Windows 8 brings significant advantages to those who are upgrading existing PCs or purchasing new ones, thanks to features that better take advantage of the new OS's capabilities. The operating system offers improvements in performance, existing capabilities, and is cheaper.
I should mention, however, that there are some cases in which you probably shouldn't make the move. The OS has a new look and requires some adjustment in the way you interact with your PC. If you don't like change or learning new ways of doing things—even if in the long run they turn out to be more efficient—you should probably stick with what you're using. Also, if your PC's specs are extremely outdated—less than 1GHz processor or less than 1GB RAM in particular—you won't be able to upgrade. And obviously, if your PC is for work use, your employer may not allow the upgrade. If these issue don't apply, read on.
Windows 8 : New Start Background
"Tattoos" let you customize your Windows 8 Start screen with artistic backgrounds.
Windows 8 - SkyDrive
SkyDrive is your Windows cloud storage. Apps can be programmed to access the online storage with your permission.
1. Faster startup. On my testscomparing Windows 8 performancewith that of Windows 7 on the same computer, Windows 8 started up more than twice as fast as Windows 7. In a comparison with Mac OS X Mountain Lion, running in Boot Camp on a MacBook, Windows 8 even started up faster than Apple's latest desktop operating system. And it's not just startup time: Windows 8 ran several benchmark performance tests quicker than either Windows 7 or Mountain Lion. Microsoft has clearly put work into improving performance in Windows 8.
Windows 8 - Store
The Windows Store now features apps for purchase, with prices ranging from $1.49 to $999. Like the Mac App Store, it lets you reinstall apps you've bought on any of your PCs and oversees app updating.
2.A whole new world of apps. Windows 8 gives PC users a whole new world of full-screen, touch-friendly, Web-connected apps to explore. And these new apps can even display relevant information on their Windows Start screen tiles, something impossible in Windows 7 or just about any other operating system around, save Windows Phone. The new Windows Store—analogous to Apple's iTunes App Store—makes discovering and installing these new-style apps a breeze. The update process is simple, and you can install purchased apps on multiple Windows 8 devices without paying again, provided you're signed in. Finally, uninstalling the apps is streamlined by the Store, with no Registry complications as in past Windows versions' apps.
Windows 8 - SkyDrive
SkyDrive is your Windows cloud storage. Apps can be programmed to access the online storage with your permission.
3. SkyDrive integration. Microsoft's cloud service has become way, way more than just online storage. Sure, it still lets you save and access files to an online space that's accessible from a Web browser or apps that run on not only Windows, but also Mac OS X, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. But with Windows 8, SkyDrive is accessible to any app that wants to use it, just as though it were a local drive. It also backs up your PC's settings, letting you replicate your environment should you get a new PC.
4. Better Security, Less-intrusive updates. PC Magazine networking and security analyst Fahmida Rashid considers Windows 8 "the most secureversion of Windows yet." This stems from a couple of things, starting with Secure Boot. ExtremeTech's Sebastian Anthony explains secure bootsuccinctly as follows: "Windows 8 stops a computer from loading an operating system that hasn’t been signed by the publisher (in this case, Microsoft or an OEM)." Another security gain is that all apps in the Windows Store are scrutinized for security issues. Finally, Windows 8's default Web browser, Internet Explorer 10, was rated best in a recent test by NSS Labs, detecting and blocking over 99 percent of malicious downloads without any help from a third-party antivirus program. This compared with 70.4 percent for Google Chrome, which uses the same Safe Browsing API as Firefox. Opera and Safari only managed to block about 4 percent of the malicious downloads.
5. First-class touch input, but still fine with keyboard and mouse. In some ways, touch-screen input on Windows 8 is superior that of the Apple iPad. For example, you can do everything you need to by swiping with your thumbs, making a tablet easier to use by holding it by the sides. Also topping the iPad interface is Windows 8's ability to snap a sidebar to the side of the screen with a touch gesture, so that you can keep tabs on two apps at the same time.
But mouse and keyboard are hardly forgotten. The full complement of keyboard shortcuts still works, and navigating through the new interface with the mouse and mouse wheel is almost as intuitive as touch gesture input—though there are certainly some actions where touch is a better fit. Using the Windows Key becomes particularly important, as it summons the Start screen and offers key combinations that let you search, share, change settings, access devices, and more.
Is Windows 8 an existential threat to Android tablets?
Nagging questions shadow the impending launch of Windows 8, threatening to scuttle Microsoft's plans to reinvent itself for the age of mobility. Will desktop users graciously accept the redesigned Modern interface? Will the Windows Store have enough apps to entice would-be Surface RT buyers? Can Windows 8 breathe life into sagging PC sales?
Microsoft's future success depends on its ability to make serious, quantifiable, no-nonsense headway in the mobile market, but it’s not the only company with a massive stake in the ultimate fate of Windows 8. The new operating system will also have a major impact on Google. Just look at the list of Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablet and hybrid partners—Samsung, Asus, Toshiba, and the rest. They all make Android tablets, too.
Apple’s position in the tablet market is so dominant that it need not fear encroachment by Windows 8 devices. But most of Google’s hardware partners—especially the ones that make the larger, so-called productivity devices—need to ask themselves a tough question: Will Windows 8 obliterate consumer interest in Android tablets?
Early opportunity squandered
At least one expert thinks that this question isn't hard to answer. Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps sees a bleak future for Android tablets.
The Kindle Fire HD, which emphasizes media consumption, is one of the few Android-based tablets that consumers want.
"No one's buying Android tablets other than Amazon or Barnes & Noble [models] anyway," she says. "If there’s a market for non-Apple tablets, it has been and will be Windows. It’s pretty clear that there just hasn't been any demand for Android tablets other than the niche earlier-adopter market, while Windows has mainstream consumer interest."
Despite being the only major tablet alternative for people who don't want to bite into Apple, Android has clearly had little impact on the tablet market. IDC's second-quarter tablet report shows that more than two-thirds of all tablet shipments originated in Cupertino, and even those numbers don't tell the full story. IDC (which is owned by PCWorld’s parent company IDG) and other top research firms track tablet shipments to retailers, not tablet sales to customers. So when you take into account that some variable proportion of shipped Android tablets languish unsold on retailers' shelves, Android's situation may be even bleaker than IDC's numbers suggest.
In the recent Apple vs. Samsung case, for example, court filings showed that Samsung had managed to sell only 712,000 Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets in the United States since the slate's launch. Those are sad numbers, given that many observers considered the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be the perfect iPad alternative for much of 2011.
Also troubling for Google's operating system is the fact that the Kindle Fire—Android's brightest tablet star and best tablet seller—is not the droid you're looking for. It runs a proprietary, heavily skinned interface that renders it more of a content delivery system for Amazon than a proper Android tablet.
Ominously, the Kindle Fire accounts for the majority of Google tablet sales. IDC claims that Amazon is the world's third-most-prolific tablet manufacturer, even though Amazon sells its slate only in the United States. And reports from ComScore, Pew Research, and Amazon itself indicate that the Kindle Fire outsells all other Android tablets combined.
In other words, Android owes most of its slim slice of market share on an Android tablet that doesn't look or feel at all like a pure Android tablet. Google's baby is sucking wind, folks.
Cue the Windows 8 tablets.
Windows 8 and its direct Android prey
Finding agreement among tech industry analysts is always a challenge. Nonetheless, all the analysts I consulted agree that Windows 8 tablets will devastate the handful of productivity-focused Android tablets on the market, such as the Asus Eee Pad Slider and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer series. Whereas security concerns have prompted risk-averse corporations to shy away from Android tablets, Microsoft's operating systems sport deep, business-friendly features—including the all-important Microsoft Office.
IMAGE: LOYD CASEA Windows 8 productivity machine like the Asus Vivo Tab could threaten existing Asus products like the Eee Pad Slider and Transformer series.
"I think [productivity-focused Android tablets] are going to fade away," says Rob Enderle, the principal analyst of the Enderle Group, summing up the group consensus. "I think we'll see Windows convertibles and hybrids pick up that category. The keyboard really goes with Office."
The analysts I contacted also agree that Windows tablets will quickly gobble up Android's market share in the premium-priced tablet segment. Dropping $500 or more on a 10.1-inch Android tablet requires a lot more deliberation than spending $200 on a 7-inch Google Nexus 7. For this reason, analysts believe, consumers will flock toward the more seamless (and less glitchy) Windows experience when going for a big-screen (and non-iPad) tablet.
But will Android tablets vanish entirely? Most of the experts I spoke with don't think so. Excluding Forrester's Rotman Epps, most analysts expect Android tablets to be around for the long haul, albeit in a niche role that focuses on low prices and media playback.
A possible path for Android success
"I think there will be a market for 7- to 10-inch, very inexpensive Android tablets," says Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Not from the major makers, but off-brand. Android tablets will be the budget option."
Google's Nexus 7 is squarely focused on consumption, not productivity.
"There’s a reason why Google came out with the Nexus 7," says Gartner's Carolina Milanesi. "It basically was a very loud message to the OEMs saying, 'Stop trying to be Apple, because you're not. And you're not going to be successful competing at that price point or that form factor. Go cheap. Go $199, so it becomes more of an impulse buy, and consumers will get them and watch videos, listen to music and play games.' All of which is very much media-centric and content-centric."
Enderle agrees, calling the Nexus 7 "the quintessential Android tablet, almost entirely focused on consumption, and that's probably where Android is going to continue to shine."
Rotman Epps doesn't buy this analysis, though: "Other than Amazon, [OEMs] just aren't selling any Android tablets. The iPad mini, if that comes out as we expect it to, will be the final nail in the coffin for Android tablets."
The other analysts think that if Android tablets do die off, it will be due to other causes entirely: lawsuits and Google's lackluster OEM support.
Manufacturers fear the reaper
Even if customers suddenly decide to support Android tablets, OEMs may not stay in Google's camp now that Microsoft has joined the fray. The analysts we contacted say Google's reputation for dealing with manufacturers is spotty at best; in contrast, OEMs generally enjoy working with Microsoft, occasional Surface tablet tensions aside.
IMAGE: LOYD CASEAfter suffering considerable grief over its Android devices, will Samsung give preferential treatment to its Windows 8 tablets, like this ATIV SmartPC?
Hardware manufacturers jumped on the Android bandwagon primarily because it was the only way for them to join the tablet revolution. In that sense, Apple helped spawn Android tablets, but now Apple might be the hammer that drives manufacturers away from Android for good.
"What really triggered the trend [of manufacturers hedging their bets with Android devices by also developing Windows devices] isn't so much customer satisfaction issues as much as that $1 billion judgment against Samsung," Enderle says, pointing to the sudden ramp-up of Windows Phone development by HTC and Samsung as examples.
"A lot of the OEMs really sweat bullets about being next on that particular list. Apple's actually doing Microsoft one hell of a favor here. That $1 billion judgment made 'free' not so free,” Enderle notes, referring to the ostensible price that Google charges OEMs for Android.
Gartner's Milanesi agrees that the risk of litigation from Apple encourages OEMs to see the value in adopting a Microsoft OS that costs money up-front. When you're in the Microsoft fold, she says, you're protected against Apple lawsuits, and Redmond also chips in with marketing costs and support for the developer community.
Where do manufacturers stand?
What do the companies that have skin in the game think about Android tablets' prospects for long-term survival? On the record, they're decidedly less pessimistic than the analysts are, which should come as no surprise, as they have to be cautious when making comments that might reflect on their roadmaps. Nonetheless, the OEMs do acknowledge the altered role that is likely to define Android's future.
Jay Parker, Lenovo's head of consumer/SMB operations for North America, recently told AllThingsD that the company plans to offer Android tablets "for the foreseeable future," but that it will offer only Android slates built in the Kindle Fire mold: small, cheap, and designed for playing around.
"We see them as pure media-based devices, where people are going to be surfing the Internet, reading books, or watching a movie, and really not a heck of a lot else," Parker said.
Acer makes the W510 Windows 8 tablet, but says that it's definitely not abandoning Android.
When asked whether Acer plans to support both Android and Windows 8 tablets, Paul Tayar, Acer America's director of product marketing for connected devices, unequivocally says "yes."
"The more ecosystems that we can play with and have available, the better we, as OEMs, can come up with developing the right hardware for the right consumer,” Tayar says. “Having options available to us lets us bring fresh solutions, and fresh designs, and fresh technology to the table."
Tayar feels there's enough consumer interest to support “even more than three” distinct operating systems, largely because of the very different user experiences offered by Windows 8 and Android. Windows tablets are more focused on productivity and might be more suitable for stationary office settings, whereas Android tablets tie deeply into Google's cloud-connected vision, and might appeal to people interested in everyday, on-the-run use, thanks to their smaller sizes.
Acer plans to tailor its hardware to take advantage of the specific ecosystem advantages of Windows 8 and Android. "You will not see a Windows 8 tablet, and then see the same tablet two days later with Android," Tayar says. He doesn't think Android will disappear any time soon.
"The Android market space, in both tablets and smartphones, is pretty much vindicated by the number of applications that are out there," he says. "That market has been validated. It's the real thing. It's not something that you're wondering 'Is this space going to exist or not?'"
You thought the Windows Store lacked tablet apps?
Tayar's last comment raises an interesting point: None of the analysts I spoke with think Android as a whole is in danger of dying, as the phone platform remains quite strong. Google Play features an abundance of Android apps—more than 675,000 by Google's last count—and the overwhelming majority of them are designed for smartphones, not tablets.
But that situation, too, is a double-edged sword for Google, as Android phone apps tend to translate poorly to the tablet experience.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINIronically, for all its inventory problems, the Windows Store may quickly eclipse Google Play in terms of pure tablet apps.
"Microsoft hasn't even launched the Windows Store yet, and it probably has five times more tablet applications than Android does," Moorhead says. For context, consider that the original 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab kicked off the Android tablet effort nearly two years back.
Incentives are crucial because Microsoft is gunning for those same developers, with an extensive support system that draws raves from developers. If Google wants an Android future on anything other than smartphones and embedded systems like Google Glass, it must convince some of those developers to create tablet-specific apps for its OS.
Yea or nay: Will Windows 8 tablets kill off Android?
Android tablets won't burst into flames on October 26 in some kind of self-destructive conflagration. Manufacturers won't pack up and leave Google holding the bag just because Microsoft is selling tablets—at least not initially. But serious questions loom over the launch of Microsoft's next-gen operating system, and until the company can allay some of those concerns, partners like Acer, Asus, and Lenovo will probably ride the fence until a clear market winner emerges.
But Microsoft isn't afraid to play the long game or to toss billions of dollars at marketers and manufacturers to ensure that its tablet initiative ultimately pays off. When—not if—Microsoft clears the initial hurdles, Google will have to step up its own game to ensure that Android tablets have a fighting chance, even as budget options.
Sure, Android might be the best choice for inexpensive media slates. But Google needs to get busy to bolster even that path to success, especially if Apple releases a miniature iPad. Google must do more to stimulate app development. It must work more amicably with OEMs. And it must step up to the plate, and protect its partners from Apple's litigious wrath.
If Google doesn’t do all of these things, manufacturers could very well throw up their hands and join the Windows team for good. Then we'd see the classic Apple/Microsoft duopoly all over again, this time in the mobile arena instead of on the desktop.
Will Windows 8 tablets kill Android tablets? Only Google can answer that question
The upcoming LG Nexus phone might have leaked all over the place in the last couple of days, but these here are the best and most detailed pictures of the upcoming smartphone. This time it's Belarus and local etailer Onliner that got a prototype LG Nexus, and it looks like a crossover between the LG Optimus G and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
With so much smoke, we can only conclude there must be fire - the LG Nexus is likely coming on October 29th. The device is known by many names: the LG E960 Mako, the LG Optimus Nexus and the LG Nexus 4 (it’s the fourth-generation Nexus).
So here’s what’s on this prototype. LG’s Nexus in its current version runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, but chances are it’d get an update to Android 4.2 just before its launch. There is a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels, a whopping quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip under the hood (hopefully an S4 Pro like on the Optimus G), and 2GB of RAM.
Internal storage is only 8GB and we’ve heard nothing about an expansion slot, and that would seem like a downer. The rear camera is an 8-megapixel one.
At least the claims are that this is a Sony Nexus device, which, as every rumor goes, should be taken with a grain of sodium chloride. The back says Google indeed, though it might be an elaborate render, yet we are keeping our hopes high to learn more about such a device soon.
The way this new Nexus program seems set, this could very well be a rebranded Xperia T with stock Android, just like the LG Nexus 4 appears to be a reworked Optimus G.
The company's smaller tablet will reportedly come with a 7.85-inch
screen, a Lightning connector, and thinner design than its predecessor. Apple plans to hold a special press event on October 23 to unveil its
iPad
Mini, All Things Digital is reporting today, citing sources. The news
outlet didn't say when the iPad Mini might actually hit store shelves.
Rumors have been swirling for months that Apple is planning to launch a smaller iPad. More recently, reports had claimed that Apple had hoped to get it out sooner than now, but production issues have caused it to push the launch back.
The claims by All Things Digital's sources mesh with what earlier
reports on the iPad Mini's features have been saying, including that the
tablet will ship with a 7.85-inch screen and come with Apple's new Lightning connector. Further details, however, remain unknown. Given that, it's believed that the iPad Mini will be substantially cheaper than the new iPad, though it's not known by how much.
The SGR-A1, developed for the North/South Korea border, can in theory fire a gun without human intervention, raising concerns about autonomous robots. (Copyright: Getty Images)
Walking reality
The reality is that most robots still depend on humans and most are beign developed for more more mundane jobs, such as carrying supplies for troops. (Copyright: Boston Dynamics)
Pick-me-up
Robots like the Bear could also be used for dangerous tasks such as retrieving injured soldiers from the battlefield and transporting them to safety. (Copyright: US Army)
Fire crew
Others, such as the advanced humanoid robot Saffir, have been built as a possible way to tackle fires onboard ships run by the US Navy. (Copyright: RoMeLa)
Bomb squad
Currently, one of the main tasks for military robots like iRobots SUGV is looking for and disposing of explosive devices. (Copyright: iRobot)
A number of robots in development for the military are being given increasing amounts of autonomy. The question is now how they will be used.
Think of advanced robotics, and it is easy to let your mind wander to the sentient beings depicted in Blade Runner, or the soulless, autonomous assassins in the Terminator franchise.
But, despite widespread press about armed drones hunting down terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the increasing use of ground robots to fight roadside bombs, the truth is that most military robots are still pretty dumb. In fact, almost all unmanned systems involve humans in almost every aspect of their operations—it’s just that instead of sitting in a cockpit or behind the wheel of a vehicle, humans are operating the systems from a joystick or computer often at a remote base far from the action.
Now that is slowly beginning to change.
Next week, one of the Pentagon’s most commonly used robots will finally make baby steps toward greater autonomy. The PackBot, a tracked robot used by US troops to help clear bombs in Afghanistan, will get a number of upgrades that will allows it to operate autonomously in some situations, according to Tim Trainer, a vice president for product management at iRobot, which makes the pint-sized bots.
Still, the autonomous capabilities will actually be fairly limited. In cases where the PackBot loses contact with its human operator, it will retrace its steps back to where it was when it last had communications. While seemingly simple, this small step toward autonomy is a critical improvement: in the past, if the robot lost communications while on its way to defuse a bomb, an explosive ordnance disposal technician would have go and retrieve it, potentially exposing the person to risk.
The upgrade includes other basic elements of autonomy, such as the ability to right itself if it falls over—a big problem in Afghanistan’s rough terrain—and the ability to navigate between specific waypoints, using satellite navigation and overlaid imagery, without constant communications with an operator. “Those are first steps to autonomy,” says Trainer.
The idea is to take these slow steps toward autonomous robot operations so that the military’s confidence grows, explains Trainer. Eventually, he says, the PackBot will be able to perform more complex tasks without human intervention, such as clearing an entire building of potential threats.
While these improvements are a far cry from the notion of robotic foot soldiers, it represents the reality of where military technology is today. “I don’t think you’ll see autonomy as the breakthrough leap,” says Trainer. “It’s not like we’ll have the one autonomous solution.” ‘Skinless Terminator’
Indeed, the Pentagon’s progress toward fielding autonomous robotic systems has been agonizingly slow, concluded a recently released report by the Defense Science Board, a panel of defence experts that advises senior Pentagon leaders. They placed a large part of the blame for a lack of autonomous robots on misperceptions about what autonomy means.
“Unfortunately, the word ‘autonomy’ often conjures images in the press and the minds of some military leaders of computers making independent decisions and taking uncontrolled action,” the report notes. And even though the reality is often much more prosaic—such as having a robot flip over on its own—those concerns have still served to limit the military’s willingness to embrace autonomy.
“It should be made clear,” the panel says, “that all autonomous systems are supervised by human operators at some level, and autonomous systems’ software embodies the designed limits on the actions and decisions delegated to the computer.”
Of course, statements like this do not reassure everyone. Some forward-looking robotic expert have already called for more debate about the subject of autonomy. They point towards developments such as the SGR-A1, a gun-toting sentry robot, developed five years ago by Samsung Techwin Co for the South Korean government as a way to patrol the border between North and South Korea. The fixed robot uses pattern recognition software to spot humans and a machine gun if needed. Although the robot is designed to operate with human intervention, it is its autonomous mode that has caught ethicists’ attention as a possible precursor of future developments.
While some defense officials may downplay concerns about autonomy, Jonathan Moreno, a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, is urging policymakers to think now about the implications of unmanned systems, which is already having profound implications. “From a geostrategic standpoint, it widens the scope of the battlefield - now it extends from the United States to Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he says. “That is really new. “
But for the majority of those working in the field, “killer robots” are not on their radar. Instead, they say, military robots are likely to be used initially for jobs that are dangerous, but not involved in actually fighting enemy forces.
Already under development, for example, is a military humanoid robot that will fight fires on ships. The innocuously named Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot, or Saffir, actually looks suspiciously much like a skinless version of the Terminator, though its mission is much more peaceful.
Saffir, which is being developed by university researchers in cooperation with US navy scientists, is designed to fight fires on naval ships. But even these firefighting robots are being developed specifically to work with human counterparts, so a major focus of the work is on getting the robots to respond to human gestures and speech. Human touch
Another robot being designed to help human soldiers is the Bear (Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot), a humanoid robot with tracked legs. The Bear, built by Vecna Technologies, was initially funded by the US Army and designed to scoop up injured soldiers from the battlefield, transporting them to a safe area where they could receive medical assistance. The idea was that in the middle of a firefight it would be better to send in a robot to rescue a person, rather than another soldier who might get injured.
But Vecna Technologies's chief technology officer, Daniel Theobald says that the company now is focusing on other missions for its robotics work. “We quickly realized if we could build a robot that could rescue a wounded soldier, it would also be capable of a lot of other high value activities,” he says.
One of the missions the company has focused in on is logistics, or the idea of having robots move things from one place to another, or loading and unloading supplies. While not as glamorous perhaps as battlefield rescues, this sort of work is still critical to keeping human soldiers out of danger.
“A lot of time when soldiers get wounded, it’s because they are doing some other activity, and couldn’t keep their hands on their weapons,” says Theobald.
Moving supplies is also a mission envisaged for Boston Dynamic’s Big Dog, which has captured public attention for its eerily mammal-like movements. But like other robotic efforts, Big Dog’s road to autonomy is slow - its designers would like it to be able to sense objects or barriers on its own, for example, but it would ultimately be supervised by a human.
Indeed, in Afghanistan, for example, just moving things around has become a dangerous job, because it exposes troops on the ground to roadside bombs, which continues to be the leading cause of battlefield deaths there. Put robots in the place of the humans, and, at least in theory, lives would be saved.
Theobald says that when it comes to the battlefield, the first autonomous robots are likely going to be essentially deliverymen. “Let the soldiers do the fighting,” he says. “Moving things around, that’s something that the robots can do.”
Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO), after buying itself breathing room on Thursday by delivering stronger-than-expected quarterly results, still faces the formidable task of delivering a make-or-break line of new BlackBerry devices early next year.
The more stable cash position that RIM achieved during its fiscal quarter ended September 1 will give the company a fighting chance to market the new BlackBerry 10 effectively while ramping up full production of the revamped line, analysts said.
Until Thursday's results, RIM was being written off by analysts because of its failure to keep pace with innovations from rivals such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS).
Investors responded to the rare glimmer of good news for the embattled company by pushing up RIM's downtrodden share price by more than 12 percent on Friday morning.
"I have to admit they did a very good job making the best out of a really tough situation. You've got to give management some credit for that, but they still need to nurse the company back to health," said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu.
The company is counting on BB10 to arrest a precipitous decline in market share over the past year and longer.
But in the end, the success or failure of the BB10 will hinge by how warmly it's embraced by consumers, many of whom have already switched to Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy, especially in North America and Europe.
Test versions of the BB10 have won praise from carriers and developers, but the true test still hinges on RIM's ability to win back market share and the hearts of an ever growing base of touchscreen users.
Even though RIM's aging line-up has lost ground in North America and Europe, the BlackBerry maker managed to top shipment and revenue expectations in its second quarter, thanks largely to strong sales of smartphones in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia.
"This performance is nothing short of shocking as RIM has found a formula to entice its global carrier customers to sell (its) product," said National Bank Financial's Kris Thompson.
On Friday National Bank Financial upgraded RIM's stock, while BMO Capital Markets and Barclays Capital were among brokerages that raised price targets on the company's shares.
Thompson, who is rated five stars by Thomson Reuters StarMine for the accuracy of his estimates on RIM's earnings, upgraded the stock to "outperform" and increased his price target on the stock to $12 from $8.
Shares of RIM, which rose 20 percent after the closing bell on Thursday, opened 12.8 percent higher at $8.04 on the Nasdaq on Friday. Its Toronto-listed shares rose 14 percent to C$7.92.
Despite the Apple iPhone 5 not being officially available in India, there are reports that online retailers and the grey market are seeing a lot of demand for the new smartphone from the fruity giant, despite the hefty premium being levied.
One of these retailers, Bhaap.com, will start selling the iPhone 5 in India from Friday, September 28. The site will make the smartphone available to customers for Rs 71,995. The deal on the website opens at 10:00 am and will only be available for 24-hours or until the very limited stocks last!
The price of Rs. 71,995 is for the 16GB version. No pricing details about the 32GB or the 64GB variant of the smartphones are known for Bhaap.com.
At eBay.in, the price of the iPhone 5 16GB is Rs. 79,900 and the 32GB is selling for Rs. 90,750. You can take a look at the eBay listing of the iPhone 5 here.
Apple hasn't announced the iPhone 5 officially in India but speculations on the Internet suggest that it will be available towards the end of October or early November.
If you are one who can’t wait for Apple to officially launch the iPhone in India, you can pick one up from the grey market today. The first iPhone 5 was sold in Khan Market, New Delhi for a whopping 1.35 lakhs a few days ago. In the grey market in India, the prices of the three variants of the iPhone 5 is as follows:
16GB: Rs. 76,000
32GB: Rs. 85,000
64GB: RS. 1,00,000
(Prices are approximate)
Apple’s 6th generation iPhone has a 4-inch Retina Display and runs on the all-new iOS 6. Under the hood, the A6 chipset powers it.
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