BUSN 226-Marking Rubric-Assignment #1

Your Name:___________________________________

Your Student #_________________________________

|Rubric attached to front of assignment | /1 |
|Cover page and introduction & typed page numbers |/5 |
|Four summaries ( if article not different from other group members, summary will not be marked) |/40 |
|Direct quote and in-text reference included in each |/8 |
|summary , using proper format | |
|Ref Works bibliography addressing all four articles, with works cited in alphabetical order by author |/8 |
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|Original articles attached in same order as shown in bibliography (each article different from group members) |/8 |
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|Late? | |
|If so, 5% or 3.5 marks will be deducted from the total | |
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|Total out of 70 |/70 |
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|Additional Comments | |
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|BlackBerry PlayBook |
|Assignment # 1 |
|Course: Business Analysis Due Jun 14, 2011 |
|Kiran Naz |
|Student # 822-680-633 |

Introduction

Research in Motion Ltd. is the creator of the BlackBerry PlayBook. The main competitors of the BlackBerry Playbook are Motorola Xoom, Apple iPad 2, and the HTC Flyer. The BlackBerry Playbook was just released April 2011 and it was estimated that $3 million PlayBooks were to be sold by the end of the current fiscal year. Now it is estimated that only 2.3 million PlayBook’s will be sold which is a decline of 23%.

Article 1- Industry
RIM Shareholder Adds to Rising Pressure for Leadership Changes
The first article talks about the pressure that Research in Motion Ltd., the maker of BlackBerry Smartphone is under great pressure after an investor mentioned that the company’s leadership requires changes. Separating the roles of the CEO and chairman is what Northwest & Ethical Investments LP called for. Currently Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are co CEO’s and co-chairman’s at Waterloo the Canadian based-company since 1992.
According to Robert Walker, the vice-president at Northwest & Ethical “Separating the positions does put the board in a better position to ask the CEO and other managers the kind of hard questions they have to ask from time to time, " (Miller) Robert also believes that they are two separate roles and should be filled in by two separate people.
Rim is under close inspection from investors and analysts as is loses market share to Apple Inc. and Google Inc. Rim has been cutting their sales and profits and their stock so far this year has declined 37%.
An analyst from Northern Securities has stated that Mike Lazardis should be put in charge and should get rid of its dual CEO structure.
Rim is disagreeing with separating roles and advised shareholders to vote against the proposal that Northwest and Ethical submitted. The outcome of this situation will be voted on July 12.
3 months prior Rim’s stocks were falling and they changed their target share price from $60 to $45. Bloomberg data were saying that making changes at the top will not be easy and can create potential problems for shareholders since both Balsillie and Lazaridis has been involved in the company from inception. Balsillie owns 3.1 million shares while Lazaridis owns 28.1 million shares. They both own 10 percent of the company and very involved in sales and engineering so by removing the CEO the organization could be in turmoil.
Article 2- Competitors
Apple iPad 2 vs HTC Flyer vs Motorola Xoom vs BlackBerry PlayBook
This article compares the 3 different tablets against the ipad 2. The Playbook, HTC Flyer, and Motorola Xoom.
Size:
Ipad 2- Is slim and light. The edges are sharp which can easily be smashed in.
Motorola Xoom- It is heavier that the 7-inch Flyer and Playbook.
Flyer- The case is white that features a wide black bezel, comes with a free leather case, the plastic edges wobble and when rotating between portrait and landscape the buttons move from side to the bottom of the bezel magically.
Playbook- 'The PlayBook is stealthy and light, with a toned-down, squarish, black look. '(Graham) The power button is very small. It does not have home button, you just swipe it up from the bottom of the screen.

Usability:

iPad 2- Easy and simple to use and Apple has a strict user interface that has resulted in apps that fit well with the rest of the interface.
Motorola Xoom- Has customizable widgets and shortcuts and has an Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. The next update will allow resizing of widgets.
Flyer- Runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Has colorful widgets and bundled stylus.
Playbook- Very similar to the BlackBerry and has multitasking.
Apps:
iPad 2- Winner of undisputed apps but does not run iMovie.
Motorola Xoom- Android market has not specifically designed apps for the Xoom so the apps do not look right on the screen.
Flyer- Cannot install tablet-specific apps.
Playbook- The existing BlackBerry apps do not work on the playbook.

Video:

iPad 2- To watch movies on your iPad you must transfer it to an iPad friendly format. Most movies require flash but the iPad 2 lacks it.
Motorola Xoom- Has a 10.1 inch screen which is bigger than the iPad screen which is only 9.7 inches. You can transfer movies to the Xoom with a USB cable and also has flash support.
Flyer- Has watch, HTC’s new movie store. Purchases made through watch can be transferred up to 5 other HTC devices but cannot be watched through the computer. You can start watching the movie before it is fully downloaded.
Playbook- Movies can be transferred through a USB cable. It does not have a video store.

Web Browsing:

iPad 2- Fast browsing and does not have flash which most websites require.
Motorola Xoom and the Flyer both use Android Web browser. Both are a bit slower than the iPad but they both support flash.
Playbook- Has flash support which is quite quick.

EBooks:

iPad 2- Has an ebook app. It can be heavy when reading books through the iPad but has a great battery life.
Motorola Xoom- Heaviest of the tablets.
Flyer- Has its own ebook store and is small in size which feels like a paperback book.

E-mail:

iPad- Easy to navigate but it is limited for example, not flexible in adding attachments.
Motorola Xoom- Best on-screen keyboards and also supports multi-touch. This makes it easy to move from letters, numbers and symbols.
Flyer- Gmail app on the tablet is the version for the phones and you miss out on the tablet features such as split screens.
Playbook- Offers e-mail when the BlackBerry phone is connected over Bluetooth. If you do not have your phone you can’t check your messages.

Article 3- Brands
BlackBerry PlayBook review

This article talks about the new BlackBerry PlayBook that has recently come out. It is the Apple iPad 2’ challenger.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is running on an operating system called QNX that has features such as using the BlackBerry phone to secure e-mails. It has built in- viewers for spreadsheets and word processing files. It is also fast on a dual-core 1GHz processor.
The BlackBerry PlayBook has 3MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera and a 1200x600 resolution screen. The PlayBook is quite light that weighs about 425g and has a 7-inch screen.
The PlayBook does not have 3rd party apps but is promising in the near future that they will be coming up with it.
'File storage capabilities, support for an HDMI connection for playing 1080p video and a slick interface make the PlayBook an interesting anomaly. '(Brandon)

The PlayBook has a multi-tasking feature where you can watch a video in one window and you can play a game in another window.
Research in Motion is going to continue working with developers to boost their device out of the niche territory.
The 16GB iPad 2 is the same price as the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Article 4- Association
CES Kicks Off With Focus on Tablets, Smart Phones, and Internet TVs The consumer electronics show also known as CES International which is the world’s biggest consumer electronics expect sales of consumer electronics to grow by 10% this year.
The smart phones, tablets, and TV’s are the hottest categories and will be competing against devices introduced by Apple. Last year E-readers were on the list of hot products at CES only until the tablet by iPad were introduced. This year the tablets are extremely popular and there are many companies that waiting to launch their products for CES. In 2010 CES the 3D televisions were the biggest trends but consumers were not embracing them and now the CES marketing machines are talking about Internet-enables smart TV. Internet-ready TV’s are expected to ship out over 50% in the next two to three years. Analyst John F. Bright of Avondale Partners said, “We expect the major consumer electronics makers to dedicate more effort to honing their connected solutions in 2011.” (Bigelow)An analyst named John F. Bright states for businesses to have a successful approach, they need to create relationships with the key studios and OEM, have a simple user interface and reasonable pricing. The two largest exhibitors at CES are expected to be San Diego’s Qualcomm and Sony Electronics.

RIM Shareholder Adds to Rising Pressure for Leadership Changes
June 11, 2011, 12:18 AM EDT
More From Businessweek • Hewlett-Packard Said to Plan Devices That Make Wireless Payments • RIM Expands PlayBook Sales to Europe, Asia, Latin America • Maple Group Says TMX Shareholders Need More Time to Vote • RIM Shareholder Calls for Separation of Chairman, CEO Roles • [Groupon Said to Offer Role to More Banks in Initial Offering]
Story Tools • • • inShare26 • • add to Business Exchange • E-mail • Print
By Hugo Miller
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, faces growing pressure to overhaul its leadership after an investor called for changes to give the board more independent oversight of management.
Northwest & Ethical Investments LP called for RIM to separate the roles of chairman and chief executive officer and to name an independent board member to the chairman’s post, according to a securities filing yesterday. Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are co-CEOs and co-chairmen at the Waterloo, Ontario-based company.
“Separating the positions does put the board in a better position to ask the CEO and other managers the kind of hard questions they have to ask from time to time,” Robert Walker, vice president, ethical funds at Northwest & Ethical, said in an interview. “The chairman and CEO are two separate roles and should be filled by separate people.”
RIM is coming under increasing scrutiny from investors and analysts as it loses smartphone market share to Apple Inc. and handset makers that use the Android software from Google Inc. RIM cut its sales and profit guidance in April and its stock has dropped 37 percent so far this year.
Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Northern Securities Inc. in Toronto, suggested in April that the company should scrap its dual-CEO structure and put Lazaridis in charge. UBS AG analysts said last week that RIM has too much concentration of responsibility with Balsillie and Lazaridis.
RIM Disagrees
Northwest & Ethical’s proposal was included in RIM’s proxy statement and will be voted on by investors at the company’s annual meeting July 12. In the filing, RIM advised shareholders to vote against the proposal, arguing that the board’s outside lead director already ensures the directors’ independent oversight and operation.
Northwest & Ethical called and wrote to RIM about its concerns in January and after getting no response by February, decided to file a resolution, said Walker. The Toronto-based company, which manages about $5 billion in assets including RIM shares, met with RIM twice in March and April, he said.
Balsillie stepped down as chairman of RIM in March 2007 following an Ontario Securities Commission investigation into backdating of stock options because that was “consistent with current best practices in corporate governance,” RIM said in a statement at the time. He returned as co-chairman in December.
“We were quite surprised when RIM decided to combine the co-chairs and co-CEOs,” said Walker.
Lazaridis, who invented the BlackBerry to handle mobile e- mail, has shared the role of CEO with Balsillie since 1992.
Losing Share
RIM’s share of U.S. smartphone subscribers dropped 4.7 percentage points to 25.7 percent in April from three months earlier, according to ComScore Inc. Revenue growth in markets such as Latin America may also be threatened as Android devices catch on outside the U.S., the UBS analysts said last week as they lowered their price target on RIM to $45 from $60.
RIM fell $1.05, or 2.8 percent, to $36.56 on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday.
“I don’t think separating the chairman and CEO role is really addressing the problems,” said Matt Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities LLC in Boston. “Investors are frustrated and there’s a brewing sentiment that there needs to be a change of leadership.”
However, any change at the top would be difficult to trigger and could create a headache for shareholders given the two men’s involvement and investment in the company from its inception, said Thornton. He has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Balsillie owns 31.1 million shares or 5.9 percent of outstanding RIM stock, while Lazaridis owns 28.1 million shares, equivalent to 5.4 percent, according to Bloomberg data.
“The problem is these two people own 10 percent of the company, and have a heavy involvement in sales and engineering,” Thornton said. “If you were to remove the CEOs, there’d be chaos in the organization.”
--Editors: Peter Elstrom, Nick Turner
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net

Apple iPad 2 vs HTC Flyer vs Motorola Xoom vs BlackBerry PlayBook
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Laptops
The Apple iPad 2 sits smugly atop the tablet mountain like a hermit who's just solved the Countdown equation faster than Carol Vorderman. But there's an army of tablets crawling up the slope, poised to steal the iPad 2's place at the top. Here are some of the best, pitted against each other in mortal combat, under a giant, ever-counting clock.
Going up against the iPad 2 are the Motorola Xoom, HTC Flyer and BlackBerry PlayBook. We've picked the top tablet features and compared them side by side on each device for your delectation.
Each tablet has its strengths, but we found clear winners when it comes to surfing the Web, checking your email and installing apps and games. We also made our picks for the best tablet for watching videos and reading ebooks. We looked at how easy each tablet is to use and which has the most crave-worthy design too.
When you've feasted your eyeballs on what lies below, don't forget to read our full review of each tablet for more in-depth analysis.
Size and appearance
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The iPad 2 isn't that different from the tablet that created the genre, the original iPad. But its eye-wateringly slim case is so light that it sent Samsung back to the drawing board with its own Galaxy Tab 10.1. The slim case definitely gives your arms a break, but the razor-sharp edges are easy to bash in -- we've been through two repairs already.
The Motorola Xoom didn't have time to shave off any weight before it came out, just after the iPad 2. So, although it's on a par with the original iPad in terms of weight, it feels rather hefty compared to Apple's latest model. With a 10.1-inch screen, it's also much heavier than the 7-inch Flyer and PlayBook. This is a tablet for use in the home, where you can use a small child or the like to prop it up.
The Flyer's aluminium and white-plastic case features a wide black bezel. The tablet also comes with a free white leather case. Overall, we'd describe the Flyer's looks as somewhere between fashionista and chav-tastic. The plastic edges do wobble slightly under a solid grip, but the Flyer also has one of the coolest features we've seen -- the buttons move magically from the side to the bottom of the bezel when you rotate the tablet between portrait and landscape mode. Cool.
The PlayBook is stealthy and light, with a toned-down, squarish, black look. No buttons disrupt its face -- instead of a home button, you simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen. It's too bad the power button is so tiny that you need a finger like a toothpick to press it.
Looks are a matter of taste, and all these tablets have acres of aesthetic appeal. But the iPad 2 is so stunningly thin and light for its size that we give it the prize for design.
Usability
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The iPad 2 is so easy to use that a cat, baby or even baby cat can operate it. Its simple grid of icons means this tablet doesn't offer much in the way of customisability, though. On the plus side, Apple's strict user-interface rules have resulted in apps that generally fit well with the rest of the interface.
The Xoom is a riot of customisable widgets and shortcuts that should satisfy the most dedicated tweaker. It runs the tablet-optimised Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, and the next Android software update promises the ability to resize the widgets. That's good news, because we found there was often space for too much stuff on the Xoom's screen, so it can quickly feel chaotic.
The Flyer is also an Android tablet, but it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which is intended for smart phones. That could have made it feel like a giant phone, but it doesn't affect the device's usability much, because HTC has tweaked almost every app and screen in the software. Huge colourful widgets and a bundled stylus make this tablet feel fun and playful.
The PlayBook's new UI manages to look much like that of a BlackBerry phone, while still being suited to a tablet. The focus is on multitasking, with a menu beneath a wide open area letting you sort through all your open apps. The gestures take some getting used to but, once they're burned into your memory, they become instinctive.
If you're anxious about usability, the iPad 2 is definitely the simplest tablet out there. But the Xoom is far more customisable, and the Flyer offers a good compromise between the flexibility of Android and a bright, attractive UI.
Apps
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The iPad 2 is the undisputed champion of apps, at least for now. Apple's App Store is packed full of apps that developers have specifically designed to look good on the big screen. It's also the platform of choice for newspapers and magazines that put out special versions of their publications for tablets.
Although the iPad 2 only adds a smidgen of speed to its predecessor, there are already apps that the original iPad can't run, such as iMovie. Despite its higher cost, then, it's worth shelling out for the iPad 2, because the number of apps that require its improved processing power is bound to increase.
The Xoom is likely to catch up quickly, though, because it runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb. This operating system has already made it to several other tablets, and plenty more Honeycomb slates are on the way. With plenty of tablets to target, it's only a matter of time before developers start churning out apps for the Xoom and its Honeycomb brethren.
At the moment, however, the Android Market is sorely lacking in apps that have been specifically designed for the Xoom's huge, 10.1-inch screen. You can install one of the zillions of apps built for Android phones, but they often don't look quite right on the Xoom, appearing stretched-out or blurry in places. The Android Market also has some work to do to make Honeycomb apps easier to find.
Apps are where the Flyer falls down. It's still running the phone version of Android, so you won't have the option to even install tablet-specific apps until it receives a software upgrade. Happily, HTC has promised that a software refresh is on the way.
The PlayBook's new OS means existing BlackBerry apps won't work on the tablet, although the BlackBerry platform has never had the biggest selection of apps anyway. The PlayBook's app store is bound to fill up over time, but, at the moment, apps are very thin on the ground, and it's likely to never catch up to the selection available for the iPad 2 or its Android competitors.
The iPad 2 easily bests its competitors when it comes to tablet apps, and probably will for a while. If apps are your addiction, it's the one to beat.
Video
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The iTunes Store makes movies and TV laughably easy to buy on the iPad 2, but getting your own flicks onto the tablet can be a big faff. It is possible to convert most videos to an iPad-friendly format, but it's often easier to use an app like Livedrive to stream your movies directly from your computer. The iPad 2 also lacks Flash in the browser, so many online videos are off limits.
The Xoom has a slightly bigger screen than the iPad 2 -- 10.1 compared to 9.7 inches -- which means there's more space for watching movies. It's also easier to get movies onto the tablet -- you can chuck any file onto it over a USB cable.
The Flyer comes with Watch, HTC's new movie store. You can share your purchases with up to five other HTC devices, such as a phone, but you can't watch them on your computer. On the plus side, a download manager means you can start watching a film before it's fully downloaded, which is a treat the other tablets don't offer.
The PlayBook's small size makes it convenient for watching video on the run, but it doesn't have a video store, so you'll have to load up your tablet over the USB cable.
Thanks to its big screen, USB connection and Flash support, the Xoom is our choice for film buffs.
Web browsing
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The iPad 2's Web browser is fast, but there's one big flaw. Apple chief Steve Jobs is entrenched in a battle with Adobe that will rend the very fabric of the universe in two before we see Flash Player on the iPad. In the meantime, websites on the iPad 2 will be full of Flash-shaped holes until every Web designer in the world gets around to learning HTML5 and redesigning all their sites to use it.
The Xoom and Flyer both use the Android Web browser, and do a similarly fantastic job of serving up the Internet. In our tests, the Android browser has proven slightly slower than the iPad 2's browser, but the difference isn't extreme. Plus, both tablets support Flash.
Although HTC has made some smart tweaks to the Flyer's browser to make it more tablet-friendly, the Xoom has the edge because its newer version of the Android browser offers tabs. Tabs make it fast and easy to swap between open windows.
The PlayBook's browser also does a bang-up job of rendering pages quickly and accurately, but it really blew us away with its Flash support. Flash video plays quickly and smoothly, causing us to crown it the Flash master among the tablets we've tested.
We're suckers for tabbed browsing, so the Xoom pips its competitors to earn the title of best tablet for cruising the Infobahn.
Ebooks
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All the tablets we tested have screens that are sufficiently sharp to make reading easy. That said, their backlit LCD displays aren't as easy on the eye as the E Ink screen of a dedicated ebook reader such as the Amazon Kindle.
The iPad 2 supports Apple's own ebook reader app, iBooks, as well as competitor's apps, such as the Kindle app. The iPad 2 is rather too heavy for holding up during a long reading session, but its insanely good battery life means you'll tire out before it does.
The Xoom promised to launch with Google's Editions ebook app, but we still haven't had the chance to test the search giant's effort. You can still get the Kindle app, among others, on the Xoom. It's the heaviest of these tablets, however, and, unless you're looking to develop forearms like Popeye's, you won't want to hold it up for long.
The Flyer runs HTC's own ebook store. The tablet's small size makes it more like a paperback than a hefty tome. The PlayBook offers the same advantage, but you'll have to wait a while for Amazon to finish its Kindle app for the device. In the meantime, there are plenty of good reads on the Kobo app that comes pre-installed on the PlayBook.
These four tablets are almost evenly matched as ebook readers, but we hand the prize to the Flyer, because of its handy paperback size and access to the wide range of Android ebook apps.
Email
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The iPad 2's email client is easy to use, but it also has its limitations. It's not as flexible as a PC when it comes to adding attachments, for example.
The Xoom has one of the best on-screen keyboards of any tablet, which is a bonus where you're typing long missives. It also supports multi-touch, which makes it easy to jump between letters, numbers and symbols while you're in full flow. Like all Android devices, it splits your email between a Gmail app and an email app for everything else. If you use Gmail, you're sure to get all its features on the Xoom, such as labelling your mail.
On the contrary, the Flyer, despite being an Android tablet, isn't the best choice for Gmailers. HTC's own email app is good, but the Gmail app on the tablet is the version that's designed for phones. That means that you'll miss out on tablet features, such as a split screen that shows your inbox alongside a message.
The PlayBook only offers email via a BlackBerry phone connected over Bluetooth. That keeps your email secure but means that, if you don't have a BlackBerry or it's not nearby, you can't see your messages at all. You can check webmail in the browser, but that won't work offline. Because of this arrangement, we don't recommend buying the PlayBook unless you're a security obsessive who never intends to deviate from the BlackBerry path.
Overall, the Xoom zooms to the front of the pack when it comes to email, especially where Gmail users are concerned.

BlackBerry PlayBook review

Promising new multi-tasking tablet has a serious app problem
Our Score 3

Last reviewed: 2011-04-26April 26th

• REVIEW • USER REVIEWS • PHOTOS • FULL SPEC • COMPARE DEALS • ALSO CONSIDER
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Our in-depth BlackBerry Playbook review

With a name that sounds like something you'd use at a sporting event, the BlackBerry PlayBook is the latest – and most unique – Apple iPad 2 challenger.

Running a new OS called QNX, with quirky features like bridging to a BlackBerry phone for secure email and an oddly confusing initial setup, the PlayBook is a stark departure from the more iPad-like Motorola Xoom. Business-minded features such as built-in viewers for spreadsheets and word processing files are welcome, and the PlayBook gets extra credit for being fast and nimble on a dual-core 1GHz processor.

Throw in a 3MP front-facing camera, a 5MP rear-facing one, a bright and crisp 1200x600 resolution screen, a light 425g body and all the typical gyro, accelerometer and GPS sensors and you have the makings for a powerful 7-inch tablet.

As we discovered in our first hands on test, the PlayBook is sorely lacking third-party apps, but does show promise.

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The powerful multi-tasking, where you can run a video in one window and play a game in another with both apps running concurrently, is a first of its kind for a mainstream tab.

File storage capabilities, support for an HDMI connection for playing 1080p video and a slick interface make the PlayBook an interesting anomaly. Unfortunately, the overall experience can't compete with either the iPad 2 or the Xoom, and even falters compared to the original Samsung Galaxy Tab.

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Yet, we're still hopeful that Research in Motion (RIM) will keep working with developers (it gave them free PlayBooks if they created an app) and boost the device out of niche territory.

At $500 (£300) for the 16GB model we tested (there are also 32GB and 64GB versions available), the PlayBook is the same price as the entry-level 16GB Apple iPad 2.

Read more: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/tablets/blackberry-playbook-947731/review?#ixzz1P8f1DRDQ
CES Kicks Off With Focus on Tablets, Smart Phones, and Internet TVs
[pic]By Bruce V. Bigelow

1:02 a.m., Jan. 6, 2011

The world’s biggest consumer electronics show, officially known as CES International 2011, is holding some preview events this evening, with the main event opening tomorrow for 126,000 registered attendees at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Global retail sales of consumer electronics are expected to grow by 10 percent this year, from $873 billion in 2010 to $964 billion in 2011, according to the show’s sponsor, the Consumer Electronics Association. (Global sales grew by 13 percent in 2010, after a 9 percent decline in 2009.)

The hottest categories aren’t too hard to predict: smart phones, tablets, and TVs. The question really is which devices in each category will prove to be the most innovative and popular. Many of the electronics products that will be launched in the next few days are intended to compete against devices introduced by Apple—but Apple doesn’t participate in the year’s biggest tech event.

Apple nevertheless looms large. E-readers were on the list of hot products at last year’s CES—until Apple introduced its iPad tablet. This year tablets are hot, and many companies are reserving their product launch for CES. “I have a list of 80+ tablets that have been announced and many of these will see the light of day at the 2011 CES,” writes Shawn Dubravac, the CEA’s chief economist and director of research. And no wonder: Analysts estimate that Apple has sold nearly 13 million iPads, which start at $499.

TVs provide an even better example of the inherent challenge for manufacturers in breaking through the competitive clutter. One of the biggest “trends” of the 2010 CES was 3D television, which was buoyed by the sensational theatrical success of Avatar, the sci-fi adaptation of the Pocahontas story in 3D. But consumers didn’t exactly embrace 3D TVs, and now the CES marketing machines are buzzing (and tweeting) about Internet-enabled “smart TV.” The important nuance, though, is more about the practicality of Internet-enabled TV, and how it can be used.

Roughly 10 to 20 percent of the TVs shipped in 2010 were Internet-ready, which is expected to exceed 50 percent in two to three years, according to analyst John F. Bright of Avondale Partners. “We expect the major consumer electronics makers to dedicate more effort to honing their connected solutions in 2011,” Bright writes in a CES preview. “In our view, three things are needed for a successful approach: relationships with the key studios and OEMs, a simple user interface, and reasonable, transparent pricing.”

Because the market remains unsettled, opportunities still abound for companies that make Internet TV possible, including San Diego’s Entropic Communications, which makes set-top boxes, and DivX, the digital video codec developer that is now part of Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC).

San Diego’s Qualcomm and Sony Electronics are expected to be two of the largest exhibitors at CES. Other San Diego-area companies exhibiting at the show are Globatel Media, Iomega, Jitterbug, Mad Catz, Novatel Wireless, Packet Video, Pathway Innovations & Technologies, Quality Systems Integrated, Steren Electronics, Telcentris (VoxOx), Trexta, VNA Group, and Zealth Audio.

Bibliography

Miller, Hugo. RIM Shareholder Adds to Rising Pressure for Leadership Changes. 11 June 2011. 13 June 2011 .

Graham, Flora. Apple iPad 2 vs HTC Flyer vs Motorola Xoom vs BlackBerry PlayBook. 8 June 2011. 13 June 2011 .

Brandon, John. BlackBerry PlayBook review. 26 April 2011. 13 June 2011 .

Bigelow, Bruce V. CES Kicks Off With Focus on Tablets, Smart Phones, and Internet TVs. 01 May 2011. 13 June 2011 .