Hasta La Gadget!

The US already knows when Samsung will launch its updated Galaxy Tab models and for how much, but that picture hasn’t been quite as lucid over in Europe. Amazon.de is doing its best to dissipate the mists of unknowing by listing the 16GB Galaxy Tab 8.9 at a price of €606.50 ($852), whether you’re buying the version with a black or white back. That sounds a relatively steep price, but it’s not clear whether we’re talking about the WiFi-only or 3G-equipped model. Notably, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 option is also listed alongside its 8.9-inch brethren, but there’s no price attached to it yet. All we can really say for now is that the wheels are in motion and these Honeycomb tablets look to be on their way to the Euro market at about the same time as they’ll hit the American one. Égalité!

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 priced at €606 by Amazon.de, joined by 10.1 model in a pre-order dance originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 03:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Kindle has been a huge success, no doubt about that, but we are continually amazed at just how big a success it has become. Amazon too, apparently. The company just issued a press release to announce that digital book sales have now exceeded sales of all print titles, both hardcover and paperback combined. As of April 1st, for every 100 print books that Amazon has sold (of any kind) the company moved 105 Kindle books, and no that doesn’t include downloads of free titles. Also of note: the ad-supported reader that’s shipping for $114 is now selling more quickly than the normal, $139 version. Proof, then, that people will put up with more ads in more places for 25 bucks.

Continue reading Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plans

Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve got some spare gadgets and need to make a quick buck gift card, there are any number of ways — Walmart, Target, Best Buy and even eBay will instantly quote you a dollar figure these days. Now, Amazon is joining their ranks as the latest firm eager to stockpile still-somewhat-valuable tech, by adding electronics as the latest category for trade-ins. Pick from the 2,550 items currently recognized and describe the condition your camera / GPS / calculator is in, and Amazon will let you know how many dollars worth of credit it can give you alongside a prepaid shipping label. We can’t tell if Amazon will give you better deals than the competition, but this beautiful brown Zune did fairly well. Never you mind that it typically sells for upwards of $40 at auction — Amazon has mouths to feed, you know?

Continue reading Amazon adds electronics to trade-in program, pawns 2,550 gadgets and counting

Amazon adds electronics to trade-in program, pawns 2,550 gadgets and counting originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 06:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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