SONY introduces the α7R III camera that captures 42.4MP images and 4K HDR video.

SONY just launched its new α7R III camera that captures 42.4MP images and 4K HDR video

Some specifications:

Full specifications and more information

Amazon introduces the all new Kindle app to read and connect with friends. Video.

Amazon Announces All-New Kindle App—Easier Than Ever to Read and Connect with Friends.

All-new Kindle app turns your phone or tablet into a book—read anytime, anywhere.

An app built for book lovers—with everything you need all in one place, seamlessly move between the pages of your book, your library, your personal bookstore, and more.

Be part of a community of readers—with Goodreads built into Kindle for iOS you can now discover and discuss books with friends, authors, and more.

Today, Amazon announced an all-new Kindle app that makes it easier than ever to turn your phone or tablet into a book—so you can read anytime, anywhere. The Kindle app is designed for book lovers and provides easy access to the most popular Kindle features—you can effortlessly move between the pages of your book, your library, your personalized bookstore and more. 

Also, with the Goodreads community built into Kindle for iOS, you can easily discover and discuss books with friends. The all-new Kindle app is available now in the App Store and Google Play, and will be delivered as part of a free, over-the-air update starting this week.

“We’ve built the new Kindle app from the ground up for book lovers, giving readers easy access to everything they might want to do with their books, all in one place,” said Chuck Moore, Vice President, Kindle. “It’s now easier than ever to turn your phone or tablet into a book and immerse yourself in an author’s world at any time.”

All-New Design

With the new Kindle app, it is easier to get to what you want. Whether it’s starting the next chapter in the book you’re reading or a quick search through your library, the all-new design makes switching back and forth seamless. Key updates include:

All-New Look—The Kindle app features a new look and feel inspired by books. Details include larger book covers, new fonts, a new app icon, and new light and dark background themes to choose from.

One-Tap Access—New bottom bar navigation automatically shows an icon of the book you’re currently reading, making it easier than ever to get back to reading at any moment. The bottom bar also provides quick access to Kindle’s most popular features allowing you to switch between the pages of your book, your library, your personal bookstore, and more.

Easy Search—The search bar is now always available throughout the app, so whether a book is in your library or among the millions of titles in the Kindle Store, it’s easier than ever to find it.

Discover and Discuss Books with Friends and the Goodreads Community on Kindle for iOS

The new Kindle for iOS app also helps customers discuss and get book recommendations from their friends, authors, and other readers with the Goodreads community now built right into the app. Goodreads, an Amazon subsidiary, is the world’s largest community of readers, with more than 65 million members.

“For as long as there have been books, people have discussed them with friends,” said Otis Chandler, CEO and co-founder of Goodreads. “When you finish an amazing book, you can’t wait to find out if other readers feel the same way. Readers trust their friends for recommendations, with around half of them saying they discover books through word-of-mouth. With the new features on Kindle, connecting with your friends and similar readers in the Goodreads community is now built into the app.”

Reading is better when you can discuss it with friends. In Kindle for iOS you can now:

Find New Books to Read—Browse the new Community tab to keep up-to-date with what friends and readers you follow are reading. When you find a book you are interested in, you can add it to your Want to Read list for quick reference when you are ready to start your next book.

Connect with Readers Who Like Similar Books—To help you get recommendations from readers who like the same books, Goodreads also suggests people to follow, including authors and popular Goodreads reviewers.

Share Your Thoughts About Books You’ve Read—Post notes and highlights from your book for friends to see and comment on. Easily share when you start reading a book, as well as your rating/review when you’ve finished a book.

Starting today, the Community tab featuring Goodreads discovery and discussion features are available on Kindle for iOS (in the US only), and will be coming to Kindle for Android in a future release.

To learn more about how Kindle helps you read anytime, anywhere visit www.amazon.com/kindleapps.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

Amazon.com, Inc.

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Amazon-pr@amazon.com

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Samsung introduces the Galaxy Tab Active2 a new business-rugged tablet. Pics and specifications.

Samsung Advances Mobility for the Global Workforce with the Enhanced Galaxy Tab Active2, a Ruggedized Tablet Optimized for Business

Built with the latest innovative features, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 offers a business-rugged design with improved business functionality and built-in durability for industrial environments.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today introduces the Galaxy Tab Active2, a new business-rugged tablet built for business through a customer-centric design inspired by professionals with the latest innovations from Samsung. The Galaxy Tab Active2 helps accelerate the digital transformation of industries among key verticals like transportation, public safety and manufacturing by offering a wider range of features such as biometrics integration, multi-window screens and S Pen capabilities that function in extreme working conditions, ultimately improving worker productivity and flexibility.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 was built based on in-depth customer and partner feedback and has been carefully developed to create a whole new category of tablet for the global workforce,” said Suk-Jea Hahn, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics' Global Mobile B2B Team. “We strategically worked to build a wider partner ecosystem for extended functionality through collaborations with leading industry players, such as IBM, ECOM Instruments, Gamber-Johnson, Ram®Mounts, iKey, Otterbox and Koamtac. With IBM Maximo, we are delighted to bring to Samsung, for the first time, industry leading asset management features for field workers to simplify their daily lives.” 

Building a Partner Ecosystem with Industry Leaders.

Samsung Mobile embraced an open approach with partners to expand the experience for the Galaxy Tab Active2 including working with IBM Maximo to integrate the capabilities of Asset Management and Work Management. By combining IBM’s advanced asset management capabilities with device features such as biometrics integration, multi-window screens and S Pen capabilities, tasks such as equipment inspection and maintenance will be easier and more efficient for workers, regardless of the complexity of the environment they are working in.

“With this collaboration, IBM Maximo and Samsung Mobile B2B are solving ever-changing business requirements for industrialized mobile devices and empowering field technicians with new tools designed to work where and how they do,” said Sanjay Brahmawar, general manager, IBM Watson IoT Sales. “Users will be able to conduct crucial on-premise analysis, such as updating work orders or counting inventory items, in an intuitive, friendly interface on a robust and reliable device.”

Additionally, the Galaxy Tab Active2 has professional-grade vehicle mounting options for commercial fleets and law enforcement through partnerships with Gamber-Johnson and Ram®Mounts. Other collaborations bring new features such as explosion protection for oil, gas, pharmaceutical and chemical industries with support from ECOM Instruments, portable barcode scanning from Koamtac, hand straps from Otterbox and rugged vehicle and portable keyboards from iKey.

Customer Inspired Innovation.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 is MIL-STD-810 certified, ensuring that the tablet is durable enough to survive excessive pressure, temperatures, environments, vibration and drops. The Galaxy Tab Active2 offers business-rugged features such as a 1.2m anti-shock inbox protective cover, IP68 water and dust resistance and better display touch mode for gloved and wet touch. These features provide greater durability in extreme environments with a simple design and interface for one-handed input and holding.

Latest Innovations for Field Workers.

The thin and light tablet in class designed specifically for worker ergonomics, Samsung’s latest tablet has features that expand the productivity tools for those on the job, including a new advanced and popular S Pen that brings precise input options with 4096 pressure level and air command feature. The S Pen also features IP68 water and dust resistance for use in outdoor environments, even during rain and wet conditions.

Using the improved 5MP camera with 8MP Auto Focus, business users will experience better quality photos for work purpose such as ID card and passport scanning. A new fingerprint scanner offers enhanced security authentication, and the facial recognition feature is a convenient option for unlocking the device using just one hand. When paired with new gyroscope and geomagnetic sensors, employees will also benefit from a wide range of augmented reality (AR) capabilities. AR can now be used with Galaxy Tab Active2 for employee training and customer support experiences allowing businesses to train employees in a realistic environment before ever reaching the job site. It also contains NFC feature.

The device also features LTE connectivity, easy and convenient power charging with efficient battery control of multiple devices and additional data signal pins for optional keyboard connection.

Security and Management Businesses Demand

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 provides businesses with enhanced options for security, supported by the defense-grade Knox platform and convenient biometric authentication including a new fingerprint scanner offering improved security authentication and facial recognition for convenient hands-free access.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 will be available from October 2017 in select markets. For more information on the Galaxy Tab Active2 visit http://www.samsungmobilepress.com, news.samsung.com/galaxy or www.samsung.com/galaxy.

*All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 Product Specifications:

DISPLAY 8.0” WXGA TFT (1280x800)

CHIPSET Samsung Exynos 7870

Octa-core 1.6GHz

LTE SUPPORT LTE Cat.6 (300Mbps)

MEMORY 3GB + 16GB

microSD up to 256GB

CAMERA 8.0MP AF  + 5.0MP, Flash

PORT USB 2.0 Type C, Pogo Pin

SENSORS Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Proximity Sensor, RGB Light Sensor

WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz+5GHz)

Wi-Fi Direct,  BT 4.2, NFC

GPS GPS + GLONASS

DIMENSION, WEIGHT 127.6 x 214.7 x 9.9mm, 415g (Wi-Fi) / 419g (LTE)

BATTERY CAPACITY 4,450mAh, User Replaceable

OS/UPGRADE Android 7.1

Durability IP68 Water and Dust Resistance,

1.2m Anti-shock with inbox protective cover,

MIL-STD-810G

Pen S Pen (IP68 Certified, 4096 Pressure Level, Air Command)

Security Knox 2.8

Cisco will acquire BroadSoft US telecommunications software company for $1.9 billion.

Cisco confirmed weekend media reports it will acquire US telecommunications software company BroadSoft, announcing a deal for $1.9 billion ahead of BroadSoft’s annual customer conference event in Phoenix which kicks off today.

In recent quarters Cisco slashed costs in its lower growth hardware segments as it bids to change its focus to software-based systems and new technologies.

“We chose BroadSoft as it provides a portfolio of cloud collaboration platforms and business applications, which strengthen our cloud investments and ability to deliver collaboration solutions to our global telecom provider customers,” Rob Salvagno, head of Cisco’s M&A and venture investment team, wrote in a blog: “Following the close of the acquisition, Cisco and BroadSoft will provide a comprehensive SaaS portfolio of cloud based unified communications, collaboration, and contact centre software solutions and services for customers of all sizes.”

He continued: “Collaboration is the first step to business digitisation and BroadSoft has partnerships with over 450 telecom carriers in 80 countries – including 25 of the top 30 globally – to 19+ million BroadSoft business subscribers. BroadSoft’s portfolio is complementary to our existing on premises and enterprise-centric Hosted Collaboration Solutions (HCS), as well as Cisco’s overall cloud investment strategy.”

The acquisition is expected to close during the first calendar quarter of 2018, subject to the usual regulatory reviews.

Once complete, BroadSoft employees will join Cisco’s unified communications technology group (led by Tom Puorro, VP and general manager in the Applications Group).

Cisco recently suffered a fall in revenue for its traditional switches and routers business and focused on areas including IoT and cloud computing.

In its latest earnings statement – covering the three months to 29 July – Cisco reported net income of $2.4 billion on revenue of $21.1 billion, which was down 4 per cent on the same period of 2016.

Earlier this month it partnered with Telenor to launch a cloud platform business designed to simplify the launch of new services in IoT and other industry verticals by operators.

This is Cisco’s second major acquisition this year. In January it bought AppDynamics for $3.7 billion, which it said was part of a strategy to “transition toward software-centric solutions that deliver predictable recurring revenue.”

Last week, a Cisco deal with machine-learning startup Perspica was touted as its two hundredth acquisition, and one which supported and accelerated “the AppDynamics vision”.

BroadSoft’s focus

According to BroadSoft’s website, it is the industry leader in cloud unified communications, providing a “comprehensive, mobile-integrated and open communication suite for businesses, with carrier-class reliability and security”.

BroadSoft normally sells its products to companies including Verizon and AT&T, which then resell the software to their business customers. Recently, it attempted to sell directly to these customers, which could jeopardise its relationships with its telecommunications partners, Reuters said quoting a Barclays research report.

Press Release:

Cisco Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire BroadSoft.

Cisco is committed to delivering the next generation of collaboration experiences to all workers across every room, desk, pocket and application. These experiences include meetings, as well as messaging, calling capabilities and contact center touchpoints. As our customers continue to transition to the cloud, they are demanding deployment flexibility across all of these experiences. This requires collaboration solutions across all workloads on premises and in the cloud.

That’s why today we announced a definitive agreement to acquire BroadSoft.

We chose BroadSoft as it provides a portfolio of cloud collaboration platforms and business applications, which strengthen our cloud investments and ability to deliver collaboration solutions to our global telecom provider customers. Following the close of the acquisition, Cisco and BroadSoft will provide a comprehensive SaaS portfolio of cloud based unified communications, collaboration, and contact center software solutions and services for customers of all sizes.

Collaboration is the first step to business digitization and BroadSoft has partnerships with over 450 telecom carriers in 80 countries – including 25 of the top 30 globally – to 19+ million BroadSoft business subscribers. BroadSoft’s portfolio is complementary to our existing on premises and enterprise-centric Hosted Collaboration Solutions (HCS), as well as Cisco’s overall cloud investment strategy.

Together, we are committed to redefining the future of work and collaboration to help businesses perform in ways never before imagined, with the flexibility to deploy them on-premises or in the cloud and to better meet the calling and contact center needs of our SMB and mid-market customers.

We also recently announced that Cisco reached its 200th acquisition. With the acquisition of BroadSoft, we’re continuing our strategy of strengthening our position in the collaboration market, while continuing to evolve  our business model for the future.

We are excited and look forward to welcoming the BroadSoft team to our Unified Communications Technology Group led by Tom Puorro vice president and general manager in the Applications Group. We expect the acquisition to be completed in Cisco’s first quarter of calendar year 2018.

cisco blog and mobile world live

Google Home Mini is out.

Press Release:

A few weeks ago we unveiled Google Home Mini, the newest addition to the Google Home family. About the size of a donut, it has all the smarts of the Google Assistant and gives you hands-free help in any room of your house. Starting today, you can grab it online from the Google Store or online or on shelves of Best Buy, Walmart, Target and other stores.

Just start with “Hey Google” to get answers from your Google Assistant, tackle your day, enjoy music or TV shows, and control your compatible smart home devices. And with Voice Match, the Assistant can tell your voice from others—up to six people can get personal assistance on each device. 

Here are six fun things you can do with your Mini:

Find my phone: When you lose your phone in the couch cushions, your Assistant can find it for you. “Hey Google, find my phone” will ring your Android phone (even if it’s on silent) or your iPhone.

Set a sleep timer: Fall asleep to the sweet sounds of your favorite music or podcast by saying, “Hey Google, set a sleep timer for 30 minutes.”

Play news by voice on your TV: Stay on top of current events with YouTube news playlists from sources like ABC, Fox and NBC. With a Chromecast-connected TV, you can ask say: “Hey Google, play the news on my TV” or “Ok Google, play sports news on my TV.”

Turn the TV on and off: With Google Home, Chromecast, and a compatible TV you can just say “Hey Google, turn off the TV.”

Enable night mode: In night mode, Mini’s lights dim and the volume lowers so that you you don’t disturb others in your household when it’s late (or early).

Set a default TV or speaker: Choose a Chromecast-connected TV to be your default screen, so you don’t need to mention the device's name in your voice command. When you say “Play yoga videos,” they’ll play on the TV you’ve set as the default. It works the same way for speakers connected to Chromecast Audio—you can designate a group of speakers that cover several rooms (“first floor,” for example) as the default. Then say “Hey Google, play workout playlist” and it will automatically start playing on that group of speakers.

You can start using these features today with any Google Home or Google Home Mini—and stay tuned for lots more to come!

Google Maps incorporates the maps of 12 planets and satellites of the Solar System.

Google Maps has used data compiled by NASA using the Cassini spacecraft to make the map of Enceladus, one of Saturn's satellites - NASA

Thanks to data compiled by NASA using the Cassini spacecraft, the cartographic application allows navigating the surface of the stars, zooming in and showing their main accidents

The cartographical application Google Maps has added to its platform the maps of 12 new stars of the Solar System, among them planets like Venus and satellites like Enceladus (a moon of Saturn), fruit of the collaboration with NASA and the European Space Agency.

In the 3D satellite mode section of Google Maps, with which you can navigate the geography of other planets, Google has increased the list with 12 new celestial bodies, among which are the planets Venus and Mercury, the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres, and several of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn, such as Io, Dione, Titan and Ipeto. 

Like its application in satellite mode, Google Maps allows to navigate the surface of the stars of the Solar System, making "zoom" and showing the main accidents of the bodies, all of them rocky, like craters, ridges, plains and depressions, and the names they receive.

For the mapping of Enceladus, one of the satellites of Saturn, Google Maps has used the data collected by NASA using the Cassini spacecraft, which recently crashed on the planet. In his 20-year journey around the gaseous planet, Cassini found signs of water beneath the icy surface of this moon, as Google explained in a "post" on his blog. 

As for the maps of the rest of new celestial bodies added, including Europe, Ganímedes, Rea and Mimas, Google Maps has used reconstructions in three dimensions realized by the astronomical artist Björn Jónsson using images of NASA and the European Space Agency.

The new additions of Google Maps add to other celestial bodies whose maps were already available on the platform, which in 2014 added maps of the Moon and Mars for the first time to commemorate the second year of exploration of the Curiosity probe in the Red planet. 

Along with the planets, satellites and exoplanets present in Google Maps, the application also allows to cross the International Space Station and its main corridors, since its incorporation that took place last July.

google maps space moon is one example of what you can see. There is a left bar menu of the planets and satellites.

Source: Google Blog 

Google Pixel Phone 32GB - 5 inch display ( Factory Unlocked US Version ) (Very Silver)

iPhone 7 is outselling iPhone 8

According to Fox news the iPhone 7 is selling much better than the iPhone 8 despite this last has a better processor than the 7 The iPhone 7 price is now $150 less.

There are also a lot of potential customers that are in Hold for the iPhone X to be released in November 3. The iPhone 10  has an OLED display edge to edge and a Facial ID recognition.

Apple ordered Taiwan supplier manufacturer to cut to the 50% orders for the iPhone 8.

A failure in the security protocol of the wifi was discovered. Video.

A group of scientists has discovered a security flaw in the WPA2 protocol that protects Internet connections via wifi, said Monday, October 16, 2017 the specialized web site Ars Technica. 

The United States Computer Emergency Response Team (US-Cert) discovered the ruling and should make it public this Monday, according to Ars Technica.

"The vast majority of existing access points would not benefit quickly from a correction," warned the website. According to Ars Technica, "attackers are likely to be able to spy on nearby Wi-Fi traffic when circulating between computers and access points," which "may open the door to hacking users' domain names."

Video:

2018 Laptops with 8th Gen Intel Core processors.

The 8th Generation of Intel Core processors just came out in October 5 and most brands of the laptops makers are already out with these processors in, lets take a look:

Dell Inspiron 5000 2-in-1, 13.3" Full HD Touch Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive, Windows 10 Home, Theoretical Grey, i5379-5043GRY-PUS.

8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U Processor (Quad Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.4 GHz)

8GB 2400MHz DDR4 up to [32GB], (additional memory sold separately) [8GB1D]

HP SMART BUY PROBOOK 430 G5 with Intel 8th Gen Core i5  8250U

ASUS VivoBook F510UA FHD Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, USB-C, NanoEdge Display, Fingerprint, Windows 10, Star Gray (F510UA-AH51)

HP ENVY x360 15-inch Convertible Laptop, Intel Core i7-8550U (4 cores), 8GB RAM, 256GB solid-state drive, Windows 10 (15-aq210nr, Silver)

Acer Swift 3, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, 15.6" Full HD, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Home, SF315-51-518S

HP ENVY 17-inch Laptop, Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150, 12GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, Windows 10 (17-u220nr, Silver)

Information of the Intel Core 8th Gen processors mentioned above you can read on:

Intel Core i5-8250U  and Intel Core i7-8550U

BlackBerry MOTION first look video.

BalckBerry Mobile just released its first video look of the Blackberry MOTION powered by Android with no physical  keyboard.

It will retail for around $460 starting with the Middle East - UAE and Saudi Arabia. It won't come to North America at first, but there's no other word on future market expansion. gsmarena

Video:

KEY SPECS:

- IP67 Water and Dust Resistant

- 4,000 mAh battery

- Qualcomm 625 processor

- 4 GB of RAM

- 5.5" LCD display with a nano diamond anti-scratch coating

- Locker for private documents and files

- Locker Mode for taking private photos

- Smart Convenience Key with various profiles

- 12MP Rear, 8MP Front

- RBG notification LED

- Soft touch textured back for better grip

- USB Type C

- Quick Charge 3.0 Enabled

- 3.5mm headphone jack 🎶

- Mono speaker

Full Specifications: (credits gsmarena)

NETWORK Technology

GSM / HSPA / LTE

LAUNCH Announced 2017, October

Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2017, October

BODY Dimensions 155.7 x 75.4 x 8.1 mm (6.13 x 2.97 x 0.32 in)

Weight -

SIM Yes

  - IP67 certified - dust and water resistant

- Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes

DISPLAY Type IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size 5.5 inches, 83.4 cm2 (~71.0% screen-to-body ratio)

Resolution 1080 x 1920 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~401 ppi density)

Multitouch Yes

PLATFORM OS Android 7.1 (Nougat)

Chipset Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625

CPU Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53

GPU Adreno 506

MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 256 GB

Internal 32 GB, 4 GB RAM

CAMERA Primary 12 MP, f/2.0, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash

Features Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama

Video 1080p@30fps

Secondary 8 MP

SOUND Alert types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones

Loudspeaker Yes

3.5mm jack Yes

  - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

COMMS WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot

Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE

GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS

Radio To be confirmed

USB Type-C 1.0 reversible connector

FEATURES Sensors Fingerprint (front-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM

Browser HTML5

Java No

  - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FlAC player

- MP4/H.264 player

- Photo/video editor

- Document viewer

BATTERY Non-removable Li-Ion 4000 mAh battery

MISC Colors Black

Price About 500 EUR

Pre-orders for the handset are currently live, and the UAE is the first market where the device can be pre-ordered  price tag is around $460, and launch is set for October 22. 

The Motion will also be available in Europe, where it's expected to cost €499.

A Restaurant in France uses Augmented Reality 3D while you wait your order. Video.

A restaurant in France uses augmented reality projecting on 3D over the table to entertain its customers while they wait for their orders. An excellent idea of good taste using latest technology for business. Sure you will enjoy much more your meal.

Q3 2017: Worldwide PC market share: HP 21.8%, Lenovo 21.4%, Dell 15.2%, says Gartner.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 67 million units in the third quarter of 2017, a 3.6 percent decline from the third quarter of 2016, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. This is the 12th consecutive quarter of declining PC shipments.

"While there were signs of stabilization in the PC industry in key regions, including EMEA, Japan and Latin America, the relatively stable results were offset by the U.S. market, which saw a 10 percent year-over-year decline in part because of a very weak back-to-school sales season," said Mika Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. 

"Business PC demand, led by Windows 10 upgrades, continued to drive PC shipments across all regions, but its refresh schedule varies by region. The countries with stable economies, such as the U.S., have created a positive sentiment among businesses, especially for small and midsized businesses (SMBs), which are more vulnerable to external events, such as economic or political." 

There are ongoing component shortages, with DRAM shortages getting particularly worse during the third quarter of the year compared with the first half of 2017. "The component price hike impacted the consumer PC market as most vendors generally pass the price hike on to consumers, rather than absorbing the cost themselves," Ms. Kitagawa said. "We expect the DRAM shortage to continue to the end of 2018, but it will not be reflected in the final PC prices immediately." 

In the third quarter of 2017, HP Inc. and Lenovo were in a virtual tie for the top spot in the PC market based on shipments (see Table 1). However, HP Inc. is in an upward trend, as it has experienced five consecutive quarter of global PC growth, while Lenovo is in a downward trend with declining shipments in eight of the last 10 quarters.

HP Inc. experienced growth in all key regions, except the U.S. market. The company experienced double-digit growth in Latin America, while in Asia/Pacific HP Inc. secured positive growth for the fifth consecutive quarter. Lenovo experienced its steepest year-over-year decline of PC shipments in the U.S. since it acquired the IBM PC business division in 2005.

Lenovo continues to face the dilemma of market share gains versus profitability. It appears the company is putting more emphasis on profitability than share gain. Dell's worldwide PC shipments were slightly down compared with a year ago, as it registered its first year-over-year shipment decline since the first quarter of 2016. 

In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 14.7 million units in the third quarter of 2017, a 10.3 percent decline from the third quarter of 2016 (see Table 2). It was the fourth consecutive quarter of declining PC shipments.

"Weak back-to-school sales were further evidence that traditional consumer PC demand drivers for PCs are no longer effective," Ms. Kitagawa said. "Business PC demand is stable in the U.S., but demand could slow down among SMBs due to PC price increases due to component shortages." 

PC shipments in EMEA totaled 19 million units in the third quarter of 2017, a 1.1 percent decline year over year. The contraction in the Western European PC market appears to have slowed down, with the potential for stability in the fourth quarter of 2017. Eastern Europe is experiencing flat to small unit declines as demand is not improving, and there is no obvious impact yet from the Windows 10 migration in the business segment. 

In Asia/Pacific, PC shipments reached 24 million units in the third quarter of 2017, down 2.1 percent from the same period last year. While consumer demand remained lackluster, PC demand in the business segment remained steady, especially for notebooks. 

In China, the PC market is estimated to have declined by 5 percent in the third quarter of 2017, with more stability in the business market, particularly in large enterprises, than in the consumer space.