ChinaWatch: Sales, Surges, Sayings

Welcome to ChinaWatch, WMB’s digest of news from the country with the world’s second largest economy and our chief rival to global dominance. Our aim is to keep you informed.


What Confucius Says

The newly-appointed 199 Chinese presidents of Confucious Institutes around the world took office this month, according to China's Hanban, the Confucious Institute Headquarters.

The Chinese presidents will work with their foreign counterparts to co-chair the institutes and operate on relevant principles.

Hanban provides them with an employment period of two to four years and requires they have the ability to teach Chinese to foreigners.

The latest statistics from Hanban show there are about 330 Confucius Institutes and 400 Confucius Classrooms in nearly 100 countries worldwide, bridging an important cultural exchange gap between China and other countries.

In 2004, China began establishing Confucious Institutes, nonprofit, public institutions aimed at promoting Chinese language and culture in foreign countries.

Drill, Baby, Drill

High oil prices and a slow-moving global economic recovery are doing little to curb China's appetite for crude oil, a survey finds.

China's oil demand for March was estimated by the Platts news service at 9.2 million barrels per day, a 10.5 percent increase from same time last year.

Calvin Lee, a senior energy writer for Platts, says high energy prices weren't doing much to curb energy consumption in a surging Chinese economy.

“Oil demand in the first quarter was buoyed by diesel consumption due to rising industrial production and increased agricultural demand with the onset of the spring planting season,” he says.

The International Energy Agency notes in a July 2010 report that growth in China has redefined the global energy sector as that nation passed the United States as the world's largest energy consumer.

The IEA says China outpaced U.S. energy consumption by 4 percent in 2009. Exports of Saudi crude to China make up about 50 percent of the kingdom's total exports.

Green With Envy

While Apple's iPhone is selling well across the globe, China has emerged as its fastest growing market for the device.

Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook says that for the first three months of 2011, iPhone sales in “Greater China” grew by almost 250 percent from the same period last year.

This brought Apple's revenues in the first fiscal half to just under $5 billion (U.S.) for the Greater China market, an increase of almost four times from 2010.

The $5 billion generated represents about 10 percent of Apple's revenues, Cook adds. “So we're extremely happy with how we're doing in China,” he says. In the United States, iPhone sales grew by 155 percent.

It's unclear, however, where in China the device is selling the most. Cook's reference to Greater China includes the mainland, Hong Kong and the island of Taiwan, says Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

But analysts say that in mainland China, Apple is seeing a major shift with how consumers are viewing the iconic smartphone.

When Apple's iPhone 4 launched there in late September, it was a hit with Chinese consumers, quickly selling out and leading to shortages.

Earlier versions of the iPhone had not met with the same reception, says Mark Natkin, managing director for Beijing-based research firm Marbridge Consulting.

Apple didn't officially begin selling the iPhone in mainland China until late 2009, more than two years after it was launched in America.

Even then, the iPhone sold in the country was designed without Wi-Fi capability, in order to comply with Chinese technology regulations at the time.

“Eventually Apple was allowed to offer the iPhone with Wi-Fi functionality,’’ Natkin says. “But by the time they were allowed to do so, the global launch of the iPhone 4 was just some months away. So again many users just waited for the right time.”

ChinaWatch

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ChinaWatch: The 'Happy Pad'

Welcome to ChinaWatch, WMB’s digest of news from the country with the world’s second largest economy and our chief rival to global dominance. Our aim is to keep you informed.


Biggest Healthcare Overhaul

As a young Chinese doctor earning 4,000 yuan ($600) a month, Zhang Fei was faced with having to cough up 2,000 yuan for a bill that a patient left unpaid after Zhang removed a tumor from her womb.

Zhang managed to track down the patient after alerting her neighbors and only avoided having to settle the bill when the patient returned to the hospital to sign a promise to pay.

“I'm only a doctor, why do I have to pay for it? I was very, very depressed. I spent many, many days ringing her, trying to track her down and I had to get other villagers to knock on her door,” Zhang told Reuters.


China is overhauling the biggest healthcare system in human history and has made significant changes since 2003: implementing a basic universal medical insurance system and heavily subsidizing a growing list of essential drugs.

In March, it pledged more money to bring more people under the insurance scheme, raise reimbursements and improve services to meet the needs of its 1.34 billion people who are increasingly troubled by costly, chronic, non-communicable illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

The government also slashed the maximum retail price for more than 1,200 types of antibiotics and circulatory system drugs to cap profits of foreign and domestic drug makers and ward off grumbling over high healthcare costs.

But missing are plans to deal with other entrenched problems in the healthcare system, such as the absence of good hospital management which can often result in health workers being pitted against patients, like the situation Zhang faced.

Zhang and her colleagues often need to confront patients to get payment, or risk forking out for unpaid bills out of their pockets.
“There should be a department that deals with this and post-operation services that have nothing to do with therapy. But in China, doctors do a lot of work that has nothing to do with doctoring,” Zhang says.

The Happy Pad

Lenovo, Motorola and Dell are preparing to launch tablets in China. But can the Happy Pad outsell Apple's iPad?

Chinese PC maker Lenovo, which makes the “LePad,” hopes so. The name translates to “Happy Pad” from Chinese to English, and it is just one of several tablets taking aim at Apple as China's tablet market gets more crowded.

U.S.-based companies Motorola and Dell are also planning to launch tablets in China within the coming months. Motorola says it will release its Xoom tablet before the end of June, while Dell says it will launch its 5-inch Streak tablet in China later this month.

Lenovo launched the LePad tablet at the end of last month. The Android-based tablet is available for purchase online and is gradually appearing in retail outlets.


Apple dominates the tablet market in China, although it has not announced when its second-generation iPad will be available in the country.

The company has a 78 percent share over the market, according to Sun Peilin, an analyst with Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. The remaining 22 percent belongs to Samsung and other tablet producers.

“Apple's advantage is that they have the brand recognition,” Sun says. “When people think about buying a tablet, they automatically think about the iPad.”

In China, tablet sales reached about 600,000 units last year, according to estimates from Analysys. But that number is expected to rise to 4.5 million units this year.

Apple also dominates the tablet market worldwide, with a 73 percent market share, according to research firm IDC.

Analysts say Lenovo's advantage over the competition includes its well-known brand name in China along with its far-reaching distribution network.

Lenovo is currently the top PC seller in China and plans on making its LePad available in 5,000 stores in 400 cities across China this month.

In contrast, Apple has less reach, according to analysts. The company has a total of four Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai, but also has a Chinese website from which orders can be made as well as from authorized resellers.

ChinaWatch

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Google’s 1-Stop Online Access

Google One Pass has the potential to revolutionize the way publishers keep direct relationships with customers and readers access digital content across websites and mobile apps.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt notes the new service lets publishers set their own prices and terms for their digital content.

“Readers who purchase from a One Pass publisher can access their content on tablets, smartphones and websites using a single sign-on with an e-mail and password,’’ Google says.

“The service helps publishers authenticate existing subscribers so that readers don't have to re-subscribe in order to access their content on new devices.”

Google One Pass is available for publishers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Google Vs. Apple

Speculation already has begun about how the Google service will compete with Apple's new subscription service, which it has just made available to all publishers of content-based apps on the App Store.

Apple will keep 30% of the revenue from any new subscribers it brings to the publisher via the App Store. Critics in the media industry say the Apple cut is excessive.

Google says it will keep just 10 percent.

“Our intention is to make no money on it,” Schmidt says. “We want the publishers to make all the money.”

The race to claim attract digital newspaper subscribers comes as struggling publishers seek to boost the money they make from readers who use computers, tablets and smartphones. Some newspaper publishers have stepped up paywall efforts.

As Daily Finance notes, Apple has a major critical advantage over Google.

The App Store has tremendous traffic from owners of iPhones and iPads. There are over 160 million devices that run on the Apple iOS system.

Google does not have a comparable and ready customer base because its Android mobile OS is used by hardware companies over which Google has little control. Google's Apps MarketPlace is smaller in both the number of offerings and downloads than the Apple store.

Google's new project may be more favorable financially to publishers, and may have other benefits for consumers, but the search giant's application “ecosystem” may not be powerful enough to support a robust online subscription service. Apple does not have such a problem.

Dead Tree News

The newspaper industry – still reeling from the one-two punch of exploding Internet growth and advertising drops from the Great Recession – may view Google One Pass as a half-hearted attempt to deflect criticism about Google searches linking to “free” online print content without compensating the original source.

“With Google One Pass, publishers can customize how and when they charge for content while experimenting with different models to see what works best for them—offering subscriptions, metered access, ‘freemium’ content or even single articles for sale from their websites or mobile apps,’’ according to the Official Google Blog.

“The service also lets publishers give existing print subscribers free (or discounted) access to digital content. We take care of the rest, including payments technology handled via Google Checkout.’’

The OGB concludes: “Our goal is to provide an open and flexible platform that furthers our commitment to support publishers, journalism and access to quality content.”

In Our View

WMB applauds the one-stop concept behind Google One Pass and sees the service as a viable alternative to Apple – arguably the runaway leader in developing new tech gadgets that capture the public’s imagination and dollars.

Some have even described Apple CEO Steve Jobs as the Thomas Edison of our time because of product innovations including iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and iPad.

Still, we have a nagging concern, as always, with anything that “controls or regulates” the Internet or the way in which consumers interact with it. Perhaps the best measurement of the new service will be whether the public embraces or rejects it.

WMB will be watching as the rivalry between Google One Pass and the App Store unfolds.

Consumers generally benefit from competition because it prompts innovation and pricing strategies out of sheer necessity.

Ken Cocuzzo

Tech May Melt Plastic Money

Even with more than 180 million credit card users in this country, there are major technology changes which could render plastic money less desirable if not obsolete, according to industry experts.

Apple reportedly is adding a new level of tech in its new iPhones and iPads that enables consumers to swipe their cell phone in front of a reader for purchases.

A Near Field Communication chip inside a phone would allow the device to be used this way. Apple would have direct access to your bank account, and the process would work the same as a debit card.

The new Apple tech, scheduled for release in April, could change the way consumers purchase retail goods. Even so, some forms of this tech are now available to consumers.

One app is in credit cards with PayPass, a feature that allows credit card owners to tap and pay, or have it on a keychain. PayPass was released in 2005 and companies, including McDonald’s, use the technology, but it’s still in the context of a credit card.

Also, there are some smartphones with NFC chips, such as Nokia’s C7, which debuted in late 2010.

Other Nokia phones also have the chips, but the software isn’t functional yet for consumers. When the software is released, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone.

State of Market

There are several apps right now which envision smartphones replacing old habits.

For example, you can now have your boarding pass on your smartphone instead of getting a hardcopy pass with your credit card when you arrive at the airport.

And Starbucks has a new app that enables you to purchase drinks using your smartphone instead of cash on your credit card.

NFC Tech Security

If you lose your smartphone, is there a way to freeze your account?

Apple can not only locate your phone through GPS, but it can shut down the application remotely.

Further, the user will need to have password protection to help prevent hacking into the phone’s files and other sensitive data.

Who Will Benefit?

If the NFC technology connects with the public, Apple will likely benefit the most since it will become the new middleman for banking and transactions.

Apple wouldn’t have to pay processing fees to other credit card companies, as it does now when you make an iTunes purchase.

How it will affect business owners?

They will have to purchase the device to accept payment through an iPhone (the same way businesses have to purchase the device that accepts PayPass).

So, while consumers may be onboard and ready to start using their iPhone and iPad for mobile transactions, they may be limited by how many businesses actually accept this form of payment.

Consumers will benefit because of ease of use.

When the iPad debuted, many people liked being ahead of the tech curve. Consumers also might see benefits and loyalty programs evolve because the phone would be a one-stop shopping hub.

No Perfect Solution

Someone can hack into your smartphone without you knowing it, and there’s also the risk of losing your phone and its sensitive data.

It’s possible some people will spend more by downloading music or other apps. They already have your credit card number, and charges of 99 cents can really add up.

What Lies Ahead

WMB doesn’t envision NFC tech as something consumers are going to adopt en masse.

We don’t see credit cards becoming obsolete. We view the new tech as just another and easier way for people to buy goods and services.

The tech, however, could evolve into the new norm, with credit cards serving a back-up role.

WMB also believes this new tech may be the prelude for electronic currency, a much more convenient method than traditional coin and paper.

TechMan

ChinaWatch: 'Rotten' Apple Worries

Welcome to ChinaWatch, WMB’s digest of news from the country with the world’s second largest economy. Click the links for more info.

No Rotten Apple?

Apple restated its pledge to provide safe working conditions for workers assembling of its products after environmental groups in China released a report criticizing the tech company for failing to be transparent about its suppliers.

“Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply base,’’ says Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu in a statement.

The company requires all suppliers to sign Apple's code of conduct before the contracts are made. Compliance is then monitored through factory audits and measures to correct violations.

However, Apple would not directly comment on the report, which had the backing of 36 environmental groups from China.

Titled “The Other Side of Apple,” the report faulted the tech giant for failing to respond to inquiries related to the working and environmental conditions at its suppliers, while also refusing to disclose who the company's suppliers are.

The 26-page document pointed to suppliers reportedly connected to Apple that had violated environmental regulations or poisoned workers because of working conditions.

“Apple is so famous for their products. They are fashionable and user-friendly. But the company also should take care of the ones are who making these products,’’ says Wang Jing Jing, vice director of the Institute of Environmental and Public Affairs, one the groups behind the report.

Apple says it is actively working to improve working conditions at its suppliers' facilities, and has even made progress reports available online.

Closer Ties Urged

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, whose stock is a key piece in many American retirement funds, is urging a stronger trade relationship between the United States and China on the heels of the Chinese president's visit to the States.

The Peoria, Ill., company, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, says it’s inked a memorandum of understanding as part of the U.S.-China Trade and Economic Forum that it hopes will support greater American exports from Caterpillar in the future.

China is already one of the largest export markets for Caterpillar products, with more than $2 billion in products delivered there in the last five years. Caterpillar has more than 7,700 employees across China.

“We realize there are important and substantive issues that exist between the United States and China, from currency valuations to the protection of intellectual property, and that these need to be resolved with a sense of urgency,’’ says Rich Lavin, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for growth markets, including China.

“But we also know the way we resolve disagreements is important,’’ Lavin says. “Caterpillar will continue to urge policymakers in both the United States and China to resolve differences in an atmosphere of mutual respect — not by threatening a trade war. We continue to believe that quiet diplomacy and multilateral forums offer a preferred path for resolving differences.’’

Caterpillar's statement comes after Chinese President Hu Jintao's high-profile state visit to the United States. The visit resulted in job-creating business deals worth billions of dollars to U.S. companies.

The business deals were among the highlights of a trip seen as key to building trust between the world's top two powers. The two sides played down differences and stressed areas of cooperation, though Hu faced a critical audience when he met with American lawmakers.

Apple Targets China Markets

Apple wants to take a big bite out of China’s mobile market for technology through the release of the latest smartphone and recent launch of iPad tablet, but the company faces big hurdles with pricing and piracy.

Apple also is opening two new stores in Beijing and Shanghai in a bid to double its retail presence in the world’s most populous nation. The company already has one store in each city, and it plans to open 25 more new stores in China by the end of 2011.

The iPhone 4 was released with the same high profile and fanfare as the iPhone 3, released last October. The iPhone 4 is available in the Apple stores as well as at China Unicom outlets (for customers with a two-year contract), according to a company news release. The 16-gigabyte version of the phone costs 4,999 yuan ($745) while the 32-gigabyte version sells for 5,999 yuan ($895).

The iPad was launched in China last Friday, and hundreds lined up outside Apple’s flagship store in Beijing for hours to be the first to purchase the popular device. The same sort of anticipation was evidenced for the iPhone 4.

WMB believes the sales of this device will be equally impressive as earlier products from Apple. (In fact, analysts expect it will likely sell out by the time this post appears in the blog.)

“It is going to be successful. People are going to line up,” said Frank Yu, founder of Kwestr, a Shanghai-based web services company. “It is going to be sold out, that is my guess.”

Sales of the iPhone 3 were initially lackluster with Hong Kong-based China Unicom selling around 5,000 units in the weeks following the device’s launch in 2009.

Sales increased significantly earlier this year after the mobile operator lowered rates for its bundled iPhone packages as well as adjusted tariffs for 3G access. These fees remain expensive in China, according to Analysys International, a Beijing research firm.

During the second quarter this year, Apple became the fifth-largest smartphone supplier in China with slightly more than 7 percent of shipments, according to Analysys. Nokia had the largest share with 26.7 percent.

Industry analysts say what is worth noting about the recent iPad launch and new iPhone 4 release is a change in how quickly Apple is introducing its products to the Chinese market.

China has 420 million web users and about 233 million use mobile phones and other devices to access the Internet, according to government statistics. That number is likely to more than double by 2014, according to a report from the market research firm, eMarketer.

Cheaper smartphones combined with more affordable data plans from operators are expected to drive growth. Today, the country has more than 800 million mobile subscribers, making it the largest handset market in the world.

Apple waited over two years to launch the iPhone 3GS in China; these were launched in the United States and other western markets in 2007. By contrast, the iPhone 4 went on sale in the United States, France, Britain, Germany, and Japan in June and July. The iPad was released in the United States in May.

Apple’s Market Delay Proved Costly

The result of Apple’s delay in the release of the original iPhone 3 created a huge “gray market” of fake iPhone or iPhones smuggled in from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or elsewhere. Many said this served to undercut sales when the authentic product was released in 2009.

“Apple had already lost all of the early adopters in China who wanted to have that fancy iPhone,” according an industry expert Frank Yu. “We all had already bought an iPhone.”

Jake Saunders, a technology researcher at ABI Research (Asia Pacific’s division), speculated that Apple was having trouble in its negotiations with Chinese mobile operators to come up with an exclusive deal to bundle subsidized handsets with service contracts.

“Apple also has a revenue sharing model in place, which is a stumbling block in the Chinese market where ARPU (average revenue per user) is one of the lowest in the world.” Others saw the delays as a sign that the California-based company simply was not interested in reaching Chinese customers.

In July, Liu Chuanzhi, head of Lenovo, China’s leading PC maker, told the Financial Times that Apple did not care about China and that if the company “were to spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer as we do, we would be in trouble.”

Yet some say the quick release of the iPad and iPhone 4, along with the new store openings, are signs that Apple is not only taking China more seriously but also gaining a greater understanding of its massive mobile market.

The company, for example, released the iPad in its stores without any exclusive deal with operators to link the 3G to the device, which also has wireless capabilities. This means Chinese consumers, most of whom buy pay-as-you-go plans separate from their handsets, are not tied down to lengthy contracts.

“They must have realized that the Chinese market is so huge, and it is not the same as other markets,” said an industry insider who declined to be identified because of his company’s ongoing operations in China. “With the quick launch of the iPad without any negotiation with operators, I think now they don’t care about the 3G connection. They believe it is not that important, at least not in China.”

Big Challenges: Piracy, Pricing

But Apple may face further challenges in China. While the company’s products are especially popular among China’s expanding middle- and upper- classes, who have disposable income to spend on high-end products to show off their wealth, the iPhone is still too expensive for many to purchase.

Additionally, the Chinese version of Apple’s App Store still has an interface in English and requires payment from dual-currency credit cards, which many Chinese still don’t have.


There’s also no shortage of pirated iPhone applications available online for free, undercutting Apple’s abilities to generate revenues from its iTunes stores. An impending explosion of low-cost smartphones running Google’s Android operating system also could thwart Apple’s growth potential.

Local application developers say they are now turning their focus to creating Chinese applications for Android devices and are only building iPhone apps for more profitable international markets.

“China is going to be an Android market. There will be millions and millions of Android devices here, and right now a lot of companies, even iPhone development companies, are starting to work on Android application development, says Wang Bo, founder of Bokan Technologies, a Beijing-based application development company.

Still, it does not appear the demand for Apple products among status-obsessed Chinese will go away any time soon. WMB believes Apple will continue to expand in China, especially at the expense of Nokia and BlackBerry. The competition and stakes are very high for all concerned.

This post is by TechMan, WMB co-author who blogs about trends, issues and ideas affecting business, industry, technology and consumers. If you like this post, please share it with family, friends and colleagues!

New Computing Boon Beckons

Digital technology boosts many facets of research and development, with the computer serving as the single biggest invention drawing us into the future. Nowhere is that more apparent than with recent innovations in hardware architecture and growing use of multicore computer processing units.

The generalization of graphics processing units, and the imminent leap available between CPU and GPU cores, make a new era of interactive graphics possible. As a result, we will begin to see PCs and gaming consoles with unprecedented levels of color saturation, realism, and “immersiveness.”
But current graphics programming models known as Application Programming Interfaces were developed for the previous-generation GPU-only rendering pipelines. This severely hampers the type and quality of images possible on these systems.

Interactive Graphics Driving Innovation

Programmable graphics is the next step in interactive graphics development. This new era of imagery will cooperatively use the CPU, GPU, and complex data structures to efficiently synthesize future images according to next-generation software apps.

Next-generation interactive graphics programming models for these architectures are being developed and require new programming models, tools, and rendering systems designed to take full advantage of these new parallel heterogeneous systems. New graphics techniques, algorithms, and rendering engines that showcase unprecedented visual quality are making these images possible.

The single-processor computer is being replaced by parallel heterogeneous systems made up of processors supporting multiple styles of computation. CPU architects are no longer able to improve computational performance of the traditional heart of the computer system.

Instead of increasing clock speed, engineers are now providing a rapidly-increasing number of parallel coarse-grained cores, currently capable of delivering approximately 90 GFLOPS. (GFLOPS is 1 billion floating point operations per second).

Simultaneously, graphics processing units have evolved to be efficient fine-grained data-parallel co-processors that deliver much greater raw floating-point horsepower than today’s multi-core CPUs. New processors from AMD can produce 400 GFLOPS of peak performance via hundreds of computational units working in parallel.

In addition, although CPUs and GPUs have traditionally been separated by low-bandwidth and high-latency communication pathways, rapidly-improving interconnect technology (for example, AMD Torrenza and Intel Geneseo) and the promise of integrating CPUs and GPUs on a single chip (for example, AMD Fusion) allow CPUs and GPUs to share data much more efficiently. This enables graphics applications to intermix computational styles to optimally use the system’s computational resources.

Interactive 3D computer graphics is now the most computationally demanding consumer application. The economic force of the computer gaming industry and its appetite for computational power have driven the rapid development of current GPUs. In addition, the GPU programming model represents perhaps the only widely-adopted parallel programming model to date.

Unfortunately, this model assumes a GPU-only, unidirectional fixed-graphics pipeline. Creating a new programming model for interactive graphics which fully exposes the computational and communication abilities of these new architectures is necessary to enable a revolution in the quality and efficiency of interactive graphics and provide a killer app for these platforms.

The last five years have seen a significant amount of innovation in interactive graphics software and hardware; GPUs have progressed from being configurable fixed-function processors to highly-programmable data-parallel co-processors, while CPUs have evolved from single-core to task-parallel multicore processors.

The promise of programmable graphics illustrates the fact that GPU programmability has implications for computer graphics. User-defined data structures and algorithms are bringing tremendous flexibility, efficiency, and image quality improvements to interactive rendering.

What Our Future Could Bring

We are at the threshold of a new era of interactive computer graphics. We are no longer limited to today’s brute force, unidirectional rendering pipeline. Developers will soon be able to design adaptive, demand-driven renderers that efficiently and easily leverage all processors in new heterogeneous parallel systems.

New rendering algorithms that tightly couple the distinct capabilities of the CPU and the GPU will generate far richer and more realistic imagery, use processor resources more efficiently, and scale to hundreds both CPU and GPU cores.

We believe this new technology will be a boon for processor and chip manufacturers, including Intel and AMD. As applications such as 3D become more sophisticated, consumers will embrace these new technologies with vigor.

Apple, Google, Microsoft and other companies will seize new opportunities as the hardware and software technologies continue to evolve.

This post is from TechMan, WMB co-author who blogs about trends, issues and ideas affecting business, industry, technology and consumers.

Google TV Brings It Home

If Google has its way, our TVs will not only provide regular channel programming but offer options such as surfing Web sites, watching videos or listening to music. Computers are clearly transitioning from the home office to the living room and Google, the online search leader, is driving this shift by launching Google TV in September.

Google recently announced it’s working with partners Sony and Logitech to integrate Google TV inside television, Blu-ray players and companion boxes. This new product is planned for sale in September and will be initially introduced by Best Buy stores in the United States. The Internet giant is expected to offer the same product category internationally in 2011.

“With the Web, finding and accessing interesting content is fast and often as easy as a search, according to a statement by Google. “But the Web still lacks many of the great features and the high-quality viewing experience that TV offers. So that got us thinking … what if we helped people experience the best TV and the best Web in one seamless experience?”

Google TV follows the not-so-successful attempts of Apple and Microsoft to bring the Internet to television with Apple TV and MSN TV. However, Google believes there is an enormous market opportunity since there are over 4 billion people around the world watching TV.

For seamless viewing, a relatively fast connection around 3 MB per second is required. But since 3G technology has been evolving rapidly, this should not pose much of a problem, especially if Google TV is delayed until 2011. The browser for Google TV is simply the Linux version of Google Chrome. The user interface will be modified for TV so a Web site designed for a smaller monitor can display in a larger format for television.

Android software also will be used to power Google TV. With the browser built in, Google plans to help us to access to our favorite Web sites and move easily between TV and the Internet. Television will become a photo slide show viewer, a gaming utility, a music player, a home theater, and much more.

Google TV will use a search engine to accommodate a fast and easy way to navigate TV channels, Web sites, apps, shows and movies.

For example, if you know which show you want to watch, a search engine can help you find it on the Web or TV channel. One also can browse using a standard programming guide, your DVR, or your Google TV home screen. Since Google TV is built on open platforms, like Android and Google Chrome, these features are just a fraction of what Google TV can do, according to a Google blog.

“In our announcement at Google I/O (in San Francisco), we challenged TV Web developers to start coming up with the next great Web and Android apps designed specifically for the TV experience. Developers can start optimizing their Web sites,” Google says.

Google has been working on Google TV for over two years, but analysts are not exactly “gung-ho’’ about Google TV.

The space is very competitive. For instance, Samsung, LG and Panasonic outsell Sony (Google’s TV partner) in the LCD TV space and they all have their own Internet protocol TV solutions and partners. LG partnered with DivX earlier this year to bring DivX TV to its Blu-ray players. Samsung and Yahoo have partnered with (Internet)@TV, and Panasonic created its Viera Cast system.

Yet other analysts say that with the exception of the standalone Web browser, Google TV is very similar to the latest version of TiVo.

Features like viewing photos, streaming music and searching for upcoming programming were possible as early as 2003. Moreover, the viewer could view content from Amazon Video-On Demand, YouTube and Netflix in 2007.

Further, there are competing box products, such as Boxee, PopBox and Roku. Boxee, for example, has established a base of users via its computer and Apple TV platform. Boxee doesn’t integrate into the live TV experience like Google TV, but it supports third-party apps, does regular Web browsing and links to existing media libraries. Cable companies also will continue to pose serious competition.

Apple and Microsoft missed the mark in their efforts to link computers with TV. To this day, Apple continues to sell the Apple TV product but in small numbers. The original Web TV was purchased by Microsoft and rebranded as MSN TV. Microsoft continues to support existing customers but no longer offers the hardware.

Time will tell, but since Google has such a strong presence as a search engine (an estimated 65 percent share of the browser market, leaving Yahoo and Bing well behind), it is conceivable Google TV along with its Android operating system may gain traction quickly.

This post is by TechMan, WMB co-author who blogs about trends, issues and ideas affecting business, industry, technology and consumers.

Who Let Tech Secret Out?

Apple is well-known for its ability to hold onto technological secrets, but the legendary computer company is suddenly springing leaks. There have been two major security breaches at Apple within the last two weeks.

And these are not just hints of new products but actual prototypes ending up in the laps of major high-tech publishers such as Gizmodo and Taoviet, a Vietnamese high-tech forum. Photos and a video clip of the next generation iPhone (4G) have suddenly fallen into the wrong hands following the gadget blog and Gizmodo’s purchase of a lost prototype last month. It could be that Apple’s long era of secrecy is finally coming to an end.

Major leaks have been virtually unheard of previously at Apple, founded on April 1, 1976, in Cupertino, Calif., by friends Steve Jobs (left), Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell a computer they built in Jobs' parents' garage. Both Gizmodo and Taoviet purchased complete iPhone (4G) handsets, photographed them, recorded video chips and even dismantled them to understand every last component in the devices.

Leaked iPhones command a hefty price, too. Gizmodo purchased the prized gadget for $5,000 and Taoviet reportedly paid $4,000 for its model. Taoviet is currently under investigation to determine if any international laws were broken.
So the real question is why are these gadgets worth so much? And why are high-tech firms willing to part with thousands of dollars to secure the latest prototypes? The simple answer to this is Web site hits and lots of them!

The word on the street is that Gizmodo’s critique of the iPhone (4G) received more than 10 million hits, not to mention brand recognition from major media businesses. A few thousand dollars is actually a bargain compared to the amount of hype and attention derived from such a find.

Blogs, however, are not to blame. Actually consumers are at fault because we have an insatiable appetite to know the latest and greatest details on product information.

Consumers can purchase stock or hardware in anticipation of a major release. Blogs wouldn’t influence their resources on tracking down products from the likes of Apple, Google, Nokia, HP, and Samsung (among the thousands of high-tech firms) if there wasn’t such a huge demand. Consumers’ lust for information continues to grow daily. The main avenues for fueling this need to know anything and everything are frequent use of Google, Wikipedia, Twitter, and a long list of social and information networks as well as a myriad of Web services.

An information deficit is short-lived these days because of our global connection, which is always on regardless of what electronic device we're using.

When we want to know anything, we do a search on Google to find the answer in minutes or even seconds. With Search Engine Optimization (based upon a host of factors including key words), guess work is cut to a minimum. Further, we can find information away from our home by using our smartphone, and our lust for immediate gratification is satisfied.

A new plethora of “real time” Web startups has precipitated our expectations even more. Twitter and Facebook users know exactly what their friends are doing on an ongoing basis. Internet users can receive information about friends’ exact locations, and others can track credit card purchases or phone numbers in real time.

Those accustomed to such instant gratification feel tortured when they are not continually informed and may not know about a person or event.

It’s not that we have a curiosity. It goes beyond that; many consumers feel they have a right to know confidential information. It’s almost like we blame Apple for teasing the consumer about its strategy, and we “should” know what the computer giant is doing, regardless of competition and security issues.

The Internet has conditioned many consumers and daily users to expect the latest and greatest almost instantly anytime or anywhere.

We believe the lesson from Apple’s security breaches is that U.S. companies need to step up protection for their intellectual and strategic planning intentions. If companies like Apple -- a multinational corporation which creates consumer electronics, computer software, and commercial servers -- are to compete, it is incumbent on management to be more security-oriented, specifically in regard to terrorism and espionage.

To do otherwise, with nothing secret, is to court disaster on many levels.

This post is courtesy of TechMan who writes about trends, issues and ideas affecting business, industry, consumers and technology.