Department Presentation. Mobile Computing

Transcription

1 Department Presentation Mobile Computing

2 Department Presentation Mobile Computing The Team Jörg Wirtgen Head of department Notebooks, tablets, smartphones, hotline questions Why does c t-magazin have this department? Notebooks, smartphones, and tablets are rapidly conquering our everyday life while putting an end to the restriction of being able to access the digital world only from one s office at home or at work and there only from one place. Today, more notebooks than PCs are sold in Germany (and world-wide), the sales numbers of smartphones and tablets are rising even more. Still, some mobile specialists maintain their right to exist: navigation systems and e-book readers above all. Testing all these device categories is the main focus of this department. Newly introduced products are put to the acid test and thus exposed to the critical eyes of the c t editorial staff. In this context, different aspects are scrutinized depending on the field of application: For subnotebooks and netbooks, for example, weight, runtime, and ergonomic compromises are most important, while we turn our attention primarily to the pure 3D computing performance when gaming notebooks are sussed out. For smartphones, in turn, the camera quality and runtimes under different conditions are among the relevant criteria. Navigation systems have to prove their ability during test drives, the display readability under different lighting conditions is vital. Tablets and smartphones cannot be assessed only with respect to their hardware characteristics. The entire ecosystem must be considered. For this reason, not only the mobile operating systems such as ios and Android are in the focus but also aspects such as apps and multi-media contents. It is impossible to assess e-book readers without having a competent knowledge of the offered range of books. Smartphones require a regular glance at the tariffs for mobile services. The third main focus of this department s work lies on service and support. The annual survey on the quality of notebook repairs enjoys great popularity. The regular purchase advice on alternating subjects assists in choosing the adequate mobile device or the ideal combination of several gadgets. How-to articles and hotline tips support the readers in handling their mobile devices in their increasingly digital everyday life. 2

3 What engages the market today? The Team Most vendors prioritise their notebook labels and promote them more intensively than their PCs. The major vendors have several notebook product lines which are more and more adapted to the users demands. Niche devices are sold profitably as well which leads to an increasing offer and variety to the advantage of the users. Thus, we want to give the readers an overview. At the same time, a severe price fight is in full spate in the segment (now) below 400 euros. Only some vendors keep pace, currently Acer, HP, and Lenovo above all. These alleged bargains need to be observed and evaluated. Currently, the netbooks introduced some years ago are suffering from rather decreasing sales numbers because the market is saturated and the upcoming tablets are withdrawing purchasing power. Yet, netbooks are still interesting for many readers. In very short order, the tablets with Apple s ipad leading the way have established themselves as a new device class. Most users operate them in addition to their PCs/notebooks, not as a replacement; for some users without a PC (children, seniors), however, they might facilitate the start into the computer age or the first contact to the Internet. Tablet users tend to keep their PCs/notebooks longer and to replace them later. Florian Müssig Notebooks, graphics chips, processors, Windows, rechargeable batteries [email protected] Lutz Labs Smartphones continue to boom, more than every other bought mobile is one of that kind by now. Within only some years, Android has established itself as the most popular operating system for smartphones while Apple s ios is still considered to be the innovation leader. Long ago, Nokia has lost its number one position and has induced the changeover from Symbian to Microsoft s Windows Phone system. Although it has been available since 2010, only a few users have decided to buy it. The former very successful Blackberry system, is playing a less and less important role in the world. Navigation systems are becoming less important. Today, devices for less than 100 euros have so many useful features that the vendors have more and more difficulty finding purchase arguments for the premium devices. Smartphones, mobile accessories, [email protected] >>> 3

4 Department Presentation Mobile Computing The Team Achim Barczok Smartphones, ebooks, navigation The first car manufacturers are proceeding to cooperate with the satnav vendors instead of offering navigation devices which are overpriced and often outdated when the cars are released. Smartphones are increasingly cutting out the stand-alone devices. However, they will not disappear completely from the market since there are still users of private or company cars who do not have a smartphone. A considerable percentage of the ordinary and perhaps pleasant use of PCs is being shifted to tablets and partly to smartphones. Many mobile services or social networks are booming because you can use them on the road or fill them with your own photos (and increasingly films). The PC is losing its position as the only way to access these services. Which subjects will be in the focus in the months to come? Alexander Spier Some corporations, Apple, Samsung, Google, Oracle, and Microsoft included, are having a fierce battle for smartphone and tablet patents as well as registered designs. Partly, it is a matter of licence payments, partly a matter of prohibitions on sale. The months to come will show which prohibitions on sale can be maintained permanently. The current lawsuits against Google s Android can even play a decisive role as regards the question which mobile operating systems will prevail in the long run. Slowly but surely, the Nokia smartphones featuring Windows Phone are gaining buyers. Alternatives such as Tizen and Firefox OS should be observed. Themen: Smartphones, tablets, notebooks [email protected] 4

5 The Team Smartphones will continue to make life difficult for specialised devices, among others for MP3 players, navigation devices, mobile gaming consoles, and increasingly for simple compact cameras and video cameras. In the case of tablets, the market shares for operating systems are not yet determined. Android does not yet hold all qualifications to repeat the brilliant success it has achieved in the case of smartphones. With Windows 8, Microsoft starts a pursuit race which will probably be more successful on tablets than on smartphones. For notebooks (and PCs), Windows 8 will bring only a few clear advantages. E-books are gaining more and more friends in Germany as well. There is an increasing variety of reading devices, more and more publishers issue digital versions of their books. Some of the platforms can be used with several devices. In other words, a book once bought can be read using an e-book reader, a tablet, or a smartphone. The limit of 100 euros for the reading devices is undercut, which puts the publishers even more under pressure to extend their offers. Newspapers and magazines requiring colour displays will have to try to open up more platforms such as Android apart from the ipad. Christian Wölbert Environment, consumer protection, tablets [email protected] Hannes A. Czerulla The profit margins and the sales figures of PCs are decreasing; the growth markets remain primarily the developing countries and the emerging countries. Notebooks are not yet at this stage but probably some of the notebook vendors will not survive the bitter struggle for prices without changes. Sony is selling their PC business, Lenovo has bought Motorola and Medion, Microsoft has a new boss and has absorbed Nokia, Blackberry was up for sale, Acer is performing a restructuring the effects will probably continue to be noticeable. Smartphones, rooting, mobile operating systems [email protected] 5

6 Department Presentation Mobile Computing The Team Christoph Hoppe Graduated business administrator Assignments: Benchmarks of burning suites, Blueray/DVD players, functional tests of multimedia consumer hardware Jens Nohl Graduated electrical engineer Assignments: Detection of electrical parameters, interference measurements, audio/multimedia technology Wolfram Tege Master of radio and TV technology Assignments: Detection of electrical parameters, interference measurements, audio/multimedia technology Test methods for mobile computing One of c t-magazin s core competencies is performing thorough and comprehensive tests. The test design for notebooks is developed in close cooperation with specialists from many departments among the c t editorial staff and is continuously elaborated. The test run starts with noise measurements in the acoustics lab followed by level measurements at the audio and video outputs and speed measurements of the WLAN transmissions. Theses measurements are carried out by technical assistants at their lab places. Afterwards, it is the editor s turn: A visit to the in-house display lab gives information on a display s response rate and whether it is sufficient for gamers as well. Contrast, brightness, colour space, and colour distortion when viewing from an oblique angle are measured as standard for all displays. Several battery runtimes under different load conditions and display brightness settings give information on the notebook s ability to save energy. The charging time is important as well. Moreover, keyboard ergonomics and performance benchmarks for computing, graphics, and hard disk belong to the test suite. The ever growing variety of features of smartphones and tablets and the numerous mobile operating systems require a flexible and rapidly extensible test design. Our special focus lies on the runtime measurements under practically relevant conditions. The cameras are examined by means of the tests developed for digital cameras. We perform the same measurements at the audio outputs as for PCs and notebooks, as well as the tablet displays; only the smartphone displays have to undergo fewer tests. Additionally, we check the pre-installed software and user interfaces for possible special features Android devices in particular exceed the basic features of the operating system. Hans-Jürgen Berndt Telecommunications engineer Assignments: Interference measurements, purchase and management of material, cable termination, coordination of hardware projects [email protected] 6

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