Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon has announced that it will open up the Kindle e-reader to third party developers, allowing applications, or what Amazon calls “active content”, to run on the device.

What kind of apps could run in the low-fi Kindle? Well, you won’t be getting Monkey Ball, but interactive books, travel guides with locations data, RSS readers and anything that brings text to the device would be a good candidate. This could even include magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

The key is the revenue split. Right now Amazon takes a big chunk of the selling price of Kindle e-books. The terms of the new Kindle Development Kit (KDK) specify a 70:30 split, with the large part going to the developer. This is the same as the iTunes App Store, which is surely no coincidence — with an expected e-reading Apple tablet announcement next week, Amazon may be showing its hand now to pre-empt Apple.

It might appear that Amazon is going head-to-head with Apple on this, but we see it a little differently. Apple sells hardware, and while the App Store brings in a nice chunk of change, it is there primarily to sell more iPhones and iPods. Amazon sells books, and the Kindle is a way to make sure you buy Amazon’s e-books. That’s why there is a Kindle app for the iPhone, and why there will be a Kindle app on the tablet: it benefits both companies.

“Active content” will certainly make the Kindle more compelling, especially against other e-readers, although it will also make the Kindle more distracting. One of the nice things about an e-reader is that you can’t use it to check your email every five minutes. Or perhaps you can. The KDK allows the use of the wireless 3G connection. If the application uses less than 100KB per month, the bandwidth comes for free. If it uses more, there is a charge of $0.15 per MB which can (and surely will) be passed on to the customer as a monthly charge.

This model could, interestingly, also make its way into Apple’s tablet. Instead of trying to sell us yet another data plan, the tablet could have a Kindle-style free 3G connection used only for buying iTunes Store content, with the bandwidth price built in to the purchase. That is just speculation, however.

What we are sure of is that the next year will be an interesting one, and the e-book is set to take off in the same way that the MP3 took off before it. The question is, who will be making the iPod of e-books? Given its relatively low price, its appeal to an older, book buying demographic and its ascetic simplicity, the surprise winner might actually be the Kindle.

KDK Limited Beta Coming Next Month [Amazon]

The Rad Blaster is the “First MP3 player slash boom-box slash recording device that’s a fashion item as much as it is a function item” It also has “speakers, so you can walk around town and share your tunes” and a microphone so you can “spit your rhymes.” It looks wonderful, and costs $60.

We assume that the makers of the Rad Blaster weren’t around in the 1980s, the heyday of the boombox. If they had been, they’d know that the Boombox was named for its boom, the thunderous beat that issued from its big, D-cell-hungry speakers, the vibrations of which could be felt before they were heard. The Rad Blaster has about as much boom as one of those creepy horror-movie monkey toys with tiny cymbals.

In fact, we’re not sure if the Rad Blaster people are even serious about anything. The MP3 player actually comes with a chain so you can hang it around your neck as you cruise around town inflicting your tinny “tastes” on innocent pedestrians, and the OLED screen can show the lyrics to your songs so you can “spit” along with the music.

This is about as “street” as a Segway wearing a phone-holster. Appropriately (or ironically) enough, the Rad Blaster comes from a company named “Suburban Toys”. Imagine this being worn by Napolean Dynamite’s brother Kip, right after he met his wife-to-be, LaFawnduh Lucas, and you know everything you need to know about the Rad Blaster.

Rad Blaster Product page [Rad Blaster]

Apple has sent out press invitations for a product event to be held at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.

The invitation reads, “Come see our latest creation.” The event is scheduled to begin 10 a.m., Jan. 27.

In the past month, multiple independent reports have claimed Apple in late January will launch its highly anticipated tablet, which the company has reportedly been developing for several years. Many rumor reports have described Apple’s tablet as a 10-inch version of the iPhone with a strong focus on reading capability. Corroborating these rumors, The Wall Street Journal on Monday published a report that claimed Apple is negotiating with HarperCollins Publishers to produce e-book content for the introduction of the tablet.

Yours truly, along with Wired photographer Jon Snyder and senior editor Dylan Tweney, will provide live blog and news coverage from the event next week. Stay tuned.

While you wait, catch up on our previous reports regarding Apple’s rumored tablet. Our collection of stories is below.

The graphic accompanying the invitation (above) is unique compared with those we’ve received in the past. Perhaps the paint splats are related to a painting application that Apple plans to demonstrate with a tablet. What are your theories?

See Also:

• Approaching January, Apple Tablet Rumors Run Wild
• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
• Rumor: Back at Work, Jobs Cracks the Whip on Tablet Designers …
• In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …
• iTablet Gains OLED Display, Delayed Until Late 2010
• Rumor: 10-Inch Apple Tablet Landing in Early 2010
• Apple Bought iSlate.com — Perhaps for a Tablet?
• iGuide and iSlate — Two Potential Name Candidates for an Apple …

An OLED display would be a pricey, but perfect, screen for e-book reading on a tablet, like the one Apple is rumored to be announcing later this month.

If Apple were to implement a reading mode with a black background and light-colored text, then an OLED screen would be extremely energy efficient. That’s because OLEDs consume power differently than LCDs; they only use power when pixels are turned on. That means blacks won’t consume any energy (like they do with backlighting in LCDs), and such a reading mode would substantially preserve battery life, an analyst explained to Wired.com.

“I would expect when they use OLED to turn to one mode, called OLED display mode, and make most of the background black and make words white, green or red or some other colors,” explained Jennifer Colegrove, an analyst with DisplaySearch, a research firm that focuses on the display industry.

Tech observers are wildly anticipating the rumored Apple tablet, which will reportedly be announced late January in a special event. Many have speculated that Apple’s tablet, which many think will feature a screen between 10 and 11 inches, will have a strong focus on e-reading capability.

However, no report has offered reasonable speculation for the tablet’s battery life. The question is how such a device could feasibly handle e-book reading, along with general tasks, any better than the battery-sucking iPhone or the long-lasting (but colorless) E Ink technology seen on traditional e-book readers such as the Kindle.

OLEDs could be Apple’s solution for a general purpose device specializing in e-book reading, Colegrove told Wired.com.

Evidence is scarce, but OLED displays might be part of Apple’s plans. A report published by TG Daily on Tuesday cited a designer who claimed Apple had snapped up the entire supply of 10.1-inch multitouch LCD and OLED displays. Colegrove could not verify TG Daily’s claim, but she noted 10.1-inch OLEDs are relatively rare, because most devices shipping with OLEDs — smartphones — have smaller screens. The number of 10.1-inch OLEDs on the display market are in the low thousands, Colegrove noted.

OLEDs are expensive: a 10.1-inch OLED matching the description of the tablet in rumor reports would cost $400 alone, Colegrove said. So it’s likely if there is an OLED model of the Apple tablet, it will be the higher-end version of the device — a model Apple will tout for better reading capability. An LCD version of the tablet would likely ship with a less expensive model. A 10.1-inch LCD, Colegrove estimates, would cost Apple between $60 to $100.

Colegrove added it’s likely that if Apple were planning to sell a higher-end OLED version of the tablet, the company wouldn’t place an order on a huge volume; Apple would likely only order a few thousand.

Therefore, it’s feasible that Apple did indeed pre-order the entire 10.1-inch multitouch OLED supply, because there aren’t many available on the market, Colegrove said.

In short, if Apple were to ship two tablets — one with an OLED screen and the other with an LCD — the former could be the model with a special e-reader mode that consumes very little power.

And it sure sounds like it would be pricey. Would you pay a premium, perhaps $800 to $1,000, for a general-purpose OLED tablet with a special e-reader mode? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

See Also:

• Is an Apple Tablet on the Way? Orange Exec Says ‘Oui’
• Rumor: 10-Inch Apple Tablet Landing in Early 2010
• Top 10 Features the Apple Tablet MUST Have
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet
• iTablet Gains OLED Display, Delayed Until Late 2010

Photo illustration of an imaginary Apple tablet: Stephen Lewis Simmonds

Perhaps caught off guard, an executive of international carrier Orange said in a French TV interview that an Apple tablet will debut soon.

In the video above, Stéphane Richard, who is set to be Orange’s CEO, responds “Yes” when French media asks whether the rumors are true that an Apple tablet will debut soon. The interviewer then asks Richard whether the tablet will be available for Orange customers, to which the executive replies, “Of course.”

Rumors have run wild that Apple will introduce its much anticipated 10-inch touchscreen tablet in a special event later this month. The Wall Street Journal, who has accurately leaked Apple news in the past (including Steve Jobs’ liver transplant) claims the event will be held Jan. 27. The WSJ added that the tablet would be announced this month and begin shipping in March.

Richard’s statement could have been a slip, but it’s also likely that he’s aware the news about the tablet has already leaked — perhaps at Apple’s request. Last week, John Martellaro, a former senior marketing manager at Apple, confessed that Apple sometimes intentionally leaks secrets to WSJ. The purpose? To gauge reaction of the market to certain details such as price, or to panic a competitor, among other sneaky reasons. Very interesting, and a controlled leak to WSJ seems to be what’s happened with the rumored Apple tablet.

Update 3:30 p.m. PDT: Orange’s PR claims Richard’s statements do not “confirm” an Apple tablet and that he was merely saying “Yes” to acknowledge speculation surrounding the tablet. Still, that doesn’t explain why he said “Of course” when asked whether the tablet would be available for Orange customers (such a guarantee could not be independently made by Richard, as it would rely on Apple’s agreement to share the tablet with Orange). Also, it’s worth noting Orange previously acknowledged the existence of the iPhone prior to its launch.

Via SlashGear

See Also:

• Approaching January, Apple Tablet Rumors Run Wild
• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
• How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
• Why 2010 Will Be the Year of the Tablet