Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 70 of 168)

      Acer won’t try to compete with the iPad

      February 1, 2010 /

      Acer laptop.When Apple announced the iPad you could almost hear world inhale, waiting for the onslaught of competitor products with such clever names as the youPad and the Padlet. Can you imagine a world without iPod knock-offs? I can’t. Acer can, though, and the company won’t be feeding the tablet flames, according to Engadget.

      The news came from Scott Lin, president of Acer Taiwan, who said the tablet just doesn’t fit Acer’s business model. Instead, the manufacturer will be focusing on ultra-thin laptops, some as svelte as .7 inches when closed. It’s a smart move, one that could grab the interest of anyone scared off by that weird touchscreen keyboard. The company expects the thinner line of products to account for 20-30 percent of sales in the coming year.

      Source: Engadget

      Computers, News

      LG to increase OLED line year by year

      February 1, 2010 /

      LG OLED TV.OLED TVs will be the next big (small, really) thing to come to your living room. The tech will cost you, though. When Sony first announced it’s 11-inch OLED TV, the unit cost $2,500. LG wants to offer something bigger, though, and you can bet it will have a bigger price tag.

      LG has previously shown off 15- and 19-inch models with hefty price tags, but it will introduce a 20-inch model later this year. Next year it will bump that up to 30 inches and in 2012 we’ll get a 40-inch OLED TV. As you can imagine, those things are going to be expensive. As the company’s VP, Won Kim, said, “They may be expensive, but it will be possible to buy a 40-inch class OLED TV in 2012.”

      So if you want something that basically looks like you’ve hung some paper on your wall, albeit very high tech paper, and have $10,000 or so to throw around, LG just might have the OLED TV for you.

      Source: Tech-On

      News, Video

      Amazon gives Macmillan the price it wants

      February 1, 2010 /

      Macmillan back on the Kindle.Following a very public feud over ebook pricing, Amazon has caved to Macmillan, giving the publisher it’s desired $14.99 price point for ebooks. The switch came after Macmillan threatened to pull all future publications from Amazon’s Kindle Store if it wasn’t given flexibility with regard to price.

      Amazon announced the news to its customers with the following statement:

      Dear Customers:

      Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

      We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don’t believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

      Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!

      Thank you for being a customer.

      I can’t help but feel Amazon is making an irrelevant appeal to the Kindle consumer base. By and large these will be people with more money to spend on books, considering they’ve dropped a couple hundred bucks up front to gain access to the titles. If they really want one of the books, would the consumer base really not buy because of a $15 price tag, one that’s still far cheaper than the hardback option? Probably not.

      As a writer, I’m reassured to see publishers taking the reins on this one.

      Source: Amazon

      Digital Media, News

      iPhone OS 3.2 supports video calls, downloads

      January 31, 2010 /

      iPad with keyboard attachment.It was a big surprise to see the iPad launch without a camera, front-facing or otherwise. The device seems perfect for video calls and could easily be used as a point and shoot in a pinch. But, as Engadget reports, iPhone OS 3.2 includes support for video calling, among other new features.

      Some of those other features include file downloading with local browser storage and SMS support. Basically, the iPad launch was just the tip of the iceberg. As with the iPhone, this first release is likely just going to get the ball rolling, driving interest and presales among the truly fanatic. From there, it’s a matter of referral. In the first six months the iPhone was out every owner I spoke with was in love with the device, or at least were willing to say that were.

      This is how Jobs works – he breeds a sort of elite fanclub around his latest device and builds on that kind of elitism to drive insane sales. Whatever the iPad is now, it’s going to be a whole lot different in the next couple years.

      Apple, Computers, iPhone, News

      Amazon pulls Macmillan ebooks

      January 31, 2010 /

      iBook Store.At some point yesterday Amazon pulled any ebooks from publisher Macmillan due to a pricing dispute, according to the New York Times. Apparently Macmillan wanted to raise prices from $9.99 to $15 and Amazon didn’t approve.

      You might remember the same thing happening as iTunes was starting to get its legs. Apple used its massive marketshare to strong arm media companies to the $.99 price point, which most everyone felt was too low. Obviously that model has worked out in Apple’s favor, if not in the favor of most record labels, a few of which were able to strike more flexible deals.

      There is one major difference – Macmillan has somewhere to go. Apple is just about to open the iBook Store for its new iPad, which, in all likelihood, is going to outsell the Kindle by quite a bit. Most estimates put the Kindle’s installed base around 3 million. The iPad could easily have that by the end of this year.

      I would be pretty surprised, though, if Jobs was willing to give Amazon the price advantage in the ebook war.

      Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/amazon-pulls-macmillan-books-over-e-book-price-disagreement/

      Apple, Computers, Digital Media, News

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