Retail consultant RPE (Retail Process Engineering) has partnered with Business Intelligence solution provider Silvon Software, inc.to bring a powerful, web-based business analysis software interface to retailers. under the terms of the agreement, RPE will market Silvon’s Viewer interface for Performance Analysis by IDEAS, a client-server BI application for JDA Software Group’s Merchandise Management System. This new optional interface for Performance Analysis by IDEAS will provide many added features for today’s mobile professionals.
“Viewer for IDEAS will empower our retail customers to easily deliver scorecards, dashboards and reports to executives, line-of-business managers, store managers and numerous other stakeholders across their value chains,” said Rob Henneke, Executive Vice President at RPE. “We’re pleased that Silvon has provided this mobile solution, which will further enhance the value that RPE offers to our retail clients.”
“It’s a pleasure for Silvon to team up with such a highly regarded consulting organization like RPE,” said John Hughes, SVP Sales and Marketing at Silvon. “We look forward to helping their IDEAS customers improve the effectiveness of their merchandising efforts by leveraging the application’s processing power, industry best-practice metrics for analyzing point-of-sale and inventory data, along with the latest advancements in information delivery technology.”
According to Hughes, the Viewer for Performance Analysis by IDEAS interface includes Portal and Reporting Services functionality, allowing customers to create business intelligence portals and custom reports out of the box without the need to invest in additional software. Another powerful feature of the interface is its Exception Management facility, which allows retailers to monitor and react proactively to various business conditions like poor performing locations, excessive shrink or void rates and end delivery performance below required levels.
About RPE as a leading retail consulting firm, RPE specializes in business process improvement, package selection, strategic IT planning and systems implementation to deliver innovative merchandising and supply chain solutions. RPE also provides cloud computing services including hosting, Software as a Service and managed services. RPE is a JDA Software Alliance Partner and Value Added Reseller. Clients include Anna’s Linens, Cabela’s, Charlotte Russe, Guitar Center, Five Below, Fred Meyer, Forzani Group, lululemon athletica, Michael Kors, Modell’s Sporting Goods, Nautica, Perfumania, Party City, Rexall, Spencer Gifts, Vitamin Shoppe, VF Corp. and many more. For more information, visit rpesolutions.com
About Silvon Software, inc. Silvon Software is a global provider of business intelligence solutions for manufacturing, wholesale distribution and retail organizations. Silvon’s solutions are predicated on the fact that a better business understanding will empower the move toward an optimized supply chain. the Company’s 1,800+ clients benefit from improving business practices and profitability by leveraging analytic information on products, customers, suppliers and operational performance via on-line views, scorecards and dashboards; automatically distributed reports; and numerous other information delivery options. For more information, visit silvon.com
SOURCE: Retail Process Engineering
AT&T today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2011, offering a glimpse at the performance of a significant partner of Apple’s for the iPhone and the first data on the carrier’s sales since it lost exclusivity in the United States with the launch of the CDMA iPhone on Verizon.
According to the press release, AT&T activated 3.6 million iPhones during the quarter, up nearly a million from the year-ago quarter. The figure has, however, historically included both sales of new devices and re-activations of previously-sold devices either handed down or resold by their owners, making it impossible to correlate the figure directly with Apple’s own sales performance.
AT&T reports that 23% of iPhone subscribers were new to AT&T, a figure that has steadily declined over the past year or so as the carrier has increasingly already attracted many of the customers most interested in the device.
Perhaps the most notable piece of data is AT&T’s claim that the churn rate for iPhone subscribers was unchanged over the year-ago quarter, indicating that significant numbers of AT&T iPhone customers are not fleeing to Verizon as many observers had expected.
On a broader scale, AT&T reported record smartphone sales of 5.5 million and 10.2% revenue growth in its wireless division. The company’s subscriber base also grew by 2 million to reach 97.5 million.
Apple will release its own earnings for the quarter after the markets close later today.
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As reported by Fudzilla and HardMac, Intel is about to launch its next generation Sandy Bridge ultra low voltage CPUs suitable for the MacBook Air.
Due to the MacBook Air’s thin form factor, it has required the use of particularly low power CPUs from Intel. Apple has stuck with Core 2 Duo processors with a maximum Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 10-17W. Apple is believed to have continued to use this older processor design in order to keep NVIDIA’s graphics chips powering their ultracompact notebook. Due to licensing disputes, NVIDIA was prohibited from building newer chipsets that supported Intel’s newest processors.
With the release of Sandy Bridge, Intel upgraded the performance of their integrated graphics chipset. This was good enough for Apple to offer in their latest 13″ MacBook Pros, so we expect it will be good enough for the upcoming MacBook Airs as well. Apple had been previously rumored to be introducing the “Sandy Bridge” MacBook Airs this June.
HardMac pinpoints the Core i5 2537M (17W) as the possible chip to be used, at least in the 13″ model:
Fortunately, Intel has low consumption processors, well for now, one processor, the Core i5 2537M. It is clocked at 1.4 GHz and features an impressive turbo mode reaching 2.3 GHz. It would be a huge gap with the power currently offered in the MacBook Air, even in the 13″ model. Plus the bus is now 1333 MHZ, while it is only 800 MHz currently.
Meanwhile, the current 11″ MacBook air uses an even lower power (10W) processor, but it’s not clear how much power savings is offered by removing the need for the NVIDIA graphics chipset, as the Intel solution is integrated within the processor itself.
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App Store analytics firm Distimo today issued a new report comparing the performance of Apple’s two-month old Mac App Store to the more mature iPad and iPhone App Store segments, revealing that the Mac App Store is dominated by paid apps that also carry a higher average price than paid iPad apps.
Looking at the 300 most popular apps in each of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac App Stores, Distimo found a clear pattern of popularity, with iPhone and iPod touch apps being downloaded more than five times as often as iPad apps, which themselves are downloaded more than five times as often as Mac apps. But the large disparities in downloads are partially offset by differences in average pricing that see a similar pattern in reverse, although to a lesser degree. Consequently, the differences between each platform are reduced from 5x to 2x when revenue is considered instead of downloads.
The top applications on iPhone generate 2.1 times the revenue of top applications on the iPad. The top paid applications on the iPad in turn generate 2.0 times the revenue of top paid applications in the Mac App Store.
The differences in the ratio of downloads and the ratio of revenue is captured in the average selling price of top 300 applications in the different stores: $1.57 on iPhone, $4.19 on iPad and $11.21 in the Mac App Store.
The Mac App Store also skews more toward paid apps in general than iOS apps, with only 12% of Mac App Store applications currently available for free. That compares to 29% of iPad apps and 35% of iPhone/iPod touch apps.
Based on Distimo’s numbers, Apple’s Mac App Store had about 2,225 applications available in the United States at the end of February when the survey was conducted. Our own sister site AppShopper currently shows that number approaching 3,000.
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Intel today announced that it has discovered a “design error” in its “Cougar Point” support chip that is part of its implementation of the Sandy Bridge architecture for desktop machines, chipsets that are expected to make their way into the next-generation iMac.
As part of ongoing quality assurance, Intel Corporation has discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. The chipset is utilized in PCs with Intel’s latest Second Generation Intel Core processors, code-named Sandy Bridge. Intel has stopped shipment of the affected support chip from its factories. Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the support chip which will resolve the issue. The Sandy Bridge microprocessor is unaffected and no other products are affected by this issue.
The issue, which affects systems utilizing Intel’s second-generation quad-core Core i5 and i7 processors, has pushed back production to a projected late February date for the first shipments and an April date for full recovery. Intel is estimating the entire cost of repair and replacements associated with the issue to be around $700 million.
Apple’s current 27-inch iMac utilizes the first-generation versions of these Core i5 and i7 processors in high-end configurations, and the company is expected to adopt some of these second-generation versions in an update to the line. The iMac was last updated in late July and is approaching the end of its usual update cycle. The issue cited by Intel in today’s release does not affect notebook chipsets such as those expected to be used in a Sandy Bridge update to Apple’s MacBook Pro line, which is also due for an update.
Update: While initial reports had suggested that the issue is limited to desktop versions of the platform, Cougar Point is in fact used in both desktop and mobile chipsets based on Sandy Bridge, indicating that the recall could also delay availability of refreshed Apple notebooks such as MacBook Pros.
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Macworld Expo 2011 kicked off this week with the floor show opening today. This is the second year that Macworld expo has gone on after Apple’s withdrawal in 2009. Last year’s show was considered a success and early reports claim that this year’s show claim higher early numbers in both floor space and pre-registration. Unlike CES and WWDC, Macworld Expo remains open to the general public so much of the foot traffic comes from interested Apple consumers.
The show seemed busy and crowded on the first day, and there were many well known products but also a few new ones.
A brand new product introduced was The Fusion Phone, which promises to be a combination landline dock, speaker and charger for your iPhone. It also provides a traditional dock connector for recharging and a passthrough USB connector so you can sync with your computer.
Beyond the usual dock features, it also offers a bluetooth connection so you can play music or take phone calls through the traditional handset. The Fusion Phone will begin shipping in April, and pre-orders are being taken now for $149.
Navigon, the makers of the popular turn-by-turn navigation app for the iPhone and iPad, announced the release of a car windshield mount accessory with car charging cable. The $49.99 accessory was promoted as a “barely there” design to showcase the iPhone itself.
The company was also promoting its Navigon 1.7 release which came in December. The latest version of the turn-by-turn software offers a single Universal app that supports both iPhone and iPad. Navigon takes advantage of the larger iPad screen to make it easier to plan routes, and those routes can also be sent by email to your iPhone version. So pre-planning can take place on the iPad, even if you don’t want to have to bring it with you in the car. Other new features included Zagat content and Google reviews for restaurant ratings, active lane assistance, retina display support and a way to send back map errors to their map provider.
Navigon North America is presently on sale for $49.99 (from $59.99).
Splashtop was showing off their remote desktop app for iPhone and iPad. The $1.99 apps allow you to remotely control your Mac OS X installation over Wi-Fi or 3G. It does require a client to be installed on your Mac for it to work, but also has full support for sound and claims higher performance than traditional remote desktop clients.
A free trial of the iPad version is available that limits sessions for 5 minutes.
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Apple’s A5 chip for the iPhone 5 and iPad 2 is rumored to bundle an ARM Cortex-A9 processor alongside a dual-core GPU–quadruple the performance of the devices’ predecessors.
Excerpt from:
Apple to go Dual-Core GPU in iPad 2 and iPhone 5?
At the high end of the scale, we spoke with David Frampton of Majic Jungle Software, the developer responsible for Chopper 2, which currently ranks #2 on the “Top Paid” chart behind Angry Birds. Chopper 2 is currently priced at $0.99, 80% off of its planned stable pricing, in order to make a splash with the Mac App Store’s debut.
Riding the momentum of discounted pricing and an established fan base from the original Chopper for Mac and successful Chopper and Chopper 2 games for iOS, Frampton tells us that Chopper 2 for Mac saw nearly 30,000 copies purchased through the Mac App Store yesterday. Accounting for Apple’s 30% cut of Mac App Store revenue means that Majic Jungle Software brought in a little over $20,000 yesterday.
Chopper 2‘s performance is obviously not the norm for most developers, however, so we took a look at a few apps from other developers lower down on the charts, as documented in a thread in the Unity forums. Out of approximately 220 paid games currently available on the Mac App Store, here are some first day sales units and revenues, as well as ranks on Apple’s “Top Grossing” list for games:
- 4×4 Offroad Racing ($3.99): 93 units sold for a total of $371, ranked #76
- Bubble Bang ($2.99): 17 units sold for a total of $51, ranked #150
- Light Quest ($9.99): 3 units sold for a total of $30, ranked #173
- Bubblez ($2.99): 7 units sold for a total of $21, unranked (not in top 180)
As we noted yesterday, we’ve been curious about whether the Mac App Store will experience a similar “race to the bottom” in pricing as seen on the iOS App Store. And in the store’s second day of business, we’re already seeing developers cut prices on some of these low-performing applications in an attempt to stimulate sales, as Chimp Studios reports that it has slashed the price of Light Quest from $9.99 to $4.99 in hopes of generating interest as the market begins to take shape.
In considering the performance of the Mac App Store, it is important to keep in mind that Apple maintains a Mac OS X installed base of about 50 million, with not all machines running Mac OS Snow Leopard and even many Snow Leopard users undoubtedly yet to install the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update required for Mac App Store compatibility. In contrast, Apple’s iOS App Store is well-entrenched with a two-and-a-half year history and over 125 million devices sold.
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During today’s earnings conference call, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that the company has sold over 250,000 units of the revamped Apple TV that was unveiled at the company’s September 1st media event and began shipping at the very end of September.
Responding to a question about how the device is performing in the marketplace and whether users can expect Apple to shift to a streaming model for other products, Jobs noted that Apple doesn’t discuss unannounced products but that it’s been “thrilled” with the performance so far. Jobs also pointed to the AirPlay capabilities in iOS 4.2 set to debut next month as another reason for customers to look to the “very enticing” $99 Apple TV.
One analyst estimated earlier this month that Apple was selling the new Apple TV at a rate of about one million units per quarter, although it will take some time for the true demand to become apparent as the initial wave of orders tapers off and supply constraints experienced at the launch begin to ease.
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Several MacRumors readers have forwarded us emails they received earlier today notifying them of a proposed class-action settlement for customers who purchased certain MacBook Pro models or other Dell and HP notebooks and have been experiencing failures of their graphics chips.
A settlement of a class action lawsuit (The NVIDIA GPU Litigation, Case No. 08-cv-04312-JW) relates to the NVIDIA chips inside certain Dell, Hewlett-Packard (“HP”), and Apple notebook computers. The lawsuit claims that NVIDIA sold defective Graphics Processing Units (“GPU”) and Media and Communications Processors (“MCP”) that affected the performance of some of the notebook computers in which they were incorporated. NVIDIA denies all allegations of wrongdoing and has asserted many defenses. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
For MacBook Pro customers, only those who have experienced the following issues on the covered machines are eligible for compensation:
- Distorted or scrambled video on the notebook computer screen
- No video on the notebook computer screen even when the notebook computer is on
Users who qualify for compensation may be eligible to receive either free replacement of the faulty chip or reimbursement for repairs previously paid-for by the customer to address the problem.
It is unclear exactly what effect the proposed settlement will have on Apple customers in practice, as Apple itself has already stepped up to cover affected machines. After initially covering the machines for the specific issue for two years from date of purchase, Apple in June 2009 increased the coverage to three years. According to the tech note on the topic, Apple in June 2010 again extended the coverage limits to four years, meaning that customers are covered by Apple until at least May 2011. Similar to the NVIDIA settlement, Apple is offering free repairs or refunds for previously paid-for repairs for affected customers.
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