Mobile World Congress has been a roller coaster ride so far this year. The week kicked off with a bang on Sunday with both Sony and HTC unveiling their latest and greatest smartphones, and the HTC One X was definitely the star of the show. Things were up and down on Monday and Tuesday however, and the show actually got pretty slow for a while there. Our time in Barcelona isn’t up just yet, however, and Microsoft chose today to unveil the latest version of its next-generation operating system, Windows 8. The technology giant released a preview version of Windows 8 last September, but we’re sure plenty has changed over the past five months. And beyond checking out all the new features Microsoft has undoubtedly baked into its new OS, we might finally get a better idea of when devices carrying the platform will finally launch. Microsoft’s Windows 8 press conference is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern / 6:00 a.m. Pacific (3:00 p.m. local time in Barcelona), so hit the break for our live coverage of the event!

UPDATE: Don’t forget to check out our full review of Microsoft’s Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which is now live!

8:49AM:Hey folks. We're in line #2 here at Microsoft's Windows 8 Consumer Preview event. Let's see what they've got for us!

8:52AM:Upbeat music, lots of folks waiting around, and free breadsticks. Great.

8:54AM:This 4-on-the-floor drumbeat is driving us a little crazy...let's go, Microsoft!

9:01AM:Annnnd we're in. Microsof has a bevy of devices on display, all running....Windows 8!

9:03AM:As anticipated, we've got TVs, tablets, desktops, laptops, and more, all in a line

9:07AM:Ok...fake afro-beat music is a bit better but still suspect. We're 7 minutes behind schedule. * mins behind schedule and we're calling it fashionably late:)...

9:12AM:As a side note, this Catalonian sun is not helping keep any of our fellow blogger's and press folk's BO at bay...this room does not smell great.

9:14AM:We're beginning to think that the devices themselves might begin presenting...we haven't seen a single representative from Microsoft go anywhere near the stage yet. Wonder what's keeping em!

9:16AM:Of note, while we wait, there are a total of 13 different devices on stage, all of varying size and shape. Mostly tablets, with one of the largest TVs we've ever seen sitting behind it.

9:18AM:"The show will begin shortly" says the announcer...

9:20AM:lights down...er, lights yellowed...seems like it's finally go time

9:21AM:Lot's of thank you's now going on stage, thank you's to press, devs, etc...you're welcome!

9:22AM:Steven Synofsky hitting the stage now

9:23AM:Looks like we'll have immediate downloads of the beta software available following the release, fyo

9:23AM:"Windows 7 most successful Windows of all time"

9:24AM:Talking now about the compromises necessary with today's stratified mobile vs tablet vs desktop world, speaking to how complicated and unnatural the trade-offs are

9:25AM:Now speaking about how the form factor should drive consumer choice, not the set of compromises that one is willing to make. Microsoft is aiming for

9:27AM:Choice is the key word here, folks. The unified operating system experience is intended to allow consumers to decide what type of device best fits their life, and not have to worry about power management, crippled OS, etc

9:27AM:Every subsystem of Windows 8 has been re-engineered for touch and more

9:28AM:100,000 code changes since dev preview went live

9:28AM:Consumer preview is vastly different from initial dev version. They're calling it "complete" hmmmm

9:29AM:"Beautiful, modern, fast, fluid." It's a generational change in Windows. Stressing revolution vs. evolution of product here, but that it won't be a massive paradigm shift for current Windows users

9:30AM:They're calling Windows 8 a "super fun experience", which seems cute. That said, we're happy to see that they're stressing an enjoyable consumer experience over raw power, specs, and things that might appeal to power users

9:31AM:The notion of scaling is key, with a single OS that is scalable across multiple screen sizes, device type, etc. And having a functioning app-eco system that works together. Apps talking to apps, as opposed to apps functioning as an island in and of themselves. Apps enriching apps...

9:31AM:Pretty sure he's said

9:32AM:Pretty sure he's said "apps" over 59 times. Now stressing that everything is cloud connected, with integrated backups and online support. Also speaking about the current version of the Metro design language, which is design from the ground up with scaling in mind

9:33AM:Now we've got Julie Larson-Green and Antoine Leblond hitting the stage, windows program manager and windows web services manager, to walk us through the app and OS experience

9:34AM:No

9:35AM:Everything will be demonstrated using a prototype device. The device itself was designed from the ground up for usability. She's sitting in a chair, looking pretty damn comfortable, using the dev device. Nice touch.

9:36AM:The device is completely customized for each user, with a familiar lock screen, start screen, app environment, etc on each device that contains your profile info. The home screen adapts to provide the most frequently used tiles in the most convenient locations, etc

9:37AM:She's scanning in and out of home screens now. "fast and fluid" are the key terms, and everything is moving really really well. It's pretty impressive!

9:40AM:Xbox live is integrated from the ground up. We also have casual gaming for things like cut the rope and angry birds, etc etc...

9:40AM:Windows Explorer is killing it right now. The experience is moving so fast, and it actually looks like it's making internet browsing dare we say...fun? This is awesome to watch. Seriously, folks

9:40AM:Video and music stores are built into the preview as well

9:41AM:Now we're looking at a cookbook app. Nothing revolutions, but it does illustrate the beauty of the Metro style across app dev as well

9:42AM:We now have a demo of app switching using gestures. Left thumb flicked left slides back and forth through apps. This is, again, really fast. Really well implemented. We can also bring up a full task switcher by flijing up

9:43AM:Now we're on to social networking implementation. The "people" app function as a centralized hub for all of your social networking accounts. You can also pin this to the start screen with, of course, a live updating tile

9:44AM:Demonstrating multitasking now. We can place IM into a side window dock, while keeping video or any other app running in the foreground. Everything can be dragged around in real time. Awesome!

9:45AM:Nothing overlaps on top of anything else. It just switches back and forth laterally. That way you don't have 400 windows on top of one another. It's clean and efficient, a nice change from existing OS multitasking

9:45AM:The "charms" bar keeps frequently accessed info, like contacts, text, etc...and this is accessible from any app, regardless of where it originated. Apps talking to apps talking to apps...

9:46AM:Ok tablet demo done, on to laptop demo

9:46AM:He's talking about scalability, etc etc

9:47AM:We're looking at non-touchscreen devices now, with mouse and keyboard interface demos

9:47AM:CTRL-ALT-DELETE is a thing of the past!! All you need to unlock is the "enter" key. Ha!

9:47AM:Be sure to check out our Windows 8 Consumer Preview review, which just went live! http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/29/welcome-to-the-post-post-pc-era-a-review-of-microsofts-windows-8-consumer-preview/

9:48AM:Everything looks super fluid (notice a theme here...) and navigation seems pretty intuitive

9:49AM:Gestures haven't been replicated for mouse use, but 4 hot corners are used for specific "gesture" stuff. The corners are the navigation hot spots. Mouse to bottom left goes to start screen, bottom left to task switcher, etc. Seems smart to us, but we wonder how sensitive this thing is

9:50AM:Zoom in, zoom out, it all works as you might expect. And all home screens and tiles can be easily manipulated and re-arranged.

9:51AM:Task switching via hot corner is pretty...hot. We're impressed, though again...sad to see ctrl-tab go the way of the DoDo

9:52AM:

9:52AM:Kindle app, Weather app, Stocks app, etc...all Metro, all awesome.

9:53AM:The home screen is the new windows key. Hitting Windows button brings you directly to the home screen.

9:53AM:This is cool Start typing "USA" and it immediately brings you to an app list, listing USA Today as the top option. Immediate app search and launching.

9:54AM:Sharing between apps is so easy. The charms bar allows you to drop images from web to wordpress, wordpress to twitter, email to facebook, etc. The base app stays in the main screen, and the destination app comes up in the side bar. Drag, drop, post, boom. This is amazing

9:54AM:All existing Windows 7-compatible apps will work on Windows 8

9:55AM:Ok, now we've got Word coming up!

9:56AM:Office seems to work super well here, but it does just look like another Windows 7 app. We'll have to wait for a Metro version of Office to get super sexy, but at least everything will work out of the box

9:57AM:You can also manage tasks in real time, allowing you to pause tasks that need lower priority, etc

9:58AM:Metro and basic desktop functions to allow old apps work side by side. That's pretty cool, and it definitely illuminates how much cooler Metro is, but we're glad to see the desktop survive the transition

9:59AM:Ok. Now we have touch plus mouse plus keyboard. All three inputs can be used together. This is the marriage of input methods that we've been waiting for. And it looks like touch will probably become the predominant method...

10:00AM:All bookmarks, pins, apps, etc...all of these things travel with you from machine to machine, so your tablet looks like your phone looks like your laptop.

10:01AM:Now we've got a demo of the Skydrive app that allows access to documents from the cloud across all your devices. Skydrive is also working behind the scenes to sync your personlized data, profile pic, contacts, app data, etc

10:03AM:Universal search is pretty cool. Search for Harry Potter and it brings up results from the video store, web, flixter app, etc

10:04AM:Antoine is back to talk about the Windows App Store

10:04AM:The store ahs been designed for ease of access...well, that's good to know....we've got rankings, lists, etc. And then categories. Nothing revolutionary here folks, but we suppose that's not a bad thing

10:05AM:Find app, click on app, read about app, install app. Done

10:05AM:All apps in the store will be free during the preview period. Smart move!

10:06AM:Now he's talking about dev relationships, and how excited devs are to be working with the new software. "The best economics of any major app store..."

10:07AM:Large devs are on board, but they're trying to attract individual devs too. They're announcing the winner of the first apps contest...

10:08AM:Sorry 8 winners, not 1.

10:09AM:Cool. More pounding music...

10:11AM:Now we're talking wrapup stuff. "fast fluid beautiful. Okay, okay, we get it!!!

10:12AM:Now we're talking about how apps need to be brought up to spec. The OS is there, stable, ready to go. But apps need to catch up. This all makes sense. We're being cautioned not to list, review, or categorize apps, with an eye to the fact that this preview is intended to spurn further development

10:14AM:Get ready for some hardware previews, guys!

10:16AM:Okay okay, here we go. We've got Michael Angiulo to demo some new hardware!

10:17AM:We've got a demo of Windows-on-ARM, which was first announced at CES last year. Speaking to a power profile that allows support from smaller processors, like phone chips, tablet chips, etc. Low power state gives access to background tasks while sleeping, and doesn't give huge power spikes when waking to access information lost while in dormant mode

10:19AM:We've got Tegra 3, Snapdragon 5, and other stuff. This is great stuff

10:21AM:All apps are chip independent, so all apps will work on ARM, x86, etc. This makes a seamless consumer-facing experience. It's all about consistency here, ad this applies to drivers too. Printer drivers, etc will work across the board. Input devices are the same, storage devices, etc. This is revolutionary in the PC world

10:23AM:Windows 8 had to smaller overall to work on these lower power mobile processors, which should make it FLY on desktop-grade systems.

10:25AM:Ok, now on to Ultrabook stuff. We've got an Intel Next-Gen Ultrabook here, and it looks pretty...Ultrabooky. We've got 5 more on hand, ost with Ivy-bridge processors, touchscreens, etc. We've got an Acer book starting up in 8 seconds. Whoa!!

10:26AM:It's also super super thin. Approaching, if not exceeding, Macbook Air levels. This thing also has a motorized port cover. Cool touch, we suppose.

10:27AM:Alright, now we've got an HP Envy with Beats Audio, etc. Gorilla glass cover is amazing, and we're seeing some really really fast performance here.

10:28AM:And now on to Samsung, again with insanely fast performance. He's demonstrating processor adaption, with cores starting and stopping based on performance almost instantly.

10:28AM:Apps don't need to be opened or closed, because they don't use any processor power or memory when dormant

10:30AM:We're on to networking improvements, which speaks to the need to simplify connectivity due to the increased portability of Windows 8 devices

10:31AM:"Cost-based network switching" gives intelligent switching from 3G to Wi-Fi based on pre-defined preferences and profiles

10:32AM:Annnnd now the Lenovo Yoga, a convertible touchscreen-enabled laptop, is up to bat. Cool device, with a convertible screen

10:34AM:Side note, but the Microsoft Mouse is 30 years old today...

10:35AM:They're talking now about how Microsoft 8 will force a re-imagination of input methods, etc.

10:36AM:Ok, now we see why the ungodly large TV was there. It's actually a fully-functional Window 8 PC. It's really a giant Microsoft Surface, build out of Gorilla Glass. It's 82". The largest in the world. And it's running so quickly, so beautifully.

10:40AM:Ok, cool. No we're looking at how NFC inclusion allows seamless transfer of audio from internal speakers to wireless speakers. Walk in room, have music transfer from your headphones to your home stereo.

10:43AM:Alright, we've seen demos of image transfer technology, audio transfer, video editing, and...wait for it....a USB drive being connected to a Windows 8 desktop in Real Time!! Microsoft, this is great, but you had us an hour ago with the app demos. This is getting a little long in the tooth...

10:46AM:Allllllright!! Looks like we've actually hit the end point now. This has really ushered in the era of touch PCs for the consumer environment. The coolest part is that the transition is a metered one, allowing you to choose input method, from touch to keyboard to mouse, based on the usage case.

10:50AM:Now we've got a roadmap. Today, consumer preview available in English, German, Japanese, French, and Simplified Chinese. Visual Studio 11 Beta is available for devs, and preview apps are included with the store today. Beginning "really soon" we'll see updates and drivers. Stressing dynamic consumer preview, with many changes along the way. ceBIT will see enterprise features unveiled. The next milestone will be the Release Candidate, RTM, and General Availability. Preview is live already, with downloads from 70 different countries.

10:51AM:That's it guys! Thanks for tuning in and be sure to check out our full review of Microsoft's Windows 8 Consumer Preview!

Apple’s shipments of iPads and MacBooks in the fourth quarter combined to give the Cupertino-based company a 26.6% percent share of the mobile PC market, according to a report from DisplaySearch released on Thursday. Apple shipped a total of 23.4 million units, nearly three times the amount of No.2 HP. The iPad accounted for 18.7 million units and captured 59.1% of the tablet market. Amazon shipped 5.3 million Kindle Fire’s for 16.7% of the market, with Samsung shipping 2.1 million and controlling 6.7% of the market. ASUS shipped 1.5 million units for a 4.6% market share and Barnes & Noble shipped 1.1 million units for a 3.5% share. Apple’s fourth quarter notebook shipments came in at 4.6 million units for an 8.3% share of the market. Ranking ahead of the Cupertino-based company was HP (15%), Dell (11.8%), Acer (11.8%) and Lenovo (10.8%). Read on for DisplaySearch’s press release.

Apple Maintains Top Mobile PC Share Position for Q4’11 and Full Year

HP, Dell, Acer and Lenovo Round Out Top Five Spots; Apple Y/Y Shipment Growth Tops 125% for the Quarter and the Year

Santa Clara, Calif., February 23, 2012—Apple shipped nearly 23.4 million mobile PCs in Q4’11, up 128% Y/Y, and over 62.8 million mobile PCs in 2011, up 132% Y/Y, according to preliminary results from the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report. Nearly 80% of Apple’s mobile PC shipments were iPads, more than 18.7 million shipped in the quarter, up 156% Y/Y, and 48.4 million units for the year, up 183% Y/Y.

Overall mobile PC shipments grew 12% Q/Q and 44% Y/Y, reaching 88 million units in Q4’11. This was driven by continuing strong demand for tablets. Tablet PC shipment growth was 42% Q/Q and 210% Y/Y, reaching 31.7 million units in Q4’11. Notebook PC shipments were flat Q/Q but up nearly 11% Y/Y, reaching 56.3 million units. As expected, consumer mobile PC adoption was focused on tablets, holding up demand in notebooks.

“Mobile PC brands read the writing on the wall in the fourth quarter,” said Richard Shim, NPD DisplaySearch Senior Analyst. “Consumer demand for notebooks was expected to be weak following modest back-to-school results, especially with the expected launch of Windows 8 on the horizon, and increasing interest in tablet PCs. As a result, brands focused their typical holiday price cuts on tablets to boost demand.”

Apple’s 26.6% share in Q4’11 is largely due to its dominant position in tablet PCs, which propelled it to nearly three times the shipments of HP. The other brands in the top five market share rankings relied almost exclusively on notebook PC shipments to establish their positions.

Table 1: Preliminary Q4’11 Worldwide Top Five Mobile PC Shipment Rankings by Brand

Rank	Brand	Units (millions)	Share (%)
1	Apple	23.4	26.6
2	HP	8.7	9.9
3	Dell	6.9	7.9
4	Acer Group	6.8	7.7
5	Lenovo	6.3	7.2

Source: Q1’12 DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report

HP maintained the top notebook PC ranking with a 15.5% share, although it lost some of its lead as shipments into North America, China, Latin America, and Asia Pacific faltered. Dell and Acer essentially tied for second place with 11.8% each. Dell had strong results in EMEA, while Acer continued to struggle in the notebook PC market. Lenovo continues to build on momentum started early this year with strong growth in China and Asia Pacific with a dip in North America, and maintained its #4 position in notebook PCs, gaining some share in Q4’11. Apple leapfrogged over ASUS and Toshiba to capture #5 with 8.3% market share.

Table 2: Preliminary Q4’11 Worldwide Top Five Notebook PC Shipment Rankings by Brand

Rank	Brand	Units (millions)	Share (%)
1	HP	8.7	15.5
2	Dell	6.7	11.8
3	Acer Group	6.6	11.8
4	Lenovo	6.1	10.8
5	Apple	4.6	8.3

Source: Q1’12 DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report

In the tablet PC market, Apple continued its strong growth across all its regions, capturing 59.1% share in Q4’11. Newcomers Amazon and Barnes and Noble firmly planted their flags in the market, at #2 and #5, respectively—Amazon with 16.7% share and Barnes and Noble with 3.5%. Both brands focused on North America in their market entries. Samsung improved in all its key markets, particularly EMEA, helping it to reach .67% market share. ASUS continued its strong results in North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific as it took 4.6% share in Q4’11.

Table 3: Preliminary Q4’11 Worldwide Top Five Tablet PC Shipment Rankings by Brand

Rank	Brand	Units (millions)	Share (%)
1	Apple*	18.7	59.1
2	Amazon	5.3	16.7
3	Samsung	2.1	6.7
4	ASUS	1.5	4.6
5	Barnes and Noble	1.1	3.5

Source: Q1’12 DisplaySearch Quarterly Mobile PC Shipment and Forecast Report
* Apple shipments include units for sell through and inventory.

Google may be in the process of bringing its mobile operating system to desktop and notebook computers, according to a recent patent filing. The patent, which was discovered by Patently Apple, showcases desktop control features similar to Apple’s multitouch MacBook trackpad and Magic Trackpad. The current Android operating system has been designed for touch commands and actions, however in the future it may be expanded to support different means of control, Google said in the patent overview. Using a multitouch trackpad, a user can “directly interact with graphical elements located at the current pointer location as if they are using a touchscreen device, and perform traditional touchscreen operations (e.g., dragging/flinging content, scrolling).” Following Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, it is believed that the Mountain View-based company will now explore a variety of new hardware products.

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Intel recently notified partners of its plans to postpone mass shipments of the company’s Ivy Bridge processors, reports DigiTimes. The company still plans to announce new products that will ship in small volume in April according to the report, although mass shipments are not expect to occur until after June. The supposed delay comes as a number of notebook vendors are seeing weakening sales from the diminishing global economy and other factors. Both vendors and Intel are said to have large inventories of Sandy Bridge processors, so the delay could be seen as a way to minimize the impact of leftover CPUs.

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Acer chairman JT Wang on Thursday reaffirmed the company’s dedication to the new “ultrabook” market, further distancing his company from the low-margin netbooks that have dominated its PC lineup in the past. Following the success of Acer’s first-generation ultrabook — the Aspire S3 reportedly shipped between 250,000 and 300,000 units during its first quarter of availability — Acer plans to launch new ultrabook models in both the second and third quarters this year. According to DigiTimes, Wang estimates that Windows and Intel-powered ultrabooks will account for between 25% and 35% of the company’s PC sales in 2012. Wang expects notebook shipment volume to slide between 10% and 15% sequentially in the first quarter, however he expects full-year shipments to grow 10% compared to 2011. While sales in the U.S. and Europe are likely to remain relatively slow according to Acer, the company projects strong sales in Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand and other Southeast Asia markets.

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Samsung is considering an exit from the low-margin netbook business as soon as next year according to a recent report. French CNET blog Blogeee claims to have obtained an email sent by the South Korea-based electronics giant to several of its partners. “Following the introduction of our new strategy in 2012, we stop the product range in 10.1” (Netbook) in Q1 2012 for the benefit of Ultraportables products (11.6 and 12 inches) and ultrabooks to be launched in 2012,” the email reportedly stated (machine-translated). The matter could be one of semantics, however — Samsung’s “ultraportable” class may include low-cost notebooks driven by inexpensive ATOM processors. Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Laptops running Microsoft’s Windows operating system currently utilize x86 processors, but that’s all about to change in mid-2013 when Windows 8 notebooks powered by ARM processors may hit the market. It could happen sooner, of course; Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs recently said that Windows 8 devices powered by his company’s ARM-based Snapdragon processors would hit the market in 2012. The Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered devices may only be tablets at first, however, and DigiTimes said Tuesday the first ARM-based notebooks from ASUS and Lenovo will begin to hit the market in June of 2013. Read on for more.

DigiTimes‘ sources said that software support will be the biggest barrier to entry for many manufacturers, but Jacobs recently suggested application support won’t be much of an issue. “For the apps that you really care about, I don’t see it as a significant growth inhibitor in terms of ARM vs. Windows,” Jacobs said earlier this month.

While ARM is said to currently offer a better power efficiency to price ratio than Intel’s processors, the company is expected to face stiff competition from Intel’s new 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, which are expected to be more power efficient than the company’s previous-generation chips.

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Sprint confirmed last month that beginning October 2nd, unlimited mobile hotspot plans would become limited mobile hotspot plans, affording users of the optional smartphone add-on 5GB of tethering data per month. Now, Sprint has added a second service to the unlimited data cemetery: mobile broadband. “If you have a mobile broadband device such as a tablet, netbook, notebook, USB card, connection card or Mobile Hotspot device, effective beginning with your next bill following notification, your on-network monthly data allowance will no longer include unlimited 4G,” Sprint said on its website. Starting next month, Sprint will offer three new mobile broadband plans that cap users at 3GB, 5GB or 10GB of combined 3G and 4G data per billing period depending on their plans. Additional data will be charged at $0.05 per megabyte, and the same overage charge applies to mobile hotspot plans. A table outlining the new plans follows below.

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Sales of notebook computers during the back-to-school rush this year beat expectations, new data from market research firm NPD Group found. While sales of Windows laptops continued to slide compared to last year, the decline was significantly less severe than in the first half of the year according to NPD. Windows notebook sales between July and August dipped 4% compared to the same period in 2010, while sales in the first half of 2011 were down 12% year-over-year. ”The sequential results from NPD’s back-to-school point-of-sale (POS) data indicates that after a shortfall early in the year that was mostly related to the difficult comparisons to the binge of buying after the release of Windows 7, the Windows notebook market remains solid,” said NPD vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker in a statement. “The last two weeks of August are the most important period for back to school buying, and those weeks saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales.” NPD’s full press release follows below.

Back-to-School Notebook Sales Exceed Expectations: Windows Notebook Sales Increase in August

Strong sales over the last two weeks of August 2011 ensure that back-to-school sales show positive trends when compared to the first half of the year.

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., September 14, 2011 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, back-to-school sales turned out much better than the first half of 2011, when retail notebook sales in the U.S. declined more than 12 percent over the prior year. During the two-month back-to-school period (July through August), Windows notebook computer sales declined 4 percent over the prior year, while August 2011 sales, propelled by a late surge in volume, posted an increase of nearly 4 percent.

“The sequential results from NPD’s back-to-school point-of-sale (POS) data indicates that after a shortfall early in the year that was mostly related to the difficult comparisons to the binge of buying after the release of Windows 7, the Windows notebook market remains solid,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. “The last two weeks of August are the most important period for back to school buying, and those weeks saw more than an 8 percent increase over last year in retail sales.”

A prime driver of the sales volume increase was a drop in average selling prices. During July and August 2011, ASPs for Windows notebooks were $477, which is a 7 percent decline from the same period last year. The drop in ASPs resulted in a record 65 percent of all notebook sales occurring in products sold for less than $500. Sales in this crucial segment grew 12 percent versus last year, while sales results for windows notebooks above $500 fell 23 percent.

“A strong promotional environment led consumers into the stores over the last part of the back to school season,” Baker said. “The positive consumer response to aggressive notebook pricing, despite the continued demand for tablet computers, likely points towards a highly promotional holiday season ahead.”

Microsoft executives took to the stage at the annual BUILD developer conference on Tuesday to give the world its first real look at the future of the Windows operating system. The reception, as you’ve likely read by now, has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, Apple bloggers were apparently so flustered by the platform that they resorted to bombarding Twitter with jokes about cooling fans and Silverlight instead of stopping for a moment to realize that Microsoft is showing us the future of computing. The PC was the future, and it let people perform functions they never thought possible. Then the tablet was the future, and it let people interact with content in ways they never thought possible. Now, the future means all things to all people. Read on for more.

I’ve mentioned it before on several occasions, but the point is much easier to make now that Microsoft has given the world a better look at its vision of the near-term future of computing. PCs are not going away. They will continue to be the primary means of computing for business and consumers alike. Tablets are not going away, either. They will continue to provide a much more intuitive way to interact with a consumer electronics device. Microsoft’s vision, however, unifies these devices.

One platform to rule them all. The technology exists to enable users to carry a single device that is as portable and usable as a tablet, but also as powerful and capable as a PC. It has a battery that can last all day, but it can also run Photoshop, Excel and Outlook. It can weigh next to nothing and slip into a slim case, but it can also power two monitors and run proprietary enterprise software.

When Windows 8 is finally bestowed upon the masses, each and every user will have Apple to thank. Windows 8 as we’re seeing it today would never have existed if competition from the iPad — and the iPhone before it — had not illuminated a giant light bulb over all of our heads: platforms can be both capable and intuitive. Apple’s iOS is the most fluid, logical, user friendly mass-market platform in the world, and it has forced the competition to look at products in a new light. Companies have been incredibly slow to adapt, however, and that is why Apple is currently the biggest tech company in the world.

But the iPad was only the beginning.

Apple paved the way but Microsoft will get there first with Windows 8. A tablet that can be as fluid and user friendly as the iPad but as capable as a Windows laptop. A tablet that can boot in under 10 seconds and fire up a full-scale version of Adobe Dreamweaver a few moments later. A tablet that can be slipped into a dock to instantly become a fully capable touch-enabled laptop computer. This is Microsoft’s vision with Windows 8, and this is what it will deliver.

People debate it all the time, but the simple fact is that “real work” is significantly more difficult to do on the iPad or on an Android tablet than it is on a Windows or Mac PC. Debate all you want. Android and iOS apps are dumbed down and infinitely less capable, typing is on a tablet is a pain in the ass unless you carry a Bluetooth keyboard, and the experience as a whole is severely limited.

We are not living in a “post-PC” era today any more than we were on January 26th, 2010, the day before Apple unveiled the magical iPad. Apple would love a post-PC era, of course, since personal computers no longer represent the bulk of the company’s revenue, but Microsoft is showing us that there is a better way. And that better way, as it turns out, is a PC.

Down the road, Mac OS and iOS will merge into a single platform or OS X will adopt enough iOS-like characteristics that Apple will finally be comfortable with slapping it on a touch-enabled device. Lion is the beginning of this process, though I sincerely hope future iterations offer less resistance. At that point in time, Apple will be able to offer a computing solution that is infinitely more versatile and capable than the company’s current solutions. A solution like Windows 8.

If the iPad ushered in the post-PC era, then welcome to the post-post-PC era.

Acer founder Stan Shih on Friday said that tablets like Apple’s iPad and ultrabooks like those in the works from numerous Intel partners — including Acer — are a “short-term phenomena.” Speaking with DigiTimes, Shih urged companies to continue focusing on notebook computers and innovative value-added products. Shih commended Apple for thinking outside the box when bringing the iPad to market, but said personal computers will continue to be requisites for businesses and consumers. When asked if Shih believed Acer’s upcoming low-cost 7-inch tablet would be a success, he noted that consumers indeed want low-cost options. Shih founded Acer, then called Multitech, in 1976 along with his wife. He ran the company until his retirement in 2004.

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Taiwan-based Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute expects roughly 360 million combined personal computers and media tablets to ship in 2011, Taiwan Economic News reports. MIC sees PC shipments growing 6.6% over 2010 to land at more than 320 million units this year, and it thinks shipments of media tablets like Apple’s iPad 2ill w exceed 48 million units in 2011, up 198% from 2010. MIC senior industry analyst Chris Wei notes that the improving global economy and replacement PC purchases in the enterprise market would be largely responsible for this year’s growth. Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf recently estimated that Apple would ship 30 million iPad tablets in 2011, but the company will likely far exceed that figure if tablet shipments are indeed to surpass 48 million units as MIC predicts.

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A new independent study by security experts at Symantec attempted to measure how secure Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platform are, and also to determine how these mobile platforms stack up against desktop operating systems. Symantec claims that these mobile platforms are much more secure than today’s popular desktop operating systems, though the firm does note that the key variable, as always, is the human element. “Today’s mobile devices are a mixed bag when it comes to security,” said Carey Nachenberg, Symantec Fellow and Chief Architect, in a statement. “While more secure than traditional PCs, these platforms are still vulnerable to many traditional attacks. Moreover, enterprise employees are increasingly using unmanaged, personal devices to access sensitive enterprise resources, and then connecting these devices to 3rd-party services outside of the governance of the enterprise, potentially exposing key assets to attackers.” While Symantec neglects to reach a firm conclusion regarding which mobile OS is the most secure, the firm definitely seems to favor iOS more often than not. It says iOS’ app screening procedure plays a big role in the operating system’s security, and it also says the platform’s architecture makes it better at resisting malware attacks and data integrity attacks. It also says iOS offers better encryption and more secure access control for apps. Symantec’s full press release follows below.

Symantec Analysis of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android Platform Cites Improved Security over PCs, but Major Gaps Remain

The mass adoption of both consumer and managed mobile devices exposes enterprises to new security risks

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – June 28, 2011 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the publication of “A Window into Mobile Device Security: Examining the security approaches employed in Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android” (PDF). This whitepaper conducts an in-depth, technical evaluation of the two predominant mobile platforms, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, in an effort to help corporations understand the security risks of deploying these devices in the enterprise.

Chief among the findings is that while the most popular mobile platforms in use today were designed with security in mind, these provisions are not always sufficient to protect sensitive enterprise assets that regularly find their way onto devices. Complicating matters, today’s mobile devices are increasingly being connected to and synchronized with an entire ecosystem of 3rd-party cloud and desktop-based services outside the enterprise’s control, potentially exposing key enterprise assets to increased risk.

The paper offers a detailed analysis of the security models employed by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platforms, evaluating each platform’s effectiveness against today’s major threats, including:

• Web-based and network-based attacks
• Malware
• Social engineering attacks
• Resource and service availability abuse
• Malicious and unintentional data loss
• Attacks on the integrity of the device’s data

This analysis has led to some important conclusions:

• While offering improved security over traditional desktop-based operating systems, both iOS and Android are still vulnerable to many existing categories of attacks.
• iOS’s security model offers strong protection against traditional malware, primarily due to Apple’s rigorous app certification process and their developer certification process, which vets the identity of each software author and weeds out attackers.
• Google has opted for a less rigorous certification model, permitting any software developer to create and release apps anonymously, without inspection. This lack of certification has arguably led to today’s increasing volume of Android-specific malware.
• Users of both Android and iOS devices regularly synchronize their devices with 3rd-party cloud services (e.g., web-based calendars) and with their home desktop computers. This can potentially expose sensitive enterprise data stored on these devices to systems outside the governance of the enterprise..
• So-called “jailbroken” devices, or devices whose security has been disabled, offer attractive targets for attackers since these devices are every bit as vulnerable as traditional PCs.

Quotes:

“Today’s mobile devices are a mixed bag when it comes to security,” said Carey Nachenberg, Symantec Fellow and Chief Architect, Symantec Security Technology and Response. “While more secure than traditional PCs, these platforms are still vulnerable to many traditional attacks. Moreover, enterprise employees are increasingly using unmanaged, personal devices to access sensitive enterprise resources, and then connecting these devices to 3rd-party services outside of the governance of the enterprise, potentially exposing key assets to attackers.”

About Security Technology and Response

The Security Technology and Response (STAR) organization, which includes Security Response, is a worldwide team of security engineers, threat analysts and researchers that provides the underlying functionality, content and support for all Symantec corporate and consumer security products. With Response centers located throughout the world, STAR monitors malicious code reports from more than 130 million systems across the Internet, receives data from 240,000 network sensors in more than 200 countries and tracks more than 25,000 vulnerabilities affecting more than 55,000 technologies from more than 8,000 vendors. The team uses this vast intelligence to develop and deliver the world’s most comprehensive security protection.

Apple plans to ship more than 8 million MacBook Air computers in the third quarter of 2011, DigiTimes claims in a new report on Friday. The number represents more than twice the total number of Mac computers Apple shipped during its fiscal second quarter. DigiTimes‘ report cites sources within Apple’s supply chain in stating that combined MacBook production was ramped up to 2.2-2.4 million units in June, and Apple is expected to yield 2.7-2.8 million units in July. The Cupertino-based company is expected to release refreshed MacBook Air models ahead of the release of its new Mac operating system, OS X 10.7 Lion, and the notebooks should feature Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt I/O ports. The anticipated spec boost is expected to cause a surge in MacBook Air sales, but a target of 8 million units in a single quarter doesn’t seem terribly realistic; Apple shipped a total of 3.76 million Mac units in its March quarter, including its MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac and Mac Pro lines. Unless Apple also plans to announce a drastic price reduction when it unveils its new MacBook Air PCs in the coming weeks, we don’t see the company coming anywhere close to shipping 8 million units next quarter.

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According to Consumer Reports, Apple’s various lines of laptop computers are the best notebooks in the world. Recent rankings published by the popular nonprofit consumer product tester place Apple computers at the top of every relevant laptop category. Apple’s low-end MacBook Air topped competitive offerings from Dell and HP in the 11-inch category, and its computers took the top five spots in the 13-inch class — the 13-inch MacBook Air was No. 1, followed by three different configurations of the 13-inch MacBook Pro and then Apple’s standard 13-inch MacBook. In the 15-inch category, various configurations of the MacBook Pro took the top three spots, and Apple’s high-end MacBook Pro beat out HP’s Pavillion and the Dell XPS for top billing in the 17-inch category. The only category Apple did not dominate was the 14-inch class, but Apple does not currently offer a 14-inch notebook.

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