Report: Google and Amazon Likely Lost Money on Smart Speaker Sales Over the...

Report: Google and Amazon Likely Lost Money on Smart Speaker Sales Over the... xda-developers Jan 4, 2018 11:50 PM • by Doug Lynch Report: Google and Amazon Likely Lost Money on Smart Speaker Sales Over the Holidays There seems to be an ebb and flow when it comes to consumer tech, and nowhere is it more apparent than the smart speaker market, where Amazon and Google are competing for dominance. The competition's fierce enough that neither's afraid to forgo profits — according to a Reuters report, in fact, Google ended up losing money on the Google Home Mini and Amazon the Amazon Echo Dot over the holidays. Both Amazon and Google took advantage of the holiday season to bolster sales. The Amazon Echo Dot and Google Home Mini were discounted to as little as $29 (from $50 and $35, respectively), which put them in "impulse buy" territory. But neither turned a profit — analysts estimate that the companies broke even or took small losses on sales. Analysts at ABI Research estimate that the Amazon Echo Dot's bill of materials is about $31, and that the Google Home Mini's parts total $26. But that doesn't take into account advertising, manual labor, shipping, and research and design costs. Amazon and Google try to recoup revenue through other means, like commissions on sales items and customer data-sharing arrangements. But those aren't guaranteed. Amazon has a head start in the smart speaker market, and that can tough to beat — the retail behemoth currently leads the pack, and is making headway in emerging markets such as China.  But Google's nabbed the second-place spot, and it's been doing a lot of work to help close the gap. In any case, it shows how committed both companies are to the smart speaker market and the lengths they're willing to go in order to grow their customer base. Source: Reuters Android Advices Nov 24, 2017 2:17 PM • by Teja Chedalla CENTRiC A1 Smartphone Launched with 5.5″ Full HD Display & Quick Charge 3.0 Support Earlier this year, the Indian smartphone brand CENTRiC had launched four new budget smartphones – CENTRiC L1, CENTRiC P1, CENTRiC P1 Plus and CENTRiC G1. All these devices are priced under Rs. 10,000 and came with 4G VoLTE support. Now, the company is all set to launch a new smartphone called Centric A1. It is priced at Rs. 10,999 and offers unibody metal design. The smartphone will be available in Metallic Earl Grey, White & Peach Gold, Gold & Peach Gold color options. Unlike many other smartphones in the budget segment, the CENTRiC A1 packs uncompromised specifications. It sports a 5.5-inch In-cell display with Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) and includes Dragontrail Glass protection on the top. Under the hood, the CENTRiC A1 is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (MSM8937) Octa-core processor coupled with Adreno 505 GPU. It includes 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded additionally up to 256GB via a MicroSD card. On the rear of the device is a 13MP camera with PDAF, 5P lens, and dual LED flash. There is an 8MP front-facing camera with LED flash and 90-degree Field-of-View for wider selfies. The device supports dual SIM dual standby using the hybrid SIM slot. It is backed by a 3,000mAh non-removable that is rated to give up to 15 hours of talk time and lasts up to 210 hours in standby mode. The CENTRiC A1 also supports Quick Charge 3.0 that can give 4 hours of talk time with just 10 minutes of charging. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the rear of the device. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, FM Radio, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB Type-C port. It runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, and there is no information about the Android 8.0 Oreo update. It also includes a bunch of sensors including Gyroscope, E-Compass, G-Sensor, Light sensor, Proximity sensor, and Hall sensor. The CENTRiC A1 measures 152 x 76 x 7.8 mm and weighs 160 grams. Beneath the display are the three capacitive navigation button for back, home, and multitasking (left to right). Let us know, would you be interested in using a smartphone from a relatively new brand. Share your opinion with us by commenting down below. This email has been sent by Froze ONE (isnanmm0@gmail.com). It is the potion result of 'Tech: Topic watch' from the dashboard 'Personal Dashboard', tab 'Tech > Android'. Unsubscribe © Netvibes 2005-2018 | Terms of service | Privacy Policy Find Netvibes also on: Facebook Twitter Google+ Flickr

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