On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Finland-based mobile developer Jolla finally shows off the fruit of its labours-- CEO Marc Dillon appears on MTV 3 Finland with a live demo of Sailfish, its MeeGo-based smartphone OS.

Running on what looks like a Nokia N950 developer device, the OS looks rather interesting. It has a tile-based UI, with running apps showing up on the homescreen as large, interactive widgets.

A "pulley" menu allows users to control music playback or answer/end calls, without need to open separate apps. Customisation is automatic through "ambience," a system generating the look and feel for a device via photo analysis.

The company promises the OS runs many Android apps "unaltered" (via Myriad Alien Dalvik), while other apps will need tweaking. It also has partnerships with at least one vendor (ST-Ericsson) and a mobile network (Finland's DNA) for future Sailfish mobile devices.

Jolla first made an appearance on July 2012 as a collective of ex-Nokia employees from the MeeGo N9 division. Named after a kind of sail boat, it hopes to create an alternative to Android and iOS using MeeGo, the shortlived OS merging Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo projects.

Watch Presenting Jolla

Go Here is the New Sailfish Operating System

Go MeeGo Sails on in Jolla

Darty revenues disappoint during the 1 May - 31 October 2012 period, dropping by -2.2% Y-o-Y due to poor performance within both domestic and developing regions.

Revenues are down by -3.9% in Darty's home France, while revenues for Darty Italy, Turkey and Spain drop by -2.6% in a situation the retailer describes as "challenging."

Other "established" Darty outlets (BCC, Vanden Borre and Datart) show 3.7% revenue growth.

Online sales represent around 11% of total Darty product sales, delivering "strong growth" according to the retailer.

Darty also continues the search for a new CEO, following the stepping down of Thierry Falque-Pierrotin back in September 2012. In the meantime it appoints 4 independent non-executive directors "with strong Continental European, retail, service and multi-media backgrounds."

Go Darty H1 2012 Trading Statement

The calendar year Q3 projectors market came in at 2032K units, 3.6% up on the previous quarter and showing very slight year-on-year growth on Q3 2011 (2029K units), according to the latest research from Futuresource Consulting.

The flattening and -- in some cases -- decline of the developed markets in Europe and the Americas shows in the Q3 numbers and while growth was achieved across many emerging regions the current suspension of a number of key education projects in territories such as Mexico and Indonesia casts doubt on the prospect of year-on-year worldwide growth for full calendar year 2012 volumes.

In the EMEA region, Western Europe posted a regional total of 304K units, 15% down on Q3 2011, the shortfall in demand coming from the entry level data projector and the home cinema segments (which had achieved good volumes in Q2 2012 prior to the start of the European Football Championships).

However, promotional stock left in the channel after the close of the championships negatively impacted demand with the greatest decline in volumes seen in Germany.

In a surprise announcement Intel CEO Paul Otellini steps down from the company on May 2013, following "an orderly leadership transition over the next six months."

Otellini, 62, is just the 5th Intel CEO (after Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, Andy Grove and Craig Barrett) and has a 40-year history with the 45-year old company. He is the man behind ultrabooks, as well as (admittedly none too successful) Intel attempts to take over part of a mobile processor market dominated by ARM-based designs.

“After almost 4 decades with the company and 8 years as CEO, it is time to move on and transfer Intel’s helm to a new generation of leadership," Otellini says. “I look forward to working with Andy, the board and the management team during the six-month transition period, and to being available as an advisor to management after retiring as CEO.”

The company names no successor to Otellini as yet, and the board considers both internal and external candidates for the job. For now, 3 senior execs get the title of executive VP-- Renee James (software business head), Brian Krzanch (CEO, head of worlwide manufacturing) and Stacy Smith (CFO, director of corporate strategy).

Go Intel CEO to Retire in May