iPAD TECHNOLOGY NEWS AND iPAD FREE APPLICATIONS

By Elise M
Admit it. You are a media buff. And it really is not any coincidence that media addicts are feasting their dependency with the most up-to-date iPad media downloads, iPad news sites, iPad applications, and a whole lot more. Not surprisingly, the fundamental purpose of the Apple iPad is to soak up media.

Some people have discovered it rather frustrating that several of Apple's own iPhone applications haven't switched to an iPad-enhanced condition. The iPad's edition of the Remote application renders browsing and controlling all iPad media downloads from iTunes, Apple TVs, and AirTunes even more exciting than it currently does on the iPhone.

So far as iPad news sites go, NetNewsWire for iPad is a remarkable application. You'll find it just about the most critical applications simply because it just really stresses on getting the basics right to find the best utilization of iPad media downloads. Based on many iPad fans being media junkies, many are equally fanatics of Reeder, which is an RSS/Google Reader client that is able to do essentially anything regarding RSS feeds.

In addition to Apple's iPad news sites and Remote application, a few fans have more information on media-targeted applications that people want to check out on the i-Pad. Among them feature wireless-remote applications like iPeng, the Sonos Controller application for Sonos devices, the DirectTV application, and the SlingPlayer Mobile application. The iPad is such a riveting contraption for remote access as well as handling your iPad media downloads... and folks are looking for more of it.

So far as social networking goes, it's kind of outlandish to uncover the deficiency of an iPad-affiliated model of the Facebook application, notably given the fact of how much Apple and Facebook have worked in conjunction to promote the iPhone application.

Both the iPhone and the iPad are terrific for ingesting news from the current iPad news sites, so there exists really no astonishment that a few editors are getting excited about iPad-optimized variations of their most loved iPhone news applications.

Again, like having less an iPad Facebook application, the issue of an iPad CNN application is furthermore unsatisfactory for quite a few iPad fans. The CNN app for the iPhone is just about the most beneficial iPad news sites applications available, although the New York Times' iPad application is extremely wonderful to check out and consume iPad media downloads.

To get direct access to a large number of iPad media downloads and related iPad news sites, check out www.iPadMediaDownloads.com.

Elise is an Apple gadget lover, often staying up to date with news and releases that are related to Apple products. Visit www.iPadMediaDownloads.com to download tons of great content for your iPad, iPhone, or iTouch!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elise_M.

The inability to view websites that use Adobe's Flash technology for videos and animations is a source of irritation for new iPad owners, according to Changewave
A survey of 153 new iPad owners by Changewave, a market research company, found that a lack of support for Flash technology was one of the things they most disliked about Apple's flagship device.

Around 11 per cent of new iPad owners said this was an irritation, while other annoyances included problems with the Wi-Fi connection dropping out (9 per cent), trying to keep the screen clean (9 per cent), a lack of apps for the gadget (7 per cent), and the weight of the iPad (7 per cent). Apple has been embroiled in a bitter war of words with Adobe over Flash, which is not supported on any of Apple's multimedia devices. Apple claims Flash is "buggy" and prone to crashing, and favour the rival HTML5 format, while Adobe says that Apple's stance threatens the future development of the web and constitutes a 'walled garden' approach.

The Changewave survey found that around 80 per cent of iPad owners use it to browse the web, while 48 per cent used it to watch video, which could explain why some users were annoyed by the lack of Flash. Other popular uses included checking emails (71 per cent), downloading apps from the App Store (56 per cent) and reading ebooks (33 per cent). Continue reading here...

(AFP)

WASHINGTON — US sales of smartphones running Google's Android mobile operating system surged past those of Apple for the first time in the first quarter of the year, industry research firm NPD said Monday.

Android-powered smartphones accounted for 28 percent of US consumer sales in the first three months of the year compared with 21 percent for the iPhone, NPD said.

Canada's Research in Motion, maker of the popular Blackberry, retained the top spot with 36 percent of US smartphone sales in the quarter, NPD said.

Strong sales of Motorola's Android-powered Droid and HTC's Android-based Droid Eris were cited as among the reasons for Android's surge past Apple.

Google makes its open-source Android software available to handset manufacturers and also sells its own smartphone, the Nexus One.

"As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share," said Ross Rubin, NPD's executive director of industry analysis.

Continue reading here


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The burgeoning legal challenges to Apple over its rapid advances in mobile computing mounted yesterday when Finland's Nokia launched a patent infringement suit over the iPad.

Nokia accused Apple in a US federal court in Wisconsin of infringing five patents in the iPad, which has sold 1m units since its US debut in March.

Nokia's suit cites technology used to enhance speech and data transmission and antenna innovations that allow for more compact devices.

"These patented innovations are important to Nokia's success as they allow improved product performance and design," the Finnish company said in a statement. Apple had no immediate response.

The Finnish company, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, is already in dispute with Apple over alleged patent infringement in the iPhone.

IDC said yesterday that Nokia's smartphone market share in the first quarter was flat at 39 per cent, while Apple saw its share of the shipments jump to 16 per cent from 11 per cent a year ago, closing in on Canada's Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, which occupies second spot. Overall, smartphone sales rose 57 per cent in the quarter.

Read more at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d20b9f7e-5a37-11df-acdc-00144feab49a.html

Apple recently released a statement regarding the international launch of the iPad. Here is their official statement from Apple Media Advisory site:

Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad™. We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason—the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.

Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON DC, United States—Apple said Tuesday that the iPad model featuring 3G cellular connectivity will hit stores in the United States on April 30.

Customers who pre-ordered the 3G model, which also features Wi-Fi wireless connectivity, will receive their new tablet computers on the same date, Apple said in a statement.

The Wi-Fi-only model of the latest device from the maker of the Macintosh computer, the iPod, and the iPhone went on sale in the United States on April 3 and the company sold over 500,000 units the first week.

Apple announced last week that heavy US demand had forced it to delay the international release of the iPad by a month, until late May.

The Cupertino, California-based company, had planned to begin selling the touch-screen tablet computer in late April in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Switzerland.

Apple confirmed Tuesday that it will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders for the iPad on May 10.

The iPad allows users to watch video, listen to music, play games, surf the Web, or read electronic books. It runs most of the more than 185,000 applications made for the iPod Touch and the iPhone.

The cheapest iPad model, with Wi-Fi connectivity and 16 gigabytes of memory, is $499 while the most expensive—which includes 3G connectivity and 64GB of memory—costs $829.

Apple shares were 0.35 percent lower at $246.21 in early afternoon trading on Wall Street.

source

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According to Nick Farrell of theinquirer.net, Apple has admitted that Ipad can't do wireless very well.

The device came out last saturday and after a day the Apple message boards have been full of complains from the Ipad customers. Here are some of the complains:

powerguru

Ok. I used speedtest.net app both on iPhone 3GS and the new iPad. I clearly see the difference.

iPad download speed is 1.83 megabits/sec whereas
iPhone 3GS download speed is 14.77 megabits/sec

Upload speed seems comparable.

Also iPad uses 802.11 n and iphone 3GS uses 802.11 g. I do have N router.

Common apple send out a fix now. Disappointing.

GrangerFX

I am having the same problem with dropped WiFi. The iPad keeps asking for my password for the network it is supposed to be logged into. It seems to happen even when the iPad is not moving around. It does not happen too often (a few times a day) but it is annoying. I have a DLink DI-624 router which is a G band router. Hopefully this will be a software fix from Apple once they are able to track it down.

This could be a potential big issue but I believe Apple will surely fix it soon. And from what I read, it's not all of the Ipad were affected, only a few one.

sources:
theinquirer.net
Apple Support

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USA Today review of the iPad.

iPad shipments for those who bought it will start on April 3, 2010. Basically I created this post to create more interest for those soon to be buyer of this gadget and I'm one of them. Yes, I'm still waiting for it to be available here in Singapore.

The photo application of the iPad has a lot of feature. You can also connect your camera or micro card sd using the iPad camera connection kit that's available in apple store. You can even use the iPad as a photo frame.

See the video for more detailed explanation. I'm truly amaze how cool the display is.



Related articles
iPad Commercial

Analysts and Techies are predicting the sales performance of the iPad. Estimates are based on the past performance of other Apple devices. The iPad was designed to surf the web, read e-books and news papers.

Apple opens the pre-order last week. It reach 91,000 pre-order after 6-hours.

A Gartner research analys bets that Apple's device iPad will boost sales in a big way. "The iPad isn't a tablet in the traditional sense," said Gartner analyst George Shiffler. "It's a rethink of the whole tablet concept."

What Shiffler called traditional tablets -- such as those used in medical, sales and delivery applications -- will account for just 2.5 million of the 10.5 million tablet total for the year. "Tablets have languished. They found a niche in certain areas, but they have really never taken off," noted Shiffler.

Here are some of the sales performance of notable devices from 2001 - 2009. In which Analysts and Techies based their insights.


Apple iPod was launched November 2001 and it took 91 weeks to sell one million.


T-mobile G1 was launched October 2008 and it took 23 weeks to sell one million.


HTC Magic launched April 2009. 15 weeks to reach one million sales.


Apple iPhone launched June 2007 and it took 11 weeks to reach one million sales.


Apple iPhone 3GS launched June 2009 and it reach one million sales in 3 Days.

From the trend above, analysts believes that the iPad will reach a sales in big way.

Brian Marshall, a financial analyst with BroadPoint AmTech, said today that his conservative estimate for this earnings model is just 2.2 million iPads for the calendar year."But I think Apple will actually sell about 7 million for the year," he said today.

In a consumers stand point, I think and I believe that iPad will surely hits a million sales this year. Apple remains a big contributors and trend setters of this decade.

source: computerworld.com

Related articles:
iPad pre order: 91,000 Apple iPad sold in first six hours

Battle between HP and Apple iPad is heating up. I saw this news from sfgate.com. iPad is not yet out in the market but it really attracts attention from other big company.

HP gets Slate ready to battle iPad
by Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer

While Apple's iPad faces an onrushing sea of competition when it hits the market April 3, one of the most formidable and intriguing challenges comes from Apple's neighbor, computer heavyweight Hewlett-Packard.

HP, which is planning to release its Slate this year, has been ramping up the marketing for its coming tablet and appears ready to go toe to toe with Apple CEO Steve Jobs' latest creation. In one slick Apple-esque video that appeared just after Apple began its iPad commercial campaign, HP showed off the Slate performing multitouch browsing of Web pages, newspaper sites and maps. Phil McKinney, chief technology officer of HP's personal systems group, has also been making the rounds touting the Slate as a powerful media device.

"We predict users are looking for that consolidated device, that one device they can use for the ultimate content consumption experience," McKinney said in a recent video interview. "The feedback that we got from our customer base is: I want to be able to browse, I want to able to watch movies, I want to be able to listen to my music, I want to read magazines and do books. So the Slate device can give you not only reading capabilities but also give you that rich media."

While the devices share some physical similarities, they are a study in contrasts in technological approaches to the tablet. While Apple and many other rivals are coming at the market using mobile operating systems paired with smart phone processors, the HP Slate takes a computer-based approach: The device will run Windows 7 with an Intel processor, presumably an Atom, which is often used in netbooks. The question boils down to whether a tablet is an oversized smart phone or a slimmed down computer.

"In some ways, Windows and Intel is a safe bet," said analyst Bob O'Donnell of IDC. "You have things that are important for people like Adobe Flash, and a lot of other things that people are used to. The question is how do people use them: like a big smart phone or a totally different way. That remains to be seen."

O'Donnell said the stakes won't be high initially but will grow over time. IDC is predicting that just 6 million tablets will be sold this year, with 2 out of every 3 an iPad. Meanwhile, netbook sales are expected to reach 39 million this year and 45 million in 2011.

Still, HP has plenty to prove in the tablet market. While it has led the world in PC sales, it recorded just $25 million in handheld sales in the most recent quarter. Apple, by comparison, clocked $5.6 billion in iPhone revenue in the most recent quarter.

Jayson Noland, a financial analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., said HP was late to the netbook game and hasn't done anything with its iPaq line of smart phones. But he says the company has a good reputation in computers and has developed its own touch software called TouchSmart, which he said will help HP compete in this space.

"Tablets are more like PCs than cell phones," he said. "I think HP's heritage here lends itself well to a tablet device. This is an opportunity for HP. They haven't shown they can execute in the handset PDA world yet."

HP played up some of the benefits of its computer approach with a video showing how the slate will run Adobe Flash, the Web technology that powers 75 percent of online video. That's sure to be key factor in its face-off with the iPad, which won't support Flash

Read more: sfgate.com

I recently stumble upon this iPad commercial created by a student in youtube and wanted to share it to you. It's really funny and it will show some of the future capabilities of this iPad. Check it out here.



Some people say that this is just a giant iPhone but 90,000 people are already pre-order this device. iPad will be one of the top device this year.

Readers might be interested of this article.
iPad pre order: 91,000 Apple iPad sold in first six hours

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO talks for the first time regarding his life saving liver transplant in Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. He joins Arnold Schwarzenegger in this event. In which they unveil a new legislative effort to greatly expand the number of California organ donors.


"I was almost one of the ones that died waiting for a liver in California last year," said Jobs

Here is the video of his talk.

By Joseph F. Kovar, ChannelWeb

Customers may be pre-ordering Apple (NSDQ:AAPL)'s new iPad devices by the hundreds of thousands, but when they press the "On" button on April 3, they might be disappointed at the lack of content.

Apple is still scrambling to make last-minute deals with television, newspaper, magazine, and textbook content providers to ensure that iPad customers can make the most of their new devices, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The biggest hurdle for Apple in lining up content for the iPad seems to be concerns among potential partners about how a deal that gets them on the iPad might impact existing revenue streams.

For instance, The Wall Street Journal wrote, Apple has delayed a plan to offer TV subscriptions for the iPad because of lack of interest from media companies, and instead may drop the price it charges for TV shows through its iTunes store to 99 cents, compared to the $1.99 and $2.99 price tag for such shows through iTunes. The media companies, however, are concerned such a price cut could hurt their cable and satellite business.

As for streaming television videos over the iPad,The Wall Street Journal said licensing issues on the broadcast side and technical issues on the iPad side could prevent that option.

Meanwhile, many television and digital print publishers make heavy use of Adobe Systems (NSDQ:ADBE)' Flash video technology is not supported on the iPad.

However, iPad users should have access to a large library of digital books, with publishers expecting to have nearly all the digital titles they offer for the Amazon (NSDQ:AMZN) Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook available for the new Apple device.

Potential iPad customers have been able to place orders since March 12, and can have them shipped or pick them up at a local Apple store.

The iPad 3G models, which also come with Wi-Fi, are slated for launch in late April and are priced at $629 for 16 GB of storage and $829 for 64 GB. For the Wi-Fi only iPads, prices range from $499 for 16 GB and $699 for 64 GB.

iPad customers can purchase 3G data plans on a monthly basis and cancel at any time. Customers will have the option of a $14.99 monthly plan that includes up to 250 megabytes of wireless data, or a $29.99 monthly plan that includes unlimited data.

source: ChannelWeb

By John Davison, GamePro

Though all iPhone games will run just fine on the iPad when it launches on April 3, there are very few iPad-specific titles confirmed yet. Ngmoco CEO Neil Young filled us in on his company's plans to rectify that at the Game Developers Conference last week.

When quizzed about iPad-specific versions of games at or around the iPad's April 3 launch, Ngmoco CEO Neil Young revealed that, "between us and (recently acquired iPhone studio) Freeverse, we will have about six or so iPad titles around the launch." He went on to confirm that the highly anticipated Freeverse-developed space trading title Warp Gate (see it in our Under the Radar Games feature here) "looks gorgeous" on the iPad, before going on to speculate on other titles. "We might do Dropship," he mused, regarding one of the first games that his company released on the iPhone. "That game hadn't performed as well as we'd hoped and it was really easy to do, plus it will look great on the larger screen."

Though Freeverse has built some real buzz around Warp Gate thanks to its ambitious scope, the company is actually best known for evergreen casual game titles like Flick Fishing, Flick Bowling, and Skee Ball. So don't be surprised if that's the kind of thing we see in the new-look App store in a couple of weeks.

source

Apple's latest tablet computer, the iPad, may just be what magazine publishers need to boost declining circulation.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations said Tuesday that it has changed its definition of a digital magazine to accommodate the new class of tablet-style devices. The new rules allow publishers to count paid digital subscriptions as part of a magazine's overall circulation as long as all the same editorial and advertising material is included.

The new definition would mean that publishers can now can custom design their articles and photo spreads for Apple's iPad, which goes on sale April 3. Without the rule change, they could only count digital editions that appear exactly the way they do in print.

Traditionally, magazine publishers charge for ads based on the size of their so-called rate base, the circulation they guarantee to advertisers. Few consumer magazines or newspapers have also failed in getting large numbers of readers to pay for access to Web sites.

Subscriptions on many existing e-readers, such as Amazon Inc.'s Kindle, don't count because those editions don't carry ads. But the iPad will have a backlit screen that can carry color advertising alongside articles, opening up another potential revenue stream.

GQ's iPhone app, which meets the auditors' new guidelines, may provide the best barometer. About 6,800 people downloaded the first issue for US$2.99, according to company figures - not a significant rate compared with the magazine's overall circulation of just under 900,000. But it's still a start, nonetheless.

source

New York: iPad pre order: 91,000 Apple iPad sold in first six hours. Apple and Steve Jobs must be the happiest on the earth today. After a spectacular pre order opening for Apple’s iPad tablet yesterday, they are getting great response from gadget lovers.

Notwithstanding speculations and attacks from competitors, the company sold ninety-one thousand ipads in the first hour of pre order opening yesterday.

An HP advertisement recently attack Apple iPad for the fact that it will not support flash.

Only alarms will help you book one of the first iPads from Apple. Apple is starting to collect pre-orders for its newly introduced tablet iPad at early morning on Friday, exactly at 05:30 a.m. Hence, set two or three alarms and wake up early to grab one of the first products from Apple.

Read more at khabrein.info

Giant book retailer, Barnes & Noble will create an e-book reader app for the iPad and they intend to publish the app by April 3 which is the launch date of iPad to the market.

The B&N e-book reader app will have access to the B&N eBookstore. This is a good strategy of B&N since they have existing eBook reader which is the Nook. They will have a good coverage and e-book industry is expected to explode into a multibillion-dollar business.

source
toptechnews.com

By David Coursey

What will HP's Slate Tablet have that Apple's iPad won't? It's Adobe Flash, a key Internet technology that HP is touting as the key difference between the two platforms. And, HP is right, though how Flash support will translate into sales remains to be seen.

While Apple has its App Store to provide applications for iPad users and iTunes for content, Flash gives HP users access to Web content and apps that iPad users can only dream of. Adobe's AIR provides a framework for developing applications for the HP Slate tablet and other devices that iPad also will not support.

HP has posted two new videos that use Flash and AIR support to take aim at the iPad ahead of its April 3 release.

The videos, demonstrating HP's likewise forthcoming (but not-as-soon) tablet, show how the Slate "will access the full web, and just a part of it," according to Adobe's Alan Tam, who does a four-minute demonstration of Adobe Flash and AIR running on the Slate in one of the videos.


HP introduced the Windows 7-based Slate in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, but has not announced a ship date besides "mid-2010." The device, to be priced "below $500" was considered underwhelming at the time of its introduction.

Read More: pcworld.com

Apple release it's first iPad TV Commercial at the OSCAR 2010. Here is the video.
The look and feel looks good. But still it's just a bigger iPOD TOUCH and iPHONE.

The new device will fly off shelves, say some analysts; others think sales will build slowly
By Gregg Keizer

Computerworld - Apple's iPad will fly out of stores when it goes on sale in four weeks, and will build momentum through the back-to-school and into the holiday selling seasons, analysts said today.

"I expect a surge going out the door," said Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research. "There's a group of Apple advocates that will queue up no matter what. Apple has the most effective branding in the industry, and these people think of themselves as acolytes, they do think of themselves as the 'Mac' in Apple's 'I'm a Mac' ads."

On Friday, Apple announced that the iPad will go on sale April 3, and that it would begin taking pre-orders for the device, which is priced starting at $499, on March 12.

That news had been preceded by reports citing Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams, who said iPad production problems would limit the number of units available at launch to just 300,000, considerably less than the 1 million many had anticipated.

Wall Street analyst Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech leaned toward inventory shortages as well, and said that such news might pressure consumers to line up for Apple's new device. "They're definitely going to sell out in a matter of hours," he said of the iPad's debut. Read Full Stroy

Reports of production problems apparently overcome, the Wi-Fi-only version of the Mac maker's touchscreen tablet will ship first.

By W. David Gardner
InformationWeek

Consumers will get to cast their votes on Apple's iPad on April 3 when the Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet computer is scheduled to be available, a few days late.

Observers from Silicon Valley to Wall Street are fawning over the promise of the device, which they hope will be a game changer and not just another tablet PC.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has already weighed in on the iPad, saying "It's a nice reader, but there's nothing on the iPad I look at and say, "Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it."

The first purchasers of the device won't be Apple's captive AT&T subscribers, but anyone with easy access to Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of the iPad will be available in late April, according to Apple. U.S. customers may place their orders beginning on March 12 at Apple's online store or reserve a Wi-Fi model at an Apple store.

The iPad has many of the popular features of Apple's iPhone, offered exclusively in the U.S. by AT&T, and additional features that are still untested. Read Full Story

Here is the video from Sophoslab. Take note this one. It's a SCAM and don't dare to try it.

Future look, feel, and functionality of digital magazines in limbo
By Daniel Ionescu PCWorld

Print publications are lining up to offer digital interactive versions of their wares on Apple's iPad and other tablet-shaped readers — but there is a problem. Many of the coolest aspects of a digital version of static print magazines include multimedia and interactive content. Because Apple's iPad doesn't support Adobe Flash and Air multimedia technology, many publishers are wrestling with how to program their digital content for multiple platforms — be it Apple's iPad, HP's Windows based Slate tablet, or tablets based on the Android operating system.

Apple has yet to reach a consensus with Adobe over Flash and Air on the iPad. This puts publishers in limbo over the future look, feel, and functionality of digital magazines. With several tablets coming this year, publishers won't be able to code once and publish anywhere because Apple isn't going to allow Flash on iPads and iPhones any time soon.

The iPad has been heralded as a savior for the declining sales of magazines, with publishers revving up for the launch of the Apple tablet. But Conde Nast, which has titles such as Wired and GQ, has to decide whether to leave Adobe's Flash platform behind and embrace Apple's platform. Read More at msnbc.msn.com

By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek

An application from the news organization will incorporate a paid subscription model for putting content on mobile devices.

The Associated Press has unveiled plans to set up a division that would help the news cooperative and member newspapers and broadcasters sell digital content for use on a new generation of electronic readers, and tablet PCs such as the Apple iPad.

In a keynote speech Friday before the Colorado Press Association, Tom Curley, president and chief executive of the AP, said the new business unit would be called the AP Gateway and would become "the launching pad for new products and services from AP and other interested news publishers."

Curley told the CPA convention in Denver that the first Gateway application would be used to deliver news to the iPad, which Apple plans to release in late March. The application would incorporate a paid subscription model and would be open to AP members.

"Beyond that, we expect to offer our content partners a variety of ways to take their content to market, both individually and collectively, directly and indirectly, taking advantage of new business models, including the wide variety of pay-model services now under development," Curley said, according to a transcript of his speech posted by PaidContent.org.

In launching Gateway, the non-profit is offering members a way to take advantage of the "splintering" of the Internet into many channels for news distribution created by the expected growth in the use of new Internet-connected devices, such as smartphones, Curley said. Quoting Forrester Research, the AP CEO said that while 80% of the U.S. population look to get their news for free, "there is a slice of that remaining 20% who will pay for it under the right circumstances."

"Just how big a slice that becomes will depend on how creative and responsive we producers are," Curley said.

The news executive listed three ways to make money in digital media, syndication licensing, advertising, and subscriptions; and said Gateway can enhance all three by tagging, tracking and enabling new business opportunities. Read More at InformationWeek.com

By Erica Ogg, CNET

(CNET) - It turns out APPLE isn't the only company readying a touch-screen tablet COMPUTER.

We say that half-jokingly, of course. In the last few months, quite a few companies have signaled their intentions to go head-to-head (or at least offer an alternative) to Apple's much-ballyhooed iPAD, which should hit stores in March.

Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer, and Sony have or are in the process of readying gadgets they say will compete with the iPad. We've seen some demonstrations at the Consumer Electronics Show and other trade shows, but several gadget makers admitted to waiting to see what Apple was going to do before setting the specifications and price of their competing touch-screen tablets.

Now that they know, what are they going to do about it? That might sound a bit silly considering companies like HP, Dell, and Acer have larger market share than APPLE-- when it comes to computers. But in other, faster-growing areas -- smartphones and music players -- Apple's popularity far outstrips theirs. And in a new device category (it's reasonable to consider this a new category) they're all essentially starting from scratch.

So how will every company not named Apple try to compete for your touch-screen tablet computing dollar, assuming such a dollar exists? They will try to emphasize something about theirs being better, of course, be it in terms of price, style, speeds and feeds, or the movies, books, games, or TV shows available via their gadget.

Dell, for example, providing evidence that an old dog can at least attempt new tricks, tends to emphasize style these days. HP's commercials try to sell you on how easily their product fit into your lifestyle.

More than anything, they should try to avoid selling it as a computer, in the classic laptop computer sense. If Dell and HP and Acer and their compatriots do that, they'll end up trying to convince people to spend money on basically yet another Netbook; something that's sort of like a PC, but not quite.

It's just smaller, cheaper, and with less functionality than a traditional PC. And after sophisticated smartphones and cheaper Netbooks, do consumers really need yet another device that's not quite a laptop?

Trying to sell it as a computer that has a touch screen is also unwise because all of these companies have, with some exceptions, been there, done that, and not done that terribly well.

Tablets, in the traditional sense, currently account for about 1 percent of the PC market, according to IDC. HP and Dell currently sell tablet computers, but to niches of customers: utility companies, police officers, insurance adjusters, and so on.

If the main group every consumer electronics company wants a piece of, mainstream consumers, have mostly resisted their entreaties that tablet computing (in the Microsoft sense) is the future, what would make them change their minds suddenly?

You can't say they haven't put a lot of thought into solving this issue. Dell says it's been looking at this category of device for two years; HP researchers have been working on improving touch-based devices in its labs for much longer than that. We can glean what direction it will go with its tablets based on the bits of information already out there. Read More

source: edition.cnn.com

by Jason D. O'Grady

The App Store was purged of over 5,000 boobs, babes and bikini apps over the weekend in a move that shocked (and potentially bankrupted) hundreds of app developers while making puritans proud the world over.
I question why Apple chose this route instead of simply relying on the iPhone/iPod touch’s Parental Controls feature (pictured). It’s as simple as grabbing your kids device and going to Settings > General > Restrictions and checking the appropriate option.
Are we not trustworthy enough to use the devices that we give Apple our hard-earned cash for? Apparently not.
At least Apple’s argument over its ban of Flash from its handheld devices has some technical merit. Apple claims that Flash is buggy on Macs and that it would cut the iPad’s battery life to 1.5 hours. But still, shouldn’t you be able to enable Flash playback at your peril on a device that you own?
The answer is no. Apple needs to protect you from yourself.

Apple could even display a warning to the effect that “Flash is buggy and will drain your battery” when enabled. I’ve made this point before and stand by my thesis that Apple is being disingenuous about Flash. The real reason Apple won’t put Flash on its devices is because it’s a competitor to the App Store and would cut into its bottom line.
This makes Apple’s sexy app purge seem even more random and nonsensical. If Apple is truly concerned about App Store sales and by extension, shareholder value, why would it remove 3-5 percent of its apps on a weekend whim? Shouldn’t Apple encourage devs to create more apps so that it can get 30 percent of every sale? I guess business is so good at the App Store that it can afford to pick and choose who gets the tables at it’s little pocket flea market.
Every idiot walking knows that Apple’s banning of apps like Pocket Girlfriend and their ilk does nothing to stem the tide of racy content on the iPhone and iPod touch. Free porn has been available on the Internet since before Mozilla 1 and is available to anyone who taps on the Safari icon. And let’s not forget the scores of racy audiobooks, R Rated movies and porn podcasts that are available in iTunes.
Apple just created a huge double standard by banning 99% of apps containing any of the three B’s while still allow Playboy and Penthouse apps to remain for sale. Sports Illustrated is still allowed to shill its three (count ‘em) swimsuit apps but UK swimwear retailer Simply Beach had its shopping app swept up in the Apple raid over the weekend, costing them precious sales.

Read more at blogs.zdnet.com

If Apple cut the price of each TV episode in half — to 99 cents, from $1.99 — would sales on iTunes increase enough to offset the price drop?
Experiments are under way to find out, and the head of the nation’s No. 1 television network, CBS, indicated last week that some shows, at least, would be priced under a dollar in the future.

Apple wants to ignite TV show sales, especially as it prepares to introduce the iPad tablet computer next month. But its proposals to lower prices across the board are being met by skepticism from the major networks.

Television production is expensive, and the networks are wary of selling shows for less. They are equally wary of harming their far more lucrative deals with affiliates and cable distributors, who may feel threatened by online storefronts like Apple’s and those operated by Amazon, Microsoft and Sony.

But the networks do not want to ignore the 125 million customers with credit cards who have iTunes accounts, either. “We’re willing to try anything, but the key word is ‘try,’ ” said a TV network executive who requested anonymity because his company had declined to comment publicly on talks with Apple.

With the iTunes pricing debate, the television industry is facing the same question that music labels and publishers are: just how much is our content worth in a digital world?

It is especially complicated for TV, given that most people already pay for TV through their cable or satellite service — and they can watch most network shows free on streaming sites like Hulu, albeit with advertisements.

Read More at www.nytimes.com

Apple removes apps deemed too racy

Anyone who uses an iPhone and has perused the most popular apps on the free side of the App Store has likely noticed that many of them most popular apps are adult in nature. For a long time Apple would not allow adult or pornographic apps onto the App Store, but it relaxed that policy over the last several months.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has begun enforcing a more strict policy on adult apps than it has previously according to a person familiar with the matter. Apple has reportedly already removed the raciest of the adult oriented apps from the App Store. Two of the apps that have been removed include one that animates parts of women in photos and one for fans of a porn star.

Apple said in a statement, "If we find these apps contain inappropriate material, we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple."

According to Mac Rumors, 4,000 adult-themed apps were removed on Friday alone by Apple. ChilliFresh goes even deeper into the removals claiming that Apple's new restrictions ban “Images of women in bikinis” and that “No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content”.

The App Store clean up is thought to be part of housekeeping ahead of the launch of the iPad. Apps for the iPad and iPhone will operate on either platform and are expected to be a big part of the success of the iPad when it launches.

Apple has previously sparked controversy for approving the baby shaker app only to come back and remove it after complaints.

source: dailytech.com

Want a the 3G-less Apple iPad? The Mac maker will begin taking advance orders for the product later this week, it has been claimed.
The news comes from website AppAdvice - formerly AppleiPhoneApps.com - and is said to derive from "a reliable source... familiar with the matter".
Said mole says Apple's online store will begin taking iPad orders on 25 February.
Only US customers will be offered the product on that day, he or she continues, and only the non-3G model will be included. Shipments should follow in around 30 days. Apple said "late March", when the device was announced late in January.
The Wi-Fi only iPad will come in 16, 32 and 64GB incarnations priced at $499, $599 and $699, respectively. That's £323-452 at the current Dollar-Sterling exchange rate, but UK pricing has not yet been announced. Maybe later this week...
The 3G iPad will come in the same choice of capacities but cost $629-829 (£407-536).
source: www.reghardware.co.uk