Motorolla's Xoom
Xoom, Motorola’s tablet entry, hit the market at $800 but didn’t move the retail dial much. The company slashed the price to $500 – which makes it more competitive with the iPad – earlier this month. Now, however, the company warns that the price cut may also slash its Q3 profits.
CEO Sanjay Jha admitted he had misjudged price points for tablets, but says the company will introduce five new devices, including two new high speed tablets capable of using high speed LTE technology. And, he says, “We now recognize where the price points are.”
We tested a Xoom and found it less than an ideal tool for the types of things we need from a mobile device, such as taking photos (too heavy for comfortable use as a camera and it was tough to see the screen outdoors), or typing. We don’t care much for virtual keypads. It, like Apple’s iPad, weighs about 1.6 pounds, and it does have features the iPad does not.
It plays Flash video, which is nearly ubiquitous on the web, and it did perform tasks quickly, connected to Wi-Fi easily and shows color books to good advantage.
We suspect, however, that much of the iPad’s success is due to the Apple prestige factor and dedicated Apple fans, so we’re not sure cutting the price on the Xoom will help it much. It will be interesting to see how the company’s next batch of tablets and devices perform in the marketplace.
HTC hits record profits
One device we tested that we did like was the Windows Phone 7 Arrive from HTC with a handy slide-out keypad to supplement the virtual one on screen, easy to use, intuitive photo controls, quick and easy connections, and the operating system we like best so far on smartphones (we haven’t tested an iPhone, but used several Android devices).
We’re not the only ones who like HTC products. The company reported record Q2 profits,selling 12.1 million units and racking up a 123.7 percent year-over-year growth rate.
A lot of that growth came from China, the top market for the Taiwan-based firm.
The company faces trouble over its patent dispute with rival Apple, though. An International Trade Commission recently ruled in Apple’s favor in its request to have the ITC impose an import (to the U.S.) ban on HTC products. That could throw some legal static into HTC’s continuing success going forward.
Verizon edges out T-Mobile for best customer service, AT&T last
Verizon won the J.D. Power and Associates award for the best customer service in the industry, edging out T-Mobile by on six points of a 1,000.
Verizon scored well for the way it handles calls, while T-Mobile stood out for its online options.
Neither Sprint nor AT&T managed to score the industry average of 762 in their “Power Circle” ranks. Sprint only hit 752, leading last place AT&T by only a point.
Apple has more cash than the U.S. Treasury
The Washington Post’s Matt Hartley says Apple Inc., which reported it has $76.156 billion in cash on hand in its latest earnings report, has more money than the U.S. Treasury (which has an operating balance of $73.768 million).
Other reports say many American Corporations are flush with cash, yet most remains skittish about hiring. Seems to us that no one is going to keep making money if not enough working people are making money.
