ICYMI: Bye-bye Dual Boot, Search Struggles

Asustek’s Dual-OS Devices Hit a Wall: At CES in January, Intel boasted a plan for tablets and even laptop-like devices to dual-boot Windows and Android. But in the face of staunch opposition from Microsoft and Google, it looks like this audacious, if curious, plan is not going to happen. Asus has become the latest to tell The Wall Street Journal  its plans are on indefinite hold.

Desktop Search to Decline $1.4 Billion as Google Users Shift to Mobile: The ongoing shift in activity from the traditional desktop web to mobile continues to take a significant toll on search revenues, with Google the primary victim. Research from eMarketer.com expects mobile search to grow 83% in 2014, down from 122% growth last year. Meanwhile, desktop search is expected to drop 2.4% after a 2.3% increase last year.

Precedent suggests challenges for Facebook, WhatsApp: Facebook’s pending $16-billion-plus acquisition of messaging service WhatsApp may not deliver rapid benefits. An SNL Kagan report finds that “some of the most ostensibly similar deals to Facebook’s WhatsApp buy, namely those that have represented new media giants buying global communications players, have not necessarily been associated with a strong return on investment.”

Been there, done that on broadband: Weeks after the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the Federal Communication Commission network neutrality principles, debate about the proper course of regulation continues. Economist Ev Ehrlich warns in a paper for the Progressive Policy Institute that “where they have been tried, utility-style rules have been the greatest single obstacle to investment in broadband infrastructure.”

Digital Hub 2.0: At Stratechery, Ben Thompson continues his exploration of where Apple is taking its CarPlay technology. His conclusion: “Innovation is not the result of a moment in time, but of painstaking progress over years, even decades, and to my eyes, Apple is building something really interesting.”

Missed Alarms and 40 Million Stolen Credit Card Numbers: How Target Blew It: The story of the theft of hundreds of millions of customer credit cards from Target late last year is now well known. But Bloomberg BusinessWeek has come up with a solid deep dive into how Target allowed this to happen by ignoring the danger signs for so long.

Microsoft, Windows Phone makers change tactics in search of share: It’s no secret Microsoft’s Windows Phone is continuing to struggle for traction, even in the Indian market that has been one of its stronger areas. ZDnet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that, in an effort to boost the market, Microsoft may be ready to change its licensing approach.

Chinese Handset Vendors Will Account for Over 50% of Mobile Handset Sales in 2015: Despite the continuing push into the Chinese smartphone market by Apple and Samsung, homemade handsets still dominate the field. ABI Research forecasts Chinese makers will hold 50% of the domestic market in 2015.

comScore Reports January 2014 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share: In the U.S. meanwhile, Apple and Samsung remain on top of the pack. comScore reports they capture 41.6% and 21.7% respectively in the month. LG, with 6.9%, just edged out Motorola.

Windows 8.1 Update 1: More interface concessions still won’t make people happy: Microsoft is moving closer to release of its third version of Windows 8, Windows 8.1 Update 1. Ars Technica’s Peter Bright reports while there are significant user interface improvements, the latest effort will still leave many unsatisfied.