Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 55 of 168)

      Contract free iPhones almost guarantee a new model this summer

      March 24, 2010 /

      iPhone 3GS.The internet just about blew up the other day when word dropped that Apple would be selling contract-free iPhones at unsubsidized prices. There were rumors that the handsets would be unlocked as well, but that was just a rumor. If you’ll remember, this happened last year, just before the launch of the iPhone 3GS. The idea is to get rid of as much inventory as possible. It’s not easy to sell those expensive handsets, but some of the folks that can send of them overseas or feel like running them on T-Mobile will pick them up.

      The news virtually guarantees a new iPhone model in the coming summer. What other reason would Apple have for selling unsubsidized handsets? The smart money says there will be a fire sale on subsidized 3GS models, just like there was on the 3G. Would you pay $99 for a 3GS on AT&T? Yeah, I thought you would.

      You can check out the official leaked document at Gizmodo.

      Apple, iPhone, News

      SanDisk releases 32GB microSDHC card

      March 22, 2010 /

      SanDisk microSDHC card.If it weren’t 2010, this would sound like something out of a science fiction movie. “You’re basically talking about an entire jukebox on a flash memory chip the size of your pinkie fingernail.” That’s what SanDisk vice president Eric Bone had to say about his company’s newest microSDHC capacity: 32GB. That’s 7,000 songs. Ten hours of uncompressed HD video. That’s pretty damn incredible.

      This is great news for people with a microSD slot on their favorite device. The new capacity was achieved by stacking 8 memory units of 4GB a piece on top of one another, all in a package that’s less than 1mm thick. For a more detailed explanation on what the microengineering process involves, head over to Gizmodo.

      The new card will run you a cool $200. That’s a lot of money to spend on something smaller than a dime, so you better be careful with it. Word to the wise – don’t leave it in the open if you have an animal of any kind. I puppysat for a friend this weekend and that little guy ate everything. Watching a puppy drag around a boot that’s twice his size is funny. Digging through the puppy’s poop to find your new SD card is not.

      News, Storage

      Amazon unveils Kindle Apps for Tablet Computers (including the iPad)

      March 22, 2010 /

      Amazon Kindle App for Tablet Computers.I almost laughed out loud when I saw the diminutive text that accompanied Amazon’s new Kindle Apps for Tablet Computers. It reads “Including the iPad,” in a tiny, scrunched up font. Funny content wars aside, the new app looks pretty great, and it gives us a look at the full color future of digital books from Amazon.

      The new app include fancy features like page turn animations and adjustable backgrounds while holding onto the Amazon Whispersync technology to keep your reading experience up to date across multiple devices. While this may be the future of reading with Amazon, it makes me wonder where the future of the company’s hardware lies. I still can’t imagine a world in which Amazon wanted to get into the hardware business for just a couple years, but maybe it did. It’s still the largest online retailer, and content distribution is really a nice business. Just ask Apple.

      If the future of the Kindle brand lies in apps across all platforms, though, Amazon would do well not to piss off so many publishers. All the work Amazon has done to this point will be null if readers can’t get the books they want in the Kindle store.

      Apps, Computers, Digital Media, ebooks

      Apple’s real iPad focus: TV

      March 21, 2010 /

      Steven Colbert with an iPad.The iPad may have been sold to the world as the device that will save publishing, but Apple has shown its real focus now that we’re just weeks away from release. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple put the publishing content on the “backburner in favor of focusing on other content,” like a subscription-based television service.

      Apple wants to make a sort of “best of TV” bundle available for a subscription fee, as well as offering episodic downloads for a dollar. Content providers have been wary of making any deals, likely because they’re afraid of getting burned like the music industry. Now that we’re years into the digital music business we can see that things haven’t been all bad for the labels, but there are probably some things they wouldn’t have agreed to if given the chance again.

      It’s looking unlikely that we’ll see anything by the time the iPad launches, which leaves Apple in a position it knows well – using sales figures to produce contracts. The iPad has already had some nice presale figures. Once version 2.0 rolls out you can bet we’ll see more widespread adoption.

      Apple, Digital Media, News

      Amazon threatens to ban two more publishers

      March 20, 2010 /

      Amazon Kindle with the New York Times.Amazon is starting to look desperate in the war for content control against Apple. The online retailer has now reportedly threatened to pull content from two more publishers (the first was Macmillan) if they don’t agree to three year pricing contracts for ebooks. The contracts are designed to guarantee that consumers will get the lowest possible price on ereader content in Amazon’s Kindle store. It’s not anything new. In fact, Apple is trying to lock up the same deal.

      The deal is undeniably bad for publishers, though. It gives them no flexibility for change as the market matures, which it certainly will over the next three years. The New York Times article didn’t say which two publishers were being threatened, but you can bet no one wants these kinds of contracts. The fact that Amazon is actually going forward with such aggressive measures says only one thing: this is the last resort. If there were other, more suitable alternatives for both parties you can bet Amazon would have explored them. It would garner a lot less press attention and make the company seem far less money hungry and desperate in the eyes of the consumer.

      Source: New York Times

      ebooks, News

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