iPad roundup: iDisplay extended desktop, plus Kindle and Time reader apps

Say what you will, the past couple of days have been littered with signs of a rapidly expanding set of functions that the iPad can perform. Latest on the block is the iDisplay desktop extender, which will turn any of your iPhone OS devices into a WiFi-connected second monitor, allowing you to finally unchain your Mac OS (Windows version forthcoming) desktop and take it on the move. Introductory price is $4.99 and you’ll find an early hands-on experience at the TUAW link. Next up we have the Kindle for iPhone app contracting its name to just Kindle and making the expected jump to iPad compatibility with version 2.0, which comes with iBookstore-like page turning and, best of all, won’t cost you a thing. We’ve also got word of Time Magazine pricing what’s free on the iPhone at $4.99 per issue on the iPad, with the excuse being that you can “experience Time in a revolutionary new way.” Good luck with that, we say.

Continue reading iPad roundup: iDisplay extended desktop, plus Kindle and Time reader apps

iPad roundup: iDisplay extended desktop, plus Kindle and Time reader apps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW, mocoNews.net  |  sourceShape Services, App Store (Kindle), Time  | Email this | Comments

iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave


There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That’s on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple’s tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history — not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an “HD” suffix — as if that somehow justified the increased cost.

Besides, we’ve seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi — but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers.

Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.

Continue reading iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave

iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon agrees to agency pricing model with two more publishers, Jobs prophecy coming to pass

Time to add HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster to the list of publishers who’ve managed to strongarm Amazon into acceding to their supposedly industry-saving agency pricing model. Under the new agreement, you might still see e-book versions of bestsellers priced at the familiar $9.99, but the majority will be jumping up to $12.99 and $14.99 price points, depending on the publisher’s discretion. This is essentially the same deal that brought Macmillan books back to Amazon.com, and the e-tailer is believed to also be in advanced negotiations with Hatchette Book Group and Penguin Group to ensure that no book is left behind. This development was cryptically predicted by Steve Jobs mere hours after the iPad’s launch and then reiterated by Rupert Murdoch with regard to HarperCollins, so we can’t exactly act surprised now, but we can at least grimace a little at having to face a more expensive e-reading future.

Amazon agrees to agency pricing model with two more publishers, Jobs prophecy coming to pass originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

iPad Alternatives: The Main Contenders [Ipad]

Just because most of us bought iPads doesn’t mean that any of you should. There are plenty of devices, out now or coming soon, that can do some things as well—or better. Here’s a roundup of the best: More »

Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good

So here’s the sales pitch: Amazon wants to film the packaging and preparation of your goods as they get ready to ship out in order to make sure your order is properly fulfilled and addressed. Stills or the whole video are then forwarded along to you, so you can check ’em out. Granted yesterday, the patent for this oh-so-complex monitoring system is actually quite specific — it’s only operative if your order includes “at least one book, food item, bottle of wine, flowers, or jewelry,” so it’s not like Amazon can keep everyone else from doing this — but hey, it also references verification of “collateral items,” which is a fancy way of saying it’ll be used to make sure third party fliers and advertisements make it into the box along with the stuff you actually want, so it’s not all roses and sunshine.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

Amazon patents packaging surveillance, says it’s for our own good originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

Amazon’s frustration-free packaging is anything but for hard drives

It’s all well and good to cut corners when you’re ridding durable, miniature electronics of their brittle plastic clamshells — but this time, Amazon’s “Frustration-Free Packaging” initiative has gone too far. The company’s shipping computer hard drives in the stuff. According to dozens of irate customers, Western Digital hard drives shipped by the e-tailer over the past several months have arrived in damaged cardboard containers, thin layers of bubble wrap, or even loose in a simple electrostatic discharge bag without an ounce of padding to keep them from harm. And while some buyers shipped them back immediately when they saw what had happened, many who tried them anyhow found their magnetic storage dead on arrival. While we’re not certain whether Western Digital or Amazon was at fault for placing the drives on the “frustration-free” list in the first place (Seagate drive buyers haven’t reported similar issues), Gadget Lab reports that Amazon is aware of the problem, and already working to ensure future (lack of) packaging avoids causing more frustration than it’s worth. Read the horror stories with pics at our source links below.

Amazon’s frustration-free packaging is anything but for hard drives originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gadget Lab  |  sourceAmazon 1-star reviews, Amazon customer images  | Email this | Comments

Amazon’s ‘Frustration-Free’ Packaging Leaves a Trail of Dead Disks

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Amazon’s decision to reduce difficult-to-cut-through plastic shells and boxes stuffed with foam as part of its “frustration-free” packaging initiative introduced last year has helped consumers and the environment.

But sometimes the idea can backfire, as some shoppers discovered. Amazon customers who bought a two terabyte Western Digital hard disk drive from the company’s website were shocked to find their disk arrive wrapped just in a bag and secured with some “cardboard hoops.”

And not surprisingly, the hard drives were either dead on arrival or failed in a few days.

“I  just got this hard drive. Guess what. DOA,” writes Sung M. Choi on Amazon’s website. “I heard clicking sounds and now I have to send it back. All this due to their lack of safe packaging. What were they thinking with their weak packaging?” Other Amazon users too have complained on the site that they were horrified to find the product wrapped similar to a book before being sent out.

The Western Digital disk drives themselves seem to be well-reviewed, gathering four out of five stars on the website.  An Amazon spokesperson says the company is aware of the problem and removed the product from its frustration-free packaging category a few weeks ago.

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Photo: (Scoobay/Flickr)


PVI shows off color and video e-paper in China — coming to a Kindle near you?

Prime View International — the company responsible for pumping e-ink screens into Amazon’s Kindles — has recently shown off some color and video screens at a trade show in Shenzhen, China. The company has been showing off the displays in 6 and 9.7-inch varieties, one of which could fit perfectly into the 6-inch Kindle, of course. While there’s been no real indication that Amazon is interested in transitioning to color or video-boasting readers, but it’s not completely inconceivable considering the recent competition it’s facing. Hit the source link to check out a video featuring the color displays that were on show.

PVI shows off color and video e-paper in China — coming to a Kindle near you? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePC World  | Email this | Comments

T-Mobile HD2 can be had for $100 from Amazon, others

In the wireless industry, $100 is a rather magical psychological barrier — a price point below which consumers generally have a much easier time pulling the trigger on a sweet upgrade. So when you offer a phone for $200, a percentage of your target demographic is generally going to drop out of the race with cries of “too rich for my blood.” No worries with this new HTC HD2 for T-Mobile, though, because it turns out that a number of resellers are already discounting the phone right down into that $99.99 sweet spot despite the fact that it was just launched this very week. Most notably, anyone agreeing to a two-year contract through Amazon can get the phone for less than a Benjamin, and that’s upfront — no mail-in rebate craziness to contend with. Certainly makes the phone — arguably WinMo 6.5’s last real hurrah — a more appealing buy, doesn’t it?

T-Mobile HD2 can be had for $100 from Amazon, others originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink I4U News  |  sourceAmazon  | Email this | Comments

Samsung’s Super AMOLED-packin’ Wave S8500 priced in Germany: €429

Samsung’s world-beater — you know, that Wave S8500 that debuted back at Mobile World Congress — was revealed without one of the most vital statistics, but that’s being remedied today courtesy of a product listing over at Amazon’s German portal. The Bada-equipped device, complete with a Super AMOLED display that’s supposedly viewable in broad daylight, has found a €429 MSRP across the pond, which equates to around $579 using today’s highly volatile exchange rates. Granted, that’s a contract-free (read: unsubsidized) price, but we’re still going to hold out for a late-night session with the new OS before pinging our importer. Plus, those funky European AC adapters do nothing at all for us. Sorry.

Update: Looks like some other German outlets have it priced even lower. Huzzah!

Samsung’s Super AMOLED-packin’ Wave S8500 priced in Germany: €429 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Display  |  sourceAmazon.de  | Email this | Comments