Kindle Fire Gets Updated

A minor update to the Kindle Fire, Amazon's color touch-screen multimedia tablet, began rolling out to users today. Version 6.3 adds a few minor features, including a new toolbar for sharing notes and passages from inside a book. Another, more major feature, is called "Book Extras". Book Extras brings extra written content into the book you are currently reading, including glossaries or biographies. Another new feature extends the rental period for movies. The rental period now starts from when you start playing the movie, as opposed to from when it's downloaded. Textbooks will now retain formatting and page numbers, to make it easy for a Kindle-using student to keep up with the class in regard to textbook page numbers. Personal documents added  to the device will now be synced with Amazon Cloud.

Rooters, do not fear. Although the update will revert the rooting process taken, the xda-developer forums already have rooting instructions for the latest update. You should be prompted to install the update on your Fire, but if you are not, you can download it from Amazon's website here.

iPod Nano Watchbands

The latest version of the iPod Nano, the 6th generation, is a pretty cool and sleek device, but from almost the day it came out, people have been using it as a watch face. The device is the right shape and size, and has a perfect clock feature built in. But you can't use a Nano as a watch without a watchband.

The original Nano watch band was made out of a cheap rubber material, and was more like a wristband than a watchband. Soon, more and more watchbands were being sold, and the iPod Nano watch evolved from a rubber bracelet, to something you'd expect to find on a regular watch.

If you have a 6th generation iPod Nano, and want to use it as a watch, we'll go through the best bands at the best deals.

The HEX Original Watch Band

1. The HEX Original Watch Band

This is the simple, but high quality watch band. Available in nine different colors, there's sure to be one that matches your taste. The HEX features a silicone strap, an easy pop-in, pop-out design, and even has built in button controls. At $29.99, the HEX isn't the cheapest option out there, but it looks cool, functions well, and is an all-around good deal. You can pick one up at shophex.com or at Amazon.

2. The iWatchz Timepiece Leather Watch Band

The iWatchz Timepiece is a more high end watchband model, and features a beautiful leather band, unlike the HEX, the iWatchz itself doesn't cover the iPod's buttons and use buttons of it's own, rather it uses a "unique patent-pending clip system that uses the iPod Nano's own built-in clip". This makes the watch look a lot more elegant, especially if you have a Nano with a not-so-colorful color. The beautiful design, however, does not come without a price tag, and this band will set you back $89.95. The iWatchz Timepiece is sold at iWatchz.com, or at Amazon.

3. The LunaTik Lynk

Probably the most high end watchband out there, the LunaTik Lynk is an extremely elegant watchband that would easily pass for a regular watch. Made of aerospace grade aluminum, this watch band is both sturdy and beautiful. The Lynk is available in silver and blackout, at $129.95 and $139.95 respectively. The beautiful design will match even the nicest, most elaborate clothing. It is not available immediately, but can be picked up for pre-order at LunaTik.com.

In this article, we cover three great watchbands in three different price ranges. However, there are many more great watchbands that may fit your needs better. Before making your purchase decision, please check out the websites of the companies we covered in the article, to view their wide selection of watchbands. The websites are shophex.com, iwatchz.com, and lunatik.com.

Have any other watchbands you've tried and like? Tried any of the bands we covered? Like them? Hate them? Leave a comment below with feedback.

Steve Jobs' Biography is Out

So much has happened as far as Steve Jobs news in the past few months. First, the much talked-about news about his resignation as CEO of Apple, and later, unfortunately, the news about his death. Now, although we no longer have the amazing visionary that was Steve Jobs, we do have many of his secrets that he revealed in his official biography, entitled, simply, Steve Jobs.

This 656 page biography, written by biographer Walter Isaacson, opens a window into Steve's mind, as Isaacson conducted over forty interviews with Jobs, up until his death. Issacson also interviewed more than 100 other family members, friends, colleagues, and even adversaries, to try to bring out the entire story.

Walter Issacson is also the author of Einstein: His Life and Universe and Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, so he seems to be an experienced enough biographer for this book.

The book is available on Amazon.com as a Kindle book, in hardcover, and even in CD and Audible.com audio-book versions. It's also available on iBooks, Barnes and Noble Nook, and many other e-Book and paper book retailers.

Amazon Updates the Kindle Lineup

In a recent press event, Amazon, the makers of the popular Kindle e-reading device, announced the next generation of Kindle devices.

Kindle:

The good old Kindle we all know and love, right? Wrong. Although it keeps the simple, one word name, the new Kindle is a very different looking device. With the same 6 inch screen size as its predecessor, the new Kindle weighs 30% lighter (6 ounces), most likely due to the most noticeable difference: the new Kindle has no keyboard. Instead of using the keyboard, one navigates the device using the new five way controller, as well as four other small buttons.

The New Kindle

Download books over Wi-Fi (no 3G option this time around), and read them wherever you go, with up to a month of battery life on a single charge. Also, as Amazon is marketing strongly, the Kindle can be used even in bright sunlight, because of its black and white e-ink display.

The most compelling aspect of the new Kindle is it's price. The new device is the cheapest Kindle ever, at $79 if you choose "special offers" (click here to get an overview of what special offers is). If you choose not to go for the special offers, you'll pay $109 for this new e-reader.




Kindle Touch:

The Kindle Touch

At first glance, the Kindle Touch looks almost identical to the Kindle. The main noticeable difference is the Touch's lack of buttons. However, no buttons are needed, due to the Kindle Touch's 6 inch, e-ink, thouchscreen display.

Other than the touchscreen display, the Kindle Touch is almost identical to the regular Kindle. Another big difference is the 3G capabilities. The Touch is the only new Kindle that is available with a 3G model. With the always connected convenience of a cell phone, without any monthly fees or yearly contracts. The Wi-Fi version costs only $99, while 3G capabilities will cost you $149.


Kindle Fire:

The Kindle Fire

Probably the most anticipated update to the Kindle family is a color tablet device, called the Kindle Fire. The fire comes packed with a 7 inch color screen (something completely new to the Kindle brand), a 14.6 ounce weight (about the weight of a can of beans), a dual-core processor, and 8GB of storage. The body of the device is simplistic yet pretty, with no visible buttons.

The Fire runs Android, with an Amazon skin that makes it look like a completely new OS. Amazon is marketing the Fire as more of a multimedia player than a tablet computer, and, since it doesn't run the Android Market, that's really what it is. You can, however, download apps from the Amazon Appstore, which has, as Amazon says, "thousands of apps and games". You can download this content via the built in Wi-Fi, as this device has no 3G built in.

The Fire seems to revolve almost solely on Amazon's content. You download music from the Amazon MP3 store, apps from Amazon's Appstore, and movies from it's own video store. As always, books are also downloaded from Amazon's own service. This is an Apple-like strategy (with Apple's iTunes store), and is probably one of the reasons that Amazon can sell this device for only $199.

The new Kindle Fire is available for pre-order now, and will ship on November 15.

5 Android Apps you Need: App 1

This is the first part of a five part series. Check back every Monday and Thursday for more.

If you've been reading Gadgetator regularly, you probably know about the 5 iPhone Apps you Need series we did a while back. Although iPhone may be slightly more popular than Android, I never like to be biased, so here's... 5 Android Apps you Need.


iOS, the operating system behind the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, has always been known for it's large number of apps available. However, with Android's success over the past few years, it's app numbers have been slowly creeping up, and it's getting hard to choose the great apps from the not so great ones. Here's a little  bit of help, as I, over the next few weeks, will highlight 5 of the best apps for your Android device.

The first app in this series, called Kindle, is available for free from Amazon.com, as well as a free download from Google's Android Market.

Many people enjoy reading for different reasons. Be it to relax, laugh, or soak up information, Kindle strives to help get that reading done without having to lug around heavy books. All you need is your Android phone and the Kindle app (iOS, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry apps also available), and you're set. You can now read wherever you are without carrying heavy books around.

Now, you get that you can read with the Kindle app, but there is much more to it. Kindle allows you to browse over 950,000 books, as well as newspapers and magazines, and read them on your device. Although some books are free, most cost close to $10.

The reading experience is also great, as you can change font size, search inside the book, and instantly look up hard words with the built in dictionary. The Kindle app's Whispersync technology means that the page you are on, any notes you took, and bookmarks are automatically synced with any other Kindle apps you have on other devices, as well as on the actual Kindle device itself, so you never miss a word.

So, if you're running Android and enjoy reading, the Kindle app is a great, free download.

Amazon Announces Kindle Textbook Rentals

One of the major things that is keeping students around the world paper-free, is the fact that textbooks just aren't available on electronic devices. Well, weren't. Amazon, the creator of the popular Kindle eReader device, announced today that they would be launching a textbook rental service, and claims that students can save up to 80% on their textbooks.

"Today, Amazon.com announced the launch of Kindle Textbook Rental," Said the Amazon.com press release, "Now students can save up to 80% off textbook list prices by renting from the Kindle Store. Tens of thousands of textbooks are available for the 2011 school year from leading textbook publishers such as John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis. Students can find details about the program at www.amazon.com/kindletextbooks"

The Kindle textbooks can be rented anywhere from 30 to 360 days, so students really have flexibility. Also, like other Kindle books, these are, as Amazon.com calls it, "Rent once, read anywhere". This means that you can read a Kindle textbook on, of course, the Kindle device, as well as the Kindle app for iPhone, Android, and even for the Mac and PC.

This seems extremely convenient, however, although Amazon is claiming prices up to 80% than hardcover books, that is not countering in the fact that many people can sell used textbooks after using them, and earn back a percentage of what they paid originally.

Do you think it's worth the convenience to lose the reselling value? Are you going to be using this new Kindle feature? Let me know by simply commenting below. Thank you.

Amazon.com Offering Buy One, Get One Free Video Games

It's July 4th. Independence day. You are probably grilling some burgers outside, getting ready for a party, or planning to see some wonderful fireworks tonight. Although that's all good and fun, when it's done, some of you might just want to curl up with a good first-person shooter. Amazon.com, the widely popular online marketplace, wants to help you out.

From today, July 4th, 2011, until Saturday, July 9th, Amazon.com is offering a list of games and and gaming accessories which are all available on a buy one get one free basis. The special deal doesn't apply to every video game on Amazon, but there is a nice selection of around 270 games and gaming accessories to choose from.

To take advantage of this deal, just put two of the select items in your cart. The deal will be applied at one off the last stages in the checkout process, and will deduct the price of the less expensive item from the total price.

This is a great deal, and although not everything in the list of 270 or so items is something you'd actually want, you're sure to find a charm (or two) in there somewhere, and who doesn't like free? Make sure to go to the Amazon video game page by the end of this week, and catch this Independence day deal. Happy 4th!


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Apple Unveils iCloud, iOS 5, Shows off Mac OSX Lion

It's that time of year again! Apple holds a developer's conference every year in San Francisco called WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference, discussing, usually from more of an app developer's point of view, some of the new products or services that Apple is creating. This year's event was sold out in less than ten hours, and tickets weren't cheap either, so we'll see what they paid to see.


Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO (Currently on medical leave), with the help of some fellow Apple employees, announced three new products/services, and showed off one more, that had already been announced. None of these three products are actual physical products, but they are just as interesting.

Apple's iCloud logo

iCloud: The first product announced is called iCloud, and is an online service similar to the current, and slowly phasing  out, Apple service Mobile Me. iCloud is an online service that stores and syncs "your music, photos, apps, documents, and more", as written on the Apple website. The service then syncs all of that data with any other internet-connected Apple device. iCloud will also work on a Windows 7 or Windows Vista device will iTunes. Best of all, it's all free, for up to 5GB of storage.

iCloud will store any music bought via the iTunes Store, but you will also be able to store music you got any other way, be it a ripped CD or the Amazon MP3 store, for $24.99 a year. iCloud does this by scanning the song and matching it with an existing song in it's library of over 18 million songs. iCloud now knows you have the "rights" to the song, and will stream it at your command. This won't work for any song not in the library of 18 Million, so if you have music you created yourself, or an unpublished remix of an existing track, this won't work. One of the major benefits of this service, though, is the fact that if you have a song saved as a very low quality track, iCloud will play it back as the 256Kbps quality that iTunes currently offers.

iCloud in Action

iCloud also will take any picture you take with your iPhone, upload it to the cloud, and sync it with any of your other devices. The service lets you see your already purchased apps, and allows you to download an app again, for free on up to five devices. iBooks will also be synced between devices, as well as any documents created with iWorks, which apple just released the iPhone version of.

Another really important feature, iCloud backs up all of the data on your iPhone or iPod touch over the air, so there is no need to connect your device to a computer.

iCloud will be available for free this fall, along with iOS 5, which will be discussed later in the post.

Mac OSX Lion: After discussing iCloud, Jobs handed over the presentation to Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, who talked a little bit about the latest edition of Mac OSX, called Lion.

Mac OSX Lion will be available as a 4GB download from the Mac App-Store, and will cost $29.99. Most of the new features in Lion, at least the ones that Apple showed off, were already talked about, and you can read my post about those here.

iOS 5: The last service talked about at today's keynote was iOS 5. iOS, Apples mobile operating system that's used on the iPhone and iPod touch, is updated every so often, but a major release, like iOS 5, is released only around once a year.

iOS 5 will be available in July as a free update for your iPod touch or iPhone, and will many new features. One of those is the "Notification Center".

The notification center is accessed by simply swiping down on the screen. This will show a list of notifications, including email, text messages, and notifications from other apps on your phone. Notifications will also no longer interrupt everything you are doing, rather they will just slide in above the app you are currently using, and disappear quickly. Notifications are also accessible from the lock screen, and you can easily respond to a notification from the lock screen.

Revamped Notifications for iOS 5

iMessage will replace the SMS app for the iPhone, and will also be available on the iPod touch. iMessage allows users to send text messages via their 3G data provider, or they can send free text messages over a data connection to anyone else with an Apple iOS device. Messages can also include pictures, sound, and video.

iMessage for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch

Newsstand, one of the new additions in iOS 5, is the iBooks for magazines. Newsstand differs from all other apps, because instead of opening up like a normal app, it opens as a regular folder currently in iOS would. The folder differs from a regular folder, as it contains digital magazines, instead of apps. The background in the Newsstand folder looks like the wooden bookshelf currently found in the iBooks app.

Newsstand, a folder of magazines

Reminders is a new app that will be found in iOS 5. Reminders allows one to set reminders for himself, and organize reminders in to do lists. Reminders syncs with iCloud, Outlook, and iCal, so your to do's will be everywhere.

Reminders for iOS 5

Although Twitter already has an iOS app, with iOS 5, it will be integrated as an app that comes with the device, similar to what Apple is doing already with YouTube. Twitter will now be integrated into many of the apps Apple already has on their devices, such as Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, and Maps. One will be able to tweet directly from any of those apps.

Twitter, integrated into iOS 5

The camera is now accessible from the lock screen, so if you ever have a photo you really need to capture, and fast, your iDevice will help you. The camera button on the lock screen even bypasses any passwords set on the device, so your camera will be ready when you need it. The camera also has a new grid that you can use for better alignment while taking a photo.

The camera app, accessible from the lock screen

The Photos app will also be improved, with new photo editing features such as crop, rotate, enhance, and remove red-eye. The camera app also allows you to organize the photos in albums right on your iDevice. Of course, with iCloud, your photos will be synced to all of your other Apple devices.

The new photos app, now with editing

Safari, Apple's built in web browser, is also improved with new tabbed web browsing, a reader function that strips out all of the junk from a website, and just shows you the content you want to see, as well as a reading list that allows you to save articles for reading later. Procrastination at it's finest.

Safari with tabbed browsing

With iOS 5, any iDevice is completely PC free, no computer is needed to set up the device, or to put on music movies, or anything else. The new iCloud service takes care of backup, so you can easily restore a device wirelessly.

Some of the smaller improvements include some new features for the Mail and Calendar apps, an update to GameCenter, Apple's gaming social network, which allows users to set a profile picture, WiFi sync, which allows you to sync music, podcasts, and videos wirelessly with your computer over a WiFi connection. Apple also added multitouch gestures to the iPad, which allow you to swipe through apps by swiping your fingers across the screen, etc. The iPad 2, with the iOS 5 update, will be able to mirror the image you are seeing on it's screen wirelessly, instead of using the HDMI cable currently available.

I myself got extremely excited when writing this post, because this update to iOS 5, along with iCloud, really takes care of many of the problems people had with iOS devices. The only negative is that iOS 5 and iCloud will only be available in the fall, so we've got a while to wait.

The reason that Apple announced these products so early is because they need developers to write apps for these platforms, which takes a while. Apple developers have access to Lion, iCloud, and iOS 5 now, and can start developing for those platforms. If these new products really have you salivating, you could shell out the $100 is costs to become an Apple developer, but you have to own a Mac computer.

Kindle; With Ads

     Amazon has been recently trying to be able to lower the cost of their popular Kindle eReader, and today they announced one of their latest attempts.
     The company announced earlier today that the Kindle will now be available for $25 cheaper. This is the same Kindle hardware as the current version, so what's the reason for the price drop? Amazon will be introducing a new advertising UI for the Kindle device.
     In the new $114 Kindle, you will see an ad when the device goes into screensaver mode, as well as under the main menu UI. There will be no ads when you are reading, and Amazon made sure to point our that the ads will be completely unobtrusive.
     To go along with the new Kindle, which Amazon is calling Kindle with Special Offers, Amazon created a new application called AdMash. AdMash allows users to vote on ads that appear on the screensaver, and is designed to bring you more targeted ads, and ultimately making the ads more successful. This ad voting system would follow in the footsteps of Facebook and Hulu.
     Another really cool feature, one that may even make someone favor the ad-based Kindle over the regular one, is the special offers that will be sprinkled in among the traditional ads. For example, one might see an offer for buying a $20 gift card for $10.
     The new Kindle is available for pre-order now, and will be available for purchase on March 3rd.
     This a great step for Amazon in bringing the Kindle's price down. With the price of the Kindle when it was first announced at $399, getting it down to only $114 is a great feat, and will probably be good for everyone: Amazon, the consumers, and the advertisers.

Nook follows Kindle with New York Times Paywall

     A paywall for the New York Times website was announced a few weeks ago, and went into affect March 28, 2011. This paywall allows users to read 20 stories per month, and then they must pay for the ability to read stories on the New York Times website. This paywall costs $15 per four weeks, but print subscribers can access all of the stories for free.
     Recently, Amazon announced that those who subscribe to the New York Times via the Kindle will get free access to the New York Times website, just like print subscribers. Now, Barnes and Noble is following suit. Any subscribers to the New York Times on the Nook will now be able to access all of the stories online without a paywall.
     Currently the New York Times iPad app is free and ad supported, but that is not going to last forever. I wonder what the iPad subscribers would get once they have to start paying.
      So if you subscribe to the New York Times via Kindle or Nook, have a good time surfing up the New York Times website, while I carefully count my stories, trying to keep it under 20.

Motorola Xoom WiFi Only Official Dates

     Release dates for the Motorola Xoom WiFi, a 10 inch tablet running Honeycomb, have been leaked for quite a while, but today Motorola made it official. The WiFi only version of the Xoom will hit the shelves on March 27th, about two weeks from now, in seven major retailers. Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Staples, WalMart, and a few Sam's Club locations will all be getting the WiFi only Xoom on launch date.
     The WiFi only Xoom has the same front and rear facing cameras, dual-core processor, and 10.1 inch screen as it's 3G counterpart. The Xoom is also one of the first tablets to run Honeycomb, which is the latest release of the popular mobile OS Android.
     The WiFi version of the Xoom will be going for $599, with a rumored $50 off at Sam's Club. The Apple iPad, another 10 inch tablet, is closely competing with the Xoom, and only costs $499. Customers who want a tablet would probably go for the iPad, which has a lower price, many more applications, and a few more features, but the more technically savvy might go for the Xoom, because android gives users more control over a lot more.

HP Touchpad, Veer, and Pre3

     At an announcement recently, HP announced three new products that will run it's webOS mobile operating system. HP announced two phones and a tablet, all of which look slick and seem to be good products.

    WebOS is a mobile operating system created by Palm. Palm was then acquired by HP, who seems to be doing a good job keeping the operating system alive. 

The webOS Card UI

    WebOS's unique cards user interface gives it an appealing look. The apps it comes with catch your eye and make playing with the device fun. 

    The Messaging client combines all the messages from one person into one big flow, so a message can be sent as an instant message, and replied to as a text. 

    The web browser mostly disappears, letting you browse the entire web page without having to worry about the URL bar getting in your way. With a smart phone's small size, this can be very important.

    The email client gives you a unified inbox for multiple email accounts. With many of us getting emails at our work and personal email accounts, the unified inbox can be really helpful.

     A really interesting feature can be found in the contacts app. Many of us have spent hours entering our contacts information into the phone, all of which is available on Facebook or other social networks. WebOS's contact app just requires you to enter your friend's name. It will download info from Facebook, Google, Microsoft Exchange, and more. 

     WebOS also gives access to the Amazon Music Store. This gives access to thousands of songs, all DRM free, which means that once a song is downloaded, you can move it and copy it to any device, without any complicated copyright laws getting in your way.

     A really cool feature is HP's Touchstone. The Touchstone is dock for the phone that charges the phone wirelessly on contact. There are ways to do this with other phones like the iPhone, but these require bulky cases. The Touchstone also changes to nightstand mode when the phone is not in use. Nightstand mode displays the time and notifications. 

     The webOS operating system described above will be running on all of the devices that HP announced at the event. 

HP Veer

     The HP event started with the announcement of the HP Veer. The Veer is a small, touchscreen phone with a full, slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The Veer is only about the size of a credit card, has a 5 magapixel camera, and has a 2.6 inch touchscreen. 

     An interesting trend with the new smartphones is the lack of physical buttons. The Veer has no home button. The front is a plain, black surface. The home button is virtual. You just tap under the screen to go to the homescreen.

Palm Pre3

     The announcement then moved on to a slightly larger topic. The next product to be announced was the Pre3. It is basically a slightly bigger version of the Veer. The Pre3 adds a front facing camera, a 3.8 inch screen, and adds a 16 GB option. It has the same 5 megapixel camera as the Veer, but adds a flash.
     The last, and biggest (literally) thing of the event was the HP TouchPad announcement. The TouchPad is webOS's step into the tablet world. The TouchPad offers the same great webOS experience as the two smartphones, but makes it a bit bigger.
     An interesting thing about the TouchPad is that it straightens out the rounded corners of the webOS user interface. The card UI is gone, but the UI still looks slick.

HP TouchPad

     The TouchPad is pretty much a giant Pre3, but the extra screen real estate can sometimes really make the difference.
     The TouchPad has the same front facing camera as the Pre3, but offers a slightly higher resolution.
     Overall, these three devices look really compelling. They are missing just two slightly important things: price and release date. They give the general idea with summer or spring on the website, but no distinct date. I haven't yet played with any of the webOS devices, so I don't know how responsive they are, which could also be an issue. Another big issue is the app market. Apple has hundreds of thousands of apps in it's store, with android slowly creeping up behind it.
     With no price, a small app market, and no official release date, it's hard to know whether or not the devices will be worth it. We will have to wait for more info to come out before a decision is made.

To watch the actual event, click here.

     

Apple Pulling other eReader Apps? (Update: Apple Responds)

Gadgetator's trying a new format for the not so tech savvy readers. At the beginning of each post, we will be writing a list of tech jargon and their definitions that one would need to know at the beginning of the article. Like this idea? Hate it? Please leave a comment with your feedback. Thank you.

eReader-An eReader is a device that allows you to read digital books instead of paper ones.

     Sony makes an eReader called the Sony Reader. As with many eReaders, Sony designed an iPhone app that allowed one to read the eBooks that they downloaded from Sony on their iPhone. This app was rejected by Apple for some unknown reason. 

     Apps are rejected all the time by Apple, but it's always because of a violation of one of Apple's rules. So far the Kindle, the Nook, and many more eReaders have apps on the iPhone that weren't rejected. This could simply be because the Sony app had some problem with the code that went against Apple's rules. It could also be that Apple has changed it's policy and is now not allowing third party eReader apps.

     Apple also has an eReader app called iBooks, which is the reason why one would think that Apple is rejecting other, third party eReader apps, and even may start to pull the old ones.

     According to the New York Times, Apple is changing their policies to no longer allow third party apps to sell content, like eBooks, inside their apps. Now, if you're worrying about games like Farmville, which allows you to buy coins from inside the app for the game, that's nothing to worry about, this does not stop app developers to sell through their apps, rather just requires them to use Apple as an intermediary. 

     The story seems true, as Sony spokesperson Steve Harber is quoted, "“It’s the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market, we always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”

     So what does this mean for other eReader apps? Although the other apps don't have an integrated bookstore, they do allow users to download already purchased content from other devices, something which, according to the New York Times, Apple said was against the rules. This would affect Amazon with it's Kindle and many other popular eBook apps. 

     For now, we'll just have to see what happens. The story seems very believable, and neither Apple, Sony, or Amazon would comment.


UPDATE: Apple responded saying that they had not changed any developer guidelines, but wants a cut of anything sold through their devices.

Samsung Galaxy Player

     For a while, there was no real alternative to the Apple iPod Touch. It was the only MP3 player with a touchscreen that could do everything a smart phone can do. Until now. Samsung recently introduced it's Samsung Galaxy Player 50.

     This media player runs Android 2.1, can access the real Android Market, has built in WiFi, a 3.2 mega-pixel rear facing camera, and integrated GPS. These specs seem great, even better than th iPod Touch, but how can we confirm them. Samsung does not have an official page for the player, unless, of course, you can read Russian. But translating that page with Google Translate really did the job well.
     The price range is reported to be about the price of the iPod Touch, and will come in 8, 16, and 32GB variations. It is available for pre-order from Amazon UK for £149.99, and is not expected in the US until summer.
     The Samsung site gives this device the following specs:


Features

Embedded OS	Android
Version	2.1 (Éclair)

Memory Type	Flash Memory
Built-in memory (GB)	8 / 16 GB
Diagonal screen size, inches	3.2 "
Display Resolution	WQVGA (400x240)
Display	TFT
Battery Type	Lithium-Ion (removable)
Battery Capacity	1000 mAh
Color	white
Wi-Fi support	yes (WiFi: 802.11b/g/n)
Camera	yes (2Mpiks.)
GPS	yes
Bluetooth	yes (3.0)
FM-tyuner/kolichestvo stations in memory	Yes (RDS in Europe and Russia)
USB	yes (2.0)
Built-in speaker	yes
Embedded MIC	yes
microSD Card	yes
Multi Touch	yes
Multi Tasking	yes
Dimmension (WxHxD)	54,20 x 105,50 x 11,08 (mm)
Weight (Including Battery)	84 (city)
Output Power	20 mW.
Etc	-

Audio Playback	30 hours
Video Playback	Up to 5 hours
Etc	-

MP3	MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer3 (8 ~ 48 kHz, up to 320 kbit / c)
WMA	WMA9 Std. (8 ~ 48 kHz, up to 320 kbit / c)
Ogg	Ogg (Q0 ~ Q10)
FLAC	FLAC (Level0 ~ Level8)
AAC	AAC / AAC + / eAAC + (8 ~ 48 kHz, up to 128 kbit / c)
WAV	WAV (8 ~ 48 kHz)
Etc	-

avi	Video Codec	MPEG4, DivX 4/5/6, XviD, H.264 (D1, 720 x 480)
	Audio Codec	MP3, AAC / AAC + / eAAC +
mp4	Video Codec	MPEG4, H.263, H.264 (D1, 720 x 480)
	Audio Codec	AAC / AAC + / eAAC +
3gp	Video Codec	MPEG4, H.263, H.264 (D1, 720 x 480)
	Audio Codec	AMR-NB/WB
wmv	Video Codec	VC1 (WMV9) (D1, 720 x 480)
	Audio Codec	WMV9 Std.
asf	Video Codec	VC1 (WMV9) (D1, 720 x 480)
	Audio Codec	WMV9 Std.
mkv	Video Codec	-
	Audio Codec	-
flv	Video Codec	-
	Audio Codec	-
Etc	-

JPEG	yes
GIF	yes
BMP	yes
PNG	yes
Etc	-

Word File	doc, docx, xml, txt, rtf, dot, dotx
Excel File	xls, xlsx, csv, xlt, xltx
Power Point	ppt, pptx, pot, potx, pps, ppsx
PDF	pdf
Etc	-

SoundAlive	Yes (Basic (Preset Sound Effect), Advanced (User Sound Effect), Auto)
AB Repeat	yes
Changing playback speed	yes
Alarm Music Setting	yes
Lyric	yes
Album	yes
Playlist	yes
Library (Artist, Album, Genre, Title DB sorting)	yes
Etc	-

SoundAlive	yes
Changing playback speed	yes
Bookmarks	yes
Etc	-

Wallpaper Image Setting	yes
Live Wallpaper	No
Font Setting	No
Auto Brightness Control	No
Etc	-

Appendix	※ without Kies, you can use the device
File Delete	yes
File Navigation	yes (in ThinkFree App.)
Etc	-

Security	yes (Screen Unlock Pattern)
Etc	-

Android Market	Search, Gmail (Germany: Google Mail), Contact, Talk, Maps, Youtube, Market and Etc
General Applications	Alarm / Clock, Calendar, Gallery, Email, ThinkFree Office, Memo, Voice Recorder, Calculator, Daily Briefing, Program Explorer, AllShare and Etc
Etc	Embedded applications can be changed

PC OS	WinXP SP2 or later (Vista and Win 7)
USB Connection (MTP / UMS)	yes
Samsung Kies	yes
Etc	-

Type	Transparent
Dimensions for Package W x H x D	148 x 87 x 48 (mm)
Dimensions for Master Carton W x H x D	255 x 188 x 170 (mm)
Shipping weight, was	278 (city)
Weight Master Carton, Mr.	3.02 (kg)

Device	yes
Earphones	yes
USB Cable	yes
Charger	No
Battery (Standard)	yes (1EA)
Quick Guide	yes
Etc	-

     This device overall looks very compelling, especially for the fluent Android user. And since UK will have it January 7th, 2011, we should expect some reviews soon. Also, popular tech writers such as Engadget already have the device, and are posting reviews on it.
     Although the US might not see it for a while, it might be worth waiting for it. Also, if you happen to have a friend in the UK, you could have it shipped to his house and get it from him. So if you are a avid Android user, and are in the market for an iPod Touch-like device, the Samsung Galaxy player 50 might just be the right choice.

For more info see the video below.