‘Los Adoloscentes’. Find out more about the band and their new album here: http://duodenver.cl/.

    Living with Fastlane on the Nokia Asha 501 [Nokia Conversations, July 5, 2013]

    … You’ll now get two home screens: Fastlane, and ‘Home’, which is the main menu. All you have to do is swipe left or right to access one or the other. … You can still customise the main menu so icons and apps can be easily accessed, but once you’ve been using the Asha 501 for a while, Fastlane means that you rarely need to access the second screen.

    [July 5] The current lowest price is with a coupon offer for Rs. 4731 [$78.5]
    [June 22] Pre-order Asha 501 at Rs. 5,199 [$88]; [June 15, list price] Rs. 6000 [$101]
    (at the same time Lumia 520 in India is from Rs. 8,893 [$150], at Rs. 10,097 [$170] at the same Nokia Shop as the Asha 501 pre-order where the list price is Rs. 11,289 [$190])
    see also: Nokia Asha 501 starts worldwide rollout [Nokia Conversations, June 24, 2013]:

    image… [Asha 501] goes on sale this week in Thailand and Pakistan, … Next week, the rollout will continue in India and progress onto countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. In late summer, the Nokia Asha 501 will start selling in Latin American countries like Brazil. …

    End of update

    image

    Peter Skillman (Head of Ux Design for Mobile Phones & HERE at Nokia) demonstrating
    Swipe and Fastlane experiences on a greatly enlarged touchscreen,
    actually from a ladder, at the May 9, 2013 launch in New-Delhi, India

    • At its heart is a landmark new feature called Fastlane which was inspired by the much-loved swipe motion gestures on the iconic Nokia N9. Fastlane is designed so that you’re never more than a swipe away.
    • Fastlane was inspired by how people really use their phone. Recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps, unique to each person, are stored and presented in Fastlane.
    • Fastlane is an interactive second home screen which tracks your past, present and future, showing up to 50 of your most recent activities. It brings all the different elements of your smartphone experience together.
    • It continues Nokia’s focus on the ‘smarter Internet’ with an updated version of the Nokia Xpress browser with a fresh new user experience
    • There is Nokia Xpress Now, a new Web application that recommends content based on location, preferences and trending topics.
    • Fully leverages Nokia’s investments in Smarterphone, which it acquired in 2012 and builds on the best aspects of Series 40 to create something fresh and innovative. It also comes with design cues from Lumia.
    • Nokia gives developers the chance to make more money through the global reach of Nokia Store and tools like Nokia In-App Payment and Nokia Advertising Exchange (NAX), as well as Nokia’s unparalleled operator billing network. So developers will be incentivized to deliver quality apps, previously found only on high-end smartphones.

    At the launch in New-Delhi, India there were the following notable remarks as well:

    • ~80M people are using the Nokia Xpress browser now
    • 20M Asha Touch devices were sold since its launch 10 months ago
    • Nokia expects to sell 100 million of the new generation Asha smartphones over the coming years, beginning with the Nokia Asha 501
    • Nokia expects to sell 100 million of the new generation Asha smartphones over the coming years, beginning with the Nokia Asha 501
    • Nokia gives developers the chance to make more money through the global reach of Nokia Store and tools like Nokia In-App Payment and Nokia Advertising Exchange (NAX), as well as Nokia’s unparalleled operator billing network.
    • There are 120 ad agencies involved in NAX in 200+ countries
    • There are 158 operators involved in Nokia’s operator billing network in 59 markets
    • All that will provide a 2.5X increase in terms of developers’ revenue
    • Nokia is the first manufacturer to bundle Facebook for free with Nokia Asha 501
    • Such partnership is quite important to Facebook as the company sees its biggest opportunity in getting 5B billion people on-line who were not before (so far “only” 750M people access Facebook from their mobile devices)

    image
    Happy Nokia presenters posing for photos
    at the end of the launch in India

    Making of the New Nokia Asha [nokia YouTube channel, May 9, 2013]

    The New Nokia Asha range is a totally new take on smartphones. Created with people from all over the world, they are powerful, fast and simple to use. Learn more about the New Nokia Asha, visit: http://nokia.com/NewAsha

    First hands-on with the Nokia Asha 501 [nokia YouTube channel, May 9, 2013]

    Introducing the Nokia Asha 501, an affordable touchscreen smartphone with gorgeous industrial design and the innovative Fastlane feature, which means you are never more than a swipe away from accessing everything you love. Find out more: http://conversations.nokia.com/?p=120951

    The best thing is to watch The Nokia Asha 501 – Peter Skillman, Nokia Design Team [nokia YouTube channel, May 9, 2013]

    Peter Skillman, Head of Mobile Phones User Experience and HERE Design, talks about the design approach behind the first in a new generation of Nokia’s Asha smartphone family.

    Meet the next generation: Nokia Asha 501 [Nokia Conversations, May 9, 2013]

    The aspirational meets the affordable in Nokia’s beautiful new touchscreen smartphone with social networking and a smarter Internet at its very core

    Put the whole world in your pocket with this new Asha smartphone. Nokia Asha 501 lets you access everything you use and love on a single screen with a simple swipe. Additionally, fast and efficient browsing with Nokia Xpress Browser means more data for less money. Keep in touch and in the loop with friends using your favourite social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
    The Nokia Asha 501 is set to break down a lot of barriers and smash people’s expectations of just how much ‘smartphone’ their money can buy.
    It’s a touchscreen experience with social networks, content sharing and connectivity deeply integrated into a wonderful, responsive and revamped operating system.
    Design and Colours
    However, the first thing you will notice about the trail-blazing Nokia Asha 501 is the gorgeous design. Its lines and shapes are streamlined, compact and clean.
    The seamless look and feel is of a premium product that is part of a unified modern design family, from the Lumia 920 to the Nokia 105.
    After you’ve admired the durable two-part construction with the removable monobody, the next thing you’ll have to do is make a choice.
    The Asha 501 is available in bright red, bright green, cyan, yellow, white and black.
    The colour story continues with the red headphones that are included in the box. It’s sure to become a signature look!
    Nokia Asha platform
    The Asha 501 is powered by a new software platform, which fully leverages Nokia’s investments in Smarterphone, which it acquired in 2012 and builds on the best aspects of Series 40 to create something fresh and innovative.
    The result is an evolutionary operating system that is fast, responsive and easy to use.
    The Asha platform is faster, more responsive and more flexible too. This means new features and functionalities can be anticipated with future updates.
    Developers will be able to create apps for the Nokia Asha 501 that will also be compatible with future Asha platform-based devices.

    image

    Living in the Fastlane
    The forward-thinking approach to the Asha 501 extends to the user experience.
    At its heart is a landmark new feature called Fastlane. Inspired by the much-loved swipe motion gestures on the iconic Nokia N9, Fastlane makes it faster and easier to access whatever is most important to you.
    Whether it is the applications you use the most, the latest images you’ve captured or your social network updates, Fastlane is designed so that you’re never more than a swipe away.
    Think of it as intelligent multitasking, or think of it as an interactive second home screen. Either way, Fastlane tracks your past, present and future, showing up to 50 of your most recent activities. It brings all the different elements of your smartphone experience together.

    image

    Smarter Internet
    In just a few short years, more people will be accessing the Internet on a mobile phone than any other kind of electronic device.
    This is why the Asha 501 continues Nokia’s focus on the ‘smarter Internet’ with an updated version of the Nokia Xpress browser with a fresh new user experience.
    Of course, it still uses cloud-compression technology to reduce data by up to 90 per cent, making it both faster and cheaper for people to get online.
    Hardware matters
    Straight out of the box, there will be Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging and Weather Channel apps installed, together with premium games from Gameloft, such as Big Little City and Real Football 2013.
    There’s also the now-legendary offer of 40 Free EA Games for you to download and keep forever from the Nokia Store.
    The Asha 501 will be the first Nokia device at such a low price point to use a micro-SIM. Furthermore, it will come in a single-SIM variant and a Dual-SIM version with Nokia’s unique Easy-Swap SIM technology, which allows people to switch SIM cards without having to power off the device.
    It features a 3.2-megapixel camera, WiFi, a lock screen with a glanceable clock and the 3-inch capacitive screen is made out of hardened glass. There’s 4GB of internal memory and support for a micro-SD card up to 32GB.
    The battery life offers an incredible 48 days in standby and 17 hours of talk time – that means you could talk from 7am to midnight non-stop!
    The Nokia Asha 501 will cost $99 before taxes and subsidies. It’ll be available in more than 90 countries worldwide from Q2.

    See also: Nokia Asha 501: exclusive photos [Nokia Conversations, May 9, 2013]

    Nokia Asha Platform Unlocks Sub-100 USD Smartphone Opportunity for Developers [press release, May 9, 2013]

    New Asha platform delivers developers a consistent quality application experience in the world’s fastest growing smartphone category

    New Delhi, India and Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced a global initiative to unlock the sub-100 USD smartphone market for developers with the release of its Nokia Asha platform. Nokia also announced the Nokia Asha 501, the first smartphone built for the new platform.

    Developers who write applications for the Nokia Asha 501 will reach all smartphones based on the new Asha platform without having to re-write code. Nokia expects to sell 100 million of the new generation Asha smartphones over the coming years, beginning with the Nokia Asha 501.

    “We’ve seen a tremendous increase in consumer demand for apps for our Asha smartphones, as witnessed by the growth of downloads in Nokia Store,” said Marco Argenti, head of Developer Experiences at Nokia. “Consumers expect quality apps at every price point. With the new Asha platform, developers will be incentivized to deliver those quality apps, previously found only on high-end smartphones, thanks to unprecedented volumes and reach opportunities through one distribution channel and a single platform.”

    Many of the most popular applications are already available or in development for the Nokia Asha platform, including CNN, eBuddy, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Line, LinkedIn, Nimbuzz, Pictelligent, The Weather Channel, Twitter, WeChat, World of Red Bull and games from Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, Namco-Bandai and Reliance Games. WhatsApp and other key partners continue to explore new Asha.

    Developers will also get easy-to-use development tools and more ways to sell and promote apps, including the new Nokia In-App Payment tool.

    New Nokia Asha SDK 1.0 and Nokia Asha web app tools

    The new Nokia Asha Software Development Kit 1.0 is a suite of tools that support the development, testing, packaging and deployment of Java apps on the Nokia Asha platform.

    The new Nokia Asha web app tools include a Web Development Environment (WDE), an integrated development environment (IDE) that developers can use to create and edit their Nokia Asha web apps; Web Inspector to help developers to debug and inspect elements in their web apps; and a new Web Designer Tool for creating great user experience for their web apps.

    Nokia In-App Payment

    Nokia also announced the new Nokia In-App Payment tool, designed to make it easier for developers to sell content from within their apps. It provides a simple and secure purchase experience for consumers and transparent payments for developers. Nokia In-App Payment will also be available for existing Asha and Series 40 phones, such as the Nokia 301. Nokia will release a public beta of Nokia In-App Payment in the coming weeks. Developers can sign-up for the beta at www.developer.nokia.com/inapppayment.

    Developers voice support for new Nokia Asha platform

    Dennis Crowley, CEO and co-founder of Foursquare: “Nokia continues to be a valued partner for Foursquare. The new Foursquare app on Asha delivers a fantastic search and discovery experience to help people make the most of where they are. As we head into the next wave of new Asha smartphones, we look forward to making Foursquare available for millions of Asha customers around the world.”
    Michael Fisher, Director of Mobile Business Development, Twitter: “Twitter’s integration into the new Asha platform, along with preloaded Twitter application that ships on Nokia devices, offers people a richer Twitter experience. Whether you want to share a photo or news article, connect with people or find out what’s happening around the world, it’s now easier than ever to use Twitter on this family of devices.”
    Sebastien Thevenet, General Manager SEA-Pacific, Gameloft: “As Nokia’s long term partner, with to date 200 million downloads recorded on Nokia Store, Gameloft is thrilled to offer four preloaded high quality games on the Nokia Asha 501 at launch (Assassin’s Creed 3, Bubble Bash 3, Real Football 2013, Little Big City) and overall more than 30 games to download on Nokia Store down the track. Those innovative titles are Try and Buy and Free to Play games making the most of Asha Full Touch capabilities and unique user interface, truly bringing a smartphone gaming experience at your fingertips.”
    Akira Morikawa, CEO of Line Corporation: “Line’s partnership with Nokia is very important and it will continue on new Asha. Delivering Line on new Asha represents our commitment of ensuring that people around the world will experience the joy of communication through Line on Asha smartphones.”
    Manish Agarwal, CEO, Reliance Games: “Reliance Games and Nokia have together demonstrated the combined power of localized content and a distribution platform in India. Our partnership with Nokia is a very cherished partnership for us to demonstrate the power of GoLocal. Reliance Games is committed to develop games on localized themes on the new Asha platform and entertain millions of people around the world by working closely with local Nokia teams in India, Asia Pacific, Latin America and other growth markets.”
    Keshav Bajaj, VP Business Development, Nimbuzz: “Most of the 150 million and counting Nimbuzz users are from markets where Nokia Asha continues to gain momentum, including India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa. We are very excited to have an application exclusively built for the new Asha platform to ensure the best user experience. This is yet another initiative from Nimbuzz for one of its most exclusive partners, Nokia.”
    Alex Adjadj, Director of Strategic Development, Mobile Sales & Marketing, Namco-Bandai: “NAMCO BANDAI has been developing mobile games for over 10 years but there are still regions of the world where users haven’t seen or played PAC-MAN. Our 22 titles available in 13 languages for the Nokia Asha 501 is a testament to our commitment to Nokia to bring a great experience to mobile users of all demographics and budgets.”
    Ramesh Kumar, Head of ESPNcricinfo and ESPN Digital Media India: “Given the popularity of Asha devices, the ESPNcricinfo app on the Asha 2013 platform is a dynamic way to reach growing numbers of mobile users in emerging markets. It is a rich platform where the ESPNcricinfo app can provide comprehensive cricket coverage tailored to suit on-the-go consumption of today’s passionate fans, including its famed match coverage, the latest news stories, insightful editorial pieces covering International & domestic cricket – all tailor-made for mobile consumption.”

    New Nokia Asha 501 Dual SIM – One swipe to access everything you love [nokia YouTube channel, May 9, 2013]

    Put the whole world in your pocket with this new Asha smartphone. Nokia Asha 501 lets you access everything you use and love on a single screen with a simple swipe. Additionally, fast and efficient browsing with Nokia Xpress Browser means more data for less money. Keep in touch and in the loop with friends using your favourite social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Find out more: http://nokia.com/NewAsha501

    Nokia introduces the Nokia Asha 501 [press release, May 9, 2013]

    Nokia Asha 501 and Asha platform reinvent the affordable smartphone category
    New Delhi, India and Espoo, Finland – Nokia today unveiled the first of a new family of Asha smartphones with the introduction of the Nokia Asha 501. The handset pushes the boundaries of affordable smartphone design with bold color, a high-quality build and an innovative user interface. The Nokia Asha 501 is the first device to run on the new Asha platform, which is designed to make the experience faster and more responsive. The Asha platform also helps developers to create, publish and make more money from apps made specifically for the new generation of Asha devices.
    Standout design, innovative user interface
    The Nokia Asha 501 makes high-end design and quality accessible to more people. The device is available in a choice of six striking colours that complement the elegant design. It comes in just two parts: a durable, removable casing and the scratch-resistant glass display, which features a three-inch, capacitive touchscreen and a single ‘back’ button. The compact new Asha weighs only 98 grams, for the ultimate portability.
    The Nokia Asha 501 is built to make it easier for people to access everything they love, with a simple swipe and a choice of two main screens: Home and Fastlane. Home is a traditional, icon-based view for launching individual apps or accessing a specific feature, like the dialler or phone settings. The new Fastlane view was inspired by how people really use their phone. Recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps, unique to each person, are stored and presented in Fastlane. It provides a record of how the phone is used, giving people a glimpse of their past, present and future activity, and helping them multi-task by providing easy access to their favorite features.
    Smarter and more personal Internet experiences
    The new Asha comes with Nokia Xpress Browser pre-loaded, which compresses Internet data by up to 90%. This is aimed at making mobile browsing faster and more affordable. Nokia also announced the availability of Nokia Xpress Now, a new Web application that recommends content based on location, preferences and trending topics. It will be available via the Browser homepage or as a download from Nokia Store.
    “Nokia has surpassed expectations of what’s achievable in the sub-100 USD phone category with a new Asha handset that is unlike any other, with design cues from Lumia and a mix of features, services and affordability that is valued by price-conscious buyers,” said Neil Mawston, executive director, Global Wireless Practice, Strategy Analytics. “This is a welcome addition to the market and a refreshing option for consumers looking to upgrade from feature phones.”
    Asha platform for next-generation family of devices
    The new Nokia Asha 501 was purpose-built to give people the best possible mobile experiences at an affordable price. It is highly efficient, with an industry-leading standby time of up to 48 days*. The Asha 501 is the first smartphone built on the new Asha platform, which leverages Nokia’s investments in Smarterphone, a company which Nokia acquired in 2012.
    The new Asha platform provides developers with an open, standards-based environment for creating quality apps for consumers. Developers can create apps for the Nokia Asha 501 that will be compatible with future Asha platform-based devices. Nokia gives developers the chance to make more money through the global reach of Nokia Store and tools like Nokia In-App Payment and Nokia Advertising Exchange (NAX), as well as Nokia’s unparalleled operator billing network.
    Many of the most popular applications are already available or in development for the Nokia Asha platform, including CNN, eBuddy, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Line, LinkedIn, Nimbuzz, Pictelligent, The Weather Channel, Twitter, WeChat, World of Red Bull and games from Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, Namco-Bandai and Reliance Games. WhatsApp and other key partners continue to explore new Asha.
    The HERE experience, based on Nokia’s leading location-based platform, will also be available as a download for the Nokia Asha 501, starting in Q3 2013 and will initially include basic mapping services.
    “The new Nokia Asha 501 raises the bar for what is possible in affordable smartphone design and optimization,” said Timo Toikkanen, executive vice president, Mobile Phones, Nokia. “The synergy between the physical design and the engine that is the new Asha platform has created a smartphone with both style and substance at a great price.”
    Facebook and global operators to support Nokia Asha 501 with free data plans
    The Nokia Asha 501 is expected to start shipping in June 2013. It is expected to be available through approximately 60 operators and distributors in more than 90 countries worldwide.
    “We are very happy to offer the new Nokia Asha 501 through our subsidiaries in the continent. We are certain that this innovative device will follow the successful footprint of the Nokia Asha family, combining affordability with the best communication and Internet browsing capabilities,” said Marco Quatorze, Value Added Services Director for America Movil.
    A leading operator in the Asia-Pacific region, Telkomsel is also supporting the arrival of the new Nokia Asha. “The Nokia Asha 501 will help us to boost the mobile Internet in Indonesia. It is powered by innovations like the Nokia Xpress Browser, based on a very efficient data consumption technology which allow us to offer best data plan tariff for people,” said Alistair Johnston, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Telkomsel. “We have a billing agreement with Nokia that supports the creation of local applications absolutely relevant to Indonesian consumers.”
    The popularity of the Nokia Asha family has also prompted innovative approaches to bundled mobile services. Nokia, Facebook and mobile network operator Airtel announced they have joined forces to offer data-free access to the standalone Facebook app, as well as the mobile site m.facebook.com. By the end of second quarter, current Airtel subscribers in Africa and India** will be able to enjoy unlimited, data-free access to Facebook from their Nokia Asha 501 for a limited period of time.
    Commenting on the partnership, Andre Beyers, Chief Marketing Officer for Airtel Africa, said: “The collaboration with Nokia is in line with our strategy of enabling people to access data in Africa as we seek to bridge the digital divide across the continent. We’re already witnessing tremendous growth in data use across the 17 countries where we operate. The provision of free Facebook access is an excellent proposition to the millions of Airtel consumers. We are extremely delighted to partner with Nokia to give our consumers an even better mobile experience.” 
    Telkomsel will provide a specific Nokia Telkomsel Asha data plan that offers up to 500 MB of data use and includes 60 minutes of calls and 60 SMS. The company will also provide a one month free data plan to consumers using Nokia Asha 501 that can be used for all mobile Internet activities including access to Facebook or downloading apps.
    “This bundle is a great way to discover Facebook on your Nokia Asha and enjoy the experience for longer without worrying about data charges,” said Vaughn Smith, VP mobile partnerships, Facebook. “Working in close partnership with Nokia and global operators made this offer possible and we’re excited to help connect the world on Facebook.”
    MTN, a leading operator across Africa, said it will also offer the Nokia Asha 501 and ease access to Facebook. “We are excited to support this initiative with Facebook in Nigeria and Zambia and we are looking forward to expand it to other markets,” says Pieter Verkade, group chief commercial officer at MTN.
    Product specifications and availability
    The Nokia Asha 501 is available in single or EasySwap Dual SIM models. All come with WiFi and Bluetooth. Other specifications:
    – Dimensions:  99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm; 98 grams
    – Camera: 3.2 MP
    – Single SIM standby time: up to 48 days***
    – Dual SIM standby time: up to 26 days***
    – Talk time: up to 17 hours
    – Additional memory of 4GB (card included in box), expandable up to 32GB
    – Forty free EA Games worth €75 downloadable from Nokia Store
    – Available colours: Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black
    – Suggested pricing is 99 USD before taxes and subsidies.
    Read more about the Nokia Asha 501 on Nokia Conversations: http://conversations.nokia.com/?p=120951.
    * when using the single SIM model
    **Under test conditions; actual results may vary, depending on use.
    ** *Time implementation differs by country

    Intel CEO (Krzanich) and president (James) combo to assure manufacturing and next-gen cross-platform lead

    Update: excerpts from Intel’s CEO Presents at Annual Shareholder Meeting Conference (Transcript) [Seeking Alpha, May 17, 2013]

    Andy D. Bryant – Chairman of the Board:

    In his most recent role as Chief Operating Officer, Brian [Krzanich] led an organization of more than 50,000 people. This included Intel’s technology and manufacturing group, its foundry and memory businesses, its human resources and information technology groups, and its China strategy.

    Brian M. Krzanich – Chief Executive Officer:

    I thought I would start off our conversation this morning talking about three main topics. First, I thought I give just a brief update on our business conditions, just a quick financial look at the company, and really what it returns to shareholders.
    The next topic I thought I would talk about are what is really the mega trends that are driving our industry and technology. And that really will lead into the final section, I’ll try and talk about, which is, what are our imperatives for growth as a company and what’s the response from these mega trends? So hopefully today, you’ll get a picture of a great foundation, how we see the trends driving where we’re headed, and what it takes for us to grow moving forward.
    Let’s start with just where are we as a business. And as you probably saw in our earnings announcement and as we’ve been watching the company over the last couple of years, we really had a solid foundation. We had net income of over $53 billion, excuse me, net revenue of over $53 billion, 62% margin, and an operating profit of over almost $15 billion. That puts us in the top 15 of the S&P 500 for net income.
    ….  So this foundation, this financial picture is what we will use now to move forward and really drive additional growth. And so I’d like to transition now to what are these mega trends? Where is the industry headed? And as a result, how does that drive our imperatives for growth moving forward?
    I don’t think we can start a discussion like that without first, having a quick discussion about one of the key real trends that have occurred over the last couple of years. And that’s really this ultra-mobile and move to tablets and phones that has occurred in our industry. We see that we’ve been a bit slow to move into that space, but what I want to show you today is that, we see the movement, we’re well positioned already and the base of assets that we have will allow us to really grow in this area at a much faster rate moving forward.
    So let’s start with mega trend number one, which is just that, it’s about ultra-mobile. We see the is becoming more and more a connected computing environment. The people want their computing next to them. They want to carry it with them. And that really means you have to have connectivity, you have to have more power, you have to have integration, and you have to be in these new markets and new devices that are moving towards more and more connectivity, we see it. We believe we are well positioned. We have 15 phones in 22 countries already, excuse me, 12 phones in 22 countries, 15 tablets both Android and Windows, and so we’ve got a good base. We see this trend, and I’ll show you in a little bit with our imperatives, we’re well positioned to move forward.
    The next one is one that I think is really driving great growth and is a great opportunity, in some place we’ve really established well, is really that the Datacenter is continuing to grow at phenomenal rates. It’s growing because of the move to cloud and tied to that connective computing environment, people want to keep more and more and have more and more access to the cloud.
    And then you’re also seeing a move in the Datacenter around big data, that as all of these connective devices continue to grow, it provides a relative information that companies can now use to offer better services and better understanding of what consumers want, and that’s really what big data is about. It’s about providing answers as you increase the data rate that’s available to you. We see that, again, we believe our products and our services are well positioned for this, and we’ll talk a little bit about that in our imperatives moving forward.
    And the third trend is really around the foundation of Intel. It’s around integration and innovation, and I believe this is really what Intel does best. When you look at our name and where we came from, Intel is Integrated Electronics, that’s what the name stands for and this is what we’ve always done best. This allows us to combine our silicon technology, our architecture, our software and services to really drive the SOC or the System-On-A-Chip environment to levels that nobody has seen before we believe moving forward.
    It means really going out and bringing in new innovations, new technologies, new communication capabilities, bringing those into silicon and using that more as long leading edge technology to allow us to drive these in a way faster than anybody else on the planet can. So those are the three big mega trends that we see driving technology and the industry moving forward.
    And what I’m going to show you now is that, we have the assets that we can apply towards these mega trends and then how those drive the imperatives for the company moving forward. Let’s first take a look at the assets. And I believe this is an asset base that any company in the world would be end user.
    We have our manufacturing assets, something that’s been near and dear to my heart over the years, 4 million square feet of manufacturing clean room. We have leading edge technology. We have 22-nanometers in production, the world’s only Tri-Gate FinFET technology is our third generation of High-k Metal Gate. We’re in the final stages of development prior to production or 14-nanometers, our second generation of Tri-Gate transistors, our fourth generation of High-k Metal Gate, that’s an asset that everybody on the planet would love to have at – to apply towards those mega trends that we just talked about.
    We have our architecture, which really ranges from the Xeon architecture for data center and servers all the way down to the Atom Architecture, which allows us into microservers, but into that connected computing, and what you will see is a move more and more as we go forward to continue to drive that continuum of computing capability into more and more markets. That’s really an asset, again, very few companies if any have.
    And the last is to tie it all together, software and services, we’ve talked – you’ve seen our acquisition of McAfee and Wind River, we’ve built a services business. What this allows us to do is take all of those assets and apply into each one of those markets that I talked about in the mega trend. And what it allows us to do is provide more than just silicon. It allows us to provide a platform and a user experience that nobody else can, and that’s a secure and user-friendly experience that allows us to provide everything to the OEM, who wants to bring a product to market.
    All of those are surrounded by the 105,000 employees that are always Intel’s greatest asset. The ability of these employees is to have, when we apply them towards these markets and these imperatives that you will see in a second here, is by far the greatest asset Intel has and we will continue to be moving forward. So I’ve shown you our base, I’ve shown you the mega trends, I’ve shown you what I believe is the greatest assets of the world to apply to those, and so let’s talk about what the imperatives are then moving forward.
    The first one is to drive PC innovation. We’ve talked a bit about this. It’s the foundation of that financial picture that I showed you at the beginning. With Haswell coming out this year, it’s launching actually right now and throughout the year as the Haswell products come out, with ultrabooks, we have the greatest level of innovation in the PC in its history. You’re going to see ultrabooks, you see two in ones, which are convertibles, which are bringing that tablet and a PC together.
    And with Haswell, you see the largest improvement in battery life and continuing capability that Intel has ever brought to production. So we believe that we are well positioned for what will be truly the PCs greatest time of innovation that we’ve all seen in our life.
    The next imperative is that aggressively move into this ultra-mobile space. As I said at the beginning, we’re well positioned. We’re already shipping 12 phones in 22 countries. We have 15 tablets out there both windows and Android. We’ve got products that are specifically designed for this ultra-mobile space that have been in the works for a couple of years, now you saw the Silvermont announcement [SEE SECTION 6. ON ‘Low-Power, High-Performance Silvermont Microarchitecture’ IN THE DETAILS PART BELOW] earlier this week.
    You are going to see, you see the Bay Trail will come out in the fourth quarter, which is really a product targeted towards tablets and low-power CRAM [C-RAN: Cloud Radio Access Network] cells and convertible devices. You can see Merrifield, which is our next generation phone device. And just as important is our LTE technology, which is critical for that second part of connecting computing, which is the communication. We have data-based LTE coming out this summer, and we have multi-mode LTE, which allows voice, data, and voice over data at the end of this year, and that really opens up all the rest to the markets to our phones and our connected devices.
    So we believe we’re well positioned. We’ve made the move, but we believe also that our architecture and the moves we’ve made allow us to move even quicker into this market down moving forward.
    The third one again tied to the trends I showed you at the beginning is to accelerate growth in the Datacenter. We have a great position in the Datacenter already. We believe that real trends like big data, movement to the cloud, software to find networks, all of those things allow for phenomenal growth in this space, and we believe our product line is well positioned to let us lead there.
    We have the Haswell, which I talked about, our second generation of 22-nanometer architecture, we’ll be shipping Xeon level or server level class product in mid-2013. We have Avoton, which is Atom from microservers. We’ll be the first to this microserver trend. You hear a lot about it. You hear a lot of people talking about it. You should know that Intel was first to this space. We didn’t wait for it to be created. We’re going to go move that space.
    We’re going to go define that microserver space, and we have Rangeley, which is product for network in comps infrastructure, which really allows us to move into the other sides of the Datacenter, where communications and that networking infrastructure occur. So those products combined, we believe we are well positioned to accelerate this growth into the Datacenter.
    And then lastly, is to continue our silicon leadership, talked early on about 22-nanometers, the first technology to bring out the target transistor, but more importantly as we have a roadmap of Morris Law that continues, that we see us growing further in along the Morris Law transitions. We have 14-nanometer in its final stages of development, ready for production at the end of this year and moving into next year.
    We understand what is beyond 14-nanometers for Morris Law. That silicon leadership allows us to drive the innovation in every one of these other areas and really bring it together in tri-sector of cost, battery, and performance that allows us to bring products to anyone of these markets that’s required.
    So to bring this to closure, as my – this is my first presentation as CEO I guess. I’ve shown you that we have a great basis from which to grow on, but financially the company is sound in a very strong position. I’ve shown you that, we understand the mega trends and then we understand exactly how the market is moving into these data center areas, the connected computing and ultra-mobility, and I try to show you we have laid out the imperatives and assets to really allow these as to move into these new areas.
    And so with that, I would just like to bring this to closure to show you that, I believe we’re well positioned. I believe that we have the best position in Intel’s history and a long last while to grow into these areas, and we really look forward to the coming years.
    And with that, I would like to call back up Andy and Renée for Q&A.
    Q: Question one, it has been two years since we purchased McAfee. How has McAfee contributed to the bottom line? What is the long-term plan with this company?
    A: from Renée James – President
    When McAfee and the acquisition of McAfee is hot of a broader strategy that we’ve had to increase the overall security not only of our products, but as we move into cloud-based computing, and into ultra-mobility that Brian talked about. We believe that one of the opportunities faces for Intel is to provide a more secure solution, more secure platforms around your data, around the devices that we build, and around your own personal identity and privacy.
    So McAfee is one of many assets that we have acquired, they have been doing a very good job, and you may have read that we’ve added two McAfee over the course of the last two years. We’ve recently announced a week ago that we made an additional acquisition, which was always part of our strategy to grow what McAfee offered around the network and the cloud, and we continued to evolve their product line and this week we made an announcement around a personal identity and data security products for consumers that is bundled with our new platforms. So we’re very happy with them. It is part of a much broader strategy that’s consistent with what Brian just talked about, and we should look for more in that area.
    Q: Over the last decade, our stock has been flat. It’s more or less tracked Microsoft has underperformed S&P 500 compared to QUALCOMM. QUALCOMM is up 300%; Apple, up 6,000%. QUALCOMM, for example, is now worth as much as Intel. Apple and QUALCOMM focus on communication products and mobile products, whereas we mostly use the market.
    What’s worse is that we have the huge manufacturing capability that you talked about, maybe 3.5-year lead on competitors. So if weren’t just now coming out with Haswell, sophomore products et cetera, our design side of the house must be behind by 3.5 years or so, and that’s not good, because now we’re in catchup mode, and that’s risky. And this isn’t the first time in the last dozen years I missed the industry trend. So I’m very concerned about the product design side of the house. This company has been very focused on manufacturing from pub noise aren’t down, the microprocessor, the 4004 was afterthought.
    The products mattered to this company. So I’m wondering if you think that the Board, the top management and the comp packages focus on product development well enough and if you’ve seen any improvements in last few years to improve the effectiveness of product design likely to be true?
    A: from Brian M. Krzanich – Chief Executive Officer
    So I started my presentation with an acknowledgment that we were slow to the mobile market. And I wanted to do that purposely to let the shareholders know we saw, but they were moving much more aggressively now moving forward, and we believe we have the right products. What we have to do is really make some decisions around; you see we bought assets to allow us to get into the LTE space. We’ve made transitions in what we design for Atom, and we’ve looked at how do we design our silicon technologies to allow integration of those, because COMs and the CPU are a little bit different in the silicon technologies they require.
    So we do believe we are positioned well moving forward. But you are asking a more fundamental question about how do we see market trends and how do we really make sure that we understand how the market is moving. And actually we spent a lot of time with the board over the last several months, partly in just the normal discussions with the board, and partly in this process of selection. And both Renée and I talked about how we’re going to build a much more outward sensing environment for Intel, so that we understand where our architecture needs to move first.
    We actually understand that integration is occurring more and more, that it’s important more about integration than almost anything else right now, and that’s really how these new devices are occurring. We have plans to build a structure that allows us to have consultants and people from the outside to help us look at these trends and look at our architectural choices and make sure we’re making the right decisions. And we’re trying to build a much closer relationship with our customers, so that we understand where they want to go. We spent, actually Renée and I over the last week, a lot of time with and they are all showing us here is where the market is moving and here is where we need Intel to move.
    We are going to make adjustments in our architecture, and our product choices to align to those much, much closure moving forward. So we do believe, we see what you’re talking about how we made those choices, but we believe we’ve made the right decisions and we have the right process moving forward to make sure, I wish they are aligned.
    Q: … question is about the Software and Services Group as compared to the PC Client Group. The Software and Services is certainly expected to grow and I’m particularly interested in the gross margin contribution not just today, I’m interested in your vision three to five years from now, how you see the gross margin contribution of the Software Group, comparing and either increasing or decreasing relative to the PCCG Group?

    A: from Renée James – President
    The Software and Services Group as you know is a new reportable segment in the last several years for us. Software business, in general, are good opportunities for growth and once that are aligned with the market segments that we’re going to provide products into or provide products into today is a good opportunity for us to enhance our offering to our customers.
    In general, we have a very, very good business. Brian talked about the margin profile business we have today. The businesses that we are pursuing in Software and Services are equally good opportunities, and we expect that those businesses will continue to contribute as software companies do in the market and about the same way that they do in the market today.
    Q: For the first time as a shareholder of Intel, I’m kind of wondering and curious about and look forward a decade from now, and here is a context to the question.
    The CapEx spending has more than doubled in the last two years. R&D has gone up by 53%, you are making a really significant investment in the future that you talked about CEO Brian, okay. And you’ve made a transition over the FinFET, last week as preparation for the meeting, I looked at the ITRS road map and about 2020, it indicates that gate lines would be running around 10-nanometers.
    When I look realistically of that, the question I have is one, what device architecture would you be using there more than likely? And number two, isn’t it time for a transition, an inflection point as Andy might have said to either switching photons or quantum computing or something else. So maybe part of the question is directed towards you Brian, and the other part could we possibly hear from your CTO or Head of TD?
    A: from Brian M. Krzanich – Chief Executive Officer
    I’ll start. It was a pretty long question, so I’m going to see if I can get most of your points. Your first point was CapEx has gone up, we’re spending a lot more on technology and is there a time for a transition in that technology, and I would tell you that we are the – we typically have about a 10-year view of Moore’s Law and we’ve always had a 10-year view. If you went back 10 years ago, we had a 10-year view. If you went back five years ago, we have a 10-year view, that’s about as far out as you can see, and we believe that we have the right architectures to continue to grow Moore’s Law in a silicon environment for at least that period of time.
    That’s not to say we don’t have efforts in photonics, we actually have efforts in photonics and we’re going to bring products to markets in photonics, more about switching in the datacenter [SEE SECTION 7. ON ‘PHOTONIC ARCHITECTURES’ IN THE DETAILS PART BELOW], but the fundamental silicon technology and our ability to continue to drive it beyond 10 nanometers, to be honest with you, we plan to be on 10 nanometers much earlier than 2020, I can tell you that, is we believe sound and fundamental and it’s why we made investments you saw us make an investment in ASML last year for almost $4 billion in total. That was really to drive EV technology for lithography to allow to keep pushing well below 10 nanometers from the Moore’s Law standpoint. So we think we are pretty well positioned to keep moving at least for the next decade in the current technologies. I don’t know if Bill…
    A: from William M. Holt – Executive Vice President
    General Manager, Technology and Manufacturing Group [“semiconductor CTO”]
    But if you look back at the last three or four generation each one has come with a substantial innovation or change, there is no simple scaling in our business anymore. And that will continue, and so each time we plan to advance the technology, we have to make changes relative to photonics and our quantum computing. We do have – Brian said, have efforts in those, but those are clearly not something that are anytime in the near horizon. There is lots of interesting work going on there, but none of it really is practical to turn into a real computing devices.
    Q: How do you expect the foundry market to impact margins short and long-term?
    A: from Brian M. Krzanich – Chief Executive Officer
    So I think Stacy has talked in some of the earnings calls that we currently see margins to be in the range looking forward to 55% to, I believe, 65% was the range she gave. Those were inclusive of our foundry business. So I would tell you that we’ve already built the foundry growth into our current projections for margin, and we actually believe we are being selective, we’re not going into the general foundry business, we’re not opening up to anybody. We’re really looking for partners that can utilize and make it take advantage of our leading edge silicon and that’s why we are able to stay in that range we believe moving forward.

    Q: I agree with the President’s vision of future is the customer interface and have LTE and good processing that all make sense. [SEE ‘TRANSPARENT COMPUTING’ AS THE OVERALL VISION, AND PERCEPTUAL COMPUTING AS AN ADDITIONAL ONE IN THE BELOW DETAILS, PARTICULARLY SECTIONS 5.+8. AND SECTION 4. RESPECTIVELY.] I would rather usher with these executions. If you look at the mobile world right now the ARMs Holdings, they have 95% of the market share. I understand Intel has 1,000, I think 1,000 researchers I think they are doing purely basic research.

    And how come interference see this mobile way coming and that the ARM Holdings taking maybe 5% market share. On top of that, Microsoft going to RT, it’s high this Windows RT, which are ARM Holding and HP just announced a new tablet with NVIDIA tablet processor, also based on ARM. So everybody is trying to take the CPU share away from you. And I understand Intel is having this Haswell should coming out in June, some questions, are you confident this Haswell can hold ARMs Holding back?

    A: from Brian M. Krzanich – Chief Executive Officer

    First, I’d say, in my presentation I talked about the fact that yes, we missed it. We were slow to tablets and some of the mobile computing. We do believe we have a good base right, 12 phones, 20 countries, 15 tablets, Android and Windows 8, it gets important that we’ve looked at both of those, and then we have these products moving forward. I would tell you that it’s more than just Haswell.

    Haswell is a key product. It’s going to extend quorum much further on both ends from a high performance Xeon space to the low power space. You are going to see single digit power levels on a core product, which will allow it move into very mobile spaces, but that alone would not go beat ARM or go beat the competition into those spaces you talked about. What you really have to do is extend into that Atom space as well, and that’s where you see products like Clover Trail and Clover Trail+ today, Silvermont [SEE SECTION 6. ON ‘Low-Power, High-Performance Silvermont Microarchitecture’ IN THE DETAILS PART BELOW] and then moving into the rest of this year you see, Bay Trail.

    Bay Trail will be one of the biggest advances we made in Atom that allows us to move into the mobile space much stronger.

    And then thirdly, with the assets we purchased a few years back, which was the Infineon mobile group, which gave us the comp side of this. And I told you that we have comps’ LTE data in the middle of this summer and multimode at the end of this year. We’ll actually be the next meeting person in LTE space and that’s critical to get into those markets. You don’t want to have to dependent on others to provide that comp and then as we move into next year, you’ll see us integrating that, which we believe allow us to move back on to that leading edge. So stitch back to that, do we have a good product roadmap to allow us to go, win share in that space, we believe we do.

    Next question is do we have a good ability to view that space moving forward because whatever it is today won’t be what it is five years from now, and that’s what Renée and I are committed to go, put in together because we absolutely believe this connected computing will continue to move down and we’ll continue on the products going forward.

    End of [May 17, 2013] update

    Intel Chairman Interview on New Intel CEO Brian Krzanich [SBARTSTV YouTube channel, May 2, 2013] 

    Intel’s CEO Pick Is Predictable, but Not Its No. 2 [The Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2013]

    The selection of Mr. Krzanich, who is 52 and joined Intel in 1982, suggests that Intel will continue to try to use its manufacturing muscle to play a broader role in mobile chips.

    But he said that the board was mainly convinced by a new strategy—devised with Ms. James—to help take Intel chips into new devices.

    “That is absolutely what won them the job,” said Andy Bryant, the Intel chairman and former finance chief who led the search. “Brian and Renee delivered a strategy for Intel that is pretty dramatic.”

    While Mr. Krzanich doesn’t expect the “full strategy” to become visible until later this year, he said it would help move Intel chips beyond computers and mobile devices into more novel fields, including wearable technology.

    The strategy “went from the very low end of computing to the very top end of computing,” Mr. Bryant said.

    Intel directors met last weekend for a final round of interviews and then vote on Mr. Krzanich’s selection, the person close to the situation said.

    On Tuesday, Mr. Krzanich suggested to Mr. Bryant the appointment of Ms. James, which the board approved Wednesday, the Intel spokesman said.

    Mr. Bryant, who is 63 years old, said he has helped mentor both executives and agreed to stay on in his position for an indefinite period to help them in their new roles.

    What already available from recently accepted by Intel board strategy is detailed in the below sections of this post, namely:

    1. Intel® XDK (cross platform development kit) with the Intel® Cloud Services Platform (CSP)
    2. Porting native code into HTML5 JavaScript
    3. Parallel JavaScript (the River Trail project)
    4. Perceptual Computing
    5. HTML5 and transparent computing
    6. Low-Power, High-Performance Silvermont Microarchitecture
    7. Photonic achitectures to drive the future of computing
    8. The two-person Executive Office and Intel’s transparent computing strategy as presented so far

    I am quite impressed with all of those pieces, just to give my conclusion ahead.

    There is, however, a huge challenge for the management as the new two-person Executive Office of Brian M. Krzanich as CEO and Renée J. James as president is to lead the company:
    – out of Intel’s biggest flop: at least 3-month delay in delivering the power management solution for its first tablet SoC [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Dec 20, 2012]
    – then Saving Intel: next-gen Intel ultrabooks for enterprise and professional markets from $500; next-gen Intel notebooks, other value devices and tablets for entry level computing and consumer markets from $300 [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 17, 2013] in short-term
    – also capitalising on Intel Media: 10-20 year leap in television this year [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 16, 2013] as a huge mid-term opportunity (with Windows Azure Media Services OR Intel & Microsoft going together in the consumer space (again)? [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 17, 2013] or not)
    – as well as further strengthening its position in the Software defined server without Microsoft: HP Moonshot [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, April 10, 2013] effort
    – but first and foremost proving that the Urgent search for an Intel savior [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Nov 21 – Dec 11, 2012] did indeed end with this decision by the Intel board
    – for which the litmus test is the company success against the phenomenon of the $99 Android 4.0.3 7” IPS tablet with an Allwinner SoC capable of 2160p Quad HD and built-in HDMI–another inflection point, from China again [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Dec 3, 2012] which is based on The future of the semiconductor IP ecosystem [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Dec 13, 2012] being a more and more viable alternative to the closed Intel system of design and manufacturing.

    Indeed, Intel completely missed the huge opportunities presented by the explosion in the mobile computing end of the market during the last 3 years resulting in entry level smartphone prices as low as $72+, only 77% higher than Intel’s latest available in products Atom Z2760 processor chip for smartphones and tablets at $41, and 71% lower than Intel’s latest available Core™ i3-3229Y processor chip for lowest power consumption ultrabooks at $250, so by now Intel’s whole business model is in jeopardy:
    despite sufficiently early warnings by:
    More information: Apple’s Consumer Computing System: 5 years of “revolutionary” iPhone and “magical” iPad[‘Experiencing the Cloud’, July 9, 2012]:
    1. Overall picture at the moment
    2. Current iPhone and iPad products
    3. Earlier products
    4. iCloud
    5. iTunes
    6. App Store

    Let’s see now in detail how the Intel Board decision could be the right one based on deep analysis of the available information so far:


    1. Intel® XDK (cross platform development kit) with the Intel® Cloud Services Platform (CSP)

    The Intel® XDK (cross platform development kit) can be used to create applications using HTML5 and web services. One such set of services are the Intel® Cloud Services Platform (CSP). The Intel® XDK  supports the full spectrum of HTML5 mobile development strategies, including:

    • Classic Web Apps – No device interface, no on-device caching (only works online)
    • Mobile Web Apps – HTML5 Caching (works online/offline), some device interface (GPS, Accelerometer)
    • Hybrid Native Apps – Full device interface, identical to native apps

    image

    Each of these strategies has pros and cons – Intel makes it easy to develop using HTML5 and JavaScript, regardless of the precise deployment strategy you choose. Intel’s App Dev Center makes it easy to build and manage deployments to all popular app stores.

    With the Intel® XDK, developers really can “write it once, deploy to many.” Currently build for iOS Tablets, iOS Smartphones, Android Tablets, Android Smartphones, Google Play Store, Amazon App Store, Mozilla App Store, Facebook App Center, and the Google Chrome store.

    Intel® HTML5 XDK Demo [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, March 25, 2013]

    Check out our overview of the Intel XDK, a cross-platform development environment that allows developers to write their apps and test them on multiple devices and platforms within the XDK.

    More information:
    Create World Class HTML5 Apps & Web Apps with the XDK [Intel’s App Learning Center, March 1, 2013]
    The XDK turbocharges PhoneGap [Intel’s App Learning Center, March 1, 2013]
    Developing Applications for Multiple Devices [Intel HTML5 development documentation, March 15, 2013]

    It is likely that any of your apps fall into one of two broad categories. The first category of apps includes fixed position apps, like a game or interactive app where the layout is fixed and all the assets are placed in a static position. The second app category is a dynamic layout app, like an RSS reader or similar app where you may have content that is in a long list and viewing a specific item just shows a scrolling view to acommodate varying content size. For the second category, positioning and scrolling can usually be handled by simple CSS. Setting your div and body widths to “width=100%” instead of “width=768px” is  an example of an approach that should help you use the entire screen regardless of resolution and aspect ratio.
    The first category is a lot more complicated and we have added some functions to help you deal with this issue. It should be noted that there is no magic “silver bullet” solution. However, if you design your app with certain things in mind and have a plan for other resolutions, we can take care of some complicated calculations and make sure things are scaled for the best user experience possible.
    Before we explain how to use our functions to help with these issues, let’s look at some real devices and their resolutions to get a clearer picture of the issues.
    Conclusion
    Scaling a single codebase for use on multiple devices and resolutions is a formidable challenge, particularly if your app is in the category of apps that are fixed position apps rather than an app that uses a dynamic layout. By designing your app’s layout for the smallest screen ratio expected, you can rely on us to help by performing proper scaling and letting you know the new virtual available screen size. From there you can easily pad your app’s background or reset your application’s world bounds to adapt to different screens on the fly.
    For more information, documentation is available at http://www.html5devsoftware.intel.com/documentation. Please email html5tools@intel.com with any questions or post on our forums at http://forums.html5dev-software.intel.com .

    App Game Interfaces is a JavaScript execution environment that includes a minimal DOM, primarily to provide access to a partial implementation of HTML5 canvas that is optimized for the Apple iOS and Google Android platforms. The App Game Interfaces augment the Canvas object with multi-channel sound, accelerated physics, and accelerated canvas to provide more realistic modeling and smoother gameplay, more like native capabilities and performance – with HTML5!

    The Intel® HTML5 Game Development Experience at GDC 2013 [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, April 5, 2013]

    Get a quick overview of Intel’s HTML5 tools and developer experience from GDC. We have an IDE and cloud-based build system that simplify mobile development and cross-platform deployment.

    More information:
    HTML5 and Mobile are the Future of Gaming [Intel’s App Learning Center, March 1, 2013]
    Graphics Acceleration for HTML5 and Java Script Engine JIT Optimization for Mobile Devices [Intel Developer Zone article, Jan 4, 2013]
    Convert an App Using HTML5 Canvas to Use App Game Interfaces [Intel HTML5 development documentation, March 4, 2013]
    Application Game Interfaces [Intel HTML5 development Readme, March 1, 2013]

    App Game Interfaces uses:
    
    1. Ejecta - Dominic Szablewski - MIT X11 license 
    (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT) 2. Box2D - Erin Catto - Box2D License 3. JavaScriptCore - The WebKit Open Source Project - GNU LGPL 2.1
    (http://opensource.org/licenses/LGPL-2.1) 4. V8 JavaScript Engine - Google - New BSD license
    (http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause) 5. IJG JPEG - Independent JPEG Group – None
    (http://www.ijg.org/files/README) 6. libpng - PNG Development Group - zlib/libpng License
    (http://opensource.org/licenses/Zlib) 7. FreeType - The FreeType Project - The FreeType License
    (http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/freetype/freetype2.git/tree/docs/FTL.TXT) 8. v8 build script - Appcelerator Inc - Apache License 2.0
    (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)

    The Intel Cloud Services Platform beta provides a set of identity-based services designed for rich interoperability and seamless experiences that cut across devices, operating systems, and platforms. The initial set of services accessed via RESTful APIs provide key capabilities such as identity, location, and context to developers for use in server, desktop, and mobile applications aimed at both consumers and businesses.

    For more information, please visit the Intel Cloud Services Platform beta.

    Intel® Developer Zone Cloud Services Platform [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, March 26, 2013]

    Peter Biddle, General Manager, Intel Cloud Services

    Plucky rebels: Being agile in an un-agile place – Peter Biddle at TED@Intel [TEDInstitute YouTube channel, published May 6, 2013, filmed March 2013]

    Peter is an expert in bringing software products from idea to reality.Peter is currently General Manager, Cloud Services Platform at Intel Corporation. Prior to Intel, he ran all product development and engineering efforts at Trampoline Systems. He was also at Microsoft Corporation for, as he says, “a really long time.” His team built BitLocker, a key enterprise-focused feature in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and he founded Microsoft’s Hypervisor team. Peter enjoys “building kickass products and platforms with wicked smart people.”

    Intel® Cloud Services Platform Demo at GDC 2013 [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, April 5, 2013]

    At GDC 2013, Gunjan Rawal describes the advantages of the Intel® Cloud Services Platform.

    Intel® Cloud Services Platform [CSP] Technical Overview [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, May 3, 2013]

    Watch one of the CSP architects Vadim Gore, speak to the key highlights of Intel Cloud Services Platform services – Intel Identity, Context, Location and Commerce. Take a quick look at a demo using the Identity and Location Services.

    More information:
    Intel® Cloud Services Platform Overview (video by Norman Chou on Intel Developer Zone, March 19, 2013)
    Intel® Cloud Service Platform beta Overview (presentation by Norman Chou on GSMA OneAPI Developer Day, Feb 26, 2013), see the GSMA page as well

    Build apps that seamlessly span devices, operating systems, and platforms.
    Learn how you can easily build apps with this collection of identity-based, affiliated services.  Services available include Intel Identity Services, Location Based Services, Context Services and Commerce Services.  This session will cover the RESTful APIs available for each service, walk you through the easy sign up process and answer your questions.  Want to know more?  Visit http://software.intel.com/en-us/cloud-services-platform.


    2. Porting native code into HTML5 JavaScript

    Currently porting native iOS code to HTML5 is supported but via an abstract format which potentially will allow portinf from other OS code in the futures as well:image

    This app porting relies (or would soon rely, see later) on App Framework (formerly jqMobi) as the “definitive JS library for HTML5 app development” for which Intel is stating:

    Create the mobile apps you want with the tools you are comfortable with. Build hybrid mobile apps and web apps using the App Framework and App UI Library, a jQuery-compatible framework that gives you developers all the UX you want in a tight, fast package.

    The Intel® HTML5 App Porter Tool Demo at GDC 2013 [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, April 5, 2013]

    Stewart Christie gives a brief demo of the Intel App Porter tool takes an iOS app xcode project file, and ports it to HTML5 at GDC 2013. This tool does not automatically port 100% of iOS applications, but instead it speeds up the porting process by translating as much code and artifacts as possible.

    More information: Intel HTML5 Porter Tool Introduction for Android Developer [Intel Developer Zone blog post, April 5, 2013] which presents the tool as:

    image
    and adds the following important information (note here that instead of App Framework/jqMobi that version relies on the less suitable jQuery Mobile):

    The next release is expected to have better integration with Intel® XDK (Intel’s HTML5 cross platform development kit) and have more iOS API coverage in terms of planned features.
    2. Porting translated application to different OSs
    A translated HTML5 project has a jsproj file for Visual Studio 2012 JavaScript project in Windows Store  apps which you are able to open on Windows* 8 in order to run in case of successfully translated application (100% translated API) or continue development in case of placeholders in the code.

    While in the associated Technical Reference – Intel® HTML5 App Porter Tool – BETA [Intel Developer Zone article, Jan 17, 2013] you will find all the relevant additional details, from which it is important to add here the following section:

    About target HTML5 APIs and libraries
    The Intel® HTML5 App Porter Tool – BETA both translates the syntax and semantics of the source language (Objective-C*) into JavaScript and maps the iOS* SDK API calls into an equivalent functionality in HTML5. In order to map iOS* API types and calls into HTML5, we use the following libraries and APIs:

    • The standard HTML5 API: The tool maps iOS* types and calls into plain standard objects and functions of HTML5 API as its main target. Most notably, considerable portions of supported Foundation framework APIs are mapped directly into standard HTML5. When that is not possible, the tool provides a small adaptation layer as part of its library.

    • The jQuery Mobile library: Most of the UIKit widgets are mapped jQuery Mobile widgets or a composite of them and standard HTML5 markup. Layouts from XIB files are also mapped to jQuery Mobile widgets or other standard HTML5 markup.

    • The Intel® HTML5 App Porter Tool – BETA library: This is a ‘thin-layer’ library build on top of jQuery Mobile and HTML5 APIs and implements functionality that is no directly available in those libraries, including Controller objects, Delegates, and logic to encapsulate jQuery Mobile widgets. The library provides a facade very similar to the original APIs that should be familiar to iOS* developers. This library is distributed with the tool and included as part of the translated code in the lib folder.

    You should expect that future versions of the tool will incrementally add more support for API mapping, based on further statistical analysis and user feedback.


    3. Parallel JavaScript (the River Trail project)

    RiverTrail Wiki [on GitHub edited by Stephan Herhut, April 2313, 2013 version] [April 23]

    Background
    The goal of Intel Lab’s River Trail project is to enable data-parallelism in web applications. In a world where the web browser is the user’s window into computing, browser applications must leverage all available computing resources to provide the best possible user experience. Today web applications do not take full advantage of parallel client hardware due to the lack of appropriate programming models. River Trail puts the parallel compute power of client’s hardware into the hands of the web developer while staying within the safe and secure boundaries of the familiar JavaScript programming paradigm. River Trail gently extends JavaScript with simple deterministic data-parallel constructs that are translated at runtime into a low-level hardware abstraction layer. By leveraging multiple CPU cores and vector instructions, River Trail achieves significant speedup over sequential JavaScript.
    Getting Started
    To get a feeling for the programming model and experiment with the API, take a look at our interactive River Trail shell. The shell runs in any current version of Firefox, Chrome and Safari. If you are using Firefox and have installed the River Trail extension (see below on how to), your code will be executed in parallel. If you are using other browsers or have not installed the extension for Firefox, the shell will use a sequential library implementation and you won’t see any speedup.
    You need to install our Firefox extension to use our prototype compiler that enables execution of River Trail on parallel hardware. You can download a prebuilt version for Firefox 20.x [April 23] running on Windows and MacOS (older versions for older browsers can be found here). We no longer provide a prebuilt Linux version. However, you can easily build it yourself. We have written a README that explains the process. If you are running Firefox on Windows or Linux, you additionally need to install Intel’s OpenCL SDK (Please note the SDK’s hardware requirements.).

    River Trail – Parallel Computing in JavaScript [by Stephan Herhut from Intel Labs, delivered on April 2, 2012 at JSConf 2012, published on JSConf EU YouTube channel on Jan 20, 2013]

    River Trail Demos at IDF 2012 [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, Sept 24, 2012]

    Stephan Herhut demonstrates River Trail at IDF 2012

    More information:
    River Trail – Parallel Programming in JavaScript [Stephan Herhut on InfoQ, March 29, 2013] a collection which is based on his latest recorded presentation (embedded there) that was delivered at Strange Loop 2012 on Sept 24, 2012 (you can follow his Twitter for further information)
    River Trail: Bringing Parallel JavaScript* to the Web [Intel Developer Zone article by Stephan Herhut, Oct 17, 2012]
    Tour de Blocks: Preview the Benefits of Parallel JavaScript* Technology by Intel Labs [Intel Developer Zone article by Stephan Herhut, Oct 17, 2012]
    Parallel JS Lands [Baby Steps blog by Niko Matsakis at Mozilla, March 20, 2013], see all of his posts in PJs category since January 2009, particularly ‘A Tour of the Parallel JS Implementation’ Part 1 [March 20] and Part 2 [April 4], while from the announcement:

    The first version of our work on ParallelJS has just been promoted to mozilla-central and thus will soon be appearing in a Nightly Firefox build near you. … Once Nightly builds are available, users will be able to run what is essentially a “first draft” of Parallel JS. The code that will be landing first is not really ready for general use yet. It supports a limited set of JavaScript and there is no good feedback mechanism to tell you whether you got parallel execution and, if not, why not. Moreover, it is not heavily optimized, and the performance can be uneven. Sometimes we see linear speedups and zero overhead, but in other cases the overhead can be substantial, meaning that it takes several cores to gain from parallelism. …
    Looking at the medium term, the main focus is on ensuring that there is a large, usable subset of JavaScript that can be reliably parallelized. Moreover, there should be a good feedback mechanism to tell you when you are not getting parallel execution and why not.
    The code we are landing now is a very significant step in that direction, though there is a long road ahead.
    I want to see a day where there are a variety of parallel APIs for a variety of situations. I want to see a day where you can write arbitrary JS and know that it will parallelize and run efficiently across all browsers.

    Parallel javascript (River Trail) combine is not a function [Stack Overflow, April 16-25, 2013] from which it is important to include Stephan Herhut’s answer:

    There are actually two APIs:
      1. the River Trail API as described in the GitHub prototype documentation
      2. the Parallel JavaScript API described in the ECMAScript proposal
        The two differ slightly, one difference being that the ECMAScript proposal no longer has a combine method but uses a flavor of map that offers the same functionality. Another difference is that the GitHub prototype uses index vectors whereas the proposal version uses multiple scalar indices. Your example, for the prototype, would be written as
        var par_A = new ParallelArray([3,3], function(iv) {return iv[1]}); par_A.combine(2, function(i) {return this.get(i) + 1} );
        In the proposal version, you instead would need to write
        var par_A = new ParallelArray([3,3], function(i,j) {return j}); par_A.map(2, function(e, i) { return this.get(i) + 1; });
        Unfortunately, multi-dimensional map is not yet implemented in Firefox, yet. You can watch bug 862897 on Mozilla’s bug tracker for progress on that front.
        Although we believe that the API in the proposal is the overall nicer design, we cannot implement that API in the prototype for technical reasons. So, instead of evolving the prototype half way, we have decided to keep its API stable.
        One important thing to note: the web console in Firefox seems to always use the builtin version of ParallelArray and not the one used by a particular website. As a result, if you want to play with the GitHub prototype, you best use the interactive shell from our GitHub website.
        Hope this clears up the confusion.


        4. Perceptual Computing

        Intel is supporting developers interested in adding perceptual computing to their apps with theIntel® Perceptual Computing SDK 2013 Beta. This allows developers to use perceptual computing to create immersive applications that incorporate close-range hand and finger tracking, speech recognition, facial analysis, and 2D/3D object tracking on 2nd and 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor-powered Ultrabook devices and PCs. Intel has also released the Creative Interactive Gesture Camera as part of the SDK, which allows developers to create the next generation of natural, immersive, innovative software applications on Intel Core processor-powered Ultrabook devices, laptops, and PCs.

        How to drive experience with perceptual computing – Achin Bhowmik at TED@Intel [TEDInstitute YouTube channel, published May 6, 2013, filmed March 2013]

        Achin is the director of perceptual computing at Intel, where he leads the development and implementation of natural, intuitive, and immersive human-computer interaction technologies and solutions. He has over 100 publications, including a book and 25 issued patents, and has taught graduate-level courses on computer vision, image processing, and display technology. He has been a program committee member, session chair, invited and tutorial speaker at a number of international conferences.

        Head Coupled Perspective with the Intel® Perceptual Computing SDK [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, March 25, 2013]

        Learn how to add intuitive and interactive experiences to your software with the Intel Perceptual Computing SDK.

        Perceptual Computing Challenge Phase 1 Trailer [IntelPerceptual YouTube channel, March 28, 2013]

        See how developers worldwide are using their creativity and skill to make interaction with the computer more natural, intuitive and immersive using Intel’s Perceptual Computing SDK. Follow us on FB and Twitter at /IntelPerceptual

        More information:
        GDC 2013: Perceptual Computing, HTML5, Havok, and More [Intel Developer Zone blog post, April 2, 2013]
        Introducing the Intel® Perceptual Computing SDK 2013 [Intel Developer Zone blog post, April 5, 2013]
        Perceptual Computing: Ten Top Resources for Developers [Intel Developer Zone blog post, Jan 4, 2013]


        5. HTML5 and transparent computing

        Why Intel Loves HTML5 [intelswnetwork YouTube channel, Dec 20, 2012]

        HTML, or Hyper-Text Markup Language, is the language of the World Wide Web.HTML, or Hyper-Text Markup Language, is the language of the World Wide Web. It has be evolving since it’s early days of mostly being a text based method of communications to not being an environment that not only supports text and pictures, but also video, other forms of multimedia, and interactivity through JavaScript. In actuality, the moniker “HTML5” is generally considered to consist of not only the latest specification of HTML, but also the 3rd generation of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS3) and JavaScript, so that the end product can make the web more alive than ever. And Intel is proud to be a part of that. We’ve been a strong supporter of Internet standards for many years & we are pleased with the latest announcement from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C found at http://www.w3.org) of having published the complete definition of HTML5 & Canvas 2D specifications. To learn more about what Intel is doing with HTML5, see our Intel HTML5 Developer Zone at: http://software.intel.com/HTML5

        App Development Without Boundaries [Intel Software Adrenaline article, April 1, 2013]

        HTML5 Reaches More Devices and More Users, More Effectively
        There are a lot of reasons to like HTML5.  It’s advanced.  It’s open.  It’s everywhere.  And, it’s versatile.

        But Intel loves HTML5 because our vision for the future is a world where developers can create amazing cross-platform experiences that flow freely from device to device, and screen to screen—a world where apps can reach more customers and get to market faster, without boundaries.

        HTML5 helps make that world possible.

        Many Devices, One Platform [Intel Software Adrenaline article, Dec 11, 2012]

        The Three Design Pillars of Transparent Computing
        Welcome to the new, transparent future, where users expect software apps to work equally well no matter what device they run on, whether on an Ultrabook™ device or an Android* phone, a netbook or a tablet. This is the concept of transparent computing: with the assumed level of mobility expected, today’s consumers demand seamless transitions for a single app on multiple platforms. Developers must deliver code that works just about everywhere, with standard usability, and with strong security measures.
        It’s a tall order, but help is available. As long as teams understand some of the simple design considerations and usability frameworks, which are outlined in this article, they can expand their app appeal across many profitable niches and embrace transparent computing.
        There are three key design principles that comprise the transparent computing development model:
          • Cross-platform support
          • Standard usability themes
          • Enhanced security features
            If developers can think in these broad strokes and plan accordingly, the enhanced effect of multiple platform revenues and word-of-mouth marketing can result in the income streams that your entire app portfolio will appreciate.

            More information:
            Transparent Computing: One Platform to Develop Them All [Intel Developer Zone blog post, Sept 13, 2012]
            Transparent Computing with Freedom Engine – HTML5 and Beyond [Intel Developer Zone blog post, Oct 15, 2012]
            Intel Cloud Services Platform Private Beta [Intel Developer Zone blog post, Oct 18, 2012]
            App Show 33: A Recap of Day Two at IDF 2012 [Intel Developer Zone blog post, Nov 9, 2012]
            Cross-Platform Development: What The Stats Say [Intel Developer Zone blog post, March 7, 2013]
            Intel’s Industry Expert Examines Cross-platform Challenges and Solutions [Intel Software Adrenaline article, April 16, 2013]
            Security Lets You Make the Most of the Cloud [Intel Software Adrenaline infographic, April 10, 2013]
            Mechanisms to Protect Data in the Open Cloud [Intel Software Adrenaline whitepaper, April 10, 2013]
            Intel and VMware security solutions for business computing in the cloud [Intel Software Adrenaline solution brief, April 10, 2013]
            The Intel® HTML5 Game Development Experience at GDC 2013 [Intel Developer Zone blog post, April 5, 2013]
            Intel Developer Forum 2012 Keynote, Renée James Transcript (PDF 190KB)

            transparent computing is really about allowing experiences to seamlessly cross across different platforms, both architectures and operating system platform boundaries. It makes extensive use of technologies like HTML5 – which we’re going to talk a lot more about in a second – and in house cloud services. It represents for us the direction that we believe we need to go as an industry. And it’s the next step really beyond ubiquitous computing.

            We need three things. We need a programming environment that crosses across platforms and architectures and the boundaries. We need a flexible and secure cloud infrastructure. And we need a more robust security architecture from client to the data center.

            We believe that HTML5 as the application programming language is what can deliver a seamless and consistent environment across the different platforms – across PCs, tablets, telephones, and into the car.
            … transparent computing obviously relies on the cloud to provide the developer and the application transparent services that move across platforms and ecosystem boundaries.
            Intel is working on an integrated set of cloud services for developers that we would host that would give some of the core elements required to really realize our vision around transparent computing. Some of them would be location services, like Peter demonstrated this morning; digital storefronts, federated identity attestation, some of the things that are required to know who’s where on which device, sensor and context APIs for our platforms, and, of course, business analytics and business intelligence.
            We will continue to roll these things out over the course of the year, so you should look for more from us on that. And as I said, these will be predominantly developer services, backend services for developers as they create application.
            For the cloud, as we migrate resources across these different datacenters and different environments, as we move applications and workloads, we have to do it in a secure way. And one of the ways that you can do that on our platforms, on Intel’s servers, is using Trusted Execution, or TXT. TXT allows data operations to occur isolated in their own execution environment from the rest of the system and safe from malware.
            In transparent computing, the security of the device is going to be largely around identity management. In addition to device management and application and software security, which we’ve been working on for a while, we have a lot of work to do in the area of identity and how we protect people – not only their data, but who they are at transactions, as they move these experiences across these different devices.
            Identity and attestation we believe will become key underpinnings for all mobile transparent computing across different platforms and the cloud. Underneath it all, we’re going to have to have a very robust set of hardware features, which we plan to have, to secure that information. It’s going to be even more critical especially as we think about mobile devices and we think about identity and attestation that we’re able to truly secure and know that it is as safe and as known good as possible.
            We will continue to provide direct distribution support for your applications and services through AppUp, and those of you that know about it, fabulous. If you don’t, AppUp is the opportunity to distribute through a digital storefront across 45 countries, around Intel platforms. We support Windows and Tizen and HTML5, both native and other apps.
            In addition to all of that, we will be revitalizing the software business network, which we’ve used to pair you up with other Intel distributors and Intel hardware partners for exclusive offers and bundles. As we see more and more solutions in our industry, we want to make sure our developers are able to connect with people building on Intel platforms. And other additional marketing programs and that kind of thing are all going to be in the same place.
            And in Q4, we will have a specific program launched on HTML5. That program will help you write applications across multiple environments. We’ll be doing training, we’ll have SDKs, there will be tools. We will be working on how you run across IOS, Android, Windows, Linux, and Tizen. So, please stay tuned and go to the developer’s center for that.
            Finally, today is just the start of our discussion on transparent computing. In the era of ubiquitous computing, we had that industry vision for a decade, and now that’s become a reality. And just like when we first predicted there was going to be a billion connected computers – I still remember it, it sounded so farfetched at that point in time decades ago – transparent computing seems pretty far away from where we stand today, but we have always believed that the future of computing is what we make it. And we believe that the developers, our developers around our platform, can embrace a new paradigm for computing, a paradigm that users want us to go solve. And we look forward to being your partner for the next era of computing, and delivering it transparently.
            Chip Shot: Intel Extends HTML5 Capabilities for App Developers [Intel Newsroom, Feb 25, 2013]
            To complement and grow its HTML5 capabilities, Intel has acquired the developer tools and build system from appMobi. Intel also hired the tool-related technical staff to help extend Intel’s existing HTML5 capabilities and accelerate innovation and delivery of HTML5 tools for cross platform app developers. Software developers continue to embrace HTML5 as an easy to use language to create cross platform apps. Evans Data finds 43 percent of all mobile developers indicate current use of HTML5 and an additional 38 percent plan to use HTML5 in the coming year.  App developers can get started building HTML5 cross-platform apps today at: software.intel.com/html5. Visit the Intel Extends HTML5 Capabilities blog post for more information.
            Intel extends HTML5 capabilities [Intel Developer Zone, Feb 22, 2013]
            Developers continue to tell Intel they are looking to HTML5 to help improve time to market and reduce cost for developing and deploying cross-platform apps. At the same time, app developers want to maximize reach to customers and put their apps into multiple stores. Intel is dedicated to delivering software development tools and services that can assist these developers. I am pleased to let you know that Intel recently acquired the developer tools and build system from appMobi. While we’ve changed the names of the tools, the same capabilities will be there for you. You can check these tools out and get started writing your own cross platform apps now by visiting http://software.intel.com/html5 and registering to access the tools. Developers already using the appMobi tools will be able to access their work and files as well. If you weren’t already using appMobi development tools, I invite you to try them out and see if they fit your HTML5 app development needs. You will find no usage or licensing fees for using the tools.
            We are also excited to bring many of the engineers who created these tools to Intel. These talented tool engineers complement Intel’s existing HTML5 capabilities and accelerate innovation and delivery of HTML5 tools for cross platform app developers.
            I hope you will visit http://software.intel.com/html5 soon to check out the tools and return often to learn about the latest HTML5 developments from Intel.  

            One Code Base to Rule Them All: Intel’s HTML5 Development Environment [Intel Developer Zone, March 12, 2013]

            If you’re a developer searching for a great tool to add to your repertoire, you’ll want to check out Intel’s HTML5 Development Environment, an HTML5-based development platform that enables developers to create one code base and port it to multiple platforms. Intel recently purchased the developer tools and build system from appMobi:
            “While we’ve changed the names of the tools, the same capabilities will be there for you. You can check these tools out and get started writing your own cross platform apps now by visiting http://software.intel.com/html5 and registering to access the tools. Developers already using the appMobi tools will be able to access their work and files as well. If you weren’t already using appMobi development tools, I invite you to try them out and see if they fit your HTML5 app development needs. You will find no usage or licensing fees for using the tools.”
            You can view the video below to see what this purchase means for developers who have previously used AppMobi’s tools:
            For appMobi Developers: How Does Intel’s Acquisition Affect Me? [appMobi YouTube channel, Feb 22, 2013]
            This video explains how Intel’s acquisition of appMobi’s HTML5 development tools will affect appMobi developers.
            What is the HTML5 Development Environment?
            Intel’s HTML5 Development Environment is a cloud-based, cross-platform HTML5 application development interface that makes it as easy as possible to build an app and get it out quickly to a wide variety of software platforms. It’s easy to use, free to get started, and everything is based right within the Web browser. Developers can create their apps, test functions, and debug their projects easily, putting apps through their virtual paces in the XDK which mimics real world functionality from within the Web browser.
            This environment makes it as simple as possible to develop with HTML5, but by far the biggest advantage of using this service is the ability to build one app on whatever platform that developers are comfortable with and then deploy that app across multiple platforms to all major app stores.  The same code foundation can be built for iOS, Web apps, Android, etc. using just one tool to create, debug, and deploy.
            As appMobi is also the most popular HTML5 application development tool on the market with over 55,000 active developers using it every month to create, debug, and deploy, this tool is especially welcome. The HTML5 Development Environment makes it easy to create one set of code and seed it across multiple cross-platforms, making the process of development – including getting apps to market – more efficient for developers.
            HTML5 is quickly becoming a unifying code platform for both mobile and desktop development. Because of this, Intel and appMobi have teamed up to support quick HTML5 app development for both PCs and Ultrabook™ devices. The XDK makes developing apps as easy as possible, but the best part about it is how fast apps can go from the drawing board to consumer-facing stores. Developers can also employ the XDK to reach an ever-growing base of Ultrabook users with new apps that utilize such features as touch, accelerometer, and GPS.
            The Intel HTML5 XDK tools can be used to create apps for a whole new market of consumers looking to access all the best features that an HTML5-based app for Ultrabook devices has to offer. For example, every 16 seconds, an app is downloaded via Intel’s AppUp store, and there are over 2.6 billion potential PCs reachable from this platform. Many potential monetization opportunities exist for developers by utilizing Intel Ultrabook-specific features in their apps such as touch, accelerometer, and GPS, features traditionally seen only in mobile and tablet devices. Intel’s HTML5 development tools give developers the tools to quickly create, test, and deploy HTML5-based apps that in turn can be easily funneled right into app stores and thus into the hands of PC and Ultrabook device users. 
            Easy build process
            The App Starter offers an interactive wizard to guide developers gently through the entire build process. This includes giving developers a list of the required plugins, any certificates that might be lacking, and any assets that might need to be pulled together. It will generate the App Framework code for you.
            Developers can upload their own projects; a default template is also available. A demo app is automatically generated. Once an app is ready to build, developers are given an array of different services to choose from. Click on “build now”, supply a title, description and icon in advance, and the App Starter creates an app bundle that can then be submitted to different app stores/platforms.
            The XDK
            image
            One of the HTML5 Development Environment’s most appealing features is the XDK (cross-platform development kit). This powerful interface supports robust HTML5 mobile development, which includes hybrid native apps, enhanced Web apps, mobile Web apps, and classic Web apps to give developers the full range of options.
            The XDK makes testing HTML5 apps as easy as possible. Various form factors – phones, tablets, laptops, etc. – can be framed around an app to simulate how it would function on a variety of devices. In addition to tablet, phone, and PC emulations, there is also a full screen simulation of different Ultrabook device displays within the XDK. This is an incredibly useful way to test specific Ultrabook features in order to make sure that they are at maximum usability for consumers. The XDK for Ultrabook apps enables testing for mouse, keyboard, and touch-enabled input, which takes the guesswork out of developing for touch-based Ultrabook devices.
            One tool, multiple uses
            image
            Intel’s HTML5 Development Environment is a cross-platform development service and packaging tool. It enables HTML5 developers to package their applications, optimize those applications, test with features, and deploy to multiple services.
            Rather than building separate applications for all the different platforms out there, this framework makes it possible to build just one with HTML5 and port an app to multiple platforms. This is a major timesaver, to say the very least. Developers looking for ways to streamline their work flow and get their apps quickly to end users will appreciate the user-friendly interface, rich features, and in-browser feature testing. However, the most appealing benefit is the ability to build one app instead of several different versions of one app and deploy it across multiple platforms for maximum market exposure. 
            Chip Shot: Intel Expands Support of HTML5 with Launch of App Development Environment [Intel Newsroom, April 10, 2013]
            At IDF Beijing, Intel launched the Intel® HTML5 Development Environment that provides a cross-platform environment to develop, test and deploy applications that can run across multiple device types and operating system environments as well as be available in various application stores. Based on web standards and supported by W3C, HTML5 makes it easier for software developers to create applications once to run across multiple platforms. Intel continues to invest in HTML5 to help mobile application developers lower total costs and improve time-to-market for cross-platform app development and deployment. Developers can access the Intel HTML5 Development Environment from the Intel® Developer Zone at no cost.

            Intel Cloud Services Platform Open beta [Intel Developer Zone blog post, Dec 13, 2012]

            Doors to our beta open today. Welcome! For those who participated in our private beta, thank you. Your feedback and ideas were awesome and will clearly make our services more useful for other developers. We are continuing to work out the kinks in our Wave 1 Services (Identity, Location and Context) and your ideas help us build what you want to use. We are at a point where we feel ready to invite others to try our services. So, today we open the doors to the broader developer community.
            Our enduring mission with the Intel Cloud Services Platform beta is to give you key building blocks to deliver transparent computing experiences that seamlessly span devices, operating systems, stores and even ecosystems. With this release, “Wave 2”, we introduce a collection of Commerce Services that provide a common billing provider for apps and services deployed on the Intel Cloud Services Platform. Other cool stuff we’ve added includes Geo Messaging and Geo Fencing to Location Based Services and Behavioral Models for cuisine preferences and destination probability to Context Services.
            For the open beta, we are introducing a Technical Preview of Curation, Catalog and Security. These are early releases, so some features may change, but we want to get you coding around these, so you can tell us what you think. We know building apps that provide users with a high degree of personalization often means spending WEEKS of valuable development time. Also, developing apps that are truly cross platform, cross domain and cross industry is still extremely difficult to do. So, our objective with Curation and Catalog Services is to make it really easy for you to create complex functionalities such as schemaless catalogs, developer- or user-curated lists, and secure client-side storage of data at rest. Play around with these services and give us feedback.
            In addition to new services, we have invested heavily in a scalable and robust infrastructure. You need to be able to trust that our services will just work. To help you out, we have created a support team that you’ll want to call and talk to. We have 24×7 support and various ways you can reach out to us. You can contact us by phone (1-800-257-5404, option 4), email or our community forums.
            To get the latest on what’s new and useful, check out our community. If you haven’t checked out our Services – remember the door is open. Try them. If you have thoughts about our platform, I want to hear them. Find me on twitter (@PNBLive).


            6. Low-Power, High-Performance Silvermont Microarchitecture

            Intel’s new Atom chips peak on performance, power consumption [computerworld YouTube channel, May 7, 2013]

            Intel’s upcoming Atom chips with the new Silvermont CPU architecture will be up to three times faster and five times more power efficient than their predecessors.

            Intel Launches Low-Power, High-Performance Silvermont Microarchitecture [press release, May 6, 2013]

            NEWS HIGHLIGHTS:

            • Intel announces Silvermont microarchitecture, a new design in Intel’s 22nm Tri-Gate SoC process delivering significant increases in performance and energy efficiency.
            • Silvermont microarchitecture delivers ~3x more peak performance or the same performance at ~5x lower power over current-generation Intel® Atom™ processor core.1
            • Silvermont to serve as the foundation for a breadth of 22nm products targeted at tablets, smartphones, microservers, network infrastructure, storage and other market segments including entry laptops and in-vehicle infotainment.
            SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 6, 2013 – Intel Corporation today took the wraps off its brand new, low-power, high-performance microarchitecture named Silvermont.
            The technology is aimed squarely at low-power requirements in market segments from smartphones to the data center. Silvermont will be the foundation for a range of innovative products beginning to come to market later this year, and will also be manufactured using the company’s leading-edge, 22nm Tri-Gate SoC manufacturing process, which brings significant performance increases and improved energy efficiency.
            “Silvermont is a leap forward and an entirely new technology foundation for the future that will address a broad range of products and market segments,” said Dadi Perlmutter, Intel executive vice president and chief product officer. “Early sampling of our 22nm SoCs, including “Bay Trail” and “Avoton” is already garnering positive feedback from our customers. Going forward, we will accelerate future generations of this low-power microarchitecture on a yearly cadence.”
            The Silvermont microarchitecture delivers industry-leading performance-per-watt efficiency.2 The highly balanced design brings increased support for a wider dynamic range and seamlessly scales up and down in performance and power efficiency. On a variety of standard metrics, Silvermont also enables ~3x peak performance or the same performance at ~5x lower power over the current-generation Intel® Atom™ processor core.1
            Silvermont: Next-Generation Microarchitecture
            Intel’s Silvermont microarchitecture was designed and co-optimized with Intel’s 22nm SoC process using revolutionary 3-D Tri-gate transistors. By taking advantage of this industry-leading technology, Intel is able to provide a significant performance increase and improved energy efficiency.
            Additional highlights of the Silvermont microarchitecture include:
              • A new out-of-order execution engine enables best-in-class, single-threaded performance.1
              • A new multi-core and system fabric architecture scalable up to eight cores and enabling greater performance for higher bandwidth, lower latency and more efficient out-of-order support for a more balanced and responsive system.
              • New IA instructions and technologies bringing enhanced performance, virtualization and security management capabilities to support a wide range of products. These instructions build on Intel’s existing support for 64-bit and the breadth of the IA software installed base.
              • Enhanced power management capabilities including a new intelligent burst technology, low– power C states and a wider dynamic range of operation taking advantage of Intel’s 3-D transistors. Intel® Burst Technology 2.0 support for single- and multi-core offers great responsiveness scaled for power efficiency.
                “Through our design and process technology co-optimization we exceeded our goals for Silvermont,” said Belli Kuttanna, Intel Fellow and chief architect. “By taking advantage of our strengths in microarchitecture development and leading-edge process technology, we delivered a technology package that enables significantly improved performance and power efficiency – all while delivering higher frequencies. We’re proud of this accomplishment and believe that Silvermont will offer a strong and flexible foundation for a range of new, low-power Intel SoCs.”
                Architecting Across a Spectrum of Computing
                Silvermont will serve as the foundation for a breadth of 22nm products expected in market later this year. The performance-per-watt improvements with the new microarchitecture will enable a significant difference in performance and responsiveness for the compute devices built around these products.
                Intel’s quad-core Bay TrailSoC is scheduled for holiday 2013 tablets and will more than double the compute performance capability of Intel’s current-generation tablet offering1. Due to the flexibility of Silvermont, variants of the “Bay Trail” platform will also be used in market segments including entry laptop and desktop computers in innovative form factors.
                Intel’s “Merrifield” [aimed at high-end smartphones, successor to Medfield] is scheduled to ship to customers by the end of this year. It will enable increased performance and battery life over current-generation products1 and brings support for context aware and personal services, ultra-fast connections for Web streaming, and increased data, device and privacy protection.
                Intel’s “Avoton” will enable industry-leading energy efficiency and performance-per-watt for microservers2, storage and scale out workloads in the data center. “Avoton” is Intel’s second-generation Intel® Atom™ processor SoC to provide full server product capability that customers require including 64-bit, integrated fabric, error code correction, Intel virtualization technologies and software compatibility. “Rangeley” is aimed at the network and communication infrastructure, specifically for entry-level to mid-range routers, switches and security appliances. Both products are scheduled for the second half of this year.
                Concurrently, Intel is delivering industry-leading advancements on its next-generation, 22nm Haswell microarchitecture for Intel® Core™ processors to enable full-PC performance at lower power levels for innovative “2-in-1” form factors, and other mobile devices available later this year. Intel also plans to refresh its line of Intel® Xeon® processor families across the data center on 22nm technology, delivering better performance-per-watt and other features.
                “By taking advantage of both the Silvermont and Haswell microarchitectures, Intel is well positioned to enable great products and experiences across the full spectrum of computing,” Perlmutter said.
                1 Based on the geometric mean of a variety of power and performance measurements across various benchmarks. Benchmarks included in this geomean are measurements on browsing benchmarks and workloads including SunSpider* and page load tests on Internet Explorer*, FireFox*, & Chrome*; Dhrystone*; EEMBC* workloads including CoreMark*; Android* workloads including CaffineMark*, AnTutu*, Linpack* and Quadrant* as well as measured estimates on SPECint* rate_base2000 & SPECfp* rate_base2000; on Silvermont preproduction systems compared to Atom processor Z2580. Individual results will vary. SPEC* CPU2000* is a retired benchmark. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
                2 Based on a geometric mean of the measured and projected power and performance of SPECint* rate_base2000 on Silvermont compared to expected configurations of main ARM*-based mobile competitors using descriptions of the architectures; assumes similar configurations. Numbers may be subject to change once verified with the actual parts. Individual results will vary. SPEC* CPU2000* is a retired benchmark; results are estimates. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
                Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark and MobileMark, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more information go to: www.intel.com/performance.

                For more information see the “Intel Atom Silvermont” Google search between May 6 and 8. From the accompanying Intel Next Generation Low Power Micro-Architecture webcast presentation I will include here the following slide only:

                image
                about which it was noted in the Deep inside Intel’s new ARM killer: Silvermont [The Register, May 8, 203] report that:

                Now that Intel has created an implementation of the Tri-Gate transistor technology specifically designed for low-power system-on-chip (SoC) use – and not just using the Tri-Gate process it employs for big boys such as Core and Xeon – it’s ready to rumble.
                Tri-Gate has a number of significant advantages over tried-and-true planar transistors, but the one that’s of particular significance to Silvermont is that when it’s coupled with clever power management, Tri-Gate can be used to create chips that exhibit an exceptionally wide dynamic range – meaning that they can be turned waaay down to low power when performance needs aren’t great, then cranked back up when heavy lifting is required.
                This wide dynamic range, Kuttanna said, obviates the need for what ARM has dubbed a big.LITTLE architecture, in which a low-power core handles low-performance tasks, then hands off processing to a more powerful core – or cores – when the need arises for more oomph.
                “In our case,” he said, “because of the combination of architecture techniques as well as the process technology, we don’t really need to do that. We can go up and down the range and cover the entire performance range.” In addition, he said, Silvermont doesn’t need to crank up its power as high as some of those competitors to achieve the same amount of performance.
                Or, as Perlmutter put it more succinctly, “We do big and small in one shot.”
                Equally important is the fact that a wide dynamic range allows for a seamless transition from low-power, low-performance operation to high-power, high-performance operation without the need to hand off processing between core types. “That requires the state that you have been operating on in one of the cores to be transferred between the two cores,” Kuttanna said. “That requires extra time. And the long switching time translates to either a loss in performance … or it translates to lower battery life.”

                Intel’s 1h20m long Intel Next Generation Low Power Micro-Architecture – Webcast is available online for further details about Silvermont. The technical overview starts at [21:50] (Slide 15) and you can also read a summary of some of the most interesting points by CNXSoft.


                7. Photonic achitectures to drive the future of computing

                TED and Intel microdocumentary – Mission (Im)possible: Silicon photonics featuring Mario Paniccia [TEDInstitute YouTube channel, published May 6, 2013; first shown publicly in March 2013]

                When Mario Paniccia began assembling a team of scientists to explore silicon photonics (systems that use silicon as an optical medium) in 2001, nobody thought they could succeed. Now, a decade and several Nature papers later, Intel has announced plans to commercialize the breakthrough technology Mario and his team built from scratch.

                [2:14] You can do now a 100 gig, you can do 200 gig. You can imagine doing a terabit per second in the next couple of years. At a terabit per second you’re talking about transferring or downloading a season of HDTV from one device to another in less than a second. It’s going to allow us to keep up with Moore’s law, and allow us to move information and constantly feed Moore’s law in our processors and so we will not be limited anymore by the interconnect, or the connectivity. [2:44]

                Intel considered this innovation an inflection point already back in 2010, see:
                Justin Rattner, Mario Paniccia and John Bowers describe the impact and significance of the 50G Silicon Photonics Link [channelintel YouTube channel, July 26, 2010]

                Now as the technology is ready for commercialisation this year Intel is even more enthuasiastic: Justin Rattner IDF Beijing 2013 Keynote-Excerpt: Silicon Photonics [channelintel YouTube channel, May 6, 2013]

                In his IDF Beijing 2013 Keynote, Intel CTO-Justin Rattner demonstrated for the first time publicly a fully functional silicon photonics module incorporating Intel® Silicon Photonics Technology (SPT) and operating at 100 gigabits per second (Gbps). This is a completely integrated module that includes silicon modulators, detectors, waveguides and circuitry. Intel believes this is the only module in the world that uses a hybrid silicon laser. The demonstration was made via a video during Rattner’s keynote. In addition to the Intel SPT module, Rattner showed the new photonics cable and connector that Intel is developing with Corning. This new connector has fewer moving parts, is less susceptible to dust and costs less than other photonics connectors. Intel and Corning intend to make this new cable and connector an industry standard. Rattner said the connector can carry 1.6 terabits of information per second.

                Silicon photonics uses light (photons) to move huge amounts of data at extremely high speeds over a thin optical fiber rather than using electrical signals over a copper cable. But that is not all: Silicon Photonics: Disrupting Server Design [DataCenterVideos YouTube channel, Jan 22, 2013, Recorded at the Open Compute Summit, Jan 17, 2013, Santa Clara, California]

                Silicon photonics is a new technology with the potential to disrupt the way servers are built. Silicon photonics uses light (photons) to move huge amounts of data at very high speeds over a thin optical fiber rather than using electrical signals over a copper cable. At last week’s Open Compute Summit, Intel’s Jim Demain provided Data Center Knowledge with an overview of the technology, showing off a prototype “photonic rack” that Intel has created that separates processors from other components, allowing for a faster refresh cycle for CPUs.

                More information:
                Intel, Facebook Collaborate on Future Data Center Rack Technologies [press release, Jan 16, 2013]

                New Photonic Architecture Promises to Dramatically Change Next Decade of Disaggregated, Rack-Scale Server Designs

                  • Intel and Facebook* are collaborating to define the next generation of rack technologies that enables the disaggregation of compute, network and storage resources.
                  • Quanta Computer* unveiled a mechanical prototype of the rack architecture to show the total cost, design and reliability improvement potential of disaggregation.
                  • The mechanical prototype includes Intel Silicon Photonics Technology, distributed input/output using Intel Ethernet switch silicon, and supports the Intel® Xeon® processor and the next-generation system-on-chip Intel® Atom™ processor code named “Avoton.”
                  • Intel has moved its silicon photonics efforts beyond research and development, and the company has produced engineering samples that run at speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second (Gbps).

                Silicon Photonics Research [Intel Labs microsite]
                The Facebook Special: How Intel Builds Custom Chips for Giants of the Web [Wired, May 6, 2013]
                Meet the Future of Data Center Rack Technologies [Data Center Knowledge, Feb 20, 2013] by Raejeanne Skillern, Intel’s director of marketing for cloud computing

                … Let’s now drill down into some of all-important details that shed light on what this announcement means in terms of the future of data center rack technologies.
                What is Rack Disaggregation and Why is It Important?
                Rack disaggregation refers to the separation of resources that currently exist in a rack, including compute, storage, networking and power distribution, into discrete modules. Traditionally, a server within a rack would each have its own group of resources. When disaggregated, resource types can then be grouped together, distributed throughout the rack, and upgraded on their own cadence without being coupled to the others. This provides increased lifespan for each resource and enables IT managers to replace individual resources instead of the entire system. This increased serviceability and flexibility drives improved total cost for infrastructure investments as well as higher levels of resiliency. There are also thermal efficiency opportunities by allowing more optimal component placement within a rack.
                Intel’s photonic rack architecture, and the underlying Intel silicon photonics technologies, will be used for interconnecting the various computing resources within the rack. We expect these innovations to be a key enabler of rack disaggregation.
                Why Design a New Connector?
                Today’s optical interconnects typically use an optical connector called MTP. The MTP connector was designed in the mid-1980s for telecommunications and not optimized for data communications applications. At the time, it was designed with state-of-the-art materials manufacturing techniques and know-how. However, it includes many parts, is expensive, and is prone to contamination from dust.
                The industry has seen significant changes over the last 25 years in terms of manufacturing and materials science. Building on these advances, Intel teamed up with Corning, a leader in optical fiber and cables, to design a totally new connector that includes state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and abilities; a telescoping lens feature to make dust contamination much less likely; with up to 64 fibers in a smaller form factor; fewer parts – all at less cost.
                What Specific Innovations Were Unveiled?
                The mechanical prototype includes not only Intel silicon photonics technology, but also distributed input/output (I/O) using Intel Ethernet switch silicon, and supports Intel Xeon processor and next-generation system-on-chip Intel Atom processors code named “Avoton.”

                In fact this will lead to a CPU – Memory – Storage … disaggregation as shown by the following Intel slide:imagewhich will lead to new “Photonic Architectures”, or more precisely “Photonic Many-Core Architectures” (or later on even “Photonic/Optical Computing”), much more efficient than anything so far. For possibilities see these starting documents in academic architecture research:
                Photonic Many-Core Architecture Study Abstract [HPEC 2008, May 29, 2008]
                Photonic Many-Core Architecture Study Presentation [HPEC 2008, Sept 23, 2008]
                Building Manycore Processor-to-DRAM Networks Using Monolithic Silicon Photonics Abstract [HPEC 2008, Sept 23, 2008]
                Building Manycore Processor-to-DRAM Networks Using Monolithic Silicon Photonics Presentation [HPEC 2008, Sept 23, 2008]

                Intel made available the following Design Guide for Photonic Architecture Draft Document v 0.5 [Jan 16, 2013] where we can find the following three architectures:

                3.2 Interconnect Topology with a ToR [Top of Rack] Switch
                One particular implementation of the Photonically Enabled Architecture which is supported by the New Photonic Connector is shown below in Figure 3.1. In this implementation the New Photonic Connector cables are used to connect the compute systems arrayed throughout the rack to a Top of Rack switch. These intra-rack connections are currently made through electrical cabling, often using Ethernet signaling protocols at various line rates. The Photonically Enabled Architecture envisions a system where the bandwidth density, line rate scalability and easier cable routing provide value in this implementation model. One key feature of this architecture is that the line rate and optical technology are not dictated; rather the lowest cost technology which can support the bandwidth demands and provide the functionality required to support future high speed and dense applications can be deployed in this model consistent with the physical implementation model. This scalability of the architecture is a key value proposition of the design. Not only is the architecture scalable for data rate in the optical cable, but scalability of port count in each connection is also possible by altering the physical cabling and optical modules.

                image

                Figure 3.1: Open Rack with Optical Interconnect.
                In this architectural concept the green lines represent optical fiber cables terminated with the New Photonic Connector. They connect the various compute systems within the rack to the Top of Rack (TOR) switch. The optical fibers could contain up to 64 fibers and still support the described New Photonic Connector mechanical guidelines.
                One key advantage of the optically enabled architecture is that it supports disaggregation in the rack based design of the various system functionality, which means separate and discrete portions of the system resources may be brought together. One approach to disaggregation is shown below in Figure 3.2; in the design shown here the New Photonic Connector optical cables are still connecting a computing platform to a Top of Rack switch, but the configuration of the components has been altered to allow for a more modular approach to system upgrade and serviceability. In this design the computing systems have been configured in ‘trays’ containing a single CPU die and the associated memory and control, while communication is aggregated between three of these trays through a Silicon Photonics module to a Top of Rack switch. The Top of Rack switch now communicates to the individual compute elements through a Network Interface Chip (NIC) while also supporting an array of Solid State Disk Drives (SSD’s) and potentially additional computing hardware to support the networking interfaces. This approach would allow for the modular upgrade of the computing and memory infrastructure without burdening the user with the cost of upgrading the SSD infrastructure simultaneously provided the IO infrastructure remains constant. Other options for the disaggregated system architecture are of course also possible, potentially leading to the disaggregation of the memory system as well.

                image

                Figure 3-2: Disaggregated Photonic Architecture Topology
                with a ToR Switch
                .
                This design shows 3 compute trays connected through a single New Photonic Connector enabled optical cable to a Top of Rack (TOR) switch supporting Network Interface Chip (NIC) elements, Solid State Disk Drives (SSD’s), Switching functionality and additional compute resources.
                3.3 Interconnect Topology with Distributed Switch Functionality
                The Photonically Enabled Architecture which is supported by the New Photonic Connector cable and connector concept can support several different types of architectures, each with specific advantages. One particular type of architecture, which also takes advantage of the functionality of another Intel component, an Intel Switch Chip, is shown in Figure 3.3, shown below. In this architecture the Intel Switch Chip is configured in such a way as to support both aggregation of data streams to reduce overall fiber and cabling burden as well as a distributed switching functionality.
                The distributed switch functionality supports the modular architecture which was discussed in previous sections. This concept allows for a very granular approach to the deployment of resources throughout the data center infrastructure which supports greater resiliency through a smaller impact from a failure event. The concept also supports a more granular approach to upgradability and potentially could enable re-partitioning of the architecture in such a way that system resources can be better shared between different compute elements.
                In Figure 3.3 an example is shown of 100Gbps links between compute systems and a remote storage node. Both PCIe and Ethernet networking protocols may be used in the same rack system, all enabled by the functionality of the Intel Switch Chip (or Device). It should be understood that the components in this vision could be swapped dynamically and asymmetrically so that improvements in bandwidth between particular nodes could be upgraded individually or new functionality could be incorporated as it becomes available.

                image

                Figure 3.3: An example of a Photonically Enabled Architecture
                relying upon the New Photonic Connector concept, Silicon Photonics
                and the Intel Switch Chip (or Device).
                In this example the switching between the rack nodes is accomplished in a distributed manner through the use of these switch chips.

                Note that there is very little information about Kranich’s manufacturing technology winning cards. I found only this one although there might be several others as well.


                8. The two-person Executive Office and Intel’s transparent computing strategy as presented so far

                Newly Elected Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich Talks About His New Job [channelintel YouTube channel, May 2, 2013]

                Brian Krzanich (pronounced Krah-ZAN-nitch) discusses next steps and what lies ahead in his role as Intel CEO. Learn more about Brian Krzanich from the Intel Newsroom: http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2013/05/02/intel-board-elects-brian-krzanich-as-ceo

                Intel Board Elects Brian Krzanich as CEO [Intel Newsroom, May 2, 2013]

                SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 2, 2013 – Intel Corporation announced today that the board of directors has unanimously elected Brian Krzanich as its next chief executive officer (CEO), succeeding Paul Otellini. Krzanich will assume his new role at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on May 16.

                Krzanich, Intel’s chief operating officer since January 2012, will become the sixth CEO in Intel’s history. As previously announced, Otellini will step down as CEO and from the board of directors on May 16.

                “After a thorough and deliberate selection process, the board of directors is delighted that Krzanich will lead Intel as we define and invent the next generation of technology that will shape the future of computing,” said Andy Bryant, chairman of Intel.

                “Brian is a strong leader with a passion for technology and deep understanding of the business,” Bryant added. “His track record of execution and strategic leadership, combined with his open-minded approach to problem solving has earned him the respect of employees, customers and partners worldwide. He has the right combination of knowledge, depth and experience to lead the company during this period of rapid technology and industry change.”

                Krzanich, 52, has progressed through a series of technical and leadership roles since joining Intel in 1982.

                “I am deeply honored by the opportunity to lead Intel,” said Krzanich. “We have amazing assets, tremendous talent, and an unmatched legacy of innovation and execution. I look forward to working with our leadership team and employees worldwide to continue our proud legacy, while moving even faster into ultra-mobility, to lead Intel into the next era.”

                The board of directors elected Renée James, 48, to be president of Intel. She will also assume her new role on May 16, joining Krzanich in Intel’s executive office.

                “I look forward to partnering with Renée as we begin a new chapter in Intel’s history,” said Krzanich. “Her deep understanding and vision for the future of computing architecture, combined with her broad experience running product R&D and one of the world’s largest software organizations, are extraordinary assets for Intel.”

                As chief operating officer, Krzanich led an organization of more than 50,000 employees spanning Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group, Intel Custom Foundry, NAND Solutions group, Human Resources, Information Technology and Intel’s China strategy.

                James, 48, has broad knowledge of the computing industry, spanning hardware, security, software and services, which she developed through leadership positions at Intel and as chairman of Intel’s software subsidiaries — Havok, McAfee and Wind River. She also currently serves on the board of directors of Vodafone Group Plc and VMware Inc. and was chief of staff for former Intel CEO Andy Grove.

                Additional career background on both executives is available at newsroom.intel.com.

                The prominent first external reaction to that: Intel Promotes From Within, Naming Brian Krzanich CEO [Bloomberg YouTube channel, May 2, 2013]

                Intel’s Krzanich the 6th Inside Man to Be CEO [Bloomberg YouTube channel, May 2, 2013]

                Can Intel Reinvent Itself… Again? [Bloomberg YouTube channel, May 3, 2013]

                Brian M. Krzanich, Chief Executive Officer (Elect), Executive Office

                Brian M. Krzanich will become the chief executive officer of Intel Corporation on May 16. He will be the sixth CEO in the company’s history, succeeding Paul S. Otellini.
                Krzanich has progressed through a series of technical and leadership roles at Intel, most recently serving as the chief operating officer (COO) since January 2012. As COO, his responsibilities included leading an organization of more than 50,000 employees spanning Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group, Intel Custom Foundry, supply chain operations, the NAND Solutions group, human resources, information technology and Intel’s China strategy.
                His open-minded approach to problem solving and listening to customers’ needs has extended the company’s product and technology leadership and created billions of dollars in value for the company. In 2006, he drove a broad transformation of Intel’s factories and supply chain, improving factory velocity by more than 60 percent and doubling customer responsiveness. Krzanich is also involved in advancing the industry’s transition to lower cost 450mm wafer manufacturing through the Global 450 Consortium as well as leading Intel’s strategic investment in lithography supplier ASML.
                Prior to becoming COO, Krzanich held senior leadership positions within Intel’s manufacturing organization. He was responsible for Fab/Sort Manufacturing from 2007-2011 and Assembly and Test from 2003 to 2007. From 2001 to 2003, he was responsible for the implementation of the 0.13-micron logic process technology across Intel’s global factory network. From 1997 to 2001, Krzanich served as the Fab 17 plant manager, where he oversaw the integration of Digital Equipment Corporation’s semiconductor manufacturing operations into Intel’s manufacturing network. The assignment included building updated facilities as well as initiating and ramping 0.18-micron and 0.13-micron process technologies. Prior to this role, Krzanich held plant and manufacturing manager roles at multiple Intel factories.
                Krzanich began his career at Intel in 1982 in New Mexico as a process engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from San Jose State University and has one patent for semiconductor processing. Krzanich is also a member of the Board of Directors of Lilliputian Corporation and the Semiconductor Industry Association.

                Renée J. James, President (Elect), Executive Office

                Renée J. James is president of Intel Corporation and, with the CEO, is part of the company’s two-person Executive Office.

                James has broad knowledge of the computing industry, spanning hardware, security, software and services, which she developed through product R&D leadership positions at Intel and as chairman of Intel’s software subsidiaries — Havok, McAfee and Wind River.
                During her 25-year career at Intel, James has spearheaded the company’s strategic expansion into providing proprietary and open source software and services for applications in security, cloud-based computing, and importantly, smartphones. In her most recent role as executive vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group, she was responsible for Intel’s global software and services strategy, revenue, profit, and product R&D. In this role, James led Intel’s strategic relationships with the world’s leading device and enterprise operating systems companies. Previously, she was the director and COO of Intel Online Services, Intel’s datacenter services business. James was also part of the pioneering team working with independent software vendors to port applications to Intel Architecture and served as chief of staff for former Intel CEO Andy Grove.
                James began her career with Intel through the company’s acquisition of Bell Technologies. She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Oregon.
                James also serves as a non-executive director on the Vodafone Group Plc Board of Directors and is a member of the Remuneration Committee. She is an independent director on the VMware Inc. Board of Directors and is a member of the Audit Committee. She is also a member of the C200.

                Chip Shot: Renée James Selected as Recipient of C200’s STEM Innovator Luminary Award [IntelPR in Intel Newsroom, April 13, 2013]

                Renée J. James, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group, has earned the prestigious honor of being the recipient of the STEM Innovator Luminary Award, presented by the Committee of 200 (C200). C200 is an international, non-profit organization of the most powerful women who own or run companies, or who lead major divisions of large corporations. A STEM Innovator is the leader of a technology-based business who has exemplified unique vision and success in science, technology, engineering or math-based industries, which James has continually demonstrated throughout her career at Intel. This includes growing Intel’s software and services business worldwide, driving open standards within the software ecosystem and providing leadership as chairman for both McAfee and Wind River Systems, Intel wholly owned subsidiaries.

                Renée James keynote delivering Intel’s new strategy called ‘Transparent Computing’ at the IDF 2012 [TomsHardwareItalia YouTube channel, Sept 13, 2012]

                IDF 2012 Day 2:
                Intel Developer Forum 2012 Keynote, Renée James Transcript (PDF 190KB)
                Intel Developer Forum 2012 Keynote, Renée James Presentation (PDF 7MB)

                Intel to Software Developers: Embrace Era of Transparent Computing [press release, Sept 12, 2012]

                NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

                • Intel reinforces commitment to ensuring HTML5 adoption accelerates and remains an open standard, providing developers a robust application environment that will run best on Intel® architecture.
                • New McAfee Anti-Theft product is designed to protect consumers’ property and personal information on Ultrabook™ devices.
                • The Intel® Developer Zone is a new program designed to provide software developers and businesses with a single point of access to tools, communities and resources to help them engage with peers.

                INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, Sept. 12, 2012 – Today at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Renée James, senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group at Intel Corporation, outlined her vision for transparent computing. This concept is made possible only through an “open” development ecosystem where software developers write code that will run across multiple environments and devices. This approach will lessen the financial and technical compromises developers make today.
                With transparent computing, software developers no longer must choose one environment over another in order to maintain profitability and continue to innovate,” said James. “Consumers and businesses are challenged with the multitude of wonderful, yet incompatible devices and environments available today. It’s not about just mobility, the cloud or the PC. What really matters is when all of these elements come together in a compelling and transparent cross-platform user experience that spans environments and hardware architectures. Developers who embrace this reality are the ones who will remain relevant.”
                Software developers are currently forced to choose between market reach, delivering innovation or staying profitable. By delivering the best performance with Intel’s cross-platform tools, security solutions and economically favorable distribution channels, the company continues to take a leadership position in defining and driving the open software ecosystem.
                Develop to Run Many Places
                While developers regularly express their desire to write once and run on multiple platforms, currently there is little incentive for any of the curators of these environments to provide cross-platform support. Central to Intel’s operating system of choice strategy, the company believes a solution to the cross-platform challenge is HTML5. With it, developers no longer have to make trade-offs between profitability, market participation or delivering innovation in their products. Consumers benefit by enabling their data, applications and identity to seamlessly transition from one operating system or device environment to another.
                During her keynote, James emphasized the importance of HTML5 and related standards and that the implementation of this technology by developers should remain open to provide a robust application development environment. James reinforced Intel’s commitment to HTML5 and JavaScript by announcing that Mozilla, in collaboration with Intel, is working on a native implementation of River Trail technology. It is available now for download as a plug-in and will become native in Firefox browsers to bring the power of parallel computing to Web applications in 2013.
                Security at Intel Provides an Inherent Advantage
                Security at Intel provides an inherent advantage in terms of its approach. For over a decade, Intel has applied its technology leadership to security platform features aimed at keeping computing safe, from devices and networks to the data center. Today, the company extends the efficacy of security by combining hardware and software security solutions and co-designing products with McAfee. James invited McAfee Co-President Michael DeCesare to join her onstage to emphasize the important role security takes as the threat landscape continues to become more complex both in terms of volume and sophistication. DeCesare also highlighted the opportunity for developers to participate in securing the industry.
                Touching on where McAfee is heading with Intel, DeCesare discussed the importance of understanding where computing is going overall. He noted examples including applications moving to the cloud, as well as IT seeking ways to reduce power consumption and wrestling with challenges associated with big data and the consumerization of IT. DeCesare also highlighted the value of maintaining the user experience and introduced McAfee Anti-Theft security software. Designed to protect consumers’ property and personal information for Ultrabook™ devices, this latest product enhancement is a collaborative effort with Intel to develop anti-theft software using Intel technologies that provide device and data protection.
                DeCesare reiterated the opportunity for developers through the McAfee Security Innovation Alliance (SIA). The technology partnering program helps accelerate development of interoperable- security products, simplify integration of these products and delivers solutions to maximize the value of existing customer investments. The program also is intended to reduce both time-to-problem resolution and operational costs.
                Developers’ Access to Resources Made Easy
                James also announced the Intel® Developer Zone, a program designed to provide software developers and businesses with a single point of access to tools, communities and resources to help them engage with peers. Today’s software ecosystem is full of challenges and opportunities in such areas as technology powering new user experiences, expectations from touchscreens, battery life requirements, data security and cloud accessibility. The program is focused on providing resources to help developers learn and embrace these evolving market shifts and maximize development efforts across many form factors, platforms and operating systems.

                • Development Resources: Software tools, training, developer guides, sample code and support will help developers create new user experiences across many platforms. In the fourth quarter of this year, Intel Developer Zone will introduce an HTML5 Developer Zone focused on cross-platform apps, guiding developers through actual deployments of HTML5 apps on Apple* iOS*, Google* Android*, Microsoft* Windows* and Tizen*.

                • Business Resources: Global software distribution and sales opportunities will be available via the Intel AppUp® center and co-marketing resources. Developers can submit and publish apps to multiple Intel AppUp center affiliate stores for Ultrabook devices, tablets and desktop systems. The Intel Developer Zone also provides opportunities for increased awareness and discoverability through the Software Business Network, product showcases and marketing programs.
                • Active Communities: With Intel Developer Zone, developers can engage with experts in their field – both from Intel and the industry – to share knowledge, get support and build relationships. In the Ultrabook community, users will find leading developers sharing ideas and recommendations on how to create compelling Microsoft* Windows* 8 apps for the latest touch- and sensor-enabled Ultrabook devices.

                Mobile Insights: Emerging Technologies [channelintel YouTube channel, Feb 26, 2013]

                [0:20-0:45] Renee James EVP and GM of Intel Software and Services Group; [0:45-1:10] Hermann Eul Co VP and GM, MCG, Intel; [1:10-1:22] Dean Elwood, Founder and CEO, Voxygen; [1:25-1:52] Shiyou He, EVP, ZTE The Mobile Insights team caught up with a number of industry leaders to discuss what are the next big trends after touch – we will be using our voice, gestures and facial recognition to control and interact with our devices soon. After touch, it will not be long before we’ll commonly use facial recognition and gestures with our mobile devices. Voice recognition will also become more common, allowing us new usages such as search through voice conversations the same way one would search through email today.

                Mobile Insights: Software Development in Africa [channelintel YouTube channel, March 5, 2013]

                Erik Hersman, Managing Director and Co-Founder of iHub, and Renée James, EVP and GM of Intel Software and Services Group, are talking about the opportunities in Africa as the continent has and always will be a mobile first continent. To support the growth of mobile technology in the continent, Intel is working with iHub to foster growth of the software development community in Africa with targeted investments in mobile application development, university training and expansion of technology hubs.

                Intel Developer Forum: Executives Talk Evolution of Computing with Devices that Touch People’s Daily Lives [press release, April 11, 2011]

                Renée James: Creating the Ultimate User Experience
                During her keynote, James discussed Intel’s transition from a semiconductor company to a personal computing company, and emphasized the importance of delivering compelling user experiences across a range of personal computing devices. To develop and enable the best experiences, James announced a strategic relationship with Tencent*, China’s largest Internet company, to create a joint innovation center dedicated to delivering best-in-class mobile Internet experiences. Engineers from both companies will work together to further the mobile computing platforms and other technologies.

                James also announced new collaborations for the Intel AppUpSM center and the Intel AppUp Developer Program in China to help assist in the creation of innovative applications for Intel Atom processor-based devices. Chinese partners supporting this effort include Neusoft*, Haier* and Hasee* and Shenzhen Software Park*.

                Related presentation: Renee James: The Intel User Experience (English PDF 9.1MB)

                How Intel’s new president Renee James learned the ropes from the legendary Andy Grove [VentureBeat, May 2, 2013]

                imageRenee James became the president of Intel today. That’s the highest position a woman has ever held at the world’s largest chip maker. Alongside new CEO Brian Krzanich, James will be part of the two-person executive office running Intel. She rose to that position through tenacity and leadership during a career at Intel, but she was also part of a very exclusive club.

                The 25-year Intel veteran was one of the early young employees who served as “technical assistant ” to former chief executive Andy Grove, the hard-charging leader who went by the motto “Only the Paranoid Survive.” In that position, she was not just an executive assistant. Rather, her job was to make sure that Grove always looked good and was up-to-speed on his personal use of technology. She helped him prepare his PowerPoint presentations and orchestrated his speeches. As a close confidant, she had close access to one of the most brilliant leaders of the tech industry.

                Intel’s executives needed technical assistants in the way that contemporaries like Bill Gates, who grew up as a programmer, did not. Intel’s leaders were technically savvy manufacturing and chip experts, but they were not born as masters of the ins and outs of operating PowerPoint. So the company developed the technical assistant as a formal position, and each top executive had one. That position has turned out to be an important one; executives mentored younger, more promising employees. These employees then moved on to positions of great authority within Intel.
                What makes James’s career so interesting — and a stand out — is that unlike Intel’s early leaders, she wasn’t a chip engineer or manufacturing executive. She has an MBA from the University of Oregon, and she pitched no-chip businesses for Intel to enter and became chief operating officer of Intel Online Services.
                James will start her new position on May 16 and will report to Krzanich.
                James served under Grove for a longer time than most technical assistants did, as she proved indispensable to him. James said that she learned a huge amount from Grove, and she took lots of notes on the things that he said that made an impression on her. Paul Otellini, the retiring CEO of Intel, also served as a technical assistant for Grove. The technical assistant job was one of those unsung positions that required a lot of wits. James had to pull together lots of Intel resources to set up, rehearse, and execute Grove’s major keynote speeches.
                She was eventually given the more impressive title of “chief of staff.” During the dotcom era, she moved out on her own to set up an ill-fated business. She was in charge of Intel’s move into operating data centers that could be outsourced to other companies.
                Under James’ plan, Intel would set up data centers with the same discipline and precision that it did with its chip manufacturing plants. It would build out the huge server rooms in giant warehouses and then rent the computing power to smaller companies. The business was much like Amazon’s huge web services business today. But Intel was too early and on the wrong side of the dotcom crash. When things fell apart in 2001, so did Intel’s appetite for noncore businesses. Intel shut down James’ baby.
                But she went on to manage a variety of other businsses, including Intel’s security, software, services, and other nonchip businesses that have become more important as Intel takes on its mantle as a leader of the technology industry rather than just a component maker. That’s one of the legacies of Grove, who saw that Intel had to do a lot of the fundamental research and development in the computer industry, in part because nobody except Microsoft had the profits to invest in R&D.
                As executive vice president of software and services, James managed Intel software businesses, including Havok, McAfee, and Wind River. During her tenure over software, Intel struggled in its alliance with Nokia to create the Meego mobile operating system, and it eventually gave up on it.
                Among the other technical assistants at Intel were Sean Maloney, a rising star who retired last year after having a a stroke in 2010; venture capitalist Alex Wong; and Anand Chandrasekher, who left Intel and is now the chief marketing officer at rival Qualcomm.

                Microsoft: With cloud services investments starting to pay off Windows 8 and Windows Blue will bring more competitive devices particularly in new smaller form factors targeting the tablet market

                This statement is the essential  summary of Microsoft current performance according to the results  in the first 3 months of 2013 and the near term actions the company declared now to further improve its stance, particularly in the market which Microsoft critics are calling “PC market”, but not Microsoft, as its Earnings Call discussion was started with the following:

                Before I dive into more details on our progress …, I want to address what’s top of mind for many of you, which is our Windows business.
                There is no doubt that the device market is evolving. Consumers and businesses are increasingly shifting their focus to touch and mobility, and as a result, they want touch-enabled computing devices that are ultrathin, lightweight, and have long battery life. While Windows revenue has been impacted by the transition from the traditional PC to a new era of computing devices, the overall addressable markets are growing, and we are excited by the opportunities ahead of us.
                We built Windows 8 with touch and mobility at the center of the experience, which positions us well in this new era. However, the transition is complicated, given the size of our hardware and software ecosystem. We still have an immense amount of work to do, yet we feel good about the foundation we have laid and are optimistic about the long term success of Windows.
                I want to take some time now to be clear about where we are in this journey, and what we are doing to help drive this change. With Windows 8, we are setting a new, accelerated pace for updates and innovations, as we focus on making the Windows experience richer and better.
                Since launch we have delivered several important updates to improve our mail, storage, search, music, and video services. During the quarter, we also added to the Surface family of devices with Surface Pro, which combines the performance capabilities of a PC with a modern tablet design.

                This means that Microsoft is showing clear signs of staying relevant unlike some recent conclusions just stemming from the initial market difficulties of the new Windows 8 platform:

                When Gartner issued its “Forecast: Devices by Operating System and User Type, Worldwide, 2010-2017, 1Q13 Update.” on April 4 and stated in its related press release that:
                Traditional PC Market Predicted to Decline 7.6 Percent as Change in Consumers’ Behavior Drives Transition to Tablets and Ultramobiles
                The proliferation of lower-priced tablets and their growing capability is accelerating the shift from PCs to tablets. “While there will be some individuals who retain both a personal PC and a tablet, especially those who use either or both for work and play, most will be satisfied with the experience they get from a tablet as their main computing device,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “As consumers shift their time away from their PC to tablets and smartphones, they will no longer see their PC as a device that they need to replace on a regular basis.”
                the Daily Ticker of Yahoo! Finance came to conclusion that Microsoft Could Be Obsolete By 2017: Gartner Report.

                So let’s examine all this in detail:

                Microsoft Reports Third-Quarter Results [press release, April 18, 2013], the sales revenue historic diagram is from qz.com while that of the Online Services Division operating income from businessinsider.com

                Microsoft Corp. today announced quarterly revenue of $20.49 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $7.61 billion, $6.06 billion, and $0.72 per share.

                image

                The bold bets we made on cloud services are paying off as people increasingly choose Microsoft services including Office 365, Windows Azure, Xbox LIVE, and Skype,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “While there is still work to do, we are optimistic that the bets we’ve made on Windows devices position us well for the long-term.”

                The Microsoft Business Division posted $6.32 billion of revenue, an 8% increase from the prior year period. Adjusting for the net recognition of revenue related to the Office Upgrade Offer and Pre-Sales, Microsoft Business Division non-GAAP revenue increased 5%. During the quarter, we launched the new Office, enhancing productivity and the user experience through new mobility, social, and cloud features.

                The Server & Tools business reported $5.04 billion of revenue, an 11% increase from the prior year period, driven by double-digit percentage revenue growth in SQL Server and System Center.
                Our enterprise business continues to thrive,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “Enterprise customers are increasingly turning to Microsoft for their IT solutions and as a result, we continue to take share from our competitors in key areas including hybrid cloud, data platform, and virtualization.”

                The Windows Division posted revenue of $5.70 billion, a 23% increase from the prior year period. Adjusting for the recognition of revenue related to the Windows Upgrade Offer [see: How Microsoft got Windows revenue to go up despite PC sales going down [The Guardian, Feb 19, 2013]], Windows Division non-GAAP revenue was flat. During the quarter, we added to the Surface family of devices with Surface Pro.

                The Online Services Division reported revenue of $832 million, an 18% increase from the prior year period. Online advertising revenue grew 22% driven by an increase in revenue per search.
                image
                The Entertainment and Devices Division posted revenue of $2.53 billion, an increase of 56% from the prior year period. Adjusting for the recognition of revenue related to the Video Game Deferral, the division’s non-GAAP revenue increased 33% for the third quarter. Xbox LIVE now has over 46 million members worldwide, an 18% increase from the prior year period.
                “Our diverse business continues to deliver solid financial results, even as we navigate the evolving device market,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in long-term growth opportunities to drive our devices and services strategy forward and deliver ongoing value to shareholders.”

                Microsoft’s Management Discusses F3Q 2013 Results – Earnings Call Transcript [Seeking Alpha, April 18, 2013] from which I extracted the following excerpts as the most notable ones:

                Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                I think one of the main takeaways for me is in particularly some of our cloud services, we’re really starting to get scale. Bing continues to improve, their margins. And Office 365 is really starting to get to scale. So those things are really encouraging.

                Ed Maguire – CLSA

                You just launched your Azure infrastructure as a service. Just went generally available this week. And I’d love to get some color on how much that’s figuring in the growth in long term contracts, and what your expectations might be for more traditional infrastructure as a service uptake over the next several quarters.

                Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                Great question. It’s clearly a key enabler of our [unintelligible] cloud OS story, and how we’re driving what we’re doing with enterprise in the data center. We have infrastructure as a service, we have now the most complete end-to-end offering through platform, and software, identity, and access.

                But having the infrastructure is a key enabler, and I think a real accelerator for the Windows Azure strategy, and really more broadly the cloud OS strategy. We now have a complete end-to-end story through the data center, from private, to hosted, to public, from infrastructure to platform, so I think it’s, again, a key enabler of that [all up] strategy, and an accelerator.

                Gregg Moskowitz – Cowen & Company

                In recent periods, we’ve seen your MBD [Microsoft Business Division]growth significantly outpace PC unit growth, although we now have a dynamic where your Office subscription is really resonating with customers. So the question is, just looking at it on a directional basis, is MBD revenue outperformance relative to PC units something that you think is sustainable going forward?

                Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                The answer is that it will depend, and certainly an offset between attach gains we’re making against the market, offset against some deferrals as revenue moves to a subscription. And so it will kind of depend each quarter. Long term, it’s a great trend, because we’re building up a banked book of business on the subscription side, which will become less and less connected to the PC market.

                Then I focused on four subjects for which made further extracts from the Earnings Call:

                1. The Windows and Office (productivity) markets
                2. Q3 FY13 performance for that
                3. Q4 FY13 outlook for that
                4. PC market

                1. The Windows and Office (productivity) markets: Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                Looking ahead, we will release the next version of Windows, codenamed Windows Blue, which further advances the vision of Windows 8 as well as responds to customer feedback. The assortment of touch-enabled devices that are built for Windows 8 by our OEM partners is also improving.

                Over the last couple of months, we’ve started seeing devices that take full advantage of Windows 8, and we expect to see more devices across more attractive price points over the coming months. As part of this, we are also working closely with OEMs on a new suite of small touch devices powered by Windows. These devices will have competitive price points, partly enabled by our latest OEM offerings designed specifically for these smaller devices, and will be available in the coming months.

                In the upcoming back to school selling season, we expect to see devices that incorporate advances from throughout the supply chain, including chipsets. As well, Intel’s fourth generation Core processor will help enable new devices that combine performance benefits with power savings. Later in the year, we expect to see devices based on Intel’s upcoming Bay Trail Atom processor, which promises to deliver tablets and hybrid PCs with extended battery life at competitive prices.

                Today in the Windows Store, there are six times as many apps since launch, and we expect more to be added as we gain traction with Windows 8 adoption. In June, we will host Build, our developer conference, where we will provide more tools and information for developers to build great Windows 8 apps.

                In retail, we are working to improve the consumer purchasing experience. Our initiatives include focused efforts to further educate and incentivize retail sales professionals and to have better in-store product differentiation.

                In summary, Windows is transforming to the new era of computing. As I said on our last earnings call, growth in Windows depends on our ability to give customers the exciting hardware they want at the price points they demand, and a wider range of apps and services to meet their diverse need. We are hard at work with our partners to meet these goals, and we’re confident we are moving in the right direction.

                Now, switching gears to productivity, this quarter we launched the latest version of Office, which brings mobility, social, and cloud features to the world’s most popular productivity app. Importantly, the new Office represents a fundamental shift in our model. Now both businesses and consumers can access Office through subscription.

                With this shift, we expect to grow our customer base, increase customer satisfaction via continuous updates, and reduce piracy. As our enterprise customers modernize their productivity infrastructures, we are confident that they will continue to deploy Office 365. We also expect our transactional customers to increasingly transition to the cloud with Office 365.

                It’s been a while now that we’ve been talking about our investments in the cloud, and I’m pleased to share that we are starting to realize the benefits of those investments in a meaningful way.

                Office 365 lights up with this latest release, as evidenced by our growing customer adoption. This quarter was our strongest ever, with net seat additions up 5 times of the prior year. One in four of our enterprise customers now has Office 365, and the business is on a $1 billion annual revenue run rate.

                2. Q3 FY13 performance: Chris Suh – General Manager of Investor Relations

                In the Windows Division, revenue was flat this quarter. Within that, OEM revenue performance was in line with the underlying x86 PC market, which continues to be challenged as the PC market evolves beyond the traditional PC to touch and mobile devices. This quarter, inventory levels were drawn down as the channel awaits new Windows 8 devices.

                Non-OEM revenue grew 40% this quarter, driven by sales in Surface and continued double digit growth in volume licensing. Businesses continue to value the Windows platform, and volume licensing of Windows is on track to deliver almost $4 billion in revenue this year, and nearly three-quarters of enterprise agreements that we signed this year include Windows.

                Additionally, this quarter we saw continued progress in the transition of Windows XP to Windows 7, and now two-thirds of enterprise desktops are running Windows 7.

                Now, I’ll move on to the Microsoft Business Division, where revenue grew 5%. Within that, business revenue grew 10%, driven by 16% growth in multiyear licensing. In January, we launched the new Office for consumers. The new Office introduces touch, social, and mobile scenarios as well as tight integration with SkyDrive, enabling access to documents from any device.

                The new Office is also available as a subscription, which benefits customers as they are always using the most modern version of Office. As Peter stated, we expect the shift to grow our customer base, and we saw strong early adoption of the subscription service.

                I would like to remind you that with subscription, the revenue is earned ratably over the length of the subscription, rather than at the initial purchase. All up, consumer revenue was roughly in line with the consumer PC market, influenced by the shift to subscription and strong [attach] gain.

                Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                We are seeing [near term impact from going to subscription revenues on our revenues], particularly in our transactional business, in MBD [Microsoft Business Division], as people move from what may have been a transactional to a perpetual license, where the revenue is recognized up front, to a subscription service, where it’s recognized ratably. So you’re basically deferring the rest of the term of the subscription. So in the short term, you’ll be deferring revenues that were not in a subscription, and would have been recognized immediately.

                And as the subscription business is growing, you’ll see that impact growing, but over time, what you’ll get is what looks like an annuity revenue stream, that’s more predictable and has higher customer satisfaction and probably higher retention rates going forward. But in the short term, that will impact mostly in the transactional side of the MBD business.

                It is a fact that we are starting to get scale in our cloud services, and so the growth that we’re seeing in Office 365 is really coming at an improved margin as we scale that out.

                3. Q4 FY13 outlook: Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                In the Windows Division, similar to this quarter, revenue will continue to reflect sales of Surface and strong volume licensing, while OEM revenue will be impacted by the declining traditional PC market as we work to increase our share in tablets.

                In the Microsoft Business Division, multiyear licensing revenue, which is approximately 60% of the division’s total, should grow low double digits. Excluding the recognition of revenue from the Office upgrade offer, transactional revenue, which is the remaining 40% of the division total, should be in line with the x86 PC market.

                As a reminder, when updating your Q4 models, we expect to recognize approximately $780 million of revenue related to the Office upgrade offer.

                … we are expanding both the product set and distribution, and that is broadly, all devices, inclusive of Surface. We are expanding distribution of Surface. We are now in 22 countries, 70 retailers. And we’ll continue to look to expand that. Not only just expanding, but improving the experience. And that’s true not just for Surface, but for broadly Windows 8 devices. And so we’ll be investing against that for both Surface and a broader array of Windows 8 devices at multiple price points, including lower price points going forward.

                4. PC market: Peter Klein – Chief Financial Officer

                On the PC market, I would look to some of the third parties, IDC and Gartner. They’re sort of in the 12-13-14 [%] down range this quarter. And in terms of the chipsets, we’ve always felt that with Windows 8, it was a process of the ecosystem of innovating across the board, and really starting to see that on the chips. And we’re very encouraged by both Haswell and some of the Atom processors to really improve the overall user experience that Windows 8 delivers. And over the coming selling season, I think that’s very encouraging and we’re optimistic about that.

                I think broadly, in improving our position in tablets, and generally in devices, there’s five or six dimensions ranging from what we’re doing with OEMs on the devices and the range of devices, and how they can have a range of price points. What the chips can do, because I think that’s a part of it. Both first party and third-party apps, and we’ve seen improvements across the board there. The user interface, and how we’re innovating across the user experience. And then distribution

                So if you start sort of from the bottom up, all the way to when you buy the product, we’re working across all those dimensions. And on the device side, we are working closely with the OEMs to help them take Windows 8 and show it off in all its glory, across different form factors. I talked about new smaller form factors and how Windows 8 can innovate to improve that experience.

                So I think the biggest thing we’re doing is helping them develop new and improved user experiences across the board, across size, across price point, and deliver a really compelling Windows 8 experience. And it’s not just the devices, like I said, it’s chips, it’s the apps, it’s the buying experience, it’s the user interface. So we’re really focused on all five or six of those dimensions going forward.