Amazon's new Kindle rachets up e-reader price battle

Amazon.com's announcement late Wednesday that it will launch a new version of its Kindle e-book reader in August could further stoke a price battle in the e-reader market. E-book reader prices have been slowly falling for months but price cuts began to gain pace since late June, when Barnes & Noble cut the price of its Nook reader and introduced a new model at $149. The price made it the cheapest e-book reader from a major retailer. It still holds that distinction today, but might not hold it much longer. Amazon.com's third-generation Kindle will come in two models, one with 3G wireless and one without, and the cheaper of the two will cost $139 when it goes on sale on Aug. 27. It's an impressive price decline for the Kindle, the cheapest model of which cost $259 in the middle of June. In late August, barely two months later, the Kindle entry point will have dropped by almost half. "At that price it's now almost an impulse buy for some consumers," said Tim Renowden, an analyst at Ovum in London. He said he wouldn't be surprised if Barnes & Noble further cut the price of the Nook, but that the competition would most be felt by lesser-known brands. Many of these companies have used price as a key selling point, but with the Kindle so cheap it will be hard to compete when Amazon.com offers additional benefits, such as tight integration with its online store and a huge library of books. The lower price also increases the gap between e-readers and a slew of tablet PCs that are now coming to market. Led by Apple's iPad and including several promised machines based on Google's Android OS, the tablets offer many more functions than e-readers but are heavier, have much shorter battery life and are typically more difficult to read for long periods of time. Amazon.com is banking on the lower price translating into more sales, and there is evidence that could already be happening.. . . . . . . . . . . .

Amazon to demo Kindle for the Web on Tuesday

Amazon plans to demonstrate a new version of Kindle for the Web on Tuesday, one day after Google launched its Google eBooks and eBookstore strategy. (See correction below.) An Amazon spokeswoman said via an e-mail to Computerworld late Monday that the new Kindle for the Web will "enable users to read full books in the browser and [enable] any Website to become a bookstore offering Kindle books." The spokeswoman didn't elaborate. The Kindle for the Web concept first surfaced in September and the Tuesday announcement could be a "natural evolution" of Amazon's e-book strategy, said Allen Weiner, an analyst at Gartner. Amazon first launched Kindle for the Web as a beta application in September to allow customers to discover new books by sampling first chapters of the books directly through Web browsers without the need for a software download. Based on the spokeswoman's statement on Monday, the new version would allow book purchases of Kindle books through various Web sites offering them. It also would also allow reading of the full book, not just samples. Google announced Google eBooks and Google eBook store on Monday, giving customers e-book purchasing and browsing access through dozens of devices including, importantly, various Google-backed Android smartphones and tablets. In addition, the e-books can be purchased from Google's eBookstore or independent booksellers. The open, cloud-based system might look like a sure winner for Google, but analysts noted that Amazon is well-established with years of experience selling e-books. Amazon has also sold millions of proprietary Kindle e-readers, although there is disagreement on the actual figure. Some believe the number is 5 million to 6 million, although Amazon has not said. Gartner and other analyst firms estimate that Amazon's Kindles make up about half of the market for black-and-white e-readers, not including devices like Apple's iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In addition to its Kindles, Amazon supports other platforms for reading its e-books, including Android-based devices, the iPad, the iPhone and the BlackBerry, as well PCs and Macs.kamus korea untuk handphone belkin f5l009 driver canon scanner lide 50 driver skateboard park tycoon 2004 tpb blister in the sun instrumental dxg model 202v digital camera driver archos xs2 driver angry birds space for symbian belle badboy v5 cheat hack for cs 1 6 aimbot speedhack intex it 105wc driver

Kobo Wireless eReader

The Kobo Wireless eReader aspires to compete with the big kids in the e-reader arena. This iteration represents a marked improvement over its predecessor, offering higher contrast, a sharper E Ink display, and better performance. Unfortunately, the Wireless eReader still lacks the polish and finesse of the leaders. And at $139 (as of December 13, 2010), it's the same price as an Amazon Kindle. While the general design of the Kobo Wireless eReader remains the same, the company has made some tweaks to enhance the chassis. Now you can buy it in black, white and lavender, or white and silver; regrettably, though, the matte-black finish is prone to getting scratched in daily use. As on the Amazon Kindle, the black border greatly enhances readability. Kobo joins Amazon and Sony in offering an E Ink Pearl display, which provides better contrast and clarity than earlier E Ink displays (such as the one on the original Kobo). Inside, Kobo has overhauled the Wireless eReader to provide faster page turns and performance. Indeed, in comparison with the original version, this model feels like a fleet-footed marathoner. The improved performance addresses my biggest complaints about the first-generation Wireless eReader (which suffered from poor usability, sluggish performance, and stiff buttons). However, while the enhancements go far, they don't go far enough. The Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader Touch Edition still offer better performance. I could perceive significant page flicker and some lag while turning pages and navigating within the Kobo reader. And although the buttons are no longer stiff monstrosities and are more responsive than before, I still had an issue with trying to navigate precisely, in spite of the raised dots that are supposed to help one know precisely where to push; often, I invoked the wrong command, or I failed to select the option I wanted. Kobo, for those unfamiliar with the company, is an international e-book service and hardware provider backed by Canada's Indigo Books & Music, the U.S.-based Borders Group, REDgroup Retail, and Cheung Kong Holdings. The company differentiates its e-reader by complementing the fairly stock hardware with pleasing touches (textured and rubberized backing, softer-touch buttons) and above-average original software. The Wireless eReader model makes for a compelling, more open (with its support of ePub and Adobe Digital Editions content) e-reader that costs significantly less than the Sony Reader Touch Edition. Kobo marries its Kobobooks.com online store--which has more than 2 million e-books as well as periodicals--with mobile apps for Android, iPad, iPhone, and BlackBerry, as well as its value-priced, connected e-reader. The Wireless eReader makes it easy to sync a book with other devices by updating your library while you're reading a text. (The process isn't as automated on Amazon's Kindle, for example, but it is an option now.) You can access your account via the Web, or through an app that you can install off the e-reader.audio driver for windows 2003 navicat lite for ubuntu remove windows 7 wga remover intel proset wireless wifi software 12 0 0 x cheat engine bejeweled blitz facebook epson tm u950p driver huawei unlocker by clubs adobe flash player for ziio hellgate london x64 trainer mci cd audio driver

Libre Touch Color E-Reader Has Usability Flaws

More and more devices are blurring the lines between ebook reader and tablet, but the Aluratek Libre Touch isn't one of them. While it does support basic Web browsing, email, and multimedia playback, the Libre Touch is first and foremost an e-reader with a color touchscreen and integration (via Wi-Fi) with an online bookstore. But although its feature list is respectable, usability flaws make the Libre Touch a tough sell, even at its attractive price ($150 as of August 5, 2011). Tall, narrow, and slim (8.0 by 4.9 by 0.5 inches), and reasonably lightweight (just under 12 ounces), the Libre Touch looks like many of the 7-inch readers and tablets we've seen lately, with a couple of minor modifications. Its charcoal-gray bezel has three hardware buttons on the right side, including two concealed by the case itself; these are for turning pages forward and back. The third button is a short, vertical silvery bar for returning to the preceding task: If you're reading a book, for example, pressing that button moves you to the library screen where you selected the book. On the top edge is the large, silvery power button. Along the bottom edge are, from left to right, a Mini-USB port (for charging the Libre Touch and connecting it to a PC), a MicroSD card slot (if you want more than the internal 4GB of memory), a volume rocker control, and a standard 3.5mm headphone port. Most of the action occurs through the display's touch interface. The first time you turn it on, the Libre Touch runs a calibration routine that immediately betrays its Android underpinnings: The process is directed by the little Android bot. However, the device is based on an older version of Android (1.5), so it doesn't have all the goodies associated with more current versions. For example, the browser lacks support for Adobe Flash, so you can't access all Web content. And you don't get any tools for downloading additional Android apps. The screen uses resistive technology, which is less fingertip-friendly than capacitive touchscreens are--but the Libre Touch's designers apparently expect you to use your fingertips, since they didn't include a stylus. It isn't the greatest experience--sometimes you have to tap a few times to get a response when you're trying to follow a link or type something on the software keyboard--so it's a good thing that Aluratek built in those hardware buttons for page turns.yahoo messenger pentru telefon htc du meter crack 4 01 trivial pursuit digital choice windows 7 nitya pavan smaran mantra avast antivirus for pc asus n13219 motherboard drivers driver going wrong way turkish acute email id generator skype for samsung gt s5230 star brazilian assault team 3d 1 0

Goodbye e-books, hello apps

"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore ... Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year." - Wired quoting Steve Jobs on e-readers in 2008 Steve was right. I used to love to read, but how many books do I manage to get through these days? It's a fraction of what I used to, and seeing Jobs' comment recently got me thinking about why this should be. When e-readers first came out I was excited. This meant I could jump on a plane or sit in my back yard or on a beach with a huge selection of titles without lugging around pounds of paper and, if I felt the need to switch books, well, my library was potentially limitless. Many other people felt the same way. Sales of e-readers and e-books exploded over the last few years. But according to my friend Doug Pardee, who follows the e-book world closely, "The latest US trade book sales figures, for November 2011, just came out from the Association of American Publishers [and] e-book sales (USD, wholesale, from AAP's reporting publishers) have now remained flat at about $80 million per month for the past six months." This is an unexpected result given the huge sales of Nooks, iPads and all of the other e-book capable devices. Doug theorized that the reason for this phenomenon is that "Today's buyers aren't e-book readers; they're online-media consumers. Videos, music, whatever. But sit down and read an e-book?" I think Doug's hit on a key issue: A physical book is expected to be just a book but that same content on an e-reader has to offer much more to be compelling. I recently saw a video of a 1-year-old baby poking an iPad. She was able to turn pages, click buttons ... to her it was a completely intuitive experience. Then her parents gave her a glossy magazine which she proceeded to poke and prod and get frustrated with. Her parents concluded that, as far as she was concerned, a magazine was an iPad that didn't work (the author also noted that "Steve Jobs has coded part of my daughter's OS"). I think the same problem exists with e-books. I recently purchased "Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral" by Mark Bitterman for the Nook app on my iPad. While I found the writing over the top and the content somewhat repetitive, it was the layout that really disappointed and annoyed me and made me feel I'd wasted my money.vimicro diamond audio model emc 2 0 driver sound card driver for linux nforce 430 linux drivers polish wechat custom emoticons angry birds for psp 3004 lucida grande bold font kamus al munawwir visual basic express edition 2010 tutorial pdf driver oracle jdbc driver oracledriver

Learn the Basics of Using Pinterest for Business

Should businesses be interested in Pinterest? On the surface, you might not think so: the service would appear to be little more than a showcase for cool jewelry and favorite recipes. However, it's also a great way to drive traffic to your site. That's according to a new HubSpot e-book: "How to Use Pinterest for Business". This free 43-page tome introduces you to the white-hot social network and explains how you can leverage it for lead generation. For starters, what the heck is Pinterest, and why does it matter? The explanations here are clear and straightforward, with some interesting stats to back them up. For example: - In October, the website of Time Inc.'s real Simple magazine got more traffic from Pinterest than Facebook. - In February, 2012, Pinterest has been driving more referrals to HubSpot's blog than Google+. This insight proves that Pinterest presents a serious challenge to other social media channels and offers a competitive advantage to businesses that have started leveraging its potential. The book teaches you how to set up a Pinterest account, attract followers, and use the service to generate B2B leads and e-commerce sales -- often a tricky proposition when you're selling a product or service that doesn't have much in the way of visual content. One sample tip: - Infographics are all the rage right now, and they are doing very well on Pinterest. If you have any industry data that you can visualize, do so before someone beats you to it. HubSpot also recommends holding contests, adding the Pin It button to your Web site, and letting other users contribute their own pins to your pinboard -- especially if their content includes your product. Perhaps best of all, "How to Use Pinterest in Business" concludes with examples of companies that are already on Pinterest (like Etsy, below), and what they're doing right. In short, there's a lot of good material here, all of it neatly and attractively presented. The only price you pay for this freebie is a bit of personal information: name, e-mail address, and a few details about your company. Seems like a fair trade to me. Of course, you'll also find plenty of helpful resources right here, including What You Should Know About Pinterest and Copyright and Pinterest Under Siege By Scammers. buying essays online vimi custom research paper troubus term paper ghosar buy term papers online prefle college homework danto english essays for students niro who can write my essay witjai custom written essays disen help me write an essay tangei cheap article writing service geuton

Target to stop selling Amazon Kindles in its stores

Target plans to stop selling Kindle e-readers in its brick-and-mortar stores after seeing buyers test the devices in its showrooms only to later buy them online from Amazon. Target's decision was reported this week in The New York Times, after analysts reported in January that the company wasn't willing to let online-only retailers use its 1,800 stores to showcase their products while undercutting Target's prices. Target's decision could influence other retailers that sell Kindles, including Wal-Mart, Staples and Best Buy, analysts said. Amazon and the other physical retailers didn't respond to a request for comment. "Target's problem is a common problem for brick-and-mortar companies," said Rob Enderle, an analyst at Enderle Group. "Customers will find what they want at the store, then leave and shop for the best price online." Smartphone apps now available allow customers to scan a barcode on a product in a store and instantly look for better prices at other stores in the area and online, Enderle noted. What has made matters worse at Target is that Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet also serves as Amazon's online storefront to everything Amazon sells, Enderle added. "So that's like Target is promoting all of Amazon, and Target's not a fan of doing that," Enderle said. Enderle said if other brick-and-mortar retailers stopped selling Kindles, Amazon's physical shelf space could dry up and Amazon would have to find shelf space by opening stores in malls or kiosks. Barnes & Noble has one advantage in selling Nook e-readers and tablets because it can offer a place for users to test out the devices before buying them, analysts said. Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, said he would not be surprised to see Best Buy or Staples, among others, "push back on selling Amazon Kindles as a result of this frustration with Amazon." However, even if large retailers stop selling Kindles in their stores, Gold sees a "minimal effect on Amazon and Kindle sales" simply because most of their devices are sold directly. Also, offline retailers wouldn't see much material impact if they stopped selling the devices, since there was probably only a small mark-up for them, Gold added. Amazon has sold its Kindles at a loss, primarily to encourage purchases of books and other merchandise with the device where it can make a profit, Gold noted. "It's not a real penalty to Amazon to only have direct sales of the device," he said.a level history essay mark scheme does music help you with your homework essay my hero life write my science paper why do we need an education essay aiou economics assignments gun control argumentative essay pdf a&e nurse personal statement help starting a research paper essay for violent video games i need money asap what can i do

Apple faces threat from China, bellwether in battle against Android

Apple faces a threat from an unexpected quarter: Chinese developers crafting Android apps, an analytics firm said today. Chinese developers build nearly two-thirds of the mobile apps used by Chinese consumers -- an even higher percentage than U.S. developers contribute to U.S. consumers' app usage patterns -- illustrating not only the difficulty outsiders face in breaking into the massive market, but reinforcing one analyst's claim that Apple will face a crisis next year if it continues to shed smartphone share. According to Flurry, a U.S.-based mobile analytics firm, U.S. developers are losing their grip on the mobile app ecosystem, and have accounted for just 36% of all smartphone and tablet apps published so far this year. That's down from 45% over the last two years. The U.S.'s contribution to the overall app market -- Android and iOS -- looked better when Flurry weighted the data by time spent with apps: There, U.S. developers accounted for 70%. But that, too, was smaller than in years prior, when U.S. programmers held app usage shares of 75% and 76% in 2011 and 2012, respectively. While Flurry's data was meant to push U.S. developers to think globally -- something they've not done nearly as successfully as those in other countries -- it also revealed an interesting trend in China. China, said Simon Khalaf, president and CEO of Flurry, is not a big software exporter at the moment. But that will change. "The software export market [for China] is nascent now, it doesn't look like a big software exporter yet," said Khalaf in an interview. "But Chinese developers are starting to see some adoption in Japan and Korea. That's their focus now: CJK [China, Japan and Korea]." And Chinese apps, localized for export, will continue to grab global share by expanding into other neighboring markets, including Southeast Asia, India and Indonesia. "The sheer numbers in India ... that's a lot of market [for Chinese apps]," said Khalaf. The Chinese maneuver may seem inconsequential to Apple at first glance, but Khalaf begged to differ. That's because Chinese consumers are more likely to be using an Android-based smartphone, one tied to the Android ecosystem, than they are to own an iPhone and rely on Apple's app market. In earlier studies by Flurry, the firm pegged the Android-iOS split in China at about 2 to 1, with Apple's installed base accounting for just 35% of the country's total. The remaining was all Android. And Chinese developers, like all developers, follow the money. If Android dominates the installed base, Android is what developers will write for. "When you look at the apps being submitted to Flurry, you do see an interesting shift happening, with Chinese developers releasing Android and iOS apps at the same time," said Khalaf. "But an 'Android-first' release could be the next shift down the road." And that's where things start to get ugly for Apple. Or so Benedict Evans, an analyst with U.K.-based Enders Analysis, has argued. In a report published in early August, Evans maintained that without a low-priced iPhone in its portfolio -- and by low, he meant as low as $200 to $300 -- Apple risked losing mind share among developers. In other words, Apple needs market share as much as profit margin for the iPhone to continue being a credible smartphone brand. Like Khalaf, Evans saw the danger stemming from developers' decisions. "Developers are starting to move from creating new products on the basis 'iPhone, then maybe Android' to 'iPhone and then Android' or even 'iPhone and Android at the same time,'" Evans said in his report. "We do not see Android becoming a first choice this year, but it is no longer optional for any publisher seeking real reach. If total Android engagement moves decisively above iOS, the fact that iOS will remain big will be beside the point -- it will move from first to first-equal and then perhaps second place on the roadmap." If that happens, Apple is in a world of hurt.custom paper writing quesol custom thesis poni write an essay for me mesni english homework help zipum college essay help piatof academic english writing wane law assignment help verwo essay writing sites sersa assignment helper prowab writing essays for money flanxi

With new iPhone 5s, Apple launches the 64-bit smartphone war

The 64-bit smartphone clash has been joined between rivals Apple and Samsung. But will everyday smartphone buyers even care, much less notice? Not in the short term, but then technology is often ahead of buyer awareness or popularity. Samsung this week confirmed it will have ARM-based 64-bit processors in its next top-line Galaxy-branded smartphones. That move came almost immediately after Apple on Tuesday announced the iPhone 5s, saying it will ship Sept. 20 with a 64-bit A7 processor. The iPhone 5c and the older iPhone 5 use a 32-bit A6 chip. Down the road, a 64-bit processor would be able to handle code for more demanding high-end games or health-related apps using bio-sensors that spit out tons of data. It could help in data-intensive video editing or for playing ultra high-definition 4K video, which has potential for businesses as well as consumers. "Yes, our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing," JK Shin told the Korea Times shortly after the iPhone 5s was announced. He also said that Samsung, based in Korea, should be trying harder for Samsung sales in China, a renewed target for Apple. In one sense, Samsung's move to match Apple in 64-bit computing indicates that 64-bit is an important advance for smartphones, similar to the way that PCs went from 32-bit to 64-bit several years ago. But with 64-bit apps for smartphones not available yet and with puny memory allotments of 2GB or less in most smartphones, Apple's move -- and therefore Samsung's planned move -- are seen by many analysts as more of a marketing play than anything else. "64 bits only adds memory addressability, nothing else, and that doesn't bring any value to mobile today," said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Right now, the 64-bit race is silly, as it doesn't bring anything to users.... Tomorrow, as memory densities get higher and apps get more sophisticated, there will [be benefit]." British chip designer ARM first announced the ARMv8 architecture, which is being licensed by Apple and others, in 2011. Moorhead and other analysts believe that these same 64-bit ARM-based chips could be used to replace Intel chips in laptops, or used in a coming Chromebook. Apple's iOS 7 update, rolling out for free to iPhone 4 and later versions on Sept. 18, is designed to handle the A7 64-bit architecture. But analysts noted that Samsung and Google don't even have Android ready yet for 64-bit hardware. "It seems to me that Samsung is more interested in showing they can technically do 64-bit, too, although...Android is not being built for 64-bit," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner. It's likely that Android 5.0 will be the first version to fully take advantage of the ARMv8 design, according to various sources. Apple's new iPhone 5s uses a 64-bit A7 processor. It was an interesting move by Samsung to seek to compete with Apple on 64-bit smartphones, analysts said, given that Samsung has so done well with phones and phablets that focus on larger displays, while Apple has stuck with a 4-in. display -- even in the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. The Galaxy Note 3, announced by Samsung earlier this month, will sport a 5.7-in. display with a digital stylus and is set to ship in the U.S. in October. Consumers will probably be far more interested in having a larger display than a 64-bit processor, analysts said, which should give Samsung and Android, and future Android apps, plenty of time to catch up to Apple. "Other smartphone features will probably be more meaningful to buyers than 64-bit," said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. "But in a mature market where every marketing ploy is useful, 64-bit is one more weapon for Apple to wield. How important it will be remains to be seen, but it could sway some consumers."algebra help online vifit best essay writing service reviews borgstar custom coursework ferke assignment writing service thyouder customer writing watmi essay help online fiwar research help sforhealth

The M7 motion coprocessor in the iPhone 5s is a big deal

In unveiling the iPhone 5s this week, Apple executives proudly pointed to several hardware firsts. Among the most obvious are the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the home button and the move to the 64-bit Apple-designed A7 processor. (Samsung was quick to announce that it's developing devices with 64-bit chips, too.) Along with those under-the-hood advances comes the most intriguing change: the new M7 "motion coprocessor." Apple's iPhone 5s. Apple hasn't publicly detailed just how the the M7 works, though it has added a new set of APIs, dubbed CoreMotion, that developers can access when writing iOS 7 apps. Nike, in fact, has already announced the first M7-enabled app. Apple did at least offer a broad overview of its intentions for the coprocessor: "Every iPhone 5s includes the new M7 motion coprocessor that gathers data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 for improved power efficiency." That's from Apple's press release announcing the 5s, and it mirrors what Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said on stage during the iPhone announcement Tuesday. This defines a huge function of the M7 -- to process the increasingly large amounts of data people can generate while carrying a sensor-laden device. Triangulating this data takes processing power, but not a huge amount of it. (Remember, earlier iOS devices, including those that used less powerful non-Apple processors, were able to work with this kind of data.) Essentially, the A7 would be overkill for the more basic tasks of aggregating and processing motion data. Offloading that low-level data capture and processing to a low-power processor delivers two big advantages: It increases battery life (always an important goal for any mobile device), and it reduces the heat generated by the main processor. That should increase the life expectancy of a device and keep it from getting hot. As processors grow in capacity and performance, they typically need more power to function (and therefore, typically, produce more heat). One explanation for the M7 is simply that Apple needed to offset some of the increases in power demand and heat production that are a consequence of the A7 chip's improved performance. The second big advantage of the M7 is that it effectively boosts the performance of the main A7 processor. With less work to handle during iPhone use, the A7 has more processing cycles available for other needs like launching and running apps. With iOS 7 being better at multitasking, this gives the iPhone 5s additional performance dividends. Apple is also touting the M7 for tasks that take place when you're not actually using your iPhone. Since it uses less power than the A7 processor (and potentially less power than earlier A-series processors), iOS 7 and apps coded to take advantage of it can perform continuous monitoring in a way that might otherwise be impossible or unwieldy because of power constraints. Apple is specifically pitching this as an advantage for fitness and activity-tracking apps, saying that, thanks to the M7, the iPhone 5s "continuously measures your motion data, even when the device is asleep, and saves battery life for pedometer or other fitness apps that use the accelerometer all day." Keith Shaw and Ken Mingis discuss a few surprises from the Sept. 10 Apple event, at which the iPhone 5s and 5c phones were announced.epson c42 driver ess es1868f drivers targus pa070 drivers edit n stitch crack yao ming a life in two worlds epub keepvid for android tablet inventel uro54g driver world of goo samsung galaxy s2 ms 6382 driver hotspot shield for blackberry torch 9860