ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

IDC increases its 2013 tablet shipment forecast from 172.4 million to 190.9m units, thanks to a predicted surge of smaller, lower-priced devices.

"One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8-inch in screen size," IDC says. "In terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond... Vendors are moving quickly to compete in this space as consumers realize that these small devices are often more ideal than larger tablets for their daily consumption habits."

According to the analyst WW tablet shipments will reach over 350m by end 2017, with a CAGR of 11% during the 2013-2016 period.

The European Commission (EC) slaps Microsoft with a €561 million fine for violating terms of the 2009 commitment to give Windows users alternatives to Internet Explorer.

According to investigators Windows 7 Service Pack 1 lacked the browser choice screen from May 2011 to July 2012, meaning 15m Windows users did not get to see the choice during the period.

Microsoft acknowledges the screen was not displayed at the time, even if it had provided the screen from May 2010. The case is also cited as a reason why CEO Steve Ballmer got only half of his potential 2012 bonus.

Clearly using Microsoft as an example to others, EC antitrust enforcer Joaquín Almunia says "legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy because they allow for rapid solutions to competition problems. Of course, such decisions require strict compliance. A failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly."

BitTorrent launches the open beta version of BitTorrent Live-- a peer-to-peer video streaming service harnessing the power of torrenting while reducing the infrastructure requirements of video streaming.

A 3-year development, BitTorrent Live works the same way torrents do. It removes the middleman in favour of a direct connection between broadcaster and viewer, turning each user into a "miniature broadcaster." As a result the technology is not only easier to use (since it does not demand centralised servers), but also cheaper to implement.

The company claims broadcast delays are just 5 seconds, while all the technology demands from users is the installation of a small plugin in their web browser of choice.

Currently the service is being pitched for both large broadcasters (both offline and online) and amateurs making use of services such as Ustream.

BitTorrent was a boon for piracy, to put it mildly-- according to a 2012 report from Canadian analyst Sandvine torrents make up 10-15% of all internet traffic in Europe and the US.

Go BitTorrent Live

Glasses are not enough for Google-- the company reveals a prototype Android-powered talking shoe designed to keep wearers active with words of either encouragement or mockery.

Shown off at the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2013 conference, the "Google Shoe" consists of an Adidas sneaker with an accelerometer, gyroscope, Bluetooth radio, custom-built microcontroller and a circular speaker grafted in the tongue.

The hardware provides amusing aural feedback (such as ""if standing still was a sport, you'd be world champion" or "you've made me a very proud shoe") as per wearer movements, and pairs with Android smartphones to push further commentary on Google+ and other social media outlets.