For those who felt like they didn’t get quite what they wanted over Christmas, there might still be some items worth waiting for in the New Year. If you are one of those, look out for a good price on the new Apple TV (once it’s out). This really is worth having for those who feel the need to have it all, or even those who just love to be in control of their TVs and not the other way round. It was the late Steve Jobs who first introduced the concept of controlling everything on the TV with the Apple TV, so what is the new one set to do?
The Apple HDTV is said to be a totally independent entity in that it will be a standalone, high definition TV. Different sizes will be available, and it will integrate with every other Apple device one owns. It will be controllable through the iPhone and the iPad and maybe even via Siri.
But rumor has it, that before it hits the stores, iCloud access along with Apple TV software needs to be constructed into new iMacs. Its establishment will also enable Apple to gently make a presence in the whole world of TV.
]]>Nice Gadget, Nice Price
First of all, what might tip the Kindle Fire over the scales in temptation value is its nice price. In America, the iPad sells for close to $800 and in Britain, it is around $700. Both of these are quite hefty figures when you then take a look for the anticipated Kindle Fire price of around $300. So the question being asked though is if the Kindle Fire is such a cool gadget, on a par with the iPad, how can it be sold for so much less money? Apparently this is because there is a good chance that Amazon will be making a loss of around $50 on each device it sells, as according to a recent article in the British newspaper, The Telegraph, it “sees the Fire simply as a means to the end of selling digital music, films, apps and games.” On the other side of the spectrum is the Apple company which, according to analyst Gene Muster, is “monetising the hardware up front with a 30pc-plus gross margin on the iPad.”
Kindle Fire: The Edge
The next question being asked is, what edge does the Kindle Fire have? According to Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, the Kindle Fire is more than just a tablet, it is “an end to end ecosystem” which enables users to buy extremely large amounts of content. Well, whatever it is, it must be doing something right since on the first day orders were being taken, according to eDataSource, a staggering 95,000 were made. Although that is less than the 300,000 iPad orders made on its first day of going to market, it is still a force with which to be reckoned especially given the fact that those making the order knew that shipping will not being for another six weeks. This fact leads one to believe that the first day ordering figure would have been higher if customers knew they were getting it straight away. In other words, it is thus likely that way more orders will be made between now and November 15 (the expected shipping day) which will in a sense count as first day shipping numbers.
It seems Steve Jobs may just have to think of a counter product to the Kindle Fire, or at least a counter price.
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Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, has recently announced that it has bought tinyHippos Inc. The Ontario-based startup company invented Ripple, a mobile app development and testing program.
Tyler Lessard, vice president of global alliances and developer relations for RIM said the company was acquired because of their “extensive experience in web and mobile widget/web development.”
The transaction comes just before RIM releases its Playbook tablet in April. The tablet market is a difficult one to enter, with Apple’s iPad currently dominating sales, and with devices running on the Android platform following close behind.
The BlackBerry maker has said that their new tablet will support Android apps. It will have the potential to include more than 150,000 apps, according to RIM.
]]>HP’s 9.7 inch, 1.5 lb tablet runs off the webOS operating system. It features a high-speed, dual core Qualcomm Inc chip and the Adobe Flash Player, and supports video calls as well.
The TouchPad is to be priced to compete with the iPad, which starts at $499. The first model to be launched will be a WiFi only model, and a second, 3G model will be released later this year.
HP also announced the release of two new smartphones; the Veer and the Pre3. Like the TouchPad, both phones are based on the webOS software. Executives have shared that they expect to add the software to many other devices, including PCs. The company feels that webOS will “complement” the Microsoft software.
Todd Bradley, PC division chief, said “We’re thinking beyond today. We have a commitment to extend the webOS footprint even further as the year progresses.”
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