Acer aims to ship 1 million PCs to `Brazil` in 2012

Acer has been making efforts to tap the Brazil market and aims to ship one million PCs in 2012, double the volume recorded in 2011, according to industry sources.

Due to the impact of debt problems in Europe, Acer has shifted its 2012 business focus to Brazil, India, Indonesia and other emerging markets, the sources said.

Acer has launched a price war in an attempt to increase its PC market share in Brazil and has seen some effects, the sources indicated. Acer's shipments of PCs to Brazil are expected to significantly increase beginning the second quarter of 2012, the sources noted.

As the Brazil government imposes high customs duties on imported PCs to protect local makers, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Acer and other vendors avert the tariff barrier by shipping components and/or barebones made in China to Brazil for assembly by local OEM partners, the sources said.

Currently in the Brazil PC market, local vendor Positivo has the second-largest market share next only to HP, the sources indicated.

Sony confirms Kazuo Hirai as new President and CEO

Sony has just confirmed Kazuo Hirai as its new CEO and President, validating rumours that have been swirling for a few weeks now. Outgoing CEO Howard Stringer, meanwhile, has been appointed Chairman of Sony's Board of Directors. The Hirai era officially begins April 1st, while Stringer will assume his new role as Chairman sometime in June.

Motorola’s Xyboard 8.2 (XOOM 2 Media Edition 8.2) gets an FCC tear down

Motorola’s Xyboard 8.2 tablet, aka the XOOM 2 Media Edition 8.2 got the FCC teardown treatment today, a follow up to the device’s original appearance on the FCC back in October.  FCC internal photos show the Xyboard’s main board, camera modules, display and antennas, but unfortunately don’t give us a good look at the device’s chips.
The Xyboard 8.2 was launched in the UK as the XOOM 2 Media Edition 8.2.  The device got the “Xyboard” branding when it was released by Verizon

Nikon Coolpix S9300 is the New King of S-Series Camera`s

Nikon has half a dozen new Coolpix S-Series digital cameras that intend to deliver advanced functions without coming up short on style and design. The highlight of this group would be the S9300 (although the S9200 does come close in comparison), where both are high-power zoom models which feature 18x optical zoom NIKKOR lenses, and thanks to the backside illumination CMOS image sensor and lens-shift vibration reduction (VR) system that are incorporated within, you can be sure of shooting great looking photos even when there is very little natural light around. The Coolpix S9300 will come with an integrated GPS function in order to make geotagging of your photos far easier, and you can also opt to record movies and stitching them together as a single file later on – right from the camera itself.
As for the S6300, this new model caters for the popular high-power, compact zoom model class, and despite a 10x optical zoom NIKKOR lens, it still has one of the most compact bodies in its class. Capable of shooting 16 megapixels in an image, it also has a lens-shift vibration reduction (VR) function, and does Full HD movie recording capability. The S4200 and S3200 will be slim and stylish models which will have improved zoom function and built-in VR, and apart from that, Nikon has managed to slim down the chassis even more compared to its predecessors.

HTC Ville leaked on video

The HTC Ville has been talked about for quite awhile now, and even had its press shots leaked online well now it’s time for us to check out the phone in action. A video clip of the phone being demonstrated has turned up on YouTube, giving us a detailed look at what it’s going to be like – its build, size, and even a demonstration of Android 4.0 with HTC Sense.  Judging by what we can see – it all looks pretty impressive. The phone also doesn’t seem to exhibit any signs of lag, and the animations, UI, and live wallpaper look great.
The HTC Ville is expected to be announced at MWC 2012 next month, and the phone is said to feature a 4.3″ qHD display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel rear camera, VGA front facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0, Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC Sense 4.0. Check out the video above before it gets pulled off YouTube.

Panasonic WiGig 1Gbps Wireless SD Memory Card Concept

Panasonic is currently developing applications for the new WiGig gigabit wireless communications technology. In this concept demonstration, a communications module which supports WiGig is embedded on an SD memory card.
Although Panasonic is still in the process of prototyping the WiGig-enabled SD card, the company demonstrated how it will be possible to transmit videos, photos and other local data from a wireless controller such as a tablet, to the displays mounted in the passenger seats of a car. At gigabit speeds, it will be possible to wirelessly transfer a full DVD video in one minute.
The tablet can also connect with the car’s computer, so the user can easily see relevant information such as battery capacity and tire pressure.
Panasonic’s WiGig implementation uses the 60GHz spectrum to transmit data at gigabit speed, but it is limited to a range of 1-3 meters. Due to this limited range, it will not take over from the current Wifi standard, but Panasonic is coming up with a range of situations where it can be used effectively.
Panasonic also plans to design a directional antenna, which will allow radio waves to be transmitted from the SD card slot, to effectively transmit data wirelessly. It is aiming for the commercialization of WiGig SD cards for in-vehicle use in summer 2013.

INFOBAR C01, Kddi’s latest Android 2.3 Candy Phone

KDDI may not be as glamorous as Docomo or Softbank but you have to give them credit for their continuous desire to bring something different in our gloomy smartphone world. Today is no exception with KDDI new INFOBAR the C01 schedule to come in Japan later this week and that bring the good old iida style in a nice and slim Candy bar phone.

The C01 comes with WiMAX, WIN High Speed (9.2/5.5Mbps), a 3.2” 854×480 screen, an 8Mpix Camera, a 1.4GHz single core MSM 8655 CPU and Android 2.3 in just 106g!