Poor Ultrabook Sales See Manufacturers Opting for Low Cost Machines

According to multiple reports and sources, suppliers of ultrabooks are facing a lot of issues with profitability and market. As a result, many manufacturers are expected to turn to low-cost designs to make up for it. According to an anonymous CNET source that speaks directly to ultrabook suppliers, "The ultrabook adoption during the holiday season was ugly." Before you go jumping to conclusions, this source was only talking about one ultrabook manufacturer specifically.

That being said, the ultrabook market for all suppliers is still facing challenges. According to the same source, "You've got a down market on the eve of a new operating system (Windows 8, obviously) at a price point that's fairly robust (meaning high)." On top of that, Acer, one of the high-profile ultrabook vendors, stated that it is currently not making a profit on lower-end models according to a recent report in The Verge.

A Tech Travel Agent can get an ultrabook rental to you within 24 business hours in over 1000 cities worldwide.

The company's Aspire S3 ultrabook has been generally priced at $899 but could drop as low as $799. Acer's Chairman also stated back in December that ultrabook sales should be somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 in Q4. Other top vendors, like HP and Dell, have just started selling ultrabooks, which makes their success or failure hazy.

However, a recent report from Asia has claimed that poor sales for vendors is forcing them to rethink ultrabooks altogether. According to a report in Digitimes citing industry sources, "Existing Sandy-bridge ultrabooks are too expensive." Many are speculating that, as a result, many ultrabook manufacturers will turn to thin laptops similar to ultrabooks that do not incur the high costs of current designs. Things like metal cases, expensive hinges and expensive solid state drives are what are keeping ultrabook prices high enough to dissuade potential buyers.

These new thin laptops are predicted to have prices in the $600 range and launch in Q2 2012, although that strategy could also backfire. Low-cost laptops, like the netbook, have yet to be widely accepted due to the fact that they were built from cheap chassis materials, had low-end components and lacked the performance power of other laptops. What this could mean for the laptop industry as a whole is still up in the air.

Source: CNET - As ultrabook makers seek stronger sales, some opt for low cost

LeanPrint Reduces Ink Use by 40 Percent

On Monday, March 5 Adobe announced a new service that is designed to reduce the amount of ink used when printing. It is being called LeanPrint.

According to Adobe, LeanPrint will save up to 40 percent of the toner that would normally be used when printing something. It is able to do this in certain modes like “SuperSaver” and “TonerSaver.” The basic idea of LeanPrint is that it will work to squeeze more onto a page and reduce the amount of toner used on prints that use a lot of ink. This will help to not only save on ink but paper as well.

Now, when you think about it, this new software seems like it would be undermining printer company’s plans to sell you a cheap printer that must be replaced with expensive toner when the ink runs out; however, Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) is the first printer maker to endorse and promote the new LeanPrint software. According to Adobe, Toshiba will be available to distribute LeanPrint to its customers across the continent.

Adobe said that LeanPrint is targeting both large companies as well as individuals. Those who are interested must purchase a license from a company that is partnering with Adobe, like Toshiba. Customers can either sign up for a 30-day free trial or pay $99 for a one-year subscription.

"Adobe has always prided itself on environmentally conscious behavior, from its LEED Platinum certified buildings to its carbon offsets," said Raman Nagpal, the senior director and general manager of Adobe Print and Scan Business. "With LeanPrint, we are bringing together our commitment to the environment and a deep understanding of the print industry to further drive down printing costs. Adobe is excited to launch LeanPrint with a like-minded company like Toshiba, who will help distribute this technology throughout North America."

All of this news is not good for printer companies like HP. During a second quarter conference call, the chief executive of HP, Meg Whitman, discussed the current shift of corporations and individual consumers towards printing less.

"We faced a number of challenges and the printing market is more mature and more mature markets tend to be governed more by macroeconomic forces," Whitman said. "I am convinced that a number of our challenges do relate to the macroeconomic challenges, weak consumer demand, weak small office, home office demand. The sell-through of ink in particular is at pretty low levels and it's not just our ink, it's industry ink."

This really could pose an issue to printer companies in the near future; however, it also might help to reduce the inflated pricing of toner. It will be interesting to see how printer companies react.

Sources: PCMag - Adobe 'LeanPrint' Claims to Cut Ink Use by 40 Percent and Tom's Guide - Adobe Releases LeanPrint Software to Save on Ink, Paper

Power Point Projectors
Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.

Dedicated Tech Support for HP Elite PC Customers

If you are one of Hewlett-Packard's Elite PC customers, then I have some good news for you. The company recently announced that it has officially expanded tech support options for its Elite PC customers who will now have the opportunity to select a single tech support official to deal with exclusively for the entire life of their computer. This basically means that Elite PC owners will have a single tech support professional that will deal with all of their computer problems. Whenever you need tech support, you will always get the same guy or gal.

When this new tech support plan goes into effect, Elite PC customers will get a single number to call and a single point of contact for all of their tech support needs. In addition to that, business customers can schedule support calls whenever they chose. Other options include prioritized support and PC set-up options with the support plans extending to remote and cloud-based PC support.

A lot of tech analysts are applauding HP for this move, calling it a great step forward for the company, which is currently trying to win back the confidence of its PC customers, as well as the PC community at large, after a rough 2011. It was originally reported that the company had written off its PC division altogether due to poor numbers, though it appears as if a change of heart has occurred as the company is working harder than ever to get back on top.

Tech support comes standard with every Elite PC purchase from HP and is also available for existing Elite PC customers. Elite laptops, desktops and workstations are usually aimed at business professionals and thus are priced a little higher on average than consumer devices. HP also offers business PCs, like Folio and ProBook laptops, though this new support option will not be available for those customers. More support options are also said to be arriving in the coming months, HP said.

Source: PC World - HP Assigns Dedicated Tech Support for Elite PCs

DVD Video Projectors are exactly what they sound like, a combination unit that combines a DVD media player with a video projector, cutting out the need for multiple pieces of electronics and wiring.

Apple's iPad Outsells HP's PCs in Q1 2012

It's no surprise that Apple is one of the top PC and technology makers in the world. What may be surprising is the fact that Apple has surpassed HP in computer unit sales and revenues for the first time ever, making the Cupertino giant the number one company. Apple can attribute a lot of this success to record sales of iPads and, instead of losing sales to low priced tablets, Apple said that it would continue to "innovate like crazy" in the tablet market.

The company reported quarterly sales of 15.4 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs, which gave Apple more than 20 million sales of dedicated computing devices. It was reported that HP's sales for the fourth quarter of 2011 were close to 14.7 million, with Lenovo and Dell selling 12.9 million and 11.6 million units, respectively. In addition to that, Apple's figures were twice that of those reported by Microsoft for the same quarter.

Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple, was asked about the impact of lower-priced tablets in the market, like Amazon's Kindle Fire. Cook replied that he was happy with the iPad's sales and pointed out that sell-through had exceeded sell-in, which left the company with strained inventory levels around the world, contradicting the rumors that the Kindle Fire had dampened potential iPad sales. Cook also stated that Apple sees the iPad as a "huge opportunity for Apple over time" and that "there will come a day when the tablet market in units is larger than the PC market."

Tablets are indeed doing very well with almost every name in the tech world offering their own version of the iPad which pioneered the market. However, I don't think that tablets will ever fully replace computers or laptops. Physical keyboards and mouse controls are too ingrained in people and are also extremely necessary for a lot of computing tasks. Sure you can make keyboard docks and mouse attachments, but what's the point?

Cook also pointed out that the rapid growth of iPad sales was eating up the growth of generic PC sales but not hurting the Apple's own Mac sales. It seems that all of Apple's mobile tech gadgets draw in customers for the company's netbooks and desktop computers. Sales of both have been up, and over 1/5 of all Apple Mac sales were through the company's own retail stores.

Source: Apple Insider - Apple now largest computer maker, sold more iPads alone than HP sold PCs
Slash Gear - Apple sold more iPads than HP sold PCs in Q1 2012

Power Point Projectors
Most business class projectors will do a good job displaying your PowerPoint presentation. If you have a small presentation group, a 2000 lumen LCD projector will be able to produce a nice and clear picture. For larger audiences you should consider a 5000 lumen LCD projector.

HP Releases Seven All-in-One PCs

Even though Hewlett-Packard might stop selling WebOS devices and move its PSG (Personal Systems Group) into a separate company, they haven't been stopped from unveiling seven new PC's today. They updated their Omni, TouchSmart and HP Pro lineups. These PC's all have starting prices ranging from $400 to $900. So even though they might not be keeping their PSG division around (which is responsible for desktops and laptop PCs), they are making it clear they still plan to be a leader in the PC market. HP plans on all-in-one PCs becoming a huge seller next year and even cited that they expect interest to grow from 9.9 percent to 15.7 percent in the next 12 months.

The first two PCs they are rolling out are the Omni 120 and the Omni 220. The Omni 120 has a 20-inch screen and will offer up to 750 GB of hard drive space and your choice of an AMD or Intel processor. The 21.5-inch Omni 220 will have a unique cantilever design and will have Intel's 'Sandy Bridge' core processors. The Omni 220 will be available September 11 starting at $800 dollars, followed by the Omni 120 becoming available September 21 with a starting price tag of $400.

HP also plans to release four new TouchSmart PCs around the same time. The TouchSmart 320 has a 20-inch screen and won't be in stores until October 2 with a starting price of $600. The 21.5-inch Touchsmart 420 and 23-inch Touchsmart 520 will be available September 11 with starting prices of $700 and $900. All of the PCs come with touchscreen displays and include Beats Audio technology.

The fourth TouchSmart being launched is the Touchsmart Elite 7320 Business PC. This all-in-one computer comes with a 21.5-inch HD LED back-lite display. You will be able to choose a Core i3, i5, or i7 processor and HP plans to launch this model September 21, starting at only $850.

The last all-in-one PC, which has no confirmed launch date but should hit stores sometime in October, is the HP Pro 3420. This computer features a 20-inch display, Core i3 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of hard drive space. The starting price of this PC is set to be $600.

Source: PC World - HP Announces Seven New All-in-One PCs

Put your eye on the problem with Camera Security Now, installing security cameras since 1999. We install in the US and we can help you do it yourself.

Call us toll free 877-422-1907 between 8am EST and 5pm PST M-F. Talk to an expert about your serious security camera needs.

HP Launches New Compaq 8200 Elite All-In-One PC

Just a few days after announcing that it was planning to shut down its PC business, HP has launched an all new all-in-one desktop aimed specifically at business customers.



Branded the HP Compaq 8200 Elite, this computer comes with a 23-inch HD LED display as well as your choice of either Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Home Premium as your operating system.



While all-in-one computers like this aren't really breaking stories, this one is a bit of a surprise given HP's previously reported stance on computers. HP announced last week that it would discontinue its TouchPad tablet and basically shutter its WebOS operation.



In addition to that, HP also stated that it is looking to find a new direction for its PC business, the Personal Systems Group (PSG), as it refocuses the attention of its business around software solutions instead.



According to a statement that was recently released by HP, "HP will consider a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through spin-off or other transactions."



The HP Compaq 8200 Elite is the first device from the company to use Intel's second generation Core vPro technology in order to boost performance and hard drive access. Moreover, the device comes with a one year license to HP Virtual Rooms which allows you to set up online conference centers for meetings or presentations.



The HP Compaq 8200 Elite will also come with up to 8GB of memory, the option of solid state drives and hardware-based encryption. Employees will also find an integrated webcam as well as integrated speakers with SRS premium sound.



The HP Compaq 8200 Elite all-in-one computer is available now for a starting price of $999. This price nets you an Intel Pentium dual-core G850 processor as well as all the other standard features.



Source: CNET - Sweeping changes don't halt HP all-in-one PC launch

SMBnow.com is news of, for and by SMBs!

SMBnow.com... The Small & Medium Business Magazine!