Photomontage of the day: The world of wearable computers
May 18, 2013: 9:39 AM ETForget those Galaxy S4 ads, says Credit Suisse, wearables are "the next big thing."
FORTUNE -- Computers one wears, rather than carries in a briefcase, backpack or pocket, are at an "inflection point" -- a market poised to explode from $3 billion to $5 billion today to as much as $30 billion to $50 billion in three to five years.
That's according to a Credit Suisse report snagged Friday by Barron's Tiernan Ray.
The theory is that smartphones are going to be the hub connecting a proliferation of small, wireless devices that will become increasingly popular as software improves, component prices fall and new business uses emerge.
"Bottom line," writes Ray, "the authors think wearables are 'a mega trend' and that 'your clients need to care' because the gizmos may have 'a significant and pervasive impact on the economy,' change how we all interact with technology, and may 'advance [the] Big Data paradigm.'"
Apple (AAPL) is likely to be one of the big winners in the new market, according to the report, along with Broadcom (BRCM), eBay (EBAY), Google (GOOG), Microchip (MCHP), NXP Semiconductor (NXPI) and, among retail stocks, Nike (NKE), Under Armour (AU) and Alliance Data Systems (ADS).
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How devoted are Apple users to the Apple ecosystem?
Very, according to a new Forrester survey. Microsoft and Google don't fare as well.
FORTUNE -- According to a Forrester survey released this week, the vast majority of computer users (85% worldwide, 88% in the U.S.) have little or no loyalty to a particular mobile computing ecosystem -- the nexus of devices, software, services and sheer muscle memory that tie a user to one vendor or another.
Among those users who show MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 18, 2013 6:57 AM ET -
Ginni Rometty reveals the future of Watson
IBM's CEO told Fortune what the future holds for the talking supercomputer.
FORTUNE -- On May 15, Fortune senior writer Jessi Hempel interviewed IBM (IBM) CEO Ginni Rometty as a keynote for the National Venture Capital Association's 40th anniversary conference, Venturescape. What follows is an edited version of their conversation.
Fortune: IBM was once about mainframes, and then PCs and printers. Now IBM is about services, software, Watson. How do you think MORE
Jessi Hempel, writer - May 17, 2013 11:35 AM ET -
Galaxy S4: 10M in 4 weeks. iPhone 5: 5M in 3 days.
When Apple reported record iPhone 5 sales, the stock began a six-month free fall.
FORTUNE -- It's been years since Samsung reported any unit sales numbers at all for its mobile phones, so the tech press took notice Thursday when the South Korean manufacturing giant decided it had something to brag about.
Samsung Electronics co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun told reporters at an industry forum in Seoul that he is confident shipments of the Galaxy S4 MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 17, 2013 10:31 AM ET -
Blackberry is about to give away its last advantage
Its free messaging service is one of the struggling company's most valuable assets.
By Cyrus Sanati
FORTUNE -- Blackberry's decision to make its free messaging service, BBM, available on other mobile phone platforms is a Hail Mary play for a damaged company that pretty much has nothing to lose at this point. By giving away the stickiest feature available to Blackberry's dwindling consumer base to Android and iOS users for free, the company MORE
May 17, 2013 10:24 AM ET -
The big funds on Apple: Who bought and who sold last quarter
Total shares held fell 5.2%, but more funds increased than reduced their Apple holdings.
FORTUNE -- Any institution with more than $100 million in equities under management was required to file a Form 13f Wednesday telling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission what stocks they bought and sold last quarter, and once again Apple (AAPL) was the No. 1 equity in their portfolios.
Although several news sites -- including CNBC, CBS and MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 17, 2013 9:46 AM ET -
Google Android's enterprise problem
Google's mobile operating system may be getting a boost from -- of all places -- Blackberry.
FORTUNE -- This week's Google I/O conference in San Francisco was disappointingly light on Android news. And it was especially light on new, enterprise-friendly features for Android devices. Instead, it showed improvements aimed at consumers and education institutions. But while Google may not seem focused on making its mobile operating system more attractive to IT departments, MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - May 17, 2013 9:23 AM ETPosted in: Android, Apple, BlackBerry, enterprise software, Google, iOS, Samsung Electronics, Smartphones, VMware -
Watch who Tim Cook talks to in the Washington press corps
In advance of next Tuesday's Senate testimony, he softened the ground with interviews at Politico and the Washington Post -- but not, pointedly, the New York Times.
FORTUNE -- Tim Cook is coming to Washington next week, summoned by the same Senate subcommittee that blasted Microsoft (MSFT) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ) last fall for funneling U.S. profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes on them.
But Apple's (AAPL) CEO -- whose company MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 17, 2013 6:35 AM ET -
Meet your new password: Your voice
An increasing number of companies are looking at using voice for security.
By Verne Kopytoff
FORTUNE -- Bank call center agents make good interrogators. What's your name? Your account number? Your Social Security number? Your mother's maiden name? Preventing fraud is, of course, the goal. But that doesn't make the process any more convenient.
An increasing number of companies are looking at an alternative that would do away with all of the MORE
May 17, 2013 5:00 AM ETPosted in: banks, Barclays, biometrics, fraud protection, identity theft, Vanguard, voice biometrics -
Harsh anti-Abercrombie & Fitch video goes viral
Abercrombie brands itself as "exclusionary." And that means trouble.
FORTUNE -- A video depicting a hipster giving homeless people clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) reached critical viral mass this week. It was a protest against Abercrombie's practice of only hiring "good-looking" people for its stores, not stocking women's clothes in large sizes, and marketing itself only to "cool kids."
"Abercrombie & Fitch is a terrible company," says filmmaker Greg Karber. Which MORE
Dan Mitchell, contributor - May 16, 2013 1:48 PM ET
