If there is one thing about the Apple touch screen tablet that is very promising, it is the fact that the device is just as convenient as a magazine or a newspaper.
The large 9.7 inch touch screen display provides a significantly better option as compared to smart phones when it comes to having a device that can be instantly picked up to use. Computers and net books on the other hand tend to be more cumbersome than a tablet when it comes to convenience and accessibility.
The main reason why the internet has not beaten publications is due to the fact that the only ways available for accessing the internet before was with computers. Even the emergence of smart phones with internet access did little; the small screen of the touch screen phone proved to be too minor of an alternative to larger screens.
It is this balance of convenience and accessibility that will make the iPad tablet stand out. Obviously, with other tablets also coming out eventually, the iPad will not keep its monopoly on the market, but for the time being, this touch screen device will be showing the whole world how much a tablet can change the way we live our lives.
Having the iPad as a paper substitute will allow the world to save tons of paper and fuel. Digital versions of newspapers are dynamic and are easily updated within the day, ensuring that information is accurate and fresh each time a user goes online.
While it will be a long time before printed materials get phased out, it is not too surprising that advertisers are already taking advantage of the iPad; according to the WSJ, ad spots on the iPad version of Time magazine are already selling like crazy.
What should we expect from the iPad? Find out more at the Wall Street Journal Online.
Archive for March, 2010
iPad Getting Ready to Take on Publications
Friday, March 26th, 2010Nokia’s Latest Super Symbian Leaked
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Just last year, it was announced that Nokia would be using the Maemo operating system over the Symbian mobile platform for the N-series of smart phones from the Finnish manufacturer. This came as a major blow to the platform developer who had been the primary choice of Nokia for more than a decade.
Despite many persistent rumors Nokia will be dropping Symbian completely, the mobile phone manufacturer spoke out to clarify that they fully support the Symbian OS and will continue using it one their mobile devices. And by far, Nokia has not worked on a new N-series mobile phone since the N900 but they have been busy making other devices using the Symbian platform.
Now, the latest Symbian^3 will be coming out in a Nokia device and from the looks of it, it will be a very media centric device focused on video recording and playback.
Dubbed the N8-00, this new phone will have an HDMI port, a 12 mega pixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, and a large 4 inch capacitive touch screen and 720p video recording capabilities. It is pretty good hardware on a smart phone, and plenty of amateur film makers would certainly enjoy toying around with this. The Xenon flash will certainly help a lot with low light conditions though we are also hoping that LED lights will be available for video recording.
Rumors are pointing at this device as DivX compliant, which will make this phone sought after by video lovers everywhere.
Leaked photos of the device help add substance to the rumor but there is something doubtful about the new N8-00 name as it suggests that the device is an N-series model. But Nokia did say that the shift of the N-series to Maemo will not be until 2012.
Get to know more about the new Nokia N8-00 at GSM Arena.
Protest Against the Digital Economy Bill Begins
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
As of the time of writing, there are already plenty of preparations being held for the protest against the Digital Economy Bill and many are being invited to join the cause by going to the 38 Degree Website.
This is the current spirit for many people who are standing up to defend their right to privacy and access to the internet without fear of the government control.
What may have originally been a major turning point for the online industry has now become a scandalous affair with the details of the Bill’s control policies being exposed. Most of the earlier parts of the bill discussed matters surrounding the propagation of internet services in the entirety of the UK and the need to bring net access to all people. There are also talks of tax breaks for game companies and also for royalties to authors of eBooks.
What has gotten some serious attention is the clause that pushes for control and sanction over various internet services. These restrictions could ultimately change the way we handle internet access in schools, offices and even in public areas. With network owners being held responsible for all network activities, it would not be surprising to see these services taken down if the bill pushes through.
Many are also questioning the procedures through which the bill is being put into motion. With the elections not so far away, the process has become rushed and many feel that the bill will not be studied adequately with the interests of the citizens in mind. With the bill pushing for internet blocking and activity logging, it takes away the right to privacy in communication –a major setback that the legislation should think about carefully if this bill will ever see fruition.
Get to know more about the protest against the DEB at Computer Active UK.
Facebook, Syphilis and Elections
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
It may seem like an odd mix, but considering how much of human society has become entrenched in the social networking site, it is no longer surprising to know that being a member of Facebook will allow one to take part in massive political surveys and become potentially vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases.
Well, no. Going online will not get you infected with syphilis, but being irresponsible with meeting up with random strangers might. Recent studies have shown that Facebook has become a major channel for personal exchanges and has acted as an enabler for people to meet casual partners for sexual activities.
Professor Peter Kelly has stated that among many young women, it has become a common practice to find people online to be with. Of course, an individual’s personal preferences for practicing safe sex have completely nothing to do with Facebook. In any case, the professor wisely advises people to be careful and to “take precautions” as needed.
At the same time, Facebook is also a tool for the general masses. Aside from being a major factor in the lives of individuals, society as a whole is affected heavily by the social networking site, and through it, people can also affect major facets of society –such as politics.
Democracy UK will be holding a general election campaign on the social networking site. And they are inviting over 23 million FB users to take part in the process. This will allow people to directly deliver their comments and have their voices heard. Polls, debates and other exchanges of points and opinions will be part of the activities.
Being able to affect people in scales that are both big and small is part of what makes Facebook such an important tool in today’s society –who knows what other aspects of daily life that Facebook will be a part of next?
Read more about Facebook at the Telegraph UK articles here and here.
iPad Trying to Earn Game Console Title
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
There is nothing wrong about calling the iPad a game console; after all, adding more competition to the gaming market would certainly be beneficial to both developers and gamers; though Apple has a long way to go if they plan to target serious gamers with the touch screen tablet.
The current market of iPhone and iPod Touch games is more of casual players than people who fall under the gamer classification. This is because of the games that are available on the device. The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP primarily target hardcore gamers who would rather spend a day playing Phantasy Star Online Portable than managing their Farmville account.
This is why gaining support from major third party developers is the most crucial thing for Apple right now. There are already thousands of “game” applications for the iPhone and the iPod that are fully compatible with the iPad, but in order to attract the core market of gamers, Apple would have to provide games focus heavily in delivering an immersive gameplay experience.
Aside from being a gaming system, Apple has set up the tablet to be an internet browser, an eBook reader, a workstation and as a media viewer.
The Apple iPad is expected to hit UK shores by late April. It has been confirmed that Vodafone will offering the device to its customers. Both the 3G and non-3G versions of the iPad will be available on the UK launch (as opposed to the US release this coming April 3 which will only have the 3G version of the tablet available).
This touch screen tablet comes with a 9.7 inch capacitive touch screen display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and it runs on a 1GHz A4 processor. Sadly, the iPad lacks multitasking capabilities and the support for Adobe Flash.
Get to know more about the iPad’s gaming features on Pocket Lint.
Sony and Nintendo Lose Revenue Because of Apple Gaming
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Apple just got a bigger piece of the pie according to Flurry Analytics. Being a medium for casual games have proved to be the iPhone and iPod Touch’s strong point and it has caused Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS gaming handhelds to lose revenue.
It looks like Apple’s intention to get a steady foothold in the handheld gaming race is coming to fruition. No matter how much Sony and Apple duke it out though, there is still a bigger piece of the pie dedicated to Nintendo. But for how long will it last? It is easy to see why the casual gaming crowd would prefer Apple devices over handheld gaming centric devices.
For starters, a lot of casual gamers already own an iPhone or iPod Touch. These people would probably have to visit the app store one way or another and they would be served with plenty of casual games that they can easily purchase with the click of a button. No need to walk into a store to ask how a game plays, it is as easy as looking for a review on the spot.
Aside from having an advantage with regards to availability, iPhone and iPod Touch gaming is less expensive than gaming on the PSP or the DS. It is also a big plus that you get an all-in-one device that lets you communicate with your friends, surf the web and play games at the same time. No wonder Apple gets a one up in the market share.
Now maybe all this attention on the iPhone would get Sony to release their PSP phone. After all, they were the ones who suffered the most considering their drop to an 11% share last year. Anything can happen this year, maybe Sony will announce an official PSP phone, maybe the Nintendo 3DS will dominate the market or maybe Apple’s iPad will stomp on both. Only time will tell.
See how the pie is divided at Engadget.
Google Street View Exposes a Little Too Much
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
It is interesting how Google is complying with requests from families and individuals but is refusing to cooperate with the SAS.
The Google camera car is making its rounds of the streets and alleys of the UK in order to put in Street View as a UK available function. On the offset, this is a good thing. It will allow people to easily check out places and locations they have never been to before. Establishments and businesses will certainly gain a little extra from the exposure and this will certainly make for a very useful tool for promoting tourism in special locations.
The story is a little different for residential areas where there is a combination of people who are just plain excited to see their street as part of the service and people who wish to have images of their houses removed from the service.
There are also cases in which the Google cam car has taken images in the most unfortunate moments. Take into example the image of a teenager who was standing in the house’s driveway just weeks before the person fell victim to murder. The family has since requested the image removed and Google has complied with the request.
Google has also taken images of the SAS headquarters –from a street level perspective.
While the information in the photos is nothing different from what people would see if they were just walking by, the SAS has requested that for security reasons, the images be taken down. Google has refused this request by stating that they have not posted any sensitive information, the images online are the same as what a normal person would see when passing by.
So far, no compromise has been agreed upon by the two parties and there are now fears that the situation may escalate if it is not resolved soon.
Get to know more about the Google Street View service at Times Online UK.
No Update for iPad, But New Update for iPad Ads Released
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
The Apple iPad comes with a lot of good features and couple of major snags.
This ten inch tablet (screen is about 9.7 inches with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels) is Apple’s latest device offering and it is expected to be available in the UK by late April. The US release of the device will be much earlier at April 3 though only the 3G version of the unit will be available. Rumors are pointing to recent problems with Apple’s China based manufacturers to be the cause of the delay and recent news about the iPad battery might have identified the problem part of the hardware.
Anyway, the device is missing two major features –multitasking capabilities and Adobe Flash support. With Steve Jobs being very vehement about not supporting Flash, it is quite possible that we would never see an update to fix this. As for multitasking, it is unlikely, but there is a slim chance that they would actually put it in at a later date. At least the device comes with cut and paste by default.
About a month ago, Apple updated images of iPad advertisements to properly reflect how websites would appear on the device. Initial ads showed flash content on famous websites appearing on still images in ads –fostering false hopes that the tablet would eventually support to function. A new placeholder image has since been used on Apple adverts.
With the UK launch of the tablet coming soon, Apple has also changed the still images on ads to replace the websites being shown. The New York Times has been replaced by local favorite, the Guardian as an effort to localize the advertisements.
Now if they can only update the product itself.
Get to know more about the changes in the iPad ads at Pocket Lint.
HTC Takes On Apple’s Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
It looks like Apple will still be in for a long litigation process if they are really going to push through with the patent infringement lawsuit against the Taiwanese manufacturer.
HTC has recently declared that they will be defending their technologies and will be presenting their own patents as proof that they have not stolen any technology from Apple. With Apple’s main offense being that they own the patents in question, HTC might be showing evidence to prove that they developed the technology on their own –if not ahead of Apple.
Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, says that “HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.”
Peter also adds that the company is a key innovator in the tech industry, adding: “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”
With 20 patents for both hardware and software innovations, it is likely that the court proceedings will be costly and will take plenty of time. Most of the affected devices in the lawsuit are primarily Android smart phones –which emphasizes the theory that Apple’s lawsuit is actually an attack against Google and the Android mobile platform. Google has since stated that they will stand behind HTC in this case.
Get to know more about the HTC’s statements in regards to the lawsuit from Apple at TMC News.
New Sony Ericsson Handsets Coming to the UK
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Last February, the Japanese-Swedish joint venture showed off several impressive smart phones at Barcelona, Spain. Now, it has confirmed that several of these devices are indeed heading to the UK and that we can expect the first few phones to be in store shelves as early as April.
The Sony Ericsson Vivaz and the XPERIA X10 are expected to be released around mid April. According to reports, Orange has snagged a special all white version of the XPERIA X10 while Vodafone will only get the regular all black version of the phone.
Mobile virtual network operator 3 will be offering the Vivaz to its clients. 3 will be topping off the deal with a sweet offer for high quality music streaming on Spotify for just £10 a month. The Vivaz is a Symbian smart phone with an 8 mega pixel camera and 720p video recording capability.
Back to the XPERIA X10, this is Sony Ericsson’s first Android device on the market and it will come packed with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 4 inch capacitive touch screen and an 8 mega pixel camera. The device is also going to debut the Timescape and Mediascape tools to the public.
For a not-so-high end Android solution, Sony Ericsson also has a couple of other smart phones. Slated to arrive by May 24, the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro are more than just streamlined and trimmed down versions of the X10, but they are also well balanced mid range smart phones.
The devices come with 2.55 inch capacitive touch screens, 5 mega pixel cameras and Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processors. The devices are expected to be available on retail at £300 for the Mini and a £340 price tag for the Mini Pro.
Get to know more about the all white Orange exclusive X10 at Mobile Today UK.