Hello folks and welcome to another edition of AppleTalk Thursday. We have a ton of Apple news this week so let's get right into things.
iPad 2
Yesterday Steve Jobs returned to take the stage in San Francisco to announce the new and improved iPad 2! Among the new features in the iPad 2 are as follows
1GHz dual-core A5 chip
Front and Rear camera (Rear Camera: 5x digital zoom still picture, 720p HD video recording up to 30fps) (Front camera: VGA still frame photo, and VGA 30fps video)
In addition it is also 1/3 less the depth of the original iPad at 0.34” (the iPhone 4 is 0.37” by comparison)
Storage capacity is still the same at 16, 32, and 64GB as well as pricing. Also iPad models for both GSM (AT&T) and CDMA (Verizon).
The iPad 2 goes on sale here in the US next Friday and then 26 countries on March 25th.
Bottom line, it just checkmated the Motorola Xoom IMHO as a contact free 32GB Xoom will set you back $800 for a 32GB model. By contrast the 32GB WiFi model of the iPad 2 is $599 and the WiFi+3G model is $729 (no contract required). So I just have to say to Motorola...how do you like them Apples? Yes I know the Xoom has Flash, but who the hell cares about a dying technology!
MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt
Last week I mentioned that Apple would be adopting Intel’s Light Peak and rebrand it as Thunderbolt. Well little did I know that just hours later Apple would roll out new MacBook Pro’s that would sport that very port.
Also in the new MacBook Pro’s are updated Intel i5 and i7 processors (Sandy Bridge architecture). For more information about the specs on the new MacBook Pro’s you can read here.
iOS 4.3
Also announced yesterday is iOS 4.3 which will become available next Friday as well. Among the goodies in the update are as follows.
AirPlay enhancements - AirPlay enabled apps and websites can now be played on the AppleTV. I wonder if we will see an updated Hulu Plus with AirPlay now?
Faster Safari with Nitro JavaScript - Will now run JavaScript twice as fast as Safari 4.2.
iTunes Home Sharing - My favorite feature, whatever content you have in iTunes on your Mac or PC, will now be able to be streamed right to your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad
iPad side switch customization - Choose either mute or screen lock within the settings for the slider switch..hello screen lock!
Personal HotSpot for iPhone 4 - Yes you will finally be able to turn your iPhone 4 into an instant 3G hotspot with up to 5 devices at a time including iPad. Careful on this one if you are grandfathered in with AT&T on a unlimited data plan they may make you switch to one of their new data plans to gain this feature.
iAds surging against Android based ads
In a new study iOS-based devices are beating out Android based devices when it comes to ads, specifically iAds is eating Android’s lunch.
Amazon not sweating iTunes app Store Policies
Perhaps there may be a reason Amazon is not too concerned about Apple’s new in-app purchasing policy for subscription content. They have been working on a web-based Kindle reading application that could take the place if its Kindle app were ever thrown out of the App Store. Personally I don’t see the Kindle app ever getting thrown out of the store, but it is an interesting read though.
OS X 10.7 Lion
Apple has put its next version of its operating system into the hands of developers. AppleInsider has had some great write ups about it which can be found here, here, here, and here! Oh yeah, and also here and here from MacRumors.
DirecTV remote for the iPad
At last DirecTV has joined the party on making an iPad app that can interact with your TV services. The app is free but you have to have an eligible receiver for it to work and it needs to be wired into your WiFi network. I’m going to have to finally make that call to Comcast to get that modem and router moved by the TV I think. Considering they were late to the game, their app has some pretty awesome features.
FAA Approves iPad for Pilots’ Charts
Good news if you are an iPad owning pilot, the FAA is starting to give the thumbs up on digital maps stored on the iPad. I know several people personally that are very happy about this new policy.
Well, I think we covered quite a bit of ground. A lot of Apple news in the past week from MacBook Pro’s to new iPad’s to a soon to be released iOS update. Oh but there is one more thing...Random House is now part of the iBookstore! That’s right 17,000 new titles available for your reading consumption. Ok so we will be back next week for another edition of AppleTalk Thursday and I promise to have some app reviews as well.
Showing posts with label Amazon Kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazon Kindle. Show all posts
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday Tech Talk #82
Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Let’s see what is going on this week.
Netflix gets CBS Streaming Deal
Netflix and CBS have come to an agreement to bring older shows to Netflix’s streaming service starting in April. Among the shows will be Star Trek, Cheers, and Frasier among others. No word if past seasons of NCIS will be included but that would be nice if it were the case.
Amazon Announces Streaming Service
Not to be outdone in the streaming media business, Amazon has announced its own service if you happen to be a Prime subscriber. The offerings are only a fraction of what Netflix and Hulu offer, but for a startup it is not too bad.
HTC Thunderbolt plagued with Battery Issue
The heavily promoted HTC Thunderbolt Android-based smartphone apparently has bad battery issues and it hasn’t even been released yet. The phone is Verizon’s first LTE-based phone and their answer to AT&T’s Motorola Atrix 4G Android phone.
Amazon Kindle 3G coming to AT&T on March 6th
Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader device is coming to AT&T stores on March 6th in the form of the 3G model. For those that don’t know, you can use your Kindle at any AT&T WiFi spot to download content this includes McDonalds and Starbucks locations.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. See you all next week for another installment and come back Thursday for my all things Apple post, AppleTalk Thursday, and Google news on Friday with Googling Friday. See ya’!
Netflix gets CBS Streaming Deal
Netflix and CBS have come to an agreement to bring older shows to Netflix’s streaming service starting in April. Among the shows will be Star Trek, Cheers, and Frasier among others. No word if past seasons of NCIS will be included but that would be nice if it were the case.
Amazon Announces Streaming Service
Not to be outdone in the streaming media business, Amazon has announced its own service if you happen to be a Prime subscriber. The offerings are only a fraction of what Netflix and Hulu offer, but for a startup it is not too bad.
HTC Thunderbolt plagued with Battery Issue
The heavily promoted HTC Thunderbolt Android-based smartphone apparently has bad battery issues and it hasn’t even been released yet. The phone is Verizon’s first LTE-based phone and their answer to AT&T’s Motorola Atrix 4G Android phone.
Amazon Kindle 3G coming to AT&T on March 6th
Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader device is coming to AT&T stores on March 6th in the form of the 3G model. For those that don’t know, you can use your Kindle at any AT&T WiFi spot to download content this includes McDonalds and Starbucks locations.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. See you all next week for another installment and come back Thursday for my all things Apple post, AppleTalk Thursday, and Google news on Friday with Googling Friday. See ya’!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Googling Friday #14
Hey everybody and welcome to another edition of Googling Friday. This week I want to talk about Google’s new eBook reader but as always, we have Google news for the week.
Groupon says no to Google
There has been speculation last week and indeed Google made an offer to buy Groupon the daily-deal site. However Groupon declined the offer. I’m guessing they were looking for a higher dollar amount than the $6 billion that Google offered or maybe they see a niche and want to explore it, remember a few years ago Mark Zuckerberg turned down Yahoo’s offer to buy Facebook and I think that turned out well for Facebook.
Google updates Priority Inbox
Earlier this week, Google announced it has updated the algorithm used to determine what is a priority message in your Inbox in Gmail. It will also offer insight in a message as to why it is considered priority. You can find this message by hovering over the yellow arrow above the message. Hopefully this will make Priority Inbox even more accurate.
Google Books
On Monday, Google unveiled its eBook store and ebook reader applications for iOS and Android devices. Upon initial review of both the application and the store it is Ok but missing some key features that people maybe used to in the Amazon Kindle Store. For example, there doesn’t seem to be a way to highlight or make notes on certain lines in the book. From a store perspective, it has a general search box but not a search by option, so if you say search works by Earnest Hemingway, it will display both his books and books about him. These are minor fixes via software update, but it is also missing a key thing, Kindle support. It does support Sony and Nook, but not Kindle as of now. Obviously it is a 1.0 product right now so it will be interesting to see how it evolves. For now, here are some screenshots.
The shot on the far left is the boot up screen on the iPhone, the middle is what your bookshelf looks like, and the third is the online store. Also, Google has a video explaining their eBook reader application and store and its advantages.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. Stop by next week for another helping of all things Google! Have a great weekend!
Groupon says no to Google
There has been speculation last week and indeed Google made an offer to buy Groupon the daily-deal site. However Groupon declined the offer. I’m guessing they were looking for a higher dollar amount than the $6 billion that Google offered or maybe they see a niche and want to explore it, remember a few years ago Mark Zuckerberg turned down Yahoo’s offer to buy Facebook and I think that turned out well for Facebook.
Google updates Priority Inbox
Earlier this week, Google announced it has updated the algorithm used to determine what is a priority message in your Inbox in Gmail. It will also offer insight in a message as to why it is considered priority. You can find this message by hovering over the yellow arrow above the message. Hopefully this will make Priority Inbox even more accurate.
Google Books
On Monday, Google unveiled its eBook store and ebook reader applications for iOS and Android devices. Upon initial review of both the application and the store it is Ok but missing some key features that people maybe used to in the Amazon Kindle Store. For example, there doesn’t seem to be a way to highlight or make notes on certain lines in the book. From a store perspective, it has a general search box but not a search by option, so if you say search works by Earnest Hemingway, it will display both his books and books about him. These are minor fixes via software update, but it is also missing a key thing, Kindle support. It does support Sony and Nook, but not Kindle as of now. Obviously it is a 1.0 product right now so it will be interesting to see how it evolves. For now, here are some screenshots.
The shot on the far left is the boot up screen on the iPhone, the middle is what your bookshelf looks like, and the third is the online store. Also, Google has a video explaining their eBook reader application and store and its advantages.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. Stop by next week for another helping of all things Google! Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday Tech Talk #72
Greetings everyone and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Quite a bit of news this week I want to share so lets get right into it!
I have an iPhone 4!
Out of the blue, I upgraded to an iPhone 4. Thanks to a week long promotion going on at Radio Shack, I was able to trade in my iPhone 3GS for a $125 credit toward an iPhone 4 which was also sold for $50 off the regular price. What this meant was I was able to walk out of the store with a brand new 32GB iPhone 4 for $125 instead of the regular $300 price, a $175 savings! But it gets even better, my wife who has had a flip phone for a few years now, purchased an 8GB 3GS for $49. Now the catch is obviously you have to be eligible for an upgrade with AT&T and you agree to a new 2 year contract.
So, how is the iPhone 4? It is great! I can FaceTime now with it, take HDR photos, and the Retina display is awesome! You really have to see an iPhone 4 in person to grasp just how rich the display is. A good test is to visit the New York Times website and close in on the “New York Times” banner and the detail of the font is spectacular! My wife really likes her first iPhone and loves that her Yahoo email comes right to her email now instead of having to login on the Yahoo website. It has been a bit of a learning curve for her, but she likes it a lot! Here is an HDR photo I took last night at Oby’s of our bread pudding dessert.
Yum!! So, if you are eligible for an upgrade from AT&T, you might want to check in at your local Radio Shack before Saturday.
Facebook Profile Facelift
So I watched 60 Minutes on Sunday night which I never do but Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed by Lesley Stahl and they hinted something new Facebook was working on, would be shown on 60 Minutes. Sure enough, they have given a whole new look to the Facebook profile page. To give you an idea, here is what mine looks like now.
So basically you enter in your key information and it spells out a nice summary of who you are. It also offers an expanded family tree for connections. Now in addition to spouse, brother, sister, mom and dad connections, it also offers uncle, aunt, cousins, niece and nephews. Interesting enough in-laws is still not an option so if you have a brother-in-law for example and want to add the family connection, you will just have to label them as a brother for now. So check it out, I happen to like it but your mileage may vary.
Google offers e-Books
Also announced yesterday, Google is now an e-book seller and offering reader apps for iOS and Android devices. Stay tuned for this Friday’s Googling Friday where I talk a lot more about the pros and cons of Google’s e-book reader app.
Mac App Store to launch Monday?
Apple may be preparing to launch their Mac App Store as early as this coming Monday. Apple did state during the OS X 10.7 Lion preview that they would launch a beta version of the Mac App Store within 90 days so this seems to fit into that timeline. If it does then we will have something to discuss here next week.
AirPlay coming to Safari and Third-party apps in 2011
Once again Steve Jobs fired off an email reply from his iPhone to someone that asked about AirPlay limitations on video from iOS devices to AppleTV. Jobs states that Apple hopes to add video features to third-party apps and Safari. This is great news for folks that use Netflix and Hulu Plus on their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad as they can then stream video to the AppleTV.
This Week’s iOS app Reviews
iMove ($4.99) - IF you have an iPhone 4 then you really should get this app. What it does is allow you to edit video shot on your iPhone 4, on your iPhone 4. I was able to put together a video overview of the Google Books reader app using my iPhone 4 and iMovie. You can find the video here!
Loopt (FREE) - Yes, another location based social networking app. I try them all folks and what I like about this one is it integrates with Facebook’s Places. So you tie your Facebook account into Loopt and whenever you check into a location using the Facebook app, Loopt will also show you at such place. You can also connect your Twitter account to Loopt as well.
Words with Friends (FREE) - Ok so there is also an iPad version as well. They also offer a paid version without advertising. Basically Words with Friends is Scrabble that you can play with friends and family. You will have to setup a username, but it is fairly easy to setup a game quickly with a friend. I have learned words I didn’t know existed and you can also chat with each other as well. It is a lot of fun.
Google Books (FREE) - As I mentioned earlier, Google is offering their own e-book reader app now (iPad version). The look and feel is similar to that of the Apple iBooks and Amazon Kindle app. On Friday, I will have more about it.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. See you all next week for another fixin’!
I have an iPhone 4!
Out of the blue, I upgraded to an iPhone 4. Thanks to a week long promotion going on at Radio Shack, I was able to trade in my iPhone 3GS for a $125 credit toward an iPhone 4 which was also sold for $50 off the regular price. What this meant was I was able to walk out of the store with a brand new 32GB iPhone 4 for $125 instead of the regular $300 price, a $175 savings! But it gets even better, my wife who has had a flip phone for a few years now, purchased an 8GB 3GS for $49. Now the catch is obviously you have to be eligible for an upgrade with AT&T and you agree to a new 2 year contract.
So, how is the iPhone 4? It is great! I can FaceTime now with it, take HDR photos, and the Retina display is awesome! You really have to see an iPhone 4 in person to grasp just how rich the display is. A good test is to visit the New York Times website and close in on the “New York Times” banner and the detail of the font is spectacular! My wife really likes her first iPhone and loves that her Yahoo email comes right to her email now instead of having to login on the Yahoo website. It has been a bit of a learning curve for her, but she likes it a lot! Here is an HDR photo I took last night at Oby’s of our bread pudding dessert.
Yum!! So, if you are eligible for an upgrade from AT&T, you might want to check in at your local Radio Shack before Saturday.
Facebook Profile Facelift
So I watched 60 Minutes on Sunday night which I never do but Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed by Lesley Stahl and they hinted something new Facebook was working on, would be shown on 60 Minutes. Sure enough, they have given a whole new look to the Facebook profile page. To give you an idea, here is what mine looks like now.
So basically you enter in your key information and it spells out a nice summary of who you are. It also offers an expanded family tree for connections. Now in addition to spouse, brother, sister, mom and dad connections, it also offers uncle, aunt, cousins, niece and nephews. Interesting enough in-laws is still not an option so if you have a brother-in-law for example and want to add the family connection, you will just have to label them as a brother for now. So check it out, I happen to like it but your mileage may vary.
Google offers e-Books
Also announced yesterday, Google is now an e-book seller and offering reader apps for iOS and Android devices. Stay tuned for this Friday’s Googling Friday where I talk a lot more about the pros and cons of Google’s e-book reader app.
Mac App Store to launch Monday?
Apple may be preparing to launch their Mac App Store as early as this coming Monday. Apple did state during the OS X 10.7 Lion preview that they would launch a beta version of the Mac App Store within 90 days so this seems to fit into that timeline. If it does then we will have something to discuss here next week.
AirPlay coming to Safari and Third-party apps in 2011
Once again Steve Jobs fired off an email reply from his iPhone to someone that asked about AirPlay limitations on video from iOS devices to AppleTV. Jobs states that Apple hopes to add video features to third-party apps and Safari. This is great news for folks that use Netflix and Hulu Plus on their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad as they can then stream video to the AppleTV.
This Week’s iOS app Reviews
iMove ($4.99) - IF you have an iPhone 4 then you really should get this app. What it does is allow you to edit video shot on your iPhone 4, on your iPhone 4. I was able to put together a video overview of the Google Books reader app using my iPhone 4 and iMovie. You can find the video here!
Loopt (FREE) - Yes, another location based social networking app. I try them all folks and what I like about this one is it integrates with Facebook’s Places. So you tie your Facebook account into Loopt and whenever you check into a location using the Facebook app, Loopt will also show you at such place. You can also connect your Twitter account to Loopt as well.
Words with Friends (FREE) - Ok so there is also an iPad version as well. They also offer a paid version without advertising. Basically Words with Friends is Scrabble that you can play with friends and family. You will have to setup a username, but it is fairly easy to setup a game quickly with a friend. I have learned words I didn’t know existed and you can also chat with each other as well. It is a lot of fun.
Google Books (FREE) - As I mentioned earlier, Google is offering their own e-book reader app now (iPad version). The look and feel is similar to that of the Apple iBooks and Amazon Kindle app. On Friday, I will have more about it.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. See you all next week for another fixin’!
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