Category: News (Page 79 of 130)

      Presented with options publishers turn on Amazon

      February 3, 2010 /

      iPad running iBooks.During News Corp’s quarterly earnings conference call, Rupert Murdoch finally revealed his true feelings about the deal between HarperCollins, which News Corp owns, and Amazon for ebooks in the Kindle Store. “We don’t like the Amazon model of $9.99….we think it really devalues books and hurts all the retailers of hardcover books.”

      That pretty much says it all. Now that the company has an option coming with the iPad, it no longer needs to succumb to Amazon’s demands. Things are just the opposite, in fact, thanks to flexible pricing options from Apple. The competition is forcing Amazon to renegotiate prices with publishers for fear of losing market share or publisher support altogether.

      It’s tough to say that increased ebook prices actually preserves the value of the book, particularly after prices have been so low. Fortunately for publishers, the ebook reading population was small enough that the rest of the world might not know to care about the difference.

      Apple, Computers, Digital Media, News

      No-glasses 3D display to debut with 64 viewing angles

      February 2, 2010 /

      Autosterescopic 3D TVs don't require glasses. One of the big setbacks of 3D tech today is the glasses. They’re necessary in order for most audiences to get a good view, whatever their viewing angle. While there are autostereoscopic displays (no glasses required) in the wild, they typically only work from 8 or 9 viewing angles, which severely limits their functionality.

      Sunny Ocean Studios in Singapore is hoping to change all of that. The company plans to debut an autostereoscopic set at CeBIT this year that supports 64 viewing angles on its 27-inch screen. That’s a huge upgrade from the current status quo. I have to wonder what the thing will look like, though. It has to take a significant amount of resources to produce the frames for 64 different viewpoints.

      And how much is this thing going to cost? Armin Grasnick, founder of Sunny Ocean Studios, says he can do displays up to 100-inches both quickly and inexpensively. Something tells me that won’t keep the price tag from climbing.

      Source: Engadget

      Computers, News, Video

      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

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