Notebooks' Merry British Christmas

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notebookGfK reveals the notebook market's positive Q4 2010 in the UK-- with sales rising over 12% in value and 5% in volume from Q4 2009.

The figures are equivalent to an additional 70000 units in sales.

The same period in 2009 was particularly tough-- Windows 7 launched and lower priced netbooks were growing rapidly.

The analyst remarks the UK market remains committed to the notebook format as it faces competition from both netbooks and tablets. Possibly the same can be said regarding the European market.

Go Rising Notebook Sales Brighten UK IT Sector

ICEcat: OnLine Channel up 78%

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Graph UpThe online channel is up 78% in 2010 and is recession-proof, concludes ICEcat based on its annual tabulation of the usage of data-sheets of their open catalog project.

During 2010 ICEcat facilitated 874 million data-sheet downloads for products from 5228 different tech brands by more than 12,700 different online channel partners from 87 different countries.

The usage of data-sheets shows HP, Lenovo and Sony are the top three online channels brands of 2010, but Dell has transformed into a fast-growth channel brand. And Samsung is one of the fastest risers.

Suppliers brand Pelikan made an even bigger jump than Dell from rank 131 to 44 and is now the best-performing provider of compatible ink cartridges.

Advanced Cable Technology (ACT, +3797%), Lindy (+1563%) and Vivanco (+1147%) are the top three fast movers in the top 100 of brands measured by ICEcat.

Although notebooks, warranty/support and desktops still dominate, products for security, fun and smaller form factors are changing the game. Among fast-growth categories is also household white goods...

Go Open ICEcat

Apple and its Money Tree

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Analysts are saying Apple is sitting on what they very bluntly call an "insane pile Of cash" worth around $60bn, to grow to $80-$100bn by this time next year. But unlike Uncle Scrooge, the company cannot afford to sit on such a money pile-- not before the pressure really builds up and shareholders start calling for dividends.

Apple ChartIt's like sitting on a rocket, waiting as the pressure kicks in for take-off.  Except the trip is still being planned.

Trust us, somewhere in Apple is a group figuring out all the possible ways to spend 30 or 40 billion. That means Apple is out looking for acquisitions. That could mean a few clever start-ups... But more likely it means a strategic acquisition that creates opportunity for Apple to dominate another market.  That's right, it means Apple must spend it on something worth billions; Apple has bought before and CRN in the US gives a good history of their best purchases to date: http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/223300122/10-apple-acquisitions-that-made-their-mark.htm

But never before have they had this size of cash. The next deal will be a whopper: That cash means Apple can buy a telco, a Hollywood studio, a TV division... or enter the Enterprise market. Some rumours even say it could be buying a huge games property.

Here are some combinations: Apple + RIM, Apple + Sony, Apple + AT&T. Either way, like a Vegas slot machine, we bet someone will hit the jackpot by 2012.

Go Chart of the Day: Apple's Insane Pile of Cash in Context

Go Apple's Cash and Cash Equivalents for 2010

Go Apple: The Next Console War Challenger?

Playstation Phone? No, Playstation Phones.

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PSSuiteSony confirms its smartphone-gaming plans-- not with the speculated "Playstation Phone" handset, but a cross-platform mobile software framework dubbed Playstation Suite.

What this means is an official Playstation store carrying PSOne titles for Android devices-- specifically those with Android 2.3.

The company describes the store as hardware neutral, making software compatible with all sorts of devices. Sony is also starting a "Playstation Certified" hardware licensing program together with a new game development environment.

The PS Suite will also be available on Sony's other big annoouncement, the NGP handheld console.

Go Sony Playstation Suite

PSP Goes NGP

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In its bid to rival Nintendo's 3DS in the handheld gaming war Sony unveils the PSP's follower, codenamed NGP (Next Generation Portable).

NGPIt features impressive specs-- a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 5" OLED touchscreen (with 960 x 544 resolution), rear-mounted touchpad (directly behind the screen), accelerometer and gyroscope (the same technology as in the Playstation Move), GPS and front/rear facing cameras. Internet connections come from both wifi and 3G.

Games will come on what Sony describes as "a new game medium"-- a flash memory card (no UMD). The device is also compatible with content downloaded from Sony's Playstation Store (on the PSP) and the newly announced Playstation Suite.

Sony's Playstation Network handles social networking features, while Sony promises a new UI, dubbed LiveArea.

The announcement's real surprise? The NGP should be available this holiday season.

Go Sony NGP

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