2010 will undoubtedly be a year of technology innovation. In 2009, Twitter revolutionized the way we get news, it brought us closer to those who were a part of the news, almost making traditional media irrelevant. We don’t know who (or what) will be the Twitter of 2010, but below are a few predictions for the coming year.
Google’s Chrome Netbook OS will be a hit- Their OS will mostly be dependent on a Google Account. A Google Account opens up their full Google Apps suite, which includes email, calendar, word processing, and MS Office like functions. Google’s renditions of their current OS have been well received by the “blogosphere” especially it’s ability to fit on a 1GB flash drive. An OS that small is perfect for Netbooks and tablet PCs. The smaller footprint also gives the user more capabilities. A key part of the Chrome OS will be the Chrome brower (my browser of choice) and one that is noted for its speed and security. Google rarely has missteps and I don’t foresee that Chrome OS will be one of them.
Tablet PCs will dethrone the Kindle and the Nook – Recently, Barnes and Noble stated that they expected to ship 60k Nook handsets this year. Amazon stated that the Kindle was the largest gift ever sold this holiday season. Both devices are great at one thing – reading e-books. But who will be satisfied with a $250 E-reader, when a full fledged tablet PC can be had for $300? Many tablets on their way are going to be “subsidized” devices with 3G services. They will be capable of reading B&N e-books, Amazon e-books, and .pdf/.txt/.doc documents. Tablet PCs can offer the reading package side by side with Web-browsing, video and music playback, and video output to HDTVs/Monitors, or even use it as a full fledge PC when docked.
There will be no great Smartphone leaps in 2010 – Smartphones (iPhone/BlackBerry/Android/Windows Mobile devices) are in a bit of a rut. As telecom providers are rushing to roll out 4G/LTE (long term evolution) networks, there is not too much a cellular phone can do in the future that it cannot now. In my mind, the most limiting factor for mobile phones is bandwidth. Already they can be hacked to provide Wireless Access Points, use Google Voice, and be tethered to provide your computer w/ access. We already have Multi-Touch, OLED, 5MP, and other capabilities. Improved touchscreen interactions, standardizing tethering and VoIP will all be nice, but these are merely hacks, not innovations.
By :Bob Gourley
Source: http://web2.sys-con.com/node/1233371
Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Friday, May 15, 2009
Kindle and Blogs
Kindle has a new business model to sell blogs via the Kindle...
Source: Revenue Magazine
With immediate effect you can now publish your blog to the Kindle Store via RSS feed, and Amazon will do the rest in terms of formatting and delivery. Even better, Amazon will charge a price that they determine - around $1.99 per month seems average - and pass on 30% to you.
Source: Revenue Magazine
Monday, May 04, 2009
Amazon to introduce larger Kindle this week?
Rumors have been circulating for a while that Amazon has a larger form factor Kindle in the works--and we may get a first look at it as soon as this week, according to sources who spoke with The New York Times.
Initially, a lot of the chatter around a new jumbo Kindle was focused on the textbook market. But in recent months, as more newspapers and magazines have become threatened with extinction, these larger e-readers--which also include models from Plastic Logic and News Corp.--have increasingly been pitched as digital saviors for old-media companies looking for what the Times calls "electronic life preservers."
The Times didn't specifically refer to itself as one of the companies requiring such a preserver, but it is expected to be featured in the introduction of the new Amazon device along with other major newspapers and magazines that are already available on the Kindle e-readers for a monthly fee.
Clearly, it's that ability to charge a fee and the potential cost savings of a paperless platform that makes digital readers so attractive to newspapers and magazines. As the Times and other have pointed out, publishers could "save millions on the cost of printing and distributing their publications, at precisely a time when their businesses are under historic levels of pressure."
But there are some inherent problems with shifting paper readers over to e-readers. First, some people just like paper. It's light, disposable, and you don't have to worry about spilling your coffee on it and destroying it. Second, this Kindle is likely to be just as expensive as the Kindle 2, and probably more expensive--unless Amazon and its publishing partners have plans in place to subsidize the device (i.e., pay for a two-year subscription, get a discount on the e-reader). And finally, it's hard to compete with free online versions of the same publications that are quite readable on devices like the iPhone (and would be even more readable on the alleged media pad Apple may be prepping).
Personally, I like the idea of reading a paper on a jumbo Kindle or Paper Logic e-reader--but I don't really want to have to carry it around with me, even if it's thin and relatively lightweight. And I don't want to pay $13.99 a month for a Kindle New York Times subscription (half that, maybe). However, I can see how this type of device would be very appealing to college students, who could carry around all their textbooks (and regular books for that matter) on one device.
In other words, a larger form factor Kindle may sound good on paper, but it may not be as viable as some old-media companies might hope. Yes, it's a potential lifeboat, but if Apple comes along with a tablet-style device that does more--and doesn't cost all that much more--it could sink.
What do you guys think? How much would you pay for a larger e-reader and digital subscriptions to your favorite papers? And will Apple blow away a jumbo monochrome Kindle out of the water with a new media pad that has color and a real Internet browser?
Read More Here: http://news.cnet.com
Initially, a lot of the chatter around a new jumbo Kindle was focused on the textbook market. But in recent months, as more newspapers and magazines have become threatened with extinction, these larger e-readers--which also include models from Plastic Logic and News Corp.--have increasingly been pitched as digital saviors for old-media companies looking for what the Times calls "electronic life preservers."
The Times didn't specifically refer to itself as one of the companies requiring such a preserver, but it is expected to be featured in the introduction of the new Amazon device along with other major newspapers and magazines that are already available on the Kindle e-readers for a monthly fee.
Clearly, it's that ability to charge a fee and the potential cost savings of a paperless platform that makes digital readers so attractive to newspapers and magazines. As the Times and other have pointed out, publishers could "save millions on the cost of printing and distributing their publications, at precisely a time when their businesses are under historic levels of pressure."
But there are some inherent problems with shifting paper readers over to e-readers. First, some people just like paper. It's light, disposable, and you don't have to worry about spilling your coffee on it and destroying it. Second, this Kindle is likely to be just as expensive as the Kindle 2, and probably more expensive--unless Amazon and its publishing partners have plans in place to subsidize the device (i.e., pay for a two-year subscription, get a discount on the e-reader). And finally, it's hard to compete with free online versions of the same publications that are quite readable on devices like the iPhone (and would be even more readable on the alleged media pad Apple may be prepping).
Personally, I like the idea of reading a paper on a jumbo Kindle or Paper Logic e-reader--but I don't really want to have to carry it around with me, even if it's thin and relatively lightweight. And I don't want to pay $13.99 a month for a Kindle New York Times subscription (half that, maybe). However, I can see how this type of device would be very appealing to college students, who could carry around all their textbooks (and regular books for that matter) on one device.
In other words, a larger form factor Kindle may sound good on paper, but it may not be as viable as some old-media companies might hope. Yes, it's a potential lifeboat, but if Apple comes along with a tablet-style device that does more--and doesn't cost all that much more--it could sink.
What do you guys think? How much would you pay for a larger e-reader and digital subscriptions to your favorite papers? And will Apple blow away a jumbo monochrome Kindle out of the water with a new media pad that has color and a real Internet browser?
Read More Here: http://news.cnet.com
Monday, April 20, 2009
Amazon Kindle 2
When the Kindle came out a year ago, it was well received but was also criticized for not being good enough. The Kindle 2 released by Amazon a little while back appears to have fixed that.
- The Kindle have revolutionized reading and this Wall Street Journal article explains how
- Here is the definitive verdict on the Kindle from NYTIMES David Pogue
Is there anything which could pose a threat to the Kindle. Why the Iphone of course. And the Kindle App on the iPhone specifically. The NYTIMES Bits Blog disects the App.
And the computerworld reports that book sales on the Apple iPhone App seems to be skyrocketing. Either way, Jeff Bezos comes out a winner.
And the future of newspaper - This businessweek article suggest that it would be cheaper for NYTIMES to give each subscriber a kindle and access the NYTIMES than to deliver a physiscal paper.
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