Engadget got spyshots of tomorrow’s Kindle presentation. The Kindle DX, a newspaper reader/textbook-focused version of the Kindle will be announced tomorrow in Manhattan. Interestingly, the 9.7-inch screen is roughly the same size as the supposed Netbook/Tablet touch screen that has been supposedly picked up by Apple.
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That’s the rumor that Techcrunch is throwing out there this morning. The cash amount? $700 million. Does this make sense for Apple? Where would it fit?
Google tried to buy it but was rebuffed by Twitter CEO Evan Williams, says a source with knowledge of the talks. Today, though, rumors popped up that Apple may be looking to buy Twitter. “Apple is in late stage negotiations to buy Twitter and is hoping to announce it at WWDC in June,” said a normally reliable source this evening, adding that the purchase price would be $700 million in cash.
We’re thinking this is unlike Apple and very unlikely, but never say never. Apple did start Twittering their Trailers feed, and it is no secret that Twitter founders are big Apple fans. That’s about all we could come up with.
Update: A much better fit (but from a bad source), especially with where Apple has been going lately, is Electronic Arts. Fast(way to lose your)Money has the quote:
Adami noted that there is chatter that Apple is eyeing Electronic Arts as a takeover target.
On a seperate note: Twitterers, remember to pick up 9to5mac’s Twitter feed here.
Cult of Mac thinks so. We aren’t feeling that Apple logo tho. And those ports look mighty small if that ruler is in perspective. How about you? Yay or Nay? Update: Its made of a new material! Wood
Prediction: it’s a knockoff.
Apple will soon have an excuse to slang those controversial potty-mouth NIN apps to all of your kids. In version 3 of the iPhone and in iTunes 8.2 (image below) you can now select parental control for apps and choose the age of the iPhone owner. The choices are 4+, 9+, 12+, 17+. When version 3 of the iPhone is released, Apple will allow more adult-themed applications to go thru the app store, albeit with NC-17 ratings.
iLounge via Macrumors notes that:
Makayama’s Newspaper(s) application was originally rejected due to inappropriate online-content (images of topless women[noice]) from the UK’s The Sun tabloid. Apple informed the developer that Parental Controls have been announced for iPhone 3.0 and that it "would be appropriate to resubmit your application for review once this feature is available."
We like that Apple is isolating 4-8 year old crowd as an age group. What would constitute something off limits for a four year old, but ok for a nine year old? We are thinking Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy denial apps. Just kidding! – to our younger viewers.
And for us more mature audiences? 17+ huh? Does that mean the iPhone 3 will finally fulfill its destiny as…nah.
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Nevermind that the average 9-12 year old has a better understanding of their Mac than their parents and could probably enable parental controls on them.
Sometimes you’re away from a power supply longer than your battery will allow you. It’d be nice to have a swapable battery but Apple seems to be going away from that idea in its latest product offerings. What to do? One (bad) option is carrying around a heavy UPS. A better option just came up:
HyperMac is offering an external battery with Apple’s MagSafe connection. According to their website, this adds up to 32 hours of usage time. Official times and real times sometimes aren’t always the same.
Users can check the HyperMac battery level anytime with the built-in 4-stage lighted LED indicator. HyperMac battery also comes with a USB power port to charge any USB device including the latest iPhone 3G individually or simultaneously with the MacBook. The HyperMac battery and car charger are now available for pre-order at www.HyperMac.com and will be shipping later this month for $149.95 (car charger), $199.95 (60-watt-hour battery), $299.95 (100Wh), $399.95 (150Wh) and $499.95 (222Wh)..
We have to wonder how long one could run an iPhone alone on one of these things. Might be good for camping. Little pricey for the high end models however.
HyperMac – World’s Exclusive Apple MacBook External Battery Pack That Works With All MacBook, MacBook Pro And MacBook Air Models.
Extends MacBook Battery Life Up To 32 hours.
05.04.2009 –
SUNNYVALE, California
– Sanho Corp., the company behind the HyperDrive photo backup devices introduces HyperMac– external MacBook battery packs that work with the entire Apple MacBook family of notebook computers, including all MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models.
Available in 4 different capacities of 60Wh, 100Wh, 150Wh and 222Wh (compared to MacBook Air 37Wh only internal battery), the external battery is capable of powering the MacBook for up to 32 hours – allowing for long haul flights, extended outdoor shoots, expeditions to remote locations or any situation where electricity is simply not an option. When on the road, there is also the HyperMac car charger which powers and recharges the MacBook directly from the automobile cigarette slot.
Every HyperMac battery is compatible with all MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models courtesy of proprietary variable power technology which enables the battery to adjust the charging power automatically when connected to different MacBook models. For maximum compatibility, HyperMac charging cables are spliced with the original Apple MagSafe connectors. Not only does HyperMac provides power for the MacBook, it charges the internal battery as well.
Users can check the HyperMac battery level anytime with the built-in 4-stage lighted LED indicator. HyperMac battery also comes with a USB power port to charge any USB device including the latest iPhone 3G individually or simultaneously with the MacBook
Daniel Chin, President of Sanho Corporation, states, "HyperMac allows the MacBook user to easily extend their MacBook battery life." He adds, "With the MacBook moving towards unibody designs with built-in batteries, HyperMac is the only viable option to extend the unibody MacBook’s mobile computing time beyond the power grid.""Using HyperMac external batteries will also help to reduce the strain on the MacBook internal batteries and extend the overall life span of these difficult to replace batteries," he concludes.
HyperMac batteries uses the same high-end lithium ion cells that are supplied to the U.S. military. It is rechargeable up to 1000 times and comes with a ONE-year warranty – comparing to industry standards of only 300 recharges and 3 months warranty. With a great attention to detail, HyperMac batteries’ silver color aluminum housing are color matched to the MacBook. With clean lines, laser engraved logo and all-white accessories completing the Applesque look.
The HyperMac battery and car charger are now available for pre-order at
and will be shipping later this month for $149.95 (car charger), $199.95 (60-watt-hour battery), $299.95 (100Wh), $399.95 (150Wh) and $499.95 (222Wh).
Specifications
Dimensions: 4.92 x 3.78 x 0.83" (60Wh); 7.48 x 4.92 x 0.8" (100Wh); 8.9 x 4.92 x 0.83" (150Wh); 10.1 x 5.91 x 1.34" (222Wh)
Weight: 0.8 lb (60Wh); 1.6 lbs (100Wh); 2.4 lbs (150Wh); 4.7 lbs (222Wh)
Battery: Lithium ion
4 stage LED battery level indicator lights
USB 5V/1A power out
For more product information and specifications, please visit:
HyperMac is a trademark of Sanho Corporation
Apple, MacBook and MacBook Air, MagSafe are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc
Like it or not, the Blackberry did have a strong quarter according to NPD. The Blackberry comes in more varieties, often much cheaper than the iPhone and it is available on every wireless network – including what many percieve to be the best in the US, Verizon. Apple is, so far, sticking to just AT&T.
An aggressive “buy-one-get-one” promotion by Verizon Wireless helped Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Curve move past Apple’s iPhone to become the best-selling consumer smartphone in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2009. RIM’s consumer smartphone market share increased 15 percent to nearly 50 percent of the smartphone market in the first quarter versus the prior quarter, as Cupertino-based Apple Inc.’s and Sunnyvale-based Palm Inc.’s share both declined 10 percent each.
NPD Group Inc. said that the top five best-selling smartphones in the quarter were:
1) BlackBerry Curve
2) Apple’s iPhone 3G (all models)
3) BlackBerry Storm
4) BlackBerry Pearl (all models except flip)
5) T-Mobile G1
“Verizon Wireless’s aggressive marketing of the BlackBerry Storm and its buy-one-get-one BlackBerry promotion to its large customer base contributed to RIM capturing three of the top five positions,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group. “The more familiar, and less expensive, Curve benefited from these giveaways and was able to leapfrog the iPhone, due to its broader availability on the four major U.S. national carriers.”
Smartphones, which represented just 17 percent of handset sales volume in the first quarter of 2008, now make up 23 percent of sales. “Even in this challenging economy, consumers are migrating toward Web-capable handsets and t1eir supporting data plans to access more information and entertainment on the go.” Rubin said.
According to the New York Times, Amazon is going to release a bigger version of the Kindle soon, possibly as early as this week. The device will be aimed at newspapers and large format magazines who have been hit extremely hard by ad spending downturns. Although the current Kindle has a 6" screen, users and companies are said to have been left wanting for more screen real estate…for content and ads. The WSJ also reported on this earlier.
Also, keep in mind that Apple’s rumored netbook/tablet touch screen is 10 inches. The Times expects there to be some overlap.
Update: It looks like Wednesday at Pace University in lower Manhattan.
But it is Amazon, maker of the Kindle, that appears to be first in line to try throwing an electronic life preserver to old-media companies. As early as this week, according to people briefed on the online retailer’s plans, Amazon will introduce a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks.
An Amazon spokesman would not comment, but some news organizations, including The New York Times, are expected to be involved in the introduction of the device, according to people briefed on the plans. A spokeswoman for The Times, Catherine J. Mathis, said she could not comment on the company’s relationship with Amazon.
Normal sized Kindles retail for $359 at Amazon. It isn’t certain which price point the new larger models will come in at.
According to BGR, a whopping 4,500 Palm Pres will be hitting Best Buys across the country on June 7th. That doesn’t seem very ambitious of Palm. They’ll be lucky to have one per store. We hope for Palm’s sake, they sell out. Oh, and yes that is the day before WWDC which we posted earlier.
Update: Sprint’s Pre training starts on May 7th.
More surprisingly:
Pricing is supposedly still being discussed but the probable points are as follows: New customers with a 2-year contract, $199.99. Existing customer upgrades, $299.99. Outright, $999.99.
Why only $1000? Why not a gazillion? Obviously, Palm isn’t trying to give these away without a plan…and it isn’t like you can take them over to Verizon without some internal fiddling.
$199 does seem like a good entry point however. It will be interesting to see how these things do.
$25 will supposedly get you this on the iPhone once iPhone 3.0 is released. It looks solid. Will this be the only name in town or will there be others?
That is all. Get it here. Must be installed manually.
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For you nostalgia fans out there, Myst just hit the App Store for $5.99. It is a whopping (for an iPhone) 727MB download but promises to bring all of the realism of the 1994 classic Macintosh game. If you don’t remember, go grab a refresher.
– All the original Ages & gameplay
– High quality images (better than original Myst)
– Full music & sound effects
– Original movies & animations
– Auto-save (when quitting or phone call)
– "Bookmark" system to save & restore progress
– Swipe to turn
– Auto-zoom in certain close-up areas
– Quick access to hint guide
It comes with these Special Notes:
The iPod touch had a strong month outpacing its iPhone cousin in "marketshare gains according to NetApplications after being relatively flat since the holidays. It isn’t certain what caused the spike but the iPod touch’s share in April jumped to 0.15%, a 36% increase.
The iPhone "only" gained 12% for the month coming in at .55%. That means the current total for touch devices from Apple are .7%, close to where Linux was a few months ago.
Speaking of which, Linux and Google’s Android were also big gainers, with Linux breaking the 1% barrier for the first time in history. Google’s Android, which is technically a flavor of Linux, also showed solid growth, especially since it is only on one phone, on the smallest US Network, Tmobile. NetApplications even says that the Android growth is on par with the iPhone’s initial growth speed.
We’re not sure if it has been reported yet, but the iPhone 3.0 software has a nice little "shake to undo" SMS. Update: yes it has been reported. (We still like it)
From the Toys Section:
Amazon.com offers the Sony MDR-NC7 Noise-Canceling Headphones in Black for $33.99. With free shipping, it’s $4 below our mention from January and the lowest total price we’ve seen. Plus, receive a free $5 credit towards Amazon MP3 music downloads. Features include a foldable and swivel design, ambient noise reduction, and more.
Want to get the most out of your $5 MP3 credit? Amazon.com MP3 Store offers select MP3 album downloads for $5 each, as mentioned earlier today.
In other Toys news, Samsung’s super-small S860 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom is 53% off at $69.99:
For you Adobe Jockies out there, Adobe’s Blog takes us back to 1988 and the dawn of vector graphics with Adobe Illustrator. John Warnock demos his new creation.
For our "younger" users, John Warnock, together with Chuck Geschke, was one of the founders of Adobe Systems.
The rest of the videos below:
Meet Adobe Illustrator 88
If you want to know more about the history of Adobe Systems, the book "
Inside the Publishing Revolution: The Adobe Story
" by Pamela Pfiffner is a great read.
This is getting a bit old. Slower RAM, worse resolution screen, and that’s before she even buys the apps to allow her to "Cut video"". 4GB RAM upgrade? $60
It’d be nice to do a follow-up with her when she gets back to film class…
Peter Burrows from Businessweek says (via MR) that video on the iPhone 3 is going to do for video what the original iPod did for mp3s. We say he’s late to the party. We’re not talking April 7th late either (that is when screengrabs showing the video interface were published). We’re talking over a year late.
Cycorder and Qik have been on jailbroken iPhones for over a year and have offered up the video recording and broadcasting ability to the broad swath of iPhone users who’ve jaibroken their iPhones.. Even Ashton Kutcher has been taking videos on his iPhone.
Obviously, video recording will be much more popular on iPhone 3 because it is an Apple endorsed feature and it has been made "super easy". The numbers of people making and publishing videos will skyrocket and Apple will have "changed the world" again. But we can’t help but see the missed opportunity.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv_sqTnQ1Dk&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
Apple has kept video apps off of the iPhone artificially. We’re not just talking about apps like Cycorder which record data to the iPhone’s Flash storage in MP4 form. Some have speculated that all of the video recording could cause data rewrite errors or drain the battery extraordinarily quickly. Elevation Partners’ sponsored application Qik has been trying to get into the App Store for over half a year. This application doesn’t write to the iPhone’s Flash storage, it publishes the video to the web. IT doesn’t use any more battery than watching a video in iTunes. Believe us, we have lots of experience.
One could ponder if the fact that Qik is being fueled by Apple arch enemy Elevation Partners has anything to do with its snubbing. Elevation partners is heavily invested in the Palm Pre as well as having two former Apple execs at the helm.
We tend to think that the snubbing is because Apple doesn’t want its glory stolen. It wants to usher in the "era of portable video recording and editing" for the masses. And it likely will.
But we can’t help but wonder how many special moments have been lost because of Apple’s decision to keep video off of the iPhone over the past year. How many baby’s births or first words weren’t recorded? How many police brutalities? How many planes landing in rivers? How many Star Wars Kids do we not know about?
It will be great when the masses can record video on the iPhone. It would have been greater if Apple had "allowed" us to do so long ago.
Oh, and I am speaking from experience here. When my son was born, we didn’t think we’d want to put it to video. However, seconds after he was born, I whipped out my iPhone with Qik and saved his first few breaths(sfw). I’ve watched that hundreds of times. I feel sad for those who didn’t get the chance to do the same.
JD Power and Associates released the results of their annual Consumer Smartphone Survey with the iPhone running the table in five of the six categories. The iPhone’s battery was the only category that it didn’t lead/get a perfect score. iPhone also won in the business category earlier this year.
iPod Shuffle’s talking abilities a match for the Kindle 2’s ability to read books? Only in Star Trek format?
Why? Well Disney/ABC is buying a 30% stake in Hulu the company. That means a certain someone who is Disney’s biggest shareholder and board member will help direct the new entity. That might make that iPhone Hulu app something more of a reality. Well that’s our hope anyway. Officially:
Disney will receive three seats on the Hulu board, joining executives from NBC Universal, News Corp. and Providence. Disney said its seats will be held by Disney President and CEO[and Steve Jobs buddy] Robert Iger; Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney/ABC Television Group; and Kevin Mayer, executive vice president of corporate strategy, business development and technology.
The mobile device market is heating up just a bit over the past few weeks, isn’t it? The latest bomb is that Palm isn’t just throwing the Pre on Sprint’s network, it is also building a WebOS competitor to the iPhone for AT&T.
The Palm Eos (codenamed Castle/Pixie) will cost $99 with a plan and be an ultra-thin version of the Pre with a non-slideout QWERTY keyboard.
Engadget got the picts, specs and the details:
It is an "astounding" 10.6mm thin, will measure just 55mm x 111mm (about 2.1 by 4.3-inches), weigh 100 grams, and will tout a 2.63-inch, 320 x 400 capacitive display (that’s 80 pixels less than the Pre or iPhone). It also sports:
And you wonder why Apple has been knocking on Verizon’s door?
These are some of the best designs we’ve seen (if not technically feasible). Designer Tommaso Gecchelin has put together his ideas for the rumored "MacBook Touch". We know these aren’t going to happen soon but we like! Much more below.
The iPhone’s biggest (shipping) competitor is the Google Adroid-based G1 from T-Mobile. According to Engadget, T-Mobile is now doing over-the-air updates to the G1 to the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) OS.
BGR is also reporting that like iPhone nano rumors, Palm rumors also say that they are going to release a smaller Pre this year. That thing pictured to your right is supposed to be it ->. It is based on the current Centro hardware.
In related news, I show you how to build a pretty sweet Android tablet for $220 out of a Nokia N810 here. Just so you know.
At first, we were like "What an idiot, this guy is destroying a mostly good MacBook Air for no reason, he must be rich and stupid". But, look what happened. The video is spreading over the Internet. It seems he was pretty much over the MacBook Air with bad hinge (which the video does illustrate has a much brighter screen) and moved on to the ThinkPad, but he probably could have gotten a few hundred bucks for it on Ebay.
Bravo! Mr. scary, rich, stupid dude.
Via Macenstein
