It’s cheap and it looks cheap too

Excuse me, can I have a ‘baby-proof’ hi-tech staff, please?

I was just about to go to town to check out 7 inches tablets but before I had a chance to get out the door my teething son got his hands on my smartphone. By the time I realized what was happening I found he was chewing on the phone and managed to damage the touch screen.

Ok to be totally honest the phone was cheap, and clearly it was not remotely baby-proof. So much for a tablet, now I need to find a new smartphone, Or maybe I should look for something that gives me both capabilities in one…..I think phablet?  

As I started to look into this technology, I noticed once again we don’t have phablets in the Hungarian market….so far…

Hungarians are excited about this new technology phablet. I noticed that many hi-tech bloggers can hardly wait to buy a phablet. The funny thing is while we are waiting for devices from American companies, since the US market introduced the term, it has just as quickly made the term go away.  Device that represent the phablet market is limited to devices such as the Streak and the Galaxy Note. However no other manufacturer has adopted the term, or used it actively focusing largely on the table market.

It’s cheap and it looks cheap too.

Hungarians are highly motivated to purchase tablets this past year there has been a 180% increase in sales of tablet devices in our country (according to HVG.hu) of course since most can’t afford the more expensive ipads, and galaxy devices we see low end manufacturers flood the stores in Hungary.

Most of the devices in our market feel cheap, and made of low grade materials. Devices such as the Ghoo Tab 7000 and Wayteq xTAB-70i have a simple slab design with a power and volume button on the outside, and basic internal specs such as 0.3 megapixel enough for chatting, they take poor quality pictures. Some of these devices have USB port and tend to have 8GB or less or RAM. The devices are 1.2 GHz dual-core MediaTek processor with Bluetooth, GPS and wifi as well. The devices are ok for simple games, watching video, and as e-reader. Most of them run Android 4.2 or a customized version of Jelly Bean.

 

So I guess if you buy one of these tablets, you get what you pay for. They are cheap, don’t expect them to work as well as the high end device….

If you have any experience on cheap tablets I’d like to see your comments.

Tablet race for Hungary

Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?

Spring is coming, and I have lots of things to do in the garden. Since I live outside of Hungary’s capital – Budapest- I frequently feel isolated from others, and the only way I stay connected is to use the internet. I walked around my property and try to assess what needs to be done, jealously I recognized the fact that my neighbor is already two steps ahead in planting his garden. Being curious about the word, and interested about new things, I surf the internet for hours to find out what’s happening in tech.

Recently I’ve decided to at buying a tablet…this type of decision is big for me… remember the internet is my main connection to the world, and a nice simple easy to use device would be a great use. This is a great starting point to look at my options.

The Great tablet race

The tablets market seems to be growing fast just like weeds in a garden, so trying to catch up on the latest products and check out what is available in Hungary is a real challenge.

Brands selection is very limited, we all want cool expensive tablets but we buy cheap ones they are more available. Most who haven’t got a tablet desires the expensive Apple or Samsung tablet.

There is also an availability issue.

At the moment the Hungarian market we only see a limited set of high quality products (I’m talking about 10 inch tablets now).

•  Acer Iconia A211
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note

 

Also what most don’t understand is that the manufacturers also create low cost, cheaper models.  We are flooded with offers to buy products such as;

• Overmax Steel Core, DPS Dream 7
• ASUS Eee Pad Transformer
• TAB-Tegra
•  MyAudio
• ConCorde

  

Interestingly enough for as much hype what happened to products such as the Microsoft Surface RT most probably don’t know that we still don’t see this device in our market? What happened? Since Surface RT, Microsoft also launched the Surface Pro, and we hear that American’s are the only purchasing power. Microsoft has left out market untouched, who knows if the product would have been successful.. You can’t buy it here unless you leave the country. Our news talks about a lack of interest in the Microsoft tablet’s, but that would take Microsoft actually making the device available in Hungary. I wonder what other worldwide markets where under estimated by the people at Microsoft?

 

I asked a very close friend of mine in Wien – to help me out and have a look at her local tablet market. She reported to me that a variety of product are considerably easier to get, unsurprisingly, however the price seems to be the same.

http://www.ditech.at/liste/53709545/Smartphones__Tablets_nach_Hersteller_Acer.html

http://www.hartlauer.at/Portal/jsp/hartlauer2/computer/index.jsp#moreBoxes

 

Next blog, I’ll continue my search… I’ll look at 7 inch tablets or ‘phablets’are well…

 

Stay tuned….

 

The new Hungarian Revolution

March 15th represents of the biggest Hungarian anniversaries.  In 1848-49, the Hungarian revolution was followed by the revolutionary war in Europe, however only Hungary was successful at resisting invasion. This day is also special since the famous Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi’s, wrote the Hungarian national anthem from one of his poems. The song rumbles the Hungarian consciousness to this day.

“On your feet, Magyar, the homeland call

The time is here now or never!’

As a proud Hungarian we also have to listen to the doctrine forced upon us from our countries President that our freedom still exist. So our hero’s efforts was not wasted. That’s fine, as we got used to our leaders who provide the voice of our national symbol, and let the politicians interpreted the ideology.  

You know we are a smart nation, and have access to news, through twitter, facebook, and so many other real time news feeds, and we watch in horror how the EU states are not happy with the Hungarian political direction. As an outsiders view point, Hungary is collapsing, much like Greece, and Italy. We were warned by the German government to work and restore ourselves, and think about the next steps to being part of a financial connected world. It’s not hard to picture a future where Hungary is kicked out from the EU. It’s a very confusing time, and as a nation we wonder where are the Heroes of our great nation?

Another confusing dilemma comes to the Hungarian market place is the introduction of the smartphone revolution. A growing number of web services such as Facebook, Twitter, the many music sharing services, Map sites, weather app services, and so many more connected activities have invaded Hungary in force, like a new revolutionary war.. This time the information is invading the hearts and minds of the new generation, they become impossible to avoid. So what direction to move, as none of the manufacturers really care about a small market like Hungary. So let’s look at the current dominant devices on the market.

Use a Google Android phone or Apple iPhone? Is this a national dilemma?  

Selecting a device in Hungary

Right now the iPhone is an expensive premium product, and costs more than an average salary for most. It really pushes itself out of the regular people’s hands.

This leaves the android devices, but which one?  It does not help that our local carriers have not done a good job to teach us about the android line up. All the options. So how can we get into a good smartphone, ensure we have all the options, and spend as little as we can?

Interesting fact that women costumer had a more serious role for the purchase of smartphone success than men. Of course we have! – so stay tuned, as I look at what carriers are doing around Budapest.

So which should I choose? Freedom? Life style? Expensive or cheap? Check out this great chart at http://android-devices.net/

 

 

Hi-tech is a tough topic to write about for me, but upfront I want to share that a good friend of mine, who is also a relative will be helping me with the blog. Frank Simorjay is a senior program manager working in the United States…where else… but at Microsoft.

So jumping right in.

About the Hungarian hi-tech market, well it’s a simple answer, it’s small. Looking around it seems that everyone knows each other.. That’s based on my observation employed several years by a local leading tech media company.

There are three things increasing market momentum in the Hungarian market today, Smart phone, tablets, and cloud computing.

Smart Phones - According to Wikipedia worldwide there are over 6 billion mobile phones, that’s 87% of the worldwide population. Additionally In evolving BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) the adoption is at 85%, Hungary a former Russian bloc country is at a staggering 113% adoption!  Comparing this to other BRIC countries, Hungarian is the market leader.

 When looking at the platform breakdown we see the popularity list start with Android dominate with 53%, while iPhone represents only 8% more below then of the international average. A very interesting observation to see that the iPhone has not truly penetrated the Hungarian Market.

Tablets - Until the end of last year 65 thousands tablets were sold in Hungary. It has jumped three-fold on selling because of the low cost. Question is why the rapid increase of the ipad market, but a slow adoption of the iphone?

 Cloud Computing – Generally this is a big mess in people mind in Hungary, yet something which is growing, slowly. It has remarkable growth rate. In a recent report only 3% of the Hungarian companies stated they use cloud computing, and 10 % are planning to do use it in the following year. Generally most don’t even understand what cloud computing is all about.