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Chromebooks Outsell Macs and Hits Hard at Microsoft

Google’s Chromebooks Outsell Macs and Hits Hard at Microsoft

For the first time, Google Chromebooks outsold Apple’s Macs in the recent quarter, and Microsoft is feeling much more that a little heat.

Manufacturers like HP, Dell, and Lenovo have sold around two million Chromebooks combined, versus the seemingly lone wolf, Apple (approx. 1.7 million).

It’s not all that bad for Apple. Quarter after quarter, the company has shrunk the PC industry with its sales growth. Plus, Apple has always been satisfied with having just a piece of the larger pie. However, for Microsoft, the pressure is on.

It looks like Google is attacking Microsoft with its slow-but-steady strategic move. With the new Chromebooks, Android and Chrome are smashed together. Chromebooks have full access to Google Play store, which means the possibility to use 1.5 million Android applications.

Chromebook’s main concept is simplicity. Portability is its second key concept. The Chromebook devices have an ultra-lightweight Chrome operating system that offers a bit more than a web browser.

The gig seems to work just fine, especially in the educational space, since everything is cloud-based (nothing can be lost), and the performance is reasonable for laptops under $200. With the availability of the Android apps, the offer becomes irresistible, and the numbers are showing it.

Microsoft is taking a different approach with the new Windows 10 OS. The company is trying to convince developers to bring their services to the Windows store taking advantage of the lead Microsoft has in desktop operating systems.

It’s an interesting tactic, but will it work?

The Redmond-based company has attracted some powerful players like Facebook, Uber, and Hulu, but it does not have the growing ecosystem Android has; and is all probably because of Microsoft’s lack of presence in the smartphone environment.

For now, that’s not so bad, especially considering Windows 10 is still running all the software consumers and businesses are used to, but in the future, everything will be written for the smartphone and the web.

If Google will outsell Microsoft, it’s not yet clear – it might be just another challenge for Microsoft to take and beat – but what is clear is that Chromebooks are growing strongly amid the current market conditions and the tech giant is a fearful opponent.

Image source: Exeo

Sony, LG, Samsung and Dell Tablets Will Have Preloaded Skype and Microsoft Office

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Microsoft has reached deals with LG, Sony, Dell and a few other electronics producers to install some of its most popular apps on Android tablets.

Dell, Sony, LG, and other important electronics brands customers will soon be able to use Skype, Microsoft Office and cloud services on their Android tablets immediately after they bought them after Microsoft signed an agreement with the OEMs to give out the installed apps and software.

The deal reaches to 31 partners, Haier and other smaller companies being part of the agreement as well. Microsoft has also included them in earlier contracts closed with with Samsung, Dell, Pegatron, which will allow Skype and Microsoft Office to be installed on their tablets. A significant number of these apps are already found on Samsung Galaxy S6.

The business deal with Microsoft has not been completely released, but the tech giant has announced a unilateral aim to open up new ways for gaining revenue for each of the partners.

LG is soon to start preloading Microsoft apps and software in their soon to be launched tablet, while Sony has already said they will be using them in their upcoming Xperia Z4 tablet in June.

The hardware companies from the deal will soon be uploading their Android tablets with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneDrive, OneNote, and Skype in the future months, a fact that shows Microsoft’s ambition to have their applications and software on non-Windows mobile gadgets.

The partnerships will enlarge Microsoft’s ecosystem to a large range of mobile devices to compensate for the tech giant’s slow growth in its own mobile gadget sales. With the applications installed on Android devices, Microsoft will manage to get its programs into the market with ease.

The software company’s move to offer free MS Office apps to Android gadgets has even included iPhones and iPads, after it gave out a subscription-free Office apps, while separate individual apps launched for Android and iOS in November last year.

At the same time, Microsoft has announced that Cortana – a digital personal assistant – will soon be available as a separate app specific to Apple iOS and Google Android.

“Our strategic agreements with these partners demonstrate how Microsoft is leveraging the scale of the hardware ecosystem, and working with partners in new ways to deliver rich experiences to our customers. This is a cornerstone of our cross-platform services strategy, to bring an array of Microsoft services to every person on every device”, the company announced in a blog post.

Image Source: Derek Lovell Coaching

Dell Latitude 13 700 Tablet/Laptop has Core M Chip

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A while back we reported on the Alienware 13 gaming laptop and today we’ve got an exciting launch, by Dell this time: the Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop. The tablet doubles as a laptop, or it can be the other way around. Let’s take an in depth look at the new Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop and its brand-new Core M chip.

Dell Latitude 13 700 Tablet/Laptop

Dell has packed the newest technology on the market, the Intel Core M chip, in newest device, the Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop hybrid. With this product, the company is creating some tough competition for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3.

The Dell Latitude 13 700 tablet/laptop us a 13.3-inch tablet that can be attached to a keyboard dock, thus transforming itself into a neat little laptop. Dell says that this tablet/laptop is much more battery friendly than other regular laptops.

The main thing that allows this tablet function as a laptop is the Intel Core M chip, a new low-powered personal computer chip which has been adapted for tablets; it was made using 14-nanometer process.

The Dell Latitude 13 7000 tablet/laptop lays the foundation for wire-free computing, which is, we believe, where personal computing is heading in the future.

Unfortunately, Dell hasn’t released any more details about the features of this tablet/laptop just yet, but by the look of the promotional picture, it’s going to be quite a device!

What we do know about the Dell Latitude 13 7000 tablet/laptop is that it can provide up to 512 GB of internal storage, 8 GB of RAM, a 2 MP front camera, an 8 MP rear camera and has a screen resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. Remember that the Surface Pro 3 has a screen resolution of 2160 x 1440-pixels. The Dell has LTE broadband connectivity, as opposed to the Pro 3. It starts from $1,199 and it will become available worldwide starting October.

Any thoughts on the Dell Latitude 13 7000 tablet/laptop? Drop us a line in the comment section below, we would love to hear from you.

Dell announces their first Chrome OS laptop, the Chromebook 11

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Dell is the newest PC manufacturer to join the Chromebook crew, after HP and Lenovo decided to bring their own designs out, it looks like the kingpin of the PC world will join to try and bring a new take on the same good, cheap formula that has worked for many other Google partners.

Named the Chromebook 11, Dell’s entry into Chrome OS bares a lot of similarities with previous Chromebooks – even the name is exactly the same as HP’s Chromebook and the internals are nothing to write home about, the Chromebook 11 screams cheap to make and cheap to buy.

Inside the Chromebook 11 is a Intel Celeron processor, 2 or 4GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 display. On the design front the Chromebook 11 looks thin and lightweight, with a sleek dark grey color we have not seen on other Chromebooks.

The Chromebook 11 apparently has 10 hours battery life and is made for students and schools. Chromebooks have been marketed towards schools and US and European colleges are starting to embrace the idea of working in the cloud with Google services instead of Microsoft’s Office suite.

Dell says this is the first of many Chromebooks to come from the PC manufacturer. In the race to move away from PCs as a primary source of income, it seems many of the old PC manufacturers have gotten stuck in the Chrome OS world, as their smartphones continue to fail to gain any market share.

The next Chromebooks from Dell will be offered out to small and medium sized businesses as solutions to their users who have used Windows for quite an age, we believe these will have more horsepower and some new software features making them more available for widespread business adoption.

It is nice to see another PC manufacturer on the Chromebook ladder, but the question really does stand as to where Google will take this project and if they will even fully integrate the platform with Android.

CES 2013 – Dell aims at small businesses with its affordable tablet

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This week, we see Dell bringing us the Dell Latitude 10 in a new avatar. Striped down to its essentials,
but still maintaining excellent functionality and performance, the Dell Latitude 10 Essentials is meant
to be an affordable tablet that can be used in classrooms and businesses,where multiple users and reliable
performance are key criteria for anytablet device. Since classrooms and businesses means multiple people,the Latitude 10 Essentials can be used by more than one person,keeping it cost friendly.

The essential features of the tablet are retained and it has all the important features that one
could ask for in a Windows 8 tablet. Dell’s education Cloud Services are perfectly compatible with
this tablet, making sure that tools for lecture capture, curriculum management and e-books are fully
available to students.

A classroom or business environment requires a tablet to be durable and scratch resistant,
since accidents can happen anywhere. The durable magnesium alloy body keeps it lightweight
as well as tough and the Gorilla glass protects the screen from inadvertent damage. The 10
inch screen is perfectly adequate for reading and the headphone jack,micro HDMI output and
USB 2.0 port ensure that the tablet’s connectivity is secure and fuss free.

For those looking to make the tablet a stand alone device, there is a desktop dock that
takes care of charging, LAN connectivity, an SD card slot as well as full sized USB slots.
Of course, this dock is separate from the tablet, so it can be bought as needed.
Priced at $579 for the 64GB version with a new, cheaper 32GB version due to appear
soon, the Latitude 10 Essentials Tablet is one of the cheaper Windows 8 tablets in the
market and students and small businesses should find it answers all their needs.