PC Retail Issue 62, November 2008 by Intent Media (now Newbay Media Europe)

PCRetail

INCORPORATING

Issue 62 November 2008

www.pcretailmag.com incorporating

THE TRADE MONTHLY FOR ALL COMPUTER RETAILERS AND IT SUPPLIERS

NOVEMBER 2008 INCORPORATING

Money trouble PCRETAIL CONTACTS Editor Andrew Wooden andrew.wooden@intentmedia.co.uk

Deputy Editor Ben Furfie ben.furfie@intentmedia.co.uk

Staff Writer Matt Grainger matt.grainger@intentmedia.co.uk

Editorial Production Manager Helen French helen.french@intentmedia.co.uk

Managing Editor Lisa Foster lisa.foster@intentmedia.co.uk

Executive Advertising Manager Katie Rawlings katie.rawlings@intentmedia.co.uk

Advertising Executive Carly Bailey carly.bailey@intentmedia.co.uk

Production Executive Abigail Fanger abigail.fanger@intentmedia.co.uk

Designer Kelly Styles

YOU DON’T need me to tell you the economy’s gone all wrong, to use the technical economic term. It seems practically every news resource has more or less turned itself over to exclusively musing on fiscal matters. Musing because there’s often nothing new to report on – but the Credit Crunch is so high on the agenda of tabloids and broadsheets alike that you end up with anything on the subject qualifying as news. This is usually an analyst whimsically waffling about might happen in two year’s time. If there’s not an analyst available you’ll see a plumber being interviewed about who’s to blame for creating a culture of borrowing beyond means (usually Brown) and what’s going to happen in the future (usually total annihilation for every country with a bank account). By the way, where were all these experts two year’s ago, if they’re so brimming with foresight? Despite media flapping, the truth of the matter according to the Government, is that we are facing tough times as we head up to Christmas, and retail will be one of first and worst hit. The PC industry has shifted itself out of the ‘luxury good’ category sufficiently that when shoppers start running their fingers down the shopping list for things to cull – the first against the wall are surely that preposterously flavoured and named ice cream

that costs £20, takeaway curries, and the next box set of that arbitrary US TV series you’ve been convincing yourself is gripping – often repairing, replacing or buying a new PC won’t be seen as dispensable. People ‘need’ things like internet and email these days, just like businesses have evolved to become so intertwined with the technology that they become floundering, gasping fish when the server goes down. However it would be foolish not to expect any repercussions for retail. While I might be jibing how often we’re reminded that there’s trouble in Britain’s collective wallet, they’re not making it all up. It’s worth thinking about how to squeeze the most out of a more reluctant customer base this Christmas – and most seem to think lower priced ‘gifty’ ideas will be a good way of buffering whatever trouble there may be ahead (see our news story on page 11 and our Christmas gift feature on page 63). While you’re battling with that, the weight of Best Buy’s European invasion has been finally fleshed out, and it seems the UK will be the retail giant’s Normandy beaches of the 200 store assault. Still, on the bright side, the PC Retail Awards are coming up. Wouldn’t winning one make all that trouble outside more bearable? Of course it would. Turn to page 37 to find out how.

Despite media flapping, we are facing tough times as we head up to Christmas.

Andrew Wooden, Editor andrew.wooden@intentmedia.co.uk

kelly.styles@intentmedia.co.uk

Publisher Stuart Dinsey 01992 535646

EDITORIAL: 01992 535646 ADVERTISING: 01992 535647

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LATEST NEWS STRAIGHT TO YOUR MOBILE PC Retail - Total average monthly net circulation for January 1st to December 31st 2007: 13,885.

Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations PC Retail is published 12 times a year by Intent Media - Saxon House, 6a St.Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 1JA Fax: +44 (0)1992 535648. © Intent Media 2007 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Printed by Pensord. SUBSCRIPTIONS UK: £50 Europe: £60 Rest of World: £90. The international cost applies per subscription and covers airmail dispatch of 12 issues. To order your subscription via Visa, MasterCard, Amex Switch or Delta contact pcr.subscriptions@c-cms.com or call 01580 883848. Alternatively visit our website www.pcretailmag.com Subscriptions Manager: Hannah Short, Hannah.Short@intentmedia.co.uk

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PCRetail ISSUE 62 NOVEMBER 2008

Contents How to win a PC Retail Award

All you need to know about the trade’s very own award ceremony

100

REGULARS

FACTS AND FIGURES

News

Appointments PCA

24 100

Keith Warburton, CEO, talks about the causes and repercussions of data loss and what you can do to avoid it

101

Mac Association

101

Robert Peckham, Executive Director of the Mac Technology Association talks all things Mac

ITACS/NASCR

102

Games Releases 87 Plug and Play

GfK Analysis

Hardware Charts 91 Software Charts

MARKETPLACE

The two trade bodies talk about the importance of safe surfing and how to turn the multiple’s tricks against them

Notes from the Frontline 26 103

Richard Mills shares his knowledge from the Frontline of IT Support

Agony Uncle

103

Problems solved by our resident Agony Uncle Iain Shaw

Letters

This month the government’s potential plans to enforce licensing on PCs angers the PC Retail community

4 PCRetail November

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Christmas Gifts As the most lucrative time of the year approaches, we take a look at some of the products that can boost your margins in the festive buying period

HP Interview The giant PC vendor discusses the growing importance of fashion in consumer electronics, as well as its recent successes and plans for the future

31 Mystery Shopper

This month, our mystery shopper goes to Derby, looking for external hard drives, flash disks and other storage solutions

Apple

Steve Jobsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; firm has a level of customer loyalty most firms would kill for. What exactly is the Apple effect?

Digital Imaging

A guide to the latest digital cameras and video cameras on the market, from budget offerings to high-end behemoths with more megapixels than you can shake a stick at

68 Security

www.pcretailmag.com

A run down of the latest software made to combat malware, viruses and security threats on the market

PCRetail November 5

LATEST NEWS

LETTERS

STRAIGHT TO YOUR MOBILE

BOOKMARK US: mobile.pcretailmag.com

PCretailmag.com – join the debate This month, rumours over potential licensing for PCs ruffles the feathers of our readers in the UK, while an analyst’s assertion that US retail giant Circuit City could go bankrupt gets our readers across the pond worked up. What do the rest of you think...? Ofcom looking at PC ‘licence’ Great, just what we all need, another stealth tax in Rip Off Britain! M Taylor I agree with M Taylor, the next thing will be a tax on bloody fresh air. It’s about time we scrap the TV licence anyway – let ‘Auntie’ fend for itself like other broadcasters. Agent Online broadcasters are already expected to pay PPL and MRCS fees. Now the authorities want a double bite of the cherry from the public as well. Any which way they can they will rip us off and keep us down. Jeez, what a greedy grasping country this has become, and still they don’t learn from events like the so called ‘credit crunch’. Greed, greed and more greed. Anon That just takes the biscuit. Don't worry too much about handing out a few billion to rescue the ‘banks’ that have screwed businesses for the last couple of decades and are now sloping off to hide in some dingy corner of the globe as the going

28 PCRetail November

and just Best Buy. Some people will always prefer the slower retail stores like Circuit City over the over-stuffed Best Buy stores. Can’t say shopping in a store full of little mall rats is fun. This is the first step to more sales via the internet. Craig gets tough. Makes my blood boil. I thought Ofcom was meant to act in the consumer’s interest – not some bloated bureaucracy’s. I agree with the statement above – time to let ‘Auntie’ fend for itself. JimC I wonder how much these people are paid to come up with yet more tax ideas. This Government never fails to amaze me. I’ll wager their salary is a great deal more than mine. I think it’s time to bail out. As John Major once said, will the last person leaving the country please turn the lights out? John Duddridge

I prefer Circuit City over Best Buy any day. It’s cheaper if you shop around, especially online prices versus in-store prices, and they will be happy to price match it at checkout. Also, with the switch over for local TV broadcasting stations from analogue to digital coming in February, I believe it will be profitable for all electronic stores

including Circuit City and BB. Just my two cents. Bsdbum Sales via internet = good. Retail closings = bad. There are too many people who use retailers exclusively who don’t know/can’t learn how to buy things online; the customers who will be forced into Best Buy for a technology store and Wal-Mart for prices. It’s either Wal-Mart with no support or Best Buy with over-priced and misleading support. Competition = good. Also think of the jobs, man! Thousands of people are employed by Circuit City. Liz

Analyst: Circuit City will go bankrupt This is very, very bad news for the consumer world with no Circuit City

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The IT Crowd It would be wrong to call the last three months quiet, especially in the case of HP. With a solid increase in profits it is continuing to look strong worldwide. Ben Furfie sat down with vice president and general manager of HP’s Personal Systems Group, David Wright to catch up…

What we saw was a pretty balanced business between consumer and commercial customers. Both of them grew in Q3 at similar rates throughout the period.

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HP’s Q3 profits were up 14 per cent on the same period last year – what was the main driver of this? From a global perspective, with regards to the Personal Systems Group, we grew around 15 per cent, so about $10 billion in revenue. And shipments were up 20 per cent, so it was a pretty good quarter from a top-line point of view. What we saw was a lot of growth in the notebook segment, and so I think a lot of the success [in the Personal Systems Group] is around the continued growth in laptop sales. Those were up around 26 per cent, while desktops were up at around six per cent. So there was some growth in desktops, but the majority was in notebooks.

I think the other thing we saw was a pretty balanced business between consumer and commercial customers. Both of them grew in Q3 at quite similar rates throughout the period: around 15 per cent commercial and 17 per cent for consumer. So, a pretty well balanced business – and as you say – a reasonably good profitability. And I think that’s driven by that balance; us continuing to stimulate innovation and having a good scale in the business. At the same time, what we’re trying to do is make sure that we have a good product in the market and great design; providing the kind of products that our customers need, so that gives us a pretty strong position in the marketplace.

PCRetail November 31

Are you expecting this growth to continue into next year? We see – certainly in the PC industry – the continuation of strong demand particularly around notebooks, and a business that continues to grow strongly worldwide. But beyond that, I can’t really comment.

What will the acquisition of EDS allow you to do, and what are your plans for it? For us, EDS is seen as a key acquisition for HP overall, in terms of helping us to deliver a full services proposition. In terms of what it does for the company, it helps us scale and helps us drive even harder in to the outsourcing business.

You’ve been investing in your initiatives set up to support the US channel – are there any plans to bolster spend and support in the UK? HP is focused on a partnership approach to the market, and that has been true for many, many years. As you say, we’ve done some extra work in the US, and we continue to do the same in the rest of Europe and the UK. Just to give you some examples of that, on the commercial side we’re extending our Preferred Partner Programme, creating a Gold Preferred Partner to help us focus on the largest partners and those who are focusing on particular solution areas; it means we can work with them more closely. And on the consumer side – as you’re probably aware – we’re focusing on things like store-in-store, aimed at providing our customers with a better experience of HP technology and by working with epartners to provide a strong store-in-store experience.

What were you hoping to achieve with the autumn consumer event in September? We ran an event in Berlin back in June, and I think we had some good success at that. The autumn event was to update the press and analysts on how we continue to deliver our strategy and show off the key new products – and in particular, the Christmas line-up. Key things we showed were the new HP Touch Smart IQ800. We also showed HTX high-end notebooks – a 16-inch and an 18inch version – and then a whole range of other notebooks. And then the final thing we showed was a collaboration with fashion designer Vivianne Tam. We did some work with her at the New York fashion show, where we showed a new PC-based product which was part of her Clutch collection – a small, PC-based product – with a design linked into linked into the designs she showed off during the Fashion Week. It was pretty different to what we’ve done in the past, and you know, hopefully showing that we’re trying to go beyond just standard PCs, and really focus around not just great products, but also great design.

Which retailers have you been working with on the store-in-store initiative, and is it likely to be expanded in the future? At the moment, what we’ve done so far is we held an event in the Harrods store-in-store, which was done with Harrods themselves and Micro Anvika as a partner. We are also doing some broader things, but I can’t really talk about them just yet.

32 PCRetail November

Are you seeing a lot of demand for fashionable products? Is it because the market has expanded as people see their PCs as more of a lifestyle accessory than just another functional object to be used only in the home or the office? Yes, absolutely. I think it has become – even on the basic products – an expectation that you have a good, well-designed product that looks good, and obviously, functions well. Also, beyond that, I think people are looking to have fashionable devices – certain groups of users look to go beyond that – and this would be an example of that. A particularly fashion-conscious person into the design of the clothing they want to wear would be an example. As people begin using computers as a core part of their life, they stop being something they just use in the office a few hours a day. Rather, they have become something people want to carry around with themselves and they want it to match their identity. They’ve also become a part of how they want to be seen by other people. Design has become a very important part of the product. If you look at the notebooks we produce as a specific product, we have imprint designs. There are the ones we showed off that had a light blue colour but not just a colour on the notebook, a nice, interesting design that looks good on the outside and also on the inside. There also has to be useful things – functionality – like remote controls and full TV functionality, as they are all part of what we feel we need to deliver as a vendor these days, not just for customers, but also to differentiate ourselves from the competition.

Now you’ve signed the new $660 million deal with BT, how will the two firms be working closer together? It’s an extension of the BT/HP alliance, which we’ve had since 2004, so BT and HP have worked on a lot of different areas since that time particularly around us delivering IT infrastructure to customers. This is really taking that one step further, and particularly helping end customers between BT and HP with their network IP services, making sure they get subsequent best cost, the best flexibility and also the right kind of service level. So we view it as very important in relation to what we’re doing, and as I said, it reinforces a piece of business that’s actually already been worth more than $5bn to us since its inception, and just reinforcing that and other services that go through it. We’ve heard reports that up to 24,000 workers could be cut globally, will this impact the UK dramatically? We don’t comment on the country breakdown of those numbers. How strong is the UK and Ireland to HP in terms of all the other territories? As you can imagine it is a major geography for us at HP. But in terms of the split by market, that’s something we don’t actually comment on beyond the figures we release through our financial data reports. Netbooks are big business at the moment, do you think this trend will get even larger or do you think they are a fad? I think what we do see at the moment is that there is a demand out there. We have a product ourselves in that space and we are seeing a demand there. I think the important thing here is particularly how netbooks are defined and what the customers want. They are at the lower end of the market, but we do feel they have a space, but the important thing there is their place matches with what people are looking for, and that is a small, light device for when they are on the move, probably as a second

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device, or even a third device, or perhaps for more limited usage. And I do think that’s the important part and I think that’s why there has been a little bit of confusion in this marketplace. So while these are products that are very good for what they are designed to do, they do tend to have more limited functionality – which you might expect given their price range – and so I think where there is an issue is where people potentially buy them or think about buying them with the wrong expectations, either because of their own unrealistic expectations, or because it hasn’t been managed by people in the industry or the person they buy it from. The worst thing for us is where people buy a product and it doesn’t meet their needs. So as long as people understand where [netbooks] fit in, then they are of benefit. I think it is important that they continue to be a part of the market, but that we as an industry, and the partners around the industry, do make the average person on the street understand where they are going to be good products and where they will be less useful. So it’s going to be a channel wide issue, to help customers understand that these are – as you said – possibly second or third devices, with limited usage, rather than people going around thinking that they can pick one up for £200£300 and they can replace the desktop or laptop in their living rooms? Yes. Obviously, it’s difficult to generalise, especially now that this market has broadened, but I do think if people are looking towards the low end of the product spectrum, those machines can be fine for doing email and web access, but they’re not really designed to go beyond that, and that’s where you’ll

www.pcretailmag.com

The worst thing for us is where people buy a product and it doesn’t meet their needs. So as long as people understand where netbooks fit in then they are of benefit

want a classic notebook. And if they want more and more functionality, they have to go further up the notebook range. As part of the range, they’re fine and it’s great that they extend the availability of computers but if people are buying these as main computers then they need to be helped to understand what they are buying. What do you think of the long-term chances of the desktop PC? Will there be a point where almost everyone migrates to laptops? What we are seeing at the moment in the industry is I guess, the 80/20 split between the two form factors. Certainly on the consumer side, it has moved very dramatically, in fact, pretty quickly over to notebooks, but a little less quickly on the commercial side. I think what you are seeing is that the availability and functionality of notebooks – particularly in the consumer space – is that a very high percentage of what people want to do with computers can now be achieved with the average models currently available on the market.

My view would be that I don’t think it is going to move to 100 per cent to laptops, because there are areas where a desktop or similar device will have more functionality; the obvious areas being gaming machines. So something like the Blackbird – which we’re showing in Harrods – which is a high end gaming machine, focused around real high end processors, up to four processors, lots of hard drive space, high speed graphics etc. That kind of area will remain the preserve of the desktop. Another area would be around the centre of home entertainment within the household, and particularly there you could see traditional desktops with a large amount of storage being used, such as one of our home servers – which we also produce. Or it might be something like the Touch Smart computer that I mentioned earlier, which is an all-in-one device that is suitable for sharing in the household and is a fixed device with a 25-inch screen. So I think there are still a number of areas where desktops still make sense, but I do see the vast majority have moved or will be moving to laptop functionality where it meets their needs. I think on the commercial side, it has been a bit slower; there are a couple of reasons for that. Obviously in businesses you have got more requirements for equipment that can either be shared where it is at a fixed location, for example in a call centre, and also we do see that either the desktops in that environment or even thin clients can actually give very good price points and a very good cost of ownership for companies. So as I have said, we’ve seen that move happen and we expect it to continue, but we do expect to see a number of areas where the desktop or an allin-one solution still makes a lot of sense and will continue to prevail.

PCRetail November 33

The perfect networking opportunity. Over 300 representatives from the small business and digital home sectors will attend next year’s PC Retail Awards in Kensington. Companies who attended this year’s inaugural PC Retail awards included: Acer • Ainsdale • Amazon.co.uk • AMD • Antec • Arb Co Computers Ltd • Asustek • Avanquest • AVG • Axia • Computer Sytems • Barrington Harvey • Bear IT • Belkin Components Limited • Big Red Solutions • Bluepoint • Brigantia • Bullguard • Causeway Compter Services • CCL Computers • Comet • Computer Shop @ Plymouth • Computers Unlimited • DABS • Dalkia • Data Wind • Digimate • Drum BraeSolutions • DSGI • Ebuyer • Enta • Entatech • Envizage Forum Computers • Gear 4 • GEM • Gemstone Computers • GfK Marketing Services GZ Computers • Hannspree • Hi Grade • HMV • Individual Computers Limited • Ingram Micro • Intel • Interactive Ideas Limited • ISE Computers • ITACS • John Lewis • Kaspersky • KMGS • KMS Components Ltd • Lenovo • Lexar • Logitech • London Computer Centre • M2M • Medea • Meroncourt • Mesh Computers • Micro Anvika • Microsoft • More2 • New Look • Novatech • One Click Technologies • PC n Digital • PC Retail • PC Specialist • PCA • Phones 4 U • Play.com • PNY Positive Computing • Realtime Distribution Ltd • Reggiani Lighting Ltd • Samsung • Samuel King • Scan • Shasonic Galleria • Staples • Stone Computers • Success International • Sunrise Telecom Limited • Support Lounge • Symantec • Target Components • Targus • Tec 7 • Tesco Stores Tom Tom • Toshiba Information • Systems VIP • W H Smith • Widget • Wyvern Business Systems • XMA • Y3K • YourTechOnline • Yoyotech

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How to be a winner The details of the second PC Retail Awards were announced last month – and already the trade has enthusiastically responded, with lobbying taking place and nominations being suggested. Chip giant AMD has signed up as Platinum Partner and now the countdown has begun to the big night on Thursday March 19th at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington. For those who still need a reminder about what the awards are, how to lobby and who decides the winners, here’s your foolproof guide to the PC Retail Awards 2009….

The format of the PC Retail Awards will remain the same as this year’s debut event. There are 16 awards across three categories: Frontline, Distribution and Vendors. The prestigious Grand Prix Award also returns, but in addition, this year’s event will see the introduction of the Industry Achievement Award, recognising an individual who has gone beyond the call of duty for the computing and IT sector. This individual can be from any area of the market.

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PCRetail November 37

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PC RETAIL AWARDS 2009

FRONTLINE AWARDS The Frontline Awards will recognise excellence in customer-facing organisations, be they on the High Street, the internet or dealing with businesses. The winners of these awards will be those organisations that have ben represented the UK technology industry to the outside world...

High Street Independent Who’s eligible? Any bricks and mortar computer retailer with less than ten stores. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product range • Customer service • Value for money How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@ intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

High Street Multiple Who’s eligible? Any bricks and mortar computer retail chain. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Judges will consider the following criteria • Product range • Customer service • Value for money How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

38 PCRetail November

Online Retailer Who’s eligible? Any computer retailer that is online only or the online element of a High Street store. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies.

PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing the Finalists on January 6th. The winners are voted for by the Judging Panel, which consists of up to 100 highly regarded executives. www.pcretailmag.com

Platinum Sponsor

PC RETAIL AWARDS 2009

How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

Best Technical Support Who’s eligible? Any PC professional involved in the support and report of PCs. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product knowledge • Customer satisfaction • Success rate How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

DISTRIBUTION AWARDS The distribution awards are designed to acknowledge the hard work put in by the unsung heroes of the channel. The sales and marketing teams at distributors are a vital link between vendors and retailers…

Sales Team: Home Who’s eligible? Any distribution sales team that deals primarily with consumer products.

How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies.

Value Added Reseller Who’s eligible? Business orientated VATs and system integrators.

Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product range • Customer satisfaction • Solution innovation

Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product knowledge • Channel relationships • Delivery of service

Judges will consider the following criteria • Product range • Customer service • Ease of navigation

www.pcretailmag.com

PCRetail November 39

PC RETAIL AWARDS 2009

Platinum Sponsor

How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

Sales Team: Business Who’s eligible? Any distribution sales team that deals primarily with B2B products. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product knowledge • Channel relationships • Delivery of service How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

Sales Innovation Who’s eligible? Any distribution sales team that shows an innovative approach to its work.

40 PCRetail November

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PC RETAIL AWARDS 2009

Marketing & PR Team Who’s eligible? The communications arm of any IT distributor. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies.

The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product knowledge • Channel relationships • Innovation How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

VENDOR AWARDS

Judges will consider the following criteria: • Visibility • Press relations • Channel relationships

The PC Retail Awards will once again concentrate on the sales and marketing teams, as they are the ‘face’ of those vendors in the channel…

Sales Team: Home Who’s eligible? Any vendor sales team that deals primarily with consumer products.

Specialist Distributor Who’s eligible? Smaller distributors who tend to specialise in particular product types. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th.

Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product knowledge • Channel relationships • Delivery of service How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

Sales Team: Business Who’s eligible? Any vendor sales team that deals primarily with B2B products. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product knowledge • Channel relationships • Delivery of service How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

Marketing & PR Team: Home Who’s eligible? The communications arm of any IT vendor that focuses primarily on consumer products

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42 PCRetail November

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Specialist Vendor Who’s eligible? Smaller vendors who will tend to specialise in certain product types, as opposed to manufacturing a broad range of products. This can be from any sector of the industry, whether that is monitors, cases, memory, graphics, motherboards etc and looks at the success of the company over the past year.

Grand Prix Any UK-based company active within the PC channel that has enjoyed commercial and critical success, while showing the highest levels of support and efficiency at trade level. Finalists for this award are chosen entirely by the PC Retail team and not revealed to anyone until the awards night on Thursday March 19th. Judges will consider the following criteria: • Commerical success • Marketing commitment & effectiveness • Customer service • Retail support • Commitment to driving the industry forward

Marketing & PR Team: Business Who’s eligible? The communications arm of any IT vendor that focuses primarily on consumer products.

Key Criteria • Visibility • Press relations • Channel relationships

Judges will consider the following criteria: • Product desirability • Channel innovation • Visibility

How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@ intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist.

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Industry Achievement Who is eligible for this award? This award will be given to an individual who has contributed significantly to the channel, over the past 12 months or historically. How is this award won? PC Retail will take soundings from the industry and consider any direct lobbying from retailers, suppliers or general readers before announcing a set of Finalists on January 6th. The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of up to 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business.

PCRetail November 43

Platinum Sponsor

PC RETAIL AWARDS 2009

Members of the jury vote in confidence and are only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. How do I make my opinion heard? You can nominate anyone within your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@ intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why that person should be considered as a Finalist.

LAST YEAR’S WINNERS Last year’s awards were the first to recognise the achievements of the PC retail channel and saw over 300 people, from AMD to Tesco, turn up to enjoy the evening...

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NEED TO KNOW When are the awards? Thursday March 19th at The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London When is the deadline for submissions? The deadline for nominating who you would like to see win a PC Retail Award is Wednesday November 26th. You can nominate your own company, a supplier or a customer now by emailing Lisa.Foster@intentmedia.co.uk, telling us why the company should be considered as a Finalist. What is the judging process? The winner is voted for by the Judging Panel, which will consist of 100 highly regarded industry executives taken from all sectors of the business. Members of the jury vote in confidence and the panel only revealed after voting is complete. They cannot vote for themselves or associated companies. Tickets & Sponsorship Packages A variety of sponsorship packages are available now. Contact Katie.Rawlings @intentmedia.co.uk, to find out more. Table and ticket enquiries should also be made to Katie Rawlings.

44 PCRetail November

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PCRetail November 45

MYSTERY SHOPPER: DERBY

Local Derby Our Mystery Shopper visited retailers in Derby to find out how easy it was to buy a storage device to save all of her data, on the move and from home, using both laptop and desktop PC. It was hoped retailers would recommend all forms of device including portable memory sticks to external hard drives; the results were varied...

SIX STORES WERE VISITED: Comet, Currys, PC World, Currys.digital, KRCS and Staples.

Infinite Field Marketing Solutions is a leading provider of field marketing services to the technology sector. The solutions provided include Training, Market Research, Mystery Shopping, Demonstration Days, Roadshows, Merchandising and Compliance & Data capture. Visit our website for details and to request a case study.

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46 PCRetail November

SALESMEN were circling the shop floor, on the look out, like vultures, so as not to miss a sale. I wandered round for a bit before stopping by the laptops, had a quick look and approached an assistant nearby. I needed a storage device to back up my data from both my laptop and desktop PCs. What could he offer? The shelves were almost empty apart from an external hard drive, which I was told was the one “ideal solution for me.” He recited every last piece of writing on the price ticket and literature wrapped around the box, like a choir boy reading from his hymn book. When interrupting to ask him to explain in laymen’s terms what

some of the specification information meant, I was told simply, “it means it’s good and exactly what you need.” There was a half-hearted attempt to explain what 1TB of data was, but I was left feeling more confused than before. There was no mention of using a memory stick or DVD discs even after numerous, obvious hints. The Western Digital, mains powered, 500GB hard drive was £64.99 and was also my only option. I left the store feeling quite confused and not really feeling as though I had discovered the storage device for me.

I DIDN’T notice the store straight away as it seemed to have been taken over by a large tree. Having found the door and made it to the computer section, I was approached by an eager young salesman, asking me if I required any help. After reciting my storage tale of woe and ruling out discs, a discussion ensued, firstly concerning 8GB memory sticks. The benefits outlined were the size; an obvious one I thought, compact, easy to use and portable.

The product offered was at a very affordable price of £39.99, boasting 16GB. This was the only product offered, with no real discussion on external hard drives, despite a range of stock. This was disappointing as the sale was brilliant up until then. I was unsure as to whether this was due to lack of product knowledge or if he was already sure he’d found the right solution for me.

SCORE: 4/10

SCORE: 6/10 www.pcretailmag.com

MYSTERY SHOPPER: DERBY

PC WORLD

CURRYS.DIGITAL

KRCS

CURRYS

I WAS immediately greeted at the door by a smartly dressed young chap. I asked him for his assistance and explained that I was looking for storage devices as we walked over to the stock. Being told that backing up data onto discs was a “thing of the past,” this option was quickly excluded, followed by the memory stick as the only size they had in stock had 1GB capacity. The feedback that I received was that there would not be enough memory to allow me enough flexibility for my needs. The only option left was the external hard drive. The salesman briefly explained all models, before giving no

explanation as to the benefits and disadvantages between the brands other than the price, of which the cheapest one was recommended. The WD 320GB, a USB powered external hard drive, priced £74.99, was placed into my hands, adding in an excited tone that it was available in a multitude of different colours. Okay – as if a different colour would help. This was a quick sale and a prompt greeting with, I felt at times, limited knowledge. He didn’t want to discuss the range of products other than to offer the cheapest.

I WAS greeted by a group of three girls gossiping at the entrance. Trying to get their attention numerous times I finally made eye contact. Speaking to one of them directly, with the others listening to the conversation, I was hoping the knowledge of three had to be better than one. Here goes, I thought, asking for an external data storage device. I was greeted with blank faces. I thought I would help by suggesting that an external hard drive or something similar was the type of product I was looking for.

I listened to the sales assistant as she read from the price tickets. I still felt no further forward in my search for external data storage devices. I carried the conversation, discussing if a memory stick would be appropriate, but as before she just pointed to each product individually, identifying the capacity. There was no effort to identify my needs, limited product knowledge and no product recommendation.

THIS STORE was quite different to others visited today; clean, tidy, almost clinical in its look. I wandered around the pod display units before finding a glass cabinet towards the rear of the store. There were external hard drives, memory sticks and spindled discs. I was approached by a smartly dressed salesman. This chap really wanted to help me and his attitude was a breath of fresh air compared to my other experiences of the day. Again, I explained that I was shopping for a device that would allow me to store a fair amount of data, which was to be used on both my laptop and home PC. What could he recommend? I was quizzed over the amount of data I had stored to help determine the size of the product needed. As in the other stores he immediately ruled out discs, due to them being prone to damage, before quickly moving on to discuss memory sticks.

Although he believed there would be enough memory on the 8GB USB stick for what I had stored at present, he felt it would be better to buy a product with a larger memory base for when I have greater amounts of data, to prevent me spending extra money in the future. This certainly was good sound advice and seemed to be carefully thought through. The product recommended was the Lacie 160GB portable USB hard drive. This would allow me to access data on my laptop, on the move, as well as being able to use with my home PC and was also at the very reasonable price of £49.99. I left the store able to make a knowledgeable decision based on the information given by the sales consultant. This was the only store that attempted to close the sale, considered my future use and storage capacity needs.

THE store was quite obviously very short of staff; just three sales assistants were working hard serving customers. Pacing up and down the laptop aisle a cheery faced area manager approached me, apologised for my wait and asked how he could help. I explained my storage tale, emphasising that I needed to back up from my laptop and desktop. I had three options available to me, an external hard drive, a memory stick and finally a disc. Bingo! A clear and concise explanation of each product was given and the benefits of each product communicated. In our joint quest we ruled out the disc storage option through fear of scratching them. This left me the options of the memory stick or the external hard drive. He asked me to tell him the amount of data I was backing up. Not sure, I said, but I do have quite a few

music tracks and videos, also some documents and pictures. The memory stick was suggested first due to its small size, then quickly dismissed as it may not have been enough for what I needed, leaving option number three as the front runner. The Maxtor 250GB external hard drive was powered by a USB port and ideal for using with my laptop on the move, boasted a slim-light weight design and was priced at £59.99. This was great; I had been given an understanding of both portable types of media storage from sticks to hard drives and benefited from a full explanation of each. I left the store with a greater understanding of storage products and satisfied with the service given.

Summary I GUESS it was the type of product which was Mystery Shopped this month; what we found was that sales staff

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SCORE: 5/10

SCORE: 3/10

SCORE: 9/10

SCORE: 7/10 were only prepared to recommend one product and not explain in detail each and every type. It seemed they had their favourite and recommended on a personal usage basis – which I guess isn’t a bad thing to do.

PCRetail November 47

GFK REPORT

Fighting FIT With Christmas just around the corner and global turmoil hogging the headlines, it can be hard to put your head above it all and get the real picture. Ben Furfie sits down with GfK’s latest FIT report and brings you its findings about the PC industry… The continuous growth of the laptop market, in both the retail and business channels, has cannibalised the LCD monitor industry. But the widescreen LCD market shows healthy growth. Clemence Dulau

LCD sales are declining – except for widescreens

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hether you’re a retailer or reseller, you know it is incredibly important to understand what the current trends in the market are, so that you can stay on top of them and live to fight another day. With that in mind, we take a look at the latest GfK Facts, Information and Trends (FIT) report, and analyse the results.

Going mobile If there is one part of the PC industry that isn’t showing any signs of a slowdown, it is PCs themselves. One of the standout figures from GfK’s FIT report was the total PC unit growth of 19 per cent year-on-year during August. Even more impressive was the 30 per cent growth in the mobile sector. The rise in sales occured during one of the industry’s peak trading seasons: the back to school period. “August is traditionally a very strong month in the retail sector, driven by low-end back to school promotions, and August 2008 proved to be no exception, with more units selling in August than in July,” comments GfK analyst Tracy Goodfellow. Worryingly though, despite the growth, retail is not benefiting as much as it could do. “However, it is the retail sector that has experienced the biggest slow down. Retail channel growth in August was just 26 per cent in volume as opposed to 52 per cent in July, compared to the same point last year.” The shift suggests that much of the purchases that drove demand in the market were not consumer purchases, and may have been down to the current Government programme to refresh PC units in schools. “This slow-down in retail sales is

evident in both deskbound and mobile PCs,” adds Goodfellow. Looking closer at the figures reveals another trend: “The mobile PC segment continues to show increasing sales year-on-year, whereas the deskbound market is in steady decline. Mobile PCs now account for 85 per cent of total PC unit sales.” Visible effects The rise in laptop sales is also having an effect on other categories that were traditionally central to the PC market. One is the monitor market; after years of decline in the CRT sector, LCD technology is also now on the decline. GfK analyst Clemence Dulau puts this down to a combination of factors coalescing to create the 12.4 per cent fall in volume sales and the 14.3 per cent decline in value. “One reason relates to the retail market, which has seen sales levels take a huge hit.” However, more worryingly, Dulau points to the increased success of notebooks as being a contributing factor to the decline: “The other reason is the continuous growth of the laptop market, in both the retail and business channels, which has cannibalised the LCD monitor industry.” But, despite the doom and gloom, she is keen to point out that some parts of the market are doing well. “The only segment showing a positive trend is the widescreen LCD segment showing, month after month, a healthy growth in both volume and value.” Accessorise Other areas that are being impacted include accessories such as mice and keyboards, and webcams. Interestingly, both are being impacted in

PCRetail November 49

GFK REPORT

different ways, with webcams suffering due to the rise of laptops, while mice and keyboards are seeing continued growth. However, even within the growth area of mice and keyboards there are various trends having an effect on sales. Despite the rise in portable solutions, corded mice have remained the most popular form of device, outselling wireless versions by a ratio of almost three to four. Even then there are trends exerting pressures amongst the various channels to market. “The greatest decline in price is that of notebook mice. This is more notable through the retail channel, down to £14 from £20 in February 2008,” comments GfK analyst Iliana Tolia. Keyboards – another growth area – saw volume sales rise by six per cent, but in value only by 0.5 per cent in the year. “Whilst volumes are up by six per cent this August compared to last year, a declining pricing trend in the high-end segments has not allowed the market an equal growth in its value, which unfortunately remained flat year-on-year,” she adds. Indeed, price has had another interesting effect on the market, as Tolia explains: “While corded keyboard prices remain stable at around £12 per unit, prices of cordless keyboards have fallen significantly over the past five months, both in the consumer and business channels. This has not, however, resulted in a growing demand for wireless

technology so far, and corded keyboards continue to outsell cordless models by a ratio of two to one in August.” One undisputed victim of the move towards laptops has been webcams, sales of which fell by seven per cent in volume and ten per cent in value compared to the same time last year. Tolia also noted that the average selling price of webcams had dropped below the £18 mark for the first time, although she concedes that there had been aggressive price promotions during the month that may have pushed the ASP down. “August has been a noticeably good month for office equipment retailers, who are currently enjoying a successful promotional period. However, the aggressive offering has resulted in a serious decline in the average selling price in that part of the channel.” Furthermore, despite the apparent fall in demand, Tolia notes that much of the activity aside from promotions has been the consolidation of sales into mass merchandisers such as Asda and Tesco. “Mass merchandisers maintain their dominance in the market, demonstrating a stable average price for the past three months. Changing retailers’ strategies has resulted in better arrangement of IT products on the supermarkets’ shelves, positioning trade brands as an affordable alternative to the more respected brands,” she concludes.

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CREDIT CRUNCH

Crunch time With the financial world in turmoil and headlines screaming panic, thus far the technology sector has, on the surface at least, largely avoided being dragged into the mire that is the credit crunch. But, as the situation continues to worsen, Rob Power feels it’s time for a reassessment while the industry comes to terms with what is sure to be an extremely tough time ahead for everyone...

The IT industry is by no means immune to the effects of what is now a very tangible threat to the pockets of the nation and the strangling effect of this downturn is, for the foreseeable future at least, only set to tighten.

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taying in business, never mind a successful and profitable one, can be a tough task at the best of times. And as the wider world goes into an economic tailspin (and one that is already well underway in the UK at that), consumer confidence has been rocked to the core. The IT industry is by no means immune to the effects of what is now a very tangible threat to the pockets of the nation and the strangling effect of this downturn is, for the foreseeable future at least, only set to tighten. Yet to this point, the majority opinion across the industry has been one of zen-like calm, even in the face of what is clearly a huge storm a-brewing. Whether it is a case of hiding heads in the sand, or simply one of nobody really feeling the pinch just yet, large scale worrying has not, by and large, been the case. The question is, why has this been

the case for so long when all around is deteriorating at a terrifying pace? And how long can this optimism prevail? Is the perceived worryfree attitude of the industry actually a myth? As good a place as any to start attempting to answer some of these questions is with the analysts. Keeping a watchful eye on the industry and recording both the positives and the negatives of the past few months, Canalys’s Alastair Edwards maintains that far from the rosy optimism that has been portrayed by many, the market is a long way from healthy. “I think from a revenue point of view, the UK consumer market is not great,” comments Edwards. “If you look at what has come out of the retailers in recent weeks and months, I wouldn’t argue that the UK consumer market is in good shape at all, I think the opposite is the case.”

PCRetail November 53

CREDIT CRUNCH

A defining factor of the last few months has been the relentless doom-mongering of the media, which has certainly not helped with the containment of panic, and has caused a massive and worrying dent in consumer confidence. “The difficulty is that up to now the big issue has been not necessarily an actual downturn, but the perception of it,” confirms Edwards. “It’s more a case in the business space that companies become more conservative and spend less. It’s the kind of issue that the more you talk about it, the more you cause a problem, but we’re now far beyond that. Consumers have less money in their pockets due to rises in mortgage and fuel costs, so I don’t think there’s any question that this will have an impact on the UK retail and UK consumer technology markets in the next few months. “I think overall, and I don’t think I’m saying anything particularly insightful when I say this, we’re heading for a pretty tough period in the last quarter. I think Christmas is going to be very hard, but unless vendors keep the focus on low-cost machines, they’re going to be in a bit of a bloodbath, especially in retail. I think we’re going to see continued focus on these new forms of laptops, netbooks, and we’ll see more and more volumes through non-traditional channels. We’ve seen a big increase in mobile broadband uptake in the UK, which could be explained by promotions that are going on with big vendors.” Gloomy stuff maybe, but there are still some positive movements in the market to help make things feel a little better. “There are some interesting dynamics that are taking place,” says Edwards. “The price of laptops is coming down – and I’m just talking about standard laptops, so set aside what’s happening in the netbook space – whilst new channels for PCs and technology in general are emerging, including ways of selling free or discounted laptops with broadband. So it affects the

I think Christmas is going to be very hard, but unless vendors keep the focus on low-cost machines, they’re going to be in a bit of a bloodbath, especially in retail. Alastair Edwards, Canalys

price expectation of the consumer. But when average selling prices come down, then it’s not actually all about the cheapest product. The affordability of the low end PCs increases to such an extent that consumers are actually willing to pay more for a better quality machine or a higher speed, bigger hard drive, better memory or whatever. So whereas in the last three years we’ve seen everything pushed down to the entry level notebook, consumers are now looking beyond just price. You may actually see in the mix a slight reemphasis back on higher spec machines, which have better margins and are better for retail and vendors.”

MY VIEW: Anthony Knee of Keen Computers FROM the perspective of retailers, the confusion and scaremongering of the last few months has had a very real and noticeable impact. Anthony Knee of Keen Computers has plenty to say on the topic: “It’s going to affect bigger companies the most, but the problem is a lot of smaller companies aren’t able to get loans from the bank or anything like that, so anything to do with investment is getting very tough. “I’ve noticed there are lots of announcements of prices going up. We’re almost entirely service now, as with hardware there’s no margin on it. I think a lot of companies are switching to service more and more frequently. For the smaller guys credit is nigh on impossible to get hold of, which is the biggest issue for them.” Keeping an eye on the wider industry, Keen has also noticed a glut of layoffs at some of the big boys, whilst the end of a laptop buying cycle could also spell trouble. “If you listen to what’s going on, a lot of big companies are laying off staff,” continues Keen. “We’ve kind of had a portable boom in the last two or three years, where households were buying second or third computers and there were four or five computer households, but that glut has now gone. It’s like in the ‘80s when we had a computer boom as families bought in Amstrads and Spectrums, and

54 PCRetail November

again in the ‘90s as people bought up PCs. We’ve seen the same again with portables, but that is coming to an end now. “Looking through the phonebook and trying to contact local retailers, I’ve found that an awful lot Anthony Knee

of them – in fact a shocking amount – are no longer there, so there is obviously something happening, and smaller businesses are finding it extremely hard.” So the question is, how can the industry find a way out of these mounting problems? One solution may lie in the service sector. “The only way forward I can see is in service,” adds Keen. “The industry needs to find a way of placing a premium on advice and service, and getting customers to pay for it. Free advice has to be a thing of the past, in order to give retailers and smaller operators a chance to make some money. People will always need advice and help with their computers, so it’s one of the only ways I can see for the industry to start making a bit of money again.” There can be no doubt that things are tough, and are going to get tougher, and with tensions rising both in the banks and on the High Street, what was the threat of a storm is now turning into a very heavy battering indeed. Now that the realisation has sunk in across the industry, solutions are needed. Can retail effectively convert free advice into a paying service sector? How will sales be affected in the long term by the current climate? Time will certainly tell, and at present, action needs to start being taken before crisis points are well and truly breached.

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BIG MAC

The Apple Effect With a legion of fans, an ever-expanding array of innovative products and an evangelical CEO, Apple has it all. The question is, what’s the appeal for consumers, and how long will it last? Rob Power investigates… osey on down to your local coffee emporium and you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be at least one, indeed maybe a cluster, of beautiful people sat around doing some work and drinking coffee. You can tell they’re beautiful because they have Apple Macs, and seeing them sat there looking all happy and modern and tech-savvy makes you want a shiny white laptop that you can go and sit in Starbucks with too. The day that you may have thought would never arrive has come – you’ve become an Apple fan. And soon, you shall give them all your money and become, at least temporarily (and maybe only in your head) A Better Person. It’s a strictly 21st Century phenomenon, and it’s spreading like wildfire. Which means it is high time for a closer look at the Apple effect and how it has revolutionised the mind of the contemporary

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consumer. It’s hard to pinpoint when this silent revolution began, the sea change that saw consumers traditionally so dispassionate about the IT products they bought became so utterly fanatical about Apple. Probably the best place to start would be around 1998, with the unveiling of the iMac G3; instantly recognisable and easy to set up, its distinctive looks, alternative programs and interfaces set it apart from its rather staid looking competition right from the off. A series of redesigns saw the iMac evolve from the clunky looking, multicoloured monitor it originated as, into a Short Circuit-like bulbous based desktop – all sleek aluminium and adjustable flat screen – before reaching the simple and altogether more elegant iMac we know today. What has remained consistent throughout Apple’s rise to dominance has been its attention to

PCRetail November 57

BIG MAC

key areas that competitors had never attributed to the market. The aesthetic appeal alone has been enough to push Apple products to the forefront of consumers’ minds; they look the part – modern, sleek, MacBooks remain far more appealing to the eye than any other laptop on the market, whilst iPods remain hugely popular because they simply look and feel better than anything else available. To a generation bought up to believe that by the year 2000 we’d all be living in space, Apple is the last embodiment of that ideal, because frankly its products look like they’ve been designed by the same guys who drew the Jetsons. A universal rule of retail is that primarily, customers buy with their eyes first, brains second, a fact that Apple has tapped into at every level, from the product designs themselves through to the packaging remarkably lacking in any sort of ugly brown cardboard or bubblewrap. The inherent mystique of the brand is also an interesting factor in its intrinsic popularity. Tight lipped is not the word; like Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, it’s all ‘my private life should remain private’ until the time comes to promote a new film or album, when all caution is thrown to the wind and the protagonists are more than happy to whore themselves to any media outlet that will cock an ear to their incessant caterwauling. So it goes with Apple. To the average journo attempting to write a piece about the company, no matter how complimentary, access to any sort of comment from within the organisation is precisely nil. Unless there is some shiny new i-thing on the horizon, Apple remains a resolutely closed shop, something that has made it seem mysterious and almost other worldly in an industry where usually, companies are more than happy to help out. A pain perhaps to the lowly writer, but you can certainly see the logic in keeping the cards close to the chest. The rest of the market, the media and all its many fans are just as much in the dark about what Apple will produce from its magician’s hat next, bringing a level of anticipation and excitement to the arena than most in the market simply cannot replicate. In the

The aesthetic appeal alone has been enough to push Apple to the forefront of consumer’s minds; its products look the part – modern and sleek – they remain ahead of its rivals’ offerings. 58 PCRetail November

brand management sphere, if there is one aspect of the rise and rise of Apple that has truly differentiated them from the rest of the market, it is its marketing. TV ads featuring cult hero comedians and sillouetted dancing folk (slim, stylish, even their shadows are attractive) have spread the word that Apple is the acceptable face of IT geekery. In fact, it’s hard to

associate Apple’s public persona with the staid image traditionally associated with the dour, grey image of the IT industry. By gearing itself towards the younger end of the market, Apple has successfully associated itself with youth. Importantly, as the brand of choice for the media and music industries, Apple has positioned itself about as far away as possible from the traditional ‘9 to 5’, suited and booted, type of person. Apples are, apparently, for individuals, people who want their computers to be a reflection of their own individuality whilst still being able to cope with the stringent demands of their graphic design job. Whilst to many people this might appear, understandably, to be a load of old tosh, there can be no denying the truth behind it. Apple is the choice of media types, musicians, and fashionistas, and not by accident, and it’s this link that has pulled in the business of the young and hip, or at least the young-ish and wishing-they-were hip. Even the staff at the Apple store are happy, smiling, funky looking chaps and chapesses who are simply bowled over by the brilliance of their own company. The overwhelming feeling that Apple can simply do no wrong in the eyes of its fans surrounds you, yet stepping into any Apple store you get a good feel as to why they are so far ahead of their competition. Looking like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, the Regent Street store in London is beautifully set out with plenty of well informed, enthusiastic staff on hand to demonstrate everything in Apple world with some aplomb. Innovative demonstration areas abound, and love it or hate it, you simply don’t feel like you’re in an IT retailer. The products themselves are without a doubt masterpieces of design. Simple to use, easy to set up, people that had previously battled through

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BIG MAC

hours of complicated set-up procedures on PCs are still regularly shellshocked by the user-friendly nature of iMacs. We are all aware of the other benefits as well, especially in these dark, post-Vista times when operating systems have the capability to baffle and confuse. Apple’s latest OS, Leopard, carries on in the vein of those which went before it – again, easy to use, easy on the eye, easy-going software for easy-going people, yeah? Setting up and running a PC without any problems at all used to be the strict preserve of those who knew the secrets and held the keys to the magic kingdom where everything ran smoothly. Anyone can set up and run an Apple, it’s that simple, and thrown into the bargain is the knowledge that it will rarely crash, and is almost impervious to nasty viral infections that can be caught from even the most innocent internet browsing. The real question is though, how long can this Apple-oriented dominance last? A significant backlash against Apple clones, snapping up anything with the sacred logo on it and defending it, no matter what the faults – and no matter what they say, there are faults – is already in full swing. The sort of person who buys blindly on brand loyalty is, by some estimations, unthinking and losing out both monetarily and with the technology they are acquiring. Yet with more and more homes converting to iMacs, iPods are being snapped up as strongly as ever – thanks in no small part to constant innovations with the products – and even iPhones demonstrating that no market is safe, it’s hard to see how the company will slip up. It now, surely, has to be more a case of competition catching up, then learning and improving upon the Apple model, than somehow overtaking it overnight. The odds on Apple releasing a dud product, so nearly the case with the iPhone, are perhaps higher the more it diversifies, but such a large and affluent fanbase, often blindly devoted to the company, should see them through even the roughest of patches. Another certainly very timely factor in all this has to be the economy, and with the credit crunch becoming more and more of a pressure on people’s pockets, the relatively high price of Apple products might well force even the staunchest of fans to seek out cheaper alternatives. A brand that has managed maintain price integrity across the board, keeping products at the prices it chooses, without causing uproar amongst its loyal fanbase, has to be admired, yet as the time comes for the great unwashed to start seriously counting the pennies, how long can it be before the realisation that similar (in terms of hardware at least) products are available at a much lower price? In other words, just how much longer can Apple hoodwink the nation into paying a premium for the logo and lovely white branding when PC World can offer a computing package that will do all that is required of a laptop for much less outlay? And for all of its suave sophistication and mediasavvy marketeering, there are still vast swathes of the market that remain utterly unconvinced by Apple. One glaring example of this is gamers, who have been almost completely put to one side by Apple as it pursues the fashion conscious media market. Games software for Apple computers remains almost laughably thin on the ground, and so

60 PCRetail November

Gamers are just one example of a group Apple still needs to capture. It is as if they have been put to one side by Apple, as it pursues the fashion conscious media market, it’s almost laughable. far behind the rest of the market’s releases that it almost defies the point of re-programming games to make them Apple compatible in the first place. It can also be difficult for any company or brand to assess accurately just how long its shelflife with the public is. Once ubiquity is achieved, there is often a clock that starts ticking, counting down to the day when, finally, everyone has simply had enough of seeing the same logo and its related products. Apple by no means forces itself down the throats of the public, but with aspects of its marketing having been mocked by some, and many detractors keen to draw attention to the alleged unreliability of some Apple products, perhaps the threshold of public patience is approaching. The anti-Apple lobby is also a growing one, a network of stalwarts dedicated to unveiling the ‘truth’ about the company, as if it were the Empire and they the Rebel Alliance, gunning down flagship products with timely laser bolts of scathing anti-

Apple propaganda. Focusing mainly on product faults, and taking great time to product lengthy tracts denouncing Apple as a false idol, these online anti-Apple pirates are quick to portray the company as a money-grabbing tyrant, determined to brainwash us all into thinking that the Ting Tings are acceptable. As with any ‘lifestyle’ brand, there are those who simply do not want to conform with some marketing man’s idea of what counts as ‘cool’, nor do they see sense in shelling out hard-earned cash to become another Mac clone. There can be no doubt that Apple and its approach to the market is no longer as new nor as innovative as it once was. Whether this is indicative of a star on the wane is not quite so sure. Apple has built an empire by cleverly and insightfully playing the market, and dedicating itself to becoming a universal brand that is, above all things, accessible and functional. That this trend would suddenly stop seems a nieve thought, and the Apple empire certainly looks firm in its foundations. On the flipside to this though, there can be no doubt that anti-Apple sentiment is growing, and that competition is catching on – and catching on fast – to Apple’s methods. Yet, with so many already invested in the Apple brand, and many more by the day swallowing its message that you, too, can become a hip urban laptop-slinger, we can all be sure of one thing, and that is that Apple is not going to be disappearing any time soon. And you can be sure it has plenty more tricks to dazzle us with tucked safely up its sleeve.

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STOCKING FILLERS

Christmas Stocking Christmas is just around the corner and store managers across the nation will be choosing what to put on the shelves and which continually-looped festive CD to play in store. Matt Grainger takes a look at some of the gift ideas available this year… nother Christmas approaches. A time of year that conjures up dreamlike childhood memories of entire families sprawled on the sofa with full bellies and kids playing with new presents, while parents pretend to be interested in the Queen’s Speech. The run-up to Christmas has been a boost for retailers since before it was called Christmas and despite ongoing economic woes, this year looks set to be no different. The UK remains Europe’s largest market for consumer electronics and the British appetite for electronic gadgetry continues unabated. However, there is evidence for a possible downturn in the market. A recent poll by market researcher GfK found that 50 per cent of those surveyed planned to spend less on friends and relatives this Christmas. However Andy Miles of Interactive Ideas points

The main impact is likely to be a reduction in demand for big ticket items and more emphasis on a larger quantity of lower-cost stocking fillers Paul Cubbage, Target Components

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out: “Christmas buying will be tightened somewhat I’m sure, but then again there will be many little voices in households across the country who will have a lot of influence over spending too.” In addition to this, there’s always the other half of consumers who will continue their traditional spending patterns unchanged – the glass is half full for those who plan appropriately. “Food and fuel prices and the tightening of credit, along with a general sense of economic uncertainty, may well see families being a little more cost conscious this year than previously,” says Paul Cubbage of Target Components. “The main impact is likely to be a reduction in demand for big-ticket items and more emphasis on a larger quantity of lower-cost stocking fillers, which can be hugely beneficial to the savvy retailer with the right type of products in stock.”

PCRetail November 63

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64 PCRetail November

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STOCKING FILLERS

Gem (4) RC Insect SRP: £29.99 This remote control insect helicopter is ready to fly right out of the box. Utilising a super-wide, tri band infrared control this lightweight device is perfect for use in an indoor environment. Includes AA batteries.

(2) Desktop Fish Tank SRP: £5.99 This decorative device brings a touch of luxury to the desktop. Plugging in to the USB port, the Desktop Fish Tank contains miniature fish with hinged tails, bathed in blue LED light. Just add water.

3 2 (3) Missile Launcher SRP: £19.99 The ideal gift for the more territorial amongst us, this USB-controlled desktop mounted launcher can fire three foam missiles at co-workers, family or passers-by, complete with sound effects. Once its software is installed, a control panel appears on screen, enabling the user to aim and fire.

(1) USB Mug Warmer SRP: £3.99 No need to fear a cold cuppa with this device. Requiring no additional batteries or software, this handy hot plate draws power directly from a USB port to keep your drink warm until you’re finished.

Target

Focus (5) Encyclopedia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Edition SRP £39.99 Ideal for homework, research or for swift access to trusted information, the Encyclopaedia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Edition provides a safe learning environment that is suitable for the whole family. Brand new for this year: Britannica Biographies, Britannica Book of the Year Articles and an Interactive A-Z QuickSearch. The perfect stocking filler.

(8) Car Mice SRP: £6.50 The ideal Christmas gimmick, in a range of models and colours in both wired and wireless versions. Working headlights and attractive retail packaging, these mice are already on the High Street but still allow retailers and etailers to make excellent margins.

9 (9) 1inch Digital Photo Frame Keyrings SRP: £5.00 Flying off the shelves all summer, these low-cost stocking fillers will sell like hot-cakes in the run up to Christmas. Storing up to 70 pictures with an 8-hour battery life, these mini photo frames also have a built-in rechargeable lithium battery, which can be charged by USB Mini B cable, meaning that you never have to replace the battery once it is fully charged.

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(10) Billion 3G Wireless Routers SRP: £69.00 A more practical gift is Billion’s 3G router, allowing you to create a wireless network without a land-line through a 3G dongle. These products are becoming increasingly popular with the growth in popularity of 3G and are a strong seller in the market this autumn.

(7) PC Fitness: Your Personal Trainer SRP £9.99 Containing 500 exercises, PC Fitness lets you exercise any time, anywhere, with the first interactive health and fitness game for PCs and laptops. Maya, the in-game virtual personal trainer, will build a fully customised fitness programme for the user, keep them motivated and deliver the results they’ve always wanted.

(6) The Complete Learner Driver Kit SRP £29.99 The most comprehensive learner driver pack available. As well as best-selling Driving Test Success software, the box contains everything from a driving licence application form to magnetic Lplates, making this product an ideal gift for learner drivers looking to pass their Theory, Hazard Perception and Practical Tests.

(11) Emprex ME1 High Definition Media Enclosure SRP: £42.00 Allows you to play music, high resolution photos and HD video, with One Touch Record and Time-shift input video from AV-in port. The ME1 can stream files from a PC, play files from USB or can be used as an external HDD. The ME1 supports both NTSC and PAL video in and video out and supports a wide range of multimedia formats.

(12) Veho Film Scanners SRP: £39.00 Bring back to life those old memories on old photographic formats. The VFS-004 Deluxe will scan your old 35mm slides and negatives and allow you to then edit them in Photoimpressions software, ready for printing, archiving or just viewing them on the big screen.

PCRetail November 65

STOCKING FILLERS 15

Interactive Ideas (14) iClone Studio 3 SRP: £59.57 iClone3 is the complete 3D movie machine with real-time animation and actor creation tools for rendering movies with ultimate detail. Design actors are ready to take the stage as fully animated 3D avatars featuring custom faces, facial animation, motion, clothing and accessories. It features Film iClone animation in realtime with advanced live actor puppeteering and vehicle piloting powered by keyboard hotkeys and game-like mouse look control. Export and share your movies online or as footage for post-production video projects.

(15) eDimensional Access Singlehand Controller for PC/PS2/PS3 SRP: £68.08 A modular rig that features five interchangeable pods -- one each for the analog sticks, d-pad, main

J&J Associates (16) Cirrus Digital Photoframe A 15-inch multimedia digital LCD photo display encased in an exclusive mocha wooden frame. Not only can the 1024x768 screen display single frame jpgs, but it can also show a variety of movie formats such as jpeg, mpeg, avi and mp3. The Cirrus comes complete with inbuilt stereo speakers and a remote control.

(13) Acronis True Image Home 2009 SRP: £34.00 Acronis True Image Home 2009 is intuitive backup software for home users, based on reliable system and data backup and easy recovery. Numerous new and enhanced features can be used very easily to create a backup strategy in just a few clicks, ensuring that system and data are effectively protected against loss.

buttons, and shoulder buttons – that can be rearranged to make any control scheme one-hand-friendly. The base can be laid on the user’s legs, arm rest or desk – perfect for one-handed gamers or those who like to enjoy a pint while playing.

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(17) Roccat Kone Gaming Mouse SRP: £54.99 This pro-gamer mouse is the perfect present for those who can’t keep away from the computer screen. A one millisecond response time, 1000Hz polling rate and adjustable resolution up to 3200 dpi serves to improve those all important aiming skills and trigger times. However, it’s the internal 72MHz Turbo Core unit that serves as the beating heart of this unit. Allowing the user to store five game profiles, its Macro Manager enables the user to create and store complex macros on the device.

66 PCRetail November

(18) Speed-Link 185 AMIGA Classix Games & Competition Pro USB Joystick SRP: £17.99 A classic is reborn with this handy device – a USB joystick that contains an extensive collection of 185 Amiga games, allowing the user to relive their childhood years of playing classic games. Ideal for the young at heart, the USB nature of the device means that the user can play these classic titles at a moment’s notice, while the joystick features handy additions such as auto-fire and micro switches to add to the nostalgic feel.

18 21

(19) Speed-Link VoIP Mouse SRP: £39.99 A groundbreaking combination of two features, the VoIP mouse is essential for any gadget fiend. The stylish mouse can open up to form a VoIP phone, which supports Skype, allowing the user to chat to friends over the internet. Thanks to the hands-free mode, the user can talk at the touch of a button without having to open the phone, ensuring total convenience at all times.

Jeantech (20) Lotto Ball If you’re looking to stock the ideal gadget to snare people who might not neccesarily come into your store, then this is quite possibly the one. This Lotto ball is the perfect gift to spice up your customers’ time after the traditional Christmas lunch. (21) Satsuma USB range The mother of all gadget offerings, this free standing POS display comes with a huge selection of USB gadgets, all baying for your customers’ attention. Stick this by your till and watch them fly. Just make sure you have enough stock to refill it.

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DIGITAL VIDEO

Visual margins

With the peak Christmas trading season just around the corner, Ben Furfie sits down with the AV channel to get a snap shot of the market…

Increasingly the stills market is having to differentiate itself from the camera phone market by showing the customer that it is a desirable alternative, with longer lenses giving better quality photos and coming with more features. Jérôme Demaré Olympus

68 PCRetail November

ith Christmas rapidly approaching, it’s almost time to break out those now aging camcorders and cameras, some of which may not have seen the light of day since last yuletide. Of course, many have seen better times. With that in mind, there is likely to be a raft of consumers looking to upgrade their current models. However, with the rise of eight megapixel videocamera phones, it is no longer as simple as reeling off the numbers when it comes to selling cameras. With stills, the upward pressure of increasingly capable mobile phones is putting a squeeze on the market, according to Olypmus’ Jérôme Demaré. “Increasingly the stills market is having to differentiate itself from camera phones by showing the customer that it is a desirable alternative with longer lenses, better quality and more features.” However, Demaré is seeing something that could change the market fundamentally: “The compact market is reaching a plateau in terms of volume in the UK. DSLRs are getting smaller and easier to use and are already starting to compete with the highend of the compact market.” He also says the constant intrusion of DSLRs into the compact market is having an effect upon the bridge market: “It needs to differentiate itself from the compact and DSLR markets on either side, so

new developments are constantly needed.” He isn’t the only person to see this happening. Divisional director at AV distributor Midwich Darren Lewitt says that as the price of cameras have fallen across the board, there has been a fundemental shift in demand for different models. “The ASP of digital cameras is getting lower and we have noticed that more consumers are opting for SLR models.” When asked what retailers can do to capitalise on the stills market, Demaré explains: “I think the main advice I would give is to train your staff. The choice out there is growing by the day and customers can get confused as to what is actually available to them. Staff need to get trained by the manufacturers to ensure that they understand fully the products they are selling.” When it comes to the video market though, there are a whole different set of pressures having an effect. One of the biggest is the downward price trend, perpetuated by the likes of the Flip. “Pricing is a key trend,” explains business unit manager for smartphones, PC options, peripherals and services at Toshiba UK, Graeme Simons. “Both high definition and standard definition models are available for way under £200 and that’s attracting a whole new class of impulse/fun users.” There is also the battle between high and standard

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DIGITAL VIDEO

definitions, and this one – along with the format wars in particular – is likely to define the landscape for the next decade. “Toshiba has moved its entire camcorder range over to high definition, with no plans to launch any more standard definition products.” Simons says that the drive to high definition has been thanks in part to the penetration of high definition TV. He also believes that a combination of cheaper products and the increasing accessibility of easy to use video editing programs will usher in a new age of people getting into recording their memories on video. “Last year, high definition accounted for one in ten of all the camcorders we sold. This year it is one in five,” explains Lewitt. However, he warns that despite the push to high definition, few people are actually using it in that mode. “Many products are able to record in either standard definition or high definition and so, whilst the majority of consumers are buying high definition capable equipment, only around 40 per cent of video is actually edited in high definition – depending on the application.

Simons disagrees, suggesting the price fall will encourage people to experiment and adopt the technology wholesale. “We’re finding big increases in sales volume from customers that want high definition digital video cameras at aggressive pricing, but do not want to make that much of a compromise on the features. In the coming years, that will result in mainstream 1080p DV cameras for under £200 and an increase in PC-based home movie editing and production without specialist software or hardware.” Lewitt, however, sees the market going in a different direction: “We expect non-tape camcorders to be the biggest development, particularly at the top end but also to a lesser extent at the bottom end of the market. I expect any new products that are released for the lower end of the market to be increasingly flexible, recording in both standard definition and high definition. If they can’t record on non-tape then an optional attachment should allow them to do this. High definition models will gain market share but DVD and MiniDV models will continue to see market share decline.”

However, when it comes to video, the image is only half of the story as Sennheiser UK’s John Willett explains: “We’ve always been aware that quality pictures at a reasonable price often comes at the expense of the quality of the supplied audio chain. It’s very common to find that users, once they get used to the camera, are soon looking to upgrade their sound equipment with an aftermarket microphone and perhaps a set of quality headphones for monitoring the audio.” Willett is surprised at the level of demand for audio products, even from enthusiasts. “I often receive requests from video clubs to give talks about sound as many of their members are getting great pictures that are let down by the audio. I’ve given talks at a few clubs around the country and I’m always impressed about how keen people are to improve the quality of their audio. “For retailers I would advise stocking the full range of Sennheiser after-market microphones and allied accessories. At the very least they should find out what is available so they can properly advise their customers and order the products that are right for the job.

PRODUCT FOCUS

DIGITAL VIDEO CAMERAS Flip

Toshiba Camileo Pro HD

The camcorder that brought click and shoot filming to the masses. Its smaller cousin the Flip Mino has also just launched in the UK.

Slightly more expensive than the Flip, Toshiba’s Camileo Pro HD offers high definition recording at 720p, while remaining small and sleek enough to fit in your customer’s pocket.

Sony SR35 30GB

Panasonic H60 60GB

With DV swiftly becoming the preserve of professional camcorders, hard diskbased camcorders have well and truly hit the mainstream. The 30GB SR35 allows for up to 15 hours of recording.

With up to a staggering 54 hours of recording time, the Panasonic H60 is ideal for those with lots to record, but little time – or space – to put it on their PC.

HIGH END Canon HV30

Sony SR12

Seen as the best tape-based model currently on the market, the HV30 is amongst the best camcorders consumers can currently buy. HD recording, CMOS sensor and a 2.7-inch display.

Offering full 1080p high-def recording on a hard drive camcorder, Sony’s SR12 gives users up to a huge amount of features on a consumer camcorder. With up to 48 hours of HD recording.

PROSUMER Sony HVR-Z5E

Canon XL2

Sony created the prosumer market back with its VX1000 model. Now, 13 years later, its descendent, the HVR-Z5E is the flagship of Sony’s prosumer range. Coming with XLR inputs, 3CMOS and the new 29.5mm wide-angle G Lens that gives the same effect as using 35mm film.

Alongside Sony’s Z1E, Canon’s XL2 is a staple amongst prosumers. Thanks to the shoulder mount, it’s ideal for applications where the camera will be in use for long periods, as with a multitude of connections including XLR, you can be sure the room for value added selling is immense.

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PCRetail November 69

DIGITAL VIDEO COMPACTS

Panasonic DMCFX35

Canon PowerShot G9

Sony DSC W300

FujiFilm S9600

Coming in with a 10.1 megapixel CCD, the DMCFX35 is not only small, it also carries a visual punch, ensuring quality pictures.

The PowerShot G9 is as close as you will come to a DSLR in a compact’s body. It has a 12.1 megapixel resolution.

Sony is well known for its style and the W300 is no exception. However, the W300 isn’t just looks; it comes with a titanium-coating to protect it.

A ‘bridge’ camera, the FujiFilm S9600 crosses the gap between the simplicity of a traditional compact and the lens quality of a DSLR.

DSLRS

Nikon D40

Sony A200

Canon EOS 450D

Olympus E420

Nikon D90

Now coming to the end of its life, but features some of the best functionality in an entry level DSLR and is backed up by a huge range of lenses.

It might have been surpassed by its older sibling the A350, but Sony’s A200 is currently the best value entry level DSLR on the market.

The 450D is currently one of the best value DSLRs available, especially for its feature set. It comes with a 12.2 megapixel resolution.

The E420 is one of the smallest and lightest DSLRs around, thanks to its fourthirds lens technology. Has a 12.2 megapixel resolution.

Building upon the success of Nikon’s advanced amateur D80, the D90 comes with a 12.3 megapixel resolution.

SOFTWARE

CONSUMER SOFTWARE

PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS

Adobe Photoshop Elements

Adobe Photoshop CS3

The consumer version of Adobe’s industry standard editing software.

The industry standard and for good reason. Extremely powerful, but relatively easy to use.

Corel Paintshop Pro

Apple Aperture

Photoshop’s main rival, but is aimed more at photographers.

Apple took Aperture to the Olympics and soon saw photographers using it over Photoshop.

CONSUMER PRODUCTS Adobe Premiere Elements The consumer version of Adobe’s professional NLE editing suite, sometimes bundled with Photoshop.

Sony Vegas MovieStudio Another powerful NLE suite for intermediate users. Based on Sony’s profesisonal program.

Pinnacle Studio 12 Avid’s consumer product, Pinnacle is the market leader in entry level video editing.

Corel VideoStudio 11.5 VideoStudio is aimed at the beginner and is a powerful, but easy to learn program.

Roxio Creator Part of Roxio’s Creator suite.

PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS

70 PCRetail November

Adobe Premiere Pro

Apple Final Cut Studio

Third in the professional arena, Premiere is an extremely powerful program, especially when combined with Photoshop.

Number two in the profesisonal market, Apple’s FCS is used in several major Hollywood films.

Apple Final Cut Express

Sony’s professional offering.

Apple might describe Express as a consumer product but to do so would be an injustice. An incredibly powerful NLE suite.

The biggest of the big three, Avid is used to edit many of the biggest Hollywood movies, but is available at an indie price.

Sony Vegas Pro Avid Liquid Pro

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SECURITY

Streamlined

Security The perception you don’t need antivirus software went the way of the Siberian tiger a long time ago. We’ve since been elevated to the rank of necessary evil in the eyes of the public. Bogdan Dumitru, Bit Defender

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ix months is a long time when it comes to security. Indeed so is a day, as many of the people PC Retail spoke to this month jested. But while their tone might have been jovial, the message behind it wasn’t. The risks to your customer’s computers are getting worse – much worse. “There has been an explosion of malware variants,” explains Webroot’s EMEA managing director Nicholas Banks. “Instead of seeing maybe 5,000 pieces of malware a month, we are seeing hundreds of thousands of malware variants per month. Malware writers are hoping that antimalware companies cannot keep up with the amount of files they are pumping out, and that they cannot protect their customers before infection because of it.”

Ladies and Gentlemen of the channel. The time has come to tackle consumer apathy towards security software. Ben Furfie leads the charge... It was a point echoed by Kaspersky Labs’ senior technology consultant David Emm. “2007 was hailed as the most viral year in history; the first half of 2008 continued in a similar vein with an overall increase in the number of threats detected.” This is key to understanding the current landscape, argue all of the experts we spoke to. “The last six months have been dominated by two types of attacks,” adds director of malware intelligence at ESET, David Harley. “The first has been malware that tries to self-install from flash drives and other removable media using the Windows Autorun facility.” AVG’s business development manager for VARs Tony Ayin explains that the shift in attack patterns is representative of malware writers recognising the changing face of the security market. “The majority

PCRetail November 71

SECURITY

of computer users are now reasonably well protected against email threats, leading malware authors to turn their attention to the web – and, unfortunately, they have found the ideal attack vector.” The major problem, as Ayin adds is that these attacks aren’t limited to surfing dodgy websites, they target vulnerabilities in software that are crucial to the modern internet: “Browser plug-ins, such as Adobe’s Flash Player and Apple’s Quicktime, open even more doors for malware writers to attack through,” he argues. Indeed, it is people’s desire to use the internet in the way that they want to that is leaving people’s computers wide open to attack. “The latest threats centre around social engineering and the web as a means to spread infection,” says chief technology officer at BitDefender Bogdan Dumitru, echoing Ayin’s suggestion that the web is central to the malware peddler’s ‘route to market’ as such. “The most usual way for someone to end up with an infected system these days is to visit a compromised or malicious web page, click a link and end up downloading and running a threat,” adds Dumitru. Stressing that because these viruses take advantage of the vital part these programs play in the modern world wide web, he adds: “The Trojans and adware spread this way, such as Wimad, have been consistently amongst the top ten threats in the past six months.” The increased number of ways that people interact with the internet is also causing a number of distinct groups to be targeted. “The number of threats were as diverse as the groups they targeted,” adds Emm. “There was an increase in the number of threats to online gamers. Malware ‘2.0’ was being targeted at social networking sites through the use of sophisticated rootkits installed at a sector level on the computers (bootkits) and obfuscation techniques, designed to obstruct analysis.” It was a point echoed by F-Secure’s country manager for the UK and Ireland, Richard Hales: “This year the number of virus attacks has already reached 1.1m. Even more worringly, we detected the same number of virus samples in the first six months of 2008 as in the previous 20 years. Expanding on this, Emm said: “This year has been dominated by Trojan programs. As the year has gone on, users have been plagued by Trojans with hybrid malware, designed to create back door entry for malicious programes to attack unprotected computers. Of note was the specific attack on online gaming accounts, acknowledging the value games such as World of Warcraft now possess.” Worryingly though, there is another trend emerging that has echoes of the past. “There has been an upsurge in cybercriminals mis-selling ‘antivirus’ products, using their own notoriety as a catalyst,” explains country manager for Panda Security UK, Dominic Hoskins. “It echoes their ninties tricks where they would send an email urging you to search your system for a ‘virus’ file – normally a vital system file – and when you find it, which of course you would, to delete it and tell everyone else you know about it. “Of course, deleting this file would stop your computer booting next time – this was never intended to make money, just cause disruption – but now criminals are returning to this trick. Now the cybercrooks are trying to obtain money by installing

72 PCRetail November

adware on user’s PCs or directing you to a website that poses as a real antivirus. Once executed, this displays fake infections and invites users to buy a full version of the antivirus to remove threats which are not real threats.” The problem isn’t going to go away in the near future either, CTO and co-founder of Bullguard, Theis Søndergaard argues, explaining it is an emerging economy in its own right. “Co-operation between cybercriminal gangs is on the increase. Tools are created by some specialised groups, and then are used by others.”

The fake antivirus issue had echoes of an old ninties trick where they would send an email urging you to search your system for a ‘virus’, normally a vital file, and when found, delete it. Doing so would kill your PC. Dominic Hoskins, Panda Security Education, education, education “It has long been known that the user is the weakest link of the security chain, and it is essential to educate users in all aspects of security in order to fully protect them,” adds Hoskins, a point echoed by Kaspersky’s Emm. “Panda Security is very proactive in running campaigns directed at the channel and end users, to help educate them on the current security issues.” Dumitru also backs up Hoskins’ stance that education is the only way to combat these problems in the future: “BitDefender is pushing education aggressively into the retail space by organising courses on security policies and practices for our partners and their employees.” Harley also sees education as key to combating the security threat – but also sees co-operation between the many security firms as key to fighting threats: “We use our ThreatSense blog to share information about current threats and good practice, and we share information in many other ways, such as our white papers page.” Symantec believes it is crucial to target the end user, as well as the industry, as vice president for consumer sales EMEA Lee Sharrocks explains: “Vendors have a responsibility not only to sell products, but to also help support and educate the public on ways they can stay safe online, outside of just technology solutions.” Hales takes a slightly different route: “F-Secure does what it can to educate customers. We believe that one of the most effective ways to educate customers is for ISPs to bundle internet security in their offerings. We recognised this years ago and now work with 175 ISPs around the world.” Some are less sure that a short term solution can be found: “Unfortunately, I feel it may be a long time before security online becomes as common sense as not talking to strangers and looking both ways before crossing the road,” states Emm. “It may

well be the case that we have to go to the school level to educated people; a major problem is that parents are often less clued up about the internet than there children. We could be looking at today’s children – who have grown up with today’s threats – having their own children and passing on advice on how to be safe online.” Agreeing, Hoskin adds: “This maxim does not just lie with technology, but also with the social aspects of security, which can only be combated through education.” Banks, however, is much more positive. “I think more than ever before, antivirus programs are being viewed as a necessity. A survey conducted by NPD over the summer showed that people are now buying or installing before being attacked, rather than taking action after being compromised, suggesting that there is already a shift in awareness.” His view is echoed by Søndergaard: “Awareness of possible dangers is still growing amongst consumers. Many customers today understand the principle of malware being capable of doing damage. However, as malware evolves so quickly in terms of behaviour, target and delivery mechanisms, it can be hard for them to stay on top of things.” He is aware of the problems of apathy though, and recognises that some of it might have been caused by the security industry’s eagerness to push its wares: “The channel is well aware of the dangers posed by threats, as IT resellers have a higher degree of knowledge than the average end customer.” Agreeing with Sharrocks, Søndergaard adds: “Educating and creating awareness among end users is the obligation of vendors and channel alike, but we must recognise that there are still end users out there who accuse security companies of hyping the dangers (and sometime even of creating them). It is important that impartial parties like government institutions and publications participate in the education process.” No such thing as a free lunch When trying to dig down to the reason why AntivirusXP was so successful, a lot of our experts came to the same conclusion: too many people feel there is no difference between an antivirus you pay for, and one that is free. Indeed, it is the ‘free’ part that many of the people we asked said was the reason why it had been so successful. Unlike six months ago where there was a general undertone that some customers felt that antivirus was unnecessary, that was now largely evaporating: “The perception that antivirus software is unnecessary seems to be slowly fading away for Windows users,” comments Harley. Although he warns that some are still leaving themselves wide open to attack: “That sense that it is unnecessary is still very strong for users of other operating systems though.” Hoskin expands: “We believe that current user perception is not that antivirus software is unnecessary, but that all antivirus software products are similar,” a point Emm agreed with strongly. “A lot feel that it doesn’t matter which one you have – free or paid for – as long as you have one,” adds Hoskin, a point that he feels may have contributed towards the success of the various strains of AntivirusXP. “The thing is, there are big differences between each solution and they technology they contain,” he adds.

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For more information contact your Gem account manager 01279 822822 www.gem.co.uk

SECURITY

Indeed, such has the security landscape changed in the past six months, that Dumitru jokes: “That perception went the way of the Siberian tiger a long, long time ago. We’ve since been elevated to the rank of ‘necessary evil’ in the eyes of the public.” However, Harley doesn’t feel that the risk has gone away altogether. “I think there is still an element of that in those organisations and individuals putting their faith in whitelisting. In some contexts, it can work quite well, though it’s certainly not the universal solution that some have presented it to be.” Emm agrees to a point, but warns that that context isn’t necessarily the best one to consider the benefits and drawbacks of whitelisting in: “To consider whitelisting as a sole solution would not just be unrealistic, it would also be foolish. As part of a modern package, whitelisting is the ideal for combating some of the problems that have caused apathy amongst users. Indeed, Emm’s assertion that whitelisting’s strength lies in being able to combat apathy, is the point that most people agreed with.

move away from relying on static signature detection. “There will be continued development of more proactive detection methods such as advanced heuristics and other forms of behavioural analysis,” Harley believes. However, he is sceptical about the rush to whitelisting and its cloud based brethren: “More vendors are likely to use comparatively new techniques such as cloud computing. At the moment, some of these techniques have an element of ‘we have to do this right now, because everyone is doing it’. I think we’ll see more benefits as some of the rough edges are knocked off by early implantations.” Ayin, however, belives it does have its benefits, but that putting everything into the whitelisting basket would be foolish: “This year, vendors like Cisco have come out and said that whitelisting may be a way forward in 2009 and beyond. It is true that whitelisting has its uses, and we are likely to see more whitelisting incorporated into 2009 versions of security software. However, we see whitelisting as ust one more piece in the layered defence against threats.”

The future’s white When we asked what 2009 holds for the sector, there was one overriding opinion: less system resource use. “I think it’s fair to say that in the past, some customers have avoided running security programs because it has interfered with what they were doing, especially groups like gamers,” says Emm. It is a point echoed by Sharrocks: “According to our own research, performance is the number one reason why people switch security products. We have responded to customers’ needs to bring the fastest Norton security products ever, with the fastest install time, the quickest scans and the least memory usage compared to our competitors products.” Expanding on that, Sharrocks says: “Cloud computing is one of the buzz words in the IT industry at the moment. It can be used to fight online threats in an environment where we are seeing many more malicious applications than legitimate ones. “This is based on the concept of whitelisting,” explains Sharrocks. “Trusted applications are stored on a whitelist database,” he adds, explaining that it means they don’t have to scan every program, everytime; a major cause of the slowdown and hogging of system resources. Others see the market moving in different directions, but agree that there will be a general

Mac Attack! But focusing on Windows only tells half the story; especially as the popularity of rival platforms Mac and Linux grow. “Whist malware has been very limited for both platforms, we expect this to change as they increase in popularity,” explains Hales. However, not everyone agrees: “There is probably more demand for the platforms than before, based on the increased number of users, but they still represent a small, albeit very vocal, minority,” says Banks. The problem, as far as he sees it, is that while the number of Windows-based computers drastically outnumbers those of Macs and Linux-based, it won’t be worth the malware writers’ time creating programs for those PCs. “When you compare Windows to Mac OSX and Linux, there is an overwhelming disparity in malware written for Windows, mainly because of its popularity.” Hoskins feels it is only a matter of time before they become more of a target than they currently are: “The rise in Mac popularity and also Linux usage – driven partly because of the netbook phenomena – are leading to increased demand for security solutions for these platforms.” Despite that, he is still keen to play down the threat posed to the platforms compared to that the Windows-based platforms do. “However, they still make up a tiny proportion of the total installed base so the increase is not yet appreciable.” Despite that, he still had a

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warning for users of less popular platforms: “There are cybercriminals who consider the niche markets more attractive as the user expectation of infection is much lower.” However, even more worringly, Sharrocks warns that the platform might become irrelevant, especially as malware writers look to take advantage of browser vulnerabilities: “From the standpoint of the ‘traditional’ attack, you are safer on a Mac as there are fewer viruses, worms and Trojans released that target that platform, but that is now changing. Many of the attacks initiated today are focused on web applications and web browsers.” It’s a situation that has called for a new response. Indeed, the firm has recently launched a special version of its antivirus program designed for Macs that run both OSX and Windows. “Customers are becoming increasingly aware that the fact they are not immune from attack just because they are using a Mac,” a point echoed by Hoskins: “I know Mac users who don’t run security because ‘Macs don’t get viruses’ – a very risky strategy.”

The Hardline… The shift in computer hardware has had a knock on effect on security, with the emphasis no longer being solely on software security, but also on hardware security as IT furniture sales manager at education specialist Monarch Computer Furniture explains: “One of the largest growth areas presently is in the laptop arena, due to the flexibility they provide for pupils and staff, however, these need to be housed and secured – alongside being charged – thus providing a central point at which to do that has become crucial, especially in education environments. The hardware security industry has been thrust to the forefront of people’s minds thanks to the laptop revolution, with current solutions such as cable ties being largely impractical in the modern environment. “What exactly is secure?” asks Douglas. “Does the solution – like the LapCaddy – have lockable doors, is it fitted with an alarm and is it constructed with very sturdy steel? How much would these features cost in the real world, and secondly, with the decreasing value of laptops being stored in them, would the cost be justified? These are all questions educational institutions have to ask themselves. “Monarch have identified that many educational establishments have relevant school security, and many rooms containing IT equipment are alarmed, therefore the additional expense of added security measures on a laptop trolley may be overkill. This is where the LapCaddy is range is proving to be the popular choice,” adds Douglas, before going on to add that the firm is expecting similar success with the new range of its LapCaddy products it will be demonstrating at next year’s BETT event. Of course, there is also the data security angle and IDSbox provides solutions that are ideal for ensuring the safety of data. The box, which transmits data to a secure box elsewhere is especially attractive where losing data could cause a business to close.

PCRetail November 75

SECURITY The whitelistâ&#x20AC;Ś Bit Defender

Norton

Distributor: Focus Body: 01889 570 156

Distributor: C2000 Contact: 0870 060 3344 Distributor: Gem Contact: 01279 822822 Distributor: Ingram Micro Contact: 0870 166 0160

Kaspersky Distributor: Entatech Contact: 0870 770 9536 Distributor: Ingram Micro Contact: 0870 166 0160 Distributor: Koch Media Contact: 0870 027 0985

AVG

ESET

Bullguard

Distributor: Open Contact: 01636 670 720

Distributor: Open Contact: 0845 838 0836

Distributor: Gem Contact: 01279 822822

Webroot Distributor: Open Contact: 0870 141 7070

F-Secure Distributor: Gem Contact: 01279 822 822

76 PCRetail November

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New installer gets users going with one click and in less than one minute'

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Uses less than 7 MB of memory on average between system scans so primary applications won’t be competing for resources(

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Scan speed is faster than the competition so users don’t spend time waiting for their PC to finish scanning(

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Protection software updated every 5 – 15 minutes, 30 times more often than any of our competitors

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SECURITY

Panda Distributor: Blue Solutions Contact: 0118 98 98 240 Distributor: Micro-P Contact: 01256 707070 (South) 01282 776 776 (North)

McAfee Distributor: Gem Contact: 01279 822 822

Lavasoft Ad-Aware Plus Distributor: PX Software Contact: 0207 284 6568

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Focus Multimedia Limited, The Studios, Lea Hall Enterprise Park, Wheelhouse Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 1LH. Tel: +44 (0) 1889 570156 Fax: +44 (0) 1889 583571 All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

78 PCRetail November

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ITĂ&#x2022;S REALLY THAT GOOD BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY 8.5 - OUT NOW New Spamfilter * Faster Firewall * Higher update frequency 5 GB online backup drive * 24/7 support * 3-PC license + a lot more

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Ireland

COMPANY PROFILE

Edgy solutions in difficult times We tend not to focus on the standard commodity products, but more on the niche areas. For example, we take a standard monitor and adjust it for a vertical market. Michelle Birmingham, Edge 10

80 PCRetail November

ith so many companies competing in the technology market, sometimes the best route to success is to specialise. And that’s what has been at the heart of Edge 10’s growth. “We offer a complete end-to-end solution, right from the design of the material and the manufacturing of the complete product down to sales and marketing and an after sales service, as well as technical support,” European business manager Michelle Birmingham tells PC Retail. “None of our competitors offer a complete end-to-end solution – they’re either sales, manufacturing or design, but we do every single part of the chain. We’ve won contracts because of this.” Edge 10 is involved in many areas of the technology business, due in part to the firm’s willingness to reach out into new sectors and to specialise in ways that many other businesses cannot. “The company’s core position is manufacturing and services, making products for ourselves and other brand name companies,” Birmingham adds. “We tend not to focus on the standard commodity products, but more on the niche areas. We take a standard monitor and adjust it for a vertical market. For instance, for the education market where we make products specifically for schools and universities. One thing we might do is coat the product with optical glass to optimise the viewing experience in terms of upping the contrast, as well as toughening it so if children touch the screen it won’t damage the monitor. “We work all the way through the channel. Our client focus is very wide. From an end user level we deal with the likes of schools, prisons, police forces, solicitors, even one-man bands doing wedding videos. We’re currently focusing on building our business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as emerging markets such as Nigeria.”

Edge 10 is finding that during difficult times, it’s still possible to have success in relatively niche markets. PC Retail discovers what its plans are... Aside from its blossoming success in the CCTV sector, Edge 10 is also enjoying good business in the duplication and digital storage sectors. “Duplication devices are probably our biggest product at the moment,” Birmingham explains. “We’re one of, if not the leading, manufacturers in the sector. Our machines allow people to duplicate easily without the use of PCs. DAS (direct attached storage) and NAS (network attached storage) storage are also big for us. “It’s a big market for people like video editors involved in the broadcasting industries. HD has seen this sector boom – particularly since 1TB drives dipped in price.” It’s impossible to talk to any company at the moment without touching upon the current economic climate. Every business and every consumer is feeling the pinch to some degree, and Edge 10 is no different. “The current financial climate is problematic,” Birmingham admits. “People obviously favour buying food over technology or electronic devices. There’s no space for error in this economic climate.” Looking ahead beyond today’s economic woe, however, Edge 10 believes it has identified a sector destined for growth and a strategy that will both see it through these tough times, and also pave the way to prosperity in the years ahead. “We have to diversify into niches,” Birmingham concludes. “In the long term I foresee a big rise in plastic, bendable displays. I’m sure it will be mainstream. We’ve been investing a lot of time and effort into designing an ebook, but we’ve now dropped that in favour of a foldable plastic model that has delayed things by six months to a year. “That’s where our plans are – I’ve have no doubt our strategy is right, but it’s executing it that’s the challenge. Finding a customer and delighting a customer, and keeping them satisfied, is key – ultimately you live and die by your customers.”

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LapCabby-IT

Laptop Charging & Media Storage Units

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New Model LapCabbyMini 20 bay ultra mobile charging unit for new small form factor laptops W585 x D480 x H1110mm

LapCabby10V 10 bay laptop charging unit W585 x D480 x H1110mm

LapCabby20V 20 bay laptop charging unit W920 x D480 x H1110mm

LapCabby16V 16 bay laptop charging unit W920 x D480 x H1110mm

LapCabbyV

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Red

Blue

Grey Black

LapCabby16H 16 bay double sided W870 x D670 x H1000mm

This laptop trolley is designed to house either 10, 16 or 20 laptops stored in their own individual vertical compartmens complete with rubber matting for added protection. The 10V simply plugs into any single 13amp socket while the 16V and 20V plug into any double 13amp socket. Each unit comes complete with an integrated power board into which the laptop ac adaptor is plugged. This means there is no restriction on the type of laptop or ac adaptor which can be used. The power board is located within a lockable compartment in the base of the unit and is complete with air vents for the reduction of excess heat produced when charging. MediaCabby Multi media storage trolley for a projector, amplifier, DD,VCR, and speakers with integrated power. W685 x D570 x H1000mm

LapCabby32H 32 bay double sided W870 x D670 x H1116mm

Visit the Monarch stand * Equipment in the pictures is not supplied and for image purpose only.

A90 at the BETT 09 exhibition

COMPANY PROFILE

Thanks a Billion A Billion goes a long way, as Ben Parfitt discovers when he talks to sales and marketing director Julian De Selincourt about routers, prosumers, and Christmas offerings... aking pride of place under the broader remit umbrella of the PC hardware manufacturing world, Taiwanese firm Billion was founded in 1973, rebranding as Billion in 2004. Today it specialises in the production of networking and power supply equipment, and boasts a number of very high-profile manufacturing contracts, such as supplying Apple with power adapters for the iPod. “In the mid-nineties Billion was renowned for its ISDN solutions and quickly moved into the manufacture of quality ADSL routers as the high-speed internet access market took off,” sales and marketing director Julian De Selincourt tells PC Retail. “Our routers offer better stability, minimising the need for rebooting, and faster downloads, optimising the performance from ADSL lines. The Billion brand is now synonymous with great quality at an affordable price. Also, Billion supplies many of the leading telcos and service providers around the world, including BT, Tiscali, Telefonica and Deutche Telecom.” De Selincourt is not shy of talking up his firm’s highend credentials. “Our clients are anyone looking for a higher quality of router,” he adds. “Historically this has been our core SMB/SME market, but also recently the more educated end-user, who is demanding a bit more from their kit than the average vendor can offer. They are researching better performance alternatives and is finding that the Billion products are ideal.” And it’s the prosumer that has driven the firm’s biggest success this year, with Billion ensuring it’s at the forefront of the blossoming 3G data access market. “In addition to our award-winning SSL VPN products

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As budgets tighten, it’s even more important to offer products that differentiate themselves from the-run-of-themill and represent outstanding value. Julian De Selincourt that offer affordable and easy-to-use secure remote access for SMB/SMEs, we have seen a huge uptake in our unique range of 3G routers,” De Selincourt says. “As prices have fallen for mobile broadband access, businesses are now starting to look at 3G as a serious option as a back-up to their fixed line access. Billion routers offer a dual WAN solution – fixed line access and failover to 3G should your fixed line go down, offering seamless always-on connectivity. This can be crucial for small businesses as being offline, even for a day, can have catastrophic consequences. “In addition, many customers are using our 3G routers in ‘3G router mode’ only – for sharing their mobile broadband at a new office location awaiting their fixed line to become operational, for cost-effective internet access at exhibitions and shows, on the road and even at home.” With the prices of 3G internet access seemingly in freefall on the High Street, De Selincourt expects the

3G explosion to continue for the rest of the year and emerge as its main product thrust this Christmas. “It’s tough to choose one star product,” he states. “I’d say either the 7402NX or the 7402GXL. Both are 3G routers offering the most extensive compatibility with the UK’s 3G networks. The 7402NX is wireless N (draft 2.0) with VPN endpoint built in, and with 3G and a 4-gigaport switch – all for under £150. For those who don’t need all the bells and whistles, the 7402GXL is the only 3G router available in the UK with 3G and ADSL for under £85 and is selling like the proverbial hotcakes. The 3G broadband market is a massive opportunity for trade partners – over 100,000 3G dongles are being sold in the UK every month, and many customers want to share their mobile broadband by using a Billion 3G router.” But even companies as established as Billion in the international market are wary in these times, and De Selincourt knows that the next 12-18 months will be some of the firm’s most testing ever. “The biggest challenge is obviously coping with the current crisis in the world economy, but that doesn’t mean we all stop doing business,” he asserts. “As budgets tighten, it’s even more important to be offering products that differentiate themselves from the run-of-the-mill standard offerings, and represent outstanding bang-for-buck for end-users. “Providing consistent product differentiation and enabling high margins for resellers are two of the key challenges in the market within which the Billion brand excels,” De Selincourt concludes.

PCRetail November 83

INDIE PROFILE

Sabre Systems This month, Iain Shaw heads up north to Scotland to chat with Scott Forrest of Sabre Systems and discovers the secret to its success...

FACT BOX Year established: 1994

NESTLED IN a quiet little lane in the heart of historic Lanark, Scotland – and certainly not in a main High Street position – is Sabre Systems. The business was started by owner Scott Forrest in his back bedroom in 1994 on a part-time basis, with just himself and a friend fixing and building PCs when not working at their own jobs. After securing a contract with a local business to build, install and support a new network, Forrest quit his job and began running Sabre full time from his mum’s house with a technician and an outside engineer. The business continued to develop and eventually in 2000, Sabre Systems moved to its current premises, where it builds and sells PCs and components.

Eight years down the line and Sabre has gained a reputation with local businesses who require system support and outside expertise in order to run their own business more efficiently. In addition, it does repairs and builds PCs according to individual customer specifications. With a core team of five people, all with differing skills, Sabre prides itself on the level of service it gives to not only its contract customers, but also to noncommerical customers. Forrest knows that the continuing success of Sabre requires a dedicated and knowledgeable team who put customers first. “All our customers have different needs and our job is to ensure that we meet their needs, not only

from the initial sale, but also with a great after sales service,” says Forrest. He is also very aware that service is key to the continued growth of his business, especially in the current retail environment. “We are always facing a challenge from the multiples and etailers with regard to the pricing of goods and as a small business, can never compete on that level. Our differential has to be service; it’s what gains us new business and helps us retain our current customer base.” Forrest also knows how important it is to stay abreast of technology and the trends within the computer industry adding: “The industry we are in is continually changing with new products available that we have to not only sell, but

DIARY DATES 2008/9 DECEMBER 2008 PCA ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DINNER December 9th TBA Let the Christmas festivities begin! The UK channel’s trade associatation lets its hair down as it ushers out another year and prepares for what 2009 holds.

JANUARY 2009 CES 2009 January 8th Las Vegas Quite simply, one of the biggest and possibly the most extravagant events in the industry calendar returns to one of the most lavish cities in the world.. Put the two together and you have CES 2009. Expect major announcements aplenty as almost all of the biggest vendors in the world use the event to launch their latest products in front of the world’s media and every influential retail buyer.

understand the concept of, and what value they will be to our customers. We are also faced with a broad range of computer problems from customers who have an expectation from us to find and implement the best solution available.” The need to stay ahead influenced Sabre to become part of the Brigantia Computer Expert membership community earlier this year. Forrest told me: “Joining Brigantia has allowed us to reassess our suppliers and ensures that we are getting the best products and prices. “Plus the forums covering all manner of subjects provide key members of the team with some good technical support, industry and product news,” he adds.

Number of outlets: One Number of staff: Five Regular Vendor Lines: N/A Contact name and address: Scott Forrest, 8 Wide Close, Lanark, Lanarkshire ML11 7LX Telephone number: 01555 666110 Email: enquiries@sabresystems.com Website: www.sabresystems.com

The channel’s calendar is full of important events. Here are some upcoming highlights…

BETT 2009 January 14th London Olympia Now in its 23rd year, BETT is the must attend event for anyone involved in the educational side of ICT. With over 600 educational suppliers exhibiting, including some of the biggest names in the channel, and 27,000 visitors, the event promises to showcase the major developments within the sector during the three days. It includes the prestigous BETT Awards event.

FEBRUARY 2009 DISTREE EMEA February 9th – 12th Monte Carlo The channel event linking the whole of the EMEA channel, from the southern tip of Africa, right the way across to the Alaskan coast of Russia, and of course the UK and Western Europe, returns and this time it’s taking place in the swanky Monte Carlo. It caters for everyone in the channel, from the vendor and distributor, right the way through to end users.

PCA Northern Conference and OGM February 17th Warrington The PCA heads to Warrington for its annual northern conference and OGM. Last year’s event saw Dell detail to the UK channel for the first time the details of its UK partner programme, and this year is likely to have just as big a highlight, if not bigger. The event also plays host to the year’s first social event of the PCA calendar, the conference dinner.

MARCH 2009 PC Retail Awards 2009 March 19th The Palace Suite, Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London The PC Retail Awards return for a second year after a hugely successful inaugural event in March. With all the categories from the 2008 event – and the addition of the new Industry Achievement award – the 2009 ceremony is set to be the social event of the year for anyone involved in the PC retail sector, and a well deserved celebration for the nominees.

If you would like to promote your event, please contact andrew.wooden@intentmedia.co.uk This information is believed to be correct, but potential visitors should confirm details with show organisers before making arrangements to attend

84 PCRetail November

www.pcretailmag.com

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GAMES

Game of the Month WRATH OF THE LICH KING Centresoft: 0121 625 3388 Available: November 13th Price: £24.99

With over ten million subscriptions worldwide, there is no doubting the popularity of World of Warcraft. The last expansion saw players scrambling for their PCs and Wrath of the Lich King is unlikely to be any different. This time, Blizzard will be sending the denizens of Azeroth off to the frozen

BLIZZARD

continent of Northrend to battle the forces of the Lich King. With a rise in the level cap and new places to explore, the hype for this title is almost tangible. Expect a huge increase in demand for this title, both from current players, as well as those who might have lapsed away from the now four year-old title. And with the buzz around this launch, it might be worth stocking a few of copies of WoW: BattleChest.

COMING SOON

Tis the month before Christmas and all throughout the games industry, nothing was stirring, apart from the hundreds of AAA titles all fighting for your customers’ money!

OCTOBER

GENRE

PUBLISHER

TELEPHONE

DISTRIBUTOR

DATE

Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason

TITLE

Action

505 Games

0121 506 9590

Advantage

November 7

Margot’s Word Brain

Edutainment

Zoo Digital

01279 822 822

Gem

November 7

Pool Hall Pro

Sports

Playlogic

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

November 7

Sacred 2

Action

Deep Silver

0870 027 6510

Koch

November 7

Vertigo

Action

Playlogic

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

November 7

B Team: Metal Cartoon Squad

Action

Virgin Play

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

November 14

Call of Duty: World at War

First Person Shooter

Activision

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

November 14

Football Manager 2009

Sports Management

Sega

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

November 14

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Action

Activision

0121 625 3388

Advantage

November 14

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Action

Activision

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

November 28

Neopets Puzzle Adventure

Pets

Capcom

020 8846 2250

Open

November

Velvet Assassin

Stealth/Action

Gamecock

0845 334 4242

Mastertronic

November

Damnation

Shooter

Codemasters

01279 822 822

Gem

December 5

Evolution

Action

Lexicon

0114 258 2255

Open

December

Jumpgate

Action

Codemasters

01279 822 822

Gem

Q4 2008

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust

Action

Vivendi

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

Q4 2008

Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria

Action

Codemasters

01279 822 822

Gem

Q4 2008

Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising

FPS

Codemasters

01279 822 822

Gem

Q4 2008

Rise of the Argonauts

Action

Codemasters

01279 822 822

Gem

Q4 2008

Tiberium

Action

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

Q4 2008

Tom Clancy’s HAWX

Action

Ubisoft

0845 456 6400

Trilogy

Q4 2008

Aion: Tower of Eternity

MMO

Ncsoft

01273 872160

Pinnacle

2008

Blood Bowl

Sport/Action

Ascaron

020 8309 3934

Pinnacle

2008

Fever Frenzy

Action

505 Games

0121 506 9590

Advantage

2008

Hei$t

Action

Codemasters

01279 822 822

Gem

2008

Hogs of War 2

Strategy

Atari

0121 506 9590

Advantage

2008

Jamster Allstars

Action

Atari

0121 5069590

Advantage

2008

Mirror’s Edge

Action

0121 6253388

Centresoft

2008

Prince of Persia

Action/Adventure

Ubisoft

0845 456 6400

Trilogy

2008

Safari Adventures: Africa

Adventure

Blast

08452 344242

Open

2008

Shaun White Snowboarding

Sports

Ubisoft

0845 456 6400

Trilogy

2008

The Apprentice

Mini Games

505 Games

0121 506 9590

Advantage

2008

The Lord of the Rings: The White Council

Action

0121 625 3388

Centresoft

2008

*ABC-certified distribution 102,010 Jan-Dec 05

ON THE RADAR

Call of Duty: World at War Publisher: Activision Centresoft: 0121 625 3388 Available: November 14th Price: £34.99

Football Manager 2009 Publisher: Sega Centresoft: 0121 625 3388 Available: November 14th Price: £39.99

Empire: Total War Publisher: Sega Centresoft: 0121 625 3388 Available: February 6th Price: £39.99

PLUG AND PLAY

This month, PC Retail takes a look at Olympus’ new flagship DSLR, the E-3 and Samsung’s LE32A656.

OLYMPUS E3

SAMSUNG LE32A656 TELEVISION

DSLR Direktek: 01494 471 100 Price: £1,099

LCD TV Midwich: 01379 649 200 Price: £599

provides a supreme level of lympus’ E-3 is the control that, once you have got company’s flagship to grips with it, means you have DSLR and provides a almost peerless command of professional level of build and how your images are captured. specification at a semiSo, while handling might be a professional price point. The first bit of challenge (at first) the thing about the camera you camera’s build is excellent, with notice, however, is its bulk. environmental seals for almost While it may be rather bulky, any climate or conditions, be it it is a go-anywhere camera if raining or very dusty so using you’re up for dragging the thing outdoors (assuming you have around with you be it rain, the pro level lenses with shine, or even in a dusty equivalent protection) is not a environment. problem. In terms of And so, what handling the Colour reproduction of the image relative bulk of I’m the camera is is superbly natural, in quality? happy to report somewhat fact probably the that it’s of an compounded excellent by a seemingly best I’ve seen at quality; colour confusing array this level. reproduction is of buttons and superbly natural, controls. in fact probably the best I’ve However, the apparent seen at this level. WB is a little randomness of the control less accomplished, the auto layout belies the use of the mode sometimes getting its camera, with key buttons for knickers in a twist in mixed auto exposure and AF lock set lighting indoors. However, the within easy reach of your thumb JPEG quality is good, with a on the top of the back plate Super Fine option available for Getting to grips with the level superbly detailed images. of control is the major task on The E-3 provides a level of the E-3, be it fine-tuning the WB, control and build usually only the compression used in JPEG available on professional level capture, how the AF behaves DSLRs but it lacks the panache or, perhaps have the manual of some of the fully professional focus ring turn clockwise or anti models available - but then it is clockwise depending on your much less expensive. proclivity. Nevertheless, it

The picture quality almost o one likes an ugly TV, completely overcomes two of even if it’s the most LCD technology’s main technologically weaknesses. All LCD TVs are advanced around. Samsung good with colour, but the knows this and had made sure LE32A656 uses its Digital Natural its latest LCD TV is as stunning Image engine to create a turned-off as it is switched-on. super-wide colour palette that’s Add a ridiculously low price tag full of fine gradation and subtle and the deal is sealed. shades. It backs up its quite Not that the LE32A656 is just brilliant colours by producing about ‘the look’. Inside its rosy deep and inky blacks that are bezel is the essential tech, rare to find on an LCD TV. It including Full HD 1920 x 1080 helps bolster the resolution. colours no end There’s also and creates a some great Kudos to picture that’s both features. Four Samsung’s brave natural and has a HDMI inputs is of depth. fabulous return team of designers lotFreeview is for relatively for thinking outside relatively clean small bean, well and will hoover of the box, literally. and presented, which up all your helps us warm HDMIfurther to the connected kit LE32A656 ‘black rose’. in one go. What’s more, one of Kudos to Samsung’s brave the HDMIs happens to be on the team of designers for thinking TV’s side for easy access. The outside of the box, literally. As side panel also houses slots for San idea, a red-tinted TV is video, composite video, terrifically bad in theory, but it headphones slot, analogue does work in practice. The audio left/right and a USB slot cynical might argue that a that Samsung calls ‘WiseLink’. touch of rose diverts your Sadly, the LE32A656 isn’t able attention from the fact that the to play video files stored on a LE32A656 is insubstantial and memory stick, but it can play plasticky in design. But with so slideshows of JPEG photos and much top technology inside play MP3. Also back there is a and out of the LE32A656, we’ll slot for adding viewing cards for live with that. subscription Freeview channels.

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GFK

WRITTEN BY: CLEMENCE DULAU, IT ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

Great Britain offers the cheapest Digital Photo Frame in Western Europe in 2008 The Digital Photo Frame market is booming all across Western Europe, with 132 per cent volume growth for the first half of 2008 versus this same period in 2007. In value terms this represents €181 million increase in the number of DPFs sold... nalysis shows that Great Britain is the second largest market in terms of both revenue and units after France. The major differential between all the Western countries is actually the average price of this product. In Great Britain the average price is around €97 (approximately £70) whilst a Digital Photo Frame in Italy will cost you €115 or €119 in France. So what is this cause of such a difference in Great Britain versus the continent? Clemence Dulau, account director at GfK remarks: “Great Britain was the first country to launch this product after the US and it is now the most mature market in Western Europe. Great Britain also has a different distribution in comparison. 50 per cent of the volume is done within the mass merchandisers channel for the first half year of 2008, while in other countries the majority of the volume is done by consumer electronic stores which account for 57 per cent of the volume in France and is even higher at 69 per cent in Germany.” Dulau continues: “In Great Britain, the mass merchandisers are the channel which has seen the largest decrease in average price this year with a drop of €65 between 2007 and June 2008. Conversely analysis highlights a drop of only €10 during the same period in France.” Observation of the technical features for this market have shown that remote controls are included in 50 per cent of the devices in Europe and 40 per cent of them have also built-in speakers. This clearly shows now how the market has evolved by additional add-ons that are included with a digital photo frame to lure the consumer to purchase them. Nevertheless, the most important feature of a digital photo frame still remains the size of the screen. The majority of digital photo frames sold across Europe have seven inch screens, with the bigger screen sizes increasing

90 PCRetail November

in popularity. “In Great Britain, 62 per cent of digital photo frames have a seven inch screen. This screen size is in decline due to a development of the small devices with a five inch screen – already 12 per cent of the market in the first half of 2008 – and the boost of the eight and nine inches segments. Linked to that is the deterioration of the price: you find now an eight inch digital photo frame for the price of a seven inch one six months ago,” notes Dulau.

As manufacturers try to attract new consumers, a feature that could become a key development is the inclusion of inbuilt wi-fi. Digital photo frames are about to turn into fully fledged internet appliances, competing with the home PC, TV and mobile for users’ time and attention. Dulau adds: “wi-fi will be the key feature for next Christmas. Already four per cent of the devices in Great Britain are wi-fi and all the manufacturers now offer a wi-fi product.”

www.pcretailmag.com

*From August 2008 data

HARDWARE CHARTS

GfK provides market research consultancy to manufacturers on the technologies markets and also operates a reseller partnership that provides market research information to dealers in the channel. For further information on GfK please contact Ami Brooks on tel: 0870 603 8247 or email: ami.brooks@gfk.com Models listed are non-exclusive: Neither sold as a tradebrand nor sold exclusively within one retailer or retail group

LAPTOPS

FP MONITORS

FSC

MICROSOFT

TRUST

AMILO LI2727

W1907V

ZG6-00010 WIRED 500 KEYBOARD

14154 OPTICAL MICRO MOUSE

2. SONY VAIO VGN-NR32M/S

2. SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 720N

2. MICROSOFT B2L-00005 COMFORT CURVE

2. TRUST WIRELESS OPTICAL MOUSE MI-4910D

3. FSC AMILO LI2735

3. ACER AL1716FS

3. LOGITECH 967561-0120 CORDLESS DESKTOP

3. TRUST MI-2520P OPTICAL USB MINI MOUSE

4. ACER EXTENSA 7620G-5A2G16MI

4. HP L1910

4. KENSINGTON 1500109 VALUE KEYBOARD

4. LOGITECH V220 CORDLESS OPTICAL MOUSE

5. ACER ASPIRE 5920G-6A2G25

5. DELL SE198WFP

5. TRUST 14550 KB1120 KEYBOARD

5. MICROSOFT BX3-00020 WIRELESS NOTEBOOK

6. TOSHIBA SATELLITE L350-14F

6. HANNS.G HW-191D

6. LOGITECH 967738-0120 OEM

6. BELKIN BEU0309 USB NOTEBOOK OPTICAL

7. ACER EXTENSA 5620Z

7. HP L1908W

7. MICROSOFT BV3-00007 WIRELESS OPTICAL

7. LOGITECH OPTICAL VALUE WHEEL MOUSE

8. HP PAVILION DV6920EA FM428EA

8. HP W2007V

8. LOGITECH 967653-0120 ULTRA FLAT

8. LOGITECH V220 CORDLESS OPTICAL MOUSE

9. ASUS EEEPC 900-BK007X

9. HP L1710

9. HP DT528A KEYBOARD USB

9. LOGITECH V150 LASER MOUSE

10.LENOVO THINKPAD X61 7673-65G

10.LG W2242S-SF

10.TRUST DS-3400D WIRELESS OPTICAL DESKSET

10. LOGITECH LX6 CORDLESS

INKJET PRINTERS

LASER PRINTERS

GAME CONTROLLERS DVD WRITERS

KEYBOARDS

MICE

SAITEK

SAMSUNG

P380 DUAL ANALOG PAD

SH-S203

DESKJET D1560

LASERJET P1005

2. LOGITECH 963291-0914 WINGMAN ATTACK 3

2. SAMSUNG SH-S202

2. EPSON STYLUS D92

2. BROTHER HL 2030

3. LOGITECH WINGMAN EXTREME 3D

3. LITEON DH-20A4P

3. CANON PIXMA IP4500

3. HP LASERJET P2015N

4. SAITEK 107007 P3200 RUMBLE PAD

4. FREECOM 29085

4. HP DESKJET D1460

4. HP LASERJET P2015DN

5. TRUST GM 1200

5. NEC AD-5200A

5. EPSON STYLUS PHOTO R285

5. SAMSUNG CLP 315

6. LOGIC 3 PC RUMBLE PAD USB

6. NEC AD-7200S

6. CANON PIXMA IP2600

6. HP COLOR LASERJET 2605DN

7. LOGITECH 963290-0914 EXTREME 3D PRO

7. SONY DRU-190S

7. HP PHOTOSMART A526

7. HP LASERJET P2015

8. TRUST 14274 JOYSTICK GM-2500

8. LITEON LH-20A1P

8. EPSON STYLUSCOLOR 20

8. HP COLOR LASERJET CP1515N

9. LOGITECH 963292-0914 DUAL ACTION USB

9. SAMSUNG SE-S204N

9. EPSON STYLUS D120

9. HP LASERJET P1006

10.SAITEK ST290 USB

10.LITEON LH-20A1PX

10.HP DESKJET 6940

10.HP LASERJET P1505

www.pcretailmag.com

PCRetail November 91

*From August 2008 data

HARDWARE CHARTS

MFDS

GRAPHICS CARDS

TV CARDS

VIDEO CARDS*

EPSON

XFX

HAUPPAUGE

STYLUS DX8400

GEFORCE 8600GT

WINTV NOVA-T 500

WINFAST VC 100

2. EPSON STYLUS DX4400

2. PNY TECHNOLOG GF 6200

2. HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-1100

2. PINNACLE SYST STUDIO MOVIEBOARD

3. HP DESKJET F2290

3. SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 4850

3. HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-T PCI

3. TRUST FIREWIRE DV 410

4. HP DESKJET F2180

4. PNY TECHNOLOG GEFORCE 8600GT

4. HAUPPAUGE WINTV EXPRESS

4. PINNACLE SYST STUDIO PLUS 700-PCI V10

5. CANON PIXMA MP220

5. SAPPHIRE RADEON HD3650

5. HAUPPAUGE WINTV NOVA-HD-S2

5. ADAPTEC DV PICS & DIGITAL VIDEO EDIT

6. HP PHOTOSMART C4280

6. PNY TECHNOLOG GEFORCE 6 6200

6. PINNACLE SYST PCTV HYBRID PRO PCI

7. HP PHOTOSMART C5280

7. MSI NX8400GS-TD256E

7. HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-4000

8. CANON PIXMA MP210

8. PNY TECHNOLOG GEFORCE 7200GS 128MO

8. HAUPPAUGE WINTV HVR-1300

9. LEXMARK X4650

9. MATROX MATROX G550 DUAL HEAD

9. HAUPPAUGE WINTV PVR-500

10.HP DESKJET F4180

10.PNY TECHNOLOG GEFORCE 9600 GT

10.HAUPPAUGE WINTV PRIMIO FM

*Only 5 models of video cards were sold during August

ROUTERS

WEBCAMS

PC SPEAKERS

NETGEAR

MICROSOFT

SAMSUNG

CANON

DG834G ADSL MODEM ROUTER

LIFECAM VX-1000

ASP-600S

CANOSCAN LIDE 25

2. NETGEAR WGR614 WIRELESS ROUTER

2. LOGITECH QUICKCAM E 3500

2. EXSPECT EX695 SHUFFLE SPEAKER SILVER

2. CANON CANOSCAN LIDE 90

3. BELKIN F5D7230_4 WIRELESS G ROUTER

3. MICROSOFT LIFECAM VX-3000

3. BOSE SOUNDDOCK BLACK

3. EPSON PERFECTION V 200 PHOTO

4. BELKIN F5D7632_4 WIRELESS G MODEM

4. TRUST WEBCAM WB-1400T

4. LOGITECH X-140

4. CANON CANOSCAN 4400F

5. NETGEAR DG834PN RANGEMAX WIRELESS

5. TRUST CHAT AND VOIP PACK CP2100

5. SONY ERICSSON MPS-70

5. IRIS IRISPEN EXPRESS 6

6. BELKIN F5D9230-4 4PORT MIMO

6. LOGITECH QUICKCAM PRO 9000

6. KODA IP300 I POD DOCK

6. CANON CANOSCAN LIDE 600F

7. BELKIN F5D8633UK4 N WIRELESS ROUTER

7. CREATIVE LIVE! CAM VIDEO IM PRO

7. INTEMPO IDS-05 BLACK

7. HP SCANJET G4050

8. LINKSYS WAG200-G

8. LOGITECH QUICKCAM E2500

8. TRUST 15282 SP-2370 2.0 SPEAKER SET

8. HP SCANJET G3010

9. NETGEAR DG834N RANGEMAX ROUTER

9. LOGITECH QUICKCAM FOR NOTEBOOKS

9. SONY SRS-D 21

9. HP SCANJET G2410

10.NETGEAR DG834GT ADSL MODEM ROUTER

10.LOGITECH QUICKCAM MESSENGER

10.LOGIC 3 MIP103K I-STATION 3 BLACK

10.EPSON PERFECTION 4490 PHOTO

92 PCRetail November

SCANNERS

www.pcretailmag.com

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GORDON’S

WORLD

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*From August 2008 data

SOFTWARE CHARTS

The charts credited to ELSPA and GfK/ChartTrack are the strict copyright of ELSPA. For more information, subscribe to the ELSPA weekly report. Contact ELSPA at: 167 Wardour Street, London W1F 8WL. Tel: 020 7534 0580.

PC GAMES

BUDGET GAMES

APPLE MAC

SEGA

MICROSOFT

SPORE

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2008

MAC OFFICE 2008 STUDENT

2. THE SIMS 2: APARTMENT LIFE

2. THE SIMS 2: IKEA HOME STUFF

3. WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING

3. WORLD OF WARCRAFT

BLIZZARD

3. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 6.0

4. CRYSIS WARHEAD

4. WORLD OF WARCRAFT: THE BURNING CRUSADE

BLIZZARD

4. THE SIMS 2

5. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. CLEAR SKY

DEEP SILVER

6. THE SIMS 2: DOUBLE DELUXE

7. WORLD OF WARCRAFT: BATTLE CHEST

BLIZZARD

8. CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE

ACTIVISION

9. THE SIMS 2: FREETIME

10.SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE

KALYPSO MEDIA

5. MEDIEVAL II: TOTAL WAR

2. APPLE IWORK 08

GSP/AVANQUEST

6. THE SIMS 2: KITCHEN & BATH DESIGN STUFF

ASPYR

5. VMWARE FUSION

ALLUME SYSTEMS

6. APPLE ILIFE ‘08

APPLE

7. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL

FOCUS

7. PARALLELS DESKTOP 3.0 (MAC) PREMIUM GSP/AVANQUEST

8. LOCK ON: AIR COMBAT SIMULATION

FOCUS

8. AGE OF EMPIRES III: THE ASIAN DYNASTIES

9. AGE OF EMPIRES: COLLECTORS EDITION 10.UNIVERSE AT WAR

XPLOSIV

9. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS3 EXTENDED STUDENT MAC ADOBE

SEGA

10.APPLE IWORK 08 FAMILY

APPLE

20.WINDOWS VISTA HOME

SYMANTEC

MICROSOFT

21.INTERNET SECURITY SUITE 8 2006

NORTON 360 2 3 USER

22.NORTON 360

2. OFFICE 2007 HOME-STUDENT

MICROSOFT

3. NORTON SYSTEM WORKS 11

SYMANTEC

11.NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 08 12.NERO 8

4. NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 2008 SYMANTEC

13.NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2008

5. OFFICE 2007 PROFESSIONAL

MICROSOFT

14.PAINT SHOP PRO PHOTO X2

FOCUS

SYMANTEC NERO SYMANTEC COREL

24.INTERNET SECURITY SUITE 2008 25.EASY MEDIA CREATOR SUITE 10 26.ALL IN ONE DRIVING TEST

MCAFEE SYMANTEC

23.WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE

GSP MCAFEE ROXIO

GSP/AVANQUEST

27.OUTLOOK 2007

MICROSOFT

33.ANTIVIRUS 2009 3 USER

KASPERSKY

34.NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2008

SYMANTEC

35.ANTI-VIRUS 2009

KASPERSKY

36.MR SITE TAKEAWAY WEBSITE 37.TRUE IMAGE 11 HOME

39.OFFICE 2007 SMALL BUSINESS

MICROSOFT

40.OFFICE 2007 HOME

MICROSOFT

KASPERSKY

28.NORTON INTERNET SECURITY

16.INTERNET SECURITY 2009

KASPERSKY

29.WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE UPD MICROSOFT

42.TRANSFER MY PC

8. OFFICE MAC 2008 HOME

17.DRIVING TEST ALL TESTS DELUXE

30.IWORK 08

43.OS X LEOPARD 10

10.PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 6

www.pcretailmag.com

MICROSOFT MCAFEE ADOBE

18.GREETING CARD FACTORY 19.INTERNET SECURITY SUITE 2008

FOCUS

APPLE

NOVA

31.WINDOWS LIVE ONE CARE

MICROSOFT

MCAFEE

32.ENDPOINT PROTECTION 11

SYMANTEC

ACRONIS MICROSOFT

15.INTERNET SECURITY 7 3 USER

SYMANTEC

MR SITE

38.OFFICE 2007 PROFESSIONAL

7. INTERNET SECURITY 8 2009 3 PCS KASPERSKY

9. TOTAL PROTECTION 2008 3 USER

MACSOFT

GfK provides market research consultancy to manufacturers on the technologies markets and also operates a reseller partnership that provides market research information to dealers in the channel.

HOME OFFICE

6. DRIVING TEST SUCCESS ALL TEST

APPLE ADOBE

41.VIDEO STUDIO 11 PLUS

44.WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL 45.ANTI-VIRUS 7 3 USER

ULEAD ORLOGIX APPLE MICROSOFT KASPERSKY

PCRetail November 95

THE PLACE FOR BUSINESS

MARKETPLACE RETAIL COMMENT

Laptops with style and substance etbooks. Just over a year ago, unless you were within the hallowed halls of Asus, then you’d have never have heard the word. Now, according to Gartner, IDC and iSuppli, the EMEA market is being propped up by netbooks. Yet this month, a vendor showed a glimpse of an alternative future – one where style is important to people. The firm was HP and its collaboration with fashion designer Vivienne Tam was a sign of how seriously the vendor is treating the issue of looks. You can check out details on page 110 and more about its fashion move on page 31. On the other hand, Apple – a company well known for its insistence on stylish hardware – also took the wraps off its latest MacBooks during October. And while the tweaks ‘under the bonnet’, so to speak, have been drastic, so has the change in looks. You can find out more by going to page 106. Sony also unveiled a series of new laptops, (page 108) and while they might have been more muted than some of the offerings from other vendors, they still show that Sony is moving in the same direction of emphasising style and design. Hopefully these moves will make a difference. I do have to wonder whether this rush toward netbooks as a way of saving the industry going into freefall is akin to setting fire to the ship at sea to get rid of the rats. Hopefully, the move by the big vendors towards style with substance – rather than a low price with no style and no substance – will mean the PC industry moves away from the potentially dangerous netbook model and towards a channel that allows both independents and chains to survive, while not devastating the customer’s wallet.

Ben Furfie, Deputy Editor ben.furfie@intentmedia.co.uk

www.pcretailmag.com

To advertise on these pages please call Carly Bailey TELEPHONE 01992 535647 OR EMAIL CARLY.BAILEY@INTENTMEDIA.CO.UK PCRetail November 97

MARKETPLACE NEWS

M2M makes gaming move Memory specialist looks to diversify and strengthen its position in the games sector 2M is hoping that Christmas will provide the ideal start to the distributor’s new range of gaming peripherals from OCZ. The move into the sector marks an expansion of the firm’s involvement in the PC gaming industry, having become a major supplier of gaming memory since its inception.

“We supply a lot of gaming memory to our channel partners and it has always been a strong area for us,” M2M’s managing director Ged Mitchell told PC Retail. “Gaming is an important market to us so we’re always looking at ways to strengthen our position in it and moving into gaming peripherals was a natural progression.” Among the products M2M will be initially stocking are OCZ’s Dominatrix Mouse and its Elixir Keyboard. When asked if this was just a move at gaining a slice of the lucrative gaming market, Mitchell stressed: “No, we’re in this 100 per cent. As I said before, gaming is a big market for us in a lot of product categories such as memory, so the move fits in well with the needs of our system integrator customers.”

Enta’s Jon Atherton

Gainward partners up with Enta for UK push Dual-board firm signs with EntaTech as it looks to build brand nta has strengthened its position as a gaming component distributor with the announcement that it has signed with dualboard partner Gainward to exclusively distribute its products in the UK. Gainward, which produces graphics solutions aimed at the high end of the market, is looking to establish itself in the UK, with the vendor’s sales director John Woodward detailing the firm’s intentions to develop its brand and business. “Gainward have ambitious plans to grow its brand and business within the UK,” commented Woodward. “With this in mind, I am very excited to have signed an exclusive distributor with Enta.”

MARKETPLACE BYTES

Speaking about the move, EntaTech group vice president Jon Atherton said that the deal with Gainward was too good a deal to miss, especially as it looks to further strengthen its position as a leading game component distributor. “With the recognition we received in being awarded ‘Nvidia distributor of the year’ and our continued focus with graphics, we felt the opportunity to be exclusive distributor for Gainward and their relationship with both Nvidia and ATI was too good an opportunity to miss.” “With its recognised brand and relationships with both Nvidia and ATI this is a great partnership,” added Atherton.

To get the latest product news daily,

Center of it all

BenQ eyes gamers

Equipt UK

Sony plays Bond

Acer knocks off HP

Centerprise is to relaunch its distribution team to meet the needs of today’s competitive marketplace. The new team, headed up by Les Billing, will be offering its customers highmargin, value-added services on a wide range of products, a move welcomed by its dealers. www.centerprise.co.uk

BenQ has made a move for the gaming market with the launch of its latest short throw projector, the MP512ST. Along with other features, it comes with a HDMI output – which the firm suggests is ideal for users of the console users, as well as those wanting to watch movies in high def. www.benq.co.uk

Microsoft has launched its home software-as-asservice bundle Equipt in the UK, with PC World as its first partner. The bundle combines its online and security tools including Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live OneCare and Windows Live tools. www.microsoft.co.uk

Sony has launched a new campaign to promote its high definition products themed around, or featuring in, the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace. The first television commercial appeared at the end of last month and featured Bond himself, AKA actor Daniel Craig. www.sony.co.uk

HP has seen itself displaced as the number one vendor in EMEA as a direct result of its late entry into the netbook market, according to the latest figures from Gartner. It found that the boom in demand for netbooks had seen Acer shoot ahead of its American rival for the first time. www.gartner.co.uk

98 PCRetail November

www.pcretailmag.com

MARKETPLACE NEWS

A licence to ink-jet Cartridge Expert has launched a low cost inkjet refilling system designed specifically for use in retail stores he PRO VAC Retail, which is designed to refill the most widely used cartridges that come with print heads, has a high level of success and reliability, according to the managing director of McCue Cartridge Expert, Ian McQue. “The success and the reliability of our patented system is attributable to the high level of automation applied to the process and the adoption of deep vacuum technology for the emptying and refilling process.”

The system is also completely self contained, meaning that other than loading and the occasional emptying of the waste container and refilling of deionised water used for cleaning, no other intervention is needed. McQue is also keen to point out what he describes as the PRO VAC Retail’s other Ian McQue major selling point: “Unlike many air operated machines, the system is quiet in operation and designed to fit on a desk, counter or bench.”

“The success and the reliability of our patented system is attributable to the high level of automation”

Interactive snaps up SteelSeries nteractive Ideas has bolstered its gaming accessories range with the announcement that it has partnered with US specialist vendor SteelSeries to bring its range to the UK. SteelSeries, which recently acquired Ideazon, is looking to capitalise upon demand for gaming peripherals over the Christmas period and onwards in to the New Year. Speaking about the deal, Interactive Idea’s marketing manager Michael Breeze said: “We have had a long association with Ideazon, working with them to introduce and build their products

NEC inks deal with Midwich

under the Zboard and Ideazon brands in the UK. “With Ideazon being purchased by SteelSeries we are delighted to be able to bring the expanded range of SteelSeries products to our customers,” added Breeze. “SteelSeries has impressed us with its strong brand and relationship with the professional gaming community and have some exciting products in the pipeline.”

EC has appointed Midwich to distribute its range of large format interactive touch solutions, joining the likes of Samsung, Panasonic and U-Touch. The deal means that the AV distributor will now be able to supply NEC’s specialist interactive solutions to partners, across both its 40-inch, 46-inch and 52-inch ultraslim bezels and standard 32-inch, 40-inch, 57-inch and 65-inch size

format screens. “NEC is our largest commercial AV vendor and these products are vital for our customers,” says divisional director at Midwich, Darren Lewitt. “This type of technology is ideal for public information, collaborative working and digital signage.”

Booking the trend

The recent boom in UK distributor Abacus has netbooks sales has had the been acquired by Avnet in effect of boosting adoption a deal worth £42.2 million, and awareness of Linux, sending shares in the claims Novell’s Nat Newbury-based firm up 92 Friedman. Boldly claiming per cent on the news. Avnet that the operating system is has revealed plans to bolster irrelevant, Friedman stated: its European presence with "People typically don’t care a distribution network across what operating system is on ten countries. the netbooks". www.ts.avnet.com/uk/ www.novell.com

www.pcretailmag.com

Symantec sends a secure Message Security specialist Symantec has acquired MessageLabs in a $695 million deal expected to close by the end of 2008. The move will allow Symantec to gain a leadership position in the SaaS sector and strengthens its lead in the messaging security market. www.symantec.co.uk

Virtual memory Kingston Technology has driven home the need for increased levels of memory in virtualised machines. Kingston’s Steve Hall said that the increase in demand would have a knock on effect for resellers in terms of creating margins through the sale of extra memory. www.kingston.com

Interactive invests in Interfinet Interactive Ideas has announced the acquisition of a minority stake in Interfinet Technologies. Interfinet is a four year-old company specialising in the customisation of Open Source software projects for deployment into SMEs in Europe and the USA. interactiveideas.co.uk

PCRetail November 99

MARKETPLACE PCA NEWS

Losing IT LOSS of data. It’s a nice little money spinner, isn’t it? For most of us, myself included, the times we think most about data back-up and security are typically when we think that we may have left the home/office door unlocked and we’re many miles away, or we just pressed ‘Yes’ in answer to an on screen prompt and then, as we hear the hard drive chattering away we realise that maybe we weren’t so ‘Sure’ after all. As more of us place an increasing amount of our lives in the illusory safe custody of our computers, so we are at increased risk should things go wrong. As everyone knows – well, everyone in the channel at least – data storage devices do let us down. Whether it’s the hard drive that crashes, the USB stick that gets lost or trodden on, the laptop that gets stolen or left on a train, or the E-bay Surprise, the implications can be very painful. That sinking feeling can come from the loss of the last few years of family photos or, if you happen to be a Government employee, a knock on the door from the security services. Of course most of the problems associated with data loss are avoidable… if only. Inevitably, the ‘if only’ involves the user spending some money and sometimes a little bit of time, and the reseller taking some time to sell a solution. Responsible motorists, businesses, householders and holidaymakers all have something in common: they will invest in insurance. Those self-same responsible people should be a ready market for a little bit of persuasion from their trusted provider of IT solutions about taking sensible ‘insurance’ precautions for their invaluable and irreplacable data. From time to time issues involving data insecurity hit the headlines, and there may be a brief period of associated sales activity as some customers are motivated to improve their security and back-up provision. However, inevitably things slip back to their usual level of – in Warburton Towers at least – rather ad hoc data back-up routine. Increasingly there is a need to make users fully aware of the implications of ineffective data security and to do so in a manner that is authoritative and without sensationalism. There is a need for a document against which users can measure and thus fully realise their vulnerability and data-insecurity. The PCA is currently compiling a White Paper entitled Securing Data in the 21st Century and we welcome expert contribution from the channel.

This month, Keith Warburton, CEO of the Professional Computing Association, takes a look at the changing face of data security...

When complete, the White Paper will be widely promoted to users and the press as a sensible guidance document, featuring vendor-neutral strategies for business and consumers. It will be a valuable tool for resellers, re-enforcing the messages they are promoting to their customers. As one of our contributors said, “Try telling HMRC that you’ve lost your data”. We intend to make the document available to our members for self-branding and distribution, and if you think that you can make a useful contribution to its compilation, please let me know. Meanwhile, the PCA has had some data issues of its own to contend with, centred around our provision of members’ details to services providers who have an offering that will benefit them. Like all trade associations we want to provide tangible benefits to members. One of these has been our LogBuy service, which provides beneficial rates on a wide range of products and services; we also offer a healthcare plan for our members, who receive details through the post one or twice a year. In addition,

Increasingly there is a need to make users fully aware of the implications of ineffective data security and to do so in a manner that is authoritative. most of our reseller members were provided with a free membership of the new Synaxon group, so they could gain access to the system and assess its value prior to launch. After a bit of campaigning from competitive ‘vested interests’ a handful of our members objected to us using their data in this way, which has caused us to review and make some minor amendments to our methods of operation. Nothing, if not responsive to members’ concerns, that’s us!

KEITH WARBURTON IS THE CEO OF THE PROFESSIONAL COMPUTING ASSOCIATION, THE 15-YEAR-OLD, NOT-FOR-PROFIT TRADE BODY WITH MEMBERSHIP MADE UP OF BUSINESSES FROM ALL PARTS OF THE CHANNEL. VISIT WWW.PCASSOCIATION.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION OR CALL 0845 634 9245. 100 PCRetail November

www.pcretailmag.com

MARKETPLACE MAC TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

The real business enemy is reseller and vendor apathy... This month Robert Peckham still holds high hopes for the future of the Mac Live Expo... y the time you read this, Mac Live Expo 2008 – the UK’s only annual Mac enduser show – will have been and gone. And the jury will still be out as to whether the future of this event is assured or not. If you were there as a visitor, I’d be interested to hear your comments. Mac Expo has been running for over 15 years, and has had mixed fortunes at different times in its history, under different show organisers. Its most recent heyday was between 2000-2003, when it was staged at the Business Design Centre in Islington, and visitor numbers usually exceeded 20,000. With the iPod revolution igniting interest in all things Apple, the increasing demand for space at the show prompted XPO Events (the previous organisers) to move Mac Expo to Olympia in 2004 to accommodate this growth. But since this move, the show has had a progressive downturn in fortunes. To fill this new larger venue, many more exhibitors were needed, so XPO started bringing in more iPod-related consumer electronics products and non-core accessory vendors, which fundamentally changed the creative focus of the show. And of course Olympia was a lot more expensive to stage the show than Islington, so the cost of exhibiting became a problem for smaller distributors and vendors. This started the catch-22 situation of declining exhibits, and the interesting products they showed, leading to declining interest from visitors in the show generally. It was apparent three years ago that Mac Expo had begun to lose its previous attraction for many visitors, as the show had no real product focus or ‘wow factor’ for Apple’s mainstream computer users. Despite what the organisers claimed, it was obvious that attendance figures were falling. Then in 2006 Apple UK pulled out of the show less than a month before it opened, and did not return. But shortly after last year’s show closed, XPO Events announced they were handing over the future organisation of Mac Live Expo to Expomedia Events – a much larger and

Sadly, the spectre of the declining enthusiasm and falling attendance figures of previous years still haunts it. more diverse events organisation who already had a variety of shows across Europe for the creative industry and the Linux platform. Expomedia soon announced they would be combining Mac Live Expo within a larger, more creative market-focussed event called Creative Pro Expo, which certainly sounded like a serious attempt to return the show to its Mac-creative roots of old. And they have invested heavily in targeting creative professionals to attend this event, working closely in partnership with Adobe, who will be using Mac Live Expo to present their latest CS4 release to the UK’s Adobe-using public. The new organisers also approached this Association to work with them in rebuilding the reputation of the show with the Apple

reseller channel, who they realise need to get behind this event if it is to regain any credibility with the Mac-buying public. But has the reseller channel actually taken any notice of this major shift in the focus of this show? Sadly, the spectre of the declining enthusiasm and falling attendance figures of previous years still haunts it. We have requested resellers to email and contact their clients to remind them of the shows dates, and to pre-register for free tickets, but very few have. We have organised a ‘Reseller Pavilion’ for dealers to team up with vendors or distributors to exhibit interesting products and solutions at a very advantageous price, but have struggled to generate much enthusiasm from either side. If the general feedback we have had bears up, there will actually be far too many channel and reseller decision makers “visiting the show to see what it’s like for next year,” who don’t realise that they were needed to exhibit at the show THIS year to help relaunch the event and ensure its success in the future. It will be a great shame if this trend of reseller and channel apathy for Mac Expo proves to be the downfall of the show; we certainly hope it won’t be.

ROBERT PECKHAM is the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the MAC TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION, which began life as The UK Mac–Dealer Association five years ago, and re–branded in 2007 to reflect the changing, consultancy and services–driven business model that many Apple resellers have now adopted. WWW.MACTECHNOLOGY.ORG.UK | INFO@MACTECHNOLOGY.ORG | TELEPHONE: 08717 177264

www.pcretailmag.com

PCRetail November 101

ITACS NEWS

NASCR NEWS

Safe Surfing By Matthew Woolley Chairman of ITACS

Using the multiples’ tricks against them By Geoff Carr, NASCR Committee Member ’ve been hearing about this ‘credit crunch’ and I would like to know if it is made by McVities and if it is nice dipped in coffee? While the scaremongering national press create their doom and gloom filled paper-selling headlines, just how much does it really affect you and I? Yes, in the outside world, banks and building societies have suffered badly and the housing market is looking rather worried. Many prices have jumped as a direct result of fuel and energy price increases. Yet people seem to be spending quite freely and our own little piece of the IT marketplace is very busy. There will always be those nay-sayers who go around telling us that everyone is struggling. You will hear it from industry reps as well as customers and the inevitable general time wasters. Don’t listen to a word of it! If you buy into this stuff, it can become a self fulfilling prophesy. I don’t know about the IT trade being recession proof even though computers have obviously become essential equipment. But if we simply keep looking at what we are doing from our customer’s point of view, we will keep them coming in through the door. Another misconception that I am getting fed up of seeing repeated is that you can’t compete with the big boys on price. Why on earth not? Who

or us professionals, safe surfing isn’t too difficult, but we can still make mistakes. In the last couple of months even the careful and more experienced users have fallen for some of the cons, whilst the average user has been duped regularly. This is because the criminal attacks have been getting far more sophisticated. So, warning our customers and the public at large about how to stay safe online in these difficult times should be an important part of the services that we offer. We believe therefore that there should be a strong voice, an association that can guide the public through what is a constantly changing minefield. Associations have a duty to promote their members and the skills of their members, not only to the trade press, but also to the public at large. It is important that the skills of the indies are represented and promoted properly by the general media. The public at large, who are embracing the Internet in unprecedented numbers, need to know that we exist and that we care about them. As part of this effort, ITACS recently had some media coverage about the fake antivirus software which has been doing the rounds. This included a piece on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours as well as a piece on BBC Radio 5 –

and we hope to follow up this success with other programmes in the future. So how can you help your customers? Build up a set of easy to access favourites for their financial sites, for example. Advise them not to trust links or files in emails, particularly from unknown sources. Tell them about the criminals that want to steal their money. How about checking the settings in Explorer and the antivirus software so that executables cannot be downloaded? For businesses, you might want to introduce them to virtualisation software or a second browser with limited functionality so that untrusted sites can be visited with a much reduced risk of infecting the main PC. With parents, you might want to talk to them about supervising Internet access and limiting it to the family room, adding parental control or using whitelists. There’s a lot of tools and techniques you can use to help your customer surf more safely. Become their consultant or advisor and make sure they come to you when they have a problem. Also, make sure they have a good back up system and that they know how to use it. Learn to spend time with your customers, but remember to charge for your time and don’t give away your expertise for free.

INDEPENDENT TRADE ASSOCIATION OF COMPUTING SPECIALISTS – YOU CAN CONTACT ITACS ON 08445 763 760 OR VISIT WWW.ITACS.ORG.UK

102 PCRetail November

made that one up? It’s quite simple; don’t try to be the cheapest on everything. That’s the mistake made by all the new start ups who then pack up after six months, yet it still happens in established businesses. No, price can not be your unique selling point as there will always be someone selling cheaper. Instead, you do it with a handful of prominent special offers. Think of when the DIY hypermarkets first opened up with a big display offer on the end of every single aisle: a Black & Decker drill; a nice toolbox full of dozens of chromed screwdrivers and so on. These attractive lossleaders get a sale then the customer wanders round buying everything else at regular prices! I often see shops with some goods at great prices quietly hidden amongst all the other stuff. They should be brought out onto their own promotional displays or put in the window. There are loads of trade deals around at the moment to enable IT resellers to pick a few and be creative with them. There is no shame in deliberately buying something to sell at near cost for this month’s great promotion. Don’t be tempted to keep it like that forever though, remember to put it back up next month when you do another incredible new deal!

I often see shops with some goods at great prices hidden amongst all the other stuff

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SPECIALIST COMPUTER RETAILERS – YOU CAN CONTACT NASCR ON 08456 440715 OR VISIT WWW.NASCR.ORG

www.pcretailmag.com

MARKETPLACE BRIGANTIA NEWS

Contact Iain Shaw PC Retail’s own agony uncle info@brigantia.com 0870 160 3215 www.brigantia.com

Agony Uncle

Each month, Iain Shaw chooses a topic taken initially from the Brigantia members forum and provides a considered response for PC Retail readers… BEFORE sitting down to write this month’s Uncle Column I decided to have a read of the excellent Economic Summary and Overview Chart that we are provided with by our Brigantia Associate member, GfK Marketing Services. What jumped out at me was that the GfK NOP Consumer Confidence Index has shown a small improvement, rising three points to -36, but it is still 32 points lower than August last year. My initial reaction was to be staggered and it really drove home to me quite how bad things have got during this Credit Crunch, as we all seem to be calling it. This made me think about a conversation I had had over dinner last week with ITACS Chairman Matt Woolley and established indie Hendy Armstrong, who had both echoed what the report was saying but had pointed out the upside in all this to their neighborhood businesses in both Lincoln and Leek respectively. Both had pointed out that they were seeing ever more consumers coming to them with hardware for which they wanted repairs and upgrades to extend the life cycle. Armstrong pointed out to me how difficult it was to price against an etailer or multiple on, say, a new notebook at £299, which produced next to no margin,but how easy it was to sell a new hard drive for £59 plus and hours time without the consumer complaining, with, say, a £30 margin on the hard drive and the time charge. His point was that in the consumer’s mind they had saved the difference between a new replacement and keeping the old hardware going for another couple of years. Both made the point that generally indies that are set up and known in their neighborhoods should be able to weather the Credit Crunch by keeping costs tightly under control and by concentrating on building up both their onsite and offsite repair, maintenance and upgrade businesses, while making sure that all time was invoiced efficiently on a cash basis with consumers and on very tight cash or short credit terms with SMBs. Interestingly, both thought that indies were better to leverage being part of national groups such as ITACS and Brigantia Computer Experts locally, using the logos and other materials available, so as to set them apart from competition

Indies that are set up and known in their neighborhoods should be able to weather the Credit Crunch by keeping costs tightly under control. and kitchen table outfits and to concentrate on simple local marketing to build greater awareness of the full services being offered. Neither were particularly impressed with any of the lead generation schemes on offer and they both felt that such schemes were taking margin away by either fixing hourly rates or, where bidding was involved, driving time charges down, although not to the end users concerned. Now this leads me on to look at two services that indies should be offering to both consumers and SMBs. Both are easy to promote locally. The first is online backup and the second is data recovery services. The reality is that if you get a customer for the latter you should very easily be able to do an attachment sale on the former. Both fit in to the scenario discussed with Woolley and Armstrong as part of the Credit Crunch survival plan and neither involves the outlay of precious capital on stock. Now I will use Brigantia Associate members Bunker Backup and Data Solutions UK as examples of service providers in these two areas. BUNKER BACKUP Bunker Backup, will backup your end-users data online every day, quietly, reliably, securely and automatically, with no hassle to you or your end-user customer. All your end-user needs is a broadband connection. The data is stored in Bunker Backup’s state of the art data centre in Central London. Then, to give you and your end-user complete

peace of mind, it is backed up again to a second data centre which is well outside of Central London. Anytime your end-user needs their data, it is available instantly online from just about anywhere in the world. For more information visit www.bunkerbackup.com or email v.king@bunkerbackup.com. Brigantia members receive enhanced commission rebate terms as a standard membership benefit for a subscription starting from only £60 + vat per annum for bronze level membership. DATA SOLUTIONS UK Data Solutions UK has a range of core products and services designed to meet the needs of the growing SME business sector and to help develop the more established SME businesses. Any IT system, and the data it holds and uses, is at the heart of any business. Business data is crucial in moving a business forward and consequently needs to be properly protected against disaster, corruption or even theft. Data Solutions UK offers a variety of solutions including data recovery, disaster planning, off-site data backup and data archiving. It has some of the best data recovery facilities in the country including an ISO 3 certified clean room and the software and recovery engineers capable of retrieving data from data travelers to all forms of RAID arrays. For more information visit www.datasolutionsuk.co.uk or email neil.adgie@datasolutionsuk.co.uk. Next month I will be talking about some developments at Brigantia as we move to counter the German buying group invasion by introducing a member rebate scheme across all our supportive reporting Brigantia Associate member distributors. This is a benefit we have been working on for well over a year and have now completed the development work on our membership portal to accommodate the necessary reporting system. I will also provide more details about the Brigantia Channel Directory, which will have a major impact on the way the channel communicates in future. As always I would also welcome any reader feedback on this month’s column.

Iain invites opinions from PC Retail readers and will respond though this column www.pcretailmag.com

PCRetail November 103

MARKETPLACE: COMPANY PROFILE

Online with

Bluepoint In this issue, Ben Parfitt talks to Rizwan Datoo, head of operations at the Milton Keynes-based IT distributor Bluepoint, about how things have changed during the firm’s 15 years of distribution …

We’re always making rapid changes to improve our product range, service and marketing tools. If you stand still, you fall behind.

104 PCRetail November

ny company which has survived the increased competitiveness seen in the IT sector over the last decade will tell you that flexibility and diversification is fundamentally important to success, and leading UK computer distributor Bluepoint is no different. “Bluepoint was founded back in August 1992, under the name Bluepoint Monitor Corporation, which reflected the company’s original focus on the import of monitors,” Bluepoint’s head of operations Rizwan Datoo tells PC Retail. “We’ve always been in Milton Keynes, and in 2003 we moved to central Milton Keynes into our own 30,000 sq ft purposebuilt HQ and distribution centre. This was designed in-house by our MD, Safraz Manji, who is also a civil engineer by profession. So this was a massive move for us, and represented the director’s vision of where he wanted the company to be.

“As our customers asked us for more and more PC-related products, we changed the company’s name in 1998 to just ‘Bluepoint’ to reflect the diversification in product range. This diversification has continued at a considerable pace, and today we have over 20,000 products available to our customers, which includes not only our direct vendors, but also the core product range of all the main UK distributors. “We’re always making rapid changes to improve our product range, service and marketing tools – I think you have to in the current market, because if you stand still – you fall behind.” Bluepoint’s main client base remains mostly tradebased, varying from component retailers to system builders, and like many in the sector, it’s increasingly trying to offer a one-stop solution to its customers entire retail and stocking needs. “Our IT services are

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MARKETPLACE: COMPANY PROFILE

To the ‘point... Bluepoint is a leading UK As well as being ranked in distributor of computer the Top 20 fastest growing products, including private companies in the UK components, peripherals, Bluepoint also achieved UK systems and notebooks. The runner-up status for Arthur company was founded in Anderson Group’s Efficient 1992, and operates its Use of Information distribution centre in Milton Technology and Best Large Keynes. It employs over 45 Supplier to the Education people, and has a turnover Sector awards in 2001 and of £16m per 2002. annum. Its corporate Bluepoint’s Bluepoint website provides corporate invested dedicated £1.5m in a pricing, stock website purpose-built availability and provides warehouse detailed completed technical dedicated in information, pricing, stock September enabling 2002, customers to availability and increasing its easily access the detailed capacity firm’s range of and allowing products. technical info. it to drive It boasts a down prices. trained and Bluepoint has relationships sophisticated sales team, and accounts with the likes professional customer of Intel, Microsoft, AMD, service back-up, competent Fujitsu, Seagate, Abit, Acer & technical support and a Relisys. Customers include wide range of products. trade dealers, OEMs, system Bluepoint offers a integrators, resellers, large IT professional distribution departments, educational channel for products in an institutions and Government “ever emerging and fast bodies. moving industry”.

encouraging more and more customers to take up our stock feeds to make reselling our entire product range to their customers easier,” Datoo adds. “Many of our clients see us as a single point to purchase not only our direct brands, but the entire UK distribution. Rather then incurring several lots of carriage sourcing from different distributors, they can place a single order with Bluepoint, and have it delivered all in one go, with better support and more attention to detail than the big boys.” Popular products so far this year to date include favoured operating system Windows XP Pro and the increasingly popular 1TB hard drives, as well as the biggest single tech grower at the moment – the netbook. “This Christmas, if I consult my crystal ball, I would say that the Asus line of the Eee Box and the updated models of the Eee PC would certainly be excellent stocking fillers,” Datoo jokes.

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And the diversification that has shaped not only the name but also the business practices of Bluepoint is again something that will set its agenda in the future, Datoo speculates. “Despite the current economic climate, we certainly plan to diversify our product range further. We’re looking to expand, and we’re improving our online offering to our customers to give them even more support, to minimise the time they need to order items, so that they can spend time on generating new business and looking after their customers. “There are a number of challenges facing the IT distribution sector – I think the key ones will be further reduction in already wafer-thin margins caused in part by internet retail – and the cut back in IT investment caused by the uncertainty in the current financial meltdown.”

PCRetail November 105

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Apple launches cheaper aluminium MacBooks

pple has updated its everpopular MacBook range, creating a new series at a lower price point with all metal enclosures, which the firm claims makes it the most environmentally friendly line yet. The laptops now include Nvidia graphics processors for the first time, apparently giving five times the power of previous models. The new 13 and 15-inch screen machines are based on a

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;unibodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; enclosure taken from a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;single block of aluminiumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which has been compressed and milled, allowing for a considerably thinner casing. The new MacBook is available in two models: the 2.0 GHz version with a 160GB 5400 rpm hard drive, and the 2.4 GHz model with a 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a backlit keyboard. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With

the new MacBook, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve replaced all of those parts with just one part â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the unibody,â&#x20AC;? said Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senior vice president of industrial design, Jonathan Ive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The MacBookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminium, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never even dreamed of before.â&#x20AC;? Apple CEO Steve Jobs described

the new range: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminium. And, just as important, they are the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greenest notebooks. The new MacBooks offer incredible features our users will love â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like their stunning all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; metal design, great 3D graphics and LED backlit displays â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at prices up to $700 less than with previous models.â&#x20AC;?

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Sony revamps VAIO line ony has updated its VAIO range with three new models of laptop. The VAIO AW’s key strength is its large 18.4-inch screen, which has been designed to better support photographers and amateur filming with full coverage of the Adobe RGB colour space for precision with editing. The onboard 3LED backlighting technology is usually found on high end LCD TVs and generates a wide colour gamut further boosting the image quality. Specification wise, it comes with an Intel Core 2Duo T9600 processor, and Nvidia 512MB GeForce 9600MGT card and a 128GB solid-state disk set up to run in conjunction with a 500GB SATA drive. The new CS series includes the CS11 notebook and the flagship

108 PCRetail November

VGN-CS11Z/R, and has a particular focus on style, with ‘harmonised’ colour schemes adorning the case. Laptops in the range contain Sony’s Motion Eye camera integrated into the screen surround, while the flagship model has an internal Blu-ray drive. Finally, the VAIO NS1 has been similarly designed with a heavy

concentration on the aesthetics of the machine. Sony is also pushing the X-Black LCD screen as one of its key features, which delivers decent resolution when viewing movies and photos. Introducing the new range of VAIO notebooks, Sony VAIO UK’s

product manager, Robbie Duncan said: “These products make Sony’s overall quality and distinctive design available to a wider audience than ever. The focus is on ease of use and taking full advantage of the shift to High Definition.”

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Range of new products from HP P unveiled a slew of new products this month, including desktop PCs, notebooks and accessories. The new HDX16 and HDX18 make up the new notebook range. The former is a mid-sized machine with a 16-inch diagonal screen, and comes in 720p or 1080p versions. The latter has an 18.4-inch Ultra BrightView 1080 pixel screen and decent graphics capabilities. Both machines come with

built-in TV tuners, Blu-ray players, wi-fi networking hardware and Altec Lansing speakers. Meanwhile, the vendor has also launched the IQ800 series desktop, which can apparently effectively double as a TV. The machine comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a built in webcam, media card reader, and a ‘HP Pocket Media Drive Bay.’ The firm also launched a range of new accessories and software, including new models of digital photo frame with improved design and customisable options, a SimpleSave music backup and ordering program, the new HDX laser mouse, laser gaming mouse, and the new spill-resistant HP Wireless

Comfort Keboard. “HP’s new consumer notebooks and TouchSmart PC deliver smart and creative ways to engage the wealth of photos, videos, music and entertainment that was previously stuck on our PCs gathering digital dust,” said Stephen DeWitt, senior vice president of the Personal Systems Group at HP. “HP is developing new products and solutions that help make connecting to people and information simple and fun and create a truly personalised computing experience.”

Dual Security Solutions Hardware and Data Protection

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Mitsubishi offers colourful projections New widescreen projector complements the XD500 series itsubishi has created a new addition to its XD500 range of portable projectors – the WD510U. This device boasts wide XGA resolution, a brightness rating of 2600 ANSI lumens, contrast of 2000:1 and up to 4,000 hours of lamp life. Created to meet the increasing shift towards

112 PCRetail November

widescreen monitors, the WD510U carries a number of features that complement its use in a classroom scenario. The password lock and reinforced anchor bars mean that the projector can be left unattended in classrooms, lecture halls or meeting rooms, while the top-access lamp cover

provides easy lamp replacement, even if the device is mounted on the ceiling. An instant shutdown feature allows for a rapid power down cycle without causing any damage to the projector or lamp and the filter free design reduces the risk of dust or dirt entering the casing. Colour has been enhanced by the addition of a Mitsubishideveloped six segment colour wheel, which includes the addition of yellow and cyan to reinforce the colour range.

“We have been one of the leading manufacturers of wide screen projectors for some time,” comments Mitsubishi UK sales manager Fraser McDonald. “With the increase in wide format PCs and laptops it is imperative that we offer a cost effective solution, hence the release of the WD510U.” The new projector is expected to retail at £746, plus VAT, and also comes with a three-year loan warranty.

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McAfee goes active New product suite promises the fastest detection in the world... ecurity specialist McAfee has announced the availability of the 2009 edition of its security suite, which includes Total Protection, Internet Security and VirusScan Plus software. With the inclusion of the new Total Protection software, McAfee claims that the 2009 edition is over a thousand times faster at detecting malware than the next major competitor and carries a successful detection rate of 99 per cent or better. McAfee also says it has optimised a number of common tasks to improve the everyday use of the product. The impact on start-up times has been reduced by 57 per cent when compared to the previous edition, Internet Explorer will launch eight per cent faster and gaming is improved by an extra four

114 PCRetail November

frames per second during scanning. Other features new to the 2009 edition include Anti-Theft file and data protection, which enables the creation of secure password protected ‘digital vaults’ within the system and SECURE, which is integrated in to the SiteAdvisor facility and helps protect customers during online shopping. “We’re very excited to launch our 2009 versions of consumer security software, which lead the industry in almost every category,” says McAfee senior vice president, Todd Gebhart. “With significant performance enhancements and our new Active Protection technology, we now deliver the fastest detection on the market, while also delivering on the promise of unmatched PC performance.”

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MARKETPLACE

Storm coming in autumn Announcing the worlds first ‘clickable’ touch screen smartphone from Blackberry... erizon, Vodafone and RIM have announced that the Blackberry Storm will be available later this year. Designed to meet the needs of both the consumer and business sectors, the phone will be exclusively available to Verizon customers in the US and Vodafone customers in Europe, India and Australasia. The Storm features the world’s first ‘clickable’ touch screen interface that responds like a physical keyboard and supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures for intuitive navigation. It incorporates a full HTML high performance internet browser that supports file downloading, streamed audio and visual content and built-in RSS facilities. It also carries a 3.2 megapixel camera, built-in GPS and media player functionality.

118 PCRetail November

The smartphone features personal and corporate email and allows users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents directly on the handset and carries a gigabyte of onboard storage as well as a microSD/SDHD memory card slot that allows for a further 16 gigabytes. “We are proud to introduce the first touchscreen based BlackBerry smartphone together with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone,” says RIM’s president and co-founder, Mike Lazardis. “Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface.”

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Letting the air in ntec has developed a new approach to system cooling with the launch of the Skeleton – which they claim is the world’s first open air PC case for the consumer market. Essentially the idea is quite simple – leaving gaps in the case to allow air flow to help keep the internal components from overheating. It is also customisable. The case features a top mounted, three-speed, 250mm TriCool multi-colour LED fan, allowing users to adjust fan speed, dedicated 92mm hard drives fans, and a 0.8mm cold rolled steel-reinforced plastic frame. The enclosure fits Mini ITX, MicroATX and Standard ATX motherboards. The enclosure boasts a layered tray design and four quick release drive bays, including two 5.25-inch and two 3.5-inch bays, as well as four optional 3.5-inch side panel-

120 PCRetail November

mounting plates. The case’s seven expansion slots contain room for up to three 11-inch video cards in SLI configuration, and the front mounted USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA ports allow for easy multimedia connections. Additionally, there are Audio I/O ports in the front, compatible with AC97 and HDA. “PC gamers and build-yourown enthusiasts are always looking for the latest highperformance components, including high usability and unique designs,” says Scott Richards, senior vice-president at Antec. “The Skeleton is the latest example of the commitment we have to offering usable, affordable products that perfectly balance functionality with a unique and bold appearance. The cooling capacities and top-notch convenience features will help

The airy Skeleton case from Antec is customisable...

PC users to build a very special system. We’re excited to be the first company to launch an open air PC case.”

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Reduced Power Consumption Environmentally Responsible Cool and Quiet WD Caviar Green SATA hard drives reduce power consumption by up to 40% compared to standard desktop drives and offer best-in-class acoustics and operating temperature. Based on WD’s exclusive GreenPower™ technology, these drives are designed to deliver power savings as the primary attribute. By using environmentally-conscious PCs with our WD Caviar Green drives on board, large organizations with many desktop computers can minimize their carbon footprint and save real money on electricity costs.

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The BeBook joins the ranks of ebook readers that aim to revolutionise the way we read

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A new way of reading... D utch firm Endless Ideas BV has launched the BeBook in the UK. Portable readers of this type achieved a great deal of attention in the national press when they emerged in the public domain recently, with some sources claiming they could be the end of books as we know them. However the BeBook is apparently designed to be less of a replacement of paper literature, and instead brings ‘new features to the reading experience’ – the chief benefit presumably being the ability to carry multiple books or documents with you at once. The firm claims the BeBook can store up to 1,000 books in its internal memory, and comes with 150 pre-installed. The

122 PCRetail November

device includes Mobi pocket – which allows users to buy books or magazines and install them straight onto the device through a wide number of online stores. The six-inch display is designed to give better visibility in direct sunlight thanks to its E-ink technology, while a three-hour battery charge will apparently provide enough power for 7,000 page turns. It comes with 512MB of internal storage, an SD card slot, and a USB connector for transferring books. It also supports a wide array of format types, including pdf, mobi, lit, epub, html, doc, fb2, txt, ppt, prc, rtf, jpg, and mp3 files. The BeBook is available from Widget in the UK for £229.99.

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Visual computing H ANNspree and HANNSG has bolstered its TV and monitor lines with two new low priced products this month. The HANNspree HT09 28-inch widescreen TV will retail for £279.99, and has a HD 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 3ms response rate and two onboard five-watt speakers. For external plug-ins, the machine has two HDMI ports and two Scart inputs, plus component, composite and VGA hook-ups for connection to a computer. The HT09 also has VESA mounting capability and a 160-degree wide viewing angle.

124 PCRetail November

Meanwhile HANNSG has also introduced a new limited edition ergonomic HG192D monitor. It is designed to be able to handle table presentations or for use in locations with ‘heavy traffic’ – i.e. multiple uses. The 19-inch screen comes with a special stand which enables it to be angled around with more ease, and it also features a WXGA+ 1440 x 900 resolution, 5ms response time and VGA and DVI connectivity. The screen comes with anti-glare coating for use in very bright areas, and retails for £105.99.

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Medion cuts prices for Christmas Deal sees cut price notebooks and sat navs devices available through Sainsbury’s pecialist distributor Medion has partnered with retail giant Sainsbury’s to bring cut-price computer hardware to supermarket shelves. Medion supports retailers and manufacturers in one-off sales campaigns that involve products from the computing, consumer electronics and communications sectors and has seen considerable growth in its notebook sales as a result. The latest move sees Sainsbury’s offering the Akoya Mini E1210 notebook for the reduced retail price of £279. This Intel Atom-powered laptop runs on XP and features an 80 gigabyte hard disk, a gigabyte of DDR2 solid state

RAM and a ten-inch widescreen with an integrated webcam and microphone. Another offering is the GoPal E3215 Glamour sat nav, which has dropped in price to £119.99. This device features a 3.5-inch touch screen display and a 512 megabyte integrated memory that contains seamless and extensive maps of Western Europe. Its dynamic route planning allows users to avoid traffic jams and warns drivers when they’re approaching a speed camera. The Glamour edition comes with a number of accessories including a carrying bag, a 12volt car adapter and an external TMS antenna.

The Akoya Mini E1210

126 PCRetail November

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Corsair powers efficiency New Power series aims to provide affordable, energy efficient power supply for desktops uilding on the success of the award winning HX1000W, Corsair has announced its new line of economical, quiet and energy efficient desktop power supplies, the Corsair Power range. Initially available in a 400-watt model, the CX400W, the Power series has been designed to offer the best performance available for its price. Due to its energy efficient design and the inclusion of active power factor correction circuitry, the CX400W is capable of delivering higher than 80 per cent efficiency ratings. These additions allow it to run at an extremely cool temperature and use very little energy, which serves to significantly reduce running costs. Additionally, it is cooled by a large thermally controlled 120mm fan that Corsair says will

allow the CX400W to provide stable, continuous power while remaining whisper quiet. The component also features a variety of connectors, designed to enhance its scope for compatibility and its internal cables are long enough to serve some of the tallest cases available on the market. “Corsair is very proud to announce an entirely new product line for builders with lower power

requirements,” commented Corsair’s vice president of marketing, Jim Carlton. “With the first product in the Power series, the CX400W, system builders who don’t need high-wattage power supplies

finally have an inexpensive and high quality solution.” The CX400W carries a recommended retail price of €49.99 (£38.92) and is backed up by a three year warranty with customer support inclusive.

HOW LONG DO YOU SPEND ON THE PHONE SOURCING AND PRICING STOCK? Brigantia Group members all have unlimited access to BRIGANTIA PARTFINDER at no extra charge. PARTFINDER shows BRIGANTIA preferential prices and stock levels across 15 suppliers saving not only money but time too! PARTFINDER can search by description, part codes and supplier; it even has a few more subtle search tools to allow you to refine the results from our more than 100,000 SKUs listed.

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NEW LOOK, SAME SOLID VALUE. 128 PCRetail November

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PCRetail November 129

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HP TOUCHSMART IQ500

SAMSUNG R510

Lifestyle PC Distributor: Westcoast Contact Number: 0118 912 6000 Price: £1,099

Value Laptop Distributor: Westcoast Contact Number: 0118 912 6000 Price: £499

ifestyle PCs tend to follow each item, a tile is added to similar designs: a bright, the menu. high-quality screen, decent The display is superb. The 22mobile components and bags inch panel produces bright, of style. That’s the pattern punchy colours, and the native followed by the Sony VAIO resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 VGC-LT2S and the Dell makes high-detail areas XPS One. appear clear and sharp. It feels But HP’s latest venture adds suitably tough too, and we also something distinctive to the mix. applaud the small grip on the As the name suggests, the bottom of the rear stand, so it TouchSmart IQ500 comes with a won’t slide across the table touchscreen – something we when you press the screen. haven’t seen in The internal a desktop PC components are The touch screen since the IQ500’s interface makes the mainly mobile predecessor, the parts, helping to HP tremendously IQ770. ensure quiet easy to use, and To make the operation. most of this, the Thankfully, the there’s enough IQ500 uses HP’s 2.16GHz Core 2 power to keep proprietary Duo T5850 everything smooth coupled with TouchSmart and responsive. software. 4GB of RAM is Double-tap the powerful TouchSmart icon and the Vista enough to handle 64-bit Vista desktop is replaced by a frontHome Premium and the sort of end not unlike Windows Media tasks expected of it. Centre. Its finger-friendly, superThe touch screen interface sized icons are easy to use, and makes the HP tremendously we were soon prodding, easy to use, and there’s dragging and tapping away. enough power to keep By swiping our fingers left and everything smooth and right across the screen, we responsive. If you’re not were able to scroll through a concerned about the lack of horizontal menu with links to an HD video player, the games, movies, our music TouchSmart IQ500 makes an collection, websites and RSS attractive and versatile feeds you care to add – for addition to any room.

aptops boasting Intel’s latest Ergonomics are top-notch. The Centrino 2 chipset have full-sized keyboard has a light, started to steadily trickle into responsive action, and while we our laps, and now hot on the wouldn’t put the silver-nano heels of Samsung’s sub-2kg bacterial protection to the test, it portable, the Q210, comes yet does at least give the keys a another in its newly revamped pleasant, strokable finish. There’s line-up. This time, however, the equally little to complain about R510 brings Centrino 2 to an as far as the R510’s trackpad is altogether more affordable concerned; it’s accurate, with price point. unmarked vertical The R510 is a and horizontal What it lacks in 15.4-inch screen scroll zones along portability, the model, which its edges, and makes it a Samsung makes up each one of the comfortable two click buttons for with looks. Last halfway house response with a year’s top-to-toe between the light, dainty click. black has been more petite likes As you’d of Samsung’s abandoned in favour expect given the own Q210 or of a striking two-tone tight budget, larger, weighter Samsung has silver and black. desktop stuck with Intel replacement integrated laptops, such as the PC Retail graphics. In its favour, the R510 Recommended R700. Weighing touts the latest Intel GMA in at 2.66kg, we’d shy away from X4500MHD graphics chipset. But transporting it to and fro on a performance is still modest and regular basis, but compared with our Crysis benchmarks returned its 15.4-inch brethren, the R510 similar scores to the previous still rests at the lighter end of X3100 series. the scale. Battery life is a highlight – over And what it lacks in portability, four and a half hours at idle. This the Samsung just about makes is impressive for a budget up for with the looks. The top-tolaptop, notwithstanding the toe black of last year’s models slightly less impressive hour and has been abandoned in favour six minutes under heavy usage. of a striking two-tone silver and While the debut of Centrino 2 black combination. Fold back in the budget arena is unlikely to the glossy lid and the interior grab any headlines, Samsung’s reveals a keyboard topped and R510 offers fine value for money. tailed with a narrow gloss black If you can live with the standard strip, framed neatly by a silver resolution display, then the R510 keyboard surround and offers a good specification at a matching bezel. bargain basement price.

L L

130 PCRetail November

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MARKETPLACE

DISTRIBUTOR DIRECTORY Abacom

01483 303455

abacom.co.uk

Avanquest

01752 318078

avanquest-solutions.co.uk

Avnet

01344 662000

avnet.com

Blue solutions

0870 402 0000

bluesolutions.co.uk

Bluepoint

0870 121 8001

bluepoint.net

Broadband first

087 078 70387

broadbandfirst.com

CCI Distribution

01423 704 700

ccidistribution.co.uk

Centerprise

01256 378 000

centerprise.co.uk

Computer 2000

08700 603 344

computer2000.co.uk

Computer Gear

0121 503 0666

computergear.co.uk

Direktek

01494 471 100

direktek.co.uk

Enta Technologies

0870 770 9588

entaonline.com.

Ezy

0845 050 6002

ezyinfotech.com

Focus Mulitmedia

01889 570 156

focusmm.co.uk

Gem

01279 822 822

gem.co.uk

Ingram Micro

0870 405 3000

ingrammicro.co.uk

Interactive Ideas

0208 8051000

interactiveideas.com

J&J Associates

01752 336 466

jj-associates.com

JLT Computers

0870 225 5558

jltcomputers.co.uk

Keyboard Company

0845 205 5588

keyboardco.com

KMS Components

02920 713 713

kmscomponents.com

M2M direct

020-867-63030

m2m-direct.co.uk

Medea

0870 350 0330

medea.co.uk

Midwich

01379 649200

midwich.com

Meroncourt

01462 680 060

trade.meroncourt.co.uk

MT Electronics

0121 331 8970

mt-electronics.com

Nanopoint

08701 620 818

nanopoint.co.uk

Realtime Distribution

01480 435 881

realtimeonline.co.uk

RET UK

01722 341 234

retuk.com

SDA Trading

0161 819 1515

sdatrading.com

SJ Software

01282 865 500

sjsoftware.co.uk

Target Components

01977 739 300

targetcomponents.co.uk

Ultra-X

+31 252 533 284

uxd.eu

VIP

0871 622 7500

vip-computers.com/uk

Widget

01438 842362

widget.co.uk

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PCRetail November 131

OFF THE RECORD

A day in the life

This month: This month, Blizzcon hits Anaheim and the Games Media Awards head to Camden Town.

BLIZZCON Look, it’s one thing spending all day in front of your screen playing World of Warcraft, but to travel halfway around the world to dress up as a character from the game takes some commitment; that and a total lack of any sense of embarassment. Next time you have a games launch and you see a Horde of gamers (yes, that pun was intended) outside your door, before you insult them, think of this lot who travelled all the way to Blizzcon in Anaheim, California to dress up. That said, we have to give kudos to the guy who dressed up as a Gnome Warlock...

ad makes you gl Stuff like this .. Erm – e. m ga e th you play ish we we mean, w me. played the ga em... Yes, wish, ah

Mike Scott, Sales Manager, Medea penning Medea at 08:15, I switch on the Gaggia for another coffee and turn on ‘Smithers’, our daily performance monitor. I respond to the most important emails from overnight then out for a coffee and a smoke with the finance director Sheryar Adam. Daily sales meeting and product training is between 09:15 and 10:00. Everyone in sales gets to tell me of any issues and successes they’ve had the day before. I set a mini agenda/ focus for the second half of that day, 10.00 to 13:30 is key selling time. Margaret the receptionist makes sure the coffee keeps flowing. Lunch is at 13.30 so across the road for Stella and a burger with my sales team leader, Stewart Cowie. 30 minutes later and we’re back to make contact with potential clients and

132 PCRetail November

review daily sales status in SAP, making sure key clients have ordered where they should have. Margaret pops in with coffee again. At 16:45 all invoicing for the day is done so we all have an informal chat with coffee in the office and get a realistic overview of how we’ve performed for the day and forecast who we expect to get orders from tomorrow. Then Sheryar and I get together again at 17:15 until 18:30 for some pool and coffee. Generally I get thumped, but recently I’ve been getting better. We discuss issues raised from sales and strategise for tomorrow. The last half hour of the day I clear my inbox then home for 19:30 at the latest for a Stella or two to clean all that coffee out my system. Another day...

ABOVE: We’re going to assume they’re dressed up as Southsea Pirates. We assume that because we always thought pirates were meant to be scary

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OFF THE RECORD

Send your pictures to andrew wooden@intentmedia.co.uk

The undead lady bel ow reminds us of wh at we woke up next to the Saturday morning just gone... Next to her is what we can only assume to be a pregnant Sylvanas Win drunner. Honestly, we don’t know much about the game

GMA AWARDS On October 16th, PC Retail’s publisher Intent Media hosted its annual Games Media Awards, recognising those lucky media types who get to sit around and play video games all day – and get paid for it! The cheek of it. Microsoft’s UK PR for Games for Windows Andy Irving and Activision’s European PR director Nick Grange – who incidently used to be Irving’s boss – also shared a chin wag, while PC Retail deputy editor Ben Furfie put his camera skills to use by recording the event, professional styleé.

PC Gamer’s ve ry own star To m Francis man himself an aw aged to scoo ard at this ye p ar’s Game M PC Retail’s pu edia Awards, blisher Intent hosted by Media.

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PCRetail November 133

BACK PAGE

“

QUOTES

OF THE MONTH

“But the problem now is that I’m hooked. A few years ago, Apple had viewers trying to guess whether people are Macs or PCs. Now a new series of commercials has me labelling people that way. How stupid is that? I’ve never been curious as to what kind of computer Eva Longoria uses. But now that I know, I’m not surprised to learn it’s a PC. I’ve been suckered in. And so have my friends. My mailman? Total PC. No one believes Pharrell’s really a PC. I would have always expected him to be a Mac guy. You know, arty. Big glasses. Weird philosophy. Some blogs even say there’s proof the technical work on N.E.R.D.’s albums was done on a Mac.” Mike Gruss, columnist on the Virginian-Pilot, muses on the new advertising spat between Microsoft and Apple.

“On the web the thinking of cults can spread very rapidly and suddenly a cult which was 12 people who had some deep personal issues suddenly find a formula which is very believable. A sort of conspiracy theory of sorts and which you can imagine spreading to thousands of people and being deeply damaging.” The creator of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, is quoted in the New Scientist as warning about the dangers of… the internet. He suggests that websites should be granted an ‘IQ’ once they have been proven to be reliable sources, preventing unreliable, cultish or dangerous sites from gaining attention.

“You should always remember Schofield’s Second Law of Computing: data doesn’t really exist unless you have two copies of it. Preferably more. If you only have one copy on Google then you don’t own it, Google owns you. And if you are running a business on that basis, then either you are naïve or you’re an idiot.” Jack Schofield warns of the danger of being flippant when handling back-ups of data on his Guardian Online blog.

“This is not a dotcom style downturn. That was principally people selling computers cheaply on Ebay from companies that melted down. Here, emerging markets make a difference, as the cost of computing has come down based on growing income levels. Technology will probably do well from a downturn, because we sell the tools of productivity.”

IN THE HOTSEAT Name: Keith Warburton Company: PCA

Intel CEO Paul Otellini insists his firm’s storming success in Q3 is not a mirror of the bursting dotcom bubble at the beginning of the Millennium. “The main trend evident in this quarter’s report is the consistent improvement in the overall performance of the top five providers, particularly in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Britain has seen very strong growth in unbundled lines, from 3.7 million in December to more than 4.5 million by August, with almost all consumers having a choice of two to four broadband service providers. British service providers report that growth in competition has fragmented the market, leading to a wide variation in service performance.” Consultancy firm Epitiro Technology tells Stuff.co.nz, a technology website from New Zealand, about how broadband quality in the country is surpassing the offering in good old Blighty. But if you ask us, there’s no need to gloat. “To find Khan’s tomb, we’ll be using remote sensing techniques and satellite imagery to take digital pictures of the ground in the surrounding region, which we’ll be able to display on Calit2’s 287-million pixel HIPerSpace display wall. We’ll then work with people in UCSD’s electrical engineering department to develop visual algorithms that will allow us to create a high-resolution, 3-D representation of the site.” If anyone wondered what Nvidia was talking about when it spoke of how visual computing is spreading to different environments and industries, this is a pretty good example from Dr Albert Yu-Min Lin in Chinaview.com

Describe yourself in three words. Short-sighted, handsome visionary What does your job involve? Persuading the industry that co-operative action is complementary to competitive activity How did you get your current job? I invented it. I saw many years ago that there was a need to raise the professionalism in the marketplace, to provide end users with some sort of industry body that could help solve their problems, and to bring benefit to the marketplace through mutual co-operation. So I set up a trade association. Easier said than done! What did you want to do when you were younger? I wanted to be creative. And most of my jobs, including this one, have enabled that. If you could have anything in the world for free what would it be? I have all that I need, and I wish for nothing. If you press me I’d ask for guaranteed good health until the day I die, aged 120, still meeting the challenges of the job I enjoy. And probably Viagra on the NHS. If you were the PC Retail editor for the day, what would you do? Tell all the staff they are doing a great job and I was going to work on the plans for getting everyone a pay rise. Then go and play golf.

NEXT MONTH Distributor Opening Times: Details of when you can get your last orders through in the run up to, during and after the Christmas buying period. Laptop Bags and Accessories: Bags, peripherals and other accessories are always useful margin makers when making sales on mobile computers. We take a look at the hottest products.

134 PCRetail November

Retail Survey: Our annual census on the channel’s views and experiences covering all facets of working in the PC and technology trade, from greatest threats to working as an independant to predictions on the future Frontline news, Agony Uncle, News from the MTA, PCA, Brigantia, ITACS, NASCR and more only in PC Retail...

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