Consumer Electronics Daily News

Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview with Over 100 New Features

Apple® today released a developer preview of OS X® Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, which brings popular apps and features from iPad® to the Mac® and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay® Mirroring. Mountain Lion is the first OS X release built with iCloud® in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. The developer preview of Mountain Lion also introduces Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store™ in late summer 2012.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

The developer preview of Mountain Lion features the all new Messages app which replaces iChat® and allows you to send unlimited messages, high-quality photos and videos directly from your Mac to another Mac or iOS device. Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Starting today Lion users can download a beta of Messages from www.apple.com, and the final version will be available with Mountain Lion. Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your devices. Game Center lets you personalize your Mac gaming experience, find new games and challenge friends to play live multiplayer games, whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone®, iPad or iPod touch®.

Mountain Lion presents notifications in an elegant new way, and Notification Center provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps. System-wide Share Sheets make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Twitter is integrated throughout Mountain Lion so you can sign on once and tweet directly from Safari®, Quick Look, Photo Booth®, Preview and third party apps. Mountain Lion also introduces AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream of what's on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV®.

More than 100 million users have iCloud accounts, and Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to set up iCloud and access documents across your devices. Mountain Lion uses your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime® and Find My Mac. The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.

Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed.

Mountain Lion also has features specifically designed to support Chinese users, including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari. Mountain Lion makes it easy to set up Contacts, Mail and Calendar with top email service providers QQ, 126 and 163. Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to leading video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo makes microblogging easy.

Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch™ APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

CEA Study Confirms More Consumers Using Smartphones to Take Pictures

Consumers are complementing their digital photography needs with multi-use devices, such as smartphones and tablets, according to a new study released today from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®. The Changing Landscape of Digital Photography found that while more than half (55 percent) of consumers still consider a point-and-shoot camera as their primary photography device, the number who consider their smartphone to be their primary device for their photography needs has tripled in two years to 18 percent.

The rise of multi-use devices expands photography options and creates new opportunities within the digital imaging industry. The image quality of digital SLRs and point-and-shoot cameras is still very important to consumers. In fact, 93 percent of consumers ranked digital point-and-shoots highest in image quality. However, 74 percent of consumers favor smartphones when it comes to portability. With 61 percent of photos taken at the spur of the moment, the convenience of smartphones allows the average consumers to take 35 photos per month on their phones, versus 32 photos per month on their point-and-shoot cameras.

“Consumers don’t want to miss out on that great moment. Although they value the quality of digital SLRs and point-and-shoots, smartphones and tablets are great for that quick, can’t-miss shot,” said Chris Ely, manager, industry relations, CEA, who oversaw this study. “Since consumers always have their smartphones at the tip of their fingers these devices are ideal to capture and share the spontaneity of their lives.”

The study found consumers with smartphones and tablets were more likely to use sharing-related applications, such as sending images from one phone to another (38 percent), emailing photos (58 percent), posting photos to a social networking site (48 percent), and texting photos (45 percent). In fact, 74 percent of consumers ranked smartphones highest on ease of sharing.

“Smartphones and tablets will expand the scope of the digital imaging industry,” added Ely. “The rise of new digital imaging applications and features for these devices allows consumers to interact and use images in new ways, creating new opportunities for the industry.”

CEA will reveal further results and insights of the study in a webinar on Thursday, February 16, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EST. Ely along with Charles Colby, president, Rockbridge Associates Inc, will lead the webinar to discuss how alternative image-capture devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are revolutionizing digital photography. To register, email the Webinar team or call 703-907-4354.

The Changing Landscape of Digital Photography was conducted in December 2011. It was designed and formulated by CEA Market Research, the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry. Please cite any information to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®. The complete study is available free to CEA member companies at members.CE.org. Non-members may purchase the study at the CEA Store.

FTC Report Raises Privacy Questions About Mobile Applications for Children

The Federal Trade Commission today issued a staff report showing the results of a survey of mobile apps for children.  The survey shows that neither the app stores nor the app developers provide the information parents need to determine what data is being collected from their children, how it is being shared, or who will have access to it.

"At the FTC, one of our highest priorities is protecting children's privacy, and parents deserve the tools to help them do that," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.  "Companies that operate in the mobile marketplace provide great benefits, but they must step up to the plate and provide easily accessible, basic information, so that parents can make informed decisions about the apps their kids use.  Right now, it is almost impossible to figure out which apps collect data and what they do with it.  The kids app ecosystem needs to wake up, and we want to work collaboratively with industry to help ensure parents have the information they need."

According to the FTC report, Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing, in 2008, smartphone users could choose from about 600 available apps.  Today there are more than 500,000 apps in the Apple App Store and 380,000 in the Android Market.  "Consumers have downloaded these apps more than 28 billion times, and young children and teens are increasingly embracing smartphone technology for entertainment and educational purposes."

The report says the survey focused on the largest stores, the Apple App Store and the Android Market, and evaluated the types of apps offered to children, the disclosures provided to users, interactive features such as connectivity with social media, and the ratings and parental controls offered for such apps.

The report notes that mobile apps can capture a broad range of user information from a mobile device automatically, including the user's precise geolocation, phone number, list of contacts, call logs, unique identifiers, and other information stored on the device.  At the same time, "the report highlights the lack of information available to parents prior to downloading mobile apps for their children, and calls on industry to provide greater transparency about their data practices."

While there was a diverse pool of kids apps created by hundreds of different developers, there was almost no information about the data collection and sharing on the Apple App store promotion pages and little information beyond general permission statements on the Android Market promotion pages.  "In most instances, staff was unable to determine from the information on the app store page or the developer's landing page whether an app collected any data, let alone the type of data collected, the purpose for such collection, and who ... obtained access to such data."

The report recommends:

• All members of the "kids app ecosystem" – the stores, developers and third parties providing services –  should play an active role in providing key information to parents.
• App developers should provide data practices information in simple and short disclosures.  They also should disclose whether the app connects with social media, and whether it contains ads.  Third parties that collect data also should disclose their privacy practices.
• App stores also should take responsibility for ensuring that parents have basic information.  "As gatekeepers of the app marketplace, the app stores should do more."  The report notes that the stores provide architecture for sharing pricing and category data, and should be able to provide a way for developers to provide information about their data collection and sharing practices.

The report notes that more should be done to identify the best way to convey data practices in plain language and in easily accessible ways on the small screens of mobile devices.  The agency will host a public workshop in 2012, in connection with its efforts to update the FTC's "Dot Com Disclosure" guide, about how to provide effective online disclosures.  "One of the topics that will be addressed is mobile privacy disclosures, including how they can be short, effective, and accessible to consumers on small screens."

The FTC enforces the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule.  The Rule requires operators of online services, including interactive mobile apps, to provide notice and get parental consent prior to collecting information from children under 13.  The report says in the next 6 months, FTC staff will conduct an additional review to determine whether some mobile apps were violating COPPA.

In-App Purchases to Outpace Pay-Per-Download Revenues in 2012, Says ABI Research

In 2012, mobile application revenues from in-app purchases will pass pay-per-download revenues, but unless app developers get creative and Google gets in gear, the in-app purchase party could be short-lived.

“As a revenue model, in-app purchase is very limited today,” says Mark Beccue, senior analyst, mobile services. “The vast majority of current in-app revenue is being generated by a tiny percentage of people who are highly-committed mobile game players. We don’t believe the percentage of mobile game players making in-app purchases will grow significantly, so for in-app purchase revenues to grow, mobile developers other than game developers must adopt it.”

In-app purchase revenue growth has been hampered by Google. The company did not introduce in-app purchase to Android Market until July 2011 and only recently added 17 mostly-European countries in December 2011. That is not the only area where Google has lagged in mobile application enablement. Pay-per-download is not an option in all markets for Android and subscription billing is not offered at all. “Google is literally holding back the growth of mobile application monetization,” adds Beccue. “We are keying many of our mobile app revenue forecasts around our guess of Google’s plans.”

Despite these challenges, in-app purchases will successfully spread outside of games. Total mobile app revenues from pay-per-download, in-app purchase, subscriptions, and in-app advertising will soar over the next five years, growing from $8.5 billion in 2011 to $46 billion in 2016.

ABI Research’s report, “Mobile Application Business Models,” (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1009106) provides an in-depth look at mobile app revenue models, including forecasts for different models by world regions and mobile device.

CTIA Statement on the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011

CTIA-The Wireless Association® President and CEO Steve Largent has issued the following statement:

"Today's action to make repurposed broadcast spectrum available for wireless broadband service is vital to ensuring America's wireless industry remains the world's leader in the deployment of 4G services. 

"As the Administration, Members of Congress, the FCC and other policymakers have recognized, making additional spectrum available for wireless broadband services will spur infrastructure investment, encourage job creation and foster innovation. Studies suggest that this process could generate infrastructure investments of up to $53 billion, provide as much as $151 billion in GDP and create as many as 771,000 jobs by 2016. In addition, incentive auctions will generate billions in revenue for the U.S. Treasury.

"This additional spectrum will help CTIA's members meet Americans' voracious appetite for mobile Internet anywhere and anytime. While current usage is significant with more than 340 billion MB of wireless data used in the first half of 2011, mobile data usage is expected to grow by a factor of 16 over the next five years. The spectrum made available by this legislation is key to meeting that demand, as well as to enabling the industry to support advances in areas like mHealth and smart energy."

Reshuffling Europe's Fiber to the Home Leadership

The latest European FTTH market panorama for the full year 2011 was presented today during a press conference at the FTTH Conference. Since the previous edition in June 2011, Europe (EU+8) has added more than 600,000 new FTTH subscribers. FTTH adoption is clearly growing across EU+8, in spite of the current economic climate: FTTH/B roll-out has progressed at an annual rate of 41% in 2011, with more than 5.1 million FTTH/B subscribers and nearly 28 million homes passed at end-2011.

In the ranking of leading FTTH economies with more than 1% penetration of households, the top three haven't changed since the previous edition, with Lithuania (28.3% penetration), Norway (14,7%) and Sweden (13,6%) in the lead. Countries that have significantly improved their positions include Norway, number two, which confirms that Scandinavian countries remain dynamic, Latvia, and Turkey, now ahead of Italy.  Hungary has dropped two positions, now lagging behind Estonia and Portugal.  

Household penetration in Lithuania has gone up a full 3% since the previous edition, in Norway, the rise amounted to 2% and in Sweden just 0.4%. Compared to the last market panorama, the average increase in the top 10 countries was 1.23%.

Although Spain is not included in the FTTH Ranking, it is likely to be included in the foreseeable future as it has witnessed the largest growth for 2011, with +184%.

"It is good to see that FTTH adoption continues to grow, even in times of economic uncertainty", states Hartwig Tauber, Director General of FTTH Council Europe. "However additional efforts are required to bring Europe on track to reach the Digital Agenda 2020 ultra-fast broadband targets with fibre-enabled connections."

The UN's Broadband Commission for Digital Development has stated that every country should have a national broadband plan by 2015, claiming Internet should be seen as a human need and a right, and that broadband contributes to economic growth and job creation. And the European Commission proposes to spend  €9.2 billion from 2014-2020 on high-speed broadband and related services, with €7 billion available for investment in infrastructure.

The reshuffle of FTTH leading economies remains an ongoing process, and now time is of the essence to secure a sustainable future for the European economy.

Further information is available on http://www.ftthcouncil.eu

Consumers Who Bought a TV, Monitor, or Notebook Computer That Contained a LCD Screen May Be Affected By Settlements Totaling Over Half-a-Billion Dollars

The following is being released by Kinsella Media, LLC, court-approved notice provider for the LCD Flat Panel litigation.

Settlements totaling over $538 Million have been reached with seven out of ten Defendants in litigation involving the price of thin film transistor liquid crystal display flat panels ("TFT-LCD").  The lawsuits claim that the Defendants conspired to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize prices of TFT-LCD Flat Panels resulting in overcharges to consumers who bought televisions, monitors and notebook computers containing the panels. The Defendants deny these allegations.  The Court has not decided who is right.

Consumers who purchased televisions, monitors and notebook computers from someone other than the manufacturer of the flat panel, are known as Indirect Purchasers of the LCD panel, and their rights may be affected by this litigation.

The settlements will pay over $538 Million to consumers in 24 states and the District of Columbia and governmental entities in eight states.  The settlements also provide for nationwide injunctive relief to stop the Defendants' alleged behavior. 

Consumer damages classes are certified in AZ, AR, CA, FL, HI, IA, KS, ME, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NM, NY, NC, ND, RI, SD, TN, VT, WV and WI, and DC.  The Attorneys General of AR, CA, FL, MI, MO, NY, WV and WI are also participating in the case on behalf of their citizens and governmental entities.

The Settling Defendants are Chimei Innolux Corporation; Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd.; Epson Imaging Devices Corporation; HannStar Display Corporation; Hitachi Displays, Ltd.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; and Sharp Corporation. 

The lawsuits continue against three Defendants that have not agreed to settle -- AU Optronics Corporation; LG Display Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation; and their U.S. affiliates.

The settlement funds are not available for distribution now.  However, consumers can register online to receive a claim form when one becomes available. 

Consumers who do not wish to remain in this litigation must exclude themselves in writing, postmarked by April 13, 2012, to the Settlement Administrator at the address below. Consumers who exclude themselves, or live outside of the 24 states and the District of Columbia, retain all rights they may have to sue the Defendants on their own for monetary damages. 

Consumers who remain in the litigation may object to the Settlements in writing, postmarked by April 13, 2012, to the Settlement Administrator at the address below.

The Court will hold a hearing on May 18, 2012 to consider whether to approve the Settlements.

A trial against the non-settling manufacturers is scheduled to begin on April 23, 2012.  Another trial involving the claims of the Attorneys General of AR, FL, MO, MI, WV and WI is set to begin on November 5, 2012.  Additional trials involving the claims of the Attorneys General of CA and NY may take place at a later date.

This is only a summary of the litigation.  Consumers are encouraged to visit www.LCDclass.com to get more information about the litigation, obtain copies of the Settlement Agreements, and to register to receive a claim form when it becomes available.  Consumers may also call: 1-855-225-1886 or write to: LCD Class, P.O. Box 8025, 
Faribault, MN 55021-9425 to get additional information.

CEA Launches the Vision Entrepreneur Awards

The Small Business Council of the Consumer Electronics Association® (CEA) and CE Vision magazine today announce the Vision Entrepreneur Awards program, to recognize outstanding innovation and dedication to the consumer electronics industry.

“With this new program, CEA will recognize individuals and small businesses who demonstrate a true sense of innovation; are leaders in the industry and their local community; and have the tenacity to persevere through business and economic challenges,” said Cindy Stevens, CEA’s senior director of publications.

The award is not limited to CEA members; it’s open to any small business or small business executive in the consumer electronics industry with annual domestic revenue under $30 million.

Awards will be given to two companies and one individual executive chosen by a panel of industry judges. The winners will be announced at the CEA Industry Forum in San Francisco in October.

Call for entries closes on March 31, 2012. For more information about the program and its criteria visit www.CE.org/awards.

AT&T Poll Says Use of Tablets, 4G Devices, GPS Navigation Mobile Apps on the Rise Among Small Businesses

When it comes to technology, small businesses continue to ratchet up their use of emerging wireless solutions, including tablet computers, 4G devices, and GPS navigation mobile apps. This according to the just-released 2012 AT&T* Small Business Technology Poll**. More specifically, the national survey of small businesses revealed the following:

General Wireless Technologies:

• Nearly all small businesses (96%) surveyed use wireless technologies in their operations, with almost two-thirds (63%) indicating that they could not survive — or it would be a major challenge to survive — without wireless technologies.
• More than four in 10 (43%) small businesses surveyed report all of their employees use wireless devices or technologies to work away from the office, a nearly 80% jump from three years ago.
• Despite being a relatively new technology, two-thirds (67%) of small businesses surveyed indicate that they use tablet computers, up from 57% a year ago.
• By end of 2012, some 50% of small businesses surveyed expect to have all their employees using wireless technologies to work away from the office.

Smartphones:

• 85% of small businesses reported using smartphones for their operations, up from 80% last year and more than double the usage five years ago (42%).
• 4G Devices***:
  • One third of smartphones used by small businesses for business purposes are 4G.
  • Nearly nine in 10 (86%) of the businesses using 4G smartphones are satisfied with the speed.
  • Of those who don't have 4G devices, more than one-third (35%) report that they expect to purchase 4G smartphones within the next year, and more than half (54%) within the next two years.
• Keypads:
  • 50% of small businesses indicated that touchscreen is the predominant type of keypad in their operations, followed by traditional QWERTY keypads at 21%.
  • 21% indicated that their businesses use both types of smartphone keypads.

Mobile Applications:

• Almost one-third (30%) of small businesses surveyed use mobile apps for their business, with key reasons being to save time, increase productivity and reduce costs.
• Mobile apps are gaining in importance for small businesses that use them, with half (50%) saying they could not survive – or it would be a major challenge to survive – without mobile apps, a 31% jump over the past year.
• Of small businesses using mobile apps, GPS navigation and mapping are by far the most popular with 80% of business owners using them, followed by location-based services (44%) and social media marketing (42%).

Regional Variations: Based on responses to questions regarding four factors – perceived importance of wireless, use of wireless technology, use of mobile apps, and percentage of employees using wireless to work remotely – a Wireless Quotient, or "WiQ," was calculated for each of the 12 markets surveyed. Rankings from highest to lowest follow:

1.	Dallas	5.	San Francisco	9.	Boston
2.	Washington, D.C.	6.	Miami	10.	Oklahoma
3.	Atlanta	7.	San Diego	11.	Kansas City
4.	Indianapolis	8.	Chicago	12.	Cleveland

Quotes

"More than ever, we're seeing small businesses leverage the benefits afforded by wireless technologies, whether they be smartphones, tablets, mobile apps, or 4G speeds," said Ebrahim Keshavarz, AT&T vice president of Small Business Product Management. "There's no doubt that with 'virtual offices' and remote workforces becoming more and more prevalent, AT&T will remain committed to offering innovative and affordable mobility solutions, helping small businesses reduce costs and increase productivity over both the short- and long-term."

CEA’s Innovation Movement Reaches Milestone of 200,000 Members

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today announces that more than 200,000 people have joined its grassroots Innovation Movement in support of technology and innovation. More than 5,300 Innovation Movement members signed on to the Movement’s “Declaration of Innovation” to signal their support of pro-innovation policies during the recent 2012 International CES, the world’s largest technology tradeshow.

CEA provides its Innovation Movement members with tools to contact their members of Congress – via email, Facebook, or Twitter – to support policies that encourage and advance American innovation and shore up our economy for future generations. Issues on which the Innovation Movement is active include international trade, skilled immigration, deficit reduction, broadband deployment, and most recently the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA).

At the 2012 International CES, one of America’s founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, acted as the face of innovation in the show’s Grand Lobby in front of a wall that attendees could sign to “declare innovation.” Jefferson also toured the show floor asking attendees about their opinions on innovation and seeking electronic signatures for the Declaration of Innovation on a tablet computer.

“CEA launched the Innovation Movement to create an engaged community of Americans who believe innovation is critical to our nation’s global leadership and economic growth,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “Having the Declaration of Innovation front and center at the largest CES in show history helped shine a light on the policies that directly impact our industry. The attendees, exhibitors, CEOs and celebrities who declared innovation at CES are sending a message to policy makers that now is the time to stand up for innovation.”

CEA’s Innovation Movement is committed to returning innovation to its rightful place at the center of America’s economic policy. The Declaration of Innovation wall display will be on view at CEA’s Arlington, Va., headquarters. Signatures on display include Eliza Dushku, Entertainment Matters Ambassador at the 2012 International CES.

For more information on the Declaration of Innovation and CEA’s Innovation Movement, visit DeclareInnovation.com and facebook.com/InnovationMovement.