Welcome to Printing Industry News Digest (PIND) issue 69, providing a summary of major news items from the printing, packaging, digital and communications technology sectors. PIND incorporates brief summaries and links to the week's key news stories so that you can look up that all important detail, digging deeper behind the headline. Do also take a look at our automated Twitter-based GenesisNews Print Daily publication; why not take out a free subscription for a daily digital delivery!
Hope you didn’t miss us too much last week: we had a holiday! Back then firstly to the latest tablet news, as things are still buzzing on this front: The Guardian tells us that with some 2 million people in the UK likely to be buying tablets this next year, that Apple’s 70+% market share is likely to fall. That might well be true, but what a starting point to fall from – and they are, of course, still going to be selling a truck load more units. The article still believes that Samsung is going to be the number one competitor. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Our own second favourite is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer – as as been highlighted here before – with the easily detachable keyboard!
Digital Trends confirms to us that the numbers of mobile internet users will surpass those logging on via desktop PC equipment by 2015 – less than four years (links well with the talk of this being the beginning of the end of the PC era). It is perhaps worth taking stock of how far the mobile phone has come in its short life, and this infographic describes all of that activity wonderfully concisely. This is likely to have a massive effect on marketing: watch this space!
On the subject of new marketing thinking, we were intrigued by this story from Engadget which showcased two Philadelphia newspapers preparing to offer heavily subsidised tablet hardware in return for a two year subscription to the digital version of the news product, which can be paid for at $9.99 per month. Is this the way forward for newspaper publishers? Let us know your thoughts via the PIND.Editor@gmail.com correspondence address.
As per usual these days, we have yet another tablet being launched. This one, from NEC, appears to be provided in component parts. Currently powered by Windows 7 (presumably this will jump to the new Windows 8 very soon!), the unit utilises a DVD drive come stand, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless mouse, with all components provided at time of purchase. The 10.1 inch screen is expected to roll out at some $1,230 (£779 as a direct conversion).
In the e-reader market, Waterstone’s has decided that it should enter the hardware arena to compete with Amazon. The BBC tells us that the company has been inspired by Barnes & Noble and their Nook product.
More bad news for printers (what’s new I hear you scream!): Readers Digest is being released as an iPad app from its September edition, with existing US paper product subscribers being offered a free six months of the iPad version. From then on it will be $1.99 per month or $14.99 for a full year.
In the world of packaging, leading carton printer Benson Group had a visit from the bank manager this week: not big news you might think, but this bank manager was the Governor of the Bank of England, who was touring leading businesses in the east midlands of England.
Regular readers might recall our recent fascination with a watch that could link seamlessly to your phone, providing a range of up-to-date info that could be read from the wrist. Well, it’s an idea that is catching on. We recently spotted this story on TechCrunch, with a former Nokia exec pumping his cash into a company called MetaWatch. This is definitely another bit of tasty wrist-wear that we will be keeping an eye on, and whilst pricing still remains at the enthusiast / innovator level, $200 is already showing healthy signs of moving in the right direction.
Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 70. We aim to add details of our next edition this link during the course of the week. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and click here for the GenesisNews Print Daily – you can even take out a free subscription for this daily news update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology!
PIND069
Want to read issue 68, including all of the news from the IFA consumer electronics show? Then simply click here!
Get Your Print News Every Day!
Got friends that might like GenesisNews? Tweet them now: click here!
Hope you didn’t miss us too much last week: we had a holiday! Back then firstly to the latest tablet news, as things are still buzzing on this front: The Guardian tells us that with some 2 million people in the UK likely to be buying tablets this next year, that Apple’s 70+% market share is likely to fall. That might well be true, but what a starting point to fall from – and they are, of course, still going to be selling a truck load more units. The article still believes that Samsung is going to be the number one competitor. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Our own second favourite is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer – as as been highlighted here before – with the easily detachable keyboard!Digital Trends confirms to us that the numbers of mobile internet users will surpass those logging on via desktop PC equipment by 2015 – less than four years (links well with the talk of this being the beginning of the end of the PC era). It is perhaps worth taking stock of how far the mobile phone has come in its short life, and this infographic describes all of that activity wonderfully concisely. This is likely to have a massive effect on marketing: watch this space!
On the subject of new marketing thinking, we were intrigued by this story from Engadget which showcased two Philadelphia newspapers preparing to offer heavily subsidised tablet hardware in return for a two year subscription to the digital version of the news product, which can be paid for at $9.99 per month. Is this the way forward for newspaper publishers? Let us know your thoughts via the PIND.Editor@gmail.com correspondence address.As per usual these days, we have yet another tablet being launched. This one, from NEC, appears to be provided in component parts. Currently powered by Windows 7 (presumably this will jump to the new Windows 8 very soon!), the unit utilises a DVD drive come stand, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless mouse, with all components provided at time of purchase. The 10.1 inch screen is expected to roll out at some $1,230 (£779 as a direct conversion).
In the e-reader market, Waterstone’s has decided that it should enter the hardware arena to compete with Amazon. The BBC tells us that the company has been inspired by Barnes & Noble and their Nook product.More bad news for printers (what’s new I hear you scream!): Readers Digest is being released as an iPad app from its September edition, with existing US paper product subscribers being offered a free six months of the iPad version. From then on it will be $1.99 per month or $14.99 for a full year.
In the world of packaging, leading carton printer Benson Group had a visit from the bank manager this week: not big news you might think, but this bank manager was the Governor of the Bank of England, who was touring leading businesses in the east midlands of England.Regular readers might recall our recent fascination with a watch that could link seamlessly to your phone, providing a range of up-to-date info that could be read from the wrist. Well, it’s an idea that is catching on. We recently spotted this story on TechCrunch, with a former Nokia exec pumping his cash into a company called MetaWatch. This is definitely another bit of tasty wrist-wear that we will be keeping an eye on, and whilst pricing still remains at the enthusiast / innovator level, $200 is already showing healthy signs of moving in the right direction.
Finally, do keep checking back to see what will be featured in our next edition, PIND 70. We aim to add details of our next edition this link during the course of the week. For an RSS feed of PIND, copy this link into your feed reader; and click here for the GenesisNews Print Daily – you can even take out a free subscription for this daily news update on print, publishing, packaging and associated technology!
PIND069
Want to read issue 68, including all of the news from the IFA consumer electronics show? Then simply click here!
Get Your Print News Every Day!
Got friends that might like GenesisNews? Tweet them now: click here!
No comments:
Post a Comment