ABI: Galaxy Note And Other Phablets Will Ship At 208 Million A Year By 2015, Blot Out The Sun
Some of us aren't convinced that phablets will last as more than a short-term success. That hasn't stopped ABI Research from predicting that enough of the size XXL smartphones will sell to block all natural sunlight. The study team sees phones like the Galaxy Note and Optimus Vu as just the start, with help from Huawei, HTC and others leading to a crescendo of 208 million phablets shipped in 2015 alone.
Engadget
Apple Remains World’s Most Valuable Brand
Apple, the world’s most valuable company, is also the world’s most valuable brand according to a recent study by market-research firm Millward Brown. Over the past year, the Cupertino-based company has boosted its brand value by 19% to $183 billion. Facebook, the world’s largest social network, is said to now placed in the No.19 spot with a brand value of $33.2 billion, an increase of 74%. Seven of the top 10 brands were technology companies, however McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Marlboro remained strong at number four, six and seven respectively.
BGR
Microsoft: 500 Million Devices Could Upgrade to Windows 8
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during a speech at the Seoul Digital Forum in South Korea that 500 million PCs could be upgraded to the not-yet-released Windows 8 software in the near future. “The stat Ballmer gave was a restatement of the same data already announced in December at the Store event regarding the number of Windows 7 devices that could potentially upgrade to Windows 8.”
Mashable
Official: China Now Has More Than 1 Billion Mobile Phone Users
The Chinese government has revealed that the country now has more than 1 billion mobile phone users, confirming a fact that had been anticipated for some while, in response to the continued growth of mobile devices there. As Tech In Asia reveals – citing a Chinese language report from Sina Tech — the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced that number of active devices in the country has reached 1,030,052,000, thanks to 43 million new activations in the first quarter of 2012.
The Next Web