Hasta La Gadget!

A shot of Kindle apps as seen on the iPad. Could it look similar if Amazon releases its own tablet devices?   Photo courtesy Amazon

Amazon may release two tablet devices by the end of 2011, according to a report based on an anonymous tipster.

The first device, code-named “Coyote,” will reportedly run on Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor, like many of the current generation of Android tablets being released this year, according to The Boy Genius Report.

The second tablet, according to the source, will be a different animal entirely. Code-named “Hollywood,” the tablet will run on Nvidia’s forthcoming T30 “Kal-El” quad-core processor, which boasts a 500 percent performance increase from the Tegra 2.

Neither Nvidia nor Amazon immediately responded to requests for comment. When asked about plans for the quad-core “Kal-El” processor on a recent conference call, however, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said Nvidia is working “very closely” with Google on the next version of Android for tablets and phones, code-named “Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Amazon has been busy over the past few years expanding its media ecosystem. The Kindle has been a major success, with the recent ad-supported version hitting the top of Amazon’s bestselling-electronics sales charts. It was also the first major company to launch a cloud-based music system in the United States: Amazon Cloud Drive beat Google’s Music Beta service to market by over a month.

The new tipster reports come after last week’s tablet teaser from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. When asked if we could expect a tablet product from Amazon over the next year, Bezos told Consumer Reports to “stay tuned.”

Bezos spoke carefully about the effects of the tablet market on the company’s existing e-reader device, the Kindle: “We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device,” he said. “In terms of any other product introductions, I shouldn’t answer.”

This article was written on April 03, 2008 by CyberNet.

Over the last year or so, we have watched as Apple’s iTunes has become an ever increasing influence in the music industry. It was just last June (2007) when they passed Amazon and took over the #3 position as largest music retailer in the United States. In February (2008), Apple announced that they had become the #2 music retailer and surpassed Best Buy which was another huge milestone for them (this was likely data from December that they were reporting on). Standing in their way of first place up until now has been discount department store Wal-Mart. News today is that for the first time ever, iTunes has passed Wal-Mart and they are now the number one retailer of music in the United States according to the NPD Music Watch Survey conducted by the NPD Group.

Ars Technica was the first to report on this saying that they received documents that had come from Apple. Apparently certain Apple employees received an email memo with charts showing their first place position, and one of them passed them on to Ars. The charts show that this data is for the month of January, and so clearly sales of gift cards around the holidays really helped them out. According to the latest survey, the stats are as follows:

1. iTunes – 19%
2. Wal-Mart (in-store and online sales) – 15%
3. Best Buy – 13%
4. Amazon – 6%

Other stores that make up the whole include Borders, Target, Circuit City, Barnes & Nobles, and a few others.

One thing that’s really going to help out Apple is that more and more people are learning about digital downloads and actually starting to use them. Physical sales of music are continuing to decrease while digital downloads are increasing. There are multiple music download sites out there, but iTunes remains one of, if not the most well-known site out there. Apple’s takeover of first place also means that the sales of full CDs will probably continue to decrease.  When people walk into a retail store to purchase their music, they really have no choice but to buy the whole CD.  When they purchase online, they can pick which songs they really want and most of the time, people don’t bother to get the whole album.

Now we’re just wondering if they will be able to hold on to the first place position in the months to come, or if it was the sales of thousands upon thousands of iTunes gift cards that helped push them into the #1 position.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos didn’t confirm a Samsung-built tablet today, but he’s not saying no — in fact, the tell-it-like-it-is founder of the massive e-tailer suggested quite the opposite in an interview with Consumer Reports. “Stay tuned” was the answer, and then Bezos told the publication that if such a device were on the way, it would be complementary to Amazon’s existing Kindle, as Bezos doesn’t want to disturb the market for that “dedicated reading device.” If we were to read between the lines — which is often a bad idea — we’d say that could pave the way for an Amazon tablet to launch without a sunlight-readable screen, but it could just be that a tablet would be pricier, while the Kindle could remain relatively cheap. Speaking of E Ink, the CEO said that a color version “is not ready for prime time.” As of January, we’d agree.

Bezos says ‘stay tuned’ on potential Amazon tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stop watching movies and TV shows according to Hollywood’s schedule! With video-on-demand, you can watch TV whenever you want, wherever you want, and you don’t even have to remember to program a box to record it. Here’s MaximumPC’s take on the major online VOD services available today. More »

The leaks should’ve already told you most of everything you need to know about the Lenovo ThinkPad X1, but here’s some affirmation of perhaps the most relevant bit of info, the release date. Amazon has listed the ultraslim 13.3-inch laptop for pre-order, giving it the extremely specific price of £1,292.52 ($2,120) and a shipping date of May 20th. That’s a heftier price tag than you’ll find on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air, however Lenovo will provide you with the latest generation of Intel processor — in the shape of the 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M — 4GB of RAM, 320GB of HDD storage, a backlit keyboard, and a promised eight hours of battery life. You don’t need us to tell you that there hasn’t yet been a laptop that’s combined the thinness, processing power and battery endurance on offer from the X1. We’ll be keen to check these mighty specs out for ourselves when it launches, but if you’re already convinced, hit up the source link to get your pre-order in.

[Thanks, Raj]

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad X1 priced at £1,293 by Amazon, shipping May 20th

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 priced at £1,293 by Amazon, shipping May 20th originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 May 2011 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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