WSJ Makes Apple Tablet Official

Posted by Editor on Jan 21, 2010 in Amazon Kindle, Apple, Tablets

Apparently the Wall Street Journal still has journalistic integrity, i.e. they don’t pass on every last unsourced rumor the web is happy to. So when they write up a deeply detailed description of Apple’s tablet plans to be unveiled on January 27th, we’re supposed to take this as gospel. Right? In a nutshell, what’s in store is massive changes to the ways we interact with textbooks, newspapers, magazines and cable TV. Here’s some highlights:

Apple’s Tablet Named – iPad?

Posted by Editor on Jan 20, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

This just in from The Next Web and The Jesus Tablet:

Apple has apparently filed multiple requests in the US to stake claim to a disputed “iPad” trademark currently claimed by Fujitsu.

Apple is already deep into the filing process for claiming the trademark in Europe, Canada, and Hong Kong, but due to a small retail device sold in the US — the iPad, made by Fujitsu Transaction Solutions — Apple’s had difficulty securing the name.

iPhone and Tablet Moving to Verizon – AT&T Left Behind

Posted by Editor on Jan 20, 2010 in Apple, iPhone, Rumors, Tablets

The Street brings us a bring interesting new rumors about Verizon and Apple.

The hotly anticipated Apple Tablet — or the Apple Newton II — will feature a wireless chip made by Qualcomm. This discrete little fact would confirm that Apple has chosen Verizon (VZ Quote) as its telco partner, says Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar.

If true, it validates what TheStreet first reported in July — that Apple and Verizon are working together to sell the new Tablet.

“This makes sense for Apple,” says Nielsen Wireless analyst Roger Entner. “It behooves them to build a relationship with a company they haven’t worked with yet,” Enter said referring to Verizon.

Amazon Hedges Ahead of Pending Apple Event

Posted by Editor on Jan 20, 2010 in Amazon Kindle, Tablets

In a sign that the party is coming to an end for Jeff Bezos, it was announced today that Amazon would be changing their royalty sharing model from the truly paltry 25-30% they were offering before to up to 70%. This comes with some strings as explained by Mashable:

To be able to get the 70 percent royalty deal, the list price for your title must be both between $2.99 to $9.99 and be 20 percent below the lowest physical book price; title also must be “offered at or below price parity with competition, including physical book prices”. The title also needs to be included in a broad set of features in the Kindle Store, e.g. text-to-speech. Finally, the title must be made available for sale “in all geographies for which the author or publisher has rights”

Apple Tablet Design Circa 1987

Posted by Editor on Jan 19, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

We’re all waiting around for the shoe or rather the tablet to drop from Apple later this month. But would you believe Apple was toying with the idea as early as 1987? Back then it was called a Knowledge Navigator.

The device opened like a book, with the “spine” lifting the face to an easy reading angle, and acting as a carrying handle when closed. It also sported a video camera similar to a modern webcam with a slot in the upper right for a memory card, and the grills on either side of the screen are speakers. Check out this video showing the Navigator in action:

Apple Will Save Publishing and Redefine eBooks

Posted by Editor on Jan 19, 2010 in Amazon Kindle, Apple, Nook, Tablets

Apple Event Not Music Focused

Posted by Editor on Jan 19, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

Well it sorta makes sense as the music and later telco industries have been the intensive focus of iPod and iPhone related Apple events respectively for years. This morning All Things Digital reported some rumors on who would be part of the upcoming Apple tablet event. Of note is that music industry types would be low on the radar next to publishers, newspapers, magazines and books- in that order of preference.

HarperCollins in Talks With Apple for Enhanced Ebooks

Posted by Editor on Jan 18, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

According to the Wall Street Journal, leading publisher HarperCollins is in talks with Apple over enhanced ebooks for its tablet.

HarperCollins Publishers is negotiating with Apple Inc. to make electronic books available for the introduction of a new tablet device from Apple, according to people familiar with the situation, posing a challenge to Amazon.com Inc.

HarperCollins is expected to set the prices of the e-books, which would have added features, with Apple taking a percentage of sales. Details haven’t been ironed out. More after the jump.

Apple Gets Official with January 27th Event

Posted by Editor on Jan 18, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

Believe it or not, all of the reporting we’ve been doing about Apple’s January 27th press event in San Francisco to purportedly unveil the tablet device has been based on rumor. That’s changed today as Apple has now officially confirmed the event at the Yerba Buena center to “come see our latest creation.” As first reported by Apple Insider’s tablet invitation, it looks like this:

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Apple Readying Touchscreen iMacs

Posted by Editor on Jan 18, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

PCWorld brings this report of the highly successful multitouch technology coming to more than the iPhone, iTouch and tablet. So perhaps the Tablet won’t be the only cool thing unveiled in San Francisco on January 27th. Could this be Steve’s “one more thing?”

If you’re tired of hearing about the mythical Apple tablet, then you’ll be happy to hear a new rumor has popped up claiming Apple will launch a 22-inch touchscreen iMac later this year. The computer will be produced by Taiwan-based manufacturer Quanta, with the screens being produced by Sintek Photronic, according to DigiTimes based on an account from the Chinese language newspaper China Times.

Apple: Reach Out and Touch Me

A touchscreen iMac wouldn’t be terribly surprising, since touch-based features and devices are becoming an increasing part of Apple’s product lineup. The company has had a runaway success with the iPhoneand iPod Touch, multitouch trackpads in MacBookswere introduced in 2008, and Apple recently brought out the touch-based Magic Mouse. If the rumors are correct, Apple may also be introducing a 10-inchtouchscreen multimedia device at the end of this month.

For more details and some analysis of what a touchscreen iMac might look like, head over to the rest of the story at PCWorld.

Asus Brings Tasty eBook Reader to Market

Posted by Editor on Jan 18, 2010 in Tablets

Engadget points out this compact, WiMax-enabled e-book charmer from Asus:

ASUS is suddenly all chatty with its plans to enter the e-reader market in 2010. Just yesterday we got word of a 6-inch color (claimed to be OLED by InGear) e-reader from ASUS by the name of DR-570 headed to retail before the year is through. Now we’ve got details of a second ASUS e-reader, dubbed the DR-950 that should arrive sooner. This time we’re looking at a 9-inch Sipix panel with 1,024 x 768 pixel resolution pushing 16-levels of gray just like the Jinke reader unveiled at CES. The touchscreen DR-950 features text-to-speech (based on Svox engine supporting 26 languages), a web browser that works in portrait or landscape modes, a virtual keyboard and handwriting input, a RSS reader, and dictionary (with expandable database) with real-time translation.

Spec-wise, the 222 x 161 x 9-mm / 370-gram reader packs WiFi and HSPA (WiMax is optional) data radios, 3.5-mm headphone jack and stereo speakers, with 4GB of internal memory and SD Card expansion. Supported formats include PDF, TXT, Audible, MP3, and unprotected ePub. Not bad ASUS, not bad. Now let’s see some content partners, eh?

Head over to Engadget for more pictures.

New York Times Website Goes Pay-Per-View

Posted by Editor on Jan 17, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

The Inquisitr reports that the New York Times is about to switch their free website to a pay per view service. While this has been tried before with varying degrees of success, what’s notable for us is the changeover is meant to occur right around Apple’s impending rumored tablet announcement. Check this link for the full story: New York Times goes Pay Per View – Apple Tablet-related?

Video of Apple Tablet in Action

Posted by Editor on Jan 16, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

This a simulation of how the Apple Talbet might work. But it looks pretty cool and I wouldn’t doubt it if at least some of this were close to the real deal functionality. Well maybe not the two-handed pinch zooms- that seems like it would be one handed. Anyways- have a look after the jump:

CNET- Apple Tablet in Full Production

Posted by Editor on Jan 16, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

Electronista and iSlate point out the following report: CNET: Apple Tablet in Full Production:

An analyst at AVI Securities said Friday morning that the Apple tablet is “in full production” and a research note stated that Apple “NAND” flash chip requirements may be increasing because of the tablet.

The Apple tablet information comes from “a maker of components going into the Apple tablet,” according to analyst Matt Thornton. “It’s been in the supply chain for a while and entered full production this month. A couple of suppliers actually had weaker Decembers than they would have expected because production was pushed back a little bit,” he said in an interview.

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New Patent Points to Stylus for Tablet

Posted by Editor on Jan 15, 2010 in Apple, Tablets

MacRumors points out a new patent recently filed by Apple regarding the use of a stylus for input on a touch screen.

Given Steve Jobs’ distaste for styluses, it comes as a surprise that Apple has recently applied for a patent application exploring the use of a stylus for the capacitive touch sensors found on the iPhone. Unlike the recently revived Newton patent, this new patent was actually filed with today’s technology in mind.

We had our an engineer friend look this over and it’s kind of an interesting peek into what might be a feature of the upcoming Apple Tablet. What this patent essentially covers is the use of a special stylus tip that would permit highly accurate input on a screen primarily designed for touch use.